As Ren Isana's voice faded, everyone quickly scattered and found their respective parties. The class entered combat readiness in an instant as the 17th-floor Floor Boss slowly emerged from the wall.
Like a newborn infant, its massive head appeared first, followed by its shoulders and arms. The moment its arms broke free, it hauled its entire body out of the stone.
"Roar!" As Goliath landed, a furious bellow tore from its throat. The deafening roar echoed across several floors, instantly alerting many adventurers that the Floor Boss had respawned.
The adventurers resting on the 18th-floor Safe Floor were especially startled. Some who were still half-asleep jolted awake in a panic, though no one rushed off to subjugate it.
Barring any surprises, someone was already fighting it. After all, triggering a Floor Boss required not only its standard cooldown period to pass but also a specific number of people present to force a respawn.
Otherwise, Goliath wouldn't have spawned at all. Assuming a party was already preparing to raid it, the bystanders had no intention of interfering.
"Hit it with a wave of ranged attacks first! Everyone, use magic!" Ren issued his command. Through the marks on their hands, his voice was transmitted directly into everyone's ears.
Hearing this, the students raised their hands and unleashed their spells. Those with magic staffs used them; those without simply cast single-handedly. In an instant, blue Magic Circles lit up in everyone's hands.
A barrage of [Magic Bullets] poured out, blasting toward the newly spawned Goliath. With everyone firing a single [Magic Bullet], a single volley consisted of forty-one projectiles—since Ren hadn't attacked yet.
The [Magic Bullets] rained down on Goliath like a curtain of fire. Sensing the danger, the boss let out a furious roar, reached back into the wall behind it, tore out a massive boulder, and hurled it forward.
More than half of the class's [Magic Bullets] were instantly blocked. This sight left Ren somewhat surprised; it seemed this monster possessed a decent level of intelligence.
*Boom!*
The barrage collided with the boulder, sending a massive explosion echoing through the floor. Seeing this, Ren issued another command, "Melee fighters, charge forward! Mages, provide fire support from the rear!"
With that, Ren pulled out his own magic staff. The others immediately charged at Goliath, casting [Lightness Technique] to shoot forward at explosive speeds.
Seeing the humans rushing in, Goliath opened its massive hand and swatted at them. The vanguard quickly scattered to evade. Right at that moment, Ren's fire support arrived.
Leading the charge was Ren's [Piercing Magic Bullet]. The projectile slammed directly into the giant hand sweeping toward the students, followed closely by the rest of the class's [Magic Bullets].
This time, every single attack found its mark. The intense pain caused Goliath to shriek as streams of gray gas suddenly erupted from its arm.
The gas poured from the wounds inflicted by the bombardment—instead of blood, it bled this gray mist. Seizing the opportunity, the vanguard leaped into the air, using each other as springboards to launch an assault on its head.
Charging at the very front was Asuna. Brandishing her rapier, she rapidly carved several gashes into Goliath's body, her momentum unbroken as she continued her upward sprint.
In just a single clash, the melee fighters had successfully scaled Goliath's body and began a relentless assault. Goliath tried to reach up and swat the annoying pests away.
However, every time it raised its hand, it was met with a magical bombardment from Ren and the rear guard. Ren gave it absolutely no openings, his voice continuously ringing in everyone's ears.
"Zhang Hui, don't charge toward its mouth! Do you want to get eaten? Some of you, circle around to its back! Its weak point is the cervical vertebra!" Ren commanded while maintaining his ranged fire support.
The class followed Ren's instructions to the letter. With the rear guard's covering fire, they could attack relentlessly without worry. Of course, this was largely due to the sheer speed of Ren's spellcasting.
Otherwise, the vanguard would have been squashed flat by now. Ren's [Piercing Magic Bullet] alone provided enough suppressing fire to lock the boss down, forming a stark contrast to the sluggish attacks of the others.
Even so, Ren was starting to feel dissatisfied with the spell. While its piercing properties were excellent, it lacked raw destructive power.
Realizing this, Ren decided to modify the spell on the fly. As he fought, he pondered ways to improve it, and a solid idea quickly formed in his mind.
Ren raised his magic staff once more, and a Magic Circle materialized. However, compared to the one used for [Piercing Magic Bullet], this formation had fundamentally changed.
The Magic Circle at the tip of his staff instantly expanded in size, its intricate runes shifting and realigning. Furthermore, a second Magic Circle manifested directly in front of the first one.
The nearby students paused in confusion. *What kind of magic is that?* While everyone was full of questions, a terrifying amount of Magic Power surged through the staff and into the array.
The next moment, Ren fired a blinding beam of light. The magic cannon blast instantly crossed the distance, slamming into Goliath's hand—and it had grazed right past several students who were mid-jump.
It scared the living daylights out of them. When the attack struck Goliath, it instantly vaporized the monster's entire hand. The sight made the scalps of the students who had nearly been hit tingle with sheer terror.
If Ren's hand had twitched even a millimeter, it would have instantly claimed their lives. The vanguard immediately started complaining through the communication channel, "Class Rep, are you trying to kill us?!"
"I nearly died of fright! I was a hair away from being wiped out!"
"Jeez, can you not do that so suddenly?! You're gonna give us heart attacks!"
A chorus of complaints flooded in.
Hearing this, Ren replied with a hint of embarrassment, "Sorry, it's a newly upgraded spell. I didn't expect it to pack such a punch. I'll be careful next time. Keep fighting!"
Though he apologized verbally, there wasn't a shred of remorse on Ren's face. He had aimed perfectly and knew he wouldn't miss; these guys were just scaring themselves.
Despite their frustration, the vanguard seized the opportunity to press the attack, continuing to hack away at Goliath. Having lost an arm, the Floor Boss instantly went berserk.
It violently shook its body, threw itself to the ground, and began to thrash and roll. Realizing the danger, the melee fighters leaped into the air, casting spells to attack while airborne.
Frowning at the sight, Ren stowed his magic staff and dashed forward. "Take this chance to keep up the magic support! I'm going in!"
Their damage output was simply too low. Even though they had left numerous gashes on Goliath's body, it was nowhere near enough. Furthermore, Ren had keenly noticed something else.
Some of the wounds on Goliath's body had already healed. That meant this monster possessed a formidable regeneration ability. *How could I not go up there and copy that?*
With that thought in mind, Ren charged straight in. A Tang Dao materialized in his hand as he closed the distance, activating his [Jianjigu] to copy Goliath's innate ability.
With a massive roll, Goliath managed to shake everyone off. As it scrambled back to its feet, it launched an attack on the remaining students. It might have lost a hand, but it still had its legs!
Goliath quickly stood up, leaped into the air, and attempted to stomp directly onto Sora and her group. Their faces paled drastically at the sight. They rapidly cast [Lightness Technique], leaping high into the air to evacuate the impact zone.
Just as they jumped clear, Goliath crashed down exactly where they had been standing. The entire floor quaked violently. It was a good thing Sora and the others were fast; otherwise, they would have been reduced to meat paste.
Staring at the crater Goliath had just made, Sora felt a lingering wave of dread. At that exact moment, Ren struck. Using [Spatial Teleportation], he instantly appeared directly behind Goliath.
He swung his Tang Dao with tremendous force, aiming a vicious slash at Goliath's neck—its critical weak point. But Goliath seemed to sense the mortal danger. Having just landed, it immediately swung its remaining hand back to swat at Ren.
*What fast reflexes.* Ren frowned. The next instant, his figure vanished, reappearing right at the monster's nape before bringing his blade down mercilessly.
*No matter how fast your reflexes are, can they beat my [Blink]?* Ren's blade bit deeply into Goliath's neck. The agonizing pain forced a furious roar from the beast.
The next moment, it thrashed violently, slapping its hand against its own neck. But Ren had already vanished, causing the Floor Boss to hit nothing but air.
Ren reappeared high in the air, magic staff in hand, and unleashed the spell he had just tinkered with. A magic cannon blast descended from the heavens, slamming directly into Goliath's back.
This beam of light was even brighter than the first. Its terrifying piercing power instantly blew a hole straight through half of Goliath's torso before striking the ground and triggering a devastating explosion.
"Hey, hey, hey... why does it feel like the Class Rep could just solo Goliath?" The class had regrouped by now, and watching Ren's performance, Sora couldn't help but mutter.
Ren's display of power was simply absurd. Maybe they hadn't even needed to lift a finger from the start? He was perfectly capable of handling this Floor Boss all by himself.
"You don't need to feel like it. Ren Isana can absolutely solo this," Yukino Yukinoshita said, her eyes locked onto Ren. The gap between them was growing wider and wider. *Has his talent evolved as well?*
All the knowledge he acquired was seamlessly molded into his own unique magic. This light cannon was something they had never seen before—it was obviously something he had just invented on the spot.
Thinking about this left Yukino feeling incredibly frustrated. When would she ever be able to get her revenge? Ren had beaten her up several times, but she hadn't managed to strike back even once!
"What are you all standing around for?! Hurry up and use your magic! Do you want to leech Excelia or not?!" Ren's voice suddenly rang out. Seeing these guys actually standing on the sidelines watching the show left him utterly exasperated.
*These guys are just watching the show?! Hurry up and attack! Throw your [Magic Bullets] and whatever else you have at it! Stop standing around chatting and bragging!*
Hearing Ren's shout, everyone quickly snapped out of it and hurriedly began casting their spells. Ren's magic cannon blast had already reduced Goliath to a half-dead state.
This time, it had no way to dodge their magic. As the class's [Magic Bullets] rained down once more, Ren simply hovered in the air, continuing his magical assault.
He wasn't in a rush to finish Goliath off. His [Jianjigu] had already done its job—he had successfully copied Goliath's self-regeneration ability.
Furthermore, this self-regeneration was comprehensive. The moment he copied it, his energy recovery, stamina regeneration, and physical healing speed all received an unprecedented boost.
The Magic Power he had just expended was completely replenished in a matter of breaths. The sensation was incredibly exhilarating, and realizing the implications left Ren thrilled.
*A comprehensive recovery ability... does that mean my kidneys... wait, let's not think about that right now. I don't even have a girlfriend yet!!*
*Still, my future girlfriend is definitely in for a treat.* Ren's overall recovery capabilities had increased by roughly twenty times.
Ren's Magic Power regeneration was already terrifying to begin with. Now, having acquired Goliath's regeneration, it had reached an entirely new level of absurdity.
Calculating based on the Magic Power cost of Intermediate Magic, he could fully recover the cost of a single spell in about one breath. In other words... he had essentially become a perpetual motion machine, hadn't he?
*From now on, I'm a one-man magic army.* While pondering this, Ren kept his eyes on Goliath. Under the relentless bombardment from the class, the Floor Boss was now completely unable to stand.
Seeing this, Ren made his move. He quickly called out to the others, "Stop! It's time to finish it."
As his voice echoed, his figure vanished from midair. When he reappeared, he was right at Goliath's nape. Without a moment's hesitation, he plunged his Tang Dao straight into its neck!
"Roar!!" With that final strike, Goliath let out one last, desperate bellow. It twitched weakly, and just like that, the 17th-floor Floor Boss was conquered by Ren and his class.
As Goliath breathed its last, its massive body slowly turned to ash and dissipated into the air, leaving behind only a gigantic Magic Stone and a massive leg bone.
This leg bone was premium forging material, and it was absolutely massive. Looking at it, Ren already had an idea of how to use it.
The others gathered around. Seeing the basketball-sized Magic Stone and the colossal bone, they couldn't help but marvel at their sheer size.
Ren landed beside them. Looking at the two drop items, he immediately said, "With this, we have the main materials needed to forge everyone's weapons."
At those words, everyone's eyes lit up. They all turned to look at Ren. Leo asked in pleasant surprise, "You mean you're going to use these materials to forge our weapons?"
This was an incredible surprise. Heaven only knew how good a weapon forged from such materials would be—after all, it was a Floor Boss drop!
"Of course we're forging weapons. What else would I do, sell it?" Ren nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, then stored the two items away. Hearing this, the class grew even more excited for the weapons Ren was about to forge.
The 17th-floor Floor Boss had been easily dispatched. Even though... Ren had basically soloed it, everyone had dealt some damage, so it still counted as a joint raid, right?
From now on, they could confidently boast that they had conquered a Floor Boss together. The thought left everyone feeling pretty smug. Honestly, if they had been forced to fight it on their own, they probably wouldn't have been able to beat it.
Their damage output was simply too pitiful, and they lacked any highly lethal techniques. They were fine against normal mobs, but against a boss like this, they were completely out of their depth.
While they could theoretically whittle it down to death, it would have taken an eternity. Thank goodness they had a walking cheat code like Ren; otherwise, they could forget about fighting any bosses.
However, their first team raid was a bit regrettable. In the end, it had turned into Ren's personal highlight reel. Ren had provided all the real DPS, and their teamwork had been less than stellar.
Ren didn't say much about it. After all, there would be plenty of opportunities to improve their coordination. Having packed away the materials, he announced, "Let's go. We'll head up to the 16th floor to keep farming, then we'll head back."
With that, he headed straight for the passageway. The others quickly followed suit, leaving the 17th floor behind and making their way up to the 16th floor.
Ren planned to take them into a Monster Room to test their mettle. It was time to let everyone properly experience what a true sea of monsters looked like!