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Derek did say that they planned on clearing both stage 4 and 5 today, and he planned on doing just that.
For their second run of the day, they’re going to stage 5.
After a brief rest to restore the state of their gear to the most optimal condition and to replenish their necessities, the party was on the move again.
Not long after that, they were standing before the first archstone again.
"Ready, guys?" Derek asked the team.
Nobody said a word, but they all nodded anyway. Once he received his reply, Derek didn’t hesitate and took all of them to stage 5.
In a blink of an eye, they were there.
They once again found themselves spawning in the middle of a small forest with a straight path out. This will be one of their safe zones in this stage.
"Alright, Kaycee. We’ll rely on you again," Derek asked.
Kaycee didn’t say a word; she just silently used her bloodline ability again.
It’s the party’s protocol at this point, Ren thinks. Kaycee will use her bloodline ability as soon as they arrive to save the team so ti with their exploration.
She could see the whole map, and it seems that she’s used to this arrangent by now. Sure, her eyesight will go bad after using the ability, but it only takes a minute or two for her to recover. By the ti they reach their first resource node, she’ll have already recovered from it, so it’s no big deal.
"The Sli Boss is at the center; there’s a Sli Lord and a couple dozen ordinary slis nearby, but not too close to the boss; it could be pulled. There are elites at the quadrants. Our work area’s 70 kiloters."
"No other visible mutations, or anything of imdiate concern, either. There’s a lot of exposed resources, though. Higher than normal."
Kaycee’s scan was really helpful. It saves the path so much ti. Sure, it spoils the surprise, but this is a dungeon. Surprises here could be deadly, so being spoiled was better.
Ren checked the requirents to clear stage 5 while he was at it.
[Kill 0/300 Ordinary Slis]
[Kill 0/4 Elite Slis]
[Kill 0/2 Sli Lords]
[Kill 0/1 Sli Boss]
The ti limit was eight hours this ti. Since he’s in a party, everything was doubled. If he went here solo, he would have four hours to kill 150 ordinary slis, two elite slis, one sli lord, and possibly a sli boss, too.
It would’ve been impossible for Ren to clear it on his own, though. The elites, he could handle 1v1, but the sli lord and sli boss? That’s troubleso. Ren’s not strong enough for that.
Fortunately, he’s not here alone.
"Alright team, tools out. We gather resources first, prioritizing the quadrants and the elites roaming in them. Once we’re done with the collection and the elites, we’ll deal with the Sli Lord. After that, the Sli Boss, and last would be the ordinary slis."
It’s the standard operation, then. It’s plain, straightforward, and boring, but it works well, so there’s no need to fix it.
Kaycee inford them that their spawn point was located northeast, which will be their first quadrant. There should be an elite nearby and in other quadrants, northwest, southeast, and southwest, too.
The plan was to gather resources and deal with the elite slis in each quadrant, and that’s what they did.
Kaycee was right; the exposed resources are far more abundant this ti. More than usual.
’This hints at a motherlode close to the surface,’ Ren thought to himself. ’Or maybe not. I can’t tell.’
’Digging takes too much ti. We do have eight hours, but it’s more trouble than its worth.’
Even if it was, indeed, a motherlode, it’s of common resources. We’d spend hours gathering so many for only a couple extra thousands of credits. Not worth the effort at all.’
It’d be a different story if it were a mithril motherlode, or sothing of the sa quality, of course. But minerals and ores like that, especially motherlodes of that quality, are almost impossible to find in beginner-level dungeons like this.’
’It’s probably why Derek hadn’t said a word. It’s a waste of effort. It’s better to gather all the exposed resources and clear the dungeon fast.’
Although dungeons appearing with higher amounts of exposed resources were rare, it’s not ’that’ rare. It happens pretty often, actually. Especially in beginner-level dungeons.
But because they’re beginner-level dungeons, the resources are pretty cheap and common. It’s just a couple extra thousand credits. Sure, this could hint at a motherlode, but it’s not worth digging for those, not in these levels at least.
The party gathered resources as they went. Stopping from ti to ti to crouch down and pick up exposed herbs, fruits, plants, flowers, etc. They’d also pick exposed ores and minerals when they ca across so.
So slis tried to compete with them, but they were dealt with in a blink of an eye.
Pretty soon, they t their first elite sli. Just as planned, they put away their tools and killed the elite pretty fast. They then resud their gathering after that.
Once the northwest quadrant was cleared of resources and the elite, they moved northeast to do the sa.
Just like this, the party went full circle.
They cleared the elites and resources available on quadrants. They stayed away from the center zone to avoid the lord and the boss.
By the ti they’d returned to their spawn point, though, they were surprised to see that the second Sli Lord had spawned in the sa location.
Wordlessly, the party charged. They each have their own tasks and way to contribute to the fight. Since this Sli Lord was awake, they didn’t have the chance to use explosive barrels.
But like Derek said, the fight went on relatively the sa; the team worked together to discover where the core usually roams, and once it was found, killing the sli lord beca easy.
After Ren’s first experience, he learned a lot. That’s why this ti, Ren’s coordination with the team beca even smoother.
Overall, it took them less ti to deal with this sli lord compared to the first one.
While their touch was still hot and their chakras running smoothly, the team rushed to the other sli lord and dealt with that one too.
It’s a spontaneous decision from Derek, but one that nobody disagreed with. The team were on fire; their coordination was smooth and almost instinctive. Ren slotted into them like he had been there since the start.
Honestly, it’s impressive. He didn’t hold them back; he didn’t need to be taught twice. He just...gets it, and he does his own thing without causing the rhythm to collapse.
Even Jules was having an easy ti in the front line because of Ren’s considerate actions.
After taking down the other sli lord, that’s when Derek called for a short break.
They returned to their safe zone, their spawn point, to eat and catch their breath for a bit. The team’s atmosphere was chill and relaxed. Sothing that even Jen couldn’t deny.
This level of teamwork was sothing that could only be found in teams that have been together for years, yet even with the newly joined Ren, it beca possible.
’Travis would be proud,’ Derek thought to himself as he looked at the team. ’Sir Justin would be relieved too. I should probably tell him soon to nd his relationship with our team, even just for a bit.’
With teamwork this smooth and a team atmosphere this good, Sir Justin shouldn’t think about abandoning them anymore, right?
Anyway...
With the elites’ and lords’ requirents done, the only ones left are the boss and the ordinary slis.
Once the team has been watered, fed, and recovered. They geared up and went out of the safe zone again; this ti, their target was the Sli Boss.
The Sli Boss was even bigger than the Sli Lords. It has a darker color compared to other slis, and it looks like it uses two ordinary slis to serve as its eyes.
It’s kind of bizzare actually, but that’s as far as the difference goes.
The Sli Boss was awake, so explosive barrels were not an option. But it’s fine.
It’s a bit more difficult to see and expose the core of the sli boss. Mostly because the viscosity of its flesh was denser compared to Sli Lords.
But it’s just more effort, one that the team doesn’t lack in any way, shape, or form.
So, slowly but surely, through trial and error, they managed to expose the core. When they got to the part, the rest beca easy.
And although the core of the sli boss was bigger and contained more energy, making it more difficult to destroy, the team destroyed it in the end.
Actually, it was Ren who shattered it with a fully loaded punch. But it’s no big deal for him. It’s the team who made it possible for him to do so.
Once the sli boss was dead, the most difficult part passed. The team slaughtered ordinary slis and cleared stage 5 with plenty of ti left.
The slis were done; next on Ren’s chopping block were the goblins.
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