The bone-white serpent opens its mouth to show off a pair of razor-sharp curved fangs then dives in to attack. I hear another clang of metal on metal as Bruce blocks it with his shield.

The tank’s feet dig deep into the ground as the snake pushes his body backward. Maria lets out a battle cry as she jumps in for an attack of her own.

She jumps over the ongoing attack to release an Ice-filled slash with her sword all the way down the snake’s spine. A thick layer of frozen magic forms on the monster’s back as it lets out a hiss and arches back away from Bruce.

I watch Abby run at the beast as well, the ground rippling beneath her feet. Two large spears of stone protrude from the ground on either side of her, with a forceful hand gesture they hurdle at the monstrous snake.

Nessa jumps in to do her part as well, with a fiery slash she aims for the beast’s neck to finish it off.

*CLANGGGG*

On impact, the spears of stone hardly puncture the tough serpent’s scaly skin. Nessa’s sword bounces off like a bat on rubber, and the snake violently shakes its body to shatter the layer of Ice on its backside. The beast lets out a loud hiss staring the four of them down with newfound hatred.

Again, a wave of intimidation is released and the battle continues.

The white serpent’s perfectly placed scales have been broken in 3 places along its back. Two small wounds drip blood from the spears of stone, and one larger long slash still glows blue from magic Ice residue. Overall, its HP couldn’t have dropped more than 10 to 15% in total, but it’s a start…

I use inspect and appraisal.

[Lv. 312]

Active Items:

[Serpent’s Scale] +40% Mental Strength +40% Magic Resistance

Active Skills:

Intimidation

Bruce charges forward with his shield out front and the massive war hammer at the ready. With a loud clash, the battle continues. Bruce fends off the beast as its angrily bites at his shield while Abby, Nessa, and Maria chip away at its health.

The only one doing any real damage seems to be Maria, but she is still having a semi-difficult time piercing its thick magic resistant armored scales.

The four of them attack and dodge in perfect synchronicity 6 more times in total. Bruce keeps positioning himself at perfect angles to take the brute force attacks while Nessa distracts it from the side. Abby and Maria are the quickest and their attacks do the most damage.

With a final Icey swing of her sword, Maria finally freezes the serpent’s neck solid. The beast hisses loudly as Abby keeps it pinned to the ground. The blue wave of magic covers its head moments later and the monster stops moving once completely encased in ice.

The 4 of them grin with excitement and open their statuses moments later. I walk over to them as the snake dissolves.

“Did you all gain a good amount of levels? To face one of those alone, you’ll need quite a bit more.”

They all nod in agreement as a large pink mana crystal drops to the floor. Bruce picks it up and tosses it to Maria, then turns to me.

“Yeah. As a team, that snake was easy to figure out. Alone is a whole different story. We’re all going to need to learn how they fight, and grow a bit ourselves too!”

*CRACKKKK*

The sound of a huge branch breaking makes me whip my head around o see an identical predator slithering our way.

It’s breaking down small trees and moving boulders with ease as it charges at us in a fit of rage. It’s another serpent from our backside. I yell out to the group.

“Get back! This one’s ou-“

I don’t even get to finish my sentence….

Arie lifts his bow and conjures a glowing white arrow. The moment it leaves his quiver, my eyes track the glowing energy soar through the air. Fractions of a second later, it makes contact directly in the center of the red diamond atop the new serpent’s head.

My eyes widen, and I cross my arms giving the archer a slow head nod of respect as the arrow pierces through its target all the way through. A perfect circle 5cm wide is left on the snake’s forehead as it falls to the ground with lifeless eyes.

*THUDDDD*

I let out a chuckle… then a laugh. Then hit Arie playfully on the back as the others stare at the remains of this one-shot kill. That is the same beast that took all 4 of them an entire battle to defeat.

“Nice one. Let me in on the action next time.”

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He turns to me with a thin smile.

“Fine with me.”

We all walk over to the fallen beast moments later and Arie collects his mana crystal.

Abby interjects.

“H-Hey! You’re like- Really strong!!”

Nessa continues to stare wide-eyed at him.

Maria eyes his bow with a jealous red face.

Bruce nods.

“I agree. That was impressive.”

As we turn to continue walking through the dense green forest, Arie replies.

“Appreciate it, but we’ll all have to get much stronger sooner or later.”

A few mouths opened attempting to reply, but there wasn’t much to say it that. He’s right… But it’s just an odd response considering he defeated that monster with 0 difficulties. We all nod in silence.

I break up the awkwardness and point my sword in the air towards the direction we were headed.

“Let’s continue.”

The deeper we walk into this jungle, the denser it gets. We stay in formation, but slashing through the thick plant-life gets a bit annoying after a while.

No more than 20 minutes in, another large serpent monster appears. Using my berserker, bloodlust, wind, and fire magic, I’m able to create a pretty deadly slash. On contact, I slice its head off in one hit. With all my added buffs, I still let out a struggle-filled yell, and there was a bit of resistance while cutting through the first thick layer of scales. I basically had to use all my strength. In the end, I still managed to take it out in one shot.

[Level Up]

Arie sports a wide grin and I see a glimmer of emotion in his eyes once again, this time it looks like hope.

“Not bad, not bad….”

I give him a firm nod back before replying.

“Thanks.”

The others stare at me with a bit of awe as well. Maybe they’re now realizing the true power level gap between us… even Maria. Although, she can’t see the monster’s 40% magic resistance buff. Taking out a monster like this relies more on brute strength than pure magic power.

I read the room and turn to the others.

“Well, looks like you four will be upfront for the rest of our trek to the boss room. A few more levels and studying their movements will do the trick, you’ll be ready for the boss in no time.”

They all let out a long sigh in unison accepting the fact that I’m right. The only way they’ll beat this incoming boss is to level up and sharpen their skills.

The four of them travel up front for the rest of the journey through the dungeon.

The trees get even thicker, the jungle gets hotter, and the battles get tougher. After 2 hours of burning, slashing, and smashing the vines and fallen trees in our way we’ve finally made it near the dungeon’s end.

I know this because while using enemy detection I can only sense one target ahead of us. It has to be the monitor…

After 7 total fights, they’ve all passed level 300. So far, Bruce and Maria are the only ones that have taken on a solo battle of their own. Bruce’s hammer and natural strength buffs work very well against these magic-resistant monsters. With just half a dozen clean hits to the head, the tank can take out a serpent on its own.

Maria has also improved greatly. One of the serpents from earlier dropped a scale, with her wearing one of these, she’s able to outpace the snakes and freeze them solid in under 4 hits. With her speed, agility, and overpowered natural magic buff, she’s more than ready for a tough opponent even with its resistance to her skill.

Abby’s use of the surroundings allows her to trap the snakes whenever they’re on solid ground. The rocks she summons are made of actual stone. When puncturing the beasts, it seems the 40% buff isn’t taken into account with actual solid material. She hasn’t fought one solo yet, but I’m confident she’ll be able to take one on, no problem.

My only concern is Nessa. She’s gained a few levels, and her sword can now puncture its scales… but barely. The fire magic she uses has no real benefits in a battle like this. Facing a serpent one on one will definitely be difficult for her. Not impossible, but close to it….

I speak up.

“Hey, we’re nearing the boss room guys, so, here. Take these!”

I reach into my item box and take out 6 HP potions. I know Maria is stocked up, so I don’t bother giving her any. I hand 2 each to Nessa, Abby, and Bruce.

“Just in case. I have a feeling this will be a tough fight.”

They all accept them graciously, but I can tell Nessa is nervous.

I open my mouth to say something to her, but Maria’s loud high pitched voice interrupts me.

“Hey look! We made it!”

She’s standing on top of a moss-covered boulder about 10m in front of us that peers over a small portion of fallen trees.

“I see the boss room!”

The whole group excitedly runs up to where she’s standing. Nessa stays back and looks me in the eyes speaking in a nervous tone.

“Hey uh- I don’t know if I’m ready for this. Do you have any other ski-skills… I could borrow?“

I let out a sigh, then think to myself for a moment. I speak to her in a low voice while handing her another 2 bottles of HP potions.

“Here, let’s start with these. A few more HP potions will help. Now, skill… Let me think…”

She knows I have more than three skills from our previous hunting sessions. Plus, if she’s been paying any attention to me, Nessa has definitely seen me use quite a few during this raid. If she’s able to watch me activate skills with her mimic ability, who knows how many she’s seen? She has kept her mouth shut for this long, I can trust her with one more.

I let out a sigh, then smile.

“This may hurt a bit… but mimic it. Trust me.”

I place both my hands on Nessa’s shoulder and whisper.

“Equivalent Exchange.”

[Use Equivalent Exchange]

Available HP: [1525/1525]

Enter Amount: [___]

[YES][NO]

I enter “5” and choose yes.

White light flashes and I feel a familiar but dulled-down sharp pain, it subsides very quickly.

Nessa’s eyes open wide.

Then I hear Maria’s voice yell out.

“Are you two coming or what?”

The others have already climbed over the rock to the other side, Maria waves to us from above. I wave back, squinting my eyes.

“Yeah! We’re on our way!”

Maria smiles and bobs her head, then jumps down from the rock out of sight. I nod to Nessa, then briefly explain how this skill works, and warn her about how much it hurts…. She’s shocked at first but catches on quickly.

Nessa has the speed and agility, plus enough HP potions to kill one of these snakes five times over with her new skill. Even with magic resistance, guaranteed damage is better than fire that can’t break the snake’s scaly skin.

With a grin on each of our faces, we jump over the large green boulder to see the rest of our team standing in front of a swirling portal of magic energy.

The test monitor in front of the boss room speaks up.

“This all of you? Who’s up first?”

I turn to my group.

“Are we all ready? This is the final room… it’s not going to be easy.”

Bruce grins ear to ear and steps up to the portal with his hammer over his shoulder.

“I’ll go first. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Abby stretches her arms and cracks her knuckles.

“I’m next. This will be a fun one.”

Maria smirks, nods, and gets in line behind her without saying another word.

I turn to Nessa. She looks a lot more confident now. The red-haired girl walks over and gets in line behind Maria while drawing her sword.

“Ready.”

I turn to Arie. He just motions for me to go first with a serious look across his face. I step in line behind Nessa and the archer follows.

It’s time to face the final boss of our second test.