After Theo's decision, the group finally came out of the room, staring at the gentle slope that would bring them to the first level.
Suddenly, the lamps started shining, illuminating the whole building, but it wasn't too bright that it would harm the monsters. Instead, the brightness increased slowly, so the monsters thought the sun came out.
There was no natural light coming in because of the architecture, but Theo could see that the light was too dim in his perspective.
Alea and the others quickly used their Night Vision Glasses.
It turned out the light was similar to that of the night, allowing them to operate normally with the glasses.
Theo also put it on while checking the first floor.
He found walls upon walls around the nests, making it look like a labyrinth. It wasn't that confusing, but still enough to block monsters' visions of the others.
He also remembered the layout of this facility. Each floor wasn't that big if one talked about hunting the monsters, but if all floors combined, they would have at least twenty soccer fields.
Theo knew they were supposed to have at least two thousand monsters inside, making it more than enough for four juniors to reach Champion Rank.
Theo's nose was soon filled with a moist smell, signifying the humidity of the area. Although there were no decorations or something, he could see that the floor was filled with dirt and grasses, trying to slightly replicate the outside's environment.
Alea turned around and said in a low voice so her voice didn't echo inside the facility. "Anyway, make sure we don't talk too much unless we're fighting since it's going to make too loud noises. The guys up there will update us on the monsters' movements, so keep checking the map.
"It may not be as strong as a satellite, but the room generates enough signal for direct connection, allowing us to see the map. And don't worry about going all out, this place has been reinforced by expensive materials. Even if you're a Hero Rank Monster, you won't even be able to graze it."
Theo nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. We can see their movements and will decide our next course based on their reactions."
"Okay." Alea nodded and took out her Skylink, informing the five people upstairs. "Lock the first floor. We don't want to disturb any other floors."
The middle-aged man heard her voice and replied. "I understand. Please be careful. We will rescue you immediately if something goes wrong."
"Thanks."
After hanging up, the middle-aged man went to another screen and asked one of his men. "Sir Nart's order. Monitor that guy called Theodore Griffith and make sure you capture his every single movement. Sir Nart is interested in that kid."
"But Sir, isn't this stalking?" The man tilted his head in confusion.
"No. This is information gathering." The middle-aged man shrugged and continued, "Anyway, you can prioritize Young Miss and that guy, the rest can do with normal surveillance."
"Roger." The guy then proceeded to shut the floor.
…
Without knowing the secret mission Nart gave them, Theo and the others finally arrived on the first floor. Surprisingly, all exits and gaps had been closed with soundproof materials, making sure that no monsters on the other floor knew what was going on.
Theo tried to recall the information as he took another look at the first hallway with no monsters spotted.
'This facility has five floors. The first floor still has Elite Rank monsters, but from the second floor onwards, everything will be Champion Rank with one Hero Rank monster residing on both the fourth and fifth floors.
'And we have seven days here. I think it's better to use the first four days to clear the three floors since I need to consider the need to stop to rank up…' After considering his plan once again, Theo's expression turned serious as he said, "Let's hunt some monsters."
"Roger." Alea and the others nodded their heads, quickly making their way to the end of the hallway, finding two ways.
Theo quickly asked them to go left and found another ten-foot wide hallway with only two monsters inside. It was a pair of minotaurs without any weapons. They, instead, covered their fists in metal, preparing to charge at them with both fists and horns.
Theo summoned forty Magic Bullets, testing whether the monsters would feel his Illusion or not.
"Magic Bullet."
All those bullets flew forward, leaving the light blue trail in the air.
The minotaurs were famous for having a strong body, so they simply crossed their hands in front of them, withstanding all those Magic Bullets.
Some Magic Bullets hit it and as one would expect, they didn't pierce the minotaurs' bodies with only one Magic Bullet alone. However, some real Magic Bullets hit a certain spot together, piercing through their body.
Still, Theo's real aim was fulfilled when he saw the minotaurs flinching. They took a step back as if they were hit by forty Magic Bullets instead of ten.
Theo's lips curved as he was satisfied with what he had seen. There were so many possibilities he could explore, but it was for another time.
After all, Alea and Laust had stepped forward, knowing that the two minotaurs had yet to recover from the shock.
Laust appeared next to the minotaur with his sword above his head. Surprisingly, the minotaur managed to react and waved his hand to the side, trying to blow Laust away.
Seeing this attack a mile ago, Laust actually faked that preparation and jumped to the side, going around until he reached the minotaur's back.
Having no defense that would be able to stop him, Laust slashed his sword down. "Moon Slash."
With one clean swing, the blade slashed the minotaur into two.
If this already showed Laust's new prowess, Alea took it to another level. She slashed her sword head-on where she met those two metal fists from the minotaur.
Alea's sword simply glowed in orange as if the blade started heating up, just almost becoming molten lava.
That hot blade clashed with the metal hands as smoke was produced, melting those hands.
Alea smiled and continued her swing with all her strength. "This is my new D Rank Skill, Melting Sword."
She split the minotaur into two with a smug smile.
Looking at those two, Theo said, "No need to hold back. We don't have much time, so we will kill them as quickly as possible, allowing us to get more time to recover."
"Roger."