Shun POV:
The soft duvet rolled to the side; the bed sheets underneath shone white. They were clean—not a drop of sweat could be found.
One month.
Black hair fell over my forehead.
That was how much time had passed.
Lips curved into a smile so wide it reached the corners of my eyes that popped. This morning verified what I already knew. This morning confirmed that these hands had broken the chains binding the little fragility that remained.
“I’m not scared of you anymore, Chloe Ravendawn.”
***
[Mission: Chaotic Cave of the Unknown (10/40)
Difficulty: C
Boss Monster: Imminence Reaver.
Floor Bosses: 35.
Floor Number: 15.
Party Requirement: 1~150.
Imminence is bliss.
Rewards: 200 gold + Random Loot Drops.
Failure: Death.
Additional Information:
• Not all Ki Artifacts have been acquired.
• Ki Artifacts randomly shift location after every entry.
• Hidden Rooms randomly appear.]
“S-Shun...”
I flicked the Troll hoodie over my head and walked past the guards that sighed in a defeated manner. No matter how many times they saw me exit the dungeons alive, they still couldn’t stop their pointless worry.
But that was protocol.
My hand rested against the thin barrier, covering the large opening of a cave near the outskirts of Chunhae. I was teleported into the Safe Zone and entered a gate that brought me to a small tunnel entrance.
“Map.”
The layout of the 1st Floor was detailed; several pathways of varying lengths formed a mini maze with no clear centre. From my experience, the more complicated the map, the more strategic requirements were needed to clear the dungeon.
This wasn’t always the case, but it was one factor in deciding whether the dungeon monsters were worth training or not. I could have acquired more information by reading a Scout report, but who cares?
I removed my Troll clothes in order to not gain any defensive benefits from them.
“Inventory.”
I dashed them inside and pulled out Hanzo’s Blade V4. The colour of the refined katana matched the black vest I wore. My neck cracked to the side. I released my Ki and...
Vanished.
I shot through the cave tunnels, murdering everything in sight. Startled shrieks and bittersweet screams penetrated the air with every new pathway that became aware of the presence of death.
“!”
A silent blade grazed past my neck, forcing me to spin to the side. Blood spurted out from the light wound due to the pressure my fingers caused around it.
‘...Poison.’
The cave tunnel stretched. It elongated in all directions, warping the ground beneath me in an effort to destabilise my equilibrium. Despite my quick reaction, this result proved how lethal a tiny dosage of their poison was.
New torches added light to the wide space, and a familiar window appeared.
[Floor Boss: Reaver]
The darkness beneath the monster’s name made my eyebrows fall. I ignored the throbbing in my head, noting that the poison wasn’t responsible for my inability to sense what was in front of me.
A tall, humanoid figure stepped out of the shadows. It wore a brown cloak that covered its entire frame, and a hood blocked out any semblance of light from revealing what was underneath.
“You... are not that skilled.”
The Reaver’s faint blue arm extended out from the thick cloak to the side. There was little fat on the musculature visible, but the sheer compression of muscle fibres created a toned appearance that was almost slender.
A glint of light bounced off the thin blade it held. I spun Hanzo’s Blade around my fingers before pointing it toward the Reaver.
“You’re not enough.”
“I...”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The space between us disappeared.
“Disagree.”
Sparks flew from the clashing of blades. They took over the role of the torches lined across the walls and decorated the pathways with additional flashes.
“!”
The Reaver released its Monzen Ki, blasting me backwards through the tunnel. I spun in the air and caught sight of the afterimages left behind from its flickering pursuit.
“Reaver Style: Converging Slash.”
My lips curved upwards at the small number of afterimages shooting into the Reaver. Each one seemed to increase the power of the incoming attack. It swung its arm down, ejecting a powerful wave of Ki that exploded the tunnel.
“K-keuk!”
I crashed into the wall, barely twisting my neck in time to avoid the Reaver’s thrust. The thin blade shattered the rocks and created a new entry to another pathway in the maze.
“...?”
A faint heat emanated from its hidden face. It tilted toward the cut across its cloak when my heel implanted itself into the Reaver’s stomach. I smashed the monster backwards before flipping to my feet.
Two large masses peeked through the slit in its cloak. The quietness of the Reaver’s voice made it difficult to identify its gender, but it was obvious now.
“...Ceasefire.”
“No.”
I dashed in, and Hanzo’s Blade blurred. A faint red heat spread around the katana, doubling the power of my chain combinations that rained down on the Reaver from all angles.
Its HP plummeted.
Rather than ignoring the slight exposure of its breasts, the Reaver sacrificed an arm to prioritise covering them. This led to dozens of openings for me to capitalise on.
“...Coward.”
My movements froze at its words. I lowered Hanzo’s Blade V4 before throwing it into the inventory. I pulled out a thick Troll cloak, too big for me to wear, and chucked it toward the Reaver.
“Put it on and let’s continue.”
“...”
It stared at the cloak in its hand but refused to move. I calmed the budding annoyance starting to form and turned around.
“Thanks...”
The awareness and personality of dungeon monsters extended to the regular goblin. It was far more common to see these characteristics appear in Floor Bosses or Boss Monsters in most of the novels that I had read.
“Human... You’re not that smart.”
A long, thin blade rested against my neck. I tapped it away and walked past the Reaver. The reason I continued attacking was to create the right variables to lead to this moment.
“Your job is to bring the others to me. After that, you die.”
“...”
I glanced back at the monster wearing the Troll cloak; its length matched the previous one it had folded and placed underneath one of the torches.
Morals.
This Reaver stuck to its own morals from the first exchange. The monster removed the poison that coated its blade and revealed its location in order to have a fair fight. The Reaver’s word choice confirmed that when she called me a ‘coward.’
My current hypothesis needed more data, since this was my first time encountering the Reaver species.
“...You die either way, so I will comply.”
‘A favour for a favour?’
It was plausible.
Its life would have ended a few minutes later if my assault hadn’t stopped first. The Floor Boss flickered by my side when I noticed two glowing violet eyes peer down at me before their light faded.
“Take off your hood.”
“...”
Reaver 1 walked on ahead.
“...Female Reavers only do that with their male halves. It is... a union.”
“Whatever.”
I couldn't care less about what was under that hood. All that mattered to me was the improvement I would obtain from this dungeon.
***
I killed everything that moved till we reached the 8th Floor of the dungeon. Similar to the Swirling Swamp of Mayhem, this dungeon had its own features. For example, the Floor Bosses didn’t need to be defeated to ascend if you could answer the random questions the ‘Silent Goblin’ would ask near the Floor Exit.
A window would appear with a multiple-choice questionnaire. There was a 2-minute time limit to answer 10 questions, but once you got one wrong, you failed. The ‘Silent Goblin’ then used a technique to empower every monster on the Dungeon Floor, aside from the Floor Boss, before it disappeared.
I surmised that a perfect score on every test could even reveal a ‘Hidden Room.’ However, the range of the questions went beyond monsters; they included animals, botany, how long a specific pathway was on X Floor, and more.
The Dungeon System also gave the ‘Silent Goblin’ protection, so I couldn’t kill it either. The only time it spoke was when I answered its stupid questionnaire within 5 seconds.
“…Smart.”
That was all the monster had to say. The goblin bowed its head to Reaver 1 before vanishing.
Reavers fought in two simple ways: head-on or three strikes from the darkness, then head-on. Reaver 1 was a slight mixture of both, but basic was basic.
We flickered across a grassy area in the cave. I threw several combinations toward her and parted my lips.
“Utilise your Wind Ki Nature to speed up your movements. Wrap multiple currents around your body within your cloak and maintain them until you’re ready to explode. Power can be drastically increased with well-timed counters.”
“...Yes.”
The blade of my foot aimed for her calve, but she twisted her shin outward and performed a successful check.
“Good, but where’s the counter? Abandon whatever preset patterns you know and learn to adapt. Use whatever is at your disposal, including stealth and poison.”
“...”
The pace of the spar increased.
Reaver 1’s fist struck my ribs, targeting the same spot with new efficiency. I responded with a counter, but she dashed past it with wind-enhanced speed. She followed up with a barrage of punches that I blocked.
“Good. Feint and weaken the same spot. Break the enemy down in a methodological manner. Ki Stages are not everything in combat. Ki Armour only increases defence, so it can be weakened in the same way as any other armour.
If your power is lacking, empower it with your Ki Nature instead. If that’s still not enough, then transmute more of your Ki into Elemental Ki to make up for the deficit, but never lose track of your Ki Reserves. If the gap is too big, then retreat and analyse.”
“...Yes.”
Reaver 1 parried away the next combination and returned with a wind-empowered punch that stopped right in front of my chin.
“...”
I peered down at the faint blue fist. She retracted it, placed it against her open palm and bowed before both arms vanished underneath her cloak once more.
“Thanks...”
[The title ‘Ruthless Tunnelmen Teacher’ has evolved.]
[Title: Extreme Ruthless Tunnelmen Teacher (+15)
Effect: Teaching dungeon monsters drastically increases all of their physical attributes. However, their anger and rage will be directed toward you with no room for negotiation.
• As an instructor, you can force those trained underneath you to fight you at full force.
• As an instructor, your teachings encourage independent thinking and growth.
• As an instructor, your pupils can develop into capable teachers themselves.
• The deeper your bond with the dungeon monster(s), the more additional bonuses will be applied.
• Training additional dungeon monsters evolves this title.]
The Reavers were trash at hand-to-hand combat once they had been disarmed. Without their sword, their Style couldn’t be used, and their movement speed also decreased.
‘Killing them wasn’t enough at all.’
Reaver 1 continued practising what I taught her alone. Her strikes sharpened further, and when she finally drew her thin blade, the whole cave shook from her rising growth.
‘So I’ll train one of them up to be of use to me.’
The corners of my mouth rose at the thought of the potential improvement I would gain.
“...You are ready for the next step.”
“I know.”
I narrowed my eyes, noting that the accuracy of my Ki-sensing abilities were lacking. I could tell that Reaver 1 was at Monzen, but that’s all I could grasp.
“You... are above your current Ki Stage.”
“Not in the way I want. Now let’s move.”
Practical training took place once the entire Floor was cleared. Theoretical training took place while I massacred everything that breathed. This format allowed Reaver 1 to see multiple applications of what she was learning.
I walked off, and we reached the 9th Floor through a stairway at the end of the grassy area.