Chapter 124: Leveling Up (4)

And he struck quickly several times. The energy exploded.

Those guys’ hammer-like arms were shattered. The path was cleared a little.

"Run!"

The three of them moved quickly and began to make their way through. More guardians rose up; even the ground beneath their feet began to shake.

"Watch out!" Erick shouted and jumped to the side.

A powerful guardian rose up before them in a matter of seconds.

They stared, bewildered, at the fist so extremely close to them and froze in fear.

BOOM!

The force of the impact struck, but Zaid stepped in the way, hitting it from behind several times. With each blow, an internal explosion erupted, and the cloud of sand served to cover Erick and John as they fled.

With several well-aimed and precise blows, the golem fell to the ground, just like the other one.

’How strange. Why don’t they die?’

Even though he knew they weren’t dead, he had initially thought they would somehow recover through that sand-based regeneration, but in fact, they never got back up or recovered.

Clearly, it wasn’t what he had thought.

He couldn’t reach a conclusion, because another guardian attacked him.

"Zaid!"

"Ignore him and run!" Zaid shouted to the two in front of him.

But he frowned and looked at his hands. They were covered in blood.

"These bastards are really tough. Even though I already have the Giant’s Hands Talent active, I’ve got several broken bones," he sighed in frustration.

"Help me take them out," Zaid said to Valia.

"Okay!" She perked up and jumped down from his shoulder. She immediately transformed into a blazing star once again, shining all around and increasing the heat.

"I should attack them in the chest, right?"

"Yes. As many times as you can. There will come a point when you feel a void, and he’ll fall."

They focused on Erick and John’s escape.

Erick blocked an attack as he led the way.

John dodged another one by jumping over it and rolling on the ground.

Zaid appeared behind them, tearing off a part of a guardian’s body to clear a path for them.

He focused on taking them all out, since they were a real nuisance when they got back up a second time. He just wanted to get to the other side, so he was careful and decisive.

It took them more than 4 hours to make it to the other side.

Zaid’s hands were in shreds.

"I’m surprised you were able to hold out that long..." Erik and John were stunned.

"It sucks that they didn’t even give me a PE," he complained. He felt that all the damage he’d suffered and the numerous wounds on his body hadn’t been worth it.

’At least now I have more combat experience,’ he thought, trying to find the silver lining in all of this.

Zaid left the guardians behind. When they stepped into the area around the door, the guardians didn’t even turn to look at them. There were a lot of guardians lying on the ground; they still hadn’t gotten up.

Zaid looked toward the door. It was covered in symbols.

He sighed, stepped forward, and pushed it open.

Suddenly, a surge of energy coursed through his entire body.

The System appeared before his eyes.

[Gate Guardians have been defeated.]

[EP earned.]

Zaid froze and looked at the notification.

He began to see several EP and ME notifications popping up. There were too many.

[Level up.]

[Level increased.]

First Level 16... then Level 17.

Zaid felt the current run through his body again; it made him close his eyes for a moment, and he opened them when it faded.

’Two levels...’

Zaid looked behind him at the vast field strewn with fallen guardians.

’That was it...’

They did grant experience—only at the very end...

He felt a bit frustrated when he realized that all the other guardians had disappeared.

’You can only do it once, right?’ He sighed and shook his head.

"What a shitty floor, huh? As soon as you walk through it, those damn bastards disappear," Erick complained.

"It’s like a mechanism that was set up beforehand. Don’t you think that’s strange?" John frowned.

Erick turned to look at him. "Why is it strange?"

"It’s a naturally generated dungeon. You don’t usually find mechanisms this perfect in places like this,"

"Now that you mention it..." Erick’s eyes lit up.

"Maybe that’s why this floor isn’t designed for leveling up,"

"I’m more curious to know who created the mechanism here," Zaid said suddenly.

"Do you think someone created it?" John asked.

"This mechanism was created either by humans or by some highly intelligent race," Zaid said. "It’s far too meticulous."

"You’re right."

The greatest proof that it was a man-made mechanism was the guardians themselves.

These Gatekeepers were far too resilient. There weren’t many of them, but they wouldn’t stop regenerating unless you "killed" them—and even then, new ones would appear.

Clearly, these guys weren’t there to help people level up, but to protect access to the top floor. That’s why the reward for killing them didn’t justify constantly fighting them.

The fact that he barely managed to farm 2 levels in about 5 or 6 hours, using all his power and Valia’s, was the best example of this.

Zaid stopped thinking about nonsense and focused on looking at what these guys were protecting.

The door.

He had touched it before; now he pushed it. It was a heavy stone door.

On the other side was a staircase that led even further down, and the air coming from there was different. Unlike the intense heat on the second floor, the air there was cold, heavier, and less dry.

Valia leaped toward him and perched on his shoulder. "I sense feline presences in there," she said.

"Felines?" Zaid frowned. He could sense powerful presences there, but he couldn’t tell if they were felines or some other race.

John stepped closer. "They’re the Harpy Eagle’s tiger cubs."

"They’re pretty strong," said Zaid. "High E-rank."

"They feed on the blood of wolves, from what I heard in town," said John.

Erick frowned. "You mean we’re feeding them on the first floor?"

John laughed at the way he put it, but nodded. "Something like that."

Erick shuddered... That was scary.

’In fact, this mechanism must have been created by some intelligent race. It’s too meticulous,’ Zaid thought, fully convinced.

"Let’s go down. It’s time to finish this dungeon."

The three of them began to descend, and the darkness and cold of the third floor swallowed them up.