Chapter 167 - 162 : Middle Region’s Level 10

"So this is the 10th floor." Fudo stared at the wide open space in front.

"It isn't what I really imagined it to be." 

After the team of Sato, Xue Yan and Lu Zhen had taken down Guardian Golem B, they regrouped with the other 4 and finished off the remaining two Guardian Golems. Once that was done, strange dots of golden coloured light had departed from the Guardian Golems' body and entered them. Originally, they didn't know the function of the light dots but Sato had guessed that it was the 'key' they needed to get into the 10th floor. After arranging and distributing the loot they got from the battle, the team left for the 1oth floor. Unlike the previous Exit gates, teleporting to the 10th floor had taken them a while; at least 5 seconds instead of the usual 1 second, before they were able to step into the 10th floor of the Middle region. 

"Yeah. It's different; way too different. But I guess that proves that there's indeed a boss level monster here." Yato said.

Alongside the two were Sato, Katsuo, Xue Yan, Lu Zhen and Seiichi. They had all began surveying their surroundings after they had been teleported over to the 10th floor and were surprised at their findings. This was because unlike the previous upper floors that were a wide expanse of rugged lands with a ton of bends, corners and smaller caves, the 10th floor was a large expanse of land with no exit or entry whatsoever. However, the mana level was quite notable; it was at least twice that of the previous floors. It could be said to be mana-filled, enclosed cave hall and in the middle of this cave hall was a settlement of sorts. That's right, a settlement.

"What do you think lives there?" Yato suddenly asked.

"Barney." Fudo said seriously.[1]

"What?" Yato stared at him in confusion.

"What do you think would be there in the first place? Of course it's monsters." Fudo barked.

"But what kind of monsters?" Xue Yan asked.

"Look closely." Sato suddenly said.

Immediately, everyone focused their sights on the settlement in the middle.

The settlement was like a rural village from Ancient times. Most of the buildings were made of either clay or carved rocks and boulders, or even both. The roofs were all made from clay that was flattened and dried, before being attached to the buildings. With the buildings in the centre, a 3 metre high fence was setup, running round the settlement as a barricade to prevent outsiders from sneaking in. Though it is called a fence, it was a terrible yet creepy one; being made of sticks, spear-like carved rocks and bones. Due to the appearance of the bones, it would be more apt to call the fence, a warning block.

With the fence having surrounded the buildings, there was only one entrance in. The entrance was but 4 metres wide and by the two sides of it stood two 2 metre or so tall kobolds. They both held a bone spear in one hand as they scanned the area like Imperial palace guards.

"Kobolds huh?" Fudo sighed. "I should have expected it."

Having been one of the very first players to have battled a Kobold, Fudo wasn't surprised at this. On the contrary, he had always wondered whether the Kobolds had a nest but as the team had a goal set in mind, there was no deviations in their paths so they couldn't explore a majority of the floors properly. Now seeing this, he finally had the answer to his question.

"I am guessing that they should be a bunch more kobolds here, after all this looks like their home. But where are the rest?" Lu Zhen asked.

"Over there." Seiichi answered while pointing at a particular spot within the 'walls'[2]. Among all the players in the team, he had the most superior eyesight which came as a perk of being a [Ranger]. Scanning the settlement despite there being a distance of more than 300 metres between them, was not much of a challenge to him.

"Isn't that just a building?" Lu Zhen glanced at Seiichi. The spot Seiichi had pointed at seemed like a flat circular platform of more than 400 metres in diameter, with a few protruding points scattered in a n irregular fashion.. In the middle of the platform was a tall stone statue. Due to the distance though, none of them were capable of making out the statues facial expression or looks. 

"Look carefully." Seiichi simply said.

Doing as Seiichi said, with a bit of confusion and frustration, Lu Zhen 

"That is…!" Not just Lu Zhen but everyone else was astonished. They had originally thought that the spot Seiichi had pointed out was just a circular platform with a statue reminiscent of a town centre or something but when Seiichi told them to look carefully, they all realised how wrong they were.

Black Grill's Cave was a leveling map that was located in a huge cave system and even went further underground. Because of this, lighting was a huge issue for players. Luckily for them, Black Grill's Cave's floors weer mysteriously lit with dim lights. Though the lighting was very dim, it was still enough for players to make use of to see a few metres in front. But as for long distances, unless one was a [Ranger] or had a dark vision type skill, they would barely be able to see much.

The 'platform' wasn't actually a platform but a multitude of Kobolds who were tightly packed together. The initial protruding points were actually the heads of the taller Kobolds. It turned out that the huge statue in the middle wasn't actually situated atop a circular platform but was surrounded by a bunch of kobolds.

"This is, this is insane!" Yato was in shock. 

Xue Yan's mission was to slay the world class boss located on the 10th floor of the Middle region. As it stands, the appearance of the world class boss was unknown, but with the appearance of these kobolds, it could be presumed that the world class boss was a Kobold too. The Kobolds that occupied the 400 or so metres circle numbered at least 500 kobolds! To battle such a massive number of Kobolds before they would finally face the boss monster seemed like an impossible quest especially with their meager numbers. The chances of pulling off the original mission would now become 10%. This 10% however, wasn't on survival but was on the basis that they could slay the boss before they died because they will surely die in the end, under the Kobolds' onslaught. Unless a god were to descend to aid them, they will surely die if they attack.

Sato frowned at the sight of this. Forget battling the monsters, they still haven't spotted the boss. If there was really no boss, the wouldn't their journey here have been for naught? Even at that, the boss would most likely be surrounded by a few bodyguards. Once they began the battle, the commotion would surely attract the other Kobolds. At that time, even if the kobolds were level 4, the team would be devoured by the waves of Kobolds. By then, much less defeating the boss, staying alive would be a difficult task.

"Xue Yan. Are you sure this is the right place?" Sato asked her. Even though Xue Yan had asked for their help, she didn't share the mission with them so he needed to confirm things with her. Despite her seemingly selfish act, Sato wasn't bothered as just the map she had given them was enough.

"Ye, yeah." Xue Yan stuttered. She too was surprised at this view and even began wondering whether this quest she got was meant for low level players

"*sighs* The boss is nowhere to be seen so we have nothing to do yet. Let's just watch and see what they are doing. Who knows, maybe the boss would appear and seclude itself elsewhere." Sato said.

When they heard Sato's words, the team which was on the brink of insanity and frustration, had their spirit lifted up. It was still possible for the boss to seclude itself from the settlement. In such a scenario, they wouldn't need to face all these Kobolds, only having the boss as their opponent. In such a case, their chances of success would remain as it was before; 50/50.

"I just hope you are right. Otherwise, all our actions would have been for naught." Yato sighed.

Xue Yan tightened her fists as she hung her head low while biting her lips. All she could do now was hope; hope that Sato's conjecture was true.

"Here it comes."