As they entered the twentieth floor, Thorian's group found themselves inside of a giant icy arena. The vast expanse of the arena was enclosed by towering walls of ice, shimmering under the dim light that seemed to emanate from the very ice itself. The cold was more intense here, biting into the skin, but for Thorian and his team, it was just another challenge to overcome.
Welcome to the twentieth floor of the abyss.
To clear this floor, complete the floor quest
Floor Quest Description Eliminate all four waves of attacking monsters. Rewards
150,000 Experience Points.
75,000 Arcane Coins.
"Monster waves, how interesting," Forlune grinned as he readied himself, his sword gleaming with a faint aura of power.
"Don't overdo it on the first few waves," Thorian warned, his voice echoing slightly in the vast arena. "The later ones will be harder. Just use enough aura to eliminate your enemies and that's it."
"Roger that, lord," Forlune nodded, his eyes scanning the arena for any sign of the impending monsters.
As if on cue, the first wave of monsters emerged from gates that opened along the walls of the arena. Ice direwolves, their fangs and claws cold like steel, charged towards them, their howls filling the air.
Without hesitation, Thorian raised his staff, the tip glowing with a fiery light. "Let's keep this clean and efficient," he called out, before launching multiple massive fireballs at the incoming packs of direwolves.
Forlune, moving with graceful speed, engaged the monsters that managed to dodge the fiery onslaught. Each swing of his sword was precise, cutting down his foes with minimal effort.
Aqua stood back and softly chanted, summoning a water vortex that trapped the direwolves in its relentless currents. He then conjured a frost beam, freezing the spinning water tornado.
Seizing the opportunity, Zogarth charged at the frozen vortex and split it with his giant battleaxe. With one slash, he killed all the direwolves Aqua had frozen.
As the last direwolf fell, a notification appeared:
First wave has been cleared.
The gates then reopened, revealing five ice trolls. They stood taller than Zogarth, even with their hunched posture, sporting thick hides and wielding giant tree trunks as clubs.
“They look slow as all hell,” Forlune remarked with a click of his tongue.
“And pretty dumb too,” Aqua added with a chuckle.
As the ice trolls charged towards them, Thorian commanded, “Let’s get them to bunch up before we blast them.”
With a nod, the group waited for the ice trolls to get close before dashing away, causing the confused trolls to headbutt each other. Thorian then cast his spell, Quick Sandtrap, to ensnare them. Without delay, he activated his tornado spell.
As the tornado formed, battering them with cutting winds, the ice trolls' large weight and strength prevented them from being swept away. However, Thorian had a different objective. As the vortex took shape, he unleashed his second spell, Fire Pillar.
The spells merged, creating a fire tornado that caused the ice trolls within it to shriek in pain. Yet, they did not die immediately.
At Thorian's signal, Zogarth and Forlune, their bodies clad in their respective auras, rushed toward the fiery vortex. In a flash, they cut through the flames and the ice trolls within, killing them all in an instant.
Second wave has been cleared.
With the ice trolls defeated, Thorian and his team caught their breath, their weapons still poised. The arena gates groaned open, and a chill wind rushed in. Not hulking giants this time, but sleek shapes materialized from the icy haze – snow leopards. Their eyes, like twin moons against their mottled fur, fixed on the battered adventurers.
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"Snow leopards," Thorian hissed, never breaking eye contact. "We went from dumb but tough to fast and annoying."
The first leopard exploded into action, not with a roar, but a blur of motion. It streaked towards Forlune, whose sword flashed in response. One strike, two, three – steel met claws with a shriek. But the leopard twisted, impossibly supple, and raked its claws across Forlune's shield arm.
Aqua reacted instantly. Ice shards materialized from the air, not aimed to kill, but to sting, to harass. One shard grazed a leopard's flank, eliciting a furious snarl. The distraction was just enough for Forlune to drive the creature back with a flurry of blinding attacks, before piercing its throat with his sword.
Zogarth, built like an oak, was too slow for this lightning war. Instead, he slammed his axe into the ground. The whole arena shuddered, throwing the leopards off balance. It was a crude tactic, but it gave Thorian an opening. Raising his cane, Thorian activated his bramble patch skill, effectively cutting off the leopards' retreat path.
The leopards snarled, trapped between the sharp, thorny branches and the steel of Forlune's blade. One, bolder than the rest, lunged through the bramble patch toward Thorian, its sides sliced open by the sharp edges of the branches. Thorian barely flinched at the attack, blasting it in the face with a stream of flame, then sidestepping as its body tumbled, its flesh and skin burned to a crisp from Thorian's fire.
The fight was a whirlwind of steel, ice, and blazing magic. Each leopard, though smaller than the trolls, was a flurry of teeth and claws, their instincts honed to a razor's edge. However, they were no match for Thorian's team. Compared to Nalia's blinding speed, any opponent would seem slow, and the snow leopards were no exception.
Third wave has been cleared.
“Well, those were certainly annoying,” Forlune spat as the last leopard fell. “Their fur blends too well with the ice. It strained my eyes just trying to track their movement.”
“Tell me about it,” Aqua also complained. “Trying to land my spells without hitting you was really frustrating.”
“But we managed to finish them off,” Vigil said with a light smile, approaching the slightly injured Forlune. He then cast a spell, and a silver aura enveloped Forlune’s left bicep, mending the torn flesh.
“Thank you,” Forlune said, stretching his arm. “It feels much better now.”
However, as he finished speaking, a deep rumbling emanated from the northern gate before them. A colossal ice golem emerged, towering over the group. Its crystalline structure refracted the dim light into a myriad of sparkling colors. Composed entirely of ice and exuding a frigid aura that made the air around it shimmer with cold, the golem was both a magnificent and daunting adversary.
"An ice golem," Thorian remarked dryly, his gaze fixed on the golem as it took a lumbering step forward, frosting the ground beneath its feet with each movement. "You all know how it goes with these golem-type monsters. Aim for the core, it's their weakness."
Forlune, his sword now glowing brighter with a fierce aura, nodded. "Roger that, let’s finish it swiftly."
As the ice golem raised its massive arms to unleash a devastating blow, Aqua quickly cast a protective barrier in front of the group. The ice barrier flickered with energy, then caved in, but not before absorbing most of the impact of the golem's attack, shielding the team from the sheer force.
Undeterred by the golem's size, Zogarth charged forward, his battleaxe at the ready. He targeted the golem's legs, aiming to chip away at its icy foundation and reduce its mobility.
Meanwhile, Thorian, recognizing the need for a strategic approach, began chanting an incantation. His staff emitted a brilliant light as he summoned a concentrated beam of fire, aimed directly at the ice golem's chest where a faint glow hinted at the core's location.
Although his Fire Stream spell wasn't enough to penetrate the golem's chest, Thorian knew which spell could. Employing his dual-casting technique, he activated two spells: Galeforce Spear. Fire Arrow.
As the two spells merged into a giant spear of flames, Thorian launched it toward the ice golem's chest, causing a massive explosion. Fire spread throughout the colossus's body, leaving a gaping hole in its chest and exposing the core.
Seizing the moment, Forlune leaped high into the air, his sword charged with a blinding golden aura. He brought the sword down in a powerful arc, aiming for the ice golem's exposed weakness.
The sword struck true, shattering the core into a thousand sparkling fragments. The light within extinguished, and the golem's form began to crumble. Its structure lost cohesion, dissolving into a pile of snow and ice.
Floor Quest Cleared
Soon, notifications cascaded in front of Thorian.
Congratulations, you have successfully cleared Hidden Quest #1: Clear all four waves in less than 30 minutes.
Congratulations, you have successfully cleared Hidden Quest #2: Clear all four waves in less than 15 minutes.
Reward Updated:
+150,000 Experience Points
+75,000 Arcane Coins
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