As Matthew crossed the threshold of the gate, he was immediately met with a blazing sun beating down onto him.

He now stood within a large rocky canyon. The sides of the walls provided an area of shade from the burning sun.

The air was hot and dry; it nearly immediately caused Matthew's skin to burst into sweat.

Matthew stepped into the shade for any reprieve from the sun's rays as he opened his hand as the Horn of Heaven appeared in his palm.

He blew the horn as a low rumble echoed off the canyon walls. Matthew concentrated on the golden forms of the two angelic figures he had summoned to aid in the dungeon break.

A moment later a pair of golden forms appeared before him. Glistening armor began to wrap around the shining silhouettes.

The two angelic forms now stood before him, both grasping a shining blade in their hands.

The faces of the figures were non-existent, just a simply pane of yellow light. Regardless, Matthew could still feel their attention focused on him.

"Alright so I have a bit of a special task for the two of you," Matthew began.

The figured stood at a attention and bowed their heads, awaiting the instructions.

"Search the area for a child-" Matthew stopped as the two figures tilted their head's slightly, like a curious puppy. "-it's like me but small-" the figures stood at attention once more. "Once you find them do not harm them. Kill any magic beasts around them and any creatures that tries to harm them. Once you find them, notify me and take them back here as quickly, and safely, as you can. Understood?"

The two figures bowed their heads.

"Now go. Quickly."

As soon as the words left Matthew's mouth, the two golden forms shot off in opposite directions.

Matthew saw nothing more then golden streaks of light as the two warriors disappeared from view.

With that, Matthew shot forward in the direction opposite of his two warriors of light.

As Matthew ran, a question crossed over his mind: what rank was the gate?

It was unlikely the gate had been any higher then C-rank, although, if it were any higher it would be trouble.

Matthew had faith in his own combat ability to fend off a few magic beasts, he could assume that the child he was looking for did not.

Matthew ran through the expanses of boulders and canyon-paths until his he heard something. It was simply the clatter of rocks at first. Then it got louder and more violent.

Just as Matthew turned towards the sound, he was met with a large rock, nearly half his size, hurling towards him.

He quickly held up the pole of his spear to brace against the boulder as its weight slammed into him.

The golden pendant around his neck began to glow as the rock impacted him. It felt as if the force of the blow had been partially dispersed, although not enough for Matthew to not be sent tumbling backwards.

[HP: 245/245 > 230/245]

Matthew quickly reoriented himself and glared where the rock had came from. It was then that he saw three scaled figures emerging from a ledge on the side of the canyon walls.

They were humanoid creatures with brown and black scales instead of skin. Their bodies were well built and muscular, looking like a human body builder.

Each wielded clubs mainly made of stone, although the lizard man in the center wore a skull for a helm and bones of various creatures for armor.

"I don't have time for lizardmen." Matthew groaned as he shot forward towards the ledge.

In reality, he was actually glad it was just a D-rank monster like lizardmen. Even the chief's weren't all to special outside of strength.

Matthew leaped onto a boulder on the ground before jumping from it to get to the lizardmen's position.

As Matthew landed, one of the lizardmen swung down with its club, which the hunter easily dodged as he swung up with the tip of his spear.

The head of the spear cut upwards across the magic beast's bare chest, spraying blood from the wound and causing the lizardman to stumble backwards and fall limp on the floor.

Matthew then turned and jammed the butt of his spear into the chest of the lizardman behind him as it began to raise its club.

The lizardman was cast off its feet to fall from the edge of the canyon and onto the myriad of rocks below.

Matthew heard a vicious snarl from his side as the armored lizardmen lunged at him with mist greater speed then the others had.

Nonetheless, Matthew jumped away from the flailing club but not before leaving a golden spot on the ground where he was standing.

[MP: 98/98 > 78/98]

The club struck nothing but stone as the armored lizardman snarled. They took a step forward towards Matthew, but it made no more then a step when several spears of light thrust from the ground, skewering the lizardman instantly.

A second later the spears shattered and the corpse dropped to the floor.

Matthew glanced at his MP, then at the limp lizardman that was now more 'hole' then either 'lizard' or 'man'.

"May have overdid it." He mumbled to himself.

Then, in the relative silence of the canyon, Matthew heard crying.

Matthew turned towards the sound only to be met with the dark maw of a cave.

Then he heard the sobs again. It was definitely coming from the cave.

Matthew thought of the two warriors of light he had summoned earlier. He felt his mind latch to them; he could sense them across the canyon, although he couldn't tell specifically where they were. Regardless, he called them to his position. Immediately, he could sense their movement as they made their way towards him.

Another sob came from the cave.

Matthew broke his connection to the warriors as he tightened the grip on his spear and shot forward into the cave.

As expected, the cave was dark, but not blindingly so. Although it still caused difficulty to navigate.

Matthew could still hear the echoing of sobs bouncing off the stone walls. However now he could hear the sounds of light hissing and heavy steps.

Suddenly, the hair on the back of Matthew's neck stood on end as he quickly leaped to the side just as he heard a loud crack where he had been standing.

Matthew looked back to see the faint silhouette of another lizardman snarling in his direction.

Matthew wasted no time in shooting forward and impaling the lizardman through the chest with his spear.

Suddenly, Matthew leaned backwards just in time to dodge a dart as it grazed his forhead. Regardless the feeling of danger persisted as he suddenly felt pain in his leg, then again in his shoulder.

[HP: 230/245 > 224/245]

[You have been poisoned by 'Lizardman Ambusher']

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

[Strength has been temporarily reduced by 6]

[Strength: 42 > 36]

Matthew quickly darted behind a large rock in the cave as several more poisonous darts flew inches away from him.

He quickly caught a glance of a skinnier lizardman as he ran and thrust his spear forward, firing off its tip which implanted into the magic beast's chest before exploding into shards of metal.

The small lizardman let out a faint squeal as it fell in a bloody heap as several scared squeals let out from the near-hidden lizardman.

Matthew immediately turned towards the sounds of fear and shot forward while holding out his arm.

He grabbed the snout of the lizardman before slamming them down into the stone. The lizard man's skull cracked against the floor as its body fell limp.

Suddenly another dart flew into Matthew's arm.

[HP: 224/245 > 221/245]

[You have been poisoned by 'Lizardman Ambusher']

[Strength has been temporarily reduced by 3]

[Strength: 36 > 33]

Matthew grit his teeth as he lunged forward to impale the last ambusher straight through the neck.

Matthew took a moment to breathe as he put a hand to the small wounds in his body.

[MP: 78/98 > 72/98]

[HP: 221/245 > 245/245]

[Poison neutralized due to 'Healing Hands']

[Strength: 33 > 42]

Matthew glanced at his hands as the glow from them faded. "Note: Healing Hands cures poison." He mumbled before continuing deeper into the cave.

As he crept deeper into the cavern, he heard something other then sobbing, or the skittered of lizardmen in the dark corners of the cavern. He heard chanting. At least, that's what he thought it was. It was still roars and squeals of lizardmen, but now it was rhythmic. It was almost like they were singing.

Faint light began to aluminate an area of the cave just beyond Matthew's field of view.

However, as he took a bend in the cavern's path, the space opened up with torchlight as the chanting of lizardmen reached its peak.

The cavern opened up to something that almost looked like an arena.

A large platform, nearly 60 foot across, stood in the center of the cavern. On either side of the platform, after a crevice that seemed to dropped infinitely downward, were a set of stone steps housing several lizardmen of various sizes all chanting in their own primal language.

At the other end of the platform was a large crude iron portcullis beyond which seemed nothing more then a black void.

In the center of the stoney platform was a young child. He didn't seem horribly wounded, although he wasn't without scrapped skin and dirt and sand matting almost the entirety of their clothes.

Around him stood four lizardmen. Each creature wore a set of dark green robes with a mix of bones and tribal markings on them.

Suddenly, the chanting of the lizardmen came to a halt when the head of a spear burst from one of the robed lizardmen's chest.

Mathew grasped his spear and swung it away, tossing the lizardmen away into the crevice between the platform and stone steps.

Several lizardmen in the steps shouted and drew their weapons; a variety of stone spears and clubs. Many of the stronger lizardmen simply leaped across the gap to charge at the hunter while others threw spears or blew poisonous darts.

Matthew quickly ducked and weaved under the projectiles as he charged another robed lizardman.

The magic beast cast out its hand as it began to glow a bright gold, however Matthew simply vaulted over the figure, leaving a blot of light on the ground where he had jumped.

He then swung down with his spear at a charging lizardman warrior as a golden spear impaled the robes figure behind him.

[MP: 72/98 > 67/98]

Matthew was quickly forced to dodge to the side as a stone javelin planted itself where he had been standing.

Matthew cut across another lizardmen as he suddenly felt a light prick on the back of his leg.

[HP: 245/245 > 242/245]

[You have been poisoned by 'Lizardman Ambusher']

[Strength has been temporarily reduced by 3]

[Strength: 42 > 39]

Matthew cursed under his breath as he turned towards one of the stony steps. He began to run towards it when his eyes wandered to the child cowering in the center of the platform.

He saw one of the robed figures approach him and produce a crooked dagger from its robe.

Matthew suddenly stopped and hurled his spear at the lizardmen. Like those before, the spearhead ran straight through its unarmored torso.

He dashed forward to retrieve his spear, but not before taking another dart to the side.

[HP: 242/245 > 239/245]

[You have been poisoned by 'Lizardman Ambusher']

[Strength has been temporarily reduced by 3]

[Strength: 39 > 36]

Matthew ducked under a club swing as he reached the dead lizardman and pryed his spear from its corpse before knocking away a javelin that flew towards his head.

Three more darts stuck into his back.

[HP: 239/245 > 230/245]

[You have been poisoned by 'Lizardman Ambusher']

[Strength has been temporarily reduced by 9]

[Strength: 36 > 25]

Matthew stepped back as another dart grazed his neck.

He held up his spear at a swinging club. He tried to plant his feet to the ground but was still forced back from the force of the blow.

Matthew gritted his teeth as he knocked away a javelin only for a club to slam into his ribs, sending him tumbling to the floor.

[HP: 230/245 > 220/245]

Matthew quickly flipped to his feet as a club slammed down where he had landed, now replaced with another blot of light.

A second later a spear impaled the lizardmen, dropping them to the floor.

[MP: 67/98 > 62/98]

Suddenly, a javelin shot into Matthew's leg, causing him to fall to a knee as he let out a grunt of pain.

[HP: 220/245 > 200/245]

Matthew pulled the weapon from his leg just as he saw a lizardmen raising a club above his head.

The magic beast was about to bring it down when it was suddenly bisected by a silvery blade.

From the corner of his eye, Matthew could see another golden blur cutting their way through the lizardman on one of the steps.

Matthew looked up to the radiant warrior before him before gesturing to the other set of stone steps. "Kill them, after that return here and defend the child."

The warrior nodded before disappearing in a blur to cut through the other lizardmen.

Matthew finally got to his feat, no longer worrying about the random darts and javelins hurling in his direction.

He put a glowing hand to his chest as he felt his strength come back to him.

[MP: 62/98 > 50/98]

[HP: 200/245 > 245/245]

[Poison neutralized due to 'Healing Hands']

[Strength: 25 > 42]

With a new surge of vigor, Matthew quickly hacked apart two other lizardmen as they approached. However his slaughter came to a halt when he saw the final robed lizardmen holding up the child and brandishing a dagger similar to the one before.

Matthew was about to throw his spear when the lizardmen locked eyes with him and held the dagger to the whimpering child's chest.

Matthew froze for a brief moment as he wordlessly ordered one of his warriors towards the robed lizardman.

Suddenly, the lizardman brought the dagger down just as its head was flung from its shoulders.

Regardless, the dagger stuck into the chest of the child. He let out a chilling scream as he fell to the ground alongside the corpse of the lizardmen.

Matthew quickly ran towards the child and gently pulled the dagger from his wound before pouring mana into his hands and holding it to the wound. The wound quickly closed itself, but the child still looked pale from the sudden flood of pain.

[MP: 50/98 > 45/98]

Suddenly, Matthew noticed the blood that had spilled from the child begin to flow towards the iron portcullis. It was as if gravity was pulling it sideways rather then down.

As soon as even a drop of blood struck the large iron barrier, it rusted and fell.

That's when Matthew heard rhythmic rumbles echo through the cavern. The footsteps of something much larger then a human echoed from the void beyond the portcullis.

Matthew gestured to one of his warriors of faith, then to the child in his arms. "Take him to the entrance of the cave. Don't let him out of your sight. And protect him."

The soldier nodded before taking the child and leaving in a blur.

Then Matthew turned towards the source of the rumbling just as it emerged.

The beast was nearly 15 foot tall and nearly 30 feet long, from its snout to its tail.

It stood on its two hind legs, although it was mainly for the fact that its two arms were extremely small for its size.

The beast had brown scales that layered over its entire body with two stubby horns that stuck just above it's oddly small eyes.

Matthew's eyes widened. "Is that a dinosaur?" He said as the dino let out a deafening roar through the cavern as its scales took on a shade of crimson.

[Carnotaurus has used 'Frenzy']

[All of the Carnotaurus's have temporarily increased by 20%]

"Of course." Matthew mumbled as he ordered his warrior of light forward and pulled out the Horn of Heaven and blew it.

Matthew, along with the golden soldier beside him, began to radiate with divine light.

[Your strength has temporarily increased due to the Horn of Heaven's effects]

[Strength: 42 > 63]

Matthew cracked a smirk as he readied himself against the dinosaur.

In unison, both him and the angelic warrior shot forward. The glowing warrior cut across the dinosaur's leg before flapping its wings to fly above a sweep of the beast's tail.

Matthew dodged a bite from the Carno before spinning his spear upwards and making a large slash across its jaw, sending the dino stumbling backwards only for another gash to cut across its back.

The Carno spun around, snapping its jaws at the flying warrior as they weaved around the beast's vision.

Matthew leaped up above the swinging tail to then impale his spear in the dinosaur's side.

The Carno let out a roar as another slash appeared across one of its eyes, courtesy of the flying warrior.

The Dino stumbled to the side before slamming itself against a wall, right where Matthew hung from its side.

For a brief moment, Matthew felt himself get crushed. The amulet around his neck glowed brighter as if taking in some of the pressure.

[HP: 245/245 > 195/245]

With a slight grunt, Matthew put a hand against the wall as he pushed against the Carno's body, keeping himself from getting crushed completely.

A section of the wall began to glow as Matthew poured mana into it.

[MP: 50/98 > 30/98]

A second later several spears of light shot from the wall, impaling themselves on the creature's side.

The Carno suddenly shot away from the wall at the sudden pain. It turned towards the spears protruding from the wall and roared, only for another gash to appear across one of its legs from the flying warrior.

The Carno dropped to one knee, nearly falling over completely. It looked up towards where the spear-wielding man has been before, only to notice them leaping towards them, it's spear raised above its head. Then the Carno felt a sharp pain in its head as the spear pierced its skull. Then, it felt nothing at all.

[Leveled-Up]

Matthew grinned as he pulled his spear from the bosses head before looking to the angelic figure alongside him. "Let's get back to the entrance. I'm sure that mother is still crying about her child."