Chapter 56: Heading to the second floor

“Demon dogs coming ahead!” Lia yelled, and Tez stepped in. He slashed down, and his sword went through the head of the first one. Its blood stained the floor as it collapsed to the ground, his eyes already moving onto the next one. He stepped to the side as one of the dogs leaped at him.

It slammed into the ground and skidded to a stop, its claws sparking hard across the floor as it moved. Its piercing red eyes were already locked onto Tez again, and it was charging right at him.

Tez wasted no time. He raised his hand into the air, and a fireball formed in his palm, firing out and slamming into the dog’s head. It screeched in pain and tried to get away, but Tez gave chase.

He crossed the gap between them fast and swung down as his blade cleaved the dog right down the middle and killed it.

GROWL

He barely finished killing the dog when another lunged at him. It went low for his leg.

‘Sneaky fucker,’ Tez cursed in his mind while lifting his leg. He evaded the bite of the dog and then stomped down. His foot slammed into the head of the dog and killed it right there by shattering its skull.

He looked at it with no emotion in his eyes at all. The system kept chiming with messages nonstop about gaining EXP and system points. He was only a few kills away from leveling up again.

‘When I finally level up and gather enough points, I can purchase an appraisal skill that will ensure I can see the levels of everyone. That way, I can know who to engage and who to be cautious around.’

Tez knew that winning a battle was not all about engagement but also about being smart, too.

A demon dog saw him as he was distracted in his own thoughts and then lunged at him. Amber spotted the dog and knocked up her bow immediately. She made her shot, and the arrow whistled through the air and stabbed the demon dog right in the neck.

A rune on the arrow glowed and then exploded, blowing the head into smithereens in seconds. She gave Tez a nod and spun around as she heard another dog heading her way. The dog lunged at her and bit down. She blocked it with her bow and stopped it from biting into her while she knocked an arrow.

She pulled back on the arrow as the dog struggled to break free and get to her. She shot the arrow, and it went right through the head of the dog and killed it.

She dropped her bow down for a second.

“Look out!” Tez yelled. Amber turned around and saw a dog coming at her. She rushed at it and then leaped into the air over it, spinning in the air and nocking an arrow at the same time, her eyes pinned onto the back of the dog.

“Boom!” She made the sound of an explosion as she loosed the arrow, and it tore through the air and stabbed right into the back of the dog, followed by a thundering explosion that collapsed it to the ground at full force, killing it with a massive blast in the back.

She landed on the ground. A smile formed on her face as if she was enjoying doing this. She dashed toward Tez while he dashed towards her. Tez slid low, and she leaped into the air. She set an arrow and made her shot. Tez pulled his sword and made his slash, both of them killing the dogs that were chasing them.

Lia watched Tez and Amber display great chemistry together in their fight, and it immediately ticked her off. She frowned because she was the first love of Tez, and he was her master. She might have allowed it for Mira, but for some reason, she hated the fact that it could be for Amber as well.

Lia balled her fist, and her flames erupted around her like a swirling vortex of flames that nearly reached the ceiling. She turned around and saw two dogs rushing at her at the same time. Her fist came down in a powerful swing that slammed into the heads of both dogs and smashed them in. The flames rushed forward and engulfed them completely.

“This cannot be all that you have. Bring your best!” she roared at the rest that were headed her way. One lunged at her, and she dispatched it easily. She grabbed it by the leg and swung it down at full speed. The ground cracked from the impact, and blood gushed out of the dog. She proceeded to burn it in seconds, and then she thrust her hands forward, and a wave of flames surged out.

The dogs were not able to move away before the flames completely engulfed them. They burned into ashes in a matter of seconds. Lia stood there, breathing heavily and watching the ashes fade away. Her head raised, and she locked onto the dogs that were still headed her way.

“I’ll make sure I prove to him that I am the only one who should be at his side and no one else!”

She began slashing with her hands, and each one unleashed a flame arc that slashed through the dogs and killed them instantly. In her fit of rage, a few got past her and rushed towards the side in an attempt to flank her. She noticed and attacked them fast. Each attack killed them.

She was pushing herself a bit too hard in order to ensure that she killed them in one attack and no more. It caused her to have more gaps in her attacks, and the dogs got closer. But as a few lunged at her, Mira, who had been fighting her own battle, rushed in.

Her entire body was covered in lightning as she covered the distance at speed. Her claws dug into the neck of the first dog. Its blood gushed out and flew into the air, and before it even hit the ground, she had already blitzed over to the next. She grabbed the dog by the head and pulled it down hard into the ground until its face shattered the ground and drenched the floor with blood and brain matter.

She looked up and saw the next one rushing at her with a flying kick that broke its neck on impact.

When she stopped, three dogs were dead, and Lia was in the clear. Mira looked at Lia and then spoke.

“Do you really believe that Master is someone to be easily taken away?” Mira asked.

Lia heard that and paused for a moment. She looked at Tez and Amber, and then she looked at Mira.

“No, Master is not someone easy to control or manipulate. He is always a step ahead, at the very least.

But still, it feels so strange.”

“You’ll be fine. Master cherishes you. For now, he is simply trying to make her trust him more.” After saying that, Mira rushed ahead.

Two dogs rushed at her, and she immediately dodged the first one while lunging at the second. She grabbed it by the neck and hurled it into the wall while turning to the other dog. She attacked with a bolt of lightning that electrocuted it until it died.

All the demon dogs were taken care of at this point. Everyone stood around, breathing heavily after finishing the fight.

Lia finally put out her flames. She glanced at Tez and Amber together and then walked back to a wall. She leaned on it and slid down to rest.

Leah moved immediately after they were done and started gathering all the cores. There were quite a few, so it took some time to gather them all. When she was done, it was finally time to move from here and make it to the second floor.

The teleporter to the second floor was not too far from where they were currently. They had fought their way through the first floor to finally make it there.

“The second floor is going to be a different league compared to what we have faced here on the first floor. We have to keep an eye out and make sure we don’t allow ourselves to get hurt,” Tez said.