They moved steadily in the direction of the crushing aura. Finally, they saw it—the Final Boss of the third floor. It had left its territory, wandering into the middle of the plains in search of fresh meat.
It was a massive serpent, its scales shimmering with a dark, oily light. The snake noticed them the moment they stepped into the clearing. Without a second thought, it lunged, its massive jaws snapping at the air where they stood.
Rudra and Ananya dove to the sides, narrowly avoiding the strike. But as they landed, a second hiss echoed through the grass. Another giant snake was slithering out from the shadows behind them.
"Crap," Ananya hissed, her eyes darting between the two monsters. "A twin pair. Rudra, can you handle that one? I'll take care of this!"
Rudra stood up, his hand tightening around the hilt of his Firangi. He looked at the beast in front of him and then back at Ananya.
"Just make sure you don't take too long," Rudra said, his voice cold. "I'd hate for my meat to get cold while I wait for you to finish."
Ananya let out a sharp laugh. "Don't die, Level 2!"
She immediately began to lure the larger Alpha snake away, leading it toward a cluster of tall stone pillars. Rudra turned his full attention to the second serpent. He held the Firangi in one hand, his breathing slowing down.
The Brutal Struggle
The snake attacked with a sudden, violent burst of speed. Rudra barely moved his head as the snake's fangs whistled past his ear. He stepped in, swinging the Firangi, but the blade only grazed the thick scales.
The serpent hissed in rage and lashed its tail. The heavy blow caught Rudra in the chest, throwing him back against a tree. He coughed up blood, his ribs screaming in pain.
'Move... I have to move!'
As the snake lunged again to finish him, Rudra focused every drop of his Prana into his sword. The blade didn't just glow; it shook with a wild, unstable energy. He didn't dodge. He waited until the snake's mouth was wide open, inches from his face.
"DIE!"
He thrust the Firangi upward. The blade pierced the roof of the snake's mouth and drove straight through its brain. The serpent thrashed wildly, its heavy coils slamming into Rudra, crushing him against the ground as it died.
The End of the Floor
A few minutes later, the thrashing stopped. Rudra lay in the dirt, drenched in black blood and gasping for air. Every muscle in his body felt broken.
He looked up and saw Ananya walking toward him. She was perfectly calm. There wasn't a single scratch on her skin or a speck of dust on her clothes. She looked down at him, her shadow falling over his bloody face.
"Well," she said, looking at the dead snake and then back at him. "You're still alive. I suppose that's a start."
She reached down to help him up as a glowing blue circle—the Mandala of Return—began to shine on the ground beneath them. The floor was cleared.
Rudra stood up slowly. His body was covered in dust, black snake blood, and the bruises of a brutal fight. His lungs burned as he gasped for air.
Ananya watched him, her eyes tracing the injuries on his arms. "It seems we've defeated the Floor Boss," she said, her voice unusually quiet.
"It seems... so," Rudra panted. He felt like his muscles were made of lead.
"What now?" she asked. "Should we push on to the next floor, or do you need to rest?"
Rudra began limping toward the shade of a nearby tree. "Give me... some time to recover," he managed to say. He sat down heavily against the rough bark, and Ananya sat a few feet away, keeping watch.
Rudra leaned his head back and closed his eyes, trying to calm his racing heart. Suddenly, a clear, mechanical sound echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 3.]
Rudra's eyes snapped open. He looked around the quiet cavern, but there was no one else there. He looked at Ananya.
"Did you... just congratulate me?" he asked.
Ananya gave him a confused look. "For what? For looking like a half-dead wolf?"
"I just heard a voice," Rudra said, his brow furrowing. "It spoke to me. It congratulated me. You didn't hear that?"
"No," Ananya said, her expression shifting from confusion to worry. "What are you talking about? Are you sure you didn't hit your head too hard?"
Before Rudra could answer, the voice rang out again, louder and clearer than before.
[New Skill Unlocked: Prana Block (Level 1)]
Rudra jumped slightly. "Did you hear it that time?"
"Hear what?" Ananya asked, now looking genuinely concerned.
As Rudra stared into the air, a glowing blue window—one that only he could see—began to display text, explaining the new power.
[Skill: Prana Block]
Effect: Allows the user to temporarily paralyze the Prana flow of a target upon contact.
Current Duration: 3 Seconds.
Growth: As your Level increases, the duration grows. At Level 10, the block duration increases to 30 Seconds.
'Nothing,' Rudra thought, quickly masking his shock. 'It seems I'm the only one who can hear this.' He realized this was a secret he had to keep. If he could stop a monster's Prana—even for three seconds—it could mean the difference between life and death.
Ananya stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes. "If you're done talking to ghosts, can we move to the next floor now?"
"Yes," Rudra said in a low voice, nodding as he pushed himself to his feet.
He started walking toward the far end of the chamber, looking for a staircase like the one they had used before.
"Rudra, where are you going?" Ananya called out, laughing. "You don't need to walk all the way across the floor to reach the next one."
Rudra stopped and turned around. "Then... how do we get there?"
Ananya pointed to the two glowing circles that had appeared after the snake died. "You see these? The Dhougen provides a shortcut once the Boss is dead. The red circle is for the exit, but the blue one teleports us directly to the Fourth Floor."
"You didn't tell me that while we were walking here," Rudra muttered, feeling a bit foolish.
"You didn't ask!" she teased.
They both stepped into the blue circle. A blinding light swallowed them, and in the blink of an eye, the Third Floor vanished.