Slamming my fist into the last monster near me, I glance around before collapsing onto my butt, panting heavily. It was over, we had finished the last of the monsters that had swarmed us. My arms were covered in blood so heavily it was like a layer of armour, and interestingly my clothing was spotless. It was like any liquid just slid off.

Wave Complete! Time Remaining till Next Wave: 1:30:00

Hearing Bloom angrily stomping saying that an hour and a half wasn’t enough to rest, I agreed. Looking at the stacks of monster corpses, I shivered while thinking of the last eight hours. These monsters were weak, their levels showed as 33 to 38, but their attacks and Toughness didn’t match it at all either, and they were not smart, it’s as if the only thing they knew was to run at an enemy and attack. They never used magic, but the sheer number of them made it dangerous.

Laying on my back, I felt exhausted. My arms ached, my legs were okay because we barely moved and while I had taken a lot of attacks, most had healed except for some deeper wounds, but they would heal soon. I had used a lot of my stamina, and seeing the others, we all were in a similar state. The only upside was that we hadn’t used any mana, except Elizabeth.

She looked exhausted, as if she was going to pass out at any minute. I knew she had been using that blob of fire to fight the entire time, while also using her sword to fight. She’d expended everything she had and likely would barely recover before the next wave.

“All of ya, sit up.”

Hearing Bloom, I slowly sit up and turn to face him as everyone else does the same. Xia and Amelia had been next to me during the fight, and looking at Xia she seemed just as tired as we all were. Aubrey sat down next to me, the only one among us that was still full of energy, though she looked worried.

“Amelia.” With her name being called by Bloom, Amelia nodded and looked around.

“Looking at our condition, if the next wave is the same or stronger than what we just went through, we’re likely going to be dead before the halfway mark, however that is only taking into consideration if we don’t use our magic.”

Brushing her hair behind her long ears, she leaned forward and looked at me. “Alisha, can you describe your Domain to us, what it does, how long it lasts and the negative effects it provides to those you deem as enemies?”

Explaining everything to her while she nods, I finish as she sits there thinking. “So, its only effect for allies is making it…night time? A strange effect, but I’ll assume that benefits you.” Giving her a smile as she giggles, my Domain would be considered my trump card. In dungeons, I never felt stronger, or weaker before my Race became less restricted, and I had worked out that I didn’t receive the increase in strength while in dungeons.

“Alright…well, the freezing wind will help hinder enemies and will pair up very nicely with Leon’s magic. I take it Alice is still learning?” Looking at Alice on Aubrey’s head, I nod and tell her that she’d been like this for over a day.

“That’s normal. I suspect she’s nearly done, what do you think, Leon?” Glancing at Leon, he put up two fingers with one hand and the other he made a circle with a finger, then pointed to himself. “Leon is saying it took him two days. I’m not sure on what is involved in using that stone, but it is the best way to learn his clan’s unique magic, Shadow Creatures.”

“Is it Shadow magic?” Alice knew Dark Magic, meaning if she had to learn Shadow magic it would take longer, however Leon shook his head.

“It’s Dark Magic, so it will suit Alice very well.” Hearing Amelia, I thanked her before she turned to Xia.

“Xia, can you tell me your Domain, if you have one?” Xia looks towards me as I nod.

“My Domain freezes the time of those I deem enemies, while allowing my allies to move. It lasts for exactly 22 seconds, and during the last five seconds enemies will slowly be able to move before time returns to them. Enemies can not be physically or magically hurt, however spells can be used during this time. Once the Domain ends, I will not be able to move for 22 seconds, with an additional 5 seconds per ally that could move.”

Saying it all in one go, I now understood why she didn’t move after it had ran out before. Amelia nodded before muttering “It’s useful if we’re in a dire situation, allows us to reposition and set up magic spells to give us breathing room once it runs out.”

Tapping her chin, Amelia turns to me. “Alisha, how are the other groups?” Looking over, I see that they were like us, exhausted and trying to recover. They seemed to have lost about four or five people, but I couldn’t see any corpses in the mess that was the monsters. Telling Amelia all of this, she nods again and asks how far away they were.

“Ok, they’re outside of our Domain range, that makes things easier. I’m done, Bloom.”

Looking at Bloom, he had sat there in silence with his eyes closed. After a few minutes in silence, he opened them and glanced at everyone with an unusually serious expression.

“She’ll be rough, but we’ll make it through.” Speaking rather clearly, Bloom turned to Elizabeth first.

“Yer out Ellie. Yer to stick to Aubrey and sleep, recover ye wounds and mana.” Looking away from Elizabeth, he spoke to all of us. “‘Ere is the plan. Leon, when I give ye the signal, yer gonna use ye Domain and magicks. Once teh wave ends, yer to rest and Ellie swaps with yer. On teh third wave, we’ll use my Domain.”

Continuing one, Bloom told us the order of who would use what. After Bloom, Amelia would use her Domain on the fourth wave, then I would use mine on the fifth. After that we’d return to using Elizabeth’s summons and repeat. Xia was to keep hers in case things were dire and lastly Aubrey’s Blessing of Gaia was forbidden unless we were in a critical state.

Amelia asked if we should join the others but Bloom said not to bother. The reason came down to too many variables, especially if people started panicking and casting magic or skills wildly. He claimed that since we knew each other, we would have better communication between each other.

After detailing the plan more, including who would act as backup for Domains or magic in case anything went wrong, we spent the last 30 minutes mentally preparing. Except for Bloom and I, the rest took their time to check their equipment, healing potions and food. Xia, Aubrey and I had enough healing potions for me alone, however considering our circumstances it was very little. I could rely on my regeneration in exchange for stamina, but at one point I’d have to rest.

With ten minutes remaining, the doors slammed shut, and once the countdown hit zero, the banging came again as the second wave began.

***

Gasping, I tore an ant monster in half as I focused everything I had on standing. Right now, we had nearly finished the fourth wave, looking around I could only see a dozen monsters or so left. Each and every wave we had come against was getting harder and harder. The monsters started getting smarter, faster and now they were using magic every now and then.

Xia has started using those purple shields to protect against magical attacks. While it used her mana, she’d been using them rather smartly, deflecting spells so they wouldn’t be destroyed. She could control these shields without even looking at them to block. She hadn’t used any other magic, but the shields had kept us alive. She had also started assisting me at my word, I knew that if she didn’t I would’ve been gravely injured, and if the Branch Master doesn’t like it, then it didn’t matter to me.

The major issue was the other two groups. The group that had gathered and the group that refused to join them as well. Both had lost half their members, and we had gone from about fifty people in total to roughly twenty. As more people were lost, we had more monsters to deal with. We weren’t sure about the number, but it had felt the same.

Seeing no monsters nearby, with the last of them being finished off, once the timer came up, I fell on my back right away, struggling to keep awake. According to Aubrey, it’s been nearly two days of non-stop fighting, and feeling my head spin, I wanted nothing more but to rest right now. However, with this being the fifth wave, it was my turn to exhaust my Domain and mana.

Leon’s Domain was rather unique. It didn’t open a dimension like a Domain normally would, however it spread his own Dark Magic out, empowering his magic to a higher level. During that time, hundreds of shadow creatures had emerged and started to massacre every monster. The downside was that Leon could not act, and his Domain wouldn’t be available for a day.

Bloom’s was rather simple, it became what Xia said was a desert, with nothing but sand and the sun high in the sky. During Bloom’s Domain, our attacks have a high chance to set a monster on fire, similar to my Lashing Fire Kick. Amelia didn’t release her Domain, she was told not to by Bloom. She had used her magic however, which created weapons made of magic that she could control. She’d maintained about twenty weapons, and they relieved the pressure off us immensely.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Laying there, staring at the ceiling, I saw the timer. It had been getting lower with each wave, and currently we only had 45 minutes to rest. We stopped exchanging words last wave, instead taking the time to tend to wounds and resting. Right now, I could barely move a finger, my entire body exhausted and tired.

Thinking about it, I knew that the chances of finishing Alexander’s request was going to be extremely difficult once we got out of here. Each wave had taken eight or nine hours to defeat, and with the monsters only getting stronger and smarter, it would take longer. Looking at the quest, it showed the three people with the highest number of monsters killed, and it really reflected how terrifying the number of monsters we had killed had become.

Top Kill Counts:

1. Joan: 2387

2. Leon: 2145

3. Klein: 1726

Groaning, I slowly stand back on my feet. The monsters, according to Bloom, were about level 23 in strength and speed. The first wave was around level 20, however even though we had much higher stats, when fighting a dozen at the same time for hours on end while it was nearly endless, it became exhausting. The bodies piling up didn’t help, and our current solution was Elizabeth using her fire spirit to turn most into ash.

As the countdown slowly came to ten minutes, the doors once again slammed shut. Relaxing every muscle in my body, I could feel every muscle in my body either slowly relaxing or still tense. My right leg was stiff, thankfully I hadn’t had to strain it by moving too much. Facing the doors, there wasn’t a sound that rang out from anyone around us. We all remained quiet as all eyes face the doors, the only sounds that rang out was armour and weapons clicking together.

As the countdown reached two minutes left, the System suddenly gave us an update.

Mutated Quest Update:

As Her vanguard falls, the commanders of the Her army have sent handpicked Elites to deal with their enemy, as to ensure their main army will triumph.

Wave 4/10 Completed, Wave 5 starting.

As I read the message, I looked towards the doors and as the countdown hit zero, the doors once again opened with a bang. This time there were about twenty enemies, relaying this to Bloom he simply nodded. Watching, these enemies all locked their eyes onto a singular person as they began to charge. Did they intend to fight us one on one?

Appearing in front of me very quickly was a two metre tall humanoid with one eye. It had four arms, one of which held a massive wooden club, blue skin and two fangs that extended out of its mouth. Lifting the club upwards he swung the club down, and forcing my body to move, I took a step towards what the System called a Daft Cyclops.

Aiming for its heart, I threw a punch as hard as I could, slamming into its chest as a loud bang resounded out. Feeling my hand break, my eyes widened as it suddenly used one of its many hands to try and grab me. With no option left, I activated the wind around me and pushed myself outside of its reach, moving away from my group. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw everyone else doing something similar. However, I noticed Aubrey was left alone, where two enemies were attempting to break her shield.

One of those enemies was a green blueish snake while the other was a boar with huge tusks, molten fire dripping from its mouth. Knowing I couldn’t leave Aubrey behind, I changed directions, dodged the Cyclops’s club and sent spikes at both the enemies attacking her shield. As their attention turned to me, I slammed my still working fist into the head of the snake. Feeling a lot of resistance, I saw it crash into the ground, but quickly recovered and struck out. Dodging, I felt something hot from behind me as the smell of fire entered my nose.

Without hesitating, I used the wind to push myself away from the path of the flames that had come from the boar and I landed hard on the ground, rolling for a few metres before jumping back onto my feet unsteadily. The snake and boar stopped paying attention to me and went back to attempting to bite through Aubrey’s barrier. I could see thin cracks running along the barrier, and knowing I had no other choice, I stomped a foot down.

“Domain! Mystical Lunar Starfield!”

Shouting as loudly as I could, I felt my Domain explode outwards. Without paying attention to who was caught up in my Domain, I rushed the snake again, summoning a dozen Astral Ice Spikes behind me as I fired them at the boar. Slamming my shoulder into the back of the snake, I sent it flying away from Aubrey as the boar turned its attention to me once again.

Dodging to the side, I rushed up to the boar as it slowly turned, arrived by its side and threw a punch out at its spine. Just as my fist was about to connect, red hot lava started spewing out of its skin, and reacting as quickly as I could I pulled my fist back and blew myself backwards as I dodged the club of the cyclops.

Swaying, I blinked the sweat out of my eyes. My right hand throbbed with pain, broken under the gauntlet. My body fatigued, it took everything to even move it, one misstep will mean death against that cyclops swinging its club. Standing there, I only felt one thing…I was tired. We’d been fighting non-stop. The monsters weren’t strong, but after fighting for so long with so little rest, I was just tired.

As the cyclops came stomping in front of me, I breathed out. I started to realise the danger of this dungeon, I had started to underestimate it since things died so easily. In reality, it was so easy for us to become trapped here, facing hordes of weak monsters, forcing us to constantly fight for hours and days on end with nearly no rest.

I couldn’t let this stop me, no matter how tired I got, I had to keep going. This would happen again and again in the future, obstacles I had to overcome. Feeling my determination rise up, I forced my body to move, dodging the blow from the Cyclops as I sent spikes towards its eye. Seeing most of them miss, one struck, shallow but for now I knew it was a weak point. My punch earlier had dealt no damage so I knew I couldn’t just hit this monster.

The snake and boar had once again turned away from me, ready to continue attacking Aubrey. Her barrier was slowly cracking, if I didn’t help her in time she’d be exposed. Ignoring the cyclops, I charged once again. Even with my Domain increasing my strength, my tired body limited me. Frustrated, I used Lunar Blessing on myself, again it hit that barrier.

Slamming my fist into the snake, I sent it tumbling away once again, turning to the boar, I saw it charging the barrier, I knew if it hit it would break it. Pushing my body, I jump in front of the boar and grab its tusks, slamming my feet down stopping its charge as I struggled. Roaring, the boar opened its mouth and it continued trying to push me away. I knew that it was about to send a flood of fire out, if I moved it would hit Aubrey, but if I stayed here it would incinerate me.

Even with my Domain and Blessing, my body was too fatigued to use all of my strength. Hearing the cyclops quickly moving towards me, I knew that it wasn’t likely I could get out of this without being heavily injured, if not killed. My mind was tired, exhausted, causing me to fail while trying to think of what to do. Just as I see the boar's mouth light up with fire, a giant mouth emerged from the shadows, swallowing the body of the boar whole, biting through completely before disappearing, leaving the head of it in my hands.

Surprised, I quickly adapted and turned towards the cyclops to find it had its club raised high above itself. I wouldn’t be able to move in time! Just as that thought ran through my head, I heard a sound I hadn’t heard for the past few days and had missed terribly.

“KRAA!”

Hearing Alice’s cry, at the same time a giant talon emerged from the ground, gripping the giant tightly. It couldn’t pierce or crush it, but it held it in place.

“Alice! Hold it!” Knowing now who it was that I turned towards the snake, it was barreling straight towards Aubrey once again. Why did it refuse to come after me? Gritting my teeth, I focused on creating an Astral Ice Spike, this time just a singular, big one. Pointing my finger at the snake shouted as I shot the spike out, a massive two metre spike shot right towards the snake.

Just as the snake was about to dodge, a talon emerged from its shadow too and gripped it in place as my spike smashed through the snake, dismembering it. Turning back to the cyclops, I summoned a dozen more spikes as I felt my head spin due to the amount of mana I had used. With my vision swimming, I focused as much as I could as I launched each and every one of them at its eye. As the spikes impaled its eye, the cyclops roared in pain as the eye burst and my spikes kept impaling the remains.

I knew that the Astral energy would kill it now, and watching it struggle, it soon stopped and collapsed as my Domain followed suit. Looking around, I saw most had also finished their fights, with a few still fighting. Breathing heavily, I knew I couldn’t continue anymore. Turning to Aubrey, I took one step at a time as I slowly walked over.

Feeling someone grab my arm as an arm wrapped around my waist, I turned to see Xia, who also looked exhausted, by my side as she helped me walk towards Aubrey. Accepting her help, once we reached Aubrey, I collapsed on the ground next to her as Alice jumped over onto my head.

“Aubrey, we need to leave. Can you use that item?”

Seeing Aubrey bite her lip, she shook her head. “It can only take three people at most.”

Lifting my head, I looked towards Elizabeth who was also kneeling, heavily panting. I knew she’d refuse to escape without the others, I was the same. Even though I didn’t know Bloom and his group well, I couldn’t just abandon them here to escape safely. Watching as someone from another group killed the last monster, I sighed.

As the others regrouped with us, the countdown came up again. Thirty minutes. Looking around, I saw everyone completely exhausted, no one speaking as they used any healing potions they had. Drinking one myself, I heard Amelia speak.

“Alisha, sleep. We’ll do what we can, it’s unfortunate that I couldn’t rest, but I’m in a much better state than you, I can still use my Domain to buy us time. Rest for as long as possible. Aubrey, protect her.”

I knew she was right, I couldn’t continue like this. I needed rest, even then I would need too much. Without a word, I let my head fall onto Aubrey’s lap while I curled up into a ball. Closing my eyes, I felt the fatigue wash over me completely. Just as I was about to fall asleep, a new System message appeared.

Selenia has granted you an opportunity to teach you Lunar Magic. Your Astral Projection will be teleported to her Realm.