The ground reformed, and a huge monster surfaced.

William instantly backed away, levitating instead of running.

The entire floor shifted, stones tearing apart and merging into the creature that had emerged beneath him. Rock after rock fused together, climbing higher and higher until the monster towered nearly twenty feet above the surface.

William retreated to a safe distance, his eyes locked onto the two dull yellow eyes staring back at him.

A humongous humanoid body, clad in marble, stone, and jagged rock, stood before him like a mountain given form. An oppressive presence pressed down on the air as the creature focused on nothing but William.

Its head was attached directly to its shoulders. A split mouth stretched across its face, lined with sharp canines that glistened faintly under the dim glow of William's light stick.

The monster growled.

It raised one massive arm and brought it down like a falling mountain.

William moved instantly, veering away and gaining distance, far enough to escape even the shockwave.

DOOOOM

The arm smashed into the ground. From the impact point, several foot-long jagged spikes burst forward, ripping through the stone as they advanced toward William.

He hissed under his breath and shifted his trajectory midair.

The spikes followed.

As if the entire floor was under the monster's control, the stone redirected itself, adjusting angles and paths to keep chasing him.

William clenched his teeth and levitated higher.

Boulders tore free from the walls.

They came flying straight at him.

William slashed his hands downward. The boulders split cleanly down the middle, crashing apart just before they could crush him.

The monster didn't pause.

It charged forward like a raging bull, its weight making the entire labyrinth tremble with each step.

William flew backward, pushing his speed higher, his breath growing slightly uneven.

Then—

THUD.

He slammed into a wall.

A wall that hadn't been there a moment ago.

The monster had shaped it in advance, constructing it directly in the path of William's escape.

Panic surged.

The creature continued its charge, fist raised high.

"FUCK!"

William raised a finger. Half a second of chant was all he managed.

The Drop of Oblivion deployed.

DOOOOOM

The fist struck at the same moment the Droplet detonated.

The collision tore the space apart.

William was blasted through the wall, his body hurled across the chamber. He crashed hard—but forced his descent to slow using telekinesis, barely managing to control the impact.

On the other side, the monster's face was gone.

Its head had been blown apart, stone and gravel scattered in every direction.

William groaned as he pushed himself up, eyes snapping back to the creature.

The stones began to move.

Gravel lifted. Broken chunks dragged themselves upward.

The monster's head reformed.

"Like hell I would let you."

William focused for two seconds.

Another Droplet formed and shot forward, aimed straight at the monster's torso.

Walls erupted from the ground in its path, layers of stone stacking together as the monster reacted to the threat.

DOOOOOM

The explosion shattered the barriers.

William threw up his telekinetic arms just in time, shielding himself from the storm of shards that followed.

Clicking his tongue, he didn't stay there.

He levitated higher, pulling distance between himself and the monster.

Just as he was thinking of launching another attack, the floor beneath him began to move. Slithering, shaking and reforming.

William felt the whole place was targeted by an earthquake, so he instantly began to levitate higher, not taking any chances since the surface was the monster's domain.

Because levitation was the only thing keeping him away from the range of the monster.

However, what happened next left him stunned.

"This bastard..." William's fists clenched in frustration as he realized that the ground wasn't moving...it was elevating.

Stones and gravel were leveling above the surface, and the ceiling as well, started to move as if it was descending. But the fact was, the monster was adding shards of stone and rocks to create less and less of a gap between the ceiling and the floor.

And it was all just to limit William's levitation range.

William was getting trapped.

....

[In the common hall]

The students were watching the screen in dead silence.

None of them raised their voice, but they all knew that the terrain monster William was facing couldn't belong to the first floor.

Forget about a single man, even a whole team, if going on their first expenditure would have come across something like that...they would surely have failed.

"It's absurd." One of them finally muttered.

"That monster is smart and uses the surroundings to his advantage."

"That explosion did zero damage to it. It can regenerate, it strategizes, and now, it is limiting senior William's movement, too! Crazy."

"Being not able to use all his abilities against something so dense and inside a closed space...I can barely imagine his frustration at the moment."

The students were forming their opinions. Many were concerned, mainly because of the possibility of facing something like that during their own trial.

Even the Professors, including the Headmaster were shocked to see something so dangerous appearing so early.

The members of the Great Hall remained curious—someone who came to recruit members to represent the Great Hall, this was a great contest.

Meanwhile, in the corner, Dorothy nervously muttered, "This is so absurd. How can he be put against something so strong so early?"

Gizel chewed her lower lip, not wanting to divert her attention as her gaze remained locked on the screen.

Shaking her head, Natalie also said, "This is madness. Shouldn't someone be stopping this?"

The short-haired girl clearly remembered the first time she entered the dungeon with her friends; the first floor was filled with sludge monsters, and the boss monster was a puddle of black mud, which was nasty rather than strong.

But this...this was on a whole other level.

Glancing at Emma, Natalie noticed the silver head was standing calmly, not a speck of nervousness on her face.

In a surprised voice, Natalie asked, "How can you still be so composed? I mean, you have seen all his attacks and strategies fail against that being."

Emma, who never removed her eyes from the screen, calmly responded, "Because I know ...the more cornered he is, the stronger he retaliates. Just wait and see. I don't believe this battle will last long."

Natalie frowned before she turned towards the screen

And not so long after, she would realize what Emma said was true.

So utterly true.

°°°°°°°°°

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