"Let me heal you."
Alicia's words echoed in the air as she approached Clark and helped him recover from the damage he received from the Boss Monster not too long ago.
"T-thank you." Clark responded sheepishly, as if he wasn't used to such kind gestures.
He even scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. Alicia ignored all of this and healed him anyway.
It was during moments like this that her S-Tier Skill, [Absolute Healing], could come in handy.
'I have enough Mana to properly use it now.' Alicia smiled as a bright light covered Clark as a result of her powers.
This wasn't the first time she was using [Absolute Healing] in the Raid.
She had done so a few times already, especially during the just-concluded Boss Fight.
Surprisingly, she never got to heal Rey.
'I guess he's being extra careful, so he fights Monsters he knows he can take.'
Thanks to that, and his defensive Enchanted Item, he didn't take any damage.
'To think he hasn't made a single slip-up so far. That's really impressive…'
Alicia still didn't know the kind of training that Rey underwent with Ralyks, but it had to have been amazing for him to come back so strong.
Of course, he wasn't as powerful as everyone else.
However, he wasn't a liability.
'I'm happy for him.' Alicia shot him a glance and smiled.
He looked so tired, and she understood it well.
'If I didn't have the White Ember, I might also be…' The thought caused her to smile even more.
She noticed Rey was turning in her direction, so she quickly looked away.
'Why did I even do that?' She thought to herself, feeling like an idiot.
It wasn't as if Rey would find it weird if she was staying at him and smiling at the same time.
'He doesn't think I ignored his gaze, right?'
Alicia felt like she was overthinking again, so she shook off those thoughts.
"Um… I think I'm pretty much healed already." Clark's voice brought her back to reality.
"A-ah, yes! Yes, sorry!"
"N-no… it's fine. Thanks once again."
"It's no problem."
Alicia watched Clark sheepishly make his exit and go to chill with his closest buddies—Eric and Justin. She also noticed Adonis walking towards the rest of the group with a smile on his face.
Looking around her, she could see everyone being extremely positive despite how tired they were.
She was no exception.
"Well done, you all." Once again, Ralyks appeared before them and clapped.
Alicia moved to Rey's side, and they both acted naturally as they waited to hear what Ralyks had to say next.
"We'll be taking a short break now…"
Once he said this, the faces of everyone expressed nothing short of relief.
They had been forced to tread the world of the Dungeon for about five hours now, and they were pretty exhausted after the Boss Fight.
A few had feared Ralyks would tell them something different, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that he was being considerate.
Perhaps if they knew what his next words would be, they wouldn't have celebrated so early.
"… Before descending to the Third Floor."
The moment Ralyks said this, the closed eyes of many popped open, and jaws dropped in shock.
"Third Floor? After all this?!"
"That's insane. Aren't the Monsters there going to be tougher?"
"How long do we have to rest?"
"I don't really mind if we can chill here for like an hour or so…"
"No… no more…"
Different reactions rushed from the lips of the Otherworlders.
It wasn't like they were unwilling to work, or too lazy to continue.
They were simply too tired.
"You'll be resting for thirty minutes. That's more than enough time to recover your strength."
More groans and grunts reverberated among the Otherworlders, but it ended at that.
No one could really complain.
"What about the Monster Cores? I noticed we haven't been picking them." Adonis asked, his hand slightly raised.
"The Alliance will surely need them."
Many people grunted as soon as Adonis said this, since it meant they would be tasked with even more work.
Unknown to them, though, that shouldn't have been a concern of theirs.
After all, Adonis already knew one of Ralyks' abilities, and how it would be incredibly helpful when it came to this situation.
—Summoning Magic.
"I'll be summoning minions to take care of the harvesting of Monster Cores and any other precious resource here, so don't worry." Ralyks replied with a nod.
"All you need to be concerned about is getting stronger."
Adonis nodded back and thanked Ralyks for his response.
"It's no problem. In any case, your resting period starts now, so make the best use of it."
The agreement was to spend 10 hours a day in the Dungeons. If they were only resting for thirty minutes, that meant they had to work for over nine hours.
Even Training wasn't this brutal.
The Otherworlders could now better understand why the Royal Council had to get rid of their remaining classmates.
There was no way most of them would agree to this kind of arrangement.
As they mulled over this issue and rested, a few watched Ralyks as he took a few steps from them and began to release a strange power.
Before long, all eyes were on him as a sort of dark energy crept from his body.
A swirling mix of black and purple danced around him as a Magic Circle began to form right a few meters from where he stood.
Then, he spoke.
"Come forth…"
As the purplish-black Magic Circle began to cackle with unknown power, something began to emerge.
First was a hand, then it was followed by multiple hands.
Faceless faces rose to the surface, and the forbidden nature of darkness began to manifest before everyone's very eyes.
Death incarnate was manifest.
"… Denizens of the Dead."
From the depths of the dark void rose ten undead entities—
each with varying forms.
One was very robust, while another was incredibly skinny. Some had rotting flesh on, while others were mere bones.
The only thing these beings shared in common was the fact that they were dead.
Ah… and one more thing.
They were strong!