"I still think they're exaggerating," Sienna commented, watching the movement near the gates. "It looks more like collective panic than real danger."
"Collective panic doesn't arise without reason," Elenya replied, keeping her eyes alert.
Marcus crossed his arms, staring at a group returning from outside. One of them limped. Another held his arm wrapped in an improvised cloth.
"They don't look like beginners."
Jay didn't respond. He observed the terrain beyond the walls: low hills, scattered rocks, sparse vegetation. An open field, the kind they had faced dozens of times before.
"If it's just tougher monsters," Sienna continued, "we've been through that already."
Emanueru walked in silence. Since they had arrived on that floor, something in the environment felt wrong, but he still couldn't point out exactly what.
"Let's confirm," Ethan said. "One fight. That's all."
They crossed the gates.
The wind carried dust and an uncomfortable silence. They walked for a few minutes until movement caught their attention near a rise in the terrain.
A figure emerged from behind a hill.
Tall.
Bulky.
Greenish skin marked by old scars.
A Great Goblin, wielding a heavy weapon, improvised but clearly well used.
Sienna let out a short laugh.
"Are you serious?" she said. "A big goblin? We're tired of defeating monsters like this."
"Don't underestimate it," Jay replied, stepping forward.
The goblin didn't shout.
It didn't charge immediately.
It observed.
The attack came suddenly.
Jay took the impact.
The strike wasn't fast, but it was precise. The force went through the shield, vibrating through his entire arm and forcing Jay to brace his feet.
"Strength above standard," he warned.
The goblin advanced again, using its body weight, trying to push, not just hit.
Jay absorbed it. Once. Twice. Three times.
"It's building up fast," he said. "More than it should."
Marcus entered from the side, as he always did against this type of enemy. The cut struck the goblin's flank.
The blow landed… less than it should have.
The goblin grunted but didn't lose its balance. It spun and nearly hit Marcus on the return swing.
"…okay," Marcus muttered. "That's not normal."
Elenya fired. The arrow lodged in the creature's shoulder. On other floors, that would have forced a retreat.
The goblin simply pulled the arrow out and advanced.
Sienna frowned.
"Alright. They weren't exaggerating."
The goblin shifted focus quickly, trying to pressure Jay while keeping Marcus at bay with wide swings. It was brute, but not stupid.
"It's controlling space," Elenya warned.
Jay kept absorbing, feeling the weight grow with each impact.
"If this keeps up, it's going to overload," he said.
Sienna moved.
Three spirit wolves appeared around her, advancing from the sides. One bit the goblin's leg, trying to unbalance it.
The goblin kicked.
The wolf dissolved into light.
"It breaks summons fast," Sienna said, now serious.
Marcus forced another attack, aiming at the joint. The cut opened, but still wasn't enough to bring it down.
"It endures too much," Marcus growled.
Emanueru raised his hand.
Light condensed in the air. A blade formed and was launched, piercing through the goblin's arm with precision.
The creature screamed in pain and stepped back.
"Ranged attacks land better," Elenya said.
The goblin answered with fury, charging heavily at Jay. The impact made the shield vibrate violently.
"I'm reaching my limit," Jay warned. "I'll hold a little longer."
Ethan observed in silence, attentive to the enemy's rhythm.
"It always plants its foot firmly before attacking," he said. "Use that."
Sienna opened a circle in the air.
A phoenix of fire emerged, diving onto the goblin. The impact exploded in heat, forcing the creature to raise its arms to protect itself.
"Now!" Ethan said.
Two blades of light appeared behind Emanueru and were launched in sequence.
Elenya fired at the same instant.
Marcus advanced, forcing the strike into the already weakened point.
The goblin tried to move forward once more.
Its foot slipped on the uneven terrain.
"Now," Ethan repeated.
The spikes emerged from the shield with a metallic snap. Jay advanced and slammed the shield against the goblin's torso, the spikes tearing into flesh.
The creature lost its balance.
Jay released the accumulated energy.
The discharge launched the goblin backward. Marcus finished it before it could rise.
Silence.
Sienna let out her breath slowly.
"Okay… I take back everything I said."
The interface appeared in the air.
Class Sigils obtained: 12
Automatic distribution: +2 to each member of the group
It disappeared shortly after.
Marcus stared at the body.
"A goblin."
Jay rested the shield on the ground for a moment, breathing deeply.
"A goblin," he repeated, more to himself. "Just one."
Marcus wiped the blade with a short motion and looked at the body on the ground.
"If this had been on the Second Floor, the fight would've ended in half the time."
"Or less," Elenya added. "I wouldn't have even used that many arrows."
Sienna crossed her arms, staring at the monster as if expecting it to rise again.
"And to think I thought they were exaggerating…" she let out a short laugh. "We've faced dozens of these."
"We faced weaker versions," Ethan replied calmly. "The model is the same. The logic isn't."
Emanueru still observed the field, as if something there had not finished explaining itself. He slowly closed his hand, and the residual light still lingering in the air dissipated.
"It didn't attack on impulse," he said. "It waited for openings. It shifted focus."
Jay raised his gaze.
"You noticed that too?"
"I did," Emanueru confirmed. "It fought… as if it knew what it was doing."
Marcus frowned.
"Goblins don't do that."
"Here they do," Elenya replied.
Silence returned for a few seconds, heavy.
"The Sigils…" Sienna said, breaking the mood. "Two points for each of us. Doesn't seem like much."
Jay let out a half smile.
"Considering the effort, it almost feels like a joke."
"Or an investment," Ethan corrected. "The system doesn't usually give anything for free. If it's offering this now, it's because it expects us to need it."
Marcus turned his face toward the city.
"And the other groups?"
"They're probably doing exactly this," Ethan said. "Testing. Dying. Coming back. Without understanding."
Sienna took a deep breath.
"So the question isn't whether we can kill the monsters here."
"It's how much it's going to cost," Jay completed.
Emanueru took one more look at the open field before turning away.
"Whatever it is…" he said, "this floor wasn't made for haste."
Ethan nodded.
"No. It was made for adaptation."
They began walking back toward the gates.
This time, no one considered the silence outside an exaggeration.
The Fourth Floor hadn't changed who they were.
It had changed how much that mattered.