The tunnel was rather dark, with only a few torches here and there to light the way. It twisted and turned in a way that made Michael feel as if he weren’t going anywhere specific, but instead running around the same spot. All the torches looked the same, as did the damp walls composed of earth and stone. Water dripped down from the ceiling every so often. The only sound was that of his steps, but even they faded into the monotone background.

His level of annoyance was starting to rise. He had been walking for almost twenty minutes but had yet to see anything even resembling a goal. He raised his head and looked at the System window floating in the air.

[Extermination: kill all enemies.]

“Damn it, how am I supposed to kill all enemies when there aren’t any?”

Cursing to himself, he remained on his way. Thankfully, there were no side paths or entrances. The Dungeon seemed to be simply a long, winding tunnel. He wouldn’t make the mistake of lowering his guard just for this, however. The environment was very reminiscent of the place where he had been attacked by the moles. He didn’t want to be caught unprepared against an enemy capable of tunneling through the ground or walls. At the same time, Tairy had said the enemies were mushrooms. As his thoughts reached this point, the image of a cartoonish mushroom monster with eyes and a large mouth appeared in his mind.

Michael shook his head. He shouldn’t make assumptions. It was possible that the enemies would be ordinary mushrooms capable of using their spores to hurt him. Both of these possible scenarios were based on the fiction he had read and the games he had played back on Earth.

After making a turn, he stopped. His eyes narrowed. Around thirty meters ahead of him, the tunnel opened up into a large space. It reminded him of the underground expanse outside the dungeon, but there were no stone pillars or mushrooms. Various types of plants grew here and there. The ground turned into small hills which covered up the view of what lay beyond them. The most important thing wasn’t the topography, however.

…So that’s what they look like.

Just at the foot of the hills, a two-meter tall, humanoid figure stood listlessly. It seemed to be made of wood, with four limbs, hands, and feet, although it had only three fingers in each hand. Yellow mushrooms sprouted alongside its wooden frame. The head was the most unusual sight: instead of resembling an animal or creature, it was simply a giant yellow mushroom cap. A yellowish cloud surrounded the figure. A few meters to its sides, two more identical monsters walked slowly. His first instinct was to use Analyze. A message appeared in front of him.

[Analyze has failed. Target is too high Level.]

He cursed in his mind. At the very least, this gave him the idea that the enemies wouldn’t be easy to beat.

Michael tightened his grip on the wand. He didn’t approach them further. Instead, he observed their actions carefully. One creature remained completely still, while the others walked seemingly without aim, as he had noted before. He didn’t dare underestimate them. Tairy had said he wasn’t ready for this dungeon, which meant that either the monsters were individually powerful or there would be another source of serious danger. Maybe they were stronger in a group, maybe there were too many of them, or perhaps the environment would act against him. There was no way to know until he actually faced the Dungeon’s enemies. As his mission was to kill them all, there was no other alternative.

He raised his wand. A low chant echoed out of his mouth. The monsters didn’t move or even look in his direction. Encouraged by this, he drew three symbols in the air. Blue mana coalesced into the shape of a large arrow. The moment the arrow fully took shape, the mushroom monsters turned toward him. Their stares were eerie, as they had no eyes or face. Michael closed his mouth. The chanting was over.

Go.

The Mana Arrow accelerated. In a flash, it reached the monster in the middle. It barely moved before the Arrow destroyed its head completely. Its torso split vertically in half, while the Skill continued moving and hit the wall behind the monster, drilling into it for another two meters before stopping. It was in accordance with the results of his testing. The combination of Passive Skills and the activation of his Dragonheart were the major factors behind such power.

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A yellow cloud left the broken corpse of the mushroom monster. Every crack in its body leaked it.

Spores?

Those were trouble. He took a few steps back. He had no desire for the spores to touch his skin, or even worse, for him to breathe them in. It was at that moment that the other two enemies moved. They slightly crouched, lowering their center of gravity. Michael blinked.

He opened his eyes. Eight meters in front of him, carrying a trail of yellow spores, the two mushroom monsters were running toward him like cheetahs. Even though he could perceive their movements because of his Dragonheart’s boost, there was not enough time to cast Mana Shield. In a split-second, as if the world was running in slow motion, he made a decision.

All into Dexterity!

As every single Free Stat Point fueled his Dexterity, he only managed to raise his arm before the fist of one of the monsters hit it like a sledgehammer.

“Argh!”

Michael couldn’t help but let out a pained scream. He slid backward, almost falling on his back, before finding his balance. A wooden leg was flying toward his face at breakneck speed. He crouched, making it swing by above him, but as he did so, the other enemy punched at him once more, this time toward the other arm. A thought appeared in Michael’s mind.

I can’t lose both of my arms.

He still needed to wield his wand. He didn’t know if he was still able to form coherent thoughts because of the Clarity Skill, but it didn’t matter. He twisted his body, putting the already-damaged arm in the way of the punch. Once it hit him, he gritted his teeth so hard that he felt they were about to shatter. The pain was unbelievable. His vision was getting blurry, and he couldn’t even properly move. Only his mind remained clear.

My left arm is broken.

His heartbeat resounded in his ears. His Dragonheart had been active since the moment he decided to use Mana Arrow, but now he actively tried to push it to its limits. His eyes darted around. He could feel the bones of his left arm slowly mending due to the Dragonheart’s effect, but it wasn’t significant enough.

Another kick came flying at him from the left mushroom monster. He tilted his body, trying to ignore the pain. With the increase in his Dexterity, he could move much faster than mere moments ago. He avoided the frontal kick. He couldn’t just dodge forever. He suffered serious damage from every hit. If he wanted to win, he needed to kill at least one of them as quickly as possible. He used the Skill that he could cast the fastest.

“Mana Sphere!”

The blue sphere of mana came into being at the tip of his wand, glowing with a white hue. It seemed more solid and was larger than any Mana Sphere he had cast before. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was how fast it could reach its target and how much damage it could cause. He looked at his opponents. To his left, the first one had his fist raised, ready to bring it down upon Michael’s head and try to end him instantly. To his right, the second one was still recovering its footing after having missed the kick. It was obvious which one to prioritize.

The Mana Sphere shot towards the first one just as it punched, crushing its fist and drilling through its arm, destroying it up to the shoulder. The creature tilted its head, allowing the Mana Sphere to pass without hitting it. If it felt any pain, it didn’t show. It simply raised its remaining fist. At the same time, the second monster had already recovered and was in the middle of a tackle. Michael drew a line with his wand.

“Mana Wave!”

He had decided that he needed a Skill that could hit both enemies. The blue half-moon formed just as Michael took a large step backward, his training regarding being able to move while casting paying off. The extra time this action bought him was invaluable. The half-moon hit the two mushroom monsters square in the chest but didn’t sear them in half. It merely pushed them backward, burning a large wound on their torsos. Tree sap flowed out of them.

Michael had found himself a precious window of time. He immediately started casting Mana Wave again, intending to fire it before the enemies could recover. This time, however, he attempted to modify it. Just like he had expanded his Mana Shield and used his Mana Sphere as a knife, he tried to go beyond the Skill’s ordinary limits. Mana Wave was a spread-out, area-of-effect Skill, but there was no need for its range to be so large against only two enemies.

Focus.

Time crawled by. His sharpened mind picked up on the most minute movements of the monsters, realizing that they were about to jump at him once more. There was no margin for error. He needed to succeed. His plan was simple: he would take Mana Wave’s spread-out prowess and concentrate it in a smaller area in order to deal more damage. It didn’t mean that he would attempt to turn it into a single-target Skill like Mana Sphere; he was only reducing its size for more power.

Focus.

Time seemed as if it had suddenly sped up. The Wave shot toward the enemies at the same time that they leaped toward Michael. It was smaller than an ordinary Mana Wave, but its glow was much stronger; the blue mana that constituted its fabric seemed almost solid. As both enemies were in the air, they were unable to dodge it. The half-moon split them from shoulder to waist. Michael’s Heart beat strongly. He watched as the halves of the two opponents fell to the ground before casting a Mana Sphere and finishing them off.

The battle was over.

At that moment, Michael’s eyes widened.

The spores!