A gigantic monster seemed to be sealed inside a crystal.
With sharp teeth and horrifying spikes on its back, it resembled a mutated giant crocodile.
Yuna felt uneasiness in her heart and dismissed the thought of just taking a piece of blue gemstone and leaving.
As she turned her head and took a few steps, a stone wall descended from above.
"Boom!"
With a loud noise, the only passage was sealed off.
At the same time, the blue crystal, as if receiving a command, began to mysteriously dissolve from top to bottom.
In no time, the enormous crystal disappeared, replaced by the still slumbering giant crocodile.
Yuna looked at the pale blue liquid spreading around her feet and glanced up at the crocodile.
Caught off guard once again.
Indeed, it wasn't possible for such a huge crystal to be placed there for no reason.
However, the crocodile remained motionless, probably still recovering from its daze.
Strike first!
After Yuna let out a sigh of relief, she briskly stepped forward and charged.
Just testing the waters!
But before she could get close, the crocodile suddenly awakened and whipped its tail, sending Yuna flying.
Testing with a punch.
Before Yuna could land and stabilize herself, the crocodile tumbled down from the stone platform and charged toward her.
In a critical moment, Yuna stepped on the crocodile's head and leaped lightly onto the stone platform.
She glanced down at her magical crystal breastplate.
The crocodile's tail struck the breastplate precisely, shattering it with immense force.
No time to lament, Yuna continued to assume her stance and deal with the charging crocodile.
After a few brief exchanges, Yuna found herself at a complete disadvantage.
Although the crocodile appeared clumsy, it was surprisingly agile.
Every time Yuna thought she had found a loophole, it would suddenly turn around and bite her.
Moreover, its scales were incredibly tough, and Yuna's strength was insufficient to cleave through them.
The most troublesome part was the sharp spikes on its back. With a slight roll, they sliced through Yuna's skin like sharp blades.
"Hu..."
Yuna let out a soft breath, leaped sideways to the stone wall, and taunted the crocodile with a beckoning hand.
She wanted to lure it into crashing into the wall and see if she could knock it aside.
Sure enough, the crocodile took the bait and roared as it charged towards her.
However, the crocodile wasn't foolish. It saw through Yuna's intentions, and just as it was about to crash into the wall, it quickly changed direction and lunged at Yuna.
Yuna had also kept her guard up and leaped to the side, followed by a magnificent strike.
Unfortunately, it only produced a few sparks and failed to penetrate the defense.
Before she could regain her footing, Yuna caught a glimpse of a dark shadow. When she came back to her senses, she had been sent flying dozens of meters away, rolling several times and unable to stand up, as if her whole body had fallen apart.
In that brief moment, Yuna's mind raced with many thoughts.
She hadn't even seen what Yuli would look like when she grew up.
And she hadn't finished repaying her master's debt...
Yuna propped herself up and glared fiercely at the crocodile.
She had expected the creature to take advantage of the situation and pounce on her, but it now stood still, slowly retreating while facing the stone gate.
Was it afraid?
Yuna's wolf ears twitched, and she heard something approaching from the distance.
"Bang!"
The thick stone wall turned into rubble.
Taking advantage of the dust, the crocodile dashed outside.
Not a few seconds passed before Yuna heard the sound of flesh tearing apart and the agonized roar of a giant crocodile.
Although the sound was terrifying, it now sounded comforting to her.
A head peeked out from behind the stone wall, and Yuna immediately recognized him.
"Master!"
Lin Feng, seeing her half-paralyzed appearance, felt a pang of worry.
He hurried over.
"Are you alright?" he searched Yuna's body, "What should we do about these injuries? Your face is scratched."
Seeing that she was not seriously hurt, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, when he saw that giant crocodile earlier, his heart sank. A level 30 boss-class crocodile in this maze was no joke.
Yuna had just reached level 18.
If luck wasn't on her side, she would have been taken down with a single blow.
Yuna looked at Lin Feng with a relieved expression and gently let out a breath.
The moment she saw him, Yuna felt at ease.
"No need to make a big fuss. They are just superficial wounds. I'll rest for a bit, I'm not fragile like a porcelain doll."
Lin Feng looked her up and down.
She was so beautiful that she could indeed be a decorative vase.
"Smiling like that, we'll see how I deal with you when we get back."
Yuna nodded dismissively.
If he wanted to discipline her, he could go ahead. It was just a matter of being scolded a few times, and she had been scolded plenty before.
If it became unbearable, she would just beg for mercy.
"Haven't I told you many times before? If you accidentally fall into a trap like this labyrinth, find a safe place to hide, and I will come find you."
"I couldn't hide. Many monsters came looking for me, it's not my fault."
"Then why did you run into this room? Weren't you afraid of danger?"
"Because I saw something valuable." Yuna supported herself on Lin Feng's shoulder and struggled to get up from the ground.
Then she slowly unzipped the small pouch and displayed the crystals she had harvested in the maze. "Look, I picked up so many."
"Why are you so greedy for money? What if you lose your life? How am I going to explain to Yu Li?" Lin Feng tapped her forehead.
It's good to want to earn money, but it's not worth risking your life for an adventure.
As long as the green hills remain, there will be firewood to burn.
"I still owe you a lot of money, I have to repay it." Yuna carefully put away the crystals and looked up at Lin Feng.
?
They were already a couple, so it didn't matter if she didn't repay him.
"Ah, you're still thinking about that? With our relationship, we can just forget about it."
"No, a debt is a debt. I won't freeload off you."
Her serious expression was so cute.
Although Lin Feng was pleased that Yuna had such determination, there was really no need to work so hard to earn money for this.
"You have such ambition?" Lin Feng caressed her wolf ears.
"Well, what are you going to do after you pay off the debt?"
"Huh?" Yuna paused for a moment, staring at Lin Feng in deep thought. "I haven't thought about it yet, it's too early."
"If my master wants me, then I will definitely stay by my master's side." She scratched her ear, then continued, "Besides, I don't have any other family or friends."
Family and friends?
As far as Lin Feng knew, Yuna's only family seemed to be Yu Li, as for friends...
Isn't that Kantis, Emily, and Rosalind???
Yuna pouted and softly said, "No, even if Master tries to drive me away, I will stubbornly stay here."
"Are we like those kinds of people?"
"Getting involved with so many girls, of course we are." Yuna puffed her cheeks and lightly patted Lin Feng's shoulder.
As they looked around, they realized that two people were missing.
They probably stayed outside.
"Master, how should we get out?"
"Having fallen into a trap labyrinth, we can only defeat the boss of this maze," Lin Feng gently held Yuna's tail.
Because of the lingering effect of the Hanae Spring, her tail was still leaning to one side.
"But before that, I want to confirm one thing."
"What is it?"
"Master, as you made your way here, did you pick up any crystal cores?"