"Bottomless Stairway?" Bastion muttered in apparent confusion. He looked around at the others while tilting his head. "What type of staircase is named this way if it only leads to a floor below?"
"A bottomless one," Nemean interjected with a smug smile.
Bastion growled at the comment and narrowed his eyes with an intent to pounce on Nemean. However, Kieran snapped his fingers to gain the attention of everyone in the party.
"This is a Secret Dungeon, meaning something makes it different from normal dungeons. You all need to remain vigilant and recognize any unusual changes that may escape the attention of other party members. If I somehow overlook something, bring it to my attention immediately," Kieran said with a stern expression.
Naturally, given that this dungeon didn't allow him to choose the difficulty, he needed the party to air on the side of caution. The floor's difficulty could change on a whim without them being all the wiser, especially since Secret Dungeons tended to withhold vital information hence the inclusion of "secret" in its name.
"Alright, I hear you loud and clear, captain," Bastion exclaimed before saluting as if he was a soldier. But, as he did so, Alice simply shook her head behind him before glancing to the side to observe their current setting.
As they followed behind Kieran, descending the spiraling stairway quickly but cautiously, Alice soon realized that an unusual torch lit up only once they passed by. Generally, a feature like this was akin to checkpoint registration.
But, since this wasn't a game where a player could necessarily anchor a spot as a resurrection point, Alice felt these torches possessed another feature. Since she manned the absolute rear of the team, she took a step back and momentarily separated from the group.
As she did so, she tried to leave the dungeon, but it was as if a barrier prohibited her from doing so. No matter how hard she pressed her hand forward, it felt like a light film of extraordinary strength rebounded the force she used. A slight frown appeared across Alice's charming yet indifferent face as she turned back towards the others who continued downward.
A few seconds later, she called out to them. "Guys, there's something."
Alice remained unusually calm despite the situation that would cause others to freak out.
Nevertheless, because she, the one who rarely spoke, had called out to others, the entire party reacted.
"What is it, Alice?" Bastion shouted while rapidly turning around. However, his worry deflated when he saw Alice's neutral expression. 'Is this damned girl playing a joke or something? Since when has she started playing jokes?'
Bastion's thought process was only so because he failed to sense the restriction that activated just millimeters away from Alice's extended hand.
"We are stuck. We aren't allowed to retreat. I've tried to do so, but I think this is one of those places where it only allows advancement or death," Alice spoke while slowly retracting her hand. She rubbed her fingers together but remained at a loss for words. 'I feel no Mana residue, so it mustn't be a trapped realized through Mana. If that is so, is it something imposed by the game system?'
After becoming a recognized Mage, Alice's familiarity with Mana skyrocketed. Furthermore, because she appropriately unlocked her affinity with Mana, she could "see" it to a certain extent. However, calling it sight would be an overestimation. Alice would need to acquire an ocular ability powerful enough to utilize her affinity's full potential and reach that level of Mana sensitivity. In her current state, as a normal human, the odds of Alice improving her ocular ability to see Mana in its purest form were extremely slim.
Even Kieran couldn't do that despite having some experience as an Awakened Being, both in the past and during his fight against Zirgirak's Phantom.
"Is that so? So that's how this is going to play out?" Kieran muttered after understanding the current situation. If the game denied retreating from the dungeon, it was possible that it'd disappear altogether. This meant the opportunity to complete this Secret Dungeon would potentially vanish along with that action.
While the "source of the quest" would remain inside this dungeon, the reason for its label as a Secret Dungeon would disappear. Simply put, this could very well turn into a regular dungeon if the party made a dire error.
As for Kieran's discovery, it was related to the dungeon's difficulty structure. Typically, dungeons that restricted retreat followed the same organization as a ladder tournament. In other words, the difficulty was bound to increase but required clearance to gain entry to the following floor.
However, in the event of death, there were two options for rewards: either all rewards obtained thus far would be forfeited to continue, or the progress was frozen and allowed players to pick rewards from those already acquired.
Of course, there were also such dungeons with reduced rewards, but they guaranteed rewards per floor. While Kieran was unsure of the reward pattern, he was confident that because of the dungeon's initial entrance interface, it was a dungeon that grew progressively harder.
"There's nothing we can do. Our best bet now is to advance and see what this place has in store for us," Kieran said before passing through the team. He resumed their descent down the stairs but did so even faster than before. The only reason for doing so was because such dungeons tend to only have monsters on designated floors and not inside their transport pathways.
Once Kieran sped up, the others followed suit, quickly descending the stairs. After five minutes of rapid movement, Bastion gradually frowned. "I understand why it's called the Bottomless Stairway. When the hell are we going to reach the bottom? Traveling down a set of stairs for five minutes is insane!"
"I agree. If it weren't for the threat of death, I'd take my chances and jump inside that gaping hole in the middle," Altair commented.
"That's a death wish. What's to say that some type of restriction doesn't await that action? You could be killed before you even reach the ground. Just be patient. We'll reach the bottom soon enough," Kieran said while glancing to the side.
His deep eyes shifted throughout the staircase, revealing a change in environment at the bottom. 'At least 100,000 steps. How far below the Aeredale Kingdom are we?'
Roughly two minutes later, Kieran's attention suddenly shifted, followed by an abrupt leap covering the chasm's entire span separating the staircase's two sides.
"Shhh," Kieran gestured by covering his lip. As he looked below, he saw an unusual ogre pacing around the staircase's bottom as if it was guarding something. Despite the distance that separated him from this monster, something put him on high alert that couldn't be shrugged aside.
'It isn't the monster's rank that's unsettling me. Then… what is it?' Kieran wondered. As Blood Mania activated, he immediately drew his weapon, allowing a bloody presence to seep from his body. The crimson hue reappeared in his eyes as Kieran looked to Nemean and signaled for him to approach first.
Nemean returned an excited grin before slowly accelerating to the edge of the step he walked upon. Once at the ledge, he brandished both shields before leaping explosively. Aside from this action, he made no noise so as not to alert the monster below prematurely.
However, despite his effort to ensure that the monster below wouldn't detect him too early on, as his shadow grew larger on the ground below, the monster snapped its head up, revealing two dangerous eyes.
BANG!
A loud explosion reverberated throughout the area as the hulking ogre's massive fist smashed against Nemean's two shields, forcing him backward. Upon watching this unfold, Bastion's expression grew fierce as he followed behind, leading his actions with a Guardian Rush.
This skill allowed him to dash to any individual deemed as an ally. While under the effects of this skill, the Guardian Knight's movement speed would increase by 300%. At that precise moment, Bastion's speed surpassed Altair's peak, arriving in front of Nemean before the ogre could begin its pursuit.
Bang! Bang!
Two more powerful punches bombarded Bastion's shield, but unlike Nemean, he remained stable while suffering silently.
'An ogre with no weapon whatsoever that specializes in Strength?' Kieran inwardly noted. Generally, ogres carried large weapons to accentuate their destructive damage. The fact this one lacked any weapon at all was unusual.
Nevertheless, Kieran found the lack of other monsters even more abnormal.
As Kieran moved to join the battle, a soft green cluster of pleasant energy passed by him and encased Bastion, healing a large amount of the Health lost.
「Lv.28 Mindless Bombarder (Mini-Boss)
Goblin Type, Humanoid Type
Health: 300,000/300,000 (100%)
Special Traits: «Toughen» «Robust» «Explosive» 」
"Be careful; it's a Mini-Boss level monster. Even Champion Monsters don't compare to it in terms of attributes," Kieran said. All the while, his mind continued to question this floor's set difficulty. Could it be set at Normal, or could the baseline be set even higher?
If it was the latter, facing off against a Mini-Boss this early on would be the least of their problems.
Cough! Cough!
Nemean shook off the damage received earlier while coughing and returning to Bastion's side. "That monster isn't natural. Its attacks somehow radiated throughout my entire body, or I wouldn't have been thrown back like that."
"Yeah, the power of its blows is excessive. Its traits all compound on one another to create a severe effect. As for why its attacks feel this way, it's similar to how your entire body hurts after being in a car crash. The weight of its attack is distributed throughout your body. Otherwise, those attacks would inflict much greater damage, probably more than you could handle," Kieran explained.
Afterward, Kieran frowned while sensing something amiss with his body. 'Is that the reason I felt that threat earlier? Do I not have as much time as I believed?'
Zenith Online's early state exceeded Kieran's expectations in terms of population. Once enough active players were outside the Beginner Zone, the world would face its first extensive natural upgrade. At that time, battles like this would become more demanding.
"Nemean, Bastion; handle this ogre's attacks together. Sithik, Cygnus; focus most of your heals on Bastion but be mindful of Nemean's Health. Sera, make sure to prioritize Bastion's Health," Kieran ordered
Everyone nodded, accepting their instruction. In unison, Nemean and Bastion rushed forward, each activating a defensive skill that amplified the effects of their natural Defense.
At the same time, Kieran lifted his blade. There were still a few skills in his possession that he had yet to reveal. If this place was truly as difficult as he presumed, then it wasn't a place where he could withhold anything in his arsenal.
After all, monsters at this level possessed Magical Defense. Therefore, magic classes like Mages weren't as powerful as they were in the Beginner Zone.
