Lev decided to first test the waters with a few dozen weak arrows. Each was infused with a puff of lightning and fire, barely enough to down weaker first-threshold monsters.

They shot forward like a bright meteor shower, landing on the slow burrower's hide with negligible damage. Other than digging in an inch or two from the speed, the infused mana types failed to do any noteworthy harm.

A few grumbles sounded from the rest of the hunters but Lev was just getting started. The next volley was infused to the limits, almost bursting at the seams because of the sheer power packed into the arrows.

This time, the outcome was very different. If the previous wave looked dull and bleak, the arrows flying at the borrowers were far brighter and deadlier, almost burning the very air in their passing.

Each hit landed in a large blast, gouging holes in the borrower that paused in its tracks and let out a wail so grating on the ears that Lev almost launched a few lances at it to put an end to the sound.

Despite only lasting a few seconds, Lev was already setting up an attack to finish it off at once. Much of its side facing them was already ruined with dark red blood rushing out like a river. He aimed at the damaged part again, launching nearly a tenth of his pool in two lances.

They were the next phase of his testing. Lev had always packed fire and lightning together to benefit from his passive skill, but it had somehow slipped his mind to check if different projectiles holding destructive mana types exploding nearby counted for the skill.

In an instant, both of them were embedded deep into the burrower's recent wounds. Lev formed a barrier wall in front of all the humans when his projectiles exploded, blinding everyone in a towering explosion of lightning and fire. The back half of the monster, still inside the hole of the pit it had burst out of, stayed there, whereas the other half rolled down to the bottom. Ablaze, it reminded them of a giant torch as it fell lower and lower, eventually reaching the far larger wrym carcass and thudding against its skeleton.

[

Your Group has slain [Earthen Burrower - Level 298]

Mana Tempest has reached Level 198

]

Chunks of charred meat landed on the wall Lev had prematurely erected, blocking the blood and gore from drenching them. It was surprising how potent the monster's blood was, given how it refused to evaporate even in the middle of that explosion.

"Well, this sets an interesting trend," Umbrina's contemplative words echoed around them. "Any other team willing to try and take on a burrower by themselves?"

"We will," one of the two wind mages from Ronald's team immediately said, tone loud and confident. Seconds passed in silence, where the other three didn't say anything, opting not to risk it like that.

"Good enough," Umbrina said. "You guys will only get one shot at this. Prepare yourselves."

Exactly five minutes later, the ground a kilometer away exploded in a shower of dirt and stone, revealing another burrower that was probably lured by the Master rogue.

No words were exchanged in Ronald's team as a gale swept them up, carrying them to the monster. Once they were within range of attacks, wind visibly coalesced in round, solid platforms, giving the warriors a straight path to the burrower.

Blades of wind were launched by one mage, targeting a specific area like Lev had. The other fired wind bullets, puncturing the creature's hide with overloaded attacks.

Ronald and his fellow warrior reached the monster one by one, each using one or multiple skills for a singular attack. Large gashes appeared as a result, accompanied by a shower of putrid blood.

The borrower roared in pain and pulled back its wing. Lev didn't know what to expect but the platinum team up ahead did. Both the wind mages immediately scooped up the warriors and brought them back mid-air.

Abruptly, just when the warriors got out of range, the monster slammed its prodigious bulk against the ground, decimating it for dozens of meters around. Then it rolled like a barrel on the loose, passing over the last position of the humans and flattening everything in its path.

Judging by the waiting hunters, it wasn't the first time they had to deal with the move. The moment the burrower finished its large-scale attack, it was beset by axe and sword again, not given even a moment to rest.

Minutes passed in offense and retreat tactics. Where Lev had finished the fight in half a minute, the platinum team was taking it slow and steady, preferring to conserve mana and take their time. Their weapons were also the size of toothpicks compared to the massive monster. It also seemed to be considerably higher in level than the one Lev had killed.

Blood loss and cuts gradually piled up and eventually overwhelmed the monster. Its last few moments were truly pitiful, unable to even move, let alone defend itself. Ronald used an overloaded swing to cut open most of its maw, ending its life in a decisive strike.

"Adequate," Umbrina praised. Probably. "Could've been done far earlier without needing to hold back. None of you use stamina, and we have a competent aura mage amongst us. Don't worry about saving your resources and test your limits."

The platinum team shared glances, then nodded, facing forward, not knowing where the rogue was. Beatrice buffed them all once they neared, opting to waste a bit of her own by empowering several people at once. It was a side-effect of her skills to keep them from being too strong.

Only ten minutes later, Ronald thanked her and asked her to stop. They had truly saved as much mana as they could, and for good reason. The possibility of being attacked by multiple of the monsters up next was very real, and they wanted to be prepared.

Think I'm gonna have to summon Stargazer for this one, Lev did as he was thinking and filled in the blade of his glaive. She thrummed with power as enchantments came alive one by one, but they would see little use today.

His job was still the same. Only, he wanted to get used to slinging earth slashes. That attack was much more stable than his other slashes because of the nature of the element, and consequently had the highest range. The burrowers presented a good target to practice on.

Ronald took the lead, slowly guiding them away from the safety of the cave. An earth mage shaped the pit to create a path for them to traverse, saving the raiders from having to walk on the steep incline. Three zyliths were downed, detected long before the ambush, and swiftly dispatched before the earth rumbled beneath them.

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The wind mages immediately reacted and scooped up everyone incapable of flight. Lev simply ascended higher in his bubble, pulling Beatrice out of harm's way. For a small instant, he noticed Umbrina casually seated on the pit's edge above them, watching it all with a hawk's eye.

Their eyes met for a second, during which Lev could see her approval before she vanished again. A burrower burst through the ground at the same moment, a few dozen meters away from them.

It tracks mana usage, hmm? Lev thought and readied Stargazer, sending a large amount of earth mana into it. Good thinking on the mage's part to shape the ground at the edge of his manipulation range.

The mage in question was part of the team that delved regularly, and his experience showed. Lev was already swinging Stargazer in a chop before the monster could turn to look at them.

A thick, large crescent attack formed along the edge of his swing, dark brown in color and giving off a weighty impression to everyone's mana perception. It shot forward with impressive speed, not as fast as his lightning slashes but not that far off either.

The slash impacted in a blink, leaving no room for the monster to dodge or even try to position itself better. Like a plastic bottle bending in two, the burrower folded, roaring in agony as the attack tore through its hide. Without stopping, it ripped through all the innards in its path and blasted out of the other side, leaving two large holes in the body of the monster.

I'll be damned, Lev grinned, even though the actual damage wasn't anything to write home about because of the monster's size. Imagine if that attack were against a smaller monster. No chance of survival for the magic-focused ones.

Ronald and his team waited to see if Lev's attack was going to do anything else. When it simply flew off into the pit, they advanced, leading the charge for the remaining teams as well.

"Buff?" Beatrice asked.

Lev nodded. "Ten minutes. Conserve mana for yourself too."

Since she was going to buff him, Lev enchanted his bubble with mana concealment to hide his regeneration further. It was likely overkill, and Umbrina probably already knew, but being cautious never hurt anyone.

The next fight didn't require his input. Ronald's team was competent, able to easily guide the hunters. When the burrower attacked back with its bulk, the experienced wind mages simply brought everyone away. Nobody tried to stupidly resist their spells either, letting themselves be abruptly dragged to the sky.

Only a minute later, the monster was dead with its core harvested.

That set the tone for the subsequent fights. The large monsters attacked them, sometimes in groups of two. Lev made the fights easier by using solely lightning after the initial earth slash test, considerably slowing down the huge creatures with the sheer amount of mana he channeled normally.

"Well done," Umbrina commended after their 14th kill. "One of the better delves so far, but this is where the true challenge starts. Rest, and regenerate your mana. These swarms aren't something you should ever take lightly."

"How long?" one of the new mages asked.

"Three hours."

"Alright, then," Lev muttered and stretched. Beatrice gave him a look, so he summoned his best sofas for them in the bubble. With the negligible cost of maintaining it and keeping it afloat, the mental weight made for good training by staying mid-air.

"You're gonna have to start using that skill of yours from now on," Lev mused, less reminding her and more himself. "Try not to stick to one location. I'll be creating walls and shields wherever I can, so pick up the slack for me."

"Will do," she agreed. "How's your mana looking?"

Lev looked inward and paused. He was constantly benefiting from her passive bonus and was also given the active portion on occasion. More importantly, he hadn't used much beyond a few overcharged lighting attacks, meaning his pool was still hovering above 80%.

"… Good enough," Lev replied, smiling slightly.

She merely shook her head at the ridiculousness of his class.

Hours passed quickly as they both refused to stop scanning their surroundings. With Umbrina's presence, there was likely no need, but he and Beatrice had been burned almost to death by such negligence once. There wouldn't be a second time.

Ronald stood up after the resting period was up. Everyone else followed, summoning and hoisting up their equipment, ready to face the next challenge. They had barely even started moving when screeches became audible, coming from high above.

Ten… twenty… thirty-two. That's more than expected.

Umbrina was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant the harpy horde wasn't abnormal. Lev prepared eight shields and swiftly enchanted them as the first of them dove. Now that they were out in the open, there was going to be no holding back.

"DO NOT HOLD BACK," Ronald roared, mirroring Lev's thoughts. Enhancements were flared higher, and spells were charged even more before three monsters landed in front of them.

Two arrows enchanted with sharpness rushed towards one of them, thudding deep into the harpy's chest and releasing a cloud of lightning inside. Ronald took it upon himself to down that one, beheading it with a single swing.

The other two monsters didn't fall as quickly. Heavily injured, the descent of more of their kind saved them, slowly changing the tide of the battle.

Lev took a backseat, preferring to let everyone else gather experience in melee fighting. He would focus on that in his next delve, though it was shaping up to be way harder than expected. Some training was in order.

Shields blocked wild wings, some of the former shattering in the process, but giving ample opportunities to the adept hunters. Spells flew around, predominantly wind and lightning, targeting the most uninjured monsters.

Beatrice used her barrier skill for the first time. It was a squarish wall nearly two meters in height and length, zipping around the battlefield from monster to monster. She could only control two of them, but only needed one right now.

When one of the regular delver team's warriors was outmuscled and stabbed by the talons, Lev formed multiple shields to get him out with barrier threads, but then the harpy paused. It stared ahead, face frozen in rage and bloodlust synonymous with monsters, before its head slid clean off and tumbled to the ground.

Despite focusing on the fight, Lev had felt absolutely no hint of Umbrina or her skills. It only reinforced his suspicions that she was someone extremely strong who preferred to remain in the shadows.

Beatrice, who had never stopped scouting, addressed him once ten harpies had fallen.

"Lev."

He turned to look, never letting the harpies out of sight. A few dozen meters behind them, a hint of blue was poking through the ground. Cursing under his breath, he commanded the bubble to ascend higher and give him a better view of the whole battlefield.

Below him, the hunters were locked in a brutal brawl with the durable harpies. Behind them however, a watershade ravager burst out of the ground. It unfurled its wings and charged up a superheated steam attack, but a lightning arrow swiftly put an end to that.

[

Your Group has slain [Watershade Ravager - Level 220]

]

Beatrice used both her buffs on him when dozens of the monsters slowly rose out of the ground, each immediately charging their attacks. Panic erupted in the hunters fighting the harpies before Umbrina's words cut through it.

"Keep going and don't look back."

Lev mentally thanked her for saving him the trouble of giving out the warning. Dozens of arrows were hovering around him as fire and lightning infused them all in equal measure. When he had dumped over a tenth of his mana into the volley, he gave them the order to descend.

No steam attacks had finished charging when the first arrow landed, accurately piercing the head of a ravager and eviscerating most of its body in the subsequent explosion. One by one, heads were popped or stomachs were pierced, decimating more than half of the swarm before the fight could even begin.

Up ahead, the harpies were falling quicker and quicker as more hunters were allowed to gang up on them. Seeing they still weren't done, Lev lowered his usage and formed another wave of projectiles.

Considerably less destructive mana was thrown at the ravagers, though not before three of them launched their attacks. Letting the arrows fly down by their own, Lev relocated all his shields to block those attacks while dumping as much mana into them as they allowed.

Durability enhanced to the limits, his shields blocked the three jets of steam. The impact rattled Lev's mind as six of the ten shattered immediately, but the beam attacks petered out on the last shields arrayed against them.

That was close. Lev let out a breath, curiously observing the secondary effects of the steam. It was infused with mana and steadily ate through his remaining shields, slowly corroding their very structure by expending itself.

There was a reason why Umbrina repeatedly warned them against these monsters. Dealing with a swarm was hard enough, but the ravagers used attacks that consumed all manner of armors and defensive constructs with alarming haste.

Safe to say, human flesh didn't stand a chance. Being caught by that steam usually led to one of the most gruesome deaths on Monarch.

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