Bell pressed forward, beginning his ascent to the 40th floor.
"Next up is the 49th floor's Floor Boss, Balor."
Bell knew surprisingly little about this particular Floor Boss. This lack of information was due to the Floor Boss's infrequent appearances—adventurers rarely encountered it, and the chances of anyone who did actually returning with reliable intel were even slimmer.
"The name Balor makes me think of that ability—killing people just by focusing his eyes. Does he possess powers akin to death?"
"But the abilities of Dungeon Floor Bosses never reach the level of gods. Balor surely isn't called Balor because he has the power of death. It's probably just his ability to kill with his eyes."
Without sufficient intelligence, there wasn't much Bell could analyze. However, the possibility of him using eyes to emit lethal rays was high—either as an offensive spell or a curse.
"As for the rest of the intel on Balor..."
Truthfully, Bell had no real information on Balor. All he had was a surface-level understanding, a basic cognition of Level 19.
He sighed inwardly with frustration. Bell truly disliked being in such an unprepared situation.
While improvisational skills were vital for adventurers, having rich intelligence was just as important. Once an adventurer loses the support of intel, they have to gather and analyze information on the fly, a situation that almost always puts them at a disadvantage.
Bell really disliked this kind of uncertainty.
Being well-prepared with information to make battles quicker and more decisive had always been his approach to combat.
After all, with solid intelligence backing him up, Bell could better control his power output.
Yes, Bell had always been learning how to control his strength and deliver his maximum output using the most appropriate force.
For an experienced adventurer, it was crucial to be able to control the perceived level of one's strength. Only by ensuring this could they more easily maintain control of a situation.
Because of his past habits, Bell instinctively sought to gather more intelligence.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to gather intel from the fight itself."
Though he didn't like this method, it wasn't a matter of preference anymore.
Bell's eyes flicked to the Stone Golem, which was lumbering toward him with heavy steps.
"Powerful, but incredibly slow. Its body structure makes it highly inflexible. However, its stone composition makes finding a weak point difficult."
The Stone Golem's biggest challenge was breaking through its defenses.
But with just a quick glance, Bell had already located its Magic Stone and identified the distinct joints in its stone body.
In a swift movement, Bell appeared at the Golem's feet. Compared to the five-story-tall stone giant, he seemed incredibly small.
But to Bell, the Stone Golem was just massive.
He lightly tapped his hand on one of the Golem's leg joints.
"Clang!"
An invisible shockwave rippled from the joint, followed by a sharp, crisp cracking sound from within the stone body.
"Snap!"
A small fissure appeared in the rock.
Thud!
Unable to control its immense strength, the Stone Golem stomped heavily, sinking its foot into the ground. As mentioned before, its bulky body, while durable, lacked agility. This one stumble nearly caused the Stone Golem to lose its balance.
But in that brief moment, Bell seized the opportunity, jumping onto its body.
Bell's agility and quickness were unparalleled. Stepping onto the Stone Golem's leg, he leapt lightly and landed behind it. His hand pressed gently on a critical weak spot.
"Crack!"
The sound was like stone shattering, but this time, the Stone Golem froze. The stone pieces that connected its body started to fall off, one by one, and some of them turned to dust.
"Though its level has increased significantly, boosting both its destructive power and defense, no matter how tough its outer shell gets, the hardness inside remains unchanged."
The ground began to tremble slightly. Bell's eyes scanned the surface, his foot pressing gently against it. An invisible wave rippled into the earth, and soon, the tremor stopped.
"There are quite a few Spartoi, but if they stay buried underground, they're easy targets." Vibration in the air can become sound or a weapon—and the ground can be the same.
Earthquake—this was the attack form of ground tremors.
However, the method behind these attacks was a collision of forces, essentially a form of vibration.
By mastering control of this vibration, one could launch attacks from within in any form.
Without requiring immense force, it could cause massive destruction.
Clearly, both Stone Golems and Spartoi were vulnerable to this tactic.
The same applied to the moths flitting in the sky, still dispersing their paralyzing dust.
"Snap!"
A light snap of Bell's fingers triggered a ripple in the air, scattering the dust in the sky at an eerie speed. The moths, which had been flying normally moments before, were all shaken to the ground.
In just thirty seconds, a swarm of small monsters had fallen.
The entire event lasted no more than thirty seconds.
Looking at the results of his actions, Bell gave a slight nod.
"Not bad.
Even a minor vibration, if controlled autonomously, can yield significant results.
Even higher-level monsters cannot avoid being affected under certain conditions.
No matter how thick their external defenses are, as long as you pinpoint the core's location and land a light strike against the Magic Stone, the battle can be concluded."
"The power could still be more controlled, and the attack could be executed more directly."
To end battles more simply, greater emphasis on efficiency was needed.
Yet, battles that prioritize efficiency generally lack any entertainment value.
However, for Bell, entertainment value had never been part of his considerations.