[8 HOURS LATER - 6:00 AM (DUNGEON TIME)]
Alex woke up feeling... better. Not fully recovered, but functionally human again.
He checked his system:
[Alex Carter - Level 29]
HP: 880/880
MP: 440/440
Status: Rested
The others were also waking up, stretching, mentally and physically preparing for what was coming.
Level 4.
The Blood Arena.
Viktor had provided them with detailed information during their rest time through the communicator:
LEVEL 4: BLOOD ARENA
Format: Five consecutive waves of enemies. No rest between waves. No retreat possible once it begins.
Wave 1: 20 Zombie Warriors (level 45)
Wave 2: 15 Undead Beasts—mix of wolves, bears, rge cats (level 48)
Wave 3: 10 Death Knights (level 50)
Wave 4: 5 Blood Elementals (level 52)
Wave 5 (Boss): Arena Champion (level 58)—shifts forms between dragon, wolf, and bear. Three phases, each form with different abilities.
Estimated Time: 2-3 hours of continuous combat.
Recommendation: Conserve MP for final waves. Use potions strategically. Don't waste ultimates until the Champion.
"Ready for this?" Seraph asked as everyone checked their equipment one st time.
"No," Alex said honestly. "But we're doing it anyway."
"That's the attitude," Raven said with a smile.
They walked towards the door leading to Level 4.
Alex pushed it open.
---
[LEVEL 4: BLOOD ARENA - ENTRANCE]
The door opened into... exactly what the name promised.
An arena. Massive—100 meters in diameter, red sand (dyed with blood from past battles?) covering the floor. Stands rose around the edges—empty, but giving the unsettling feeling of being watched by ghosts of past audiences.
And in the center—a raised ptform with glowing inscription:
"Enter, warriors. Prove your worth. Survive the Five Trials, or join the fallen."
Around the edges of the arena—skulls. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Stacked in macabre piles.
"Lovely," Maya muttered.
As soon as they all crossed the threshold, the door behind them CLOSED with ominous finality.
[System - Alert]
[Level 4: Blood Arena - Activated]
[No retreat allowed until completion or TPK]
[Wave 1/5 will begin in: 30 seconds]
"Formation!" Seraph ordered. "Defensive circle, back to back. Grim and I in tank rotation. Maya and Raven DPS. Alex—support and tactical calls."
Everyone took positions.
[20 seconds...]
Alex drank a mana potion preemptively, making sure he was topped off.
[10 seconds...]
Grim grew to Awakened form—2.5 meters, full armor, scythe ready.
[5... 4... 3... 2... 1...]
[WAVE 1: BEGIN]
The ground trembled.
And from beneath the sand—emerging as if they'd been buried there—
Twenty zombie warriors.
[Zombie Warrior - Level 45]
[HP: 2,000 each]
Rotted bodies in rusted armor. Chipped swords. Empty eyes glowing with necrotic light.
They roared—twenty dead throats creating a horrible cacophony.
Then they charged.
"HERE THEY COME!" Alex shouted.
And the battle began.
---
Twenty level 45 enemies against five combatants.
The math didn't look good.
But they had an advantage—coordination.
"Maya, [Ring of Fire]! Control the field!" Seraph ordered.
Maya didn't question—Akari grew to full form, nine tails spinning.
[Ring of Fire]
[MP: 850 → 770/850]
A ring of fmes exploded outward in a 10-meter radius circle around the team.
The zombies that touched the fmes—five of them—were damaged immediately.
[Zombies HP: 2,000 → 1,500 each]
But they kept advancing, ignoring the pain (they don't feel pain obviously xd).
"Grim, [Grave Domain]! Slow their advance!" Alex ordered.
[Grave Domain]
[Grim MP: 360 → 310/360]
Darkness exploded, overpping with Maya's fire, creating a hybrid zone of fme and death.
The zombies that entered slowed down—not completely stopped, but movement reduced by 40%.
"Now! Focus fire!" Seraph shouted.
Everyone attacked the nearest group of five zombies in coordination:
Seraph—scythe cutting through two.
[Zombies HP: 1,500 → 800 each]
Grim—massive scythe cutting through two others.
[Zombies HP: 1,500 → 700 each]
Maya—[Fox Fire] finishing off all five.
[5 Zombies: Destroyed]
[Remaining Count: 15/20]
But the remaining fifteen had surrounded them, attacking from multiple angles.
Raven unched [Blood Needles] in a wide arc, hitting six.
[Zombies HP: 2,000 → 1,600 each]
Alex used [Blood Weapon] , creating swords that he distributed to the team telepathically—temporary additional weapons.
[MP: 390/440]
The battle became a meat grinder for the next ten minutes.
Ssh. Dodge. Block. Counterattack. Repeat.
The zombies were slow but resilient. Each took multiple hits to bring down.
But finally—
[Last Zombie: Destroyed]
[Wave 1: Complete]
[Souls Collected: +16.0]
[Current Souls: 349.6/1,000]
The team panted, catching their breath.
[Post-Wave 1 Status:]
Alex HP: 880/880, MP: 290/440
Grim HP: 1,100/1,200, MP: 260/360
Seraph HP: 1,350/1,400, MP: 650/700
Maya HP: 1,150/1,200, MP: 670/850
Raven HP: 850/900, MP: 550/650
Not bad. But four more waves to go.
"Thirty seconds until Wave 2!" the system announced.
"Quick drinks!" Maya said, everyone taking sips of mana potions.
[20 seconds...]
[10 seconds...]
[WAVE 2: BEGIN]
This time—beasts.
Fifteen of them, emerging from doors that opened around the edges of the arena.
[Undead Beasts - Level 48]
Wolves (x6), Bears (x5), Large Cats (x4)
HP: 2,500 each
Faster than the zombies. More agile. More dangerous.
"Disperse!" Seraph shouted. "They can't surround us if we keep moving!"
They broke the circle formation, switching to mobile tactics.
The wolves charged first—a coordinated pack.
Grim intercepted three, scythe spinning in a defensive arc.
Seraph took two more, spectral scythe cutting with precision.
Maya and Akari handled the st wolf—[Fme Dance] burning it.
But then the bears charged—five tons of undead mass moving surprisingly fast.
"SHIT!" Raven had to roll out of the way as one nearly crushed her.
Alex used [Shadow Step] to dodge another.
[MP: 270/440]
The rge cats fnked, attacking from unexpected angles with serpentine speed.
One caught Maya off guard—cws cutting through her armor.
[Maya HP: 1,150 → 900/1,200]
"MAYA!" Alex spun, [Blood Weapon] creating a spear that he threw—
It pierced the cat.
[Large Cat HP: 2,500 → 1,800/2,500]
The battle was pure chaos for fifteen minutes.
Faster than Wave 1. More violent. Closer to disaster multiple times.
But they survived.
[Wave 2: Complete]
[Souls Collected: +18.0]
[Current Souls: 367.6/1,000]
[Post-Wave 2 Status:]
Alex HP: 750/880, MP: 170/440
Grim HP: 950/1,200, MP: 180/360
Seraph HP: 1,100/1,400, MP: 500/700
Maya HP: 900/1,200, MP: 520/850
Raven HP: 650/900, MP: 400/650
Worse. Definitely worse.
"Potions!" Seraph ordered.
Everyone drank—health and mana.
[30 seconds until Wave 3...]
Not enough time to fully recover.
[WAVE 3: BEGIN]
Ten Death Knights.
[Death Knight - Level 50]
HP: 3,500 each
Full armor. Greatswords. Shields. Coordinated tactics.
Not like zombies—these fought like trained veterans.
"This is going to hurt," Raven muttered.
And it hurt.
The next twenty minutes were absolute war.
The Knights used formations. They blocked in coordination. They counterattacked intelligently.
Grim almost died when three surrounded him.
[Grim HP: 950 → 450/1,200]
Seraph had to intervene, [Soul Reaper Mode] saving him.
Alex exhausted most of his remaining MP.
[MP: 170 → 40/440]
But finally—finally—the st Knight fell.
[Wave 3: Complete]
[Souls Collected: +25.0]
[Current Souls: 392.6/1,000]
[Post-Wave 3 Status:]
Alex HP: 600/880, MP: 40/440
Grim HP: 450/1,200, MP: 80/360
Seraph HP: 800/1,400, MP: 300/700
Maya HP: 650/1,200, MP: 350/850
Raven HP: 400/900, MP: 250/650
Critical. Everyone on the edge.
"Use everything!" Seraph shouted. "All remaining potions!"
They consumed their best potions—the ones they'd been saving.
[Resources Mostly Restored]
[30 seconds until Wave 4...]
"How are we on time?" Maya panted.
Alex checked. [Dungeon Time Remaining: 52:00:00]
"Good on time. Bad on everything else."
[WAVE 4: BEGIN]
Five Blood Elementals.
[Blood Elemental - Level 52]
HP: 5,000 each
Humanoid forms made of liquid blood. No armor. No weapons. Just pure blood maniputed into battle shape.
And they were fast.
One reached Raven in two seconds.
[Blood Spike]
A solidified blood spike pierced her shoulder.
[Raven HP: 750 → 400/900]
"SHIT!" she screamed, rolling away.
The Elementals split up, each attacking a different target.
Grim fought one—but physical weapons were less effective against liquid forms.
Maya struggled with another—fire vs blood, evaporation vs regeneration.
Seraph handled two—spectral scythe cutting but the Elementals reforming.
Alex and Raven together tried to handle the fifth—but it was winning.
[Blood Wave]
A wave of blood swept through them.
[Alex HP: 750 → 550/880]
[Raven HP: 400 → 150/900]
"We can't win like this!" Alex shouted. "We need to change tactics!"
"Suggestions?" Raven panted.
Alex thought frantically. Blood elementals. Made of blood. Wait...
"Raven! [Hemomancy] ! You can control blood!"
Raven's eyes widened. "Control a full Blood Elemental? I've never tried anything that big!"
"Try it now!"
Raven extended both hands, channeling all her remaining MP.
[Hemomancy - Massive Overload]
[MP: 450 → 0/650]
Her control extended, grabbing the nearest Elemental—
And FROZE it.
[Partial Control Successful: Blood Elemental #1 Immobilized for 30 seconds]
"NOW! KILL IT WHILE IT'S FROZEN!"
Everyone converged on the immobilized Elemental.
Thirty seconds of absolute concentrated damage.
[Blood Elemental #1: Destroyed]
[Count: 4/5 remaining]
But Raven colpsed, completely drained of MP.
"I can't do another!" she gasped.
"You don't need to!" Alex had a pn B. "Grim! [Life Drain] on the Elementals! Drain their blood!"
Grim switched tactics—instead of cutting, now absorbing.
He touched Elemental #2, [Life Drain] activated.
The blood composing the Elemental was drained into Grim.
[Elemental #2 HP: 5,000 → 3,000/5,000]
[Grim HP: 450 → 950/1,200]
"It works!" Seraph shouted. "Everyone, focus fire on the weakened ones!"
They worked the strategy—Grim drained, others finished.
Fifteen minutes of coordinated combat.
Finally—
[Wave 4: Complete]
[Souls Collected: +30.0]
[Alex: Level 29 → 30]
[Current Souls: 422.6/1,000]
[Post-Wave 4 Status:]
Alex HP: 550/880, MP: 440/440 (level up = full restore)
Grim HP: 950/1,200, MP: 360/360 (recovered from drains)
Seraph HP: 600/1,400, MP: 150/700
Maya HP: 500/1,200, MP: 200/850
Raven HP: 150/900, MP: 0/650 (completely depleted)
"I can't continue," Raven gasped. "Completely dry."
"It's okay," said Seraph. "Stay back for Wave 5. The four of us will handle the Champion."
[60 seconds until Wave 5 (Final Boss)...]
They used the full minute to recover as much as possible.
They ate. Drank st potions. Bandaged wounds.
Alex checked inventory—empty. No potions left. No crystals. Nothing.
Everything depended on their skill now.
[30 seconds...]
"Ready," Seraph said, though no one felt ready.
[10... 9... 8...]
Grim grew to maximum Awakened form.
[5... 4... 3... 2... 1...]
[WAVE 5: ARENA CHAMPION]
The doors on the opposite side of the arena opened.
And it emerged—
[Arena Champion - Level 58]
Initial form: Dragon.
Ten meters long, bck scales, glowing red eyes, tattered but functional wings.
It roared—a sound that shook the entire stadium.
[Arena Champion - Dragon Form]
HP: 15,000/15,000
Phase 1/3
The final battle had begun.
