It happened with only the roar as a warning. With surprising speed for its size that was reminiscent of the Mushroom Warriors, the Mole King rushed into the fray, jumping over the smaller moles and hitting Michael like a freight train. Due to the sheer difference in weight class, he flew backwards. Yet, his mind was calm.

It’s strong, but I think I can face it in a physical brawl.

The arm he used to block the charge shook slightly, but no bones had been damaged or broken. As he expected, the increase in his physical stats alone put him above even the Warriors that he’d come across. His feet slid on the ground as he quickly ground to a halt.

A large claw was ripping through the air in the direction of his face. Instead of dismissing the Mana Blade and casting Mana Shield, he merely looked at the incoming attack. Trusting his senses and instincts, he sidestepped as the claw was about to hit him. The attack grazed his arm, but that was all. His Dragonheart galloped within his chest as he swung the staff. The Blade mercilessly dug into the creature’s wrist, severing it entirely. The claw fell to the ground as the Mole King screeched.

His strong lower body, which was supported by his increased Strength stat, quickly found its balance again, recovering from his unskilled swing. Another screech hit his ears, but this time, he didn’t stumble. The figure of the Boss came into clear view. It stood on its forelegs, surrounded by a flood of ordinary brown and gray moles, and kept screeching. This caused some of its own allies to collapse with bleeding ears, but the Boss seemed not to care in the least. Blood flowed out of the severed wrist.

It ran at Michael in an unstable gait – caused by the lacking front claw – but his mind was clear. His tension regarding the moles had been replaced by cool judgment born out of what he had already experienced. This was the largest battle he’d taken part in in terms of number of enemies, but it was still about killing all of them as fast as possible.

He whirled amidst the dozens of moles. The Blade reaped life after life, dyeing the ground crimson. His Dragonheart thumped, sending power coursing through his veins. As he adapted to his level of power, his attacks became faster and more accurate. Of course, because he wasn’t used to close combat, a few of the moles’ attacks reached his body. However, they only managed to draw white lines on his skin. Slowly, he got a feel for his physical abilities. He understood how fast he could move and the maximum amount of strength he could put into an attack, coming to a single conclusion.

Even if I don’t use magic, my stats alone make me stronger than all the humans I’ve met.

These monsters were unable to even draw blood. The Midnight Mole King was the sole noteworthy foe. This Dungeon’s design likely intended for the challenger to be overwhelmed by endless waves of moles and their King, but it had been rendered moot before his ability to attack omnidirectionally and quickly. Even when he limited himself to close combat with Mana Blade, he was still faster and stronger than his enemies.

The Mole King, despite the missing appendage, continued to get into melee range, trying to land a blow. It succeeded.

Michael’s feet slid on the ground as he was forced backwards by the force of the Mole King’s attack. A gash had appeared in his left arm, which had been used to block. A halo appeared above his head, bathing him in golden light. The wound started healing in real time. He cracked his neck. Enemies rushed towards him, stepping on the carcasses of their brethren. There was no sign of fear; they displayed only killing intent.

They’re like Lohann’s brainwashed followers.

He looked at the Mole King. Was this its influence?

The ordinary moles took advantage of the fact he’d been occupied defending against the Mole King’s attack and surrounded him. Michael’s senses captured all of their positions. The moment they were about to leap at him, the Blade disappeared. The enemies rushed forward. A layer of mana took shape above his skin. The Mana Shield stopped every attacker in their tracks. Then, the Shield expanded, pushing the enemies outwards.

He had evaluated his physical capabilities. It was time to end this.

He kept going, trying to increase the Mana Shield’s size. Much more mana was consumed, but his mana pool was his greatest resource.

In an instant, the radius of the circular Shield became one meter, and it stopped the Boss dead in its tracks. It collided with the Shield with another screech, clawing at it and attempting to tear it apart, but it was fruitless. The Shield didn’t even tear slightly. Even though a large amount of the ordinary moles were also trying to break through, the battle came to a standstill. However, it couldn’t and wouldn’t be maintained. Michael needed to attack in order to win; there was no meaning in simply keeping up a Shield and waiting for his mana reserves to become empty or for his enemies to become tired.

To fight back properly, he needed space. The Shield slowly expanded, pushing all of his enemies further outwards. The Boss tried to remain in place, but it was forced to move back.

[You have made progress towards acquiring a new Skill.]

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Shield’s radius increased from one meter to three meters. Then, Michael suddenly deactivated it. The moles pushing up against it lost their balance and fell forward, including the Boss. He didn’t miss this window. Another round of twin full-moon Mana Waves was fired. The two of them reached the midnight mole’s body, searing its flesh and digging into its muscles. In an instant, both arms lost their functionality, while its legs collapsed, severed entirely. It fell to the ground.

That didn’t mean, however, that it was rendered unable to fight. It screeched loudly in pain, hitting Michael with another sound attack. The piercing sound seemed to drill into his skull. He let out a grunt.

Again.

His immediate surroundings had been cleared of moles because of the Waves. By now, only around thirty moles remained. With the Boss almost dead and bleeding out, the battle was nearing its end. That was when he noticed the movement of an unfamiliar type of mana. He looked at the Boss with a collected expression. Finally, the creature was pulling out its ace in the hole.

It was above Level 25, which meant it possessed at least one special Skill. The strange mana surrounded the Mole King and was drawn inside its body. A screech incomparable to those before it echoed in the chamber, making Michael grit his teeth as it shook his eardrums. The remaining ordinary moles dropped to the ground, bleeding from the eyes.

Meanwhile, the Mole King had parts of its body covered in what seemed to be black flames. It moved its front limbs, clearly displaying that it had healed from its injury, but its legs hadn’t healed. Left with no other choice, the creature used its front limbs to propel its body in Michael’s direction. He couldn’t help but feel surprised. Despite not having legs, it was moving faster than it previously ran.

A berserker Skill?

It was clear that the Boss’ physical abilities had been amplified. He wasn’t sure to what extent, but for a short moment, its speed had almost doubled. It screeched as it moved towards him. To think the System could instill a monster with so much killing intent.

As he thought of Lohann, however, he realized that it wasn’t only the System; other beings were capable of altering a creature’s mentality. He clicked his tongue as he watched the Mole King rapidly move towards him using nothing but its arms, reminiscent of a zombie from fiction.

“That’s enough.”

It was as if he had exploded. A storm of mana raged out of his body, flooding the entire space in an instant. The atmosphere became as heavy as lead. Blue mana dominated the space, making it look as if it were underwater. The Mole King’s speed was reduced to a crawl. It attempted to screech, but the sound seemed to die in its throat. The ground beneath it sunk as it was pressed onto it.

The bodies of the ordinary moles collapsed, whether they were alive or dead. Unable to bear the Mana Field’s pressure, they cracked. Blood flowed out of the fissures that appeared on their skin. Their skulls caved in, killing the living ones. Verifying that everything except the Mole King was dead, Michael moved the Field. Instead of spreading out, it gathered around the single remaining enemy, becoming thicker in nothing but a few moments.

The sound of bones breaking resounded. The bones in the Mole King’s body shattered. The density of the black flames surrounding it increased. The berserker Skill still attempted to give it power, but there was nothing it could do. He waved his hand, making the Field press down on its neck. It broke with a nauseating crack. Michael let out a breath.

He could have used Fireball or Earth Spike, but there had been no need to do so.

Mana Field is probably my best Active Skill.

It expanded out of his body with no windup or signal, dominating the space around him quickly and simultaneously injuring and slowing down all enemies. He was thankful for his experience in the Lizard Labyrinth. The Skill had been learned then, without even spending a Skill Point.

He stopped for a moment to take in the scale of his destruction. Over two hundred corpses lay on the ground, lifeless, but the Dungeon wasn’t cleared yet.

Now, I need to conquer territory.

He ran out of the molehill, looking up to take in the current boundaries of the two sides’ territories. There were a few circular areas of red, but most of the Dungeon’s area was blue. However, the base of the moles was surrounded by a red circle.

The rest of the three-hour window he had been given was spent running around and taking over the undefended territory of the moles. Nearly all of them had been wiped out at the battle in the molehill, so there was no trouble. A message appeared in front of him.

[The goal has been reached.]

[You can now leave Mole Kingdom.]

[There are no optional or side areas to this Dungeon.]

[You have been rewarded for clearing the Dungeon.]

[You have acquired the Mole Hunter Title, two Skill Points, and fifteen Free Stat Points.]

It was as Michael expected. Even though the Mole King was higher-leveled than the Great Mushroom, because the Dungeon’s objective did not express the need to fight it, the rewards were the same as Mushroom Grotto. It wasn’t indicative that the battle against the Boss could have been avoided, but it was a possibility. It didn’t matter. He had cleared it efficiently, having sustained no injuries. In comparison to Mushroom Grotto, which nearly resulted in his death, Mole Kingdom had been easier to deal with. He rejoiced within his heart.

I have grown.

He clenched his fists. His body was fine; he could feel every strand of power within him. It brought him joy to know that he had become more powerful and more capable of protecting his friends and family. He spoke to the empty air.

“I want to leave the Dungeon.”

Like before, a burst of white light enveloped his figure. He blinked. Once he opened his eyes, he was already outside the Dungeon. He took a deep breath and cast Whisper. Tairy’s voice came out of the floating mouth.

“Done?”

“Yeah. As you said, it wasn’t so bad, even though I chose the harder route.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was a Conquest Dungeon, but since I was alone, I just killed all the moles before going around for territory.”

Tairy laughed.

“Yeah, I guess that works. Did you also get Skill Points as rewards?”

“Yes, but I’ll continue tackling some Dungeons before I return. Want to accumulate the rewards as soon as possible.”

Tairy chuckled.

“Naturally. You need as many Skill Points as possible. Tell me when you reach the next Dungeon. I won’t let you jump into a Dungeon unprepared.”

“Alright.”

Michael smiled. He was grateful for his teacher’s worry. He felt that it was great luck that he managed to make a new friend in a place as shitty as the Tutorial Zone.

He kept his smile as he dismissed the spell. Silently, Michael made his way to the next Dungeon on his list. After Whispering to Tairy and receiving confirmation that it was a Dungeon he could deal with, he entered it. Then, he let out a deep sigh.

“Damn it.”