Skyler snatched the spear from him and pushed him toward the boss chamber while drawing the spiders’ attention by spinning the spear and creating a whirlwind.
"Run! I don’t want to lose the first good friend I made after so long!"
The spiders screeched as he abruptly stopped and, with a graceful circular arc, slashed at all the nearest spiders.
Skyler’s eyes quivered when a 4-star spider attacked him from the side with its forelegs shrouded in the darkness element. He knew he wouldn’t be able to block the attack, so he decided to protect his vitals.
But Charles intercepted the strike with his bare hands and shouted at him.
"Who are you calling a fool?! We’re going together, idiot! Or we’re not going at all!"
The dark hue creeping into Skyler’s gaze dissipated upon hearing his words.
The sudden urge to create his second elemental crystal faded along with it.
He chuckled mirthfully. Charles had the chance to leave him behind, just like Jenny and Zack had. This time, he would not have even minded since Charles was injured and he was the one who had asked him to go.
"Then let’s fight these bugs together!"
They both didn’t hold back their strength and fought the giant spiders while moving toward the boss chamber entrance.
Skyler threw the spear in his hand, and it arced through the air, killing a giant spider by puncturing its head before returning to him under his ’object manipulation’ skill, as he had injected it with his Evol.
The spear, glowing with a golden light, punctured through the body of another spider lunging toward him before he seized it once more. Dark blood spattered on him, and he grimaced at the foul odor.
"Not good! It’s not extreme, but my clean freak side is waking up! Let’s move. Hurry!"
Charles had another matter to address.
"Liar! Why did you say you aren’t a spear user when you are so proficient with it??"
"What, really? But I never trained with it."
Charles wanted to laugh at him. He was definitely lying again! How could he be so skilled if he had never trained with it?
He held his words for a later time as they moved toward the boss chamber entrance. By the time they reached it and jumped into the hole in the tree trunk, both of them were gravely injured and had lost all their Evol.
The boss monster could emerge from its chamber, but all the weaker monsters in the dimension couldn’t enter its chamber, and the reason was still unknown in Eldoria.
The crystals began to appear after the Battle Royal descended on their universe. So, it was said that they were training areas for the Lights to gain combat experience.
Thanks to that, at least now the duo didn’t have to worry about the other spiders.
It was also fortunate that Dread and Scar had yet to break the dimension’s core.
Skyler and Charles were surrounded by darkness for a few seconds as they glided down a large, dark tunnel.
The moment they were ejected from the other end of the dark hole, Charles landed directly on Skyler’s back, causing the youth to crash face-first into the ground.
"Shit! Get up! I think I broke my nose!"
Charles quickly shifted and intended to apologize, a bit confused about why he was the one who ended up landing on him when Skyler was clearly the one who entered the boss chamber first. But before he could, a familiar gray screen flashed before them.
Unlike the systems they got in the Battle Royal, this screen was more like a prompt.
_______
You have entered the chamber of the novice-tier crystal lone boss monster, the Giant Crimson Venom Spider.
Defeat the spider to randomly get any of the below rewards:
- A Novice-tier skill book (rare)
- A Novice-tier spell scroll (rare)
- A Novice-tier venom sack
- A Novice-tier web trap
- A Novice-tier spider silk cloak (rare)
- A Novice-teir crafting material
The drop rate depends on the rarity of the items. The rewards will spawn when the boss is dead. Anyone can pick them up.
_______
Skyler rubbed his nose as he stared at the screen that vanished a few seconds later.
"Seeing this familiar screen, which is said to appear in every boss chamber when one enters, I guess it’s true that these crystals are related to the Battle Royal."
Charles agreed with him and helped him stand up despite his injured shoulder.
"This is why all the rulers in Eldoria don’t allow Lights to shatter the crystals’ cores, even though the dangerous crystals vanish the moment someone breaks their cores."
He was right. The dimensions or realms within the monster-filled crystals provide valuable resources, including mines rich in Evol ores and crystals that run technology, as well as skills, spells, crafting materials, and even the remains of fallen monsters.
All of this sustains the economy of all Eldoria and also strengthens the Lights.
However, since they are trapped in the crystal due to the dimensional field and have no other available options, they can shatter the core to escape this place.
Skyler and Charles both moved forward toward the light they could see amidst the rocky structures around them. They were inside a vast underground chamber.
Charler was pale and sweating profusely; he had lost too much blood from the injury on his shoulder, so he needed to leave this place as soon as possible. Skyler’s injuries were less severe since his ’self-healing’ skill instinctively healed him, albeit slowly.
A loud screeching noise echoed in the air, followed by the clear sounds of someone crashing into the rocks and screaming.
They paused and hid themselves before peeking out from behind the rocks, doing their best to conceal their presence.
Directly under the glowing area of the ceiling, Dread was fighting a giant spider that spewed venom and balls of darkness.
The spider was seated on a large silk web encasing a fist-sized core, which powered this dimension and also had the ability to slowly conjure monsters in the dimension once they were killed by the Lights.
Scar was lying in the distance amidst the rocks in a bloody mess, making it clear that it was her who had just been flung away.