The brutal kinetic impact lifted the beast off the ground and threw it far across the stone corridor. Lexi darted out from the shadows and finished the crippled monster by slicing its neck with her dagger.
During the chaos, a tiny piece of sharp rock debris ricocheted off the cavern wall. It hit Kian's left hand and left a few minor cuts on his knuckles. A single drop of blood fell onto the dirty stone floor.
Celia saw the blood and immediately panicked. She ran straight toward Kian. She grabbed his injured left hand tightly with her own left hand, then placed her right hand about two centimeters above the shallow cuts. She cast a low-level healing spell to close the skin without using her wooden staff.
Kian stood there and thought about his current environment.
It is so loud, Kian complained internally.
He could still hear the heavy impact of Brown's shield ringing in his ears. He heard the metallic clang of Red bashing a hard shell over and over again, and the explosive magical barrage from Black constantly shook the ground.
But the kid that bothered him the most is...
A monster managed to slip completely through the chaos and reach the absolute rear of the formation. It positioned itself directly behind Kian's back. Before the beast could even take a single step forward, Pink rushed toward it with incredible speed and cut it entirely in half.
Kian turned around slowly, completely unbothered by the dead monster bleeding out on the floor as he just stared at Pink.
Pink had coated her entire body with a thick, glowing yellow Aura. Because she was a Thief, a dedicated melee fighter, she maintained that dense energy around her skin and her sharp daggers at all times. She dashed forward to return to the frontline with explosive speed, completely bypassing Kian.
She left about one centimeter of distance between their shoulders when she sprinted past him.
The violent shockwave of displaced air caused by the Aura covering Pink's entire body slammed directly into Kian's unprotected ear, leaving a sharp ringing in his head. For Kian, it was the loudest and most painful noise in the entire dungeon.
Kian looked at the ground, where the dungeon floor was incredibly dirty and his combat boots caught the grit with every step.
I have been trying to get rid of these kids for a while now, but I fail every single time, Kian thought bitterly.
He looked at the five colorful kids clearing the rest of the monsters.
I already tried to escape a lot of times, Kian reasoned with himself. I keep leaving them behind in cheap inns while they sleep, but they track my footprints and find me without fail. They actually think it is all just training to test their tracking skills. So here I am, completely unable to get away from these kids.
Kian let out a long, heavy sigh.
Yellow finished closing the cuts on his hand.
"Is something bothering you, Ki?" she asked, her face looking genuinely worried.
Kian looked down at Yellow.
I gave Yellow a challenge to be a Swordsman, Kian thought, feeling a deep ache in his temples. I thought it was impossible for a Healer to learn melee footwork. But look at her. She moves like a pro in just a single year. A Healer that fights like a Swordsman? It does not make any sense at all. Anyone in the capital knows it was just a load of crap, but these color-coded kids actually think I am some kind of tactical genius because I possess the wisdom to defy a Law of the Universe. That is ridiculous.
"It is nothing," Kian finally said to Celia.
Kian looked at everyone again and hardened his resolve.
I have to find a way to get rid of all of them, he plotted silently. To do that, I need them to voluntarily quit the Feeble Soul party and promise they will never approach me ever again.
The next day, the party came right back to the exact same dungeon.
But there was something completely different about Kian's outfit. He was not wearing comfortable combat clothes. He wore incredibly expensive tailor-made clothes and very shiny leather shoes.
At the entrance of the dark dungeon, Kian pointed a strict finger at Yellow and Black.
"You and you," Kian commanded.
Kian looked directly at Black. "Make me float."
Black looked incredibly confused, but she obediently raised her staff and cast a floating magic spell toward Kian. His boots lifted a few inches off the ground.
"Listen to me," Kian said to Black, his voice completely flat. "These shoes I am wearing are very expensive. I do not want to walk through a dirty dungeon on foot because it will make my shoes dirty. Maintain that floating spell the entire time until we finish this dungeon quest. If you drop my expensive shoes onto the dirty ground, you will be severely punished. Do you understand?"
Black's eyes went wide. Her shoulders stiffened, and absolute terror washed over her pale face as she stared at his shiny leather shoes. She knew her own limits.
Kian then looked at Yellow. "Pre-cast a low-level healing spell on me and maintain that spell the whole time. I do not want my blood to drop onto the ground when I get minor cuts from the flying debris. I want the wounds to be healed the exact moment the debris touches my skin. Do you understand?"
Celia trembled violently. She knew the terrifying truth of his demands.
She could only cast a continuous spell for about six hours before her Mana Core ran completely dry. And she knew Lumina was in a much worse situation. Lumina's magic was highly destructive, but she completely lacked the stamina to maintain a passive spell for a long time. Lumina could only hold a continuous floating spell for about three hours at maximum.
They both knew the usual time required for their dungeon exploration was about eight to ten hours. They lacked the stamina to cast continuously for that long, so the task was completely impossible. But they forced themselves to walk forward anyway.
Inside the dungeon, the battle formation was different this time.
Brown and Red stood at the vanguard. A brutal series of blocking and attacking happened immediately.
The sharp sound of CLANGS and SHHH-SKRRRKT echoed down the stone halls as steel met monster hide. Whenever a beast managed to sneak to the rear, Lexi covered her whole body and her sharp daggers with her bright Aura. She rushed toward the monster at incredible speed, completely ignoring the deafening shockwave she generated.
Everyone is so loud, Kian thought while hovering in the air. And this Pink is the absolute worst.
Kian was currently floating near the back while chewing a Glisberry. On his left side, Black pointed her wooden staff directly at him, making him float. On his right side, Yellow pointed her staff at him, continuously channeling a low-level healing spell.
Small, sharp debris of broken rocks suddenly flew toward Kian, Celia, and Lumina.
Lumina quickly cast a weak barrier magic to block the small stones. Celia easily dodged the flying rocks using her footwork. Kian was hit squarely on his right arm and left arm, but the tiny cuts were instantly healed before a single drop of blood could fall.
Two hour later, Lumina was physically shaking. She was not firing any fireballs at the monsters because she was desperately conserving her energy just to keep Kian in the air.
"Black," Kian said lazily. "Why are you not attacking the monsters? You can still hit them from this distance, right?"
Lumina's terrified face twisted in panic. She raised her free hand and cast a very weak fireball. It flew down the tunnel and hit a monster in the front row, but the beast did not die.
"Weak," Kian said.
Lumina flinched hard. Her breath hitched in her throat, and absolute terror filled her eyes as she violently bit her lower lip to stop her hands from trembling.
After two hours and forty-five minutes, Lumina's Mana Core hit empty. She dropped to her knees on the stone floor.
Kian dropped as well.
TAP-CLACK.
His expensive, shiny shoes landed heavily on the dirty dungeon floor. Upon hearing the loud sound of impact, Lumina squeezed her eyes shut, completely afraid of what was going to happen next. She waited for the severe punishment.
But Kian did not say a single word. He just stood there, and the total silence made Lumina even more terrified than if he had screamed at her.
After roughly six hours of continuous channeling, Celia finally collapsed onto the ground as well.
After eight hours of exploring the dungeon, Kian turned around. "Let's go home."
Red, Brown, Pink, and Kian walked out of the tunnel first. They left the exhausted, panting Yellow and Black behind. The two girls just looked at each other, left entirely confused by the lack of punishment.
The next day, it was the exact same routine.
Kian instructed them to pre-cast the floating and healing spells. Lumina eventually ran out of energy, so the expensive shoes of Kian hit the dirty ground again. After eight grueling hours in the dungeon, they all went home without a single word of scolding from Kian.
It happened for an entire week.
Then, at the end of the seventh day, Celia and Lumina collapsed onto the ground again, completely exhausted from the impossible routine.
Kian ate the last Glisberry he had brought for the day. He finally spoke.