Seeing that the person presumed to be the overseer was in quite a dangerous situation, I immediately teleported next to him.
Of course, I set my destination slightly behind him so that the others wouldn’t notice.

“You’re the overseer for this exam, right?”
“Y-yeah, but… who are you?”

Was the situation too urgent for him to hear me properly?

Now that I could see him up close, he wasn’t just tied up with ropes; his magic was also being bound by some strange spell.
Using magic vision made it clear—was this some kind of primitive sorcery that these monsters were using?

‘A senior explorer got caught by something like this?’

If it were Mea, she would have torn through it and escaped by now.
There’s definitely a wide range of skill levels within the senior rank.

Regardless, he’s the one who can issue my verification token, so I kindly introduced myself again.

“Roman, apprentice explorer.”
“Apprentice...? This isn’t the time for that! Forget about me—get out of here and alert someone! There’s a special variant—classified as a B-rank threat!”

A variant?

‘Is he talking about that thing?’

There was one creature that looked like a bugbear, but slightly different.
It sat on the altar, glaring at us, as if it fancied itself a king.
If it were a king, it’d be a tyrant.
It didn’t even care that its home and minions were being swept away by Leif’s high-pressure water cannons.

‘Is it instinctively focused on the biggest threat?’

Scanning...

The creature was watching me.
Its eyes held a mixture of destructive intent and something resembling intelligence—something you don’t usually see in monsters.

“Did that thing take you down?” I asked the overseer.
“...Embarrassingly, yes. The name’s Jake.”

Strong enough to overpower a senior explorer.
We’re dealing with one of the top predators of the first floor.

‘A perfect test.’

I gripped my newly acquired staff, Axis.

“Jake.”

As I called his name, I sharpened my magic, slicing through the ropes that bound him.
It seemed the ropes themselves were a type of magical artifact.
Once they were cut, Jake quickly formed a seal and chanted a short incantation, breaking free of the primitive sorcery that had restrained him.

But since Jake wasn’t a demon warlock, and had already exhausted his magic earlier, he was practically out of commission.
Even spirit summoners, who rely on external forces, burn through their magic reserves to sustain their summons. Other classes that rely solely on their own magic don’t even need mentioning.

If he had been a martial artist, I could’ve used him on the front lines, but I never had any intention of fighting alongside him.

“I’ll handle things here. You need to get the others and escape.”

I can’t freely use teleportation with him around.
And knocking him out would only risk a stray attack hitting him.
The best option was to send him away.

I wished he’d hurry up and leave, but Jake hesitated.

“No matter what, I can’t leave this to an apprentice…”
“This is the best option.”
“The best…”

Jake murmured as if he were parting with a lover or something.

Come on, man. Just go already.

Impatiently, I shouted, “Hurry!”
“Damn it!”

Finally making up his mind, Jake cursed and rushed to gather the others.
With his partially restored magic, Jake cast a body-strengthening spell and slung two unconscious people over his shoulders.

“...Sorry. I’m counting on you.”

The best way to help is to leave quickly, but since his words were so solemn and sincere, I humored him with a response.

“Don’t forget my verification token later.”
“...I’ll write you a recommendation too.”

With that, Jake finally left for good.

And right at that moment, the creature that had been watching me began to move.

It had been closely observing me, but now, seeing its prey being taken away, it could no longer suppress its rage.

“GRAAAH!”

BOOM!

The creature smashed the stone altar and leaped toward me.
It was too powerful to stop with my magic bullets.

And teleportation wasn’t an option yet; Jake was still too close.

So, should I just take the hit?
No way.

WHAM!

In an instant, Ray’s silver-infused fist slammed into the creature’s contorted face.

And she didn’t stop at just one punch.
Using a magic boost, Ray accelerated, landing dozens of rapid punches in the blink of an eye.

This was on a completely different level from her fight with Malebris.
The speed, the power, and the precision—everything had improved.

Anyone watching could see that Ray was no mere apprentice explorer.

“Did you come with a guide? No, wait… this isn’t a training exercise…”
“Just go already.”

At my words, Jake finally snapped back to reality and began to move again.

“Don’t let your guard down! It deflected most of her hits!”

Deflected them? Looked like direct hits to me.
And yet, somehow, he managed to deflect them?

On top of that, this creature was a pure physical type, making it a bad match for Ray’s magic-focused fighting style, which is more suited for dealing with spellcasters.

‘Physical combat isn’t my thing.’

But that’s why you have teammates.

“Roman! When are you coming?”
“I’m on my way now.”

Ray’s urgent call made it clear she was struggling against the variant alone.

Technically, Ray seemed to have the upper hand.
I could see the remnants of her silver magic burrowing into the creature’s body, while Ray herself remained unscathed.

But the creature had an overwhelming size advantage.
Even though Ray’s attacks were hitting their mark, the actual damage wasn’t significant.

The creature’s broken nose, which Ray had smashed with her first punch, was already nearly healed.
Its regeneration was monstrous.

[We’ll need to wear it down through exhaustion.]
[Or hold it down and let that elf’s water cannon blast through it.]
[Or immobilize it and let me flood it with my magic.]

Both suggestions were solid.

Let’s start with the first plan.

I channeled magic into Axis.

The circuits engraved in the staff began to glow as they absorbed my magic.
The core at the tip resonated with my power, amplifying it and spreading out invisible magic threads around the area.

The threads formed a grid, creating a 3D map of the space, complete with the precise coordinates of everything within it.

This wasn’t the first time I’d experienced this strange sensation.
I had practiced with Axis enough to be familiar with it.

Using this enhanced spatial awareness, I set the coordinates for my teleportation point.

When I blinked, I found myself behind the creature.

A magic bullet was already loaded and fired at its back.

‘One shot to start with….’

But my expectations were quickly shattered as the creature twisted its body and dodged the bullet.
Its blood-red eyes glared at me.

“It dodged that?”
[Be careful. This thing has unnaturally sharp instincts.]

Leraje’s magic carried poison, and the spell would activate upon contact, draining the target’s stamina.
It must have instinctively sensed the danger and dodged it at the last moment.

‘Its senses are even sharper than Ray’s.’

Maybe it’s because they’re both beast-types.

“GRAAAH!”

With a roar, the creature abandoned Ray and charged at me.
It had instinctively judged me to be the bigger threat, and now, after witnessing the magic bullet, it had confirmed that I was target number one.

“Damn it!”

Ray clicked her tongue and gave chase.
Knowing about my teleportation ability, Ray gathered her magic for an even stronger punch, assuming I’d dodge in time.

The creature’s fist loomed toward me.

But it would never reach.

Pop—

I teleported again, repositioning myself.

This time, I aimed for...

Wham!

“You won’t dodge this.”

Even though I was behind the creature, where it couldn’t see me, my teleportation eliminated any blind spots.

I grabbed a fistful of its thick mane-like fur and prepared another magic bullet.

But then—

Slash!

“Ugh?!”

Something stabbed into my stomach.
If I hadn’t immediately teleported away...

‘I got impaled by that horn.’

A horn, or maybe a bone.
The creature had sharp protrusions coming out of its neck and back, adding to its grotesque appearance.

‘What is this thing?’

It was still evolving.

In real-time.

“Hah… Huff…”

Jake, who had been running frantically while carrying two unconscious subordinates, smelled blood in the air, amplified by his enhanced senses.

But it wasn’t the bugbears’ blood.
Their blood stank too much to be mistaken.
This was human blood.

It wasn’t a lot, so it didn’t seem like a fatal wound had been dealt yet, but it was only the beginning.

‘...Damn it.’

Jake felt utterly ashamed of himself, abandoning the apprentice to escape with his life.

He thought he had resigned himself to death.
But he hadn’t.

If he had truly been ready, he would’ve stayed behind, bought time, and ensured the others could escape to call for reinforcements.

‘They’re going to die.’

One elemental summoner who controls water, one silver-powered battle mage, and one demon warlock.

The only reason Jake had left was because he was counting on the warlock’s final trump card.

‘I should have asked for their names.’

So that he could at least remember them.

‘I swear I’ll avenge them. I swear….’

With that promise, Jake forced his legs to move faster, using every ounce of his strength.

“Hey, move aside.”
“Let’s just finish this.”
“Wait a minute. I’ve got something I want to try.”

How long are they going to keep this up?

Even the creature seems to be in agony at this point.

“Let’s see if it can withstand this. Ready?”

Ray, give it a break already….

“Roman’s right,” Leif chimed in, agreeing with me.
As expected of the kind-hearted Leif, always supporting my ideas.

“But I’ve got something I want to try too. You can’t hog all the fun.”

Ah… so that’s how it is.