System's POV
chapter-588-2

The term "speedrun" was a very common term among gamers.

Clearing the game at the fastest time possible was considered a sport, and many Professionals liked to beat each other's records in order to show the world that they were faster than their peers.

What Thirteen was doing was similar to speedrunning.

However, his goal wasn't to beat anyone's records.

His goal was to simply reach his goal as fast as possible.

While his minions did kill the Boss Monster on the First Floor, they ignored the Boss Monsters on the Second Floor because they found the portal first.

The lower floors wouldn't pose as much threat to the Wanderers, so Thirteen was more than happy to leave the weaker Bosses for them to handle.

Aries had said that the Absolutes had managed to step into the 12th Floor.

However, none of them was able to beat its Guardian or find the portal that led to the thirteenth floor.

The real reason why no one could find the portal was due to the fact that the Boss Monster was guarding its location.

In short, in order to proceed to the last floor, they would have to defeat the Boss of the 12th Floor, which Aries deemed impossible for them to defeat.

Why? The strongest Absolutes inside the Sanctuary had the Rank of Champion. But even they had been unable to eliminate the monsters and were even easily turned into meat paste.

'I've been here inside the Temple for five hours,' Thirteen mused as he drank from his water flask. 'They will probably wake up soon.'

The teenage boy had managed to climb up to the 8th Floor, but he knew that it would no longer be as easy as the previous floors.

For one thing, all the floors starting from the Fifth Floor were very spacious, extending for miles on end.

They were also made up of different environments, highlighting different challenges.

The Fifth Floor was a Jungle.

The Sixth Floor was a Wetland.

The Seventh Floor was a Desert.

And the Eighth Floor? It was a mountain that was at least six to seven thousand meters tall, according to his estimate.

Although it wasn't as high as Mount Everest, it was still a very challenging mountain to climb, riddled with Mountain Goats that were all Rank 3 and Rank 4 Monsters.

Thirteen knew that the portal or the boss Monster would be located at its peak, and each step he took took him one step closer to his destination.

'Fortunately, the majority of the Rookies have Adamantine Grade Weapon and Armor,' Thirteen thought. 'Although it would not be easy, they should still be able to defeat a Rank 4 Monster if they fought it as a team.'

Thirteen believed that The One would not let the Rookies fight a battle that they wouldn't be able to win.

Because of this, Thirteen decided to ask Tiona's clone to tell Erica or Sherry—if they looked for him, that the strongest mob monsters inside the Temple of Courage were Rank 4 Monsters.

This way, the Wanderers would form teams in order to advance to the higher floors.

Since there was no limit on how many members a team may have, there was no problem if they went there in a group of twenty people.

They could even form multiple teams and challenge each floor as if they were facing a Raid Boss, which would also increase the chances of success.

Since the Absolutes would send someone to guide the Wanderers up to the 12th floor, Thirteen deemed that he no longer needed to do anything else aside from warning them that they should form groups to challenge the Temple of Courage.

As Thirteen neared the peak, he saw over a dozen Mountain Ibexes glaring in his direction.

Standing behind them was a five-meter tall, Golden-Horned Ibex, which was the Boss monster of the Eighth Floor.

'Rank 5 Sovereign,' Thirteen mused. 'Strong enough to pose a challenge for the 8th Floor. Not bad. I'll give it a serious injury, and let the Hero Party give it the finishing blow.'

Among the Wanderers under his command, only the Hero Party, Stella, and Siri were capable enough to defeat a Rank 5 Sovereign.

Since the monster dying in his hands wouldn't give him any items, he felt that it would be a waste for him to give the Bosses the finishing blow.

"Kill the small fries," Thirteen ordered his Parade of a Hundred Demons. "Tiona and I will handle the Boss Monster."

Tiona hissed happily. Ever since they had entered the Temple, she hadn't had the chance to fight alongside her Master.

Now that they were going to deal with the Golden-Horned Ibex together, the Black Snake would make sure that they would defeat it with flying colors.

Erica opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings in a daze.

She subconsciously patted the left side of her bed, which was usually where Zion lay whenever they slept together.

Only when the last dregs of sleep left her body did she remember that she had slept in the room right next to Zion's.

The Sorceress of the Hero Party raised her arms and did a few light stretches before leaving her bed.

'I guess I'll wake him up first,' Erica thought as she left her room to wake the teenage boy, whom she believed was still asleep.

Since she wanted to surprise him, she didn't knock on the door and instead tried to open the door knob first.

To her surprise, the door wasn't locked, making her shake her head helplessly.

'Zion is being too lax,' Erica sighed. 'Just because this place doesn't seem dangerous doesn't mean that he should forget to lock his door.'

The Sorceress planned to give the teenage boy a piece of her mind as she entered the room.

Erica smirked evilly as she walked toward the bed.

There, she saw a lump covered by a blanket, making the smile on her face widen.

When she was only a reach away from the bed, Erica grabbed the blanket with both hands before raising it high in the air.

"Rise and shine, Zion!" Erica shouted.

But, to her surprise, the only thing she saw under the blanket was a pillow, making her eyes widen in shock.

Erica glanced around the room and noticed Tiona's clone waving at her with its tail from on top of the table.

Right beside the Black Snake was a handwritten letter, which Thirteen had left behind to prevent everyone from worrying about him.

After reading the letter, the Sorceress cursed under her breath before leaving the room in a huff.

She planned to wake up Sherry, Shana, and the other members of the Hero Party, and tattle that Zion Leventis had sneaked into the temple in the middle of the night, leaving everyone behind.