I had to be careful with the element of surprise.

I could take out one of the Brutes before any of the other beasts noticed the killings, that would allow me to then take on the Elites. They would not be going down as easily as the Elites on patrol. Each boss Elite had a defensive spell cast onto them, which would take quite a pounding from my basic level attacks.

The defenses just from the Shaman being there was more than enough to cause pressure. If I was with a team, it wouldn't be an issue. The variety that others would allow, especially warriors, would let me fight the Shaman one on one.

With the Satyr Shamans' focus on tribal magic, its abilities were far more focused on being the backline supporter. It had no spells that would be able to fight me, beyond some weak aura magic. Those spells would slightly decrease my abilities with mana regeneration and output.

Its sole attack spell was basically useless against any mage.

Now I would be facing those abilities and their spells to increase the other creatures' physical power around the camp.

I wasn't looking forward to fighting an empowered Brute. Who knows if the Horn would even be able to cause fatal damage to it.

It would be best if I could take out the Shaman first, yet its shielding at the moment was top notch for its class. The tree granted enough defensive strength while the Shaman was near it to negate any damage I could cause. Even the Horn might not have the strength to strike a deathblow.

I was at a loss. Resorting to the items I had bought was always tempting in the back of my mind. It would be so easy to use those items to defeat the fifth-floor boss a few times. Get all the pieces I would need to build the Ram Shaman armor. With that as proof, it would be a breeze to get the academy to notice me.

It was a guaranteed drop on that floor as well. One piece of either the Rams Warrior armor or Shaman armor was guaranteed to drop at all times. It would only take a few runs.

No. I couldn't do that. I still had plenty of time to get the attention of the academy in other ways. However, they may be.

I would have to leave all but one of the defensive items behind the next time I entered. I wasn't strong-willed enough to avoid the temptation day after day. The only thing to do would be to get rid of them altogether.

It wouldn't help me one bit if I didn't have proper control over my magic. It was only a path to ruin.

I had more power running through my veins than I ever before. My control skills would be able to keep up. I was sure. All it would take is practice. Something I wouldn't get blasting through the floors with careless abandon.

I knew there would be a time where I would have to rely on my enchantments to fight on even footing with the academy's talents.

That was unless I discovered some lost school of neutral magic, which I considered unlikely.

I had to focus on the fight ahead of me for the moment. I was only lucky the area between the camp and the rest of the caves wasn't a place where any Satry could enter without first being attacked.

I should spend less time in contemplation and more time fighting in the future.

I would be able to take out the Elites very quickly if I changed the Shamans focus to the brutes. In turn, I would be able to weather a few blows from the Brutes with my defensive enchantment, which would allow me to take on the Shaman while it was fortifying the Brutes.

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I would be left with empowered Brutes and some Elites to deal with.

The Elites would go down easy enough with the protection from the Shaman gone. Then I would just have to wait for the spell on the Brutes to fade to take them out with Horn.

A straight forward plan. Nothing should go wrong.

Of course, men plan, and the heavens laugh. The fight went far worse than I expected. I managed to take out the elites, but not before one of them managed to get a shot off with their reed pipe, paralyzing one of my legs for few seconds. That made getting away from the Brutes while they pulverized my shields incredibly tricky, the Shaman was the easiest thing in the entire camp despite it all. The second it focused on reinforcing the Brutes, it was easy to get a few shots off that took it out of the fight.

I was left facing the brutes. Both of which were empowered thanks to the Shaman.

I was quickly proven right with my guess that the Horn wouldn't be able to do anything more than surface damage. While I didn't manage to kill the beasts straight up, I did blind one of the creatures.

The Horn then got stuck in its skull, which unsurprisingly only enraged it further.

Luckily it decided to swing around in its impotent rage, hitting the other Brute in the process. with its increased power, it managed to knock the other Brute to the ground. Unfortunately for me, all that managed was to anger it a little more.

It then decided to use one of its new abilities. The roar nearly took me from the fight right there and then. The only reason I survived was the blindness of the other Brute stopped it from attacking.

The Brute prepared for a charge. Blowing heavily from its nostrils, it decided to use its other ability, Rampage, which was used by the beast to a deadly effect. Coupled with the boosts from the Shamans spell, its capabilities pushed far beyond the level I would be able to damage.

There was only one thing for it, dodge as much as I could for as long as I could.

In a moment of inspiration, I managed to use some neutral spells to increase my maneuvrability, much as the first legacy taught. A more advanced use of mana hand. By having a few at a go, turning them corporeal, and letting them be used as stepping stones for you to be able to move through the air.

It was surprisingly fun, only detracted by the murderous beasts that were surrounding me.

The blind Satyr actually proved pretty useful. It was still trying to find me to attack. Since the other Brute was the only one making noise now, it was kind enough to attack the enraged Brute.

The rampaging brute somehow had enough sense not to fight back against the beast. Beyond that, though, it didn't even try to move further away from the blinded creature. Seemingly forgetting each shove after it happened. It just continued to stare at me in outrage as I moved around the room. Spending quite a large amount of mana in the process.

The intelligence of the lower creatures in the Dungeon was really something to behold.

Once my leg's paralysis wore off, it was even easier to move away, as I didn't have to enhance my body to carry around the dead weight.

The Shamans spells ran out soon after, allowing me to retake control of the Horn and finishing them both off in turn.

It had been a far too close a call. Had there been even one mistake on my part, I would have been put in a much worse situation.

That luckily hadn't happened, so I was left alive and awaiting what gifts the Dungeon would be kind enough to give me. I also made a resolution not to attempt the Dungeon again without a team. Sure, that had been my plan anyway, but now it had become far more critical in my mind.

The Dungeon only gifted my coins and a reed pipe worthless in the outside world due to the supply far outweighing the demand.

I could perform as many solo attempts as I wanted, but each new floor should be attempted with a group at first from now on.

Once I advanced to JourneyMage, I might be able to blast through the first few floors with ease by myself, but until that point, I was still far too squishy. It was not worth risking my life on each new floor just yet.

Dungeoneering had always been described as fighting with your life forever in the balance. I couldn't allow that. I still had too much to live for to meet my end down here. I had to have the odds stacked heavily in my favour.

The Dungeon once again was far easier to leave than it was to venture down, the guards nodding as I went past.

The streets were filled with life as I went back to the house I grew up in. I was tempted to just leave. I had enough money to pay for a room in an inn until the entrance exam.

Yet, some small part of me believed I could redeem my father. I had come back to a life which I had thought would have been impossible. Surely I could work with him. If I could change that, then surely that in itself would be worth it. I would have to save him from himself, and I knew he certainly didn't deserve it from his actions in my past life, yet he was still my flesh and blood.

I had to try. Even though I was sure, I knew what the result would be.

Now I would just have to find out if he was home.