All quests had an option to guarantee a reward, but training dungeons went a step further. No one knew the exact reason why, but I’d long since realized that was true of almost everything related to the system.
Scholars had theorized for centuries that dungeons were gateways for the system to scatter pieces of other worlds across the universe. Those that also believed dungeons were fragments of other worlds kept in some in-between realm—like Helas—wrote extensively on how the system engaged in intentional acts of preservation.
So the bouquet of pollinated flowers? The pollen might spread to our world when I brought them out of the dungeon. Not killing the only pack of wolves in the dungeon? Less energy expended to regenerate them at reset.
Most of the time, the change options made the quest more inconvenient, time consuming, or dangerous. It wasn’t always that beneficial to put more work in for it.
This could easily be one of those times.
No bloodshed? It was so vague that it could mean that I couldn’t kill the wolves. Or that I had to prevent this idiotic student from getting injured, which would rely on what type of idiot he was. Like Harorin, he could just have terrible luck.
Or, since he came in by himself, the more likely option was that he thought too highly of his own abilities and got in over his head.
I killed the fire with a handful of dirt. As I wrapped the rabbits—cooked and uncooked—in some big leaves, I directed Callas to start tracking him. Best case scenario, he hadn’t traveled too far into the Shadowlands already. Once the rabbits were stashed away in my satchel, I used my perception to catch up to her.
Moments like these, I wondered what it was like for Helas to use Callas’s sight as her own. I’d have to try it for myself sometime, but not now. What would be more useful was to find a way to quickly gauge my strength.
A tree?
A tree.
I’d seen Helas take down a tree twice the height of these with one punch, despite the impressive stature of the trees in this dungeon. Before, I’d figured I’d need ten times the strength to do the same to an average tree. I had double that now.
The edge of the tree line grew closer as I followed Callas to the mountain pass. I picked a sturdy looking pine, aimed, and found a newfound surge of strength course through my muscles as I pounded my fist into its trunk.
Bark splintered against my knuckles, shredding my skin as I broke through soft inner wood with a loud crack. Stepping back, pain tingled across my hand and shot up my arm. The tree snapped and fell back into the slope of the mountain with the wrestling of leaves and creaking of branches fracturing from the impact.
【NOTICE】
Please wait while your Demon Core [2%] regenerates your Form…
This may take awhile. You may consider further tethering your Demon Core.
My knuckles were bloody, but I was satisfied that I could knock out a couple wolves without tearing up my hand again. Our forms were meant to adjust to our stats over time, and so part of what I needed to do in this judgment was force that adjustment to happen.
【NOTICE】
Your Demon Core [2%] has completed regenerating your Form.
At least there hadn’t been that much damage compared to what Father had done to me with his cane. It’d been over a day now since he’d killed me, and my anger was still growing.
I squinted to the sky, sharpening my perception until I spotted Callas circling over the mountains. Waiting for me to get a move on. So I hurried to the mountain pass.
【DUNGEON NOTICE】
You have discovered the Silver Mountains [Uncommon], where roam Silver Wolves, Silver Lynxes, and Shade Bears.
You have been awarded:
100 EXP┃ 1 FP
Do you accept this reward?
Yes.
In the dim moonlight, the mountains were jagged peaks of darkness against the dusky sky. The higher up the mountain, the less I could make out the terrain and had to rely on my enhanced senses and instinct. The farther I traveled, the system warned me of the increased difficulty until I entered the Shadowlands.
【DUNGEON NOTICE】
You have discovered the Shadowlands [Epic], where lurk shadow beasts of all kinds. Travel too deeply and you may encounter the most dangerous of them all, the Shadow Phoenix.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
You have been awarded:
10,000 EXP┃ 100 FP ┃ 2 EP
Do you accept this reward?
Yes.
The Shadowlands was a rugged landscape devoid of color, offering even less light than the other side of the mountain. The moon illuminated the low-hanging fog, leaving all else in almost total darkness. Just silhouettes of evergreen trees and jagged rocky hills for as far as the eye could see.
Heading through the rough terrain, I should’ve been wheezing and exhausted. All that energy I’d felt when I’d first allotted the points to stamina still flowed through me. It’d take a lot more to push it to the limit, along with my other new stats, but my first chance to do that greeted me with growls.
I received three of the same useless encounter notices.
【DUNGEON NOTICE】
You have encountered a Silver Wolf [Epic].
In the distance, I spotted the three of them separating from each other, attempting to spread out to some degree. They looked like a fusion between a wolf and a panther—and twice the size of either. Sleek, black fur that shimmered silver in the moonlight when they moved. Razor-sharp fangs and glowing eyes that seemed to pierce through the darkness and straight into my own.
I grinned. They looked like they could take a punch or two without going down.
Neither seemed to be in a hurry to take me down, so I activated [Revenge Best Served Cold] and watched them prowl with an eerie grace, their sleek bodies moving fluidly through the gloom. With such powerful builds and likely spry movements, the Silver Wolf embodied the essence of strength and agility, and I couldn’t wait to test mine against theirs.
But why were they in the Shadowlands? The way they moved seemed almost protective, defensive. The dungeon notice hadn’t said they lived here, so they had no reason to act as if this was their territory; I imagined if there were any wolves here, they’d likely be shades of some sort.
Well, not like it mattered. They were probably part of the same pack that were hunting the student I had to save. Khoulgan Drahk was his name. I’d deal with the wolves in front of me first. Maybe I could get them to lead me to the rest of them.
The wolf to my left growled, snarled. Very confident, the three of them, especially to have so easily revealed themselves to me. They didn’t see me as a potential threat at all, and that made them seem young and inexperienced.
[Revenge Best Served Cold] directed my attention to their legs, head, gut, lungs, and heart. The latter three would be great places for a quick, swift kill with a sword or a knife. But I wanted the extra points for the change option, so I’d have to rely on the combat techniques Helas had taught me of draconian martial arts.
I expanded my immediate perception, sacrificing some awareness at the edges of my range. As soon as I registered a flinch of muscle from the closest wolf, I sped toward them and caught their ribs with my fist. But I pulled back my strength at the last moment and regained my distance.
I couldn’t go all out because I didn’t know if one punch was enough to kill one of these wolves. A wolf from my world wouldn’t stand a chance, but beasts had hardier forms. Very inconvenient for a quest. Definitely more time consuming. Potentially more dangerous.
When another wolf came for me, I dodged their fangs and used a bit more strength against their side. This time my knuckles earned the cracking of bone and an alarmed whine. But the wolf hadn’t gone down, and so that meant I needed to push a little harder.
The first wolf and the third wolf attacked at the same time, alert to the danger I posed now that I’d hurt one of them. I used my speed to outmaneuver one while getting the first wolf in the side again, definitely breaking a few ribs, and then again with a little more power that sent them skidding to the ground. They didn’t get up.
I turned to the remaining two wolves. The second one moved slower, more hesitantly now, and the third had taken a more defensive position behind them. As soon as I rushed at them, the third wolf left the second behind, and I punched them in the ribs just like I did the first.
Two down, wheezing and whimpering, and one to follow.
I activated [Forgotten Son] and followed the third wolf at a far enough distance that they wouldn’t notice unless they slowed down. These three were definitely younger. Probably patrolling the territory. And the third was the youngest, least experienced, and they had no idea what to do except run back to the protection of the pack.
The third wolf bounded through the forest with familiarity, which made me suspicious that they’d been living in the Shadowlands for most of their life. They were probably two or three years old or they wouldn’t have been so far from the pack. That was a long time for them to have been pushed out of the forest and mountains. Something had happened, but I hadn’t the slightest clue what it could’ve been.
Lucky for the young wolf, they ran into two older wolves sooner rather than later. One of them had a scar along their side. Lucky for me, too, or since I didn’t want to use up all of [Forgotten Son] and needed to get to Khoulgan Drahk before it was too late. Another two unnecessary encounter notices pinged in my mind.
【DUNGEON NOTICE】
You have encountered a Silver Wolf [Legendary].
At least it confirmed they were definitely older. That meant they’d be a bit smarter when approaching an unknown in the wild, get a sense of whether they could kill me before attacking. These two probably also had experience hunting together, which meant they’d play off each other in a way that the younger ones hadn’t.
I needed to take them down fast.
The older two didn’t look too pleased that the younger one had come running to them. Their ears perked, more wolf-like than panther-like in this moment. That was when I deactivated [Forgotten Son] and rushed at them.
Even caught off guard, they recovered in a heartbeat at my sudden appearance, baring their fangs and crouching into an offensive stance. I’d planned my course of attack though, and I drove my fist into the scarred wolf’s head—right under the ear beside the eye.
They staggered, disoriented. I’d pulled back a bit too much.
The unscarred wolf snarled at me and swiped their sharp claws at me. I dodged back, then came in close again to knock them in the other side of the head with a powerful hook. They went down with a thump.
【QUEST NOTICE】
You have received a new quest: Echoes of the Silver Hunt [Epic]
You must defeat the pack of Silver Wolves in the Shadowlands. To change this quest to [Legendary], complete this quest without further bloodshed.
Silver Wolves: 1/15
Do you accept this quest?
Might as well.
I returned to the scarred wolf and socked them in the jaw while eyeing the youngest wolf. I wanted to be sure they saw how outmatched they were and take me all the way to their pack this time.
This time, I didn’t bother with [Forgotten Son] but jumped up into the lower branches of a pine tree. Although it slowed me down to travel in the canopy, I followed the young wolf carefully at a safe distance until they brought me to the exact place I needed to be.
A circle of fire in the middle of the forest with an injured man in the center, surrounded by ten wolves all content to wait for their next meal to die and his magic fire to burn out. They’d already done all the hard work.
Because Khoulgan Drahk was clearly an idiot.