Chapter 11: Entering the Lair

They quickly ascended the cliff, and once they reached the top, Chris looked around carefully.

There wasn’t a single Dark Spirit in sight. They had probably dispersed after he fell, thinking that he had died from the fall.

For Chris, that was actually a good thing. If they had scattered throughout the forest, he could continue hunting them without having to worry about facing the entire group at once.

He did some quick calculations in his head.

After reaching Level 25 and distributing his accumulated attribute points, both he and Azreon were now slightly stronger than a Level 39 Dark Spirit.

Since Dark Spirits were only B-Rank monsters while both he and Azreon were Mythic Rank, there shouldn’t be a problem fighting a Level 39 monster.

The problem was Level 40. If there were Level 40 Dark Spirits inside the lair, things could become very dangerous.

The difference between evolutions was simply too great.

Chris also had no idea what special abilities Dark Spirits had gained after reaching Level 30. So far, he had only seen them turn into smoke and briefly disappear from sight.

There was a good chance that they had gained another ability after their next evolution.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what it was. He hadn’t received any special abilities himself either.

As a Mythic-rank class, his special abilities would come during later evolutions, and they should be much stronger than those of lower-rank classes. Evolution simply worked that way.

Humans and beasts with lower class ranks couldn’t progress as far as those with higher class ranks, so they generally received their special abilities at earlier evolutions. Even then, however, their abilities would still usually be weaker than those of higher-rank classes.

Chris looked around one more time, making sure there were no Dark Spirits nearby.

"Hmm... They don’t seem to be very intelligent. If they were smarter, they would leave a few guards here to watch over the area for some time, just in case."

He turned toward Azreon.

"Buddy, it’s our lucky day. Same drill. Fly around and see if you can spot any Dark Spirits."

Azreon roared and took flight.

He still wasn’t strong enough for Chris to ride him or have him carry Chris for long periods, but after two evolutions, he had become much stronger and faster in the air.

It took less than a minute for him to disappear into the distance.

Chris waited.

Soon, Azreon returned and pointed toward a direction.

"Good job!"

Chris immediately started running. This time, he was much faster than before.

His Agility had increased considerably after distributing his attribute points, and he could finally compete with the Dark Spirits in the area where they had always held an advantage.

After about a minute of running, he spotted four Dark Spirits ahead. All of them were Level 28 or 29.

’I only saw two Level 30 spirits earlier. It seems that they don’t have many spirits above Level 30. That’s good.’

He and Azreon decided to repeat their earlier strategy. Azreon would attack from the air while Chris followed from the ground.

The dragon quickly dove toward the group and opened his mouth.

A powerful burst of fire shot out and engulfed the four Dark Spirits. They began screaming as the flames covered their bodies.

Chris was just about to rush forward and finish them with his sword when he suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened.

The Dark Spirits didn’t even have a chance to resist. They were reduced to ash within a second.

[Received 140 XP.]

[Received 140 XP.]

[Received 130 XP.]

[Received 130 XP.]

Chris stared at the ashes for a moment before looking at Azreon.

"Azreon, you have become too terrifying! You burned them to death in an instant."

Azreon proudly raised his head and roared.

"Hehehehe, this is even better. Good job."

Chris crouched down and collected the four beast cores before storing them in his backpack.

Then he looked at Azreon.

"Buddy, how about you go out and exercise a bit? If you see smaller groups like this, you can attack them yourself. If there are bigger groups or much stronger Dark Spirits, just come back and call me."

Azreon roared and took off again, flying in a random direction.

Chris watched him disappear before shaking his head.

’Is a dragon really this terrifying? This level of progress is simply insane...’

It didn’t even take a minute before more notifications appeared.

[Received 140 XP.]

[Received 130 XP.]

[Received 150 XP.]

Chris stared at the notifications.

"This... I can even receive XP from his kills, and at a distance!"

With Azreon able to fly around the forest alone, their leveling speed had become ridiculous.

There was no need for Chris to waste time searching for every small group anymore. As long as Azreon didn’t encounter anything too strong, he could handle the weaker Dark Spirits himself while Chris continued receiving the XP.

After only half an hour, both of them had already reached Level 29.

Chris smiled as he looked at his system, but his expression soon became more thoughtful.

"It feels amazing reaching this level so fast, but..."

He knew things would only become harder from this point onward.

Reaching Level 30 or even Level 40 was relatively easy for most talented humans as long as they had a sufficiently high class rank and access to good resources.

There were many guilds that sent expeditions into dungeons, and they would form parties to hunt monsters and share the XP. As long as someone joined a decent guild and worked hard, reaching above Level 40 within three years was possible.

Chris looked into the distance.

’I wonder if some from my generation reached Level 50 already?’

He quickly shook his head. That should be extremely difficult unless they possessed a very high class rank.

The higher someone’s level became, the more XP they needed to progress, while the monsters that could provide enough XP also became stronger and harder to kill.

Even the most talented people would need many years to reach those higher levels.

After a few more minutes, a familiar roar came from the distance, and Azreon soon came flying back toward him.

Chris immediately understood.

’It seems there are no more Dark Spirits in the forest. The remaining ones are probably all inside their lair.’

He patted Azreon’s head.

"Good job, buddy! You are amazing, as always. Now it’s time we check out that lair."

With that, he started running toward the Dark Spirits lair, and Azreon followed beside him.

When they arrived in front of the cave, Chris stopped. The entrance was wide and completely dark, with not even a faint light coming from inside.

He stared into it for a few seconds.

’Should we just barge in? It might be risky...’

His expression became resolute.

’No. I won’t be a coward now.’

He had survived for years alone in the Wilds. He had faced countless dangerous beasts and survived situations where one mistake could have gotten him killed.

Sometimes, taking risks was what it took to become strong.

He looked at Azreon and nodded.

Then he started walking into the cave.

The moment they entered, Chris couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black.

He stopped for a moment and frowned.

’How am I supposed to fight monsters that I can’t see at all?’

Azreon suddenly opened his mouth, and a small fireball shot out and floated above them, illuminating the area around them.

Chris blinked in surprise.

"You never stop surprising me, buddy."

He had already seen how powerful Azreon’s flames were, but this was different.

It wasn’t just the destructive power of his fire. Azreon already had enough control over it to create a floating fireball that could illuminate their surroundings and follow them through the cave.

Chris looked ahead. A tunnel stretched deeper into the cave, with dark smoke covering the ground beneath them.

They continued forward. The deeper they went, the quieter it became.

Chris kept his hand near his sword while Azreon remained beside him.

It wasn’t long before something moved in the darkness ahead, and several Dark Spirits suddenly rushed out of the tunnel.

Chris immediately prepared to attack, but Azreon was faster. The dragon opened his mouth and released a stream of fire.

The flames swept through the tunnel and engulfed the Dark Spirits before they could even reach them.

Their bodies were reduced to ash almost instantly.

Chris stared at the empty tunnel.

’Just these few?’

He looked deeper into the cave.

’It seems that there aren’t many Dark Spirits left. Most of them were probably already outside when we hunted them earlier.’

He and Azreon continued forward, but no more Dark Spirits appeared.

The silence inside the cave became even stranger as they moved deeper.

After walking for several minutes, the tunnel suddenly widened, and Chris slowed down. The fireball above them illuminated a massive cavern ahead.

He stopped at the entrance.

The cavern was enormous, with a ceiling so high that he couldn’t see its full height. Yet despite its size, it appeared almost empty.

There were no groups of Dark Spirits, no movement. Nothing.

Except for a large stone seat on the opposite side of the cavern.

Someone was sitting on it.

Chris narrowed his eyes.

A dark figure slowly stood from the seat. Two crimson eyes immediately locked onto him.

Chris’s instincts screamed at him.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

He immediately activated his system and scanned the monster.

A system panel appeared before his eyes.

[Dark Spirit - B-Rank - Level 40.]

Chris’s heart sank.

’Shit!’

A Level 40 Dark Spirit. His earlier concern had become reality.

The creature was at another evolution entirely, and Chris had no idea what kind of abilities it possessed.

He couldn’t fight it blindly.

’Why is there a Level 40 Dark Spirit here? There were so few of Level 30 Dark Spirits earlier. How can one be Level 40? We need to get out of here!’

Chris immediately turned around.

But before he could take even a single step, the Dark Spirit moved.

It disappeared from the stone seat.

Chris’s eyes widened.

’Too fast!’

The next instant, the monster appeared directly in front of him. Its long claw was already swinging toward his chest.

"Fuck!"

Chris immediately tried to move sideways.

His Agility had increased tremendously, but the Dark Spirit’s speed was still beyond what he expected.

He managed to avoid the worst of the attack, but he wasn’t fast enough to completely escape.

*Rip!*

The claw tore through his armor and cut into his chest.

Pain shot through his body.

Chris stumbled backward as fresh blood began seeping from the wound.

The attack wasn’t deep enough to seriously injure him, but the difference in strength was obvious.

’It’s too fast.’

He gritted his teeth and tried to create some distance, but the Dark Spirit didn’t give him the chance.

It immediately attacked again.

This time, it was even faster.

Chris saw the claw coming toward his chest, but he knew he couldn’t avoid it.

"Not good!"

*ROAR!*

Azreon suddenly rushed forward.

The dragon jumped between them and raised one of his claws to block the Dark Spirit’s attack.

*BOOM!*

The two claws collided with tremendous force.

Azreon’s body was pushed backward, slamming into Chris and sending both of them flying several meters across the cavern.

"Azreon!"

Chris hurriedly looked at him.

Luckily, Azreon appeared to be fine.

His scales had protected him from the attack, although several scratch marks were now visible across his claw.

Chris’s expression became serious.

’His scales are much stronger than I thought... but it still wasn’t enough to completely block that attack.’

The Level 40 Dark Spirit was simply too strong.

"Azreon, run! Let’s get out of here!"

Azreon immediately turned around.

He grabbed Chris by the collar and spread his wings.

With a powerful flap, he shot toward the tunnel at incredible speed.

The Dark Spirit let out a furious roar and chased after them.

Chris looked ahead.

The tunnel entrance was getting closer.

Azreon was flying faster than Chris had ever seen him fly before, his wings beating rapidly as he carried Chris toward the exit.

’Come on... just a little more.’

The entrance was only a short distance away now.

Chris could already see the darkness of the tunnel ahead.

They were going to make it.

Then...

*BOOM!*

Azreon and Chris slammed into something invisible, and the impact sent both of them flying sideways.

Chris crashed onto the stone floor and rolled several times before finally stopping.

"What the fuck?!"

He quickly pushed himself up and looked toward the tunnel, and then he suddenly remembered something.

"Is this... a boss fight?"

He had learned about this during his research into dungeons.

Once a dungeon boss fight was engaged, the challenger couldn’t leave the boss’s domain until the boss was defeated.

Chris slowly turned around.

The Level 40 Dark Spirit was already approaching.

Its crimson eyes stared directly at them, while dark smoke slowly spread around its body.

There was no way out.

Chris tightened his grip around his sword.

For a moment, he simply stared at the monster.

Then he took a deep breath.

"Fuck..."

He looked at Azreon.

The dragon stood beside him, lowering his body and spreading his wings as he prepared to fight.

Chris raised his sword.

"Azreon, we have to fight!"