The horde of the giant-rats charged at Felix and Lim. Their front two teeth drooled for blood and flesh.

"Have you learned any fire-element [Art]?"

Felix asked.

"No, I only have a Wind related one."

Lim replied.

The most effective way to kill any sort of ground monster that lived in a cave was fire. Their body wasn't built well to defend against it when their whole body was covered in fur.

And since fire spreads, if one gets caught, even a single monster, the entire group could be burned to ashes.

"Do you have any sort of items that you sneaked in?"

Felix asked. If Lim knew, he must have prepared something.

"No. I wanted to, but- I had no way to sneak it in."

Lim had prepared some, but he had no way to hide and sneak it in.

The horde was getting closer, and running wasn't an option. The door was closed and on top of that, there was a barrier.

Felix took a deep breath. He pulled his hand, ready to throw the spear.

"Focus on the giant-rats coming from the left."

He said, and Lim nodded.

Felix threw the spear and-

Boom

It slashed through the air. Lim couldn't even see the trajectory and only saw a blur flash towards the monsters. Next thing he knew, the spear had pierced through two giant-rats at the front.

Felix didn't waste any time. He rushed towards the horde and kicked the spear.

Boom

The spear again pierced another one. It looked like a barbeque.

Lim couldn't believe his eyes. Though he knew the strength of most characters, witnessing it firsthand was different and of a person he had no idea about.

Also, the boom sound echoing the floor every time he touched the spear made Lim curious.

'What kind of [Art] does that?'

Or was it an [Ability]?

That wasn't all. He killed three rats and completed the test in ten seconds.

Lim had many questions ,but for now assisting Felix was the task at hand.

Felix held the spear, drenched with blood, and pulled it out from the three dead giant-rats.

Ting

A giant-rat was attacking from the right. He held the spear and swung it at the giant-rat. Its body was cut in half easily, like a slice of butter.

Ting

Again, the same sensation but from the left. One of the rats slipped from the gap, and was about to chomp off his left arm . However, he didn't worry much about it.

Before it could attack him, a gust of wind slashed its neck, as its head rolled on the floor.

'His rank is only a facade. A 896 rank can't kill a giant-rat in a single attack'

Lim lifted his wand, and again a slash of wind hit the rats, slicing their body.

Felix kept swinging his spear, and the sound coming from it reverberated throughout the Floor.

Soon they heard another wave of squeaking sound rushing at them.

'There's more. They are coming here because of my technique.'

The echoing sound attracted the remaining giant-rats, who had good ears to compensate for their poor eyesight. .

The thing was-. Only with this [Art], could he generate enough power to cut through the giant-rat.

'I am running low on mana as well.'

For now, he deactivated his [Art]. He was now a bit slower, and the power behind the attack wasn't much. He had to rely on that 'sense' like he was doing before.

The Ting he had that alerted him to danger had another perk.

A giant rat jumped at it, but with a single thrust, he pierced its heart but not through its whole body

'I have never studied monster anatomy, but I know where it is.'

He couldn't see it, but his body moved in its own right where the heart was. Like this, he managed to kill them, just by locating the rat's important parts, its heart, brain and the mana core. The strength wasn't there for a clean slice, but enough to do the job.

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While Lim focused mainly on the left side where Felix's spear couldn't reach.

The constant barrage of wind blades was enough to push and kill the monsters. But now the remaining giant-rats were also getting near.

"We can't waste anymore time with this.'

They needed to finish this as soon as possible. After all, if the giant-rats were coming this way, then whoever was responsible for spawning them must have already reached Tyson.

"Felix."

Lim shouted.

"Can you handle all of it for five minutes?"

"I'll try."

Felix said. Lim sat on the floor and pointed his staff at Felix. Mana gathered in his staff, as it glowed green and kept getting brighter.

The reason Felix couldn't handle the left side was, the spear range was short. If he stayed in the middle and attacked, they would slip by and surround him or go for Lim.

'I have to use it again.'

There was no risk. All the giant-rats were already here, so better to go all out.

He thrusted the spear into a giant-rat's mouth and as he twisted it,

Boom

The sound again started to echo around the Floor, but this time it was even stronger and it affected the monsters outside the spear's range as well. It made them a lot slower, and some squealed in pain, covering their ears.

Felix too felt pain in his ears. Just because he used it didn't mean his ears had adapted to the sound. But he kept going.

The walls vibrated each time he swung his spear, and the entire floor shook.

Lim, focusing on his spell, still couldn't help and wonder what kind of [Art] it was.

Felix for now had killed more than twenty giant-rats but there seemed no end to it. He also was running out of breath and mana.

Also, his own [Art] made him dizzy.

"Anytime now, Lim."

He didn't respond, and Felix held the horde as much as he could. Some hit him, but only scratched his trousers.

Five minutes passed and Lim finished the spell preparation. The mana in the staff was so dense, Felix felt as if someone was pushing him.

Mana slowly dispersed to his side and two giant wind blades rotated beside Lim.

"Whispering Gale: Twin Cutter."

The blades moved vertically towards the rats. It passed by Felix and everything the blade touched was severed without any signs of stopping.

He closed his eyes as blood spurted all over his body.

The squeaking of rats and the whistle of the spell rang in his ears.

'At least give me a signal.'

Felix wiped the blood from his face and opened his eyes.

"Well, this is-."

Every giant-rat in the area was killed. Their blood, skin and whatever was inside those rats painted the walls.

If someone saw it, they wouldn't even be able to identify these were the corpses of the giant-rats. Lim made a paste out of them.

'This sight will stay with me forever now.'

And it wasn't something he would have fond memories of.

Lim walked ahead, wiping blood, dripping from his nose. With his staff, he pulled out a piece of intestine and latched onto Felix's shoulder.

"I'm glad I don't have to clean it."

Lim said. Whoever the cleaning staff was, it was going to take some good scrubbing to get these off the floor and wall.

Felix stared at Lim with a frown, every surface of his body drenched in blood.

"Sorry, man, but I can't help you bathe."

Lim almost patted Felix's shoulder, but stopped. He stepped into the mess he created and started cursing.

"Sh*t, how did a fu*king colon go inside my shoe?"

Felix was bothered about his situation, but what bothered him more was-

'How is he not a Star?'

Both walked into a slip and slide from hell and once they crossed it, they ran.

"I said we had to save him, but what if we're too late?"

Lim asked.

"Then we run away from whoever killed him"

Felix doubted this was a battle he could win. He knew his limits and strengths, but maybe with Lim, and his arsenal of surprises, they could pull something off.

As they got closer to the end of the floor, the sensation came back.

Ting

The closer they got, the louder it rang in his head.

"He's close."

Felix said, ready to attack. Lim too started chanting a spell.

A silhouette could be seen of someone standing and another one leaning against the wall. They got closer and the shadow of the ceiling cleared.

"So it was you."

Lim said, as the woman and Tyson turned towards them. Tyson squinted. He could barely see who it was, but knew they were here for him.

The woman spitted on Tyson and grabbed his hair

"How cute? Your eyes glimmered with hope when these two came in. Do you think they can save you.?"

The woman said. She took her foot off Tyson's hand and pressed it on his forehead.

Felix was about to throw his spear, but stopped seeing that. The woman's hee would pierce Tyson's head before it even reached her.

'She's too calm.'

The way she smiled and had gaps all over her defence was a sign of confidence that if she wanted, their heads would be rolling on the floor.

Lim too stopped his spell and took a deep breath. What could he do? He had to think. Panicking and acting in a rush wasn't an option.

"I am quite impatient, you see."

The woman pressed the heel even harder. Tyson's legs wriggled on the floor. He didn't have any strength to push her away.

"Stop."

Felix said.

"What do you need?"

He asked.

"His life. That's all."

The woman replied, casual but cold.

'Talking her out of this isn't going to work'

He put his hand on the back and lowered his finger one by one.

Lim knew what to do. Once all the fingers were lowered, Felix hit the ground with the back of his spear.

Boom

That was the loudest roar his spear produced. The woman cupped her ears and pressed her leg. But instead of going through Tyson's head, it hit the wall.

"Huh?"

She looked to her left. Felix's spear was right in front of her. Before it went through her eyes, she caught it, and instantly the spear broke into pieces.

Tyson, her prey, unconscious because of the spear's noise, was hanging onto Lim, puking blood on the side.

"Quite an interesting ability you have there."

She rushed towards them. And her first target was Felix. She had to get him out of the way.

She threw a punch, but Felix jumped back. The wave and force behind the punch created a hole in the wall.

'That's not a punch…. it's a canon'

She again threw a punch, but like before, it was a clean dodge. He knew the pattern, although it was the first time he fought her.

'Thank you, my sense.'

Felix kicked her calf, which didn't do much, and then punched her stomach. She blocked it, but again-

Boom

The same sound rang through her body, and she was pushed back.

"That tickles."

She said, pressing into her stomach.

But she was impressed. She could hardly remember the number of people who dodged her punch and attacked her back.

There weren't many. And on top of that, he landed two hits on her.

"Valerius Felix. Bravo."

She clapped her hands and then smiled.

"You live up to the rumours. The almighty treasure of the Valerius, talented and strong."

"No wonder with that strength of yours, you killed two men when you were five. That must have been a piece of cake for you."

She added more. Lim stopped puking and looked at Felix.

'He did what-"

The first ever thing he knew about Felix's past was this, which he never expected. And seeing how Felix didn't deny it, the rumour must be true.

Felix didn't reply. He loosened his shoulder and looked at her.

"Those are quite the eyes."

The depth in his eyes swallowed her. Only dread was in them. Even so it, was a place of peace.

"Ahh…I now really want them in my hands."

She said, and in a blink, she was inches away from scoping out Felix's eyes.