Michael immediately thought of the moles that had almost killed him before he awakened to his draconic blood. He had been able to defeat one of them, but once two came at him at the same time, it had almost been the end. He had defeated them, only to face a grizzly bear. His awakening had saved him. He had no reason to be afraid of the moles with his current strength, but the memory was still crystal-clear in his mind. He had almost died, after all. He felt a strange emotion that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. After some time, he realized it was hesitation. His gaze grew sharper in an instant.

I will overcome this fear with this Dungeon.

It was hesitation born out of the memories of how close he had been to death. After that, his awakening had ensured that he never brushed so close to death. It meant that he wasn’t used to battles where he could easily lose his life. Michael mentally made up his mind to enter the Dungeon in front of him, not only for power, but also to overcome the shadow in his mind and this lacking aspect of himself. At the same time, he wasn’t going to be foolish.

He cast Whisper. Tairy’s voice could be heard.

“I take it you’ve arrived at the first Dungeon?”

“Yes. It’s called Mole Kingdom. Can I clear it?”

“Mole Kingdom, huh? It’s an annoying Dungeon for a single person to tackle, but the enemies aren’t too powerful. In your current state, you should be able to clear it easily. It’s going to be an easy, effective source of Skill Points. Clear it.”

“Yeah, I had already made up my mind even if you told me I’d get no Skill Points out of this.”

“Oh? Why?”

“I almost died at the hands of a few moles before. I need to overcome this shadow. Besides, I’ll be able to practice my basic Skills.”

Tairy seemed to understand what he meant immediately.

“Sure. By the way, we’ll select your Level 30 Skills once you get a few Skill Points from the Dungeons. This Dungeon might push you to Level 40, which would mean two Skill selections, which in turn mean you’ll spend more Skill Points.”

Michael nodded, though the other party couldn’t see him.

“Alright. Talk to you when I reach the next one.”

The spell was dismissed. Tairy couldn’t tell him about the Dungeons before he discovered them on his own, but he could advise Michael like this. Michael laid his hand on the stone entrance once again.

[Would you like to enter the Mole Kingdom Dungeon?]

Yes.

The giant circular door slid to the side. Darkness greeted him. It was a scene similar to Mushroom Grotto and Lizard Labyrinth. He decisively strode into the darkness, keeping his guard up. Then, he attentively tried to grasp his surroundings as a System message appeared in front of him.

[Conquest: have more territory than the enemies by the end of the next three hours.]

A timer floated in the air under it. As expected, it counted down from 180 minutes. Michael furrowed his brow. The wording of the objective reminded him of the Territory Wars. It gave him an idea about the purpose of Dungeons, making him ponder if they were meant as a reflection of the Tutorial Zone outside. At the same time, he understood why Tairy had said that this was an annoying dungeon to solo. If it was anything like the Territory Wars, it would be difficult for him to keep his territory due to the invasions of multiple enemies. However...

If all enemies are dead, they won’t be able to acquire any territory.

Simply put, this was an Extermination Dungeon with a different flavor. Or, at least, it was one that he could afford to treat as an Extermination Dungeon.

No, I might be wrong.

It was possible for the enemies to be too powerful in order to force the challengers to follow the Dungeon’s intended design, but if that were the case, Tairy would have warned him. As his thoughts reached this point, Michael’s gaze sharpened. No, he couldn’t dismiss such a thought. He might be a Draconic Human, but never again would he underestimate an enemy. He had to think of the moles as difficult opponents until proven otherwise, and even then, there was no merit to lowering his guard.

Michael made his way down the straight path. Soon, a wide expanse came into view. Unlike the rest of the underground, this one wasn’t solely composed of stones and mushrooms, but also of trees of varying sizes. However, all of them looked old and dead. Not a single leaf could be seen. The stone created winding pathways between the biggest trees, while small hills acted as barriers that kept him from seeing the entirety of the expanse. He blinked in surprise. It was the first time that he’d seen proper trees underground, even if they lacked leaves.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

He stepped into the expanse, immediately activating Eagle Eye. His vision became clearer. He zeroed in on the vague outline of what seemed to be a large hill filled with holes, standing on a high ground. Each hole was wider than an ordinary human, their criss-crossing patterns creating a confusing picture. At the very top of the hill, out in the open, a mole as black as midnight and the size of a large car stood. It screeched, and brown and gray moles started pouring out of the holes. A blue, ethereal line followed above them. It took Michael a few moments to realize that it was the boundary of the moles’ territory.

He focused on the creatures.

[Mole Soldier, Level 19.]

[Mole Soldier, Level 24.]

[Mole Soldier, Level 27.]

There are way too many of them.

The creatures kept crawling out of the holes, running everywhere. There were at least dozens of them. Lastly, he looked at the larger mole.

[Midnight Mole King, Level 36.]

They’re lower-Leveled than the enemies at Lizard Labyrinth or Eagles Peak.

It was somewhat reassuring, but he would give this Dungeon his best effort. It was necessary both to overcome his hesitation and to create the habit of never underestimating his enemies.

A few of the moles have surpassed Level 25.

It meant that they would have a special Skill that he needed to worry about. Still, his plan continued to be the same until it was proven to be unfeasible. He would try to kill all the moles before the time was up, but that didn’t mean facing them all at once, despite Tairy’s reassurance that he would be able to clear the Dungeon easily.

I have two hours to kill as many of them as I can. I’ll worry about the territory after that.

His objective set in stone, Michael ran in the direction of the molehill. He gauged the size of the enemy groups in his way by carefully watching how many moles left each hole. He tried to predict their destination by following the logic that the moles would try to occupy as much space as possible, therefore prioritizing clearings and other open spaces in his mind.

I’ll start with a mid-sized group.

If it proved to be too hard or time-consuming, he could scale back to smaller groups. Simultaneously, he could also decide to keep targeting groups of the same size or move to bigger groups if possible.

It took him some time, but Michael finally found a group of eight moles at the edge of their territory, which was rapidly increasing in size. He felt a degree of nervousness. The mere image of the moles, which were even bigger than the ones that had almost killed him, made him hesitate. This fear was then almost immediately discarded for steeled conviction. He didn’t expect this side of him to still exist. He would get rid of it at the same time that he ended his enemies. He stepped forward into the clearing at the same time that his index finger drew a line in the air. The moles turned to him.

There was no time for them to make any noise. The half-moon of pure blue-and-white mana dug into their bodies, splitting a few in half and decapitating the others. Not a single one of the moles was capable of getting out of the Skill’s way. Michael’s ambush and increased casting speed, alongside his high stats, created an unavoidable attack. Looking up, he watched the blue boundary turn red, circling the clearing. It was his single piece of territory. Michael felt as if a burden had been lifted off his back. The sight of his Skill mowing down the moles he had once dreaded was cathartic. He felt his mind get a bit more solid.

“…I can try bigger groups.”

He also couldn’t forget the biggest mole, which he had seen at the top of the molehill. Its screech had been the one to set the others into motion. He would need to face it eventually. Given its Level, it should be stronger than the Great Mushroom he’d fought at the end of Mushroom Grotto. He shouldn’t expect the strength of the ordinary moles to reflect their leader’s prowess. With a determined expression, Michael started running to the nearest large area.

I’ll need to watch and see if the moles make an active effort to retake the territory that I conquer.

It was unknown whether the moles could strategize, even if they weren’t sentient. Of course, if he killed them all, that wouldn’t be a problem, but he didn’t know the exact number of his enemies. His improved memory went over the scene of the moles leaving the hill. There were at least two hundred of them. Now that he had seen that he could kill them easily through an ambush, he needed to get rid of as many of them as he could.

For the next hour, Michael continued to run around. He took care of increasingly larger groups, conquering more territory, and obtaining a better grasp of the abilities of his enemies. Next, he attempted to defeat a large group without a preemptive strike, which proved to be relatively harder than he expected. The moles could move quickly and their blows were heavy, though not nearly enough to smash through his Shield. The large groups could apply relentless pressure, not giving him a window to dismiss his Mana Shield and use offensive spells.

To do so, he was forced to expose a window; their claws attempted to ruthlessly scratch his body, but his Dexterity was too great to allow such simple attacks to hit him. He had no doubt that his body, empowered by his extremely high Constitution, would also have sufficient defensive ability. However, moving around meant that he couldn’t cast properly. It was a limitation that needed to be overcome as soon as possible.

Michael stared at the carcasses of the enemies. He had managed to use his staff to push them away before quickly casting Mana Sphere or Mana Wave. It was a simple tactic, but the results were good. His Dragonheart empowered his body, granting him greater strength. In the end, he prevailed; there had been no need to even use Cleansing or Minor Heal.

Michael faced one of the entrances to the molehill, looking at its peak. The Midnight Mole King was nowhere to be found. He could only look for it inside the hill.

It had been an hour and a half since the start of the Dungeon. Its finale approached.