- The once-lively dungeon run, now turned into scene of terror, everyone was steeped in a silence after witnessing the monster.
- The monster, a grotesque Sylvanus Rex, had erupted from the earth, its sudden appearance freezing every student in their tracks.
- My heart hammered against my ribs, not with fear, but with a familiar, cold frustration.
- The teachers, our supposed protectors, were knocked out, crumpled figures scattered across the ground.
- And the only way out, the main gate, was now a tangled mess of thick, gnarled roots, a fortress of wood and malice.
- I didn't wanted to show my full strength but in this critical moment I had to, so I unsheathed Lumine from her scabbard to fight with it.
- "Noah! Rose!" I yelled, my voice a strained whisper that somehow cut through the silence. "Guard the students and the teachers! Rose, your barrier is our only defense! I'll hold it off!"
- Rose, her face a mask of grim determination and worried look, nodded, her hands already glowing with a soft, protective light.
- Noah, unsheathinghis sword and started to activate his aura stood in front of the students.
- I knew I could trust them. Rose's barriers were a shimmering wall of magical energy, a fortress of hope. - Noah, with his keen reflexes and unwavering courage, was the perfect guardian.
- I felt a surge of pride in my friends, a fleeting moment of warmth in the icy grip of fear. They were counting on me, and I would not fail them.
- I stood my ground, my sword still sheathed, my eyes locked on the monstrous entity.
- It was a Sylvanus Rex, an S-rank threat, its core a massive, pulsating heart of interwoven vines and ancient, gnarled tree trunks.
- From this central mass, a veritable forest of dark, coiling tentacles erupted, writhing and twitching with a malevolent life of their own.
- They thrashed in the air, ones with a big blades at the tip of the tentacles and other thick ones for destruction, and I knew I had to end it, and end it fast.
- My mind raced. I can't let this drag on. I have to create an opening, destroy this thing before it does any more damage to the students. One wrong move and we're all done for.
- I unsheathed my sword, the steel singing as it left the scabbard.
- I adopted my fighting stance, not my usual one, but my true stance, the one that had been honed through years of solitary, brutal training.
- "Come on, you overgrown weed!" I taunted, my voice a low growl, a promise of pain. "Let's see what you've got!"
- The monster seemed to hear me, its pulsating heart glowing brighter, and with a horrifying shriek, it lunged.
- A volley of thick, whip-like tentacles shot toward me, their tips poised with sharp blades.
- I didn't deflect them. I didn't parry. I moved, a blur of motion, my feet barely touching the ground.
- My 'Sword Dance' skill activated, but this was no dance. It was a storm of steel.
- With a single, fluid motion, I cut a path through the crushing tentacles, the steel of my sword ringing with each impact.
- I sliced through a dozen of the smaller, whip-like appendages, the monster's black, viscous sap oozing from the wounds.
- They regenerated fast, as expected from an S-rank monster, but my next strike was already there, faster than their lifeblood could mend.
- "It's slow." I murmured, It's indeed strong, but it's not fast enough, I thought, my arms no longer aching, but thrumming with a power I had long suppressed. I need to find an opening, a weakness.
- I continued my assault, a whirlwind of steel and grit, cutting, deflecting, and weaving through the barrage of tentacles.
- The monster's movements were becoming more frantic, its shrieks more enraged, as if it were annoyed by my persistence.
- I noticed it then, a brief, telltale glow in its chest, a pulsating light that pulsed in sync with its monstrous heart.
- There were two of them, actually, two glowing balls nestled within the vines of its core. They were its source of power, its lifeblood, and its weakness.
- My heart pounded with renewed hope. That's it. That's my chance.
- I parried a thick tentacle, sending it careening into the mass of roots blocking the gate, shattering them with a deafening crash and clearing a path.
- The sound of destruction was a stark reminder of what I was fighting for.
- I dodged a razor-sharp, leaf-like blade, its tip just grazing my cheek, the cold sting of the near-miss a jolt of adrenaline.
- I feigned a retreat, drawing the monster forward, and then, in a sudden burst of speed, I lunged.
- I put all my strength, all my anger, all my hope into one single, powerful blow.
- My sword pierced the dense wall of vines and landed with a sickening crunch on one of the glowing orbs in its chest.
- I didn't stop, I continued my relentless attacks one after another.
- But after some time of fighting him something unexpected happened.
- as I had dealt a great slash on him and was in the air he attacked me with his thick tentacles, I could dodge it but another monster apeared behind me.
- It was the dungeon boss that was not supposed to be there.
- It attacked me with ice magic, a long sharp ice spear flying towards me with power and speed.
- but I have to deflect one of them, the thick tentacle or the sharp ice long spear attack.
- I made an immediately decision, I deflected the spear only to be hit by the tentacle.
- I flew around the room and crashed a wall very hard.
- I almost lost my consciousness but I stood back on my feet, and wanted to heal myself.
- Only to be healed by Rose, who seemed she was worried, I saw her worried face and gave her a reassuring smile and went back to the fight.
- I immediately dashed towards the ice monster and immediate killed him, and used magic with sword attacks to fight of the other one.
- Until i successfully crushed the second ball and the plant monster started to crumple at his place.