Leading his familia along the winding path oh floor, Drad his group soon arrived at a peculiar opehat resembled a mini rai, plete with s-like properties.
The vibrant greenery enveloped them, and the air was thick with humidity.
Above, arg wooden pathways loomed, adorned with various pnts that dangled precariously over the lush ground below.
Several of these paths likely led to uncharted territories within the dungeon, which Drao iigate ter.
Armed with a map of explored areas on the middle floors, he knew precisely where to go .
The reason Draco had chosen this particur area was clear: it rime training ground for his familia.
Only three types of dungeon monsters spawned here: Lizardmen, Gun Libellu, and Dark Fungus.
This unique bination offered an excellent opportunity for his familia to hone and possibly unloew, unique development abilities.
The Lizardmen, humanoid creatures with shimmering red scales, excelled in melee bat, wielding ons known as metal flowers as both swords and shields.
The Gun Libellu, resembling dragonflies, specialized in le attacks, ung projectiles from their abdomens.
Lastly, the Dark Fungus, a mushroom-like monster, released poisonous spores when threatened.
These monsters were not beyond level 2, but would present a challenge simir to what his familia had entered oh floor.
The key difference y in the diversity of the creatures and their sheer numbers.
Reizing this, Draco decided to split the group into teams to boost efficy while increasing the challenge.
The first team sisted of Eleni, Nikoos, and Vasiliki, with Vasiliki as the team leader.
The sed team prised Michalis, Cir, and Dimitra, with Dimitra taking charge.
Finally, the st team was made up of Drad Vasileios.
Upon hearing the team assigs, a look of pity crossed the faces of the others as they regarded Vasileios for being paired with Drabsp;
On one hand, being with his brother ensured his safety; oher, it meant that he would be the prime beta tester for whatever pns Draco had in mind.
Draco, however, believed that grouping together for every monster was unnecessary.
The area was vast and teeming with monsters, allowing them to engage individually without relying on his dete skills.
His objective was to accelerate their growth, and he had no iion of coddling them.
As long as they didn’t teeter on the brink of death, he po let them find their footing.
Everyone o be at least level 3 or more for him to have peaind during the evilus eventual attack.
‘Sigh, I only pray that we aren’t unlucky enough to be oermination list of the evilus’ Draco thought.
He knew just how dangerous the evilus members could be, they were a crazy bunch, willing to sacrifice their souls for their cause.
Even summoning a juggernaut was just the tip of the iceberg to the level of their madness.
“Alright, everyo off,” Drastructed, tent with the team arras.
Although he sidered setting quotas to foster petitioimately decided against it.
He reized that petition could lead to rash decisions and acts, especially sihey were still acclimating to the 19th floor of the dungeon.
As the various teams ventured into the thickets of greenery, Draco turo Vasileios, a sly smile creeping across his face that sent a shiver down the younger boy’s spine.
………………………………………………………
Somewhere deep within the forest of the 19th floor, the atmosphere crackled with tension.
Eleni, Nikoos, and Vasiliki crouched behind a dense cluster of thick ferns, their eyes trained on a group of lizardmen that loomed nearby.
The vibrant greens of the foliage stood in stark trast to the sinister crimson scales of the creatures.
Their reptilian eyes glinted with a sliver of intelligence, and the metallic flowers they wielded sparkled ominously uhe dappled blue light filtering through the opy.
“Stay low and watch our fnks,” Vasiliki whispered, her staff drawn and crag with energy.
“We o take them by surprise.” she muttered.
After splitting up, Vasiliki’s team had quickly entered the group of lizardmen, prompting them to hide and assess their surroundings before preparing an ambush.
It was their first enter with this monster, and charging head-on would be reckless.
“Right behind you,” Nikoos replied, gripping his spiked maul tightly, his muscles teh anticipation.
“Let’s break their formation. Vasiliki, you freeze some of them in pce?” Eleni asked, her eyes dartiween the lizardmen.
“Leave it to me. But remember, you two should save your skills; I need you both to be able to fight all day,” Vasiliki responded, fog her energy.
She closed her eyes, drawing upon the elemental forces surrounding her.
Frost began to swirl at the tip of her staff, f delicate tendrils of ice that sparkled with tent power.
As the lead lizardman she air, its tongue flig out, seheir presence, causing Eleni to take a deep breath.
“Now!” she shouted, springing from her cover, not wasting time sihey had been discovered.
Like a coiled spring, Nikoos surged forward, swinging his maul with all his might.
The lead lizardman barely had time to react before the resounding thud echoed through the clearing, sending the creature sprawling.
Vasiliki unleashed her magic, a frigid bst erupting from her staff.
The icy wave enveloped two more lizardmen, their scales hardening into a glistening shell of frost.
Although she had hoped to ensnare more, but they had scattered just before her spell hit.
“Tsk! Only two are immobilized! Keep moving!” she urged, her keen eyes sing for additional targets.
Eleni charged past the frozen foes, her bde glinting as she expertly sidestepped a lizardman’s thrust.
With a swift, fluid motion, she sshed across its chest, the bde biting deep into its flesh.
The creature hissed in pain, staggering back, but Eleni pressed on.
“Nikoos, to your left!” she shouted, her instincts on high alert as she turo faother assaint.
“I’m ing!” he bellowed, crashing into the fray with unyielding forbsp;
He swung his maul again, catg a lizardman who had attempted to fnk Eleni.
The creature flew several feet, crashing into a tree with a siing thud.
“They’re tougher than they look!” he grunted, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“But not tougher than a Minotaur!” he observed.
“Just keep them occupied!” Vasiliki called out, juring another ice shard that she hurled toward a charging lizardman.
It struck the creature in the shoulder, causing it to stumble.
her surrounding, Vasiliki quickly noticed another lizardmen group quickly approag, they were small in numbers, but were still a threat.
“We ’t let them join together!” Vasiliki yelled alerting the others.
But as Vasiliki spoke, a lizardman raised its metallic flower shield, defleg her icy projectile, Its baleful gaze fell upon her, hissing angrily.
“Eleni, cover me!” Vasiliki anded as the lizardman lu her.
She was focused ily on stopping the lizardmen reinforts that had emerged uedly, unwilling to activate her defensive passive skill, which would drain her mind quickly.
“Not today!” Eleni shouted, intercepting the lizardman with a swift strike that caught it off guard.
“We won’t let you lizards near her!” she muttered.
“Thanks, Eleni!” Vasiliki replied gratefully as she jured a semi-circur protective barrier of ice around herself, to split the roup.
“I’ll keep casting; just make sure they don’t get too close!” she instructed.
Eleni nodded, mindful of her positioive to Vasiliki.
Without Vasileios to tank and draw aggro, everythi a bit precarious.
As the battle intensified, Eleni found herself surrounded.
The lizardmen advaheir metallic fllinting ominously.
“Nikoos, I need backup!” she shouted, parrying a strike aimed at her midse.
“I’m ing!” he bellowed, crashing into the fray once more.
With brute force, he swung his maul, knog two lizardmen to the ground, allowing Eleni a moment to breathe.
Vasiliki, sensing that they were nearing victathered her energy and unleashed a chilling blizzard that swept through the clearing.
Id wind howled as shards sliced through the air, striking the remaining lizardmen and leaving them disoriented.
“Now’s your ce!” she urged, her voice elevated above the chaos.
Seizing the opportunity, Eleni and Nikoos quickly dispatched the remaining lizardmen, their teamwork shining through in the heat of battle.
As the st creature fell, they began gathering magic stones and dropped items while Vasiliki took a moment to meditate, a way to quickly recover her mind.
There was no telling when they would be ambushed, keeping her on edge.
