Chapter 335: Resting zone

The reward was something Shane and Princess Ilya hadn't expected to receive.

They didn't have time to look at the system before, but now that they had unrestricted access to several system functions inside the dungeon, many things would become much easier.

While a countdown of five minutes had begun, Ilya was recuperating from her exhaustion while Shane was taking a look at the system functions.

Apparently, the shop, chat, and other functions Shane had assumed to be restricted were open for him and Ilya.

This was great, and he couldn't help but feel that it was extremely advantageous for every possible scenario.

Their preparations had been good, but it was impossible to be guarded against every possible danger.

As such, the special reward was like a ticket to solve almost every issue that had nothing to do with combat.

Even some problems correlated to combat could be solved with the system shop!

However, the most important function that was not restricted anymore, was the ability to browse through PrimWeb and the system's notification that would only be posted on PrimWeb!

The announcement to the Primordial Tournament was included in this too, and Shane couldn't help but sigh in relief.

He had been worrying about missing out on the Primordial Tournament by not knowing when was the right time for him to leave the dungeon if the PrimWeb announcements were to be restricted, but that was not required anymore.

His worry dissipated, and Shane felt at ease.

Princess Ilya didn't have the worry Shane had, but she was also glad that a few system functions were not restricted anymore.

This gave them many possibilities to escape threatening situations after all.

It might seem a little bit annoying that a special reward did not include rare accessories or a [Legendary] quality weapon, but the two prodigies knew better.

Their special reward was worth much more than any materialistic goods!

With that in mind, they were teleported to a resting area that was between the first and second floors.

Every challenger of the tower who had solved the first floor would encounter the others and conflicts were bound to occur.

Fighting inside the resting areas was allowed, but not to seriously injure, let alone kill each other.

It was not unlikely to see thieves trying to steal the hard-earned rewards of others by beating them up so harshly that they could barely walk around.

Torture was not prevented or punished as long as the opposite person wouldn't be killed.

Thus, many challengers were adamant in bullying and washboarding others, in an effort to pressurise them to hand out their rewards.

Shane considered this as cruel and unnecessary because one could simply enter the second floor at will.

There was no way to prevent someone inside the dungeon from entering the next floor as long as one met the requirements.

Sometimes every participant had to be ready to enter the next floor, or a countdown was running down before everyone would be teleported.

Other than that, there was the possibility of a certain member count one required to have in a large group before entering the next floor.

Despite not knowing much about dungeons, Shane had heard that it was unlikely to receive co-op missions with others except the members one had entered the dungeon with until they reached the fifth floor.

With that in mind, Shane expected to face burglary attempts, only to notice that the number of burglars was lower than expected.

The floor to rest was gigantic, but there were only a few groups trying to steal something from others.

However, only a short time later, multiple other groups ganged up against the burglars and beat them which turned the burglars into victims, depriving them of the rewards they had received earlier.

"It's not the smartest move to try stealing something from others after the first floor. There are too many challengers of the tower left, and nobody wants to be ransacked, thus they help others and steal from the thieves.

There are many people that act like hypocrites on the first few floors!" 

Princess Ilya cautioned Shane who was just nodding his head, understanding what she wanted him to comprehend.

He did not plan to steal something from others, but he wouldn't hold back on those that would attempt to take his goods either.

This didn't mean that he would just attack those that stole from others, but everyone had different ethics and morals.

Thus, Shane could also understand those who wanted to help others while reaping more benefits from burglars.

Nevertheless, he was not interested in this business. Instead, entering the second floor was something he looked forward to.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw how several groups had started a fight that turned into a small-scale skirmish.

Everyone was using their fists and there were no weapons involved owing to the dungeon's restrictions, but that didn't mean that the fight was not ugly to look at.

For someone who hadn't witnessed hundreds of deadly battles, seeing the skirmish in front of them could lead them to throw up violently.

Shane's attention was mainly on Ilya, who was still recuperating, while both Umbra and Cosmo had entered the Hidden Paradise before they had been teleported to the resting room.

As such, Shane had nothing to do for the moment so he decided to lie down on the ground and rest for a few hours, which was the time Ilya would require to recuperate fully.

This was the only disadvantage of being an Elus who was dependent on mana; being in a weakened, close to shut-off state once the entire stored amount of mana was used up in an instant.

They could passively absorb mana, which was a great advantage, but the mana-dependent state of races like the Elus race was most definitely a disadvantage!

Hours flew by, and most challengers of the tower decided to enter the second floor, while only a few stayed behind.

Most of them were injured while battling the first floor's dangers, or because they had been beaten up in the resting zone.

Meanwhile, others had been deprived of their goods and were lamenting their decision to not have entered the second floor before anything could have happened.

They had been too full of themselves and assumed that they were among the strongest challengers of the fluare tower dungeon.

This hadn't been the case, and now they had to face reality!

There was always someone stronger and it was unlikely for them to become the strongest within the basic dimensions.

Instead of solely relying on strength, others were using their mind, different skills, and multiple tactics in order to defeat their opponents, which was the best decision one could make while being inside the basic dimensions.

The differences in strength could still be made up for in the basic dimension. However, this was hardly possible, if one were to take a proper look at the enhancements through the liquefaction of those with a lower mana purity compared to prodigies with a high mana purity. 

The simple liquefaction of one's mana could already widen the gap between someone with a mana purity of [60%] and someone with a mana purity of [80%]. 

Earlier, it might have been possible for someone with a lower mana purity to fight at par with someone at a higher mana purity, but the disadvantages increased, the further one progressed. 

In the end, being too confident in the basic dimensions could cost someone their life, and Shane, who had a perfect refined physique and a mana purity of [75%] was a perfect example to demonstrate that mana purity was not everything!