"2 hours ago."
"Now I'm not about to make things that easy for you Zeta now am I," Shom exclaimed as Zeta had just shot pass him.
"3, 2, 4." Wolf bears just came rolling down. Almost as quickly as they were sighted. They met their end.
Zeta was very deliberate. She used her extension to do most of the killing.
"I can't use mana pulses indiscriminately here," 'she thought.'
"This is an A rank dungeon, I'll have to keep my mana for the big shots."
She made a turn, this turn greeted her with an entire pack of these wolfbears.
She held her extension even tighter and readied to cut them down.
"Hey, if you take too much time, then I'll get all the credit," a voice said from above. It was Charles.
"How did you even?" she questioned.
"No time for that now."
Zeta stepped forward first.
Her boots crunched softly against gravel, her posture relaxed in a way that didn't match the tension in the air. In her hand was her blade.
Behind her, Charles adjusted his grip on his own extension. His weapon was heavier, broader, and faint arcs of electricity crawled along its edge like restless insects.
"You hear that?" he whispered.
Zeta didn't answer immediately.
Then the growl came.
Wolfbears.
Massive, grotesque hybrids of muscle and fur, with the hulking bodies of bears and the elongated snouts and predatory cunning of wolves.
Zeta exhaled slowly.
"You're behind. Stay behind," she said flatly.
Charles scoffed, though tension flickered across his face. "You wish."
The first wolfbear lunged.
Zeta moved before it even closed the distance.
Her extension flashed—a clean, precise arc—and the creature's momentum carried it straight into the blade. There was a sharp, wet sound as steel met flesh, and the wolfbear collapsed mid-lunge, its body hitting the ground hard.
No hesitation.
No pause.
Zeta stepped over it as the rest surged forward.
Three came at once.
She pivoted, her blade snapping outward again, longer this time. One strike cut deep into a wolfbear's shoulder, severing muscle. She twisted, driving her foot into another's jaw, the impact cracking bone with a dull snap. The third caught her arm with its claws—but only barely.
A shallow tear.
Zeta didn't even flinch.
She turned and drove her blade through its throat.
Behind her, Charles was already engaged.
Two wolfbears rushed him from opposite sides.
"Fine," he muttered. "My turn."
He slammed his extension into the ground.
"Thunder talent. No. 7—God Bolt."
The air changed instantly.
A sharp, metallic tang filled the cave as electricity burst outward from him in a widening field. The ground crackled, faint arcs of lightning dancing across stone. The wolfbears hesitated—just for a second.
That was enough.
The electric field pulsed.
The creatures were drawn in—not by force, but by something more subtle. Their bodies tensed, muscles locking as the current seized them. Then the shock hit.
Their bodies convulsed violently, fur standing on end as electricity surged through them. The smell of scorched hair filled the air.
Charles stepped forward, finishing them with two quick strikes of his blade.
"Not bad, right?" he said, glancing toward Zeta.
She didn't look at him.
She was already moving deeper into the chamber.
More wolfbears poured from the shadows now—larger ones, their movements heavier, more deliberate. The ground trembled under their weight.
Zeta stopped.
For the first time, she smiled.
"Good," she murmured.
She raised her hand.
"Earth talent. Type 46—Boulder."
The ground answered.
Stone cracked.
A deep rumble echoed through the chamber as the floor beneath the wolfbears split open. Massive chunks of rock tore free, rising into the air as if pulled by invisible hands. Dust and debris filled the space, swirling around her.
Then—
They fell.
The first boulder crushed a wolfbear instantly, driving it into the ground with a sickening force. Another struck two more, sending them sprawling, bones breaking under the impact.
Zeta didn't stop.
She directed the falling stones with sharp, controlled movements, each one finding its target with brutal precision. The chamber filled with the sound of impacts—heavy, relentless.
A wolfbear managed to break through.
It lunged at her from the side, faster than the others.
Zeta turned just in time, her blade intercepting its jaws. The force drove her back a step, claws raking across her shoulder. Blood seeped through her sleeve.
Her expression didn't change.
"Annoying."
She shifted her grip—and cut upward.
The blade carved through the creature's skull, ending it instantly.
Behind her, Charles was struggling.
More wolfbears had been drawn to him by the lingering field of his God Bolt. He gritted his teeth as he reactivated it, electricity flaring again.
"Come on… come on…"
The creatures closed in.
The field pulsed.
They staggered—but these were tougher.
One pushed through, enduring the shock long enough to swing a massive paw at him. Charles barely raised his blade in time, the impact sending him skidding across the ground.
"Damn it—!"
Before the wolfbear could follow up, a boulder crushed it from above.
Zeta landed lightly beside him.
"You're too slow," she said.
Charles scowled, pushing himself up. "I had it."
"Clearly."
Another wave came.
Zeta moved first again.
By now, the floor was littered with bodies. She cut through the remaining wolfbears with efficient, almost mechanical precision—each strike placed perfectly, each movement conserving energy.
Charles followed, supporting where he could, his God Bolt weakening the creatures long enough for clean kills.
But the difference was obvious.
Zeta moved like she belonged here.
Like this was easy.
Minutes passed.
Then—
Silence.
The last wolfbear collapsed, its body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
The chamber stilled.
Dust settled slowly in the air.
Charles leaned against his blade, breathing heavily. "That… was more than expected."
Zeta wiped her blade clean against a fallen creature.
She glanced around.
"Still one left," she said.
Charles frowned. "What?"
A shadow shifted at the far end of the chamber.
Larger than the rest.
A wolfbear stepped forward—massive, scarred, its presence heavier, more oppressive. Its eyes locked onto them, intelligent… calculating.
Charles straightened. "Now that's—"
A blur moved past them.
Before either of them could react, someone had already crossed the distance.
It barely had time to snarl.
A single strike.
Clean.
Effortless.
The creature's body split apart as it collapsed.
The man stood still for a moment, his blade—another extension—retracting smoothly back into its hilt.
Shom.
He turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder at them.
"You took your time," he said.
Zeta shrugged. "They weren't worth rushing."
Charles blinked. "You just—"
Shom stepped forward, scanning the chamber once.
Then he moved.
What little remained—injured wolfbears, twitching bodies—were dealt with in seconds. Each movement was precise, controlled, leaving no room for resistance.
When he was done, he sheathed his weapon.
Silence returned.
Shom looked at the two of them.
"Next time," he said calmly, "don't leave stragglers."
Zeta nodded once.
Charles exhaled, shaking his head slightly.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "Got it."
The others just made the turn.
All this happened. Just now.
"Like how."
Shom's already caught up. If I maintain this distance with him then I'll never get kills. I have to outpace him again somehow.
The race was on.
Shom in the lead again. Zeta a close second. Charles a not so close fourth and there was everyone else.
None of the others seemed to be as fired up as those in front.
Michael even stopped. He turned back. He could tell something was coming. What it was, he couldn't tell. Lin stepped on moonbomb.
Moonbombs are one of those things present in gates where there's no dungeon boss chamber. The reason is simple. There's a not so countable amount of monsters.
No definitive strongest but multiple really strong ones. Moonbombs will auto transport a strong monster to the location.
"Damn, there's a high grade, right up front," Charles said.
Shom was confused, this seemed like a boss, but he knows most boss barely leave the chamber, it's almost an unspoken role.
He turned back and was met with hands pointed at Lin.
In that split second, Zeta overtook him for the second time.
"Ok fake boss, here I come," Zeta yelled.
"She read that so quickly," 'Shom thought.' He smiled.
He then shouted.
"You all just got really lucky with this one. I guess you can thank Lin for this."
"She activated a moonbomb, which means we're expecting a shit ton of high grades here any moment."
"You all wanna shine well now's your chance."
The moonbombs will continue spawning high grades until a condition is met. The high grades are spawned under time dependency only. They will not wait for one to be ended before another spawns. This means the hunters may be facing more than they can handle, real soon.