The Boss

More monsters rained down toward Ben and Elvira, each level pushing their skills further, adding new attack patterns into the mix. At first, the box monsters could only shoot a single projectile, but now they fired two at once. Their speed and strength surged with every wave, and their numbers kept multiplying.

Thankfully, with ten Krell Scouts at his command, Ben had no trouble cutting them down. He didn't even give them the chance to evolve. Between levels, he used the time to create gear for his Krell Scouts. Initially, they fought with just their claws and bodies, but now they moved in coordinated groups. Four were equipped with bows, two wielded swords and shields, another two carried spears, and the last two bore massive axes, clad in heavy armor. Their teamwork was impeccable, moving as a unit through their hive mind. Ben only had to issue a command, and they would execute it without hesitation.

Unfortunately, their intelligence was only at the level of animals. 'If they were geniuses instead... how good would they be? How creative could they fight?' The thought lingered in Ben's mind. Before, he figured giving them higher intelligence would just make them harder to control—a hassle rather than an advantage. But now… the idea of creating a high-intelligence Krell Scout as an experiment felt oddly tempting. That's a problem for later. Right now, he had to clear these levels and get out of this dungeon.

***

LEVEL9 COMPLETE

The numbers flickered.

LEVEL 10

0/1

01:00

***

Seeing the single enemy count, Ben frowned. "Seems like we're really fighting a boss this time. Stay on your toes, Elvira."

"Don't worry, my beloved. I'm always ready." Elvira replied with a smile. But despite her confident words, her actions said otherwise—she was floating midair, lounging comfortably while reading a book. Around her, the ten Krell Scouts were -recovering their wounds. Some had only minor scratches, while others had lost limbs. The majority of their armor was cracked, meaning he'd have to replace it soon.

As Ben crafted new equipment through the system, he glanced at her. "You sure about that? You're literally just lazing around right now."

"Hey, don't underestimate mages like me!" Elvira pouted. "We stay alert using mana, not our physical senses."

Ben rolled his eyes. "What are you even reading?" He eyed the book in her hands. The title was in a language he couldn't decipher—just a brown leather cover with golden letters.

"A book on magic theory. I'm trying to find clues about our situation. Like those ugly square monsters you're fighting—how were they created? They're clearly not living beings."

"They seem to be made of pure mana," Ben replied as the newly crafted equipment materialized in front of him. "I tried using Consume on them. Even tried my pickaxe. If they had any biological matter or actual materials, I should've gotten something."

The Krell Scouts wasted no time replacing their broken gear. Elvira closed her book slightly, her eyes thoughtful. "As I tough… they're magical construct." She than turn her gaze toward the vault, "I hope we can get knowledge to create those inside the dungeon."

"Why? You don't have a similar method?" Ben asked disinterestedly. With his creature creation system, he could already make any creature he wanted. A magical construct? Sure, it sounded cool, but it had no real value to him.

"I have a way to create golems, but that costs too many materials. Magical constructs are something entirely different—just like those monsters." Elvira glanced at him, noticing his uninterested expression. "I know your ability is far superior to this. You have fewer limitations, you don't need to keep fueling them with mana—you basically create actual living beings. But magical constructs have their own advantages. Depending on the method, I might be able to manifest all my mana into a single beast. And with the right knowledge… who knows? I might even develop an entirely new type of magic."

"Hmm… I see." Ben nodded. He still wasn't particularly interested, but understanding how their enemies worked was another matter. "Any idea yet on how they function?"

"Nope. Other than the core inside the monsters, which seems similar to a golem's, I don't have much." Elvira sighed. "But that still doesn't explain how the mana actually manifests into their bodies. The core only fuels their energy and maybe their attack patterns—it doesn't shape them."

"How hard can that be? Isn't it just like creating something solid, like an earth wall?"

Elvira let out an exasperated huff, crossing her arms as she shot him an incredulous look. "Of course, it's completely different!" Without missing a beat, she launched a detailed explanation about how forming a living creature was infinitely more complex than shaping an earth wall. She threw around terms that went in one ear and out the other for Ben. He honestly didn't care. Obviously, making a living creature was more complicated than a wall, but to him, the basic concept felt the same. "Hey! Are you even listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, basically, they're more complicated," Ben replied lazily. "Honestly, you should check out biology from my old world. That'd help you a lot more than me pretending to care."

Before Elvira could reply, the countdown reached zero. A familiar symphony echoed through the dungeon. The block monsters stopped spinning, suddenly trembled—then, as if pulled by an unseen force, they shot toward a single point. The mass of blocks spiraled, twisting and shifting, stacking and locking together. A massive form took shape, pieces clicking into place like some kind of cursed, living Tetris nightmare.

A towering mass of interlocking cubes, its body pulsed with shifting segments, almost like a living structure rewriting itself in real-time. Its "face" was an eerie grin, with blocky jaws that twisted into a wicked, ever-changing expression. A core of raw energy pulsed within its chest, crackling with unstable mana. Six long, monstrous tendrils stretched from its back, snapping like whips, each one ending in a shifting, deformed head, their hollow eyes scanning hungrily for prey.