In the dungeon's boss chamber, chaos reigned. Students of Class Caelis, Class Lunaris, and Class Arboris fought tirelessly against the strengthened goblins, rescuing fallen students of Class Solis while their healers worked tirelessly to patch up injuries and join the fight themselves.

On the other side, Aurelian Valmont faced the black, mutated hobgoblin alone. His massive sword swung in a wide arc, glowing with smooth orange mana as his aura radiated a soft yellow light. The hobgoblin blocked the strike with its massive club, slamming down with brutal force. Aurelian gritted his teeth, holding the club against his blade as the goblin increased its strength, its flickering blue eyes glowing ominously.

Then, a sudden flash of pink light streaked past him.

"Wind Butterfly: Butterfly Slash!"

The pink slash, trailing sharp wind-like energy shaped like delicate butterflies, sliced through the hobgoblin's arm holding the club. The beast staggered back in shock as its weapon dropped, its arm now severed.

From the left side of Aurelian appeared Lia, enveloped in a pink, sharp wind aura with energy butterflies swirling around her. "We're here to support you, Aurelian!" she shouted.

On the right, Jax emerged, white mana crackling around him as he brandished his twin guns. "Yo, man!" he called, ready for action.

Behind them, Celeste, battered and exhausted, had Selene at her side. "I'll handle support," Selene said, positioning herself defensively.

Aurelian nodded, his grip tightening on his sword. "Thanks, guys."

Then suddenly,

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarh!"

The hobgoblin let out a deafening roar, Its mana surged, flickering blue light from its eyes intensifying. Its severed arm began to grow back, regaining its full form, and it gripped the club once more, moving in for another devastating attack.

On the class side, more and more students of Class Solis began to heal and rejoin the fight. Maera turned to Kain Draven.

"Draven, you can handle the rest, right?" she asked with a confident smirk. "It's my turn to fight."

From her small pouch, she drew out her red gauntlets and slipped them on. She bumped her fists together, and sparks flew from the gauntlets. A dark red aura surged around her as she dashed forward like a flash toward a group of strengthened goblins who were overwhelming other students.

In a sudden, animal-like crouch, she leapt into the air.

"Savage Spiral Rend: Pounce Breaker!"

With explosive force, Maera launched herself from the crouch, both clawed fists leading in a powerful overhead arc. The technique was designed to shatter any guard and drive foes to the ground, her weight and gravity amplifying every strike.

As her clawed gauntlets came down, she sliced through several goblins instantly. Two unfortunate goblins landed directly under her fists, and with her full momentum, she crushed their heads. The impact cracked the ground, sending shockwaves through the nearby enemies.

The remaining goblins staggered, unbalanced. Maera's eyes sparkled with excitement as she tore through them with relentless precision, her face alight with exhilaration and joy.

As Maera tore through the goblins with her claws, a memory surfaced. She remembered the day she had approached Professor Zane.

"How can I properly use Iron Pulse?" she had asked, frustration in her voice. "I can't remain too calm, and that's why my focus breaks—and so does the technique."

Zane had smiled, his expression calm yet piercing. "Listen, Maera. I know you've heard this before—you're talented…"

Maera's thoughts had turned bitterly sad. Like the others… they all think I'm talented, that I can do everything without struggle. They put their expectations on me just because I'm good at something…

But Zane continued, cutting through her doubts. "But in this, you have zero talent in remaining calm or any calming technique."

Maera had blinked, surprised.

"That's precisely why I taught you this technique," Zane explained, smirking. "I could have easily given you something suited to you, but I chose to challenge you. And… don't beastmen love a challenge?"

A warmth had stirred inside her. She had nodded, a smile breaking across her face. "They sure do!"

Zane's voice softened slightly. "And beside Iron Pulse being adaptive, it's up to you to figure out how to make it work for you. For you, that can only be done in real battles."

Maera had nodded resolutely.

Zane smirked, leaning down slightly. "Even then… I don't think you can truly adapt it. What do you think?"

Her olive-green eyes had glinted with determination as she straightened. "I will prove you wrong. I will adapt the technique for me. I promise, Professor, I will."

Zane had chuckled softly, ruffling her hair. "Sure, sure, kiddo. We'll see." And then he had left.

Maera had whispered to herself, a note of admiration in her voice: "He's different from all the rest…"

Now, as she crouched, ready to pounce again on the goblins, a smirk spread across her face. This is the place… time to make the professor wrong.

Maera drew a steady breath, letting her heartbeat sync with her mana. Every trace of fatigue melted away—her focus sharpened, her muscles steadied, and every motion became precise and powerful.

Her claw gauntlets flashed as she carved through the goblins, her movements fluid, strikes restrained yet devastating. Iron Pulse coursed through her, steady and measured—each heartbeat centering her, each breath harmonizing her mana and motion. The calm felt strange; instinct urged her to lash out wildly, to tear and rend with abandon, but she held it.

I can do it… she thought, feeling the technique slipping at the edges of her control.

Slowly, she let it shift. Her breath grew heavier, her pulse stronger, her mana thrumming with each beat. Her body remembered the rhythm—the wild, untamed tempo of the hunt. She guided that aggression through Iron Pulse rather than against it, letting the energy flare and crash like waves instead of dissipating. She felt faster, more herself.

I'm getting close…

The tranquility transformed into sharp, alive focus. Every motion retained clarity but now burned with feral intensity—each strike deliberate, each roar measured yet powerful. Step by step, she molded Iron Pulse to her nature, finding the balance between instinct and discipline. Calm no longer dulled her fury—it refined it.

Iron Pulse: Wild Resonance

Though no outer change appeared, she felt it clearly: she could remain aggressive while focused and clear-minded. With a smile, she charged toward more goblins.

Savage Spiral Rend: Frenzy Lunge

With a sudden burst of speed, she lunged forward, crossing her claws in a scissor motion aimed at the goblins' torsos. Four strengthened goblins fell beneath her strike.

She pressed on, each swing more precise, each movement more confident. Her mastery over her newly adapted Iron Pulse grew with every enemy she felled.

Finally, she stopped and looked around. More than half of the strengthened goblins had been slain by her alone. Some of her classmates watched, eyes wide with disbelief, thinking: Just how strong is she…?!

Little by little, the strengthened goblins began to fall—one after another—under the combined efforts of the four classes. The battlefield was filled with flashes of mana, roars of determination, and the clash of weapons echoing through the chamber.

Now, only the mutated black hobgoblin remained.

Lia, Aurelian, and Jax fought in sync against the towering creature, each strike and movement coordinated by instinct and trust. Behind them, Selene knelt with her wand—no longer her staff—tracing faint orange runes into the air.

Rune Magic — 2nd Circle: Healing Spark Rune.

A small rune shimmered and shot toward Celeste, attaching itself gently to her forehead. The glow spread, knitting her wounds little by little.

Selene exhaled softly. "You'll heal slowly with this… Sorry, my mana's still recovering from healing a friend who almost died. Please bear with the weaker spell."

Celeste nodded with a faint smile, gripping her sword tighter. "This is enough. Thank you."

Selene then turned toward the ongoing battle—Lia's pink aura danced with slicing wind energy, Jax's twin guns fired mana-coated bullets that cracked through the air, and Aurelian clashed head-on against the black hobgoblin, his orange aura blazing bright.

Raising her wand again, Selene began to trace another pattern.

Rune Magic — 2nd Circle: Tangle Glyph!

A glowing rune circle formed in front of her, shooting forward a rope of force made entirely from light and runes. The hobgoblin tried to leap aside, but the relentless assault from the trio kept it pinned. The runic rope coiled around its limbs and torso, binding it tightly.

The monster struggled, muscles bulging as it roared, blue light flaring from its eyeless sockets.

"Got you!" Jax shouted, locking his guns forward to suppress it further.

Aurelian's aura surged, his eyes blazing. "Now!"

He flooded his blade with mana—smooth orange energy bursting outward, vibrating through the massive sword.

Solar Reverberation: Vibrant Solar Edge!

The air trembled. The sword's edge hummed with pure destructive power as Aurelian swung it in a wide horizontal arc.

A blinding flare cut across the chamber—

And in that moment, the bound hobgoblin was cleaved cleanly in half.

The black hobgoblin's upper torso slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, dark blood splattering across the stone floor.

"Keeeeearhhhhhh!!!"

Its roar shook the chamber—raw, furious, and distorted, like the sound of tearing metal mixed with agony. Blue light flared violently from its hollow eyes, flickering erratically as cracks of the same blue energy began spreading from the crystal embedded in its chest.

The creature writhed, claws scraping against the floor, leaving deep gouges in the stone as its voice echoed—a mix of rage and torment that made the air itself vibrate.

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