Roy looked around the undamaged cave before taking a deep breath. Jaimie quickly followed him after standing in surprise at Roy’s attack.

“Wow, that fireball is just always so cool.” He then whispered. “So bright...”

Roy shrugged his shoulders, “You wanna fight the next ones?”

“Yeah, let me fight them alone,” Jaimie nodded.

Roy smiled before standing up and walking deeper into the cave, while Jaimie followed right after him. After a couple of minutes, they found another pair of grey wolves.

Jaimie unsheathed his dagger before merging with the darkness. Roy had to strain his eyes to follow the young boy’s barely perceivable silhouette. Jaimie ran toward the two wolves that were surprised and confused by his disappearance. With fast and long strides, he scaled the walls of the cave before pouncing at one of the wolves.

“Awoo!” The wolf yelped as Jaimie stabbed it through the nape. With one quick yank, he slashed through the arteries and blood splurted all over his face. He then immediately kicked the other wolf’s snout before taking out his dagger from its flesh sheath.

Again, his figure blended with the surroundings like a chameleon. The confused wolf looked around to try and find the young boy, but it could not. After a few seconds of pure horror, Jaimie cut the suspense short and slashed off the beast’s carotid.

“Scary shit,” Roy clapped as he walked toward Jaimie.

The young boy looked at Roy with eyes that sought approval, “Did I do good?”

Looking at the young boy’s behavior, Roy shook his head before scratching Jaimie’s hair, “Yes, you did.”

“Hehehe.” While the young boy was laughing, Roy took a clean piece of his shirt and cleaned Jaimie’s face of all the blood. The two then continued through the ever-tightening cave. After a few more runs with different pairs of grey wolves, they reached the section where blue crystals illuminated the space around them.

With a new source of light, Roy no longer needed to keep his small fireball activated. Even though it didn’t take much mana, it was still a cost that accumulated.

After walking for a bit more, they finally encountered the pack of five wolves. As with his last dungeon clear, the pack was led by a black wolf that was bigger and meaner looking than the rest.

Roy looked at Jaimie before gesturing toward the black wolf with his head, “You take care of that one. I’ll kill the rest.”

Jaimie nodded before stepping back and disappearing among the shadows. Roy unsheathed his black longsword before looking at his blade with a smile, “Been a while since I used you.”

The wolves were confused at first by the vanishing of Jaimie, but they quickly regained their cold and ferocious look. They slowly circled around Roy to try and surround him.

“As if I’m going to let you do that,” Roy pounced at the rightmost wolf with a speed that left it flabbergasted. Just as it opened its jaws to bite at the incoming Roy, the young man shoved his sword through its throat.

He then immediately took his weapon and pushed the body of the beast to the wolf that was behind it. In a fluid movement, Roy started conjuring a fireball on his left hand while jumping at the wolf behind the one he had just killed. Before it could regain its balance, Roy stabbed it through the nape twice.

“Awoo!”

A grey wolf saw an opportunity to pounce at Roy’s unprotected side. However, just as it was about to bite him, the young man quickly turned and shoved the fireball in his hand inside the mouth of the beast.

Boom!

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The wolf’s body burst with rays of flames. Roy took his hand out of the beast’s jaws as soon as he could, but he was too late. His palm was burned by his own spell.

As for the body of the beast, it was shredded into large and small pieces, while a shower of guts and blood rained over Roy.

As the young man was still feeling the pain and tending to his wound, the large black wolf finally took action. Its body grew in size and lit up with a silvery aura. Within a second, it reached in front of Roy, ready to swipe the flesh from his bones with its claws.

Just as its paw was about to reach Roy’s face, its speed reduced and and it went limp on the young man’s torso. While the beast's claws did cut the young man’s skin and made him bleed, the price was its life. Jaimie had plunged his dagger through the beast’s neck.

The alpha wolf gurgled in front of Roy before falling and thrashing on the ground. However, neither Roy nor Jaimie had the luxury to watch as life disappeared from the black wolf’s eyes. They were more concerned about the two wolves that were left.

The two grey beasts had fear in their eyes, but just as they were about to run away, something switched in their brains. Their expressions froze before morphing into ones of pure rage.

“Awoo!” They howled and screamed as they ran toward Roy and Jaimie with all their strength. However, all of that effort was for naught. While Roy’s left hand was slightly burned, his main one was still intact.

Jaimie ran to the shadows while Roy gracefully sidestepped the wolves’ attacks. Before one of the wolves could regain its footing, Roy dashed in and plunged his sword through its guts. The other wolf did not hesitate after its kin’s death and immediately jumped at Roy with open jaws.

The young man took his sword out from the first wolf’s flesh before jumping back. As the last wolf tried to bite him, Roy kept dodging. After a few more tries, he finally found his bearing and utilized the opportunities presented in front of him.

After dodging one last bite, Roy shoved the tip of his blade through the side of the beast’s neck and out of its nape. After a few seconds, Roy took out his sword with a surge of blood. The wolf dropped dead on the ground, marking the end of their pack.

“Damn, didn’t have the time to help,” Jaimie jumped out of the shadows of the chamber.

Roy shook his head, “It’s alright, save your breath for the next one.”

They walked through the now large cave before they reached another chamber. Again, they found a pack of five wolves led by an alpha black one.

This time, Roy did not waste any time. He immediately conjured a fireball and threw it at the beasts while they were still grouped in the same place. The wolves tried to jump out of the spell’s way, but they were too slow.

With a massive explosion, the fireball grew in size and engulfed the pack of wolves. From the blazing flames, only the alpha wolf could jump out with wounds all over its body. Its face was disfigured and its flesh and bones peered through its burned skin and hide.

However, before it could howl or even gain its footing, Jaimie pounced at the beast and slashed off its neck.

Roy scratched his chin with an interested look on his face, “Hmm, I should have done this from the start.”

Jaimie looked at Roy with concern, “Can you use that spell all the time?”

Roy looked up in thought, “I still have a bit more than half my mana. We should be alright against the big bad wolf.”

Jaimie nodded silently before looking around the chamber for the way forward. Roy walked toward the young boy and tapped his shoulder.

“It’s there,” he pointed beyond the raging wall of flames. There was a small passage that led to the boss’s chambers. Roy carried Jaimie before jumping across the fire.

After entering the dark cave, they spent ten minutes walking through it and killing the ten wolves inside. The crystals then brought back light to their dark tunnel and showed them the giant wooden door that was awaiting them. This was the boss's room.

“So… the big wolf is inside?” Jaimie looked at Roy and asked.

“Yeah,” Roy nodded. “When we go inside, let me battle with it first. You just fight it from the side, go in and go out, okay?”

Jaimie nodded, “Yeah, I understand.”

“After we fight it for a bit and it’s properly wounded, it’s going to use its aura and grow big,” Roy continued. “When it does that, I noticed it stays in its place for like half a second. I’m gonna use that time to blast its face with a fireball.”

With their plan set, Roy opened the wooden doors to find the same giant room with the same crack in its roof. The moonlight shone on the same spot.

This place is frozen in time.

Roy’s thoughts couldn’t help but take the better of him. While he didn’t underestimate the giant wolf, he was now much stronger than yesterday. He had already killed multiple blue ogres this morning, and all of them were stronger than the dungeon boss.

While the giant black and white wolf made its appearance, Roy’s eyes were fixated on the back of the room. On the wall behind the wolf was a large painting. Even though that part of the room was dark, Roy could still make out that it was a portrait of a woman, with the whitest eyes he had ever seen.