The next morning, the dungeon bell rang shortly after sunrise.
Zion had been watching the entrance far more closely than usual since assigning the pendant to the boss chest.
He told himself it was only because he needed to confirm whether the reward system worked properly, but the truth was that he wanted to know whether the adventurers had actually meant what they said about returning.
The moment the notification appeared, his attention moved toward the entrance.
[Visitors have entered the dungeon.]
[Entry Essence acquired: 12]
Four familiar figures stepped through the stone tunnel.
Zion recognized them immediately.
The tank entered first with his shield already raised, followed by the rogue, mage, and healer.
Their equipment was unchanged from the day before, though the rogue had a fresh strip of cloth wrapped around the thigh the sheep had struck.
Relief settled through Zion before he could stop it.
“They came back.”
Apparently, spending one hundred and seventy-five essence had not been completely pointless yet.
The party paused near the edge of the pasture.
Mara looked across the bright grass and sighed.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this again.”
Elias adjusted the strap of his staff.
“You were the one complaining about not getting paid.”
“I can complain about two things.”
Gareth ignored them and studied the first hill ahead.
“We know what the floor does now.
Don’t let them surround us.”
June nodded.
“And don’t underestimate the ram.”
That seemed to be all the discussion they needed before moving forward.
The difference from their first attempt became obvious almost immediately.
Yesterday, they had stopped to inspect nearly every fence, hill, and open stretch of grass.
Today, Gareth chose the same route they had already tested and kept the group close enough to support one another without giving the sheep an easy cluster to charge.
Zion followed above them, curious to see how much easier the floor would feel now that they understood it.
The first sheep appeared near the creek.
The day before, the party had approached one of his monsters cautiously enough that all four members prepared attacks before moving closer.
This time, Elias attacked from range before the sheep could even lift its head properly.
A bolt of blue light struck the grass beside it.
The startled sheep jumped sideways, separating itself from the two flock members grazing farther down the creek.
Mara was already moving.
Gareth stepped between her and the rest of the flock while she rushed forward.
Her knife struck once before the sheep vanished in a puff of white smoke.
Nothing else charged.
Zion watched the remaining sheep continue grazing.
“They learned.”
He always knew they would remember the floor, but he had not expected the difference to be so immediate.
Pack Mentality still worked exactly as it had the day before.
The hills, fences, and sheep positions were unchanged.
The party simply understood how to avoid triggering the most dangerous part of the encounter.
The next group proved it was not an accident.
Gareth drew one sheep away while Elias used small bursts of magic against the ground to keep the others from closing in.
Mara finished the isolated target and retreated before another sheep could enter the fight.
The entire encounter lasted less than half as long as it had the previous day.
Zion was not sure how he felt about that.
The floor was clearly less dangerous now, but the adventurers were only succeeding because the first clear had forced them to understand how the pasture worked.
They had adapted to his design instead of simply overpowering it.
That meant the floor had taught them something, and for some reason, that made him feel good.
By the time Gareth’s party reached the barn, June had only needed to use one minor healing spell, and Elias still had most of his mana remaining.
Mara rolled her shoulder while looking toward the open doors.
“Much better.”
Elias smiled, inspecting his staff.
“See?
We’ll be done before lunch.”
The Horned Ram stepped from the barn.
“Yeah.” Mara’s smile faded slightly.
“Assuming that thing cooperates.”
The ram lowered its head as Gareth raised his shield.
“Same plan as yesterday.”
The boss charged.
This time, Gareth did not try to absorb the impact directly.
He stepped aside at the last moment and angled his shield, allowing the Horned Ram’s momentum to carry it past him instead of taking the full force of the attack.
Mara had already positioned herself near its side.
Her knife cut beneath the wool near its shoulder before the ram could turn, and Elias followed with a spell aimed at the same damaged area instead of wasting mana against Woolen Guard.
The Horned Ram recovered and released a loud cry.
“BAAA!”
Several sheep farther across the pasture lifted their heads as Call the Flock activated.
Elias reacted before they had even started running.
“I’ve got them!”
He moved toward the edge of the field and sent two bursts of magic across their path.
One struck the ground directly in front of the flock, while the second shattered part of a fence post and dropped the broken wood across the lane.
The obstruction forced the sheep to split around it.
Zion stared at the broken fence.
That was supposed to help me.
He made a mental note to remember that.
The gap gave Gareth enough time to keep the ram facing away from Mara while June stayed close enough to heal him without stepping into the charge path.
The fight was still difficult, but it no longer felt chaotic.
The Horned Ram caught Gareth once with the edge of its horn and sent him stumbling several steps.
Mara took a glancing headbutt while trying to move behind it, and June had to spend more mana when Gareth’s shield arm began to weaken under repeated impacts.
Even so, the party never lost control.
They knew when the ram would charge, when the flock would respond, and how much room they needed to move without getting in one another’s way.
When Elias’s next spell struck the wound beneath the ram’s shoulder, Gareth stepped forward and slammed the edge of his shield against the side of its head.
Mara followed immediately, driving both knives into the weakened area.
The Horned Ram staggered before collapsing into white smoke.
Zion watched the empty space it left behind.
The second clear had been much cleaner than the first.
Much cleaner.
He looked back across the pasture.
The floor had not become weaker overnight.
The adventurers had simply gotten better at fighting it.
That was something he would need to remember when designing future floors.
Once people understood what a floor was trying to do, the difficulty dropped quickly.
If he wanted repeat visitors to keep struggling, he would eventually need more than one obvious solution.