The room fell into a heavy silence. Reyna collapsed into her chair, the weight of the situation seeming to crash down on her. She put her head in her hands trying to hold everything together.
None of us dared to speak. Her face had a serious expression as if the pressure was finally catching up to her. After a long pause, I broke the silence.
"Ascend is rank 1, and he's personally rank 2, right?"
Reyna nodded, her voice quieter, a sad or perhaps nervous edge creeping into it. "Yes."
The silence stretched for a few moments before Viri broke it. "It's disrespectful that he came here alone, like we wouldn't stand a chance," she muttered, a flash of anger in her voice.
Reyna chuckled at Viri's words, standing up suddenly. She looked me in the eye with renewed determination.
"You're going to need to do a lot of enchanting for us."
"Of course, guild leader," I replied without hesitation. "But... what's on floor 10 that he thinks we can't beat?"
Tenshi leaned back in her chair, her expression calm but her voice steady with the weight of her experience.
The room was dimly lit. The air felt thick, heavy with anticipation. Tenshi, who had been pacing around the room with an air of quiet authority, turned towards us, her expression unreadable.
"Sit," she commanded simply.
We all paused, exchanging glances before following her order. The chairs set around the table were simple—wooden with no decoration, though they were more than comfortable enough for the task at hand. Each of us made our way to a seat, Viri quickly plopping herself down with a sigh, while Eli hesitated for a moment before choosing the seat nearest to Tenshi.
"I've been playing this game for years," she began, her gaze meeting each of ours.
"I know more about it than probably anyone alive. If we're going to talk about the Ten Suns, you need to understand what we're up against."
"The Ten Suns?" Eli asked, leaning forward. "You mean the boss?"
Tenshi nodded. "Exactly. Each of the Ten Suns is a boss stationed on the tenth floors. Floor 10, 20, 30, and so on, all the way to 100. They're categorized in order of strength. The first one, on floor 10, is the weakest. The second, on floor 20, is stronger. And it keeps going like that until the final boss on floor 100."
Viri frowned. "So, they get progressively harder, but what about the other bosses? The ones that aren't Suns?"
"Good question," Tenshi said, her voice even.
"Normal bosses don't follow a set progression in strength. They're random. Sometimes tougher, sometimes weaker, depending on the floor. But the Ten Suns? They follow a strict hierarchy."
"Okay," I chimed in. "So, what's the deal with the Tenth Sun on floor 10?"
Tenshi's expression darkened. "The Tenth Sun is the Slime Queen—a monster with infinite mana and no health."
"What do you mean by 'no health'?" Eli asked, his brows furrowing.
"The boss's health isn't measured traditionally," Tenshi explained. "Its health depletes with its mana. In other words, to kill it, you have to drain it of mana completely."
I scratched my head. "That sounds... easy? Just spam mana-draining attacks and call it a day."
Tenshi shot me a sharp look. "It's not that simple. The Spider Queen has a unique mechanic. It can learn any skill it sees."
"What?!" Viri exclaimed. "So, if someone uses a powerful skill in front of it…?"
"So, what do we do?" I asked. "How do we beat it?"
Tenshi took a deep breath. "We have to make sure the first and only skill it learns is to use all its mana. Nothing else. But if it learns any other skill first, it's game over."
"What if it doesn't use the skills we give it?" Eli asked.
Tenshi shook her head. "In the game, it was coded to use all the skills it had learned randomly. The more skills it had. I don't know if it'll work the same way here, though. That's a gamble we have to take."
"So, we need to make sure we're the first ones to make contact," I said, nodding.
"Exactly," Tenshi replied. "This isn't just about strategy. It's about precision. One mistake, one misused skill, and we're dead."
The weight of her words hung in the air, and for a moment, there was silence. I could feel the tension building, the responsibility settling in. The thought of what lay ahead was daunting, but we had no choice. We had to succeed.
The red rune beneath them began to glow, casting an eerie light across the room. "Meet us on floor 7," Reyna said with a wicked grin before they vanished, the rune flickering out like a dying flame.
Without thinking, I warped to floor 7, following quickly behind them.
CRACK