Greo was stunned by what he had just heard. He was so sure that the rest of them might be somewhere in this dungeon. But then, the dungeon’s master told him he was the only one who had been dropped here.

The feeling of despair, anxiety, and great concern washed over him.

“I’m… the only one here…?”

Now, he has no idea what to do. He doesn’t even know if he’ll be able to get out of this place alive. Knowing his own strength, he knows that he can only fight off at least seven of the same skeleton that he fought earlier at the same time. Facing a thousand skeletons would be their own kind of hell. If the huge ones were to join the fray, survival—let alone victory—would be impossible.

And now that he took a closer look in front of him, on both sides of the shadowy figure’s throne are what seems to be skeleton mages and behind its throne are two liches, a type of monster who is said to be a master of necromancy, the magic of raising the dead.

If all of these skeletons were to get out of this dungeon…

As Greo mulled over his next move, the shadowy figure spoke. “You… It’s faint but, I can feel multiple familiar mana from you.”

Greo’s uneasiness lessened a little bit.

“W-What do you mean?”

Although he can only see the two glowing eyes of the shadow, he swears that he saw it smile widely.

A chill crawled up Greo’s spine.

“Human. State your name.”

“Greo… Astral…”

“Astral… Hmph. It seems like the wheels of fate have started to move.”

What is he saying…?

“Hear me, human. If you desire to leave this place alive, you shall complete my trial.”

Huh? Greo thought. He’s here worrying about his comrades and yet, the dungeon master wants him to complete his trial. There’s a limit to how annoying things could be.

But…

No matter how angry he was, escaping alive meant completing the trial.

This is not the time to be afraid. I have friends and clients to save! He thought to himself.

Greo clenched his fists and deliberated his situation. First, the only way to get out of this dungeon is by completing his trial. Second, the dungeon master itself might have an idea about what happened aboveground.

He had to be bold. Before taking on the trial, he needed to set his own conditions. Whether this works or not depends on luck.

“Fine then, but on one condition!”

Hmm. His sheer anger alone allowed him to withstand my presence. Impressive. He should be able to unlock his first unique skill should he finish the first trial. The amused dungeon master thought to himself. I might as well hear it.

“How bold of you. Very well. Speak.”

Hearing the dungeon master’s answer gave Greo a little bit of confidence.

“If I complete your trial, you will answer all of my questions.”

“Three.”

“What?”

“Three questions.”

I can’t push my luck any more than this. I’ll take it.

Seeing that he has no choice, he made up his mind and accepted his challenge.

“Fine. I’ll complete your trial!”

*****

The skeletal army shifted, forming a wide circle around Greo—an eerie, bone-clad arena that cut him off from any escape.

This time, a different voice rang out. It was much clearer than the dungeon master’s and carried a distinctly human tone.

“We will now commence the trial of Greo Astral,” the skeleton mage announced. “To earn the mercy of the Undead King, he must complete the five trials set before him.”

The skeleton mage then announced the first trial.

At first glance, it seemed simple—just a battle against three human-sized skeletons. But as Greo scrutinized them, he quickly realized that this was anything but simple. What he saw was a shadow of a seasoned adventurer’s party—they weren’t just any ordinary monsters.

They all moved with purpose and a clear understanding of their role.

At the front stood a skeleton equipped with a massive shield and a short sword—clearly the tank of the party. Behind him, another skeleton, clad in iron knuckles, took a defensive stance, acting as the second line of defense. And at the back, gripping a staff—with a red orb at the tip, was a skeleton mage.

This will be troublesome. Greo thought. He took out both of his daggers from his waist and took a fighting stance. If my guess is correct, that mage is actually a combuster.

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Unlike his usual stance, a reverse grip, edge out on his left dagger, this time, he held them both normally.

The skeleton mage, who announced the start of Greo’s trial, cast an [Earth Bullet] above Greo and the three skeletons and left it hanging mid-air. “Should this stone touch the ground, the match will start.”

As soon as the skeleton mage said that, the stone descended and made a small tink sound when it reached the ground.

Greo immediately cast multiple body enhancing spell. “[Body Enhancement: Speed] [Body Enhancement: Strength]”

He set his sights at the skeleton mage and quickly dashed towards it.

Compared to when he was fighting Randal, his speed this time is three times faster. He should’ve been able to take out the skeleton mage in a split second but…

“What!?”

The skeleton, clad with iron knuckle, appeared in front of him out of nowhere, swinging his fist at him with great force.

Greo was able to halt his advance towards the mage and avoided what seemed to be a fatal punch. The place where Greo once was, has turned into a deep crater.

“Seriously…?” Greo sweats. “I would’ve died if I continued running to that mage…”

As he was recomposing himself, a huge fireball lit up the place.

“Tsk!” Greo clicked his tongue. “[Water Ball!]”

He tried to stop the mage from charging the fireball further by firing a water ball to its direction, but just as he expected, the skeleton tank blocked it with its massive shield.

The skeleton with iron knuckles popped up behind the skeleton tank and rushed towards Greo, closing the distance instantly. It unleashed a relentless barrage of punches. It was too fast to parry alone, so he dodged the rest of it. Its attacks are so fast that it left him with no room to counterattack.

Damn it! I need to do something about that fireball.

The skeleton with iron knuckles stopped its attack and went back behind the skeleton tank. As it got behind the skeleton tank, a singular barrier coated the three of them. The skeleton mage made sure that the barrier was erected before hurling its fireball towards Greo.

“There’s no time to dodge! [Magic Barrier!]” A blue spherical barrier covered Greo. This is not enough, he thought. “[Mud Wall!] [Earth Wall!] [Water Wall!]” He desperately erected three different walls in front of him to help block the huge fireball.

It quickly drained Greo’s mana, but he has mana potions with him so he was able to recover it immediately.

The fireball made contact with the first wall, water wall. Although the water wall helped weaken the fireball, it got vaporized and the fireball was able to reach the second wall.

The wall made of earth wasn’t able to do anything, it immediately got melted and the fireball approached the wall of mud.

The third wall has greatly reduced its sized and intensity and slowed its movement, but the fireball was still able to penetrate the mud wall and hit Greo’s magic barrier.

“What power…!”

His magic barrier withstood the fireball for a few seconds and broke afterwards, hitting Greo directly.

A small explosion occurred and smoke engulfed the place where Greo was standing. When the smoke disappeared, it revealed Greo who’s, although barely, still standing, panting heavily.

The attack left him with a couple of bruises and burns all over his arms.

Before the fireball directly hit him, he was able to cast another small magic barrier that was focused on his arms. He then used the said arms to block the fireball and was able to minimize the damage that he got.

With the help of the health potion, his bruises and burns was healed and he was able to stand straight once again.

How amusing, the Undead King thought.

Without giving Greo a chance to consume another mana potion, the skeleton with iron knuckles quickly got into his face and did a right uppercut.

Although surprised, Greo was still able to slightly move his head away from his incoming fist, only grazing his chin.

Without letting up, the said skeleton followed it up with a straight left jab that hit his right shoulder.

“Urk…! So fast…!”

When he cast a glance at the skeleton mage, it went from offensive to support, giving the skeleton with iron knuckles multiple offensive buffs.

What’s with their coordination!? I can’t keep up! Wait— he then realized something. That skeleton mage isn’t moving! A chance!

Seizing the opportunity, Greo distanced himself and cast “[Earth Spike!]” at the skeleton mage.

Just when he thought he finally got it, the skeleton tank pushed the skeleton mage out of earth spike’s way before it emerges from the ground, taking the damage instead.

“Seriously!?”

That skeleton mage… It can use support buffs, but it can’t heal…

Which would make sense. Using a healing spell to an undead would ‘kill’ it instead.

Upon this realization, Greo knew that he had his priorities in wrong order.

He needed to stop the skeleton with iron knuckle’s onslaught before he moves to the skeleton mage and finally, the tank.

Before the skeleton with iron knuckles closed their gap, Greo cast “[Earth Bullet!]” at it. The skeleton jumped to its right and…

“Gotcha! [Swamp!]” Greo placed a swamp on its foot, halting its movement. He then threw multiple “[Mud Ball!]” at it, making the skeleton’s joints sticky, making it hard to move its body.

When Greo noticed that the skeleton tank was about to charge at him, he hurriedly threw his left dagger to the skeleton mage, making the skeleton tank fall back to defend the skeleton mage. Greo took this chance to cut the trapped skeleton’s spine, ‘killing’ it.

Before the skeleton mage goes back to offensive magic, Greo drank the health and mana potions at the same time.

“Haa! Two left!” Greo shouted.

The skeleton mage started its offense.

It first fired a small, multiple water balls that was then followed by multiple fireballs and earth bullets. Greo simply used his mud wall to block its attacks, but…

“Just how much mana does this guy have…!”

The relentless barrage of tier two magic broke Greo’s mud wall two times. He’s now on his third mud wall which is also on the verge of breaking.

Greo thought of a plan.

This will be a gamble, but it’s better than nothing.

When the mud wall broke, he instantly replaced it with the same three walls that he used to block the huge fireball from earlier. He then grabbed two mana potions from his magic bag and drank one.

When he felt that his mana recovered, Greo rained down a barrage of earth bullet, water ball, and mud ball at the two remaining skeleton.

The skeleton tank erected a barrier to protect themselves from Greo’s magic that were indiscriminately flying at them.

“[Body Enhancement: Speed] Kuh…! This hurts!”

This rapidly drained him his mana.

He then quickly drank the other one and…

Did he just…!? How truly amusing! The Undead King thought, clearly amused.

The skeleton mage was still firing its magic at the walls, slowly breaking them. As soon as the last wall broke… They saw… Nothing.

Greo was gone.

Of course, the skeletons who were watching from Greo’s side knows where he is. But when it comes to the opposite side…

He vanished from their sight as the last wall crumbled.

“You’re up first!”

The skeleton mage barely had time to react before its vision flipped—its head already rolling on the ground.

Greo wasted no time, he immediately cast “[Swamp!] beneath the skeleton tank, trapping it in place.

Its movements were already pretty slow to begin with, the swamp just made it impossible for it to move.

Then, an “[Earth Wall!]” rose behind the skeleton tank, boxing it in.

Using his remaining dagger, he lunged a horizontal slash that was met with the tank’s short sword.

Without hesitation, Greo twisted mid-motion to deliver a sharp kick. The skeleton tank raised its shield just in time.

But it was fine. It was all part of his plan.

“[Earth Spike!]” erupted from the earth wall behind it. Before the skeleton tank could react, the sharpened rocks shattered its spine.

“Haa… Haa… I did it…” Greo was panting heavily, clearly exhausted.

“Brilliantly done, Greo Astral!” The Undead King’s voice boomed. “For that, I will give you time to recover before the next trial.”

Hearing those words, Greo let himself fall onto his back, finally allowing his body rest.