The green dark-skinned creature flaps its wings and soars down towards me. Its red demonic eyes are shining through the mist.

With the face of a rabid dog mixed with a mutant goblin, its jagged white teeth shine in contrast against the hazy green dungeon background.

I've never seen a creature like this.

"It's a Gargoyle."

My eyes dart across its status, trying to piece together any extra information it'll give me.

At first glance, it looks quick and agile, but its stats show a different story. The monster seems to be mostly a defense type with high magic and HP-increasing skills.

Body hardening and.... Life Steal.

I smirk at the sight of this. If it does what I think it does, I'm in for a treat. I haven't gotten a useful skill in ages.

Come to think of it... If I waited on the 21st floor in the Vice region for a little longer or gone back to check things out after I fully recovered, I could have had this skill for myself a lot sooner...

Gritting my teeth, but show a wide smile through my clenched jaw. I swing my blade up in the air, releasing a dense black wave of energy before anyone else can get a shot out.

"This one's mine."

A loud screech fills the skies as my blade of mana collides with the gargoyle less than a second later.

It doesn't have much time at all to react, but the distance between us is still pretty far.

On reflex, its body hardening skill activates, and all of its mana shielding moves to the exact hardened point as well. White mana residue and grey body hardening cover its cross and lower body in a thin line.

That grey isn't the same color as my hardening, It seems this creature must have an odd variation.

The rest of its body is completely unguarded. With every bit of energy focused on blocking my attack, it puts up a great defense in the blink of an eye.

After a flash of white light and a quick buzzing sound, the outline of the winged monster flying through the air comes out from behind the fireball of mana residue and broken body hardening.

Shards of stone-like material fall into the pale green abyss below.

With it, one of the monster's legs covered in crimson blood spins downward with it.

The screech for the wounded creature echoes throughout the dungeon, and I sense more monsters approaching from both above and below.

"It brought company."

Gritting my teeth, and aiming for the gargoyle trailing blood in the sky, I let off another shot.

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The same thing happens. It twists and turns away, this time avoiding my strike entirely.

I am over 40 meters away. Even if my attacks are fast, it has plenty of time to move. This isn't a low-level monster after all...

Looking back and forth at my teammates as the creature's backup approaches, I grip my sword tighter.

"I might have to get a little serious."

I activate my stat-boosting buffs and zero in on the twisting and weaving monster in the sky. It's trying to get away, hiding behind white stone pillars covered in lush green vines.

My teammates jump into action too. Just in time, as half a dozen mobs identical to the first come rushing out of the pale fog.

Water, Ice, and stone form as we all jump from the white stone pillar, forward into the endless dungeon.

I air-step high into the air, following the monster that survived two of my attacks. It won't be so lucky on my third.

The towering structures of marbled stone pass me on both sides, and my teammates follow below as monsters emerge from the green foggy cloud on all sides.

Smiling as I get closer and closer, I release an attack that would easily have split the Blue Ogre King in two.

I charge up 2000 MP of my newly upgraded fire-imbued mana.

Overkill, but letting out a full power slash is something I haven't done yet with this new power. I'd like to see how powerful I've really become... plus, this shifty Gargoyle is getting on my nerves.

As the Balck wave of magic comes out of my sword, the loud sound of buzzing mana erupts and hums through the dungeon.

I can see the air quiver around it and the stone pillars nearby vibrate and shake just from being near it.

It's faster, stronger, and more deadly than anything I've ever produced before.

The gargoyle is less than 10 meters above me. It's desperately trying to get away but never stood a chance.

It's sliced in two without a hint of resistance, letting the Balck blade glide far off into the dungeon behind it.

I watch it soar off into the distance slicing through a few tall white pillars that grow high into the sky.

More importantly, I lunge forward to be showered in the incinerated shielding and body hardening of the now-deceased gargoyle.

I see blue text appear in my mind's eye as it falls through the air.

It's a satisfying sight, one I haven't seen in quite a while.

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Life Steal [Special Grade]

[YES][NO]

Honestly... a little too satisfying...

I don't remember the last time I got a skill this easily.

I quickly choose [YES] as the dark green corpse whizzes by my head and falls into the abyss below.

I'm sure if we kill enough of these monsters, some kind of unique item will drop. However, I'm not diving down to try and catch that thing.

It's skill is enough of a reward for me.

I smirk, opening up my status to see my new skill at the bottom of the list. Then, open it up to check the specifics.

____________________

Life Steal

Info: Life Steal allows the user to take HP from opponents once physical contact is made.

The effectiveness of the user's ability to steal HP decreases if the maximum HP bar of their opponent is higher than their own. It is much more efficient to steal HP from weaker enemies.

[Special Grade] Perk: HP may be consumed from direct contact with an opponent's mana shielding or skill's aura. Efficiency is reduced by 85% without physical contact. An opponent's HP can only be brought down to 10% without physical contact.

Grade: [Special Grade]

[Upgrade]

____________________

I close my status with a smirk and turn back to my teammates, watching them decapitate, shatter, and explode their enemies to bits in a light show of blue, white, and green magic.

I whisper under my breath while air-stepping back down to meet them.

"Too easy... this is way too easy-"

*CRACK*

My inner thoughts are interrupted by the distinct crunch of stone scraping on stone.

It sounds like massive boulders are colliding and breaking behind me. Not at all what I'd expect while high in the sky.

I turn my head immediately to see dozens of marble-white pillars all tilting my way.

It feels like the entire dungeon is falling toward me... In reality, there's a chain reaction of pillars crashing and falling into each other in reaction to my powerful attack.

The tops of these enormous structures are impossible to see. Some break off into pieces, and the sky begins to fill with falling white cylindrical stones.

It's a beautiful sight, but a terrifying one too.

Our time in this dungeon has been short, but it seems we've already overstayed our welcome.