"Cinister, we've been walking for days now and we still can't find the boss," said Alya naggingly.
"If I had to guess, this floor is the size of a small continent, so of course we would need a lot of time to find the boss," Cinister replied.
"Wait, if it's a small continent, then shouldn't it be affecting the Earth negatively?" Ragna seemed concerned.
"Well, that is also a mystery," said Cinister. "Normally it should affect Earth's gravity or magnetic field, but it doesn't," he explained.
"What do you think it is?" Michael asked.
"Well, I think it's like a different reality or a different universe that doesn't follow scientific rules," Cinister said.
"Can we please enjoy the beach?" Alya pleaded.
"Fine. You four go enjoy the beach; Ragna and I will look for the bosses," Cinister said. "Also, buy me some swim trunks, please."
"You got it just hurry up, okay," Alya replied.
As they parted ways, Cinister and Ragna started heading south.
"When was the last time it was only the two of us?" Ragna asked.
"Probably four months ago, when we were just entering the tower," Cinister recalled.
"It's been that long?" Ragna exclaimed.
"Yeah. Most of the time we're exploring, since every floor gets bigger and bigger," Cinister said.
Suddenly, an ice shard shot through the air, whistling toward us.
[Bubble] casted Ragna and in an instant, the shard rebounded, arcing back toward to the attacker. Before it could land, a Thorn shield appeared and bashed it aside. From behind the impact, two familiar figures stepped into view Scrappy and Choi.
"Attacking us? Do you have a death wish?" Cinister said with a playful smirk.
"We had to see if you've improved," Choi replied confidently, arms crossed.
"Yeah," Scrappy added with a grin, "consider that a little warning shot."
"Yeah, we actually got you a present, Cinister," said Choi.
"What exactly?" Cinister asked, sounding a bit unsure.
"This," Choi said, handing Cinister a magic wand.
The wand looked like a scythe, but the blade was smaller than normal.
"Thanks, but I don't need a wand," Cinister said, turning it down.
"Just take it. Allen got it from a boss, and it's really good," Choi said, passing it to him anyway.
"How does it even work?" Cinister asked, looking it over.
"Here," Choi said, pointing to the spot where the wooden handle met the blade. There was a small magic crystal there.
"You channel your magic into the crystal, and the slashes become magic-imbued."
"Thanks" said Cinister calmly
"By the way here" Scrappy gives us 2/3 of the key
"What how do you guys have this" Ragna said.
"Allen" they said in unison
"Make sense" said Cinister "Well here" he makes the key and gives it to them
"I think we should stay here and train for our battle"
"Ok you said it" Scrappy took the key and with Choi they went to the exit.
"Allen might be even better than I thought" said Ragna
"Get it together this is a beach and sand is the perfect way to train plus the we will be fighting the Kraken boss over and over again" Cinister said
"Fine… but can we rest for now?" Ragna asked, hoping for a yes.
"Yeah, I guess," Cinister replied.
As Cinister and Ragna walked further in, they saw Brayden, George, and Michael lounging in chairs, sunbathing.
"Where's Alya?" Cinister asked.
"Behind you," Brayden said with a grin.
Right after he spoke, Alya wrapped her arms around Cinister from behind.
"I'm here," she said playfully.
"Did you hide using your [Sneak Ability]?" Cinister asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe," Alya said with a smirk. "But do you like my swimsuit?"
"Yeah, you look great," Cinister replied without hesitation.
Alya blushed slightly, looked away, then handed him a pair of swim trunks. "Here."
"Thanks," Cinister said as he and Ragna headed off to change.
Watching them go, Michael shook his head and sighed."He's so dense."
After they changed, the gang had fun swimming, playing volleyball, reading, riding jet skis, and just relaxing.
"Should we head home?" Ragna asked.
"I guess we should," Cinister replied.
Everyone packed their stuff and we went to the 8th floor to our apartment but there was something that Cinister and Ragna didn't recognize a paculiar structure
"What's that" Cinister asked
"Oh it's a teleport point, we will use it to get back to this floor so we don't need to walk all the way to the 8th floor" said Brayden
"Oh that's really convinient isn't it" said Cinister.
In the following days the Fangra starts running running, jumping and matrial arts drills for a couples days without break
Running drills:They started each day with long-distance runs to build endurance. Each morning, they ran several laps around the beach. Later, they added sprint intervals short bursts of maximum speed followed by slow jogs to recover. These sprints helped improve their speed and explosive power.
Jumping exercises:After running, they moved on to jump training. They played volleyball on the beach and mostly jumping for the ball. They also did broad jumps, pushing off with both feet to cover as much ground as possible in a single leap. To improve agility, they ran through cone drills, weaving and jumping over small hurdles quickly.
Martial arts drills:The afternoons were dedicated to martial arts practice. They started with warm-up stretches and basic punches and kicks, repeating each move until it became fluid. Then they paired up to practice controlled sparring learning how to block, dodge, and counterattack. The training also included ground techniques like grappling and throws, with an emphasis on maintaining balance and control.
"Okay, we should be ready," Cinister said, "but just in case, we should fight every boss on this floor to see if we've improved."
"Yeah, let's go," Ragna agreed.
As we walked toward the Kraken's lair, something felt off. There weren't just one boss waiting for us there were two others too. An Orca and an Octopus stood beside the Kraken, ready for battle.
"Why have the fights been so hard lately? I mean, three bosses at once I don't think we're ready," Cinister said annoyed.
Alya gently kicked him. "Get it together."
"Fine, but stop hitting me," Cinister grumbled.
"Sorry," Alya said with a small smile.
Editors note - I'll show what happened during the volleyball match.
Team 1 - Cinister, Alya and George
Team 2 - Brayden, Micheal and Ragna
Alya set the ball and Cinister spikes it
"[Bubble]" Ragna parried it and the ball hit me in the face then George set it and Alya spikes it but Micheal's [Ice Pillars] blocks the ball and Cinister uses [Ashen Veil] and scores the final point and the score was 90-15 for Team 1.
"Are you okay Cinister" said Alya worried
"Yeah I'm fine just a bit ligth-headed" said Cinister.