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For a month there seemed to be almost nothing eventful. The only thing that stood out was that a level 17 party had almost beaten the dungeon.

All the upperworld humans had betted on this party as being the 'first' clear since the dungeon had upgraded, however no-one would have thought that the party would find some bizarre excuse to cover up their loss.

That party had shamelessly blamed a mysterious creature, probably over level 50, for their defeat. But everyone knew that there were only two Bosses, no-one had ever felt another presence, let alone seen the supposed third Boss.

This incident made that band of Players to be labelled as sour-losers, having a reputation like this would negatively affect their chances in joining the best guilds.

Nevertheless, this incident caught the attention of the town governers and being overly-cautious was never worse than being reckless. The governers put some trust in the rumours and applied for a two Appraisers to check the dungeon; a high-level and a lower levelled one.

Doing this would allow them to assess the strength of the third Boss, if there was one. But if there wasn't, it would be harder for a high-levelled player to assess the two lower-levelled Bosses.

Level suppression and a large difference in attributes would make it hard for a high-levelled to accurately pinpoint the Bosses' strength, so that's when the other Appraiser came into play.

This type of request was also useful for Appraisers with apprentices; it was a win-win situation.

Kraton and Lysine had caught wind of the Appraisers' schedule from the Nagas, it had apparently become a hot topic for a short amount of time for the dungeon raiders and the Nagas had picked up on it after hearing 'Ophid Crypt' being mentioned a couple of times.

...

In the midst of the fourth month, Kim and Psychi finally arrived at Ophid Crypt. They were warmly welcomed by Kraton and Lysine after when the pair of them heard that the Gargoyles were disrespecting their guests.

A flurry of squeals of pain ensued and the two guests learnt not to get on Lysine's bad side.

The Boss Room and the 'basement' had changed fundamentally during the last month; there were more ornamental decorations but not so much that it would seem boastful or suffocating.

The 'basement' now had curved, carved stone chairs with soft plants carefully sewn and braided to cushion the surface.

The walls of the room had various stones making up some sort of mosaic pattern. The stones were of course not as precious as the crystals which embellished the Boss Room, but they were still rather pretty nonetheless.

When Psychi sat down on one of the cushioned sofas, he heaved a deep sigh in relief.

"Damn Hell, life as a Moon Immortal is tough," he exasperated, "Every single day it's either read this, or learn that, why can't I just be an independant Boss like you four!"

Barren had also joined four of them, Psychi had been especially shocked when Barren made his appearance. Being a monster with vast knowledge, he had easily identified that Barren was a very special Golem.

Not only did hardly any of Barren's data appear when he used analysis, Barren had even discovered or 'felt' the skill being used. Only high-levelled or extremely talented beings could accomplish this.

After the brief shock, Barren had introduced himself as an old Golem who was buried under rocks for a cast amount of time. Although Psychi still doubted this, he wasn't rude enough to pry into someone else's life.

The conversation eventually turned to their levels and skills, Kraton and Lysine had been working hard during the last month and had turned to level 17 and 19 respectively. Kim and Psychi on the otherhand, where both level 25, however Psychi had still beaten Kim rather easily when they sparred along the way.

The two level 25 Bosses were still shocked by Lysine's rapid improvement; most Bosses increased their level by just less than 1 each month after level 10 until level 20, and then growth became slower. This was because of the difficulty in reaping experience.

However, Lysine seemed to be growing at a fixed rate. By a level and a bit each month. Lamias were non-existent in the region Barren lived in the ancient days, so Barren put forward a speculation that it had something to do with Lamias, but Lysine and Psychi immediately refuted the claim.

Lysine recalled that she levelled up at the same rate when she was younger. This had led to her being one of the weaker Lamias in her pack because monsters were meant to become level 4 or 5 within a few months.

Lamias often spent a couple of years at the beginning teaching skills or knowledge rather than exposing the Lamias to pllayers to kill and level up, this was a matter of prestige and honour as they wanted to be 100% sure they had the ability to defeat their opponent.

If the Lamias were sent out to hunt straight away, they would only be able to rely on brute force. This roughly only had a 40% success rate as human players fought in co-ordinated parties.

Kim and Psychi had managed to reach level 25 because of the wealth of their area, as well as their race.

Chimeras and beast type monsters seemed to have more rapid growth rates, but less chances to obtain skills like elemental control or swordsmanship (for obvious reasons).

And then Immortals such as Psychi would have various resources and chances to obtain skills that had to be understood and learnt manually.

After a while, Lysine introduced the Nagas to the two, the whole swarm nervously shuffled around - with a 12 or 13 level difference, they were like flies in front of the two.

The swarm started to calm down when they realised that Kim and Psychi's temperment were friendly and patient. Some more braver Nagas introduced themselves with eyes that looked like they were worshipping Gods.

...

Soon after, Lysine offered to show them their training, hoping to also learn a few things from the two.

Psychi and Kim guffawed at the scene of Kraton being ganged upon, but they couldn't help but become awed at Kraton's defensive and offensive capabilities whilst still being supressed.

The two of them doubted that even they could last so long against several groups of coordinated Nagas if they were still at level 19.

The two of them were more offensive Bosses, they had no need to have an equal defence or stamina if they quickly dispatched their opponent. Therefore they both specialised in their offensive capabilities.

Now that they thought about it, how was Kraton's attributes equally so high? Even if his species had some inherent defence or strength, he still wouldn't have been able to keep them so balanced and high.

Kraton even told them that he had only been focusing on his speed, reflex and power - in that order. Although sill curious and confused, they eventually chalked Kraton's defence as a generic mutation; one that increased at the same rate he levelled.

Everyone in Floor 3 learnt something that evening. Kim and Psychi demonstrated their own strengths:

Kim had amazed everyone with her explosive power and physique. Her strong limbs coupled with her growing wings and powerful twin tails had even managed to blast Barren a couple of metres back.

Psychi on the other hand, bedazzled the crowd with his extensive mana supply and broad range and usage of skills. The scene resembled a very breathtaking fireworks display. He also boasted his control by simultaneously casting off 3 to 4 spells at the same time with impeccable control.

Everyone was carefully watching the two Bosses' demonstration, noting down anything relevant and engraving every movement, stance and muscle retraction into their minds.

Kraton was no different, he tried to analyse every step and motion, hoping to recreate such a scene in the near future. Unfortunately this was highly improbably for him as he niether had the physique of a beast-type monster, nor did he have any way to pull of elemental spells.

Nevertheless, the analysed information would still benefit his Advanced Knowledge, as well as helping him counter foes with similar abilities.

After a short rest, Psychi came up to Kraton with a large grin plastered to his face. His cheerful and energetic demeanour greatly contrasted with the reserved and all-knowing figure Kraton recalled when they first met.

Although Moon Immortals were very intelligent and wise, Pyschi could be said to still be a young child; his mentality still seeked thrills of life and challenges like a youngster would.

"So, Kraton..." Psychi's eager voice sent a shiver ran down Kraton's spine, "Shall we spar then?"