Chapter 8: Dangers Within the Dungeon

The moment he stepped through the portal, everything around him suddenly became dark.

Before he could even react, he felt a strange sensation run through his body. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it disappeared.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of a forest.

Chris slowly looked around.

The forest was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Every tree around him was completely black, with thick trunks and twisted branches stretching high above his head. The sky was a deep crimson color, but despite how dark everything looked, there was still enough light for him to see clearly.

He stared at his surroundings for a few seconds.

’Was this really a good decision...?’

He sighed before opening his System.

He had gained five levels since reaching Level 9, which meant he now had another 50 attribute points to allocate. He had also gained a 1.5x attribute increase when he reached Level 10 due to his evolution. He decided to allocate his attribute points evenly across all attributes.

[Strength: 36]

[Agility: 32]

[Vitality: 31]

[Mana: 29]

[Intelligence: 29]

[Perception: 33]

[Total: 190.]

[Available Attribute Points: 0]

He closed the panel and looked around once more. He had no idea what kind of monsters lived inside this dungeon, so there was no reason to rush forward blindly.

He began walking through the forest slowly and silently, carefully placing each step so that he wouldn’t make unnecessary noise. He didn’t want to get spotted by any beasts before he could figure out their levels.

As he continued deeper into the forest, he began noticing strange tracks in the ground. Some were similar to footprints, while others looked more like deep impressions left by something with claws.

He stopped beside one of the trees and noticed several long claw marks running down its black bark.

He reached out and touched one of them.

The marks were deep. Whatever had made them was definitely not weak.

He slowly pulled his hand back and continued forward.

The forest remained strangely quiet, although every now and then he could hear distant sounds coming from somewhere deeper within it.

The little dragon sitting on his shoulder seemed much less concerned. Every once in a while, it lifted its tiny head and released a quiet little roar.

Chris glanced at it.

"Keep your voice down."

The little dragon looked at him innocently.

He sighed and continued walking.

After some time, he suddenly stopped.

There was something moving in the distance.

Chris immediately lowered his body and hid behind one of the black trees. He carefully looked through the gap between the branches.

A creature was walking through the forest.

It was alone, and the creature had a humanoid shape and walked on two legs, with long, pointed ears that resembled those of an elf.

But that was where the similarities ended.

Its entire body was completely black, and a strange smoke-like aura constantly drifted away from it, surrounding its body before slowly disappearing into the air.

Chris narrowed his eyes.

He quietly opened his System.

[Dark Spirit - B-Rank - Level 29.]

His expression became serious.

Level 29.

The creature was fifteen levels higher than him. Yet Chris didn’t immediately feel intimidated.

Although the difference in levels was enormous, his Mythic rank gave him ten attribute points with every level-up, while a B-rank monster only received five.

Their total attributes were surprisingly close. Of course, that didn’t mean the fight would be easy.

The monster had fifteen more levels of experience, and Chris still had no idea what abilities it possessed or what powers it had.

Still, if he could kill it, he might receive a considerable amount of experience for defeating a monster whose level was so much higher than his own.

He decided to take the risk.

Chris slowly moved around the trees, making sure to stay out of the creature’s sight as he approached from behind.

When he was only a few meters away, he stopped.

He quietly took out his bow and nocked an arrow.

Raising the bow, he carefully aimed at the back of the creature’s head.

He held his breath, and then he released the string.

*WHOOSH!*

The arrow flew through the air.

But just before it reached the Dark Spirit, the creature suddenly shifted its body.

The arrow flew past its head and disappeared into the darkness.

"Damn it..."

The Dark Spirit immediately turned around, its eyes locking onto Chris.

He dropped his bow and quickly drew his sword.

The creature rushed toward him.

*CLANG!*

His sword collided with one of its claws.

The impact forced him backward.

Chris quickly swung again, but the Dark Spirit twisted its body and avoided the attack.

He attacked again.

The creature dodged once more.

It was fast, far faster than him.

Chris blocked another attack before swinging his sword toward its chest, but the Dark Spirit moved to the side and narrowly avoided the blade.

The two continued exchanging attacks.

Chris’s sword gave him an advantage in attack power, but the creature’s claws were no weaker than his blade.

More importantly, its agility was much greater than his.

A claw suddenly tore across his chest.

*RIP!*

Part of his armor was torn open.

Chris gritted his teeth and immediately retaliated with a powerful slash, forcing the Dark Spirit to retreat.

But he was slowly being pushed back.

He couldn’t kill it.

If the fight continued like this, he would eventually lose.

’I’m going to have to retreat.’

Just as he began thinking about how to escape, something strange happened.

The Dark Spirit suddenly turned into smoke.

Chris’s eyes widened, and he quickly looked around.

Nothing.

The creature had completely disappeared.

’Where did it go?’

Then he felt it—something appeared behind him.

His entire body stiffened.

The Dark Spirit suddenly emerged from the smoke behind him, its claw already swinging toward his back.

He cursed inwardly.

He couldn’t dodge. He had been too careless.

There was no way he could avoid the attack in time.

Just before the claw reached him, however, the little dragon suddenly turned around on his shoulder.

A small burst of crimson flames erupted from its mouth.

*FWOOSH!*

The flames struck the Dark Spirit directly.

The creature immediately shrieked and jumped backward, one of its claws engulfed in flames.

Chris stared in surprise.

The flesh around the claw was actually melting.

’What...’

He didn’t have time to think about it. The Dark Spirit was caught off guard.

Chris immediately rushed forward and swung his sword.

*SLASH!*

His blade cut cleanly through its neck.

The creature’s head fell to the ground.

[Received 250 XP.]

Another notification appeared immediately afterward.

[Contracted beast’s level increased.]

He stood there for a moment before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"That was close..."

He looked at the little dragon sitting on his shoulder.

It was much weaker than the Dark Spirit, yet its flames had actually managed to injure the creature badly.

Chris began thinking about what had just happened.

There were two possibilities.

Either the dragon’s fire was extremely special, or the Dark Spirit was naturally weak against the fire element.

Or perhaps both were true.

Whatever the reason was, he was just happy that the little creature had saved his life.

Chris reached up and gently patted its head.

"Good job, buddy. You saved my life."

The little dragon happily rubbed its head against his hand.

Chris smiled before crouching beside the corpse.

He took out his knife and carefully removed the monster core from the Dark Spirit’s head.

Now that he knew that the little dragon was much more helpful than he had thought, he opened its attribute panel. It had 90 attribute points after reaching Level 9.

He decided to put 30 points into Mana and distribute the remaining 60 points evenly among its other five attributes. Since little creature’s fire is very strong against these monsters, he decided to first invest in its Mana.

After storing the beast core and allocating the little dragon’s attribute points, he stood up and continued moving through the forest.

This time, he was even more careful.

After walking for some time, he suddenly noticed several figures in the distance.

Chris immediately hid behind a tree and looked ahead.

There were three Dark Spirits.

He opened his System and checked them one by one.

[Dark Spirit - B-Rank - Level 28.]

[Dark Spirit - B-Rank - Level 28.]

[Dark Spirit - B-Rank - Level 29.]

Chris watched them carefully.

He wasn’t stupid enough to fight three of them at once. Instead, he began following them from a distance.

For nearly an hour, he quietly followed the group through the forest, making sure not to get too close while waiting for an opportunity.

Eventually, one of the Level 28 Dark Spirits separated from the other two.

He immediately followed it.

The creature continued walking through the forest without realizing it was being followed.

Chris slowly closed the distance.

Five meters... Three meters... Two meters... One step.

He stopped directly behind the Dark Spirit.

The little dragon was still sitting on his shoulder.

Chris glanced at it, and the little dragon understood his signal.

The little dragon immediately opened its mouth.

*FWOOSH!*

A burst of crimson flames engulfed the Dark Spirit from behind.

The creature shrieked in pain and turned around, desperately trying to escape the flames.

Chris didn’t give it the chance. He rushed forward and swung his sword.

*SLASH!*

The blade cut through its neck, sending its head tumbling to the ground.

[Received 240 XP.]

Chris quickly looked toward the direction of the other two monsters.

Luckily, they were nowhere nearby.

He slowly lowered his sword.

’Two down.’

There were still plenty of monsters in this strange forest, and he had no idea what else might be waiting deeper inside the dungeon. Still, after what had just happened, he was beginning to understand something.

The little dragon’s flames might be far more useful than he had initially thought.

He patted its tiny head.

"Good job."

The little dragon released a tiny roar.

Chris smiled before turning toward the direction of the other two monsters he had tracked earlier. Then he continued walking silently between the black trees, disappearing deeper into the forest.

He followed their trail for some time, keeping his distance until he spotted the two Dark Spirits ahead, moving through the forest together.

Chris slowed his steps.

The little dragon’s Mana had increased dramatically, making its flames much stronger and increasing their range. He could try to attack both of them now.

He moved from tree to tree, slowly closing the distance until he was directly behind the two monsters.

Neither had noticed him.

Chris gave the signal to his little dragon.

The tiny creature opened its mouth, and a much larger burst of crimson flames erupted from it.

*FWOOSH!*

The flames spread across a wide area and engulfed both Dark Spirits at once.

They shrieked as they struggled to escape the fire.

Chris didn’t waste the opportunity.

He rushed forward and swung his sword.

*SLASH!*

His blade cut through the neck of the first Dark Spirit.

Before the second could recover, he turned and swung again.

*SLASH!*

Its head fell beside the first.

[Received 240 XP.]

[Received 250 XP.]

[Level Increased.]

Chris quickly removed both monster cores and stored them.

The little dragon suddenly let out a strange chirp.

Chris looked up.

It was staring toward a particular direction, its tiny head tilted as if it had sensed something.

"What is it?"

The little dragon chirped again and pointed its head in the same direction.

Chris followed carefully, keeping his senses alert.

After several minutes, he noticed something large between the trees.

A cave.

Its entrance was enormous, large enough for several Dark Spirits to enter at once.

Chris immediately stopped and climbed onto a nearby tree, hiding among its thick branches while keeping the cave entrance in sight.

He waited. After a while, a Dark Spirit walked out of the cave, then another.

Several more entered and left soon after.

’So that’s where they’re coming from.’

The cave was their lair. He had no idea how many were inside, but he knew one thing for certain.

He was far too weak to simply barge in and fight them. Even with the little dragon’s help, doing that would mean certain death.

Instead, he decided to wait for smaller groups or single monsters to leave the cave and hunt them one by one, gaining more experience until he became strong enough to face whatever was waiting inside.

After some time, two Dark Spirits came out of the cave together and headed in the same direction.

Chris’s eyes lit up.

’Bingo...’

He carefully climbed down from the tree and started following them.