Chapter 130 Zest And Nia

Everyone calmed down as they saw that the one who appeared from the fire wasn't someone else but Ray himself.

Looking at everyone sighing in relief, Ray's expression saddened as he spoke,

"You guys should have more trust in me. That goblin was nothing but a child compared to me,"

"Well, we are your teammates and I guess it is a good sign that we were worried about you," Sirius spoke, diffusing the strange atmosphere as he continued, "What now? We have cleared the floor, so what should we do next?"

"What do you mean by that? We do what we always do, we rest and then move to the next floor," Ray said as he smiled and continued, "Okay guys, you all have some rest. I will have a chat with Sirius until then,"

Saying that, Ray waited for everyone to leave as his smile changed into a frown as a serious glint shone in his eyes.

On the other hand, even Sirius's attitude changed as his expression got serious. Walking away, both Sirius and Ray reached the end of the hall as they sat down on the ground, and started their chat.

"You must have noticed it by now. The dungeon is changing," Ray asked, his expression serious as he looked right into Sirius's eyes.

"Yes, that's why I asked for your opinion on what to do next. From what I feel, the dungeon is getting harder, too much for a dungeon in the Mortal Realm," Sirius answered.

"You are right. This dungeon has started to evolve and is currently in the process of evolving into a dungeon at the Magical Realm," Ray explained, his voice cold as he continued, "And from what I perceive, the dungeon boss is someone with great intellect. I guess that it is a monster that has evolved beyond the level of Goblin Lord and gained sentience. Though, from the looks of it, it might be an anomaly in itself,"

Sirius listened to Ray's thoughts as he realized how fu*ked up the situation really was. After taking a moment to digest the information, Sirius spoke as he asked,

"Then what should we do? If it's someone at the Magical Realm, I doubt we would be able to defeat it, even with all of our power combined,"

"Yes, you are right. Even if we fight with all we have got, we won't be able to take down the boss. However, we can't leave the dungeon either, or else we would fail the test. Therefore, what I plan to do is that we should hurry up and clear all the floors as fast as we could and fight against the boss before it steps into the magical realm or has newly stepped into the magical realm. After all, even if it's a monster or an anomaly, it would require time to consolidate its newfound strength," Ray explained as he told Sirius of his plan.

"Okay, let's do this. However, what if we are late," Sirius nodded as he asked one last question.

"Then, we just hold it off for as long as we could. After all, the academy has been keeping an eye on everything and they would surely find a way to rescue us in case it goes out of our control," Ray answered, a smile visible on his face as his previous seriousness vanished all of a sudden.

Sirius nodded as he stood up and walked back to where everyone rested. While walking back, his mind was in chaos as he thought about everything that was currently going on and the crisis they were in. Amidst his thoughts, another thought also popped up,

"How can he be so calm at times like these?," He thought as Ray's calm and reassuring smile flashed in his mind.

Meanwhile Ray,

"Aurora, help me. I feel so lost right now," Ray asked, his mind anything but calm as he rubbed his temples.

"Calm down, have some faith in yourself. I am sure you will be able to pass this hurdle and come out stronger than before," Aurora consoled, her voice calm and soothing as she calmed him down.

Ray calmed a bit as he sat on the ground in a meditative posture to restore his lost energy.

Within Ray's consciousness, Aurora contemplated the situation as she pitied Ray.

"How pitiful, to see him go through all this at such a young age. I fear him maturing too early," Aurora thought, her fears coming true as she saw how Ray was slowly losing his bright and cheerful side while he was getting more and more serious.

"I guess he will have to grow more mature. For the times that are to come are going to need more mature people. It won't be a world where kids would survive, they would have to mature into men to go survive what is to come," She thought, her thoughts revolving around Ray as she thought of the hardships he would face in the coming future.

Dungeon Instance,

Nia stood at the entrance of the fifth floor. Her expression was of fear as she looked at the number of goblins surrounding the whole team.

Her teammates unsheathed their weapons as they stood to defend themselves. Their hands shook as the sheer number of goblins made them sweat all over.

Zest stood besides Nia as he inwardly smirked over the difficulty the team would face.

Nia regained her composure as she turned to Zest and spoke,

"Use your ability and make as many copies of yourself as you can. After that, use your copies to act as meat shields for the whole team,"

"I won't be able to do that," Zest declined as he clarified, "The copies I make are as real as they could be. I share all my senses with them including pain. Therefore, for every bit of damage they take, I feel half the pain they feel. Therefore, you asking me to make my copies act as shields would be the same as me taking all the hits,"

"Oh... I see," Nia muttered as she contemplated what to do.

"Though my copies could help fight against the goblins, that is till I can bear the pain inflicted due to their attacks," Zest added.

"Okay, let's see what we can do," Nia nodded as she spoke, "Then we will fight and try to stay on the offensive,"

"All of you, ready your strongest spells and fight them with all you have," She ordered, her voice carrying enthusiasm and zeal as she empowered her whole team to attack.

As for Nia, she also readied her spell as she used her system to create a pair of short swords while a light elemental armor covered her whole body.

Looking at her, she looked no less than an angel in light armor as the armor hugged her skin, further accentuating her curves.

Zest's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he glanced at her,

"So big! I want to fondle them," He thought as blood rushed to a certain part of his body.

However, he controlled his emotions before a certain part of his body could rise.

With that, he focused on the matter at hand and started to use his system to create multiple copies of himself.

A while later, a dozen copies of Zest stood beside each other. Each copy held a different weapon in its hand. With that, Zest ordered his copies to support the team while he fought alongside Nia.

The fight continued as the whole team gave it their all and fought with everything in their arsenal.

While fighting, Zest couldn't help but constantly glance at Nia. Even he didn't know why, but his eyes wandered towards her chest as it moved up and down while Nia fought against the goblins.

On the other hand, Nia couldn't be more furious as she clearly noticed Zest glancing at her chest on several occasions.

However, there was nothing she could do as the armor provided her with defense and the style of the armor further increased her agility. Therefore, she bore with it as she swore to teach him a lesson afterwards.

As for Zest, as if in some trance. His body involuntarily closed in on Nia as he avoided all the attacks aimed at him.

Nia noticed Zest closing in on her as she shouted,

"Zest, behind you,"

"Huh?" Zest broke out of his trance as he looked around in confusion. Shaking his head, he continued to fight while maintaining his distance from Nia.

"That girl is dangerous. I should maintain my distance, lest I do something improper that would cause my plan to fail," Zest thought as he tried to rid his mind of the thoughts that revolved in his mind.

At the same time, Nia also vowed to herself to maintain distance from Zest as she thought,

"He is clearly infatuated with me. I should maintain my distance lest he tries to do something wrong with me," She thought while fighting against the goblins.

However, whatever thoughts both of them had. They were unaware of the fact that in the end, they would go on to become known as the couple that would never let go of their partner.

However, that time was far ahead as they would have to face countless hardships and tests that would prove their loyalty to one and other.

...

A/N:- I hope you guys have fun. Also, don't forget to vote with power stones and golden tickets for bonus chapters. I await your input.