The battle raged on for another hour, with the sound of white flames exploding and the clinking of ice spikes echoing through the deep galleries.
The players’ progress was evident with every new horde that emerged from the shadows. Dee, the warrior, was now not only blocking attacks but using the stickiness of the Lohan fragment on his shield to trap the spiders’ legs and twist them, exposing the creatures’ chests to Alice’s fists.
Alice, in her boxer form, was radiant. With the constant support of Lohan’s [Spinner Mother] injecting refined biomass into her muscles, she felt no fatigue at all even though she had been fighting nonstop for nearly an hour.
Each of her punches carried a kinetic blast amplified by Lohan, which turned the spiders’ abdomens to dust.
"This is insane! Halon, I feel like I could punch a mountain and it would apologize for being in my way!" Alice laughed telepathically, unleashing a flurry of blows that destroyed the rear ranks of three spiders simultaneously.
Lohan, from his vantage point on Lisa’s back, monitored everyone’s experience gain.
Their gain was immense. Since they were killing Level 11 to 14 creatures with the efficiency of an elite group, everyone’s experience was rising at a rate that would make any corporate guild jealous.
He realized that Samantha and Justin had already reached the 80% mark for Level 14, which indicated that Saturday’s goal would be easily achieved.
The change in Dylan’s scouts’ attitude was what satisfied Lohan the most internally.
They now acted as an extension of his will. When Lohan sent a mental pulse to "retreat," everyone moved in unison, without question.
They had understood that, under the leadership of Slime and Fox, as long as they trusted the command, the power they could wield was even greater!
"Dylan, right flank! I sense three large heat signatures coming from a hidden tunnel!" Lohan commanded, detecting the threat through [Echolocation], which was now mapping the cave within a wide radius.
Dylan acted instantly.
He signaled to his subgroup, and they formed a barrier of spears and defensive magic exactly where Lohan had indicated.
Seconds later, three gigantic spiders, larger than the usual ones, burst out of the tunnel, only to be met by a rain of arrows from Justin and Lisa’s flames.
Lisa leaped onto the lead spider of the new group.
She didn’t just use her claws; through the [Synergy Link], she activated a modified version of Lohan’s [Ice Spike], a version he had specifically modified for Lisa, causing black ice spikes to sprout from her hind legs as she performed a somersault.
The spider was impaled against the ground, and before it could squeal, Lisa’s [Spiritual Fire] consumed what remained of its life.
"You’re picking this up way too fast, little fox." Lohan teased over the private link, making Lisa snort cutely, though her tail wagged with obvious pride.
Slowly, the synergy between Lisa and Lohan was reaching a level that the Elysium system could barely label.
Their compatibility wasn’t just statistical; it was biological, energetic, and mental.
Lohan realized that when he injected Natural Energy into Lisa while using the [Synergy Link], he could feel the flow of her Mana as if it were his own, and vice versa.
It was as if the Mythic and Legendary Bases were trying to merge into a single frequency of higher existence.
This opened up tactical possibilities for them that greatly boosted his confidence in tackling a Level 15 Dungeon.
After all, even though the Dungeon seemed to be only one level above theirs, Lohan had no idea what the Boss of that place would be like, or how the group would handle the swarm of Level 15 Elite monsters.
Even though they seemed so strong now, they couldn’t be too careful.
The battle in the central chamber of the cave was coming to an end.
The remains of the Weaver Spiders were being processed by Lohan’s clones, converting every ounce of chitin and fluid into pure biomass to sustain the group’s nonstop grind.
Even though he was getting a lot of biomass from these spiders, he was practically burning through all the gains just to keep the group’s hunting pace at full power nonstop, to ensure everyone would reach their Level goal by Saturday.
"Cleanup complete. Everyone, check your equipment and status. Alice, organize the distribution of the Mana Stones and valuable materials we collected." Lohan ordered, returning to the form of a glowing blue sphere on Lisa’s back.
The players gathered in a circle, panting but with smiles of pure satisfaction. The experience of fighting under Halon’s command was transformative.
They felt they had learned more about combat and positioning that afternoon than in weeks of hunting in the Novice Villages.
Dylan approached Lisa and Lohan, giving a slight, extremely formal bow. "Vice President... even I have to tip my hat to you. The control you exert over this battlefield surpasses that of any general from the Vance Group I’ve ever met. If we keep up this pace, Saturday’s Dungeon won’t be a raid... it’ll be a one-sided slaughter in our favor."
Lohan formed a small, bluish hand and gave his traditional thumbs-up. "To be honest, Dylan, this is just the beginning. We still have a lot of room to grow; let’s avoid that mindset of absolute confidence heading into the dungeon."
Lisa lay back, gazing at the Slime with a golden, knowing gleam in her eyes. She understood Dylan’s confidence; after a battle like that, it was hard not to let confidence get the better of you.
The group rested for a few minutes, recovering Mana and energy as the atmosphere of camaraderie and confidence grew stronger by the minute. Alice was already hugging Elle and Pip, who had also participated in the battle, even though they wouldn’t be joining the dungeon raid, amazed by the group’s power.
And as Mana particles floated in the damp air of the cave, Lohan looked down the next tunnel, sensing the vibration of even more powerful creatures lurking.
He smiled inwardly. More enemies meant more biomass, more skills, and more experience for the group.
"Ready, Lisa? We’ve got one more nest before bedtime." Halon transmitted, feeling his gelatin pulse with overflowing energy.
"Sleep? Who needs sleep?" Lisa laughed and shot forward, excited for the battle to come, unaware that the battle ahead wouldn’t be as smooth as expected.