As the thin layer of purple fog sweeps over us, I feel the special grade perk of my self-regeneration skill activate.

Poison Resistance.

My MP is being actively drained as the poison from the fog seeps into my body and becomes instantly nullified before damaging my HP bar.

The mana all around me is more than enough to counteract the slow drain. My only concern is my teammates.

They don't all have easy ways to counteract an ability like this.

I yell out.

"Hold your breath for as long as possible! The fog is filled with poison. It's not strong, but I doubt it'll stay that way!"

Everyone around me begins covering their mouths and holding their breath. Abby starts glowing very brightly light green, putting out a restoration wave.

I watch both Maria and Arie take their hand from their faces moments later, letting out sighs of relief as the green magic negates the poison's effects almost instantly.

I murmur under my breath.

"Never mind... it seems I don't have to worry."

The archer turns to me.

"Let us handle this Boss, you'll get to have your fun later. This may be the hardest opponent we'll get to face today that we can actually handle. I want to see how tough a Lower-Floor Boss really is."

I pause for a moment, looking up at the crimson-glowing eyes of the snake above, then nod and let my gaze hover over each of them.

"Sounds good... I'll be watching. Be safe, and enjoy."

Stairs of ice and rock form, leading up to the higher regions of the massive tree in the sky.

My teammates disappear into the growing fog above.

It's true. Based on the shielding that snake possesses, I could most likely defeat it from here if I really put my all into a shot.

My teammates may not get a chance like this again to face a unique Lower-Floor Boss. It seems to be just about their mana control level too, so this will be an excellent training opportunity for them.

I power down my skills, place my sword by my side, and cross my arms.

Lydia speaks up from my right side.

"All of you are much stronger than any of the reports mentioned."

I nod slowly and turn towards her, surprised she hasn't powered down her mana shedding yet to conserve energy and start drinking HP potions to counteract the poison. The white-haired mage has actually turned hers up.

A shimmering layer of mana covers her entire body, nearly visible to the naked eye It is so dense.

Under the gaze of my perception skill, it reveals itself to be more mana-rich than any shielding I've ever witnessed.

Looking past her, Fisher has his shielding up too. It's very powerful, and not wavering at all under the purple fog's growing presence.

Lydia speaks up again in my confusion.

"Powerful enough shielding can block any magic effects, whether it's a skill or a hidden buff. Mana control is the only thing that truly matters for Elites."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

She pauses, tightening her gaze on me.

I'm standing in the fog with without a hint of shielding protecting my body, breathing in the poison without a care in the world, and using the ambient mana in the air to regenerate my MP bar.

Her words echo through the heavy air.

"Then again... I guess there are some outliers."

Fisher walks over as the mana-imbued mist repels from his body with every step.

"Now that we have a minute, I wanted to ask you alone. You got a lot stronger since we trained... All of your teammates too!"

"..."

I don't say a word. I thought he'd ask eventually.

"How'd you do it? There's no way you were holding back while we were in the labyrinth, you were definitely clueless."

I let out a light laugh, remembering back to my training session with the blue-haired swordsman.

If one could even call that a training session... He just showed me his attack once and let me figure it out on my own.

Either way, it helped.

I reply.

"Yeah. We all got stronger, but it's a story I'd rather not tell. We promised to keep it a secret."

He tightens his lips, shrugs, and lets out a bit of a grunt while turning to look up at the tree.

"Well, I assumed you'd say something like that... At least I know I'm not going too crazy. The 4 of you are nearly as strong as me! Seems like I'll have to work a lot harder to keep up now."

I nod, looking up at the tree's top as well.

"Looks like it."

It sure does...

My 3 teammates make it to the top of the tree and begin splitting up in the branches surrounding the enormous monster.

Its shielding buzzes loudly and flashes of light fill the sky making the clouds of purple fog glow brighter and the monster releases more poison into the air.

Arrows fly and blades are swung. Blue, white, and green flashes of light fill the sky. It looks and sounds like a rainbow-colored lightning storm form this distance.

Through my perception skills, I watch the shielding of this beast begin to break and wear down more and more every time it reforms.

Slithering through the trees faster than I ever imagined it would, the monster puts up a fantastic fight.

The archer and two mages have to re-up on MP potions half a dozen times each to continue the fight, and constantly regroup near Abby to re-restore their poison injuries.

Hissing and battle cries echo down from the tree above. The outlines of their figures and the presence of mana allow me to sense each teammate's vitality and MP remainders almost perfectly.

It'll be a long fight, but they've got this in the bag.

The purple-tinted fog grows thicker and thicker, but Abby's restore skill negates its effects as they all begin landing hits on the snake's actual body slashing deep holes through its armor and leaving wounds in its purple armored body.

Fragments of the snake's scales begin falling to the Boss Room floor, along with branch fragments and magic residue.

Large rocks and showers of ice erupt from the light show above littering the floor with debris.

The trunk shakes as loud hisses continue to be interrupted by energy waves from the 3 hunters having the battle of their lives up in the canopy.

Just 10 minutes pass before the battlefield above finally goes dark and silent.

Cheers ring out through the ominous thick fog as an incredibly loud thud just a few seconds later shakes the entire Boss Room.

The ground ripples and shakes as a battered Ancient Serpent King's corpse falls from the tree above.

The 3 of us on the ground level jump into the air, propelling ourselves upwards with wind, water, and ice to avoid the shock waves and flying stone from the Boss' fall. Once a safe distance in the air, Fisher yells out in a half-laughing tone.

"Looks like they really did it. They beat a Lower-Floor Boss. Congrats! Your team is really strong enough to call yourselves elites."

I nod, showing him a smile and whispering to myself.

"Yeah, yeah. I knew that before stepping foot in this boss room."

A glowing green light from above approaches. Abby is healing everyone as they make their descent.

I already knew they were strong enough now, but this really confirms it in front of my eyes.

Maria's voice calls out from the purple fog that begins to fade away from the top of the tree. I see her cheerful smile.

"Ha-ha! Did you see that? I think this was my favorite fight yet... our new power is awesome!!"

As they glide down, the corpse of the enormous snake begins to dissolve. I curiously activate my Appraisal skill to spy on their item drops. A few serpent scales or special items will most likely drop.

As it fully dissolves, the blue text comes into view revealing four items. Three of which seem to be the scales I was expecting.

Once separated into 3 parts, their stat boosts have fallen a bit, but are still very impressive. Great rewards for a battle like this.

____________________

[The Ancient Serpent King's Scale] +91% Defense +82% Speed +67% Agility +55% Magic Resistance

[The Ancient Serpent King's Scale] +91% Defense +82% Speed +67% Agility +55% Magic Resistance[

The Ancient Serpent King's Scale] +91% Defense +82% Speed +67% Agility +55% Magic Resistance

____________________

The final item on my radar is one I can't say I was expecting... but definitely hoped it'd appear in the back of my mind.

____________________

[Lower-Floor Boss Identification Core]

____________________

I wonder what this will be useful for...?