Emma’s teammates:
Dorothy → Archer-mage, releases small projectiles which have enough explosive power to take down a thick wall.
Mia → Short-range teleportation. She is the sa girl who challenged William back during the week when every student had the chance to claim the opportunity to participate in the Goblet of Honor.
....
William was slightly surprised that Emma had actually done what she claid.
It had been four hours since she entered the Tower, and she was already advancing to the fourth floor.
They were a five-girl team, but now two of them were too wounded to continue.
Emma was asked by the other two if she wanted to continue this journey, and she nodded in assent.
As such, following their leaders, Dorothy and Mia were now advancing to the next stage.
William never underestimated Emma. He knew her strength, and the very fact that she was not even out of breath despite having crossed three floors defined how strong she was.
He just felt that working in a team might slow her down. But well, not everyone was like him. Emma was cooperating with her team well, and the group was actually dominating the field.
If not for the small blunder caused by Dorothy on the last floor, the other two girls wouldn’t have retired early.
"I am a bit astounded," Natalie, who had, for so reason, decided to stand beside him, spoke. "I never knew Emma could fight like that."
It was apparent from the short-haired girl’s voice that she had never actually seen her fight at the front.
William scoffed. "Just because she is a healer, she was always treated like a support mber."
Natalie’s shoulders fell. "You are right, and I am also at fault."
William didn’t comnt on that. Rather, Gizel—yes, she had joined them too—said, "Emma is a true combatant. She doesn’t rely on sorcery if her opponent isn’t worth the trouble. That’s not sothing I saw in you."
William wryly smiled. "Sorry for the disappointnt."
Gizel shrugged. "Just thought I should tell you. You don’t usually wield a knife, do you?"
William heaved a sigh. "No... I just picked it so that I could carve a piece of every boss monster."
Natalie and Gizel instantly turned to look at him, unable to believe that he hadn’t chosen a weapon based on battle requirents.
He was looking for equipnt for extraction.
"But... that was a bit egoistic of . I will take a proper weapon next ti," he mumbled to himself, admitting that he had underestimated the challenge of a dungeon.
Silence descended among them as Emma soon reached the fourth floor.
They were all watching it on the screen.
While there were students present in number, it was still fewer than those who had appeared to watch William’s assessnt.
William watched the silver head take a few cautious steps forward, her team closely following behind.
’You’ve got this.’
....
Emma surveyed her surroundings keenly, not leaving any detail unchecked.
She could already sense several presences around them. Despite the light illuminating the floor, the lurking beings were not visible.
"Mia, you know what you must do if we get ambushed."
The ek girl nodded instantly.
Dorothy removed the glove from her left hand while her senses expanded.
Silence befell the floor for a mont before they finally charged.
"Here they co!" Dorothy raised her voice, her body tensing.
From the shadows, several crawling creatures with red, burning skin and slick bodies charged straight at them.
They varied in size, ranging from two to four ters. A vicious tongue whipped out, spewing flas as they targeted the three won.
Emma instantly called out, "They are fire hydras. Aim for their neck and split. Now!"
Dorothy and Mia moved at the sa ti, the forr launching several projectiles as she moved to her left, while Mia teleported several tis to her right to put so distance between herself and Emma.
The projectiles hit so of the hydras, but it did nothing more than leave marks on the creatures.
As the three split, the monsters divided as well, with most of them still charging straight ahead, their senses alerting them to Emma.
Mia reappeared behind one of the hydras, her body flickering into existence for barely a heartbeat before vanishing again.
The creature snapped its jaws where she had been standing, teeth grinding against empty air.
She teleported again.
And again.
Each short jump carried her just out of reach, her movents sharp and economical. A swipe missed her shoulder by inches. Flas washed over the ground where she had landed a mont earlier, scorching the stone but touching nothing else.
Another hydra lunged.
Mia vanished mid-step, reappearing atop a broken slab, her boots skidding as she barely kept her balance. She didn’t hesitate. The mont her feet touched the surface, she jumped again, slipping past a whipping tail that cracked the ground behind her.
For a while, it worked.
The hydras were fast, but they couldn’t keep up with her rhythm. Every attack t afterimages. Every strike found air. Their heads twisted and snapped, irritation building as their prey refused to stay still.
But the fourth hydra was different.
It didn’t charge blindly.
As Mia teleported once more, reappearing near its flank, the creature’s tail moved first, not toward where she was—but where she would be.
The impact ca the instant she materialized.
A sharp crack echoed as the burning tail slamd into her side, throwing her off balance. Pain tore through her ribs, the breath knocked clean out of her lungs as she was sent skidding across the ground.
Mia hit the floor hard, rolling once before coming to a stop.
Her teleportation faltered.
She tried to move—and gasped.
A shooting pain tore into her side, and following that, one of the hydras bit her ankle,
"aghh!" She cried, teeth grinding.
As the second hydra charged, a few words flashed by her mind,
’Stop treating that skill rely as your last resort.’
Ignoring the pain, she flicked her dagger into her hand.
The second hydra opened its maw to devour her head—only for Mia to whip the dagger straight into the hydra’s mouth, and at the sa ti, she touched the head of the hydra biting her.
"Die, you maggot!"
**SQUELCH**
The dagger she threw earlier fell on her bleeding ankle and on the other side, the charging hydra erupted as its brethren suddenly teleported inside its stomach.
Mia didn’t wait and teleported on top of the near dead hydra and stabbed its head again and again.
As it finally died, Mia fell to the side, gasping and groaning.
On the other hand, Dorothy slid to a halt, boots digging into the stone as she turned.
Five hydras crawled out of the shadows almost at once, their burning red skin illuminating the floor in broken pulses of light. Their bodies scraped against the ground as they spread out, forming a loose semicircle around her.
"Tch... figures," she muttered.
Her left hand rose, fingers flexing as aether gathered along her palm. The glove was already off.
The first hydra lunged.
Dorothy didn’t retreat. She snapped her arm forward, releasing a compact projectile that scread through the air and struck the creature straight in the skull.
BOOM
The hydra’s head burst apart, fragnts of scorched flesh scattering across the floor as its body collapsed mid-charge.
The second and third moved together, one spitting flas while the other whipped its tail low.
Dorothy pivoted on her heel, jumping back as the fire washed past her chest. She fired twice in rapid succession, the projectiles curving slightly as they flew.
One detonated against the third hydra’s torso, tearing it open from the side.
The other struck the second hydra’s tail.
CRACK
The explosion severed it cleanly, and before the creature could even react, Dorothy stepped in and fired again, this ti straight into its exposed tail. It split with a hiss.
The fourth hydra reared back, its tongue flaring brighter as it prepared a concentrated blast.
Dorothy clenched her teeth and raised both hands.
Three projectiles ford at once.
She released them in a tight spread.
The first shattered the hydra’s jaw. The second punched through its chest. The third detonated inside its body, blowing it apart from within.
Four down.
The fifth hesitated for half a second.
That was enough.
Dorothy advanced instead, planting her foot and firing point-blank into its head. The explosion echoed across the floor as the creature crumpled.
She exhaled sharply, shoulders rising and falling.
Then the sixth hydra moved.
It burst from beneath a broken slab to her right, its jaws snapping shut around her side before she could fully turn.
"Gah—!"
Pain ripped through her ribs as she was thrown aside, her body slamming into the stone. Heat seared her skin where its flas brushed past, and her vision swam for a mont.
The hydra lood over her, bloodied but alive, its body thicker than the others. Its tongue lashed out again, flas spiraling toward her.
Dorothy rolled, barely avoiding the blast, but the movent sent a sharp jolt through her side. Sothing was wrong. Breathing hurt.
She forced herself up on one knee, her left hand shaking as she tried to gather aether.
The hydra charged.
Dorothy gritted her teeth.
"Alright... one last shot."
She poured everything she had left into her palm. The projectile that ford was unstable, its surface crackling violently as aether threatened to spill out.
The hydra was almost on her.
She didn’t aim for the head.
She waited.
At the last possible second, Dorothy thrust her hand forward and released the spell straight into its open chest.
BOOOOM
The explosion engulfed the hydra entirely, the shockwave knocking Dorothy backward as the creature was torn apart from the inside.
When the dust settled, only scorched stone and smoking remains were left behind.
Dorothy lay on her back, chest heaving, pain throbbing through her side.
But she was smiling.
She glanced to her right and saw Emma facing more than a dozen hydras alone.
’Sorry, Emma...you are on your own right.’
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