The group cleared the early part of the dungeon much faster than usual. Things started to worsen as soon as the group approached the sub-boss room, because, as usual, the number of 1st evolution creatures increased.
This increase in the number of enemies highlighted all the existing problems, such as the fact that Mark didn't have much offensive power, or Ocean not being able to protect 2 people in the back.
The situation worsened further when Mark focused on protecting Stella, while Ocean pulled back to protect Diana.
In other words, Alexander added more people to his team, but the speed at which they cleaned the dungeon didn't improve much.
Frustrated with the situation, Alexander began to launch |Thrust| or |Sweep| whenever a new group of enemies appeared. This attacks always hit, even if just a little, multiple enemies.
Although this tactic of wide-area attacks seemed like a good solution, launching one's own energy outside the body greatly increases fatigue. It literally consumes the same energy that keeps the body moving.
Fortunately for the group, this wasn't such a concerning problem for Alexander, who had a large amount of energy and the special skill |Energy Conversion|. But it wasn't as if he had an infinite amount of energy to spend either.
The upside of this was that the constant use of these skills greatly increased Alexander's proficiency in them, making his |Sweep| skill level up.
Ding!
[|Sweep (Beginner)| leveled up to |Sweep (Intermediate)|]
As soon as they reached the front of the sub-boss room, the group stopped to rest and Alexander thought: "Finally |Sweep| leveled up… As I imagined, my proficiency increase in it is less than in |Thrust|."
Despite this disparity, Alexander wasn't too worried about it, as he thought it made sense. After all, the spear is primarily a piercing weapon.
After the group rested enough to stabilize their energy and breathing, Alexander turned to Mark and Stella and instructed: "Don't do anything against the sub-bosses. Just watch and try to learn."
"What do you mean don't do anything?" asked Mark. "Aren't we here precisely to get used to fighting 2nd evolution creatures?"
"You have a point," agreed Alexander, to the team's surprise. But he soon added: "The problem is we're not used to working as a team. Just look at our performance so far."
"If we try to face a 2nd evolution creature like this, even if it's a rabbit, it's likely someone will end up injured… or worse," explained Alexander.
Mark and Stella understood the logic, but still felt disposable.
It wasn't as if Alexander was insinuating that about them. They themselves were feeling disposable.
Normally Alexander wouldn't be bothered by this, but since he still needed their cooperation, he said a few words: "Don't compare yourselves to anyone. Just accept who you are and focus on what you excel at… You must forge your own paths."
Alexander had no idea if they understood what he meant, but his words were complex enough to make them reflect and stop worrying about just watching.
As soon as they entered the sub-boss room, a small shadowy light began to glow and made Alexander's and Ocean's bodies shudder.
Without any hesitation, Ocean grabbed Diana by her clothes and dragged her aside.
Alexander, in turn, delivered a 'light' blow to Mark and Stella with the shaft of his spear to throw them away, before throwing himself to the side.
Shortly after everyone left their original positions, a black flame rose from the ground and engulfed that place.
Its destructive power wasn't great, but Alexander felt it wasn't as simple as it seemed.
With no time to speculate about the worrisome properties of the {Darkness} element, Alexander rolled on the ground to dodge and got up firing |Thrust| at the hooded sub-boss in a robe.
"Seeing" the attack coming in its direction, the sub-boss created what appeared to be a shadow barrier to protect itself.
Unfortunately for it, the barrier wasn't that effective and ended up being pierced by Alexander's attack, which hit it in the stomach. But the attack's effectiveness was very low due to the barrier's mitigation and the sub-boss being a skeleton.
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[{Skeleton Sorcerer} – Undead – 2nd Evolution]
"Shit. This was supposed to be an {Intermediate – Normal Dungeon}," thought Alexander. "Why is its sub-boss in the 2nd evolution?"
As soon as he saw Mark and Stella getting up from the blow they received, Alexander warned them: "Try not to block its spells; just dodge. I feel there's something more to its spells… Its main element must be {Darkness}."
Mark wanted nothing more than to ignore what Alexander said and attack him, because he was the first to be hit by the spear and, therefore, suffered the most impact. But he could do nothing except raise his shield to defend against the |Fireball| the sub-boss launched in his direction.
Alexander seized the opening of this distraction to close the distance between himself and the sub-boss, but the {Skeleton Sorcerer} was able to cast its spell very quickly and used something akin to a small levitation to retreat.
Without a good frontline to control the sub-boss, Alexander had to engage in a very disadvantageous mid-range combat.
The problem was simple: the {Skeleton Sorcerer} had more offensive Tier II spells than he did, who only had |Elemental Water Blast|, a spell unviable to use due to its channeling time.
While Alexander exchanged ranged attacks with the sub-boss, Mark and Stella began formulating their own plan without him noticing.
As soon as he managed to land a large vertical |Sweep|, to cause more damage by hitting more bones, the {Skeleton Sorcerer} seemed to weaken.
Thinking this was "their chance," Mark drew his sword and attacked the sub-boss. Little did he know that the more threatened a creature feels, the more dangerous it becomes, as it has less and less to lose.
Mark discovered the hard way that the {Skeleton Sorcerer} wasn't as weak as it seemed.
What it was doing was chaining the spells it intended to use against Alexander, which is why it became more static.
As soon as Mark got close enough, the sub-boss raised its staff and pointed it at him.
Mark, reflexively, raised his shield to defend. But he couldn't block it, because the spell wasn't tangible.
The spell the {Skeleton Sorcerer} used was special and part of the unique characteristics of the {Darkness} element. It was capable of trapping a person by immobilizing their shadow.
With Mark trapped, the sub-boss began charging a black energy on its staff that gave Alexander a great sense of familiarity.
"It seems I won't have to worry about this idiot. He’s the kind of idiot who gets himself killed early," thought Alexander as he ran to finish off the sub-boss who was charging its |Elemental Darkness Blast|.
Halfway there, Alexander felt a shiver run down his spine and was forced to change his trajectory to get behind Mark while using a succession of techniques and spells.
"|Water Field|."
"|Mana Blessing|."
"|Water Barrier|."
"BOOOOOOM!" The explosion roared that swallowed the space in front of them just as the reinforced barrier Alexander conjured formed, protecting them from the impact.
He immediately realized who was responsible for this.
Only 3 things would have enough power to finish off the sub-boss and make the room shake that way at that moment:
His |Elemental Water Blast|, which wasn't even being channeled.
The sub-boss's |Elemental Darkness Blast|, which hadn't been fired.
Stella's explosive Tier I spell—at maximum charge—causing a chain reaction with the |Elemental Darkness Blast| by eliminating the sub-boss.
Seeing that everything went "as planned," Stella was happy to have managed to finish off the sub-boss. But all her happiness turned to fear when she felt a hot breath touch her back, giving her chills.
Stella didn't need to turn around to know that the hot breath was from Ocean, and she doubted even less that she would be attacked in case of sudden movements, as she could feel that Alexander had entered open hostility against her and Mark for what they had done.
"GET! OUT!" growled Alexander, still containing his anger.
Feeling upset by such a command, Mark, who was fine thanks to Alexander's help, turned a deaf ear, and Stella bit her lip in frustration, but also didn't retreat.
Seeing the idiots who were already stealing his XP, putting him at risk, and refusing to leave, Alexander lost his patience. He then drew his spear and instructed Ocean to flank them.
His goal wasn't clear to the others, but they could feel his intentions weren't good.
The situation became very tense, and Alexander, who was ready to attack, only didn’t paralyze them with poison and leave them to fend for themselves because Diana was pleading too much and he didn't want to drag her into this.
After picking up everything of value that survived the explosion, Alexander advanced again. This time he didn't care about energy expenditure, because he wanted to ensure that Mark and Stella wouldn't be able to kill even a miserable fly inside the dungeon anymore.
Mark and Stella were extremely frustrated with Alexander always "stealing" their creatures at the last moment—especially Stella, since no one had ever treated her like that before.
Unable to do anything that didn't border on suicide to stop Alexander, they just waited until an opportunity appeared.
As soon as they reached the doors of a second room, Stella and Mark kept their eyes on opportunities. But as soon as they showed the slightest reaction, Alexander kicked Mark on top of Stella, and Ocean reinforced the warning with a large water sphere that exploded in front of them.
This whole situation made Alexander's head hurt. Why, besides having to face another sub-boss, did he also have to put up with these spoiled idiots.
"I hate undead," thought Alexander, already exasperated with the situation.
[{Skeleton Warrior} – Undead – 2nd Evolution]
Alexander hated having to deal with "high-level" undead—especially the skeleton type—because his compatibility with these creatures was terrible.
His magical affinity with water and piercing/slashing strikes weren't the most effective against them.
Despite his limitations, Alexander managed to do well and defeated another sub-boss.
The fight was extremely long, but very rewarding.
Ding!
[You leveled up. But due to the interference of the special skill |Attribute Control|, all your attribute increases upon leveling up were denied and converted into free attribute points.]
*[+50 free attribute points]*
*[+1 growth point]*
Ding!
[Your familiar leveled up.]
Ding!
[Your familiar reached the maximum level of its current race and, as its master, you can choose the evolutionary path it will follow. Choose one of the selectable evolutions within three days or it will evolve randomly and forcibly.]
