"…"
The boss, "Lunar Queen," had fallen.
Since it was only a Mimic, there was no death dialogue. It first reverted into a round, blob-like creature, then crumbled into a pile of ashes.
"Woohoo!"
"We won!"
"That was our fastest run yet!"
The otherworldly space—like a bright moon rising over the sea—faded away. Only then did everyone realize they were back in the book-filled bedchamber from the beginning. The difference was that there were no female students, no floating Lunar Queen—only an amber-colored, egg-like object hovering in the center of the room.
A reward?
Cheers erupted one after another. Yet behind the excitement, people couldn't help but feel puzzled—how had Stella managed to deflect, or even erase, the full moon?
They looked around for her, only to find she had vanished. Even the fragments of her silver shield were gone.
"Ah, she ran off." Melga blinked, unable to understand why. They had been planning to toss her into the air in celebration.
Could it be… she ran away because she was afraid of being thrown?
"Go find Stella!" Luluwo urged.
But at that moment, golden dice descended before each person, forcefully pulling everyone's attention back.
Rewards—those were far more important than finding Stella. Everyone honestly stopped in their tracks.
"What kind of good stuff will we get?" People couldn't help but feel nervous.
The most nervous of all was probably Gapar. His hand trembled as he held the die.
Will there be a Larval Tear? Will there be a Larval Tear?
Since this was a first clear of a brand-new area, there should be one… right?
He couldn't help imagining how he'd use it if he got one. Would he reset all his levels and be reborn as a mage?
But as soon as he thought that far, hesitation crept in.
It was easy to dream about the future—but when change became a real possibility, doubt followed. After all, he had never been a mage before. If he reset everything recklessly, wouldn't he become useless for a while?
And besides…
After seeing Stella completely erase that massive full moon, it felt like the illusion he held toward magic had been dispelled as well.
"…Why am I overthinking this?"
Gapar shook his head, grabbed the die, and threw it.
The dice rolled noisily across the ground, and everyone's emotions rose and fall with them.
Then, piles of items burst into view before each person—white, purple, and gold.
"Waaah!"
Luluwo couldn't help but cry out as she happily began sorting through her loot. To savor the experience, she deliberately started with the most common white drops, leaving the most precious golden one for last.
"For white items… there's Large Soul of a Valiant Warrior, Large Soul of a Crestfallen Knight, a bunch of smaller souls, plus Dark Gem, Lightning Gem, lots of smithing stones… huh? What's this white one—Somber Smithing Stone?"
"For purple… not bad either. Undead Hunter Charm, Starlight Shard, Lazuli Glintstone Sword."
After defeating the boss, rewards were randomly selected from the entire map's loot pool and distributed intelligently based on each person's contribution during the fight.
Those like Luluwo, Gapar, and Leon—who contributed the most—naturally received far more rewards.
As for the cannon fodder who got wiped out early by the spawn monsters? They got nothing. Only those still present in the boss arena at the moment of victory received rewards.
Those who contributed little only received token items—some "souls," smithing stones, maybe a gem. The lucky ones might get magic or equipment, but most would at least receive a large amount of souls.
Wade clearly despised freeloaders.
But in truth, anyone who survived a battle of this level couldn't really be called dead weight.
Only twenty-eight people remained alive.
In other words, nearly half had already died to summons and scattered magic before the Queen even unleashed her full moon.
Most white and purple rewards could be obtained while exploring Liurnia of the Lakes, but some purple items—and all gold-tier ones—could only be acquired after defeating bosses.
For example—
"Mysterious Candy?"
Gapar examined the plain-looking candy in his hand, confusion written all over his face.
Why was this a gold-tier item?
But when he read the description, his expression changed instantly, filled with reverence.
[Small Mysterious Candy]
[A candy brimming with energy, blessed by the gods. Consuming it at a bonfire grants a divine blessing, increasing one level.]
[Usable only by beings below level 200.]
Level up? Only below level 200?
Gapar remembered checking his level at the bonfire—it was around 160. He could definitely use it!
If he put that point into Intelligence, could he finally learn magic?
But then again, hadn't someone said that a single level didn't make much of a difference?
Still, no matter how he looked at it, this was an incredible reward. Even if his other gold item turned out to be junk—
He grabbed the second golden drop.
And—
Suddenly, Gapar let out a loud shout that startled everyone present!
"Who—what happened? Is there an enemy?" Luluwo took a fighting stance, then froze as she noticed his trembling body.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked.
"I'd guess he got that thing. Seems like all of us who cleared it for the first time did," Leon said, tossing a silver object in his hand with a smile.
[Larval Tear (First Clear Exclusive)]
[A Larval Tear containing the power of rebirth. Offering it at a bonfire allows the rebirth of level attributes. Offering it at the Amber Egg allows the rebirth of both appearance and attributes.]
[Extremely rare. Usable only by the owner.]
After grinding in the dungeon for so long, Gapar had finally been rewarded.
He felt like howling to the sky—wait, he already had.
All that effort had paid off. He finally got a Larval Tear!
He could finally become a true mage!
Overjoyed, his face lit up with excitement—but when he turned around and saw everyone staring at him, some shocked, some trying to hold back laughter, he quickly composed himself.
"Cough…"
Gapar straightened his expression, which only made everyone laugh even harder.
Surrounded by laughter, even the dignified Sword Saint couldn't hold it in anymore and hurried out of the room.
Moments later, his hearty laughter echoed from outside.
Of the twenty-eight survivors, excluding Stella who ran off and Gapar who left, the remaining twenty-six wore genuine smiles.
This run had made them rich.
Aside from the large number of white and purple drops, every single person had obtained a Larval Tear—meaning everyone secured at least one gold-tier reward!
That was the benefit of a first clear. The dungeon had rarely been this generous.
"You can even change your appearance?" Luluwo stared at the Larval Tear and the Amber Egg with burning eyes. Compared to changing attributes, cosmetic changes seemed even more appealing.
Or rather, it appealed to most of the women present—every female adventurer stared at the Amber Egg like it was family.
"Oh, right."
Luluwo suddenly checked her student ID, only to find that no additional stars had lit up.
"How many stars would we get for defeating the Lunar Queen a second time?"
She had already tested that the cooldown for boss rewards in the academy was five days—and the same applied to lighting stars from repeat clears.
Thinking it through, she muttered:
"Let's go—uh, I mean, let's find Stella and ask her how she deflected the moon!"
Right now, if they wanted to defeat the Queen again, that technique was essential!
Amid the joyful atmosphere, Wienma fell into deep thought.
She had been lucky enough to obtain a second gold-tier item besides the Larval Tear.
But that item was—
[Magic: Rennala's Full Moon (Imitation)]
[A spell developed by mages imitating Lunar Queen Rennala's. The caster transforms into a full moon and launches forward. The moon absorbs magic along its path but cannot dispel it.]
[Requirement: 50 Intelligence]
Her mouth twitched.
Fifty Intelligence…
She didn't meet the requirement.
She couldn't use it.
Her expression darkened instantly.
At that moment, someone noticed a change in the Amber Egg. A small sphere—resembling a moon—had appeared beside it.
An adventurer cautiously touched it.
A prompt appeared before their eyes:
[Challenge the "Lunar Queen Within"?]
They looked at each other. Someone was urged into selecting "Yes."
Then…
Nothing happened.
About ten minutes later, that person came running back from the lower level, panting heavily.
"Don't touch that thing!"
When asked what he saw, he could only repeat in horror:
"Light beams! Blasts straight to the face—like comets!"
Leon looked at Luluwo and sighed tiredly.
"…Still want to go again?"
Luluwo sighed as well, about to respond—
When suddenly someone ran in shouting:
"The passage to the underground from the academy's first floor has opened! We can explore below!"
One would expect this news to excite everyone.
Instead—silence.
The "Lunar Queen Within" and the newly opened underground path…
Two new progression routes had appeared at once, both clearly requiring significant effort.
After a moment of silence, someone spoke up:
"Uh… I didn't quite catch that."
"I said the underground entrance—"
"Huh? What? My ears aren't working! Must've gotten injured in battle. Guess I need to rest for two weeks."
"Yeah, same here. I'll rest a few days too. See you all next time."
"Ah, I'm heading out too. Bye, everyone."
"Eh?" The messenger looked stunned. "Then what about exploring the new area?"
At that moment, Luluwo patted his shoulder and smiled.
"Next time, for sure."
The adventurers streamed out of the room. A few elves stayed behind at the Amber Egg to change their appearances, but the once lively chamber quickly emptied.
"Next time, for sure" echoed in the air—perfectly capturing everyone's mindset:
They were exhausted.
They'd deal with it later.
Even the most dedicated exploration teams felt drained.
The lake region was simply too vast. After so much exploration, both body and mind were worn out. They needed a few days to rest—maybe even visit other areas to reset their mood.
As for the academy's underground and the rest of the lake region…
They would leave it to the masses for now—and wait for good news.
The next day, news spread back to the City: Raya Lucaria Academy had been cleared, and the underground passage had opened.
While the Adventurers' Guild staff worked overtime compiling reports, an elf approached them.
"I've got exclusive information. Interested? It might just create the next big star in the City—after the Abyss Watchers."
Stella, carrying fragments of her silver shield, said this to Vice Guildmaster Sid.