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Should she enter now or wait for Elio?

Zara observed the tunnel builders, noting their evident mana exhaustion.

She had pushed them to their limits to surprise Elio when he returned. The majority barely retained any mana points after the intense hours of work.

But it was better this way...

This situation, which initially might have seemed concerning, provided her with a strange sense of security.

"It\'s the perfect moment," she murmured, more to herself than to others. "The builders are too exhausted to try anything stupid."

Micah, being more cautious, approached her. "Shouldn\'t we wait for Elio?" he asked in a low voice. "He has more experience with these challenges, and besides..."

"No," Zara interrupted him, her voice firm but not authoritative. "We can\'t always depend on Elio. It\'s not fair that he carries all the risks and responsibilities."

She turned to her team, evaluating their faces. Aria and Valeria exchanged determined looks, while Taron nodded silently, understanding Zara\'s logic.

"The traitors reached the fifth level," Zara continued. "And we\'re stronger, better prepared. We have better summons."

Taron stepped forward. "Zara\'s right," his voice carried the weight of experience. "We can\'t expect Elio to solve all our problems."

Zara smiled, grateful for the support.

She checked her book, where the cores Elio had been giving her had steadily accumulated. After he sent several billions to Lucien, he had made sure she also received a share as the only level 7 alongside him so that she could eventually have the eel.

It was time to fill the missing amount.

"I just need a few minutes outside the tunnel to finish absorbing what\'s left," she announced, beginning to rapidly absorb cores. The counter rose: 85 million... 90 million... 95 million...

When it reached 100 million, with a flash of light, her new electric eel materialized beside her, its serpentine body glowing with contained power.

"Nessa, Kai," Zara called, turning to the guard group leaders. "You and your teams will protect this entrance. We can\'t risk anyone else trying something dumb while we\'re inside..."

They nodded, their teams already taking strategic positions around the crystal.

"Ready?" Zara asked her team. Micah, Aria, Valeria, and Taron positioned themselves beside her in front of the crystal.

With a coordinated movement, they touched the crystal. Light enveloped them, transporting them into the challenge.

♢♢♢♢

The tunnel that received them was similar to the one they had just left, but there was something... different. The air seemed denser, colder. Their footsteps resonated strangely, as if space itself was distorted.

"How long until we reach the wide chamber?" Aria whispered after several minutes of advancement. "We\'re supposed to find the hundred Locus there, right?"

But as they advanced, the tunnel showed no signs of widening.

Zara frowned, noticing there was barely space for humans to walk three abreast. The enormous monsters then... Wasn\'t the tunnel supposed to be wide enough for three Locus to walk side by side?

Suddenly, the group stopped dead in their tracks.

Several meters ahead of them, completely blocking the path, stood a single Locus. The creature seemed frozen in time, like a statue, but there had been no mention of anything like this in the reports about the first crystal.

"This isn\'t right," Micah murmured, verbalizing what everyone was thinking. "The traitors didn\'t mention anything about a Locus blocking the path."

"And they definitely didn\'t say anything about such a narrow tunnel," Valeria added, her hand instinctively near her book.

Zara observed the frozen Locus carefully.

Her new eel slithered close to her, as if it too was studying the creature. "This challenge..." she began, her mind working quickly, "must be different from Elio\'s."

"Different?" Taron frowned. "Why would they be different?"

"Maybe..." Micah touched his nose, a gesture he made when processing information, "maybe each entrance has its own type of challenge."

If this challenge was different, they couldn\'t rely on the information they had about the first crystal. They were venturing into completely unknown territory.

Zara stepped forward, her eel moving in synchronization with her.

Micah observed the frozen Locus, his mind recalling the details from the first crystal report. "If this follows the same basic logic... Then it will start moving as soon as we attack it."

"And if there are more, they might start moving too..." Aria added, her voice trailing off as she considered the implications.

"It\'s not so bad," Valeria intervened, trying to maintain optimism. "At least in this narrow tunnel we\'ll have to face them one by one. That\'s better than having a hundred attacking us at the same time, right?"

Taron shook his head, his expression grim. "It\'s not that simple. The problem is mana efficiency. In the wide chamber, you could eliminate several Locus with a single well-placed combo. Here..." he gestured toward the narrow passage, "each attack will only affect one."

Micah performed a quick mental calculation. "If there are a hundred Locus and each one needs three hits to fall, we\'ll need three hundred attacks just for the first level." He looked at the group. "Between all of us we have three hundred and ten mana points."

Valeria paled as realization hit her. "And in the second level we\'ll need more than five hundred attacks..." Her voice faded, comprehending the magnitude of the challenge they faced.

"This format makes the challenge much more demanding in terms of mana," Taron continued. "We can\'t waste a single point."

"We also don\'t know if there really are a hundred," Micah added, his voice betraying his concern. "There could be more... or hopefully less. Please be less."

Aria stepped forward.

Her voice was firm when she spoke: "Speculating serves no purpose. At this level we have enough mana to handle it, whatever the number." She paused, looking at her companions. "Let\'s overcome this level first. Once we do, we\'ll have a better idea of what awaits us in the second."

Zara nodded, appreciating Aria\'s pragmatism. "She\'s right. We can\'t stay here forever debating possibilities. We need real information, and we\'ll only get it by moving forward."

The group exchanged looks, determination gradually replacing uncertainty in their faces.

"Well," said Zara as she charged her first burning carbon sphere, her eel taking attack position. "Let\'s begin."