"Seven primary tunnels, each branching into dozens of secondary passages, with the Queen's chamber positioned at the deepest level," Desta explains, pointing to different sections of the holographic map hovering above our common room table.

  The neural accelerator thrums gently against my forehead as I lean forward to examine the intricate network of tunnels that make up the Underground Zone. The Hive Queen's brain is the next component needed for my Crown of Mental Superiority.

  "According to the strategy guide, the Hive Queen is classified as an S-rank threat," Desta continues, highlighting the deepest chamber on the map. "Though her base power level is lower."

  Zix bounces excitedly beside the display, his frill flashing with bright colors. "Official guide very comprehensive! Used by thousands of sponsors! Highly rated strategy compilation!"

  "What makes her S-rank then?" Lyra asks, her silver hair catching the blue light of the hologram as she studies the map with fascination.

  "Her minions," I reply. "The guide explains that when you fight her, the minions don't just attack alongside her. They actually fuse their bodies with hers."

  "Each one makes her stronger," Desta adds. "They heal her, enhance her abilities, even act as living armor. With enough minions, she can reach S-rank power levels."

  Sera crosses her arms, small flames dancing between her fingers. "So the Queen alone would be what... A-rank maybe?"

  "Exactly," Desta nods. "Without her minions, she's manageable. With them, she's nearly impossible to defeat."

  "So we can't just charge straight for the Queen?" Lyra asks.

  "Unfortunately not," Desta replies. "If we tried a direct assault, the entire hive would respond. Every tunnel would flood with defenders, and she'd absorb them all. We'd be overwhelmed by sheer numbers."

  Sera frowns. "So what's the actual strategy? We can't possibly clear the entire hive in one go."

  "We don't need to," I say, pointing to specific junctions on the map. "According to the guide, if we take out these major node clusters over several expeditions, we can disrupt the hive's communication network. Weaken their coordination."

  "A battle of attrition," Sera nods, understanding the approach.

  "Exactly," Desta confirms. "The Underground Zone only resets at the end of the arena cycle. So we have thirty days to cut down the number of minions available to the Queen as much as we can."

  "Bringing her down to A-rank," Lyra concludes, her eyes brightening with understanding.

  "That's the goal," I reply. "But first, we need to unlock the zone by completing the Labyrinth one more time."

  Xaelon's partially constructed android body sits on a maintenance table in the corner of the room, surrounded by tools and components. Over the past few days, Desta has made remarkable progress, the frame now nearly complete with most systems operational.

  "I should have Xaelon's body combat-ready before our first Underground expedition," Desta announces, her eyes briefly meeting mine. "The final integration systems are coming together nicely."

  "Good," I nod. "Having five of us will make a huge difference down there."

  "B-rank combat capabilities!" Zix chirps enthusiastically. "Very impressive construction speed!"

  "The merger with Xaelon has accelerated my understanding of advanced technologies," Desta explains with a small smile. "What would have taken weeks before now takes days."

  "Speaking of accelerating," I say, standing up, "we should get back to practice. Sera, Lyra, ready for another round?"

  They both nod, rising from their seats. We've spent most of the past week in intensive combat drills, refining our coordination and pushing the limits of our abilities. With the Underground Zone looming ahead of us, every edge matters.

  "Don't overdo it," Desta cautions as we head for the training area. "The Labyrinth run is tomorrow, and we'll need everyone at full strength."

  "Just a light sparring session," I promise.

  ---

  Morning arrives with the artificial dawn cycle of Central Arena, and Team Exodus gathers at the Labyrinth entrance. Desta has worked through the night, and Xaelon's android body now stands with us, fully functional though still needing cosmetic refinements.

  "Remember," I tell the team as the portal begins to form, "speed is the priority. We select B-rank difficulty, stick to the basic path, avoid unnecessary confrontations, and focus on completion."

  "Third completion unlocks Underground Zone access," Zix reminds us, bouncing nervously at the edge of the platform. "Very important milestone!"

  The Labyrinth greets us with its familiar shifting architecture, walls rearranging themselves as we step through the portal. With Desta's enhanced abilities guiding us through the most efficient routes and my telekinetic platform allowing rapid transit through larger chambers, we cut through the basic path at record speed.

  Enemies that once posed significant challenges fall quickly to our coordinated attacks. Sera turns a section of the floor molten beneath a charging construct while Lyra transforms her arms into hooked blades, perfectly shaped to exploit the weak points in its armor. Xaelon proves his worth immediately, the energy cannons built into his forearms cutting through enemy barriers while his reinforced frame absorbs damage that would cripple a human fighter.

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  "He fights like you," Sera comments to Desta during a brief pause between chambers. "Same precision, different weapons."

  "We share certain tactical preferences," Desta replies with a small smile.

  When we reach the central chamber, the final guardian emerges, a massive construct of shifting metal and energy that towers above us.

  "A-rank guardian," Desta identifies. "Multiple energy projection points, adaptive defensive capabilities."

  I step forward, the neural accelerator pulsing with power. "I've got this."

  Before the guardian can fully activate its attack systems, I unleash a focused telekinetic assault. The precision granted by the neural accelerator allows me to target specific weak points in its structure, creating fractures in its central core and destabilizing its balance.

  The guardian staggers, trying to compensate by shifting its weight.

  "Left side power conduits exposed," Desta calls out, her eyes tracking energy patterns. "Sera, target the glowing sections! Those feed its weapon arrays!"

  Sera moves without hesitation, flames surging between her fingers as she directs concentrated heat at the areas Desta indicated. The conduits glow molten red and burst, disabling a significant portion of the guardian's offensive capabilities.

  "Xaelon, locomotion systems are vulnerable at knee joints," Desta continues, coordinating our assault. "Gary disrupted the primary shielding."

  On the right side, Xaelon positions himself strategically, energy cannons emerging from his forearms. He fires precision bursts that sever the connection points Desta highlighted, effectively immobilizing the guardian.

  "Lyra, rear plating houses self-repair modules," Xaelon adds, his sensors identifying the guardian's weaknesses. "Without those, it can't recover."

  With its movement and attack capabilities compromised, Lyra darts in from behind. Her arms transform into long, serrated blades infused with bio-reactive metal, focusing on the exact sections Xaelon mentioned.

  "On it!" she shouts as her blades slice through the protective plating. When she encounters thicker armor sections, she morphs her hands into heavy hammers, smashing through with devastating force.

  Working together with Desta and Xaelon coordinating our efforts, we dismantle the guardian's systems one by one, preventing it from focusing its repairs on any single area. The battle is over in minutes, a confrontation that would have taken us much longer during our first Labyrinth run.

  "That was... easy," Sera says, almost disappointed as the guardian collapses into component parts.

  "Not easy," Xaelon responds, the weapons in his arms retracting as he steps over the fallen guardian. "Efficient."

  As the Labyrinth acknowledges our victory, the central platform rises, presenting us with our rewards. Four enhancement serums, glowing with different colored energies, one for each member of our team.

  "Permanent enhancements," Desta explains, examining the containers. "Each tailored to complement our specific abilities."

  We each take our designated serum, the rush of power flowing through us in waves of tingling energy. I can feel the changes, subtle but real, Sera standing straighter as her elemental control sharpens, Lyra's transformations becoming smoother and more rapid. The effects on Desta and me are less dramatic due to our existing enhancements, but still valuable.

  The Labyrinth portal reactivates, signaling our successful completion. As we step through back into Central Arena, a notification chimes on our communication devices.

  "Underground Zone access unlocked," the system announces.

  Zix meets us at the exit point, bouncing with excitement. "Congratulations! Perfect execution! Underground Zone now available!"

  "We should start tomorrow morning," I say, already thinking about our approach to the vast network of tunnels that awaits us. "Give ourselves time to recover and plan our first incursion."

  The next day, as we finish our final preparations for our first Underground expedition, our communications device chimes with an unexpected alert.

  "Arena challenge received," the system announces. "Team Exodus challenged by Team Transcendence. Response required within twenty four hours."

  Zix arrives moments later, bouncing with unusual agitation, his frill flashing with distressed colors.

  "Problematic development!" he exclaims. "Challenge from Nexor's team!"

  "Nexor?" I ask, immediately on alert. "Who's that?"

  Zix's bouncing becomes more erratic. "Nexor is my cousin! Part of family competition I mentioned! Using challenge badge to force match!"

  "Challenge badge?" Sera repeats, frowning. "What's that?"

  "Special authorization item," Zix explains rapidly. "Forces challenged team to accept or concede automatic loss! Very rare! Very expensive!"

  "So your cousin is deliberately trying to disrupt our plans for the Underground Zone," Desta concludes, her expression hardening. "The timing is too perfect to be coincidence."

  I exchange glances with my teammates. This is an unexpected complication and potentially problematic for our Underground Zone schedule.

  "When is the match scheduled?" I ask, mentally calculating how this will affect our timeline.

  "Tomorrow morning!" Zix replies.

  "That's definitely deliberate," Sera observes, flames intensifying between her fingers. "They're trying to throw us off balance before we can start our Underground expedition."

  "Can we still decline?" Lyra asks hopefully.

  Zix's bouncing becomes more agitated. "Challenge badge forces accept or lose! Declining means automatic loss! Impacts victory pathway! Restart consecutive win count from zero!"

  That gets everyone's attention. Two consecutive victories so far, if we forfeit, we're back to zero.

  "So we fight," I decide, feeling a surge of determination. "We take them down, then proceed with the Underground Zone as planned."

  "Do you think this is personal?" Desta asks Zix. "Or just part of the family competition?"

  Zix's frill shifts to subdued colors. "Both possibilities valid. Nexor always highly competitive. Family tournament extremely important to all participants."

  Xaelon, who has been quietly analyzing the situation, finally speaks. "This challenge may be attempting to serve dual purposes: disrupting our Underground expedition while advancing Nexor's standing in your family's competition."

  "Then we'll have to disappoint him on both counts," I say firmly. "I want everything we can get on Team Transcendence, their fighting style, their previous matches, any weaknesses we can exploit."

  Zix nods vigorously. "Will compile all available information immediately!"

  As our sponsor bounces away to gather intelligence, I turn to the team. "Change of plans. The Underground Zone will have to wait one more day. First, we need to deal with Zix's cousin."

  "Their timing couldn't be worse," Sera mutters, extinguishing the flames between her fingers with a small snap. "We were all set to start mapping the outer tunnels."

  "Which means it was intentional," Desta points out. "We shouldn't underestimate them. If Nexor is willing to use a challenge badge, he must believe they can win."

  I nod, feeling the neural accelerator pulse gently against my forehead. "On paper their team seems like an even match for ours. They must have something up their sleeves."

  But we do too. Challenging the Labyrinth at B-rank difficulty means it wasn’t able to properly gauge how much Desta and I have grown over the past month. Nexor’s team is in for a rude awakening if they underestimate us.