Floor eight. The air changed.
Thicker. Heavier. Wrong.
Jayden's eye pulsed. Then exploded with warning signals.
**[CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED]**
**[ANALYZING...]**
**[ERROR: ENTITY TOO POWERFUL FOR FULL SCAN]**
**[ESTIMATED RANK: A++ MINIMUM]**
"Stop." His voice cut through the silence. "Everyone back. Now."
"What is it?" Elena asked.
The chamber ahead opened. Massive. Cathedral sized.
And in the center
A beast. Thirty feet tall. Essence radiating like a sun. Life affinity so pure the air itself pulsed green.
Horns. Scales. Eyes that burned with ancient intelligence.
**[VERDANT TYRANT FLOOR GUARDIAN]**
**[RANK: A++]**
**[Speed: 28.3 units. Power: 41.7 units. Durability: 52.1 units]**
**[Victory probability: 0.02%]**
"Turn around," Jayden said. Voice steady despite his racing heart. "Right now."
"That's " Marcus stared. "That's stronger than most Sages."
"Yeah. And we're not ready." Elena was already backing up. "Move. Quietly."
They retreated. The beast didn't follow. Didn't even acknowledge them.
Just stood there. Waiting.
Back at floor seven, they caught their breath.
"A++ rank," Zain said. "In a low level dungeon."
"The dungeon's changing," Jayden replied. "Adapting to us maybe. Or it was never low level to begin with."
"Either way, we're not strong enough." Cinna looked at her hands. "Not even close."
Jayden's eye pulsed. Calculated their growth trajectory.
**[Current strength: Insufficient]**
**[Time needed at current rate: 47 days]**
Too long. They didn't have that kind of time.
"We train harder. Push faster. And hope "
Footsteps echoed from below.
Everyone tensed.
Professor Vance emerged from the stairwell. Three days exactly.
"You found it," she said, seeing their expressions.
"You knew it was there?"
"I suspected. This dungeon's been growing for decades. Unchecked. Uncleared." She approached. "But you're not ready for it yet."
"We know."
"So I'll help." Vance's essence flared. Master rank power filling the chamber. "I'll kill it. You absorb the essence. Growth boost you desperately need."
"Why?" Jayden asked. "That's an A++ rank. Even for you "
"I'm not fighting it alone." Vance smiled coldly. "I'm fighting it smart."
Floor eight. Round two.
Vance stood at the front. The team spread behind her.
The Verdant Tyrant turned. Acknowledged them this time.
"Stay back," Vance commanded. "When I give the signal, rush in and absorb what you can."
She manifested her weapon. A scythe. Black metal. Essence dripping.
Jayden's eye widened. He'd never seen her true manifestation before.
**[PROFESSOR VANCE]**
**[TRUE RANK: MASTER (PEAK)]**
**[AFFINITY: DEATH + SHADOW]**
**[MANIFESTATION: REAPER'S SCYTHE]**
The Tyrant roared. Charged.
Vance moved.
One slash. The scythe cut through space itself.
The Tyrant's front leg severed. Green blood sprayed.
Then Vance teleported.
Jayden's eye could barely track her. Shadow Step at Master rank. Instantaneous. No cooldown.
She appeared behind the beast. Above it. Beside it.
Each position one slash. Surgical. Precise.
"She's toying with it," Elena breathed.
"No," Jayden said, watching through Omni. "She's studying it. Learning its patterns."
The Tyrant adapted. Faster. Smarter.
It caught Vance mid teleport. Massive jaws snapped.
She blocked with the scythe shaft. The impact cratered the floor.
"NOW!" Vance's voice boomed.
Her scythe glowed. Death essence flooded the chamber.
The Tyrant's regeneration stopped. Its essence destabilized.
One final slash. Through the neck. Clean.
The beast fell.
"ABSORB IT! QUICKLY!"
They rushed forward. Hands on the massive corpse.
Green essence flooded them.
Jayden felt it immediately. Life affinity. Pure. Overwhelming.
But his eye pulsed.
**[AFFINITY MISMATCH DETECTED]**
**[EFFICIENCY: 34%]**
Beside him, Cinna gasped.
Her hands glowed brilliant green. Brighter than ever before.
**[AFFINITY MATCH: LIFE = LIFE]**
**[EFFICIENCY: 340%]**
**[EXPONENTIAL GROWTH ACTIVATED]**
"What " Cinna's eyes went wide as power flooded her.
Jayden's eye analyzed in real time.
**[DISCOVERY: AFFINITY RESONANCE]**
**[When absorbing essence matching your affinity, growth multiplies exponentially]**
**[Standard growth: x1]**
**[Matching affinity growth: x10]**
"Cinna, keep absorbing!" Jayden shouted. "Don't stop!"
She didn't. Couldn't. The essence was being pulled into her like a vortex.
The rest of them absorbed what they could. Significant growth. But nothing compared to Cinna.
Minutes passed. The corpse dissolved to nothing.
Cinna collapsed.
Green light still radiating from her body.
**[CINNA VAEL TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE]**
**[Speed: 3.1 → 14.2 units]**
**[Attack Power: 1.0 → 4.0 units]**
**[Healing Range: 25m → 50m]**
**[NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED:]**
**[ Regeneration Field: Area healing over time]**
**[ Life Barrier: Shield that heals instead of blocks]**
Cinna sat up slowly. Her eyes glowed faint green.
"I can feel... everything." She looked at her hands. "Every living thing in this dungeon. Their essence. Their health."
"You jumped from Bozo to Sonnet rank," Elena said, stunned. "In ten minutes."
The rest checked their stats.
**[MARCUS: Speed +3 (16.1 units). Power +4 (24.3 units). DURABILITY: 130.4 units (GRANDMASTER THRESHOLD)]**
**[ELENA: Speed +3 (14.8 units). Power +5 (21.8 units)]**
**[ZAIN: Speed +3 (17.9 units). Power +4 (23.1 units)]**
**[JAYDEN: Speed +6 (25.4 units). ATTACK POWER +13 (22.7 units)]**
Jayden stared at his hands. 22.7 attack. Finally on par with his speed.
"You hit Grandmaster speed," Vance said. "Officially."
"Marcus hit Grandmaster durability," Jayden countered. "130.4. That's insane."
Marcus manifested his Earth Titan Armor. It was different now. Denser. Darker. Practically indestructible.
"I'm a walking fortress," he said, amazed.
Vance sheathed her scythe. "Affinity resonance. Rare knowledge. Most people never discover it because they never fight enemies matching their affinity."
"Why?" Elena asked.
"Because matching affinities are usually allies, not enemies. Fire users don't hunt fire beasts. Life users don't kill life creatures." Vance looked at Cinna. "But when you do, and you absorb their essence, the growth is exponential."
"So if Jayden fought shadow beasts "
"He'd skyrocket. Same for any of you." Vance headed toward the exit. "Which is why I'm telling you this now. Hunt what matches you. Grow faster."
She paused at the stairs.
"You have maybe two weeks before the kingdom's net closes. Every guild, every mercenary, every hunter is mobilizing." Her expression darkened. "Use that time wisely. Get strong enough to fight back."
"What about you?" Jayden asked.
"I'll keep feeding you intel. Clearing paths. Buying time." She looked back. "But ultimately? You're the ones who'll end this. Not me."
She descended. Vanished into shadow.
The team stood in silence, processing everything.
"Two weeks," Marcus said. "To go from fugitives to fighters."
"Seven more floors," Zain added. "Let's clear them."
Cinna stood, her new power stabilizing. "I won't be deadweight anymore."
"You never were," Jayden said. "But now? You're our ace."
Elena smiled. "A healer who can actually fight. Game changer."
They rested. Ate. Prepared.
Tomorrow they'd push deeper.
Jayden checked his stats one more time.
**[Speed: 25.4 units GRANDMASTER THRESHOLD]**
**[Attack: 22.7 units MASTER TIER]**
**[Abilities: Shadow Step, Regeneration, Combat Prediction v2.0, Temporal Analysis]**
He was becoming what they feared.
Fast. Powerful. Unstoppable.
But this time, he had allies.
This time, he wouldn't break alone.
His eye pulsed crimson.
Seven floors remained.
Two weeks until war.
Time to finish what they started.