HEX: Aspect Of The Void

"Ahhh… I'm so tired!" Lucy groaned as she fell to the hard floor.

Everyone around her groaned too, resting as a result of their very tired state. They sat on the ground and huffed with exhaustion.

Even though all the members were tired, they still smiled and laughed in their disheveled state. They were excited. The reason for this was not too far-fetched. They had just defeated the Boss of the Second Floor.

The Dungeon Boss, a giant statue that was nearly five times as large as a regular person, was a more difficult opponent than they had imagined. Not only was it bigger than what they were used to, the stone which formed it was also sturdier. Its movements were sharper and the destruction and speed of its attacks were beyond their imagination.

It also had a higher level of intelligence, so the group's regular tactics were ineffective. To reach the Boss's core, they had to first immobilize it and pierce it with an attack powerful enough to break through its tough exoskeleton.

The most important thing to note about their battle with the Boss, however, was that Nathan did not assist them at all.

"You'll all be facing this one on your own. If it gets too dangerous, you only have to call out for help and I'll come to your aid. But… If that happens, it only means you're not ready for the next floor. If I end up saving you, it means you've given up on challenging the next floor itself." Nathan said to them before they commenced their fight with the Boss.

"Defeat the monster with your own strength, and ill acknowledge that you're strong enough to advance."

And so they did. There were many times they felt tempted to call for his assistance, but they refrained from doing so. They wanted to prove to him… and themselves, that they were strong enough.

After their struggles, they eventually won.

"Oof, I really thought I was going to die" Desmond commented with a relieved sigh.

"Good thing we had Carl's barrier Relic!" He added.

The remaining member of the group had to agree with Desmond's statement, looking at Carl with grateful faces as they teased him.

"Jeez, guys…" Carl muttered, embarrassed, but clearly happy to receive their praise.

As they all cheered one another, Nathan approached the party with his casual smile.

"Well done everyone…" He said.

 He was the only one standing out of everyone in the group. He wasn't exhausted. The party members all looked at him with proud smiles on their faces.

"Heh, I knew we could do it!" Lucy grinned at their Guide.

"Yeah, man. You left us hanging, but I'm sure we've proved to you that we're a formidable bunch too." Jack stated.

"N-Now, we won't be much of a burden to Sir Nathan" Lydia muttered shyly.

Desmond and Carl also nodded with determination. As for Puck… He was busy asleep. After gathering a lot of high mineral parts from the Boss Monster, as well as several ores which filled the room, he exerted himself more than he was used to. This made him collapse in exhaustion when he was finished.

Nathan smiled at the group. They were clearly greenhorns, naïve young people who would be very lost without him. However, they did manage to defeat a Boss on their first try. Their teamwork was coordinated, and each of them knew just what the others were thinking.

"Maybe…" He thought to himself.

It wasn't a bad thought. Maybe he didn't need to be alone after all… These people could be his new...

"So? What now?" Jack asked, jumping on his feet to prepare for whatever they would have to face next.

Nathan smiled at his eagerness. He looked at the rest of the party. They looked tired, scratched all over their bodies, but they had the gleam of adventure in their eyes. Perhaps it wasn't too early to advance to the next floor. They would be arriving in the Safe zone anyway.

"Well, we'll be advancing to the next floor any moment from now," Nathan said.

Just like clockwork, a path at the edge of the Boss Room opened up, revealing a passage similar to a stairway, leading to the upper floor.

"If we enter that path, we'll be taken to the Third Floor. Let's not push it though. We can still rest a little before we-" Nathan explained.

"Na, let's go now!" Jack quickly cut in, feeling all fired up.

"Yeah, I agree with Jack. We need to cover as much ground as possible, right? We've rested enough" Lucy stated.

Carl and Desmond appeared unsure of what to say, so they simply went with the flow and agreed with Lucy and Jack.

"What about you, Lydia? What do you think?" Nathan asked, concerned that she wasn't saying anything.

"I-I…" She muttered.

She had a bad feeling. Ever since they were about to enter the Boss Room, the bad feeling had started pricking her, however, now it was getting worse. Something told her not to proceed just yet.

"M-Maybe we should wait a little longer…" She whispered, barely audible in her words.

"What was that?" Nathan prodded.

She glanced at the remaining party members, except for Puck, who was enjoying his nap. They all looked at her expectantly. Even Nathan awaited her response.

"What should I say? If I say we should wait behind just because of my feeling, wouldn't that be selfish of me? I would just be holding everyone back. Besides… in order to get Sir Nathan's attention… I can't keep running forever. I have to take steps forward so that I am not a burden" Lydia thought to herself

Her eyes shot with determination and she clenched her first with resolve. Lydia stood up on her slightly exhausted legs. Due to standing for very long when facing the monster and running for a long period so that she wouldn't be affected by its attacks, she had strained her legs more than any other part of her body.

"L-Lets do it! I agree!" She said affirmatively.

Nathan was surprised by her answer. He knew she was anxious about the whole thing, and being honest, he wanted her to refuse advancing yet. They still deserved some time to rest. However, since they unanimously made the decision, who was he to stop them?

"Are you sure?" He asked one final time to be sure.

Lydia, as well as the others, nodded.

"Very well… Let's do it." Nathan sighed.

The Party all jumped up, and Puck was forcefully woken up by everyone else.

He grumbled as he joined them, gathering all the necessary things as he prepared to advance.

"Looks like we're all set.! Let's go!"

As they all stood before the Passage to the next floor and readied themselves to enter, mysterious System Windows suddenly appeared in front of each of them.

"What the?" Jack first spoke up in astonishment.

"Is this normal…?" Lucy muttered, observing the purple-colored information slide in front of her.

Nathan was confused by this occurrence. He didn't even pay any attention to the words uttered by the Party members.

"How weird… This hadn't happened before…" He mumbled and observed the window.

The language written on the panel was readable, and so he decided to check out the strange information written on the suspicious-looking board.

His eyes widened in shock as he read through it.

"I-Impossible! What the hell is this?" He yelled.

This sudden reaction of his startled the rest. They were mystified by Nathan's reaction and decided to pay more attention to the contents of the System windows in front of them.

[System Information]

*Dungeon Update*

<The Floor Settings Have Been Altered>

<Dungeon Floors Have Been Increased To 100 Floors>

<RANDOMIZER Function Has Been Activated>

<Dungeon Difficulty Has Been Altered>

<Dungeon Difficulty Has Been Changed From EASY To Annihilative>

*End Of Update Information*

"W-What the heck does this mean?" Jack said in a flustered manner.

Before the Party members could pull their thoughts together, a sudden crashing sound was heard.

"BOOOOOM!!!"

They all looked in the direction of the sudden loud noise. Even Nathan, who was still trying to figure out what was happening got attracted by the commotion. He looked behind him, to see the source of the sound.

It emanated from the Gate leading to the Boss Room. The bars were broken apart, destroyed by a great force, one powerful enough to render such a large construct into nothing but broken rocks and debris.

As everyone's eyes remained focused on the Gate, the entity which broke it emerged from the gaping hole it caused since the blockage had been dealt with.

"N-No way… T-That is…" Lydia muttered in fright.

Her eyes bulged as she said the terrible sight her mind had warned her about subconsciously.

The beings who entered were not one, but two. They were the statues that stood at the entrance of the gate. Now having white glowing eyes and animated expressions, they invaded the Boss Room.

Their attention turned to the group of confused Adventurers and their stone faces contorted into a wide grin.

"T-This is… What is happening?!" Nathan said as he experienced the first sign of all hell breaking loose.