Jonathan closed the notification, and kept walking towards the exit of the cave, ready to find out what was in store for him next. The level of the cave dropped down as he approached the tunnel and he was soon met with an imposing wall of blackness that even his advanced eyesight couldn't pierce. This tunnel was completely dark, and he had no choice but to stride into the unknown. He was confident in his abilities to defend against most things that could harm him within this dungeon, and he stepped into the darkness without a second thought. There had been one last notification, but it simply had told him that he had leveled up twice.

As he walked forward, a series of sibilant whispers began to call out to him from the bottom of the tunnel, drawing him in. At least they gave him something to plot his course with. Lights flickered on and off within the tunnel, and Jonathan could tell that this was the last stretch of the dungeon. It was trying to intimidate him before he reached the boss, but he would not fall for the tricks of this place. The only true danger in here was the final boss, and nothing else was worth noticing.

The tunnel kept sloping downwards, and eventually a light blossomed at the end of it, shining through the darkness. Jonathan paused before the end, and peered down into the light, trying to get a glimpse of what was there. A small cavern beckoned, with a strange hut in the center of it. All around it were hundreds of statues, each in remarkably life-like poses. This was definitely the lair of the boss.

Jonathan lowered himself down the tunnel, staying on his hands and knees so as to not alert whatever was in there to his presence. Other than the hut and the statues, the place was completely empty, and the walls were made out of a nondescript gray stone. It looked quite unassuming for the final stage of the dungeon. Hissing noises came from the center of the cavern, and Jonathan could make out a shape through one of the windows. It looked like a human, but faint shadows whirled around its head, which he assumed were snakes, like in the myths. Knowing the Greek myths, Jonathan knew that the monster would only petrify someone if it looked directly into their eyes. As long as he avoided the glare, he would be fine. Perseus had used a shield as a mirror to petrify the gorgon, but Jonathan doubted something like that would work in this world. In the myths, the only powers that the gorgon had were its petrification ones. Here, it had the full benefit of dozens of levels under its belt. This would not be an easy fight.

Upon seeing that the monster was facing away from him, Jonathan scrambled down the last stretch of the tunnel, landing next to a statue. Half of them seemed to be various adventurers, with the others belonging to monsters, or the goblinoid creatures that had previously lived here.

Jonathan used the statues as cover, and edged towards the hut, with his mana on a hair trigger to be summoned. He reached the side of the hut without any incident, and peered through one of the windows. What looked like a human woman stood in the hut, leaning over a bowl of something. She had green skin, and hair made out of snakes. In addition, her body was misshapen. It was a hideous creature, and Jonathan ducked beneath the window sill before it could turn around. He would need to come up with a plan of attack for this one. The monster seemed content to be doing whatever it was doing within the hut, which looked as if it was eating something.

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Jonathan started to slide towards the door, ready to enter. His idea was that he would burst in, and pinpoint the monster with his enhanced senses, closing his eyes as he attacked. However, he made sure to wait until he heard the monster go silent before attempting to do so. The creature was almost completely still in general, and Jonathan realized that he had not heard a single noise from the thing this entire time. As he edged towards the door, he flashed backwards as it swung open suddenly, revealing the side profile of the monster. It looked around suspiciously, before retreating back into its hut, to whatever it had been doing a second before. Jonathan had managed to analyze it in that brief moment, and was now a bit more knowledgeable about his opponent.

Desolation Medusa

Level 75

As expected, it was about five levels above the maximum for this dungeon. The System had warned him about how the levels could fluctuate when it came to the boss. Seeing as the monster was not physically imposing, Jonathan assumed that it possessed great magical power, not least of which was presumably its petrification abilities. Jonathan nodded to himself, and made his way towards the door, ready to attack.

“You adventurers are all the same,” a low and feminine voice said, coming from inside the hut. “Always assuming that I am nothing more than a monster. See how that turned out for them.” It looked like the monster had already sensed his presence. Jonathan remained stalwart however, and stayed silent.

“I can hear your heartbeat. There is no hiding from me.”

“If that is so, then why don’t you come and fight me?” Jonathan replied. There was a chance that the monster was simply trying to get inside his head. The creature laughed, sounding disturbingly like a normal human woman in the process.

“Silly boy. You will come to me, will you not? You need to claim my head to escape this place. Why should I bother myself in chasing after prey that is all too willing to deliver itself into my jaws?”

“So you plan to eat me? What about the people that you turned into statues?” Jonathan was wasting time with this banter, but he was intrigued about the insights that the monster had.

“You seem different from the normal adventures. Usually they come in groups of four or five, and are not worth my appetite. However, you give off an aura of refined power that is rare. Your meat will be especially sweet.” The creature’s voice sunk at the end of that declaration, revealing it for what it truly was. A monster.

Jonathan sensed that this conversation had come to a finish, and he drew back his fist, ready to break down the door. He drove it forwards, and splintered the wood with a single punch, revealing the inside of the hut. He shut his eyes immediately, and was able to pinpoint the position of the medusa without his sight.

“You are a fool. You merely blinded yourself. The others were at least more resourceful.”

Jonathan managed to conceal a smile. The monster had no idea that he had passed all of his thresholds, and possessed the superior senses of an Advanced Human. He decided to play into the ruse a bit more, and suddenly snapped out a punch at the open air in front of him, stumbling at the end so as to make it seem like he had been aiming for the monster. There was a girlish laugh, and the air stirred to the right of his head.

Jonathan remained still for as long as he could, and then he shot out his hand, grabbing something long and scaly in it. With a grunt, he pulled, tearing the snake out of the creature’s head. He could feel a tiny amount of power enter him, and reinforce his body. That was the effect of his new ring, it seemed. With a quick step, he drove his fist into the medusa’s face, sending it flying backwards, crashing through the walls of the hut.