Heavy breaths.
Flickering eyes.
Racing hearts.
The nine Otherworlders stood tall, prepared to descend down the Floors as they stared at the entrance to the second one.
"Ready?"
They all gulped and nodded, prepared to begin their mission.
Of course, some showed a lot more courage than others, but they all advanced forward.
Rey Skylar was among the ones who showed less courage than his compatriots. Still, the fact that he kept moving forward showed his dedication to the cause.
His eyes shone with determination.
"Let's stick together, Rey." Alicia whispered to him, a small smile on her face.
It was clear she was nervous as well, but after noticing Rey's anxiety, she wanted to cheer him up.
"No way! You'll take all my prey and I won't be able to Level Up." Rey responded.
He then looked beside her and spotted Snow—her Familiar.
"You have to Level Up Snow as well. I'll be fine, don't worry." Rey murmured while nodding slowly.
Alicia gave a knowing smile, and they both exchanged nods.
In the end, this was still some sort of competition.
Leveling Up wasn't going to be fair to all, and if certain individuals were lazy or pampered, they wouldn't be able to grow as strong as their comrades.
"Huu… I got this!"
With Rey's words appearing to settle him down, he finally joined his comrades in descending down to the Second Floor.
******
"Take your formations!"
The moment they descended to the abode of Monsters, they were greeted by a group of anthropomorphic creatures.
These entities had fur like gorillas, but their appearances—at least, their upper bodies—resembled wolves.
They had sharp claws and powerful jaws, with saliva dripping out of the latter the moment they laid eyes on their targets.
Their legs looked like that of a spider—or maybe an ant? It was weird describing these weird beings who seemed monstrous, even for monsters.
These were 'Evolved Monsters.'
Though, based on their appearance, it was clear that these creatures didn't turn out quite right.
"KURRRIIIIKKKK!!" They made strange noises as their massive forms approached the nine Otherworlders.
This was the moment of truth.
Fight or Flight—perhaps neither, and simply paralyzing fear.
The Otherworlders had to decide their path.
"Attack!"
The nine—ten, if one counted the Rabbit—moved fluidly, as if they were born and bred for this very moment.
For some reason, they showed no hesitation.
Perhaps it was because of their constant training with Ralyks. Maybe they had grown so accustomed to this world that they didn't realize how much their minds had changed.
It could also be due to their bizarre expectations and preparations for this day.
And so, now that they were in the thick of it, they felt nothing like fear.
They knew their mission… and they executed it.
"Arrows Of Light!" With Adonis beginning the assault with several projections using his Light Magic, he was able to aim for the eyes of the opponents.
Once that was done, the rest was easy.
Since this was meant to be an opportunity to Level Up, the group couldn't completely rely on roles for teamwork.
They all had to venture out to slay their enemies.
EXP wasn't divided based on Party Contribution or any kind of arbitrary means.
You had to kill the thing to gain EXP!
As a result, it was 'Every Man For Himself.'
~WHOOOSH!~
Otherworlders like Trisha and Billy swiftly ran ahead, brandishing their blades with utmost precision.
Billy had advantage with his Weapon Summon, so he summoned several blades, which he in turn thrust towards several of the Monsters in his path.
He equipped his Enchanted Blade and sliced through the bunch as easily as a hot knife would cut through butter.
Most of the armor and weapons the students had on was made from the corpse of the Dragon that Ralyks defeated.
Adding the Mana Crystals of the 99th Floor, as well as the several Monster Cores to the mix, it was easy to see how powerful these Items would be.
Other than that, Billy—like all the members of the Alpha Class—
was also an incredibly strong warrior.
With all of these culminating together, the Otherworlders didn't have a very difficult time executing the Monsters.
Trisha utilized her [Greater Lightning Magic] alongside her recently improved [Greater Combat Application] to swiftly eliminate her foes.
[Danger Sense] allowed her to detect attacks before they hit her, granting her more time to dodge and counterattack.
Smell of burning flesh and cooked blood danced in the air as she danced in a frenzy of chaos.
Her and Billy weren't the only ones to partake in the action, though.
Every Otherworlder was on it as well.
Justin easily glided through the Monsters as a result of his [Stealth] Skill, while using his [Marionette] Skill to choke the Monsters with his strings.
In situations where his position was compromised, he would utilize stronger threads to tear through the very flesh of the Monsters and turn them into mincemeat.
In no time at all, gore filled his vicinity.
As a result of his swift, unpredictable, and deadly moves, he hardly had any problems at all.
Of course, he was being boosted by a lot of his items, but his abilities made his job a lot swifter and easier than most.
Alicia, Belle and Eric were the type to stay in a single position and spam attacks.
As Alicia stretched forth her hands to cast her [Greater Ice Magic] on the targets she chose, Belle cast her [Absolute Wind Magic] on the opponents in her own area of influence.
Eric also had his targets, and [Greater Explosion] did the job against them.
Ultimately, it was a cinch for them.
Unlike most of the Otherworlders who fought on land, Clark took to the air and rushed the enemies with a bombardment of Heat Vision and his brute strength.
One would think his heavy equipment would slow him down, but that wasn't the case at all.
It looked like he was faster than normal.
With bursts of strength. He cut down the Monsters with sheer power, sending small shockwaves echoing throughout the space around.
As he did this, Snow—the Rabbit—also got a bit of the action, thanks to her ability to jump very high.
It almost looked like she was flying based on how she leaped high in midair.
Her task was simple—Level Up.
She was a Grand Summon, but she was merely in Level 1. If she Leveled Up alongside the Otherworlders, even the rabbit could get a lot stronger.
With everyone killing their fair share of Monsters, there existed one of them who was mowing them down.
Like an unstoppable bulldozer he cleared everything in his path with his mighty sword and overwhelming aura of light.
Adonis, The Hero, easily killed his enemies with slashes and swings, testing them apart in sheer moments.
None of them stood a chance.
"K-KURGHHHH!"
The Monsters began to scream at some point, but there was no room for mercy.
Despite their superior numbers, they were no match for the golden executor that sent them to the realm of death.
He did all of this with ease.
They all did.
All of this carnage… so much of this destruction… and the perpetrators showed no remorse.
Instead, they were all smiling.
Yes, they grinned with relief and delight, indulging in their own strength to cut down their enemies to grow even stronger.
Such was the nature of the Dungeon.
… The nature of this world.