Noah stood panting at the end of the jungle cave. All the monsters were dead, and he had the wounds to match the brutal fight.

There were more monsters than he anticipated, but thankfully he was able to make use of the environment to his advantage. Whether that was the dark shadows in the recesses of the cave on either side of the light, or using the trees as a wall he could counter-attack from.

You defeated a - Level 49 Spectral Fang.

…

You defeated a - Level 47 Fungal Warrior.

| Extra experience gained from fighting a higher levelled monster!

You have Levelled up!

| Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 46 -> Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 49

Krall, the Scourge of the Jungle has levelled up.

| Krall level 46 -> Krall level 49

Checking the progress he was making, it was enough to fuel his tired mind forward. Just a little more. But although he had the motivation to keep going, his body needed rest.

If he forged on regardless of how tired his mind and body was becoming, mistakes were inevitable. And he couldn’t afford them. So many times during the fights he just experienced, he could have easily been sliced apart by claws. If his attention wavered, he would have lost limbs, or worse.

So Noah sat down, and regulated his breathing. Then, he breathed in the energy of the cave, using it to revitalise his Expansion container.

His stomach grumbled in protest just as he finished a round of Expansion. Patting his core, it was time to eat something.

Noah ruffled through his bag until he found what he was looking for. A can of meat. It was a mystery what it was, but he didn’t care. He didn’t mind when he was picking food out of a bin back home in the streets, and he didn’t care now. To Noah, food was food.

He just needed the nutrition it provided. The energy. The taste was just a bonus, or a mild inconvenience. Unless it was a Common health potion. Noah shuddered at the memory. He clicked his tongue, as if he could still taste it today.

Peeling back the lid of the tin, it seemed to be the same type of meat that he had consumed before near the village. It was tasty. Mouth watering, he dug into the tin, plucking out morsels of meat, and chomping into them. Soft, they melted in his mouth.

It wasn’t long before he finished the entire tin and tucked it back into his backpack. Littering was bad. So he believed as he soon found himself in front of another set of doors located at the back of the cave.

Unlike the ones he had entered, there was no snake coiling around the handle. Instead, a lion's head carved from some kind of hard stone was placed in the middle. It was split in two, presumably so that the door could open along with it.

Is the next room going to be a desert or something? Noah tilted his head in thought. If the snake meant that the room was going to be a jungle, then it only made sense that a lion was a desert.

He recalled some of his classmates arguing about it one day. Lion, the king of the jungle. Yet, it didn’t live in a jungle, rather, it resided within the desert.

Not sure what to expect, Noah was about to open the door, but a shake from his back caused him to jump in shock. Something within his bag thrashed form side-to-side, and it wasn’t weak either.

Fearing that whatever had crawled in his back was about to eat its way out and tear into his flesh, he threw the back off of himself. Brandishing his spear, he pointed it at the bag. Something within cracked, then sounded like the something was splitting. Like an eggshell…

Noah’s eyes widened, and while remaining cautious, he approached the bag. With his spear, he peeled the opening wider so that he could see. Then it jumped. He was expecting it, but it was fast, and with no danger sense arriving from [Beastly Instincts], it scored a direct hit.

And by direct hit, the monster clung to his shirt, claws latched onto him, head pressed against his chest. Ignoring the fact that blood dripped from the new wounds scored into his flesh, he inspected the beast.

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It wasn’t trying to hurt him, instead, it seemed to want his body heat for some reason. It had the head of a wolf but it had bat ears instead of fluffy ones. Thin, boney wings emerged from its back, but unlike its parent, veins of purple gold squirmed beneath its dense fur coat. Its limbs, despite it just being born, were slender with thick corded muscle. The very appearance of the beast resembled a streamlined wolf born for speed.

Wait, is acting as if I'm the parent? To Noah, surprisingly, it wasn’t a worried thought. Rather, it was what he was hoping for.

He just didn’t expect the egg to hatch so soon. He didn’t have any food to give it, well, he did have some.

Noah crouched down and took out some of his food supplies. A few tins, and that left him with two more in his pack. He wasn’t overly concerned about lacking food. One of the tins could last him a week because of how dense it was, and he severely doubted that he would be in here longer than that.

He cracked open the tin and watched how the beast's little wolf nose twitched at the smell. Rearing its head like a bat, which was quite eerie, its nose twitched more violently. Eyes bulging like pearls, it still refused to leave Noah’s body.

So needy. Realising that the monster wouldn’t leave his flesh, which was quite painful, he quickly put the tinned meat to its face. Snap. It ate the whole thing, metal included. It grinded the tin in between its teeth, then swallowed. A small little burp followed.

“So cute.” Noah smiled behind a veil of pain. “Do I need to name it now? And can you let go of my flesh now?”

It didn’t seem to want to let go. Noah realised why. It was draining his blood. At first he didn’t feel it, but he could feel himself weakening. With his current Constitution, it wasn’t anything to worry about, but it was an uncomfortable sensation having something steal his blood. The fact that it was a bat didn’t make it any better, either.

Noah could only endure the strange sensation for a couple more minutes before he forcefully removed the wolf-bat from himself. He ignored the slight pout, and instead, it finished the other tins of meat before finally looking satisfied.

“How about I name you… Gluttony?” Noah crouched down and petted its fur. It was soft.

You have tamed a new monster - Gluttony.

| You are restricted to one tamed monster at a time at your current Class.

| Restriction overwritten.

| Rule: Hub upgraded room - Taming Room Tier 2.

I knew the upgrade would be worth it. Noah smiled in satisfaction. His genius was astonishing.

His new monster wagged its little tail. Then it’s head snapped in a certain direction beyond the jungle leaves. Noah had to strain his eyes to see it, but it was a butterfly the size of his hand.

Gluttony bounded forward like a streak of lightning. It wasn’t too impressive for the current Noah, but considering it had literally just been born, was astonishing. It was many times superior compared to Krall.

Was this the benefit of a strong bloodline? But it wasn’t just the natural speed of Gluttony. It blended into the shadows, using it exactly like Noah would have done, then pounced at its unsuspecting prey. Butterfly in its paws, razor-sharp white teeth crunched down on its body.

You defeated a - Level 14 Fungal Fly.

| Extra experience gained from fighting a higher levelled monster!

Gluttony has levelled up.

| Gluttony Level 1 -> Gluttony Level 2

At the System notification, Noah quickly checked his Stats. If they increased while Gluttony was catching up to him in levels, then that would be a truly huge increase in Stats.

But as he checked, a shining smile emerged. It gave him stats. That meant until Gluttony reached his level, his stats would soar. He would come out of this dungeon an entirely different person. Evolved, in more ways than one.

With a hop in his step, Noah joined Gluttony in his killing. He also realised another piece of vital information: Gluttony was a he.

Around an hour had passed, and Gluttony had transformed beyond Noah’s imagination. Unlike Krall who needed to truly evolve to become larger, or taller, Gluttony was growing at a rapid pace.

Noah assumed it was because it was a baby, and beasts in this world grew faster than usual in order to survive against the threats that wanted to hunt them down. But it was perfect for Noah. At first he was worried, how the hell would he mount it? He was aware that its parent was tall enough to mount into battle, but he was concerned it would take a long time for that to happen.

However, his worries were unfounded. Gluttony was already nearing waist height in just one hour.

He spent another hour making sure that Gluttony understood his role. He was too underleveled and even with the blood of its strong parent, it was just a fledgling. Still weak, it would be killed if he wasn’t careful.

Thankfully, Gluttony seemed smart. And if he wasn’t, then he relied on his powerful instincts to realise that he needed Noah to provide it safety.

Noah noticed another thing about his new tamed monster. Unlike Krall who unwaveringly accepted his every order, Gluttony was more stubborn. He didn’t know it was an age related thing, or if the bloodline was stronger than his own, but it was something he would have to take care of.

Now that they understood each other when it came to battle, it was time to finally head on through to the other door.

Noah pushed the door open and the lion’s head split open. He was expected to see another room, but instead an enormous set of stone stairs travelled down into the abyss, and similarly the other side ascended all the way to the surface.

Grinning, it was time to head on up, and meet Krall.