Noah stood on the beach far away from the rocky outcrop. In the distance to the left, he could see kobolds in the dozens, while on the right at the far side of the beach was a huge group of survivors. Ignoring the survivors, he focused on the monsters. The kobolds weren’t ordinary ones. Either they had recently gone through an evolution, or Lily had severely understated how difficult it had been to infiltrate them.

He was leaning more to the former. Travelling here, he noticed the monsters had Levelled up by quite a lot despite it being near the beach. That meant it wasn’t just the Otherworlders who were growing stronger at an alarming rate.

Plans formed within his mind. He was wary about simply charging in as once he was surrounded, no Level difference would be able to help him. Not at his current strength anyway. Not that he really wanted to do such a foolish plan either, so he waited.

It seemed that the kobolds refused to walk further than the rocky outcrop for some reason, even with the tasty humans in the distance.

Peter, should I use your thesis? Noah nibbled his lip as he gazed out at the waters in front of the rocky outcrop.

Peter had theorised something about monster taming Classes. Would his tamed monster follow him into the dungeon, even if he was a distance away? Peter believed so.

Of course, it wasn’t Peter's life on the line–but his own. If he swam through the waters while Krall took the kobold attention to himself, while Noah snuck inside, it would be worrisome if he was stuck in the dungeon solo.

The only other plan was to lure them into the jungle and kill them one-by-one. However, he wasn’t the only one who knew the cave existed. Lily and the others clearly wanted to gain the reward for themselves. Then there were the elves. Maera held great ambition. There was no way that she would squander an opportunity to further her and her race. Especially as a healer who held a higher chance of success than regular people.

Squatting down and grabbing the sand. He remained silent as Krall simply just stared off into the distance with him.

Noah wouldn’t risk giving up his slice of the pie. Or in his case–all of it. He decided to trust in Peter’s intelligence. It had gotten him so far, after all.

“Attack.” Noah gave the order.

Smiling, Krall sprinted along the beach. Noah also leapt into the water. He made sure to head far in, to the point where it would be difficult for anyone to see him from the beach. And if they did spot him, then it would simply be looking at a floating coconut. He hoped.

Minutes past and Noah heard an intense fight happening from the left side of the rocky outcrop. The waves were quickly stacking up, making it difficult to see what was happening, but he trusted Krall’s battle intent.

There was no way he would give up without giving his all. Noah could feel the crazed battle intent surge within his mind thanks to [Tamer’s Bond].

Grinning, Noah used the momentum of the waves to swim forward. If the swim out had taken fifteen minutes, it took only two to reach the outcrop.

He grabbed hold of the rock at the edge of the water and launched himself out of the water. The other kobolds spotted him, but he sprinted toward the cave’s mouth.

Noah grit his teeth. The adrenaline within his body surged as kobolds growled and hissed from his left, and right. Krall had the majority of them on him, but there were still dozens of them all around like locusts. Beset on all sides, Noah bolted deeper into the cave.

There was a sudden twang of a bow’s strings, followed by a thud against his arm. There was no pain. He didn’t spare it a single second as he continued running.

Jumping from out behind a rocky pillar within the cave, a kobold larger than the rest leapt at him.

Noah sharply inhaled then [Thrust] his spear. It shot into the beast's chest. Ducking under its falling body, Noah leapt down, and rolled on the ground. Arrows rang against the cave walls. He had just narrowly avoided them.

But it wasn’t the only threat. Deeper in the cave, four large kobolds emerged that had armour surrounding their bodies.

Fuck sake. Noah took another breath and sprinted to the left side of the cave where it rose higher than the rest. It was like a hill within the mountain. As he ascended the lip of the hill, he noticed that deeper within the cave–it suddenly turned pitch black. It was more like it had just ended, and that was the end of the world.

Dungeon entrance. Noah’s eyes widened. Lily was telling the truth.

An armoured kobold leapt at him from in front. The air swished and he immediately ducked under a mighty swing.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Noah dipped his shoulder then snapped the empowered spear into the monster's throat. A large hole shot through as Noah returned it.

The other three approached him at high speed as they climbed the hill. However, Noah had no intention of wasting any time. If Krall couldn’t join him, then he had to make his leave as fast as possible. For that, he couldn’t waste any time with these monsters.

Noah sprinted forward. The kobold swung his weapon, but Noah used his higher stats to their advantage. He leapt all the way over the monster and slid down the rest of the hill. What was left of his trousers vanished as the slide had eroded what was left at the back of the trousers.

Ignoring the new air at his backside, he ran forward, then touched the darkness.

You have encountered the dungeon - Kobold’s Underground Fortress.

| The recommended number of people for the dungeon is 5.

| Would you like to enter - Y/N?

It was a different dungeon to the one he had encountered in the mole tunnels. That one was an open dungeon, whereas this was clearly different. It was its own zone. Its own world.

“Yes!” Noah shouted as a kobolds club was incoming directly toward his face. His eyes widened as it threatened to crack open his skull, then darkness took over his vision.

You have entered - Kobold’s Underground Fortress.

Noah tensed, then the moment he heard grunting, he was put at ease. Krall had blood seeping through his new fur. His armoured plates glistened with red, but Noah could tell they were nothing but mere flesh wounds.

Taking a breath of relief. Peter was right. The dungeons accepted Krall as a part of him. They were one, just like his Skill [Monstrous Allegiance] described.

This gives me a lot of time. Focus, don’t die. Noah reminded himself. Now that practically an army of kobolds defended the outside of the dungeon, it meant the others had to fight their way through the wall of scales, and flesh, to enter.

He didn’t know how much time he had exactly, but he just hoped it would be enough.

The inside was a cave like all others, but when he turned, a void of black lay at the entrance like a blanket. First, he wanted to make sure he would be able to leave if he wanted to. The last thing he wanted was for him to be locked inside this place. If the monsters weren’t too strong, then it wouldn’t matter, but if they were, then–Noah shook his head, and reached out his hand.

It felt just like before, although he didn’t have the time to properly feel it. It was just like having his hand buffeted by a strong breeze. It wasn’t cold, nor was it hot, it was just… air.

Would you like to leave - Kobold’s Underground Fortress - Y/N?

No. Noah thought, then turned back around. That was good. It meant if he faced something impossible for him to defeat, then he could return back to the real world to recoup his strength.

Noah headed further within the cave’s tunnel and after only a couple minutes and a turn, he gazed out at wide open land in awe.

It seemed the cave he was in was located on the side of a mountain and in the distance was the fortress. It looked just like a mediaeval fort.

Outside the main fort were what remained of buildings, although they had long turned to ruins. But when he looked closer, he was certain that it wasn’t due to the passing of time. But it was from a battle. A war. Large boulders lay scattered in the ruins alongside thousands of arrows.

However, there were no invaders in sight. No, the entire dungeon was cut off from the world. It was strange. The evidence of the battle seemed to indicate that it was recent.

Noah squatted down at the entrance of the cave as he listened to the distant hissing of kobolds. Such a structure didn’t make sense based on the location that they were at–underneath the ocean.

It meant that it was taken from someplace else. It was vastly different from Ubos–the world where the Otherworlders first entered. There, the closed dungeons like this were built from the original world. Although it was cut off from the outside, it was still the same place. It was just sectioned off.

But this area seemed to be completely picked up, then shoved here from another world entirely.

Was it to make it more interesting for the sponsors? Noah couldn’t help but think that was the reason. For instance on Earth, if one was to enter a cave, it would just be boring. There wouldn’t be an enormous fort underground, that is.

His guess was that whoever created this place, added these otherworld dungeons to fill up the gaps. There were the original dungeons like the mole cave, then this.

Nodding at his own conclusion, Noah mounted Krall then headed down the slope. He couldn’t help but admire the walls of the expansive cavern. It looked like they were excavated by alien tech. The surface was smooth–unlike what rock was meant to be.

However, not all of it was like that. It reached up around forty metres before it turned into what a cave should look like. It travelled all the way up, as if he was standing within a hollowed out mountain.

Noah focused on stealth. He didn’t want the monsters here to know of his location. If they were all congregated within the fortress, then that meant they would send out search parties in waves to find him.

If the monsters didn’t manage to rip him apart, then exhaustion definitely would. Thanks to his stealth Skills, Krall’s footsteps were a minor issue. They were quiet enough to make sure that they wouldn’t at the very least resound through the forest he had just entered.

He remained vigilant, but it seemed there weren't many monsters around. Or more accurately–Kobolds. It was what the dungeon was all about, after all.

It wasn’t long before he finally encountered his first enemy. High up in the trees, a sound of something gently rustling against leaves notified him of its presence.

Noah activated [Shadowed Presence] and skulked forward, behind a dense bush. Eyes prying through the foliage, he saw a green, and black humanoid lizard up in the trees. It had a bow in hand, and a horn attached to its belt by a piece of thread.

It was a scout. The horn was most likely used to notify the others of any intruders.

Without so much as taking a breath, he brandished his bow, then nocked back the string. He activated [Power Shot]