"Honestly, why do you swing your sword that way?" Raeny's voice rang out as she wiped the blood off her sword.
"It works," Neraxis immediately replied, severing the head of a nearby goblin before kicking it towards another group, knocking a few of them down.
He didn't dawdle and immediately used Sword Dash, swiftly cleaving seven goblins in half.
Immediately, Neraxis was met with the familiar red system screen, displaying his kills.
[6x (F- Ranked Monster) Goblin Slain! Reward: Stigmata 23% -> 26%]
[2x (F Ranked Monster) Goblin Slain! Reward: Stigmata 26% -> 28%]
Why are there so few goblins? He couldn't help but wonder.
In the last hour, they had only encountered two groups—the first one after entering the rift, and the one they had just slain.
This one was a lot larger than the previous one, numbering around 20 goblins, a stark contrast to the 4.
And finally, he was able to see some of his other team members' skills.
Raeny's swordsmanship was fluid, slashing, cutting, and stabbing all at once. Her proficiency with the sword was obviously higher than his own.
But what surprised him the most was Aurelia, shooting beams of light from the tip of her staff—a light mage. He hadn't known anyone with that type of affinity before, only rumors.
Yet here she was, nervously pacing around, even though she was one of the strongest in the class.
She really needs to get some confidence... Neraxis concluded before turning toward Aella.
So far, the only thing she had done was stand around; they overpowered the goblins too easily for her to be needed.
"Holster your sword properly," Raeny once again called out to him. She had been doing this for the last hour.
Neraxis rolled his eyes and said, "Sure."
There was no point in arguing with a prideful woman—he tried, but it was like talking to a brick wall.
Nonetheless, their team chemistry was much better than he expected.
They followed the same path, which for some reason, began growing narrower.
That was until he spotted a crack in the wall emitting light. It seemed way too exposed.
Neraxis gestured to his team, and they all mutually agreed to check it out, it seemed like the secret Magnus had mentioned.
It was a very tight fit—for some, however, what greeted their sight upon passing the crack was a wide-open area.
They were still in the cave, but it was a bit different.
There was greenery all around and blue crystals embedded in the walls, lighting up the place further.
Yet what stood out the most was the orange nests on the walls, right next to the crystals.
Venomous wasps? There is another rift inside of a rift? Neraxis thought with a frown before turning to his team.
"Seems like we're in one of the secrets the instructor mentioned. Don't let down your guard; those nests are filled with F+ ranked wasps. Some might even reach far beyond that," he warned.
"It's fine, nothing we can't handle," Raeny said before stepping up and unsheathing her sword.
Noticing this, he said, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Let's kill them fast and get out. What? Are you afraid?" she replied, seemingly taunting him.
"Raeny, you do understand this is a full-blown rift, right? We'll be at this for hours—" Neraxis was suddenly interrupted by the sound of something falling to the ground.
Upon turning to the source of the sound, he noticed Aurelia standing by the crack they had just entered through, her staff on the ground.
It seemed like she was trembling, so he went over to her. "What's wrong?"
However, as his gaze landed on what she was looking at, he froze.
The entrance—it had disappeared. All that was left was a pile of rocks, and even then, there was no sign of the crack from before.
"Fuck..." he accidentally exclaimed aloud, attracting the attention of his two other team members as they came to check what was going on.
But the moment they did, shocked expressions appeared on their faces, naturally so.
After all, once you were inside of a rift, the only two ways out were through the entrance you came in from, or by killing the boss monster.
And it just so happened that their situation was the latter.
[Jinx.] Evangeline commented with a chuckle before continuing, [Don't worry though, I packed you a pillow just in case you want to relax.]
Evangeline... He sighed inwardly before taking a glance at the nests, especially the one at the very end of the massive lit-up cave.
It was at the very least a few dozen times larger than the rest, meaning it was the boss monster.
Venomous Wasp Queen... E+ Rank, Neraxis recalled.
Noticing that the morale of the team was starting to dwindle, he spoke, "Same plan as usual, same positioning as well. All we have to do is kill the boss monster."
"But... How?" the ever-cheerful Aella questioned, her voice sounding as though it was breaking. Clearly, the situation was affecting her too.
She continued, her voice growing more and more emotional. "We are all around the F- or F rank, the boss monster is basically D- ranked... how are we meant to win?"
"What do you suggest we do?" Neraxis asked with a raised brow. "Do you think anyone is going to come to save us? The only way this rift reopens is if we all die or kill the boss monster—there's no other way out."
Hearing his straightforward yet true words made the atmosphere even more glum.
That was until Raeny stepped up. "Do you have any special skills that can help us? Because as things stand, the mage will be killed first, the healer second, and then the two of us."
He pondered her words for a moment before nodding. "I have something up my sleeve, yes. Whether it will be enough or not, I'm not sure."
His words seemed to bring some light back into the team's eyes as they heaved a relieved sigh.
I wonder if Stellar Dominion will be enough—because if not... we're fucked, Neraxis thought inwardly while displaying a smile.
"Let's start."