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"I wanted to save that artifact for later," Kevin said, looking back at the group of annihilated monsters.
"Well, we saved a lot of time with that," Elena told Kevin.
"And we need you to conserve your mana for later," Elena added, looking at Kevin.
"Yeah, I will support you guys from this point," Kevin affirmed, turning to Matthew and Lishia.
"Okay," Matthew responded, unbothered.
They had just encountered multiple wall crawlers in the narrow path.
True to their names, these were human-shaped monsters with large limbs that helped them crawl on surfaces.
Elena, however, used a fire spell C Rank artifact, annihilating all 15 Wall Crawlers that were rushing towards them.
As they were early D Rank monsters, they all got burnt to death by the artifact's power.
"We can't use it for now," Elena announced, putting the bracelet inside her spatial ring.
Unlike before, the red gem on the bracelet had become dull, indicating that it needed time to recharge.
"Which path should we choose now?" They questioned, looking at four different paths.
"Hmm, let's go with the one on the left," Kevin suggested. Elena nodded, and Kevin stepped back, moving with Eva. Meanwhile, Matthew took his place as they delved deeper into the Dungeon.
"How much time do you think it will take for them to reach the center?" The Third Professor inquired.
"We have sent them on the two shortest starting points out of the four," The Fourth Professor replied.
"If they take more than 15 hours to arrive there, I can't say I wouldn't be disappointed," he confessed, adding,
"After all, this is a cleared dungeon, an uncleared Maze Dungeon takes weeks to clear."
Currently, the Boss monster was dead, and the Dungeon relic was removed, so the Maze Dungeon wasn't at its peak difficulty.
If it were an uncleared Maze Dungeon, a lot of conditions would need to be met and, of course, the paths kept changing. All these factors made Maze Dungeons a nightmare for hunters.
Their attention shifted towards Asher's team that had defeated the Sensips and all the Clawsens.
"Should we slow down a bit?" Damian, who was breathing heavily, asked Asher. He had noticed that Asher was the one who had defeated most of the Clawsens monsters, but their whole team would tire out soon if they maintained their current pace.
Asher surveyed his team and, apart from him and Alyssa, all of them were breathing roughly. Using so much mana in such a short amount of time wore their bodies out quickly.
"We can slow down for an hour," Amelia suggested.
She proposed this duration because it would take them hours to reach the center and, being a race, they couldn't afford to take a full rest. This was not a Dungeon Clear mission that would allow them to rest for long hours to recover.
"Okay," Asher agreed, turning his gaze deeper into the Dungeon where various rune traps awaited.
He was certain that many traps would be intentionally used on them. As Asher was dodging all the rune traps, the professors in charge would manually activate them.
This test was designed to measure a student's wits, resolve, and endurance. They needed to counter the monsters with their weaknesses using the knowledge they had gained at World Academy.
Also, the extreme situations resulting from numerous monsters and rune traps could cause them to lose courage and become anxious. Having enough resolve to make it to the center was necessary.
And lastly, there was endurance, as this was a race you needed to traverse the dungeon quickly while maintaining your mana to respond to any situation that arose.
Amelia, with the Greville blood coursing through her veins, was the only one who recovered the fastest. During their journey, they encountered various traps of different elements.
"Should I keep casting the mana barrier," Amelia asked as the barrage of fire arrows ceased.
"No, I will alert you about traps," Asher replied.
'This should be enough for them,' Asher speculated.
The number of traps they had faced in the last two hours was quite high, from a barrage of arrows, various spells, to places where the walls collapsed.
If Asher hadn't alerted them beforehand, there was a high chance that one of them would have surely been caught in those Rune Formations.
<Host has gained 100 EXP>
They encountered various groups of monsters, with Asher defeating a few of them and leaving the rest to his team.
<Host has gained 100 EXP>
<Host has gained 150 EXP>
<Host has gained 100 EXP>
Ignoring the system notifications, Asher continued moving deeper into the Dungeon.
"At this point, Kevin Whiteheart's Team will reach the center first," The Third Professor announced, observing the progress of the two teams.
"Well, we can't interfere from this point on," Elsa added.
"Those guys got lucky that the longest path didn't have too many difficult monsters for them," The Fourth Professor remarked, glancing at Kevin's team.
"Well, they still need to pass the final part in the center of the Maze as well," he added.
They watched as Asher's team fought various types of monsters.
"It's been 8 hours already," Damian declared, finishing off the last monster with his shield.
"We should be near the center," Venessa added.
"Hope so, we need to fetch the medallion quickly," Sam chimed in, leaning on his spear.
The team had grown somewhat more comfortable around each other, except for Alyssa who kept her distance. She detested all Elite families, but she tolerated her presence in Asher's team.
This was the least she thought she could do for Asher, as he had helped her greatly for reasons unknown to her.
Alyssa's dull eyes fell on Asher, whose armor was stained with blood. 'Is he trying to hide his strength as well?' she wondered.
She was well aware of Asher's capabilities, and even now, as he seemed to be at the peak of D Rank somehow, Alyssa speculated that Asher could potentially complete this race on his own.
It was rare for a swordsman to have so much mana, but his unwavering endurance reflected in his physical and mental strength.
Throughout the ordeal, Asher hadn't sat down once while his entire team, including Alyssa, had rested for at least 5 minutes.
'1 hour away,' Asher could sense that the center of the maze was near. A significant amount of mana gathered at that place. 'Is that the final test?' he pondered.
'This has taken longer than needed,' he thought, studying the path ahead.
"We will run at full speed from here," Asher instructed, turning to his team.
"What about the rune traps?" Damian inquired.
"Don't worry about them," Asher replied.
Knowing Asher, Damian got up. Asher was the team leader, and they had been following his decisions so far.
Venessa avoided questioning Asher directly, so she would only discuss their plans with Sam and Damian or with Amelia and Alyssa depending on the situation.
Even though other students might have felt awkward among Elite family's kids, Venessa was herself from the Demarcus Family, so she felt comfortable conversing with them.
"Well, you should go forward, I will handle the rear," Venessa told Sam as she moved towards Alyssa.
They fell into their formation, with all eyes on Asher.
"This should be enough," Asher announced, flaring his mana as he picked up a few rocks.
And one by one, Asher started throwing the stones he had picked up, each coated with his aura, and most of them hit the traps, activating them.
Suddenly, a wave of large explosions and triggered spells washed over them. The impact and noise of the traps were felt by everyone behind Asher as they observed the spectacle unfolding before them.
"Isn't that number of traps a bit too much?" Sam questioned, an awkward smile on his face.
"I agree," Damian replied, lifting his shield protectively. Looking at Asher, who was now dashing forward, he followed suit, as did every other team member.
As they traversed the paths, they noticed a few dead monsters scattered around.
"Was he picking all those stones earlier for this?" Sam mumbled, recalling how he'd seen Asher collect stones and put them into his spatial ring without understanding the reasoning behind it.
Currently, Asher's mana was flaring as he threw powerfully charged projectiles, each coated in his aura. It was a practical application of a new skill he'd learned from his sword art.
Though it was fundamentally a defensive skill, with a little modification, it could be used in a way that allowed Asher to strengthen an object with his aura, even when he was no longer in contact with it.
After running straight for 40 minutes, hearing various traps going off around them, the team was astounded by Asher's accuracy in pinpointing the traps. Asher was currently using a significant amount of mana to increase his mana sensitivity significantly.
As they neared the center, Asher spotted a group of beasts similar to the Sensips they had first encountered.
Rather than wasting time, Asher dashed forward. Not even bothering to draw his sword, Asher used his hand, coated with his aura, to seize the beast by its jaw and slam it into the ground, killing it instantly.
"Shadow Bind," he spoke, and chains materialized, strangling all the other Sensips surrounding him.
Ignoring the shrieking monsters as they were strangled to death, Asher turned his attention to the center of the Dungeon.
"So, it's behind this gate," Asher declared, reaching the center of the Dungeon.
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