I crouched down and gathered the six newly formed cores, their glow brighter than the previous ones, their weight heavier in my palm as if each contained compressed strength waiting to be claimed.
Without overthinking it, I absorbed them all.
One after another.
The mana surged into me more violently this time, rushing through my veins like a roaring current. My muscles tightened, then relaxed, as if reforged from within. My breathing grew deeper, steadier. Even the faint fatigue from the earlier fight disappeared completely.
Strength.
Not just physical power—but durability.
My body felt reinforced.
When I straightened, the air itself felt lighter around me.
I continued walking deeper into the dungeon corridor, the blue crystals embedded in the walls casting long, shifting shadows ahead.
Soon, I spotted four of the same humanoid beasts walking together.
Instead of hiding—
I deliberately stepped forward and slammed my boot against the stone floor.
The sharp echo rang through the corridor.
Their heads snapped toward me instantly.
Yellow eyes locked onto mine.
They snarled and rushed at me without hesitation.
I smiled.
As they closed the distance, I raised my sword calmly.
And swung.
The blade cut through the air with terrifying speed.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then—
All four bodies split cleanly in half.
They collapsed in two separate pieces, blood spreading across the stone.
I stood frozen.
"…What?"
I hadn't even used full force.
I looked down at my sword.
I didn't realize my strength had increased this much.
Slowly, I approached the fallen bodies and collected the cores.
This time—
I didn't absorb them.
I placed them carefully into my pouch.
As I walked further, I realized something.
This dungeon only had one type of monster.
The same humanoid canine creatures.
"If this dungeon only has these… then maybe there's a boss here," I muttered quietly.
My grip on my sword tightened.
I moved forward again.
Soon, three more approached.
They rushed.
I stepped forward and cut the first down with a single upward slash.
The second leapt at me.
I sidestepped and drove my blade through its ribs.
The third barely lasted seconds.
Then four appeared.
Then three again.
Then five together.
Then another three.
Wave after wave, they came.
And each time, the fights grew shorter.
Cleaner.
Faster.
I moved like instinct guided me.
Parry.
Step.
Strike.
Cut.
End.
My sword sliced through fur, muscle, and bone as if resistance barely existed. Their claws scraped against my blade, but the force behind their attacks felt insignificant compared to earlier.
Still—
They kept coming.
When the final group of three fell, I stood there breathing heavily, not from weakness—but from the sheer number of enemies.
Bodies littered the corridor.
Blue crystal light reflected off the blood-stained floor.
I slowly picked up every single core, placing them into my pouch until it was full.
I stared at it.
If I sold all of these…
I would definitely draw attention.
And attention meant danger.
"I don't know what will happen if others find out," I whispered.
A low-level adventurer carrying this many dungeon cores would raise suspicion.
Questions about how.
Questions about why.
Questions I wasn't ready to answer.
Without hesitation—
I sat down right there among the fallen monsters.
And absorbed them all.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
The mana flooded into me in massive waves, stronger than before, heavier than before. My vision blurred slightly as power surged through my entire body.
My muscles tightened painfully for a brief moment—
Then expanded with strength.
I could feel it.
My bones felt denser.
My grip tightened unconsciously, and I could hear the faint creak of my sword's handle under pressure.
When the final core dissolved into energy, I stood slowly.
The air around me felt different.
Thicker.
As if even the dungeon itself could sense the change.
I swung my sword lightly.
The blade cut forward—
—and a faint shockwave traveled through the air, striking the stone wall several meters away, leaving a visible crack.
My eyes widened.
"That… was just a light swing…"
I hadn't even tried.
My strength was far beyond what it was before.
Far beyond yesterday.
A slow smile formed on my face.
Then I continued walking.
Deeper.
After a while, the corridor opened into a wider chamber, and at the far end stood a massive stone door.
Unlike the others, this one was carved with intricate patterns—beast-like engravings circling its surface. The mana radiating from behind it was heavy, suffocating.
"It must be a boss room," I said quietly.
I approached slowly.
Each step echoed louder than the last.
I placed my hand on the door.
The moment I pushed it open—
A wave of dense, oppressive presence washed over me.
Inside the chamber, something massive shifted.
A deep, rumbling growl vibrated through the air.
I stepped inside carefully, holding my sword tightly.
The massive creature stepped fully into the crystal light.
It stood nearly twice my height, its body covered in thick, dark fur matted with old blood. Muscles bulged beneath its skin, far denser than the others I had fought. In its right hand, it held a gigantic rusted cleaver-like weapon, chipped and stained, yet undeniably deadly.
Its glowing eyes locked onto me.
Then it screeched.
"GGRRRAAAAAAA!"
The sound shook the chamber.
It rushed forward with terrifying speed and brought its massive weapon down toward me.
I raised my sword just in time—
CLANG!
The impact was overwhelming.
My arms trembled violently as I barely managed to block it. The sheer weight behind the strike forced my knees to bend, the stone floor cracking beneath my boots.
Before I could recover—
It swung again.
And again.
Every attack was heavy. Brutal. Relentless.
Each block sent shockwaves up my arms, numbing my fingers.
Then—
I didn't notice its left hand.
While I focused on the weapon, its massive fist came crashing into my side.
BOOM!
My body flew across the chamber and slammed violently into the stone wall.
The air was knocked out of my lungs.
I dropped to one knee.
"Cough—!"
Blood spilled from my mouth as I clutched my chest, pain exploding through my ribs.
It hurt.
More than anything so far.
I forced myself to stand, legs shaking slightly, and raised my sword again.
"It's strong… stronger than the others… this one is on a different level…"
The creature stomped toward me again, dragging its massive weapon along the floor.
It attacked.
I rolled to the side this time instead of blocking directly. The weapon smashed into the ground where I had stood, shattering stone into fragments.
I sprang forward and slashed at its thigh.
My blade cut into its flesh—
—but not deep enough.
The monster roared and backhanded me.
The impact sent me sliding across the floor.
I forced myself up again, breathing heavily.
If I don't fight back…
I'll die here.
There's no running in a dungeon.
No escape.
It charged again.
This time, I stepped inside its swing instead of away from it. The massive weapon passed just inches from my face as I moved close to its body.
I slashed across its torso.
A deeper cut.
Dark blood spilled.
It howled in rage and struck me again with its elbow, sending pain shooting through my shoulder.
But I stayed standing.
I can't fall.
Not here.
It swung downward again. I blocked, though the force drove me to one knee.
My arms screamed in pain.
Then—
I saw it.
For a brief moment, after its heavy downward strike, its torso was exposed.
An opening.
I gathered every ounce of strength in my body and lunged forward.
My blade drove straight into its stomach.
The tip pierced deep.
"GRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
The monster roared in agony, its entire body shaking.
I pulled the blade out and slashed again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike deeper than the last.
It tried to grab me, but I ducked under its arm and stabbed upward into its ribs.
It staggered backward.
I didn't stop.
I stepped forward and drove my sword into its chest with everything I had left.
The blade sank in halfway.
It roared one final time, swinging weakly.
I ripped the sword free—
—and with a final powerful upward strike, I cut across its neck.
The massive body trembled.
Then slowly—
It collapsed.
The impact echoed through the entire chamber.
Silence followed.
I dropped to my knees.
"Haah… haah… haah…"
My breathing was heavy, uneven, echoing inside the vast room.
Sweat dripped from my chin onto the stone floor.
I had won.
After a few moments, a bright glow began forming above the monster's corpse.
Brighter than anything before.
A massive core slowly revealed itself.
It was large.
Much larger than the others.
Almost the size of both my palms combined.
I crawled toward it slowly and picked it up.
"It's big… bigger than the normal ones…"
The mana inside it pulsed intensely, almost vibrating in my hands.
"If I absorb this… my strength will increase again… I'll be able to attack far stronger than earlier…"
There was no hesitation.
I held it tightly.
And absorbed it.
The moment the mana entered my body—
It was different.
It wasn't a wave.
It was an explosion.
Power surged violently through every part of me. My vision flashed white for a split second as energy flooded my veins, crashing through my muscles and bones.
I clenched my teeth as my body heated up, every cell feeling like it was being reforged.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Then—
It settled.
Slowly.
Heavily.
My breathing stabilized.
I stood up carefully.
The soreness from the battle… gone.
The cracks in the wall from earlier seemed smaller somehow.
I picked up my sword.
It felt even lighter than before.
I swung once.
The air split.
A visible shockwave shot forward and smashed into the far wall, carving a deep line through solid stone.
My eyes widened.
"…This power…"
It was far beyond anything I had felt before.
The moment the boss's body fully dissolved into particles of light, the entire chamber trembled softly, and a gentle glow spread across the floor where it had fallen.
Then—
Two objects slowly materialized in front of me.
They hovered briefly in the air before lowering gently onto the stone floor.
One was a small pouch made of dark leather, no larger than my hand.
The other was a simple wooden box, about the size of a jewelry case.
"…What is this?" I muttered, staring at the sudden rewards.
Carefully, I stepped forward and picked up the small pouch first.
It looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Soft leather. A thin drawstring. No visible markings.
"What should I even do with this small bag…?" I said, turning it over in my hands.
But then—
I felt it.
A faint mana signature coming from inside.
Subtle.
Compressed.
My eyes widened slightly.
"C-could it be… a magic bag?"
My heartbeat quickened.
I immediately grabbed the heavy pouch of monster cores I had collected earlier and held it above the small leather bag.
With a bit of hesitation, I opened the drawstring and dropped the cores inside.
Instead of filling the pouch—
They slowly faded as they passed through the opening.
One by one, they vanished.
I blinked.
"…Amazing."
I quickly reached inside.
My hand went in far deeper than the size of the pouch should allow.
And I could still feel the cores inside.
It was spatial storage.
"So this is the reward for clearing the dungeon…"
A storage-type magic item.
Extremely rare.
Extremely valuable.
I tied it securely to my hip, a satisfied smile forming on my face.
This alone would make dungeon exploration far easier.
Then my gaze shifted to the small box.
I knelt and picked it up carefully.
It was plain, wooden, smooth to the touch.
Slowly—
I opened it.
Inside rested a single ring.
Simple in design, dark silver in color, with a faint engraving along its band that shimmered when it caught the crystal light.
I lifted it carefully.
"A ring… could it be a magical item too?" I murmured while examining it closely.
The moment I held it, I felt something.
A strange power sleeping inside it.
I slipped it onto my middle finger.
The moment it settled—
A faint pulse traveled from the ring into my hand.
It wasn't overwhelming.
But it was real.
"There's no doubting it… it's definitely magical," I said softly, a small smile forming.
But how do I use this?
I raised my hand and stared at the ring.
"…Use," I said hesitantly.
For a split second—
Nothing happened.
Then suddenly—
A shadow spread over my body like liquid darkness.
In the blink of an eye—
I disappeared.
My heart nearly stopped.
I looked down at my hands.
Gone.
My body—
Invisible.
"…What?!"
Panic flickered for a moment, but I forced myself to calm down.
I could still feel my body.
Still hear my breathing.
Still hold my sword.
After a few seconds, I focused again.
"Stop."
The shadow receded instantly.
My body reappeared.
I stared at my hands in disbelief.
"It's… invisibility…"
A magical item that allows me to turn invisible.
My mind raced.
A few moments after I secured the ring on my finger, the dungeon trembled again.
At first, it was subtle—like distant thunder rolling beneath the stone floor.
Then the shaking grew stronger.
Cracks spread along the chamber walls, the blue magic crystals flickering violently as dust rained from the ceiling.
"…It's collapsing."
I tightened my grip on my sword.
From the far end of the boss chamber, stone shifted and reformed, grinding loudly against itself. The air twisted unnaturally, and a doorway began to materialize—outlined in the same pale light as the entrance earlier.
An exit.
Without hesitation, I ran.
My boots pounded against the stone floor as the dungeon continued to rumble around me. Chunks of rock fell from above, shattering behind me as I sprinted toward the glowing door.
The oppressive mana in the air began to fade with every step.
I dashed through the light—
And in the next instant, I was back in the forest.
Fresh air filled my lungs.
The scent of trees, soil, and wind replaced the heavy dungeon atmosphere.
I turned around quickly.
The dungeon entrance—those rising stone walls and glowing staircase—was still there for a moment, flickering like an unstable mirage.
Then, slowly—
The stone began sinking back into the earth.
The glowing symbols dimmed.
The staircase dissolved into particles of light.
Within seconds, the ground sealed itself completely, leaving nothing but ordinary forest floor behind.
No cracks.
No doorway.
No trace that a dungeon had ever existed there.
I stood there silently, sword still in my hand.
"…It's gone."
As if it had never appeared.
A while later, as the tension in my body finally began to settle, I glanced down at the small magic pouch hanging securely at my hip.
It felt light.
Too light for the amount of monster cores stored inside it.
Even now, I could hardly believe how much had happened in a single day.
A dungeon.
A boss.
Magical items.
Power beyond what I had imagined.
I let out a slow breath.
"Alright… I should head back and sell all of these cores," I said quietly, a faint note of satisfaction in my voice.
The forest path stretched ahead of me, golden light filtering through the trees as the sun slowly began its descent. My steps were steady now, confident, far different from the hesitant movements of the boy who entered this forest days ago.
Every rustle in the bushes.
Every distant bird call.
Every shifting shadow—
I sensed them all clearly.
My body felt balanced.
Strong.
In control.
As I continued walking toward town, a small smile formed on my face.