The Academy Geniuses I Raised and Dressed

Open-type dungeons differ from independent ones in several ways—time flow, monster or resource respawn, whether the dungeon is shared, and so on.

Boss rooms and the portals to deeper floors are also slightly different.

In independent dungeons, the final room or area contains both a powerful monster and the deep-floor portal.

Open-type dungeons are similar in that the boss and the portal appear together, but the difference is that there can be multiple boss rooms.

Just as monsters spawn randomly in different locations, boss rooms are also scattered randomly throughout the floor.

Thanks to that, exploring every corner of an open-type dungeon makes item farming and experience grinding much easier.

From a game-design perspective, the system made perfect sense.

But today, we wouldn’t be visiting every boss room on the second floor—we’d only tackle one.

Hunting the second-floor boss of the Seawater cave.

A challenge I had set for our squad to test and fine-tune our teamwork.

“Stop.”

I halted the two of them.

“The room past this passage is a boss room.”

“How do you know that?” Meiling asked, folding her arms.

“Because the passage to a boss room in the Seawater cave is always littered with bones.”

“Oh… there really are bones…” Lumina peeked into the passage and went pale.

“Whose bones do you think those are…?”

“No idea. Maybe hunters who got eaten by the boss?”

“Eugh…” Lumina shivered as if she’d just swallowed something bitter.

“Who cares about bones? Let’s get inside already. Bosses last longer than regular monsters—makes them more fun to bully.” Meiling’s voice brimmed with confidence.

“Don’t get careless.”

“What?”

I spoke in a clipped tone, watching her frown.

“If you fight like you did against normal monsters earlier, the one who dies might be you.”

“…”

She looked like she thought I was trying to provoke her, her expression darkening in irritation.

“If you get hit by a boss-level monster here, I might not even have time to give you a potion. One blow could cut you clean in half, and then a potion won’t help you.”

“Y-Yein, what kind of monster are we talking about here?”

“The Ashen Butcher.”

I spoke the name I remembered from the game.

“It’s a massive wolf that leads the packs we’ve been fighting on our way here.”

“But those wolves were already huge…”

“This one’s bigger.”

When I’d first seen it in the game, I’d thought, Would stabbing something that size even deal damage?

“Listen carefully—I’m going to explain the plan. Follow it exactly.”

I outlined the strategy I’d built from the game’s guide, tailored for this run.

“It might be nerve-wracking to try it right away without practice, but if we do it right, we’ll win for sure.”

I looked at both of them. Lumina’s face had drained of color, and even Meiling looked tense.

“Lumina.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“I won’t pretend your role isn’t dangerous. But I know you can do it. I believe in you.”

Her eyes widened slightly at my serious tone.

“O-Okay! I’ll do it!”

Color returned to her cheeks, and I felt relieved.

Lumina scared easily and got nervous before fights, but once combat began, she executed her role flawlessly.

That just leaves the question—can I keep Meiling under control?

I turned to her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m worried you’ll go off and do your own thing.”

Her brows shot up.

“Don’t waste your concern—just make sure you’re not the one holding us back!”

“H-Hey… let’s not fight right before the battle…”

“We’re not fighting. I’m just saying what I think.”

“Urgh…”

Meiling clenched her teeth, while Lumina glanced between us with a are you two seriously okay? expression.

“Let’s go.”

I raised the shield made from the Flame-armored Turtle’s shell.

As we rounded the passage corner and entered the boss room, a pack of wolves lying in the center came into view. They were sprawled out as if resting.

[Grrrr…]

Ten wolves bared their fangs and rose when they spotted me and Meiling.

“…They’re big.” Meiling muttered.

And behind them stood the Seawater cave’s second-floor boss—the Ashen Butcher.

It lay atop a mountain of bones, its massive body easily the size of a two-story building.

Its long, dagger-like fangs and claws as thin and sharp as razors were just as I remembered.

When I’d said one swipe could cleave a body in half, I hadn’t been exaggerating.

“Awoooooo!!”

Its howl made the entire room quake.

“Ugh!!”

Meiling winced and covered her ears.

This is no joke.

Hearing that howl in person, with such a massive beast right in front of me, nearly crushed my fighting spirit.

Goosebumps prickled my skin, my stomach clenched, and my legs trembled.

But if I wanted to clear the main scenario, I’d face monsters far worse than this. Running now would mean I’d never be able to do anything later.

“Arf!!”

At the signal of the boss’s howl, the wolves charged.

“Meiling, we’re starting!”

“You don’t need to tell me!”

I grabbed my spike bombs; she raised her wand.

I hurled a spike bomb with all my strength, and the wolves scattered to avoid it.

Exactly as planned—that was why I’d chosen a spike bomb over an electric grenade.

Boom!!

“Yelp!”

The spikes flew out in all directions, embedding themselves in the wolves’ bodies.

At the same moment, Meiling’s mana bolt pierced the skull of the nearest wolf—a critical hit.

One down.

We needed to thin out the small fry as much as possible.

I kept lobbing spike bombs to slow their approach and chip away at them, while Meiling sniped from the back.

By the time her bolts had taken down three wolves in total—

“Grrraaaagh!!”

The Ashen Butcher kicked off the bone pile and leapt into the air toward us.

The sheer presence of that massive body made it feel like even being stepped on would shatter every bone in my body.

But this was exactly the moment I’d been waiting for.

“Meiling! Shield up!”

I shouted as I threw four spike bombs into the air toward it, aiming to detonate them as close as possible for maximum impact.

Before they exploded, I ducked behind Meiling and her shimmering blue shield.

“Hey, that’s—ugh!!”

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!!

The chain of blasts filled my vision with black from the hail of spikes.

“Yipe!”

The Ashen Butcher, so imposing just moments ago, now looked pitiful, covered in spikes as it hit the ground with a thud.

The impact shook the room and sent dust flying.

“Pfft! Ugh, bleh!” Meiling sputtered as she lowered her spike-pierced shield, dust in her mouth, and leveled her wand.

“Meiling! The boss isn’t your target!”

“Tch!”

A blue mana bolt shot out and struck a charging wolf, dropping it instantly.

I tossed frost mines in all four cardinal directions to set up a defensive perimeter, then readied my electric grenades.

Meanwhile, the Ashen Butcher growled low as it rose, then suddenly leapt backward.

It was retreating, eyeing us cautiously, looking for another opening.

And that motion—was exactly what we’d been waiting for.

Or rather, what Lumina had been waiting for.

A crimson shape, like the fangs of a beast, manifested around the boss.

Crack!!

“GRRAAHHH!!”

As the boss monster’s pained howl rang out, Lumina’s figure emerged as her Stealth dropped.

A large wound had been carved into the Ashen Butcher’s left foreleg—around where a person’s shoulder would be. Compared to the wolf’s massive frame, her dagger was tiny, so the damage could only have come from the skill’s power.

Good. That should’ve dealt a solid chunk of damage.

A Stealth attack from Lumina always landed as a critical hit, with a damage multiplier of 666%.

But right now, her Bone Dagger and Bone Ring—both crafted by me—were boosting her critical damage multiplier and attack power even further.

The skill itself also came with a bonus to critical damage.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

Splurt!

Bright red blood gushed from the wound—clear proof the bleeding effect had triggered.

With 30% from the dagger and 35% from the skill, the combined 65% chance meant it wasn’t surprising it had procced on the first strike.

“Graaagh!!”

Letting out a furious snarl, the Ashen Butcher lunged toward its attacker.

Lumina quickly used a movement skill to put distance between herself and the boss.

At that moment, four of the wolves that had been fixated on us broke off, charging toward her as if to protect their leader.

“Meiling! Now!”

At my shout, Meiling lowered her wand to her chest, closed her eyes, and began casting.

A black space that drained all color from the world spread out from her.

Sensing the shift, three wolves rushed in our direction.

I raised my shield and moved to the 1 o’clock position relative to Meiling, drawing their focus.

The wolves adjusted their angle slightly, targeting me instead.

I lowered my gaze to the floor.

One of them stepped exactly where I’d intended.

“Welcome to your doom.”

Bzzzt!

The mine I’d set earlier detonated, engulfing the wolves in a freezing blast. They turned white, frozen solid like statues.

A moment later, Meiling’s Black Domain swallowed them whole.

With their resistances reduced by the frost and their mobility crippled, the continuous curse damage would finish them off before the freeze even wore off.

I quickly turned to check on Lumina.

She was busy dodging the relentless strikes from the wounded boss and four wolves, yet still found openings to counterattack—two of the wolves were bleeding.

“Lumina! Over here!”

At my call, her face lit up with relief. She used her movement skill to dart toward us.

The sudden gap closed, the boss and wolves all gave chase—running straight into the fully formed Black Domain.

“Yipe!”

“Yelp!”

The first in were the two unwounded wolves. The moment they entered, their speed and resistances dropped under the curse’s effect, and they began taking tick damage.

Next came the two bleeding wolves. They seemed even more shaken, collapsing to the ground entirely.

And last was the Ashen Butcher itself.

It staggered as it entered, fixing its eyes on us.

Normally, it had the strength to resist Meiling’s Black Domain entirely.

If we’d opened with it, it might have tanked the curse, leapt in, and torn Meiling apart in one blow.

I knew this not as speculation, but from experience.

Back when I first recruited Meiling in the game and saw how strong her ability was, I’d put her front and center.

That was until I hit the bad luck of entering a boss room right at the start of the second floor here in the Seawater cave.

I’d assumed her Black Domain would slow them enough to hold out, but the Ashen Butcher had bounded around inside it like nothing, cutting her down instantly.

That was the moment I realized her power wasn’t invincible.

It’s also why I’d brought her here for her first independent training run—to make her realize it too.

This time, the situation was completely different.

Lumina’s opening strike had inflicted bleeding, applying a Tier 1 movement speed debuff.

On top of that came the Black Domain’s own slowing effect.

With both in play, we could keep Meiling safe while fighting the boss.

“Lumina, let’s finish it.”

“Got it.”

She charged forward with her dagger, eyes tight with focus.

The Ashen Butcher lunged to meet her, but inside the Black Domain, its speed was even slower than that of the wolves earlier.

And Lumina didn’t just rush in recklessly—she triggered Beast’s Bite again as soon as the cooldown ended.

Her form blurred and vanished, and a pair of crimson, fang-shaped constructs appeared on the boss’s torso.

Crunch!

“Graaagh!!”

It wasn’t a Stealth crit, so the damage was about a seventh of the opening strike, but with the double tick damage and reduced resistances, it clearly hurt.

I wasn’t idle either.

With the boss’s slowed movements, landing an electric grenade was easy.

Bzzt!

“!!”

Golden currents wrapped around the beast before fading.

Its high resistances meant it avoided paralysis, but the damage still landed.

I couldn’t tell its exact HP, but it had to be close to dead.

Which meant the next phase was coming.

“Awooooo!!”

“Ahh!”

Lumina, nearest the boss, clapped her hands over her ears.

The Ashen Butcher crouched on its hind legs, then launched into the air, raising a forepaw toward the center of the Black Domain—straight at Meiling.

Its massive claws gleamed like blades.

This was its low-health attack pattern.

And I’d already canceled it once before.

“It’s over.”

I hurled four spike bombs upward, two in each hand.

“Lumina! Shield up and get low!”

Shouting, I pushed Meiling’s shoulder down and raised my  Iron Shield overhead.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

Thud-thud-thud!

The bombs detonated, and the rain of spikes slammed into my shield.

Crack!

Damn.

The sound of my shield breaking. I’d suspected it wouldn’t survive the barrage.

With a mana shield, it would’ve held, but I’d lent the skill slot to Meiling—this was inevitable.

Thud!!

The Ashen Butcher crashed to the ground just like before, then dissolved into pale ash.

“We… we did it! We won!!” Lumina cheered, throwing her arms up.

As I looked at her, something shoved my arm aside.

“How long are you going to keep pushing me down?”

Meiling glared, clearly annoyed.

“Oh. Forgot.”

“Forgot?! How do you forget that?!”

“Sorry.”

I stood and offered her my hand.

“….”

She stared for a moment, then took it and rose to her feet.

“Yein! Meiling! We did it!”

Lumina ran over, grabbing both our hands.

“We cleared the second floor of the Seawater cave!”

“Yeah. We did.”

“Yeah!!”

“Alright, I get it, now let go!”

Meiling yanked her hand away, her ears reddening again.

Then, where the boss had vanished, a flash of light caught our eyes.

All three of us turned toward it.

“Gasp!”

Lumina let out a sharp breath.

“Oh.”

Even Meiling looked surprised.

Well… that’s unexpected.

I couldn’t help the smile tugging at my lips.

The loot scattered on the ground shone with vivid blue and crimson light.

But the surprise wasn’t from those.

It was from the one item among them that gleamed with a deep, solitary red.

(End of Chapter)