"Strength is stiff without the flexibility to adapt. And flexibility is flimsy without the strength of resolve." ~Shallies Mythernal

Shallies stood behind them as she watched her students fight bravely against a monster that was, at the very least, thrice larger than the six-horned noldzwjak had been. Not only that, but the threat was also just as great.

However, at the same time, her students were more powerful now. With the speed of their growth, it would be difficult to ascertain the extent of that improvement by themselves. Simply because there wasn't any common monster in this dungeon in particular that could match them, given how they were allowed to approach in the most advantageous spots.

It was partly her fault, Shallies admitted. With the desire to speed up her students' progress, she had given them the most optimal engagements for each encounter in this dungeon. But it was also just as admirable, in a sense, that they had been able to take advantage of all of them.

For this Great Serpent-Kraken, however, Shallies hadn't shown them the optimal engagement. She had wanted them to experience this boss encounter the same way most people would. But, if Grace had been a bit luckier, or if she had been at least ten levels higher, she would've figured out that this particular Dungeon Boss's lair would act like a battery for it. She would have been able to use that to figure out its complete name.

Fortunately, with Tayin's help, Ren managed to drag the Great Kraken out of its lair, lessening its capacity to use continuous mana-based attacks. Shallies was extremely impressed with how the Shield Knight read between the lines and managed to engage all of his Attributes.

Despite this, however, her students still lacked some crucial information about the Dungeon Boss. And that lined up with the problem most people faced when fighting a Great Kraken.

While noldzwjaks were common enough that even the standard-fare adventurer would know ample details about them, krakens, in particular, were the complete opposite.

Dungeons underwater were less common than those on land. And dungeons with krakens were far less common. Not only that, but most adventurers would give up after finding out that the Dungeons Boss was a Great Kraken, which would then cause the quest to be obligated to Favored Class parties looking for easy bits.

In addition, the evolution paths of these Great Krakens were so diverse from one another, that compiling a proper chart with complete details of all possible traits for each individual variety would be a headache.

Luckily enough, Shallies was compiling said chart. Unluckily enough, at least for her students, she kept quiet about it.

"Great Serpent-Kraken, ten tentacles, blue glow, long serpent head and body, blue fire…" Shallies mumbled as she read through her notes on her System Console. "What else? Cave-dwelling, lightless deep, isolated…"

Her search quickly bore fruit, as the image of the Great Serpent-Kraken showed up on her screen. It looked exactly the same as the one her students were fighting. Grace had just successfully deflected the beam of blue fire, and was preparing to get in melee range with the monster.

Shallies quickly read through her notes. From the reports of all the Adventurer's Guild around the world, from the inception of this establishment millennia ago, there had been only 63,133 recorded Blue-Fire Great Serpent-Kraken encounters.

She verified its common tactics, which were now in full display. Or not. Tayin, Ren, and Grace, with their lessons and combined strength, made quick work of the Dungeon Boss.

Tayin, able to fire four Shooting Stars in quick succession, managed to destroy a total of six tentacles. Ren, with his new Skill, kept the Dungeon Boss and four more of its tentacles in place. Then, it was Grace, who had the highest damage potential out of the three, aimed perfectly to behead the monster.

Shallies was at awe of their teamwork, and their quick responses to cover each other. She almost missed the final line of her notes.

When cornered, every blue line around its body will cause blue flames to ignite, expending all of its mana for one final desperate attempt to defeat its enemies with an almost suicidal mana-based bomb. Its own resistance to these blue flames, however, will ensure its survival.

Shallies closed her eyes. She silently clasped her hands together, but that was the extent of her gesture for hope. There was no god for her to pray to, in the first place. And the entire point of sending her kids to fight the Dungeon Boss was to teach them to be independent of the divine.

Even with her eyes closed, she could see the light before the reverberation travelled through the waters. It was faint, but she could hear Tayin screaming in desperation, her voice muffled by the clashing mana.

Yes. Clashing mana.

Shallies smiled.

Grace only needed a moment to find her answer. Ren had moved quickly to attempt to shield her from the explosion. But even with his new Dragonscale Shield, they wouldn't be able to defend against an attack that came from all angles.

They had no choice but to take the hit.

So what's the best way to make that possible? The answer came naturally to her. The same was the case for Ren.

Grace lifted her arms for more defense and engaged her Constitution.

Blue fire engulfed them as a great conflagration appeared, reverberated throughout the water around them, and then vanished just as quickly. Silence was all that followed.

It took a while for Grace to get rid of her blurry eyesight. She didn't want to switch into engaging her Focus, because the pain in her entire body felt absurd, even with her Constitution fully engaged.

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The first thing she did was to check her hair and clothes. Whether it was because they were underwater, or because some other thing was at work, she thankfully hadn't caught on fire.

She was suffering from severe burns, however.

Ren was in a much better shape, as if the explosion just passed right by him. He exhaled slowly, lowering his shield. The Shield Knight saw her condition and quickly gave a healing potion.

Grace gave an appreciative nod as she accepted the vial. But before she dealt with the issue of consuming a potion underwater, she first turned to see what was going on with the Great Kraken. Of course, Ren did the same.

It was still definitely alive. Before the half-orc could complete her attack, she had needed to abandon her motion in order to defend herself. But the kraken was something that she would consider lifeless.

The two looked at each other, but before they could even exchange words, four Shooting Stars shot through the Dungeon Bosses body. They both looked up to see Tayin yelling something while stomping her feet.

Both of them knew they didn't have to engage their Focus to understand what the halfling meant. Instead, they went straight to work. Grace even abandoned the idea of healing first, because the Great Kraken's glow was slowly returning.

She positioned herself back to the creature's neck, while Ren indiscriminately started stabbing the monster with his Death Sword. She knew there was a purpose to it. The Shield Knight would never start anything without a plan, in the first place.

Instead, she focused on her task.

Reaching out, she summoned her two Mana-Edges with mana-control. They were blasted off by the previous explosion. As soon as both returned into her hands, she repeated the same motion, winding up to her side and igniting both weapons.

"Sharpen Blade! Crescent Slash!"

The Great Kraken's blood was black. This prompted Grace to a question that might not be important, but she ran it through her mind anyway, to make sure she didn't forget to ask Shallies about it later.

If all I can see is black and white underwater, how come I can see the blue flame and the blue glow?

The answer could've been something simple as the monster's incredible mana. Or a thing that was unique specifically to a kraken as a species. It didn't ultimately matter for now. She tried to return her attention back to her task.

But when she looked again, the Dungeon Boss was already dead.

"Huh?" Grace blinked. Staring at the Loot Source in front of her. It looked like a pearl, emanating a brilliant blue. She blinked a couple times more, until Ren showed up.

He was also confused.

It didn't take long for Tayin and Shallies to show up. The halfling swam straight into Ren's arms, while the Godkiller extended her bubble.

"I definitely, absolutely knew you were going to survive that explosion!" Tayin said, crying.

"No, umm… We engaged our Constitution and mitigated the damage," Ren explained. He wrapped one arm around the crying halfling, trying to soothe her. But his eyes were looking at Shallies for answers. "So, uh… It's a little weird."

"We didn't think it would be this easy," Grace said, giving voice to their confusion. Her eyes were directed at Shallies as well. "You said we weren't prepared for this fight."

"Well," the Godkiller started. He pointed at Ren. "The moment you forced this creature completely out of its lair, it had already lost. This Blue-Flame Great Serpent-Kraken uses its lair to quickly absorb the mana in the environment. It will usually keep a tentacle or two connected to its lair. While it siphons mana, it can continuously attack you with mana-based attacks, like that breath beam."

Shallies scratched her head.

"I know, I know, this is incredibly unexpected. But consider this. If Tayin hadn't been able to dish out as many Shooting Stars as she did, the Great Kraken would've never even peeked out of its cave. If Ren hadn't engaged all of his Attributes at once, he wouldn't be able to push down such a gigantic monster. And if you, Grace, hadn't been able to switch between engaged Attributes in quick succession, you wouldn't be able to stand the chance against that breath beam and that sudden explosion. And you wouldn't be able to finish off this monster before it had recovered even a bit of energy to retaliate. You basically executed an extremely effective strategy and cornered the monster.

"In other words, you deserve this win."

Grace turned to her teammates, and they nodded back at her. With their confirmation, she took the blue pearl Loot Source and stored it in her Class Inventory. She intended to check them once they were back to safety.

"Alright!" Shallies clapped. "Just give me a minute to store this seafood, and then we'll get back to shore."

The minute was shortened to a second when the Godkiller brought out a Creature Container that easily stored the Great Serpent-Kraken. And just like that, the Dungeon Boss was gone.

Grace's jaw dropped.

"I wonder what Food Buffs it would give," Ren said in the most awed and amazed fashion Grace had seen him do.

"I'll be busy chopping it all up so it fits into my Ingredients Containers. I'll check, but I'm pretty sure a bunch of these will be all Attribute-based buffs. If that's the case, then I can use it to tempt the Gaiamaxims."

Rather than Sight Step everyone out of the ocean, Shallies opted to take the scenic route. Grace appreciated the gesture. The underwater was a mesmerizing sight, even from one in a dungeon. But she, and her teammates, were far too busy concentrating in clearing the dungeon to spend the time sightseeing.

As soon as they landed on the shore, Shallies gave each of her students a tight squeeze. She was glad all of them had made it through. While it wasn't the tough battle she had expected, they at least went beyond her expectations by dealing with the Dungeon Boss with great execution.

It didn't give them the toughest challenge, but at the very least, she hoped this would give them a morale boost to take on far more dangerous tasks. Eventually, she wanted them to get the confidence to face gods without crumbling under pressure. And this was already a great, and impressive step towards achieving it.

Chippy was the first to greet them, flying from his perch to land on his mother's shoulder. He was giddy with excitement, hopping around while chirping with joyous energy.

"Welcome back, everyone," Valor'el greeted with a smile, knowing with confidence that they had finished their job. He even had brewed coffee prepared for them. "Congratulations on beating your first Advanced Dungeon Boss."

"Oh, that's right!" Grace yelled, making everyone turn to her. Shallies smiled, knowing already what had caused it, even before the half-orc could continue. "We get bonus Experience Points for defeating a Dungeon Boss in each difficulty for the first time!"

[Welcome back, everyone!] Stachie said as everyone started settling down. [That's right, Grace! I'll now announce all your Level Ups!]

Shallies observed as the three became fully engaged with anticipation. Mana Energy was working for them, but they had looked exhausted before Stachie greeted them.

[Grace, eight Levels! Tayin, seven Levels! Ren, six Levels!]

The three of them started counting. And then one by one groaned in disappointment. Valor'el was utterly confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"They didn't beat the record," Shallies explained.

"We're short by a few levels!" Tayin said. "I'm short by five!"

"Same," Ren said. "I'm short by six."

"I technically joined in late, since I couldn't count my levels until I had an Advanced Class," Grace said last. "I'm still quite happy with what we got, though."

"And you should," Shallies said, putting both hands on her waist. "The record wasn't the amount of levels you gained in a dungeon. The record you asked for, is the amount of levels gained within four days."

She gestured towards the seraph. "And the record holder of thirty levels is Valor'el. He gained them when I dragged him in a raid."

"What's the record for the dungeon, then?" Ren asked curiously.

"Twenty-six, gained by Catelyn Nivan when she was a Treekeeper. It took her two weeks to gain those, but unlike you guys, I didn't give her the map of the dungeon."

The familiar name made everyone smile. The previous owner of Shallies' house, who had shared the same dream with her before the Godkiller fulfilled it with the tavern that it was today, was a dear friend to her and others as well. They all reminisced, and it was Tayin who broke the silence first.

"Drats," the halfling began with a smile. "I'm short by one."

Shallies fought against joking how short Tayin actually was. It wasn't the right moment, and she didn't want to ruin the somber mood.

She still giggled, though.

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