Making full use of his strength as someone already at the very limit of the A Rank only needing to complete his assigned class quest before he could advance and become an S Rank Adventurer, Verdell ended up taking a relatively short time to catch up with the group of adventurers who had gone ahead of him.
Still, by the time he caught up with everyone and brought up the rear ensuring that no one had been left behind by accident during the ascent up of the spiral staircase, the swamp monkey horde had already reached the base of the spiral staircase. Only needing to take a single step forward before official stepping onto the spiral staircase where they could begin their ascent to chase after them.
However, in a somewhat unexcepted turn of events, swamp monkeys that should have been chasing forward without any breaks along the way, came to a stop in front of the spiral staircase. Not one of them daring to take a single step forward to become the first to step onto the spiral staircase.
In the end, this strange phenomenon lasted for over five minutes before one brave swamp monkey finally decided to take the first step forward and step onto the first step of the spiral staircase. Lingering there with a look of fear on its face for a few seconds before finally beginning to move forward after realizing that nothing happened to it, something that seemed to be the signal that the rest of the swamp monkeys had been waiting for, as they soon enough began surging forth like an unstoppable tide up the spiral staircase-
Roaaar!
Rooar~!
And just in time, as the two S Rank Monsters who had been making their way over soon found themselves at the base of the spiral staircase just as the last of the swamp monkeys disappeared from view… And surprisingly, these powerful monsters began hesitating in a manner not much different from how the swamp monkeys had hesitated no more than a few minutes earlier
Not daring to take the final step forward onto the spiral staircase.
The main difference between the two powerful monsters and the horde of swamp monkeys being that both S Rank Monsters were unwilling to be the first to step forward. Leading to them lingering around the base of the spiral staircase far longer than the swamp monkeys before one of them accidentally touched the first step. Found out nothing happened, before rushing up the spiral staircase followed by the second S Rank Monsters who had watched all of this play out from the side.
Of course, Verdell and the adventurers didn't see any of this, as they were far too busy trying to rush up the spiral staircase to watch the situation playing out below them. The only one who might have had some clue that something strange was happening being Verdell, who caught sight of the swamp monkeys hesitating to step onto the spiral staircase for a few minutes before they ultimately decided to rush up after them.
Following that one instance, he didn't have much time to focus on the situation below, as he found himself busy helping the other adventurers lay down magical traps and more conventional traps that the swamp monkeys would inevitably run into as they ascended the spiral staircase.
And because of how high up they were, these traps were more so focused on pushing the swamp monkeys off the edge of the staircase using something like wind magic that pushed some off or explosions that had a similar effect of pushing the affected party off the edge of the staircase.
This in turn also made these traps far easier to make compared to a situation where they had focused on making these traps deadly enough to kill the swamp monkeys. After all, if they pushed them off the edge at this height, they would essentially be dead anyway. No need to waste extra mana on something like that.
Because of this, by the time the swamp monkeys made it up high enough that falling started to become deadly, the first few traps that had been laid down activated. Blasting a few unsuspecting swamp monkeys off the edge of the staircase to their deaths.
This in turn not only forced the swamp monkeys to slow down their rampant rush upwards to try and catch up with them, but also had the secondary effect of shocking the two S Rank Monsters rushing up the spiral staircase, as they had no idea why a group of swamp monkeys suddenly came zooming past them before ultimately plummeting to their deaths down below.
"Haha! I got experience just now and managed to complete the class quest for the E Rank! To think the wind trap I managed to put together actually worked…!"
And as the two S Rank Monsters were left stunned at the group of swamp monkeys that came flying past them heading for an urgent appointment with the muddy ground below, one of the younger adventurers in the middle of the adventure group could not help exclaiming loudly filled with joy as he not only complete his class quest to the E Rank, but his level also surged all the way up to level 28 after he chose a new class. Only a single level away from the next class advancement from the E Rank to the D Rank that came at level 29.
To say he was lucky would be an understatement, as the wind trap, he had laid down was by no means powerful, but because it was the first one that the swamp monkeys ended up encountering, it still ultimately caught many of them off guard. Allowing this kind of rapid improvement in strength that even Scaly would feel jealous about.
Not just Scaly, but even the adventurers around him looked towards him filled with jealousy. After all, this kind of terrifyingly rapid improvement was something they could only ever dream of and the mere fact that E Rank that was normally known to separate the newer adventurers still in training from actual adventurer was passed through so fast made every single one of the senior adventurers feel a particular kind of pain, as almost everyone had to go through this period of struggle to truly be qualified as an adventurer. A process that took most of them a year or longer.
"Oh! It seems my trap worked as well, though I already completed my class advancement quest earlier, still, my level did increase by three in one go. Reaching level 25."
"Me too! My trap worked as well and helped me pass the class advancement quest- Ah! My level increased to 23!"
"Haha, rookie numbers! My level increased by seven! I'm now level 28 as well!"
But following the first already painful success from one of the younger adventurers that they were guarding on their way up the staircase, several other younger adventurers called out one after the other talking about how their traps had succeeded as well.
By the end, every single one of the younger adventurers had managed to have some success and had successfully reached the E Rank.
The reason behind this being that they had been the first ones to lay down traps for the swamp monkeys, something that these seniors hadn't originally thought much about, but now realized might have been them giving up a precious opportunity that they themselves could have made use of to increase their own strength.
Did they feel regretful? Yes!
Did they feel jealous? Yes!
But even with this, they didn't say anything to the younger adventurers about how they were currently feeling themselves.
After all, outside of the fact that there was nothing to do about it now that the traps had already gone off, it was also beneficial for them that the younger adventurers had now all reached the E Rank, as it would significantly increase their speed compared to before while also increasing their stamina in the process. Making it far easier to move up the spiral staircase compared to before.
At the end of the day, these weaker adventurers were the main limiting factor in how fast they got up the spiral staircase.
Carrying them when exhausted was a thing, but doing so would quickly tire out the unfortunate individual tasked with this.
By the time that the younger adventurers calmed down from their initial high after discovering they had all increased significantly in strength, they also realized that their later traps didn't seem to work as the swamp monkeys had become more cautious in their climb of the spiral staircase. Only the few traps laid down by the senior adventurers still caught some of these swamp monkeys off guard and sent them flying off the stairs down to their deaths.
Even though these senior adventurers now found themselves getting some experience, it was nowhere near comparable to the initial boost that these younger adventurers had experienced due to the fact that the swamp monkeys hadn't been prepared for there to be traps on the spiral staircase like they were now.