[Chain Strike]
Right after Viktor cast the spell, a metallic chain made of energy formed out of thin air. It then swung to surround the nearest small green creatures, restraining them.
Viktor was surprised by how much easier it was to form the chain using this skill compared to using his [Metal-bending] skill. Not just it doesn't need metal in the first place, it was at least two times faster, stronger, and consumed less of his spirit pool.
When the group had begun to get used to fighting goblins and Viktor had gotten used to controlling [Chain Strike], he asked Barry, Kosta, Eva, and Liza to stand in the front together with the others. This was so that they would be more confident in fighting at the front and get used to their newly-learned weapon skills at the same time.
Upon hearing Viktor's instructions, the two boys, Barry and Kosta, immediately followed with excitement. Not only that, but they were even competing with each other.
Kosta displayed his higher battle power while Barry occasionally used his flashy [Fire Infusion] sword. The two's enthusiasm greatly contrasted the other two girls' somewhat hesitant reactions.
They were really hopeless, even with Viktor restraining the enemies with [Chain Strike], Eva still did not have the heart to kill the small green creatures. It took her quite a long time to finally kill one since she had to force herself to. As for Liza, she only stood unmotivated.
"Liza, look, Big Sister Eva killed one. Why don't you try it too?" Viktor gently urged the girl.
Still, Liza only briefly looked at him before turning her gaze back at Eva. Even after Viktor patiently urged her several times, the girl only stood unmoving.
A little impatient, Viktor "accidentally" let one of the goblins pass through. Given the chance, the creature quickly charged toward Liza, the nearest person. However, even in such a situation, the girl did not move to kill or even attack the charging goblin.
In the end, the girl ended up being injured with a slice wound on her back. To his surprise, the girl did not make a sound despite her injury, as if it did not hurt at all. Instead, Viktor ended up being scolded by Eva.
In contrast to the first and second level, the third and fourth level fight was much messier. There were a few trials and errors along the way, which caused them to require more than 12 hours to finish.
The two levels brought them another 1,000 goblins, which allowed Boris, Torri, Barry to reach level 5 and Eva and Liza to reach level 6.
After the group rested for some more, they started fighting the fifth level on the third day. This time, one bigger creature came with every 10 goblins.
Even from a distance, everyone could see that the next creature they were about to face was reminiscent of the goblin. The most apparent difference was that this creature was much larger, about three times the size of the small goblins.
The sensor quickly gave Viktor the available information about the creature.
[Hobgoblin]
[Battle Power - 30]
[A bigger and thicker-skinned goblin three times larger and two times stronger than an ordinary one.]
With a similar group of 50, there were now five hobgoblins among them. Although its battle power was still on the lower side compared to abyss creatures, Viktor still charged in first to test their strength, just to be sure the others would be fine going against them first-hand.
This time, he tried to cast his new spell, [Metal Shield].
The spell worked similarly to [Metal Fusion] as in a way, he needed to cast the spell into one of his arms. The moment he finished casting it, liquid metal quickly formed and began to cover his arm, forming a round metal shield. To his surprise, the spell actually turned his left arm into a shield.
With it, Viktor swiftly rushed forward to face one of the hobgoblins. The moment he arrived in front of it, he immediately raised his new shield to block the creature's mace strike.
Clank!!!
When the hobgoblin's mace hit his shield, he could instantly tell that it had about three times the strength of ordinary goblins. Not only did the impact numb his arm a little, but the hobgoblin's large mace even threw him back a step.
Its swing had quite some weight in them.
After directly experiencing his first stagger against the creature, Viktor quickly noticed something about these new creatures. Although these hobgoblins had twice the battle power of a goblin, their physical prowess was at least three times more while their speed was considerably less.
? From the looks of it, the increase in battle power did not necessarily reflect the overall increase in all aspects of their fighting capability. After a moment of contemplation, Viktor decided to instead use his speed to fight these monsters.
Just as he expected, its agility was indeed lacking quite a bit. Even without using much effort, Viktor easily dodged the hobgoblin's large mace. Utilizing the opening it had a moment after it missed its attack, he easily scored a kill.
Just like the first four floors, the fifth level still did not pose much of a threat for Viktor and the team. Hence, they continued fighting, honing their combat skills for three more days. By the time they finished clearing out the tenth level, the team had grown much stronger.
[Viktor Romanov - Earth Realm level 23 - High stage]
[Jessie Wineberrie - Earth Realm level 30 - High stage]
[Kosta Tamyr - Earth Realm level 12 - Middle stage]
[Barry Pennyworth - Earth Realm level 7 - Initial stage]
[Torri Helsinki - Earth Realm level 7 - Initial stage]
[Boris Oslo - Earth Realm level 7 - Initial stage]
[Evangeline Amelia Bardott - Earth Realm level 9 - Initial stage]
[Vasiliza - Earth Realm level 9 - Initial stage]
No matter how powerful they were, fighting over 10,000 goblins on the 10 floors in only five days definitely took a toll on their energy. In the end, the group managed to raise half a zone level while Viktor only got to raise one.
"Are you ready for level 11?" Jessie asked everyone in the group, her face beaming with smiles as usual.
"Of course!" Barry enthusiastically answered. "We beat 10 floors, another floor won't be a problem!"
After going through the long battle, the boy had become much braver when it came to fighting monsters.
"Oh? Those goblins are just like the tutorial though. The real fight will start on the next floor, are you sure you're ready?" she asked, half-teasing and half-serious.
Hearing this, Barry became a little hesitant.
Viktor has no plans of backing off today. Even if the next floor was considerably more difficult than the previous 10 floors, he would make sure that everyone treads carefully.
[The gate of the 11th floor is ready to be opened.]
[Open the gate to the 11th floor?]
[Yes.]
Following Viktor's affirmation, the 10-meter-wide gate slowly opened and the group of 8 arrived at a room not much different from the previous hall. The hall they entered was practically pitch-black, dark enough to render them unable to see the end of it despite their enhanced senses. At this moment, all of them were facing a giant dark passage.
Suddenly, the carvings on the wall lit up and continued across the room, lighting up the dark hallway.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
At the same time, screams and sounds of irregular bangs could be heard from the end of the hall. While the group carefully prepared themselves for whatever was coming, the chaotic noises from the end of the hall got closer and closer.
Not long after, the awaited creatures arrived. A group of green-skinned creatures arrived a distance in front of them. They all had heights of around 2.5 meters, strong bodies, and sharp teeth, each of them looking just as ferocious as the other. These orcs wore simple armor and brought either machetes or large clubs in their hands.
[Orcs]
[Battle Power - 50]
[Grunts raised to become the perfect tools of war. The ultimate race, filled with bloodlust for battle.]
Those who came at this time numbered at 20 orcs. It was basically a war party.
Viktor felt relieved when he saw that there were only a small number of them, but all of a sudden, the 20 orcs started to scream.
"GRAAHHHHH!! GRAAHHHHH!!"
Standing at the front of the orc wave was an orc in full-body armor. It seemed to be the head of the group, a pack leader.
"GRAAHHHHH!!"
To his surprise, these 20 orcs were much more difficult to take care of. Even with the group fighting at full force, these creatures still managed to break through their defense quite quickly and create chaos. The group still managed to win, but most of them received a wound from the battle.
This result quickly gave Viktor a headache.
"We really need a different strategy if we want to move forward."
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