Inside the Frostfang Dungeon , a lower-level D-rank dungeon, and the first D-rank dungeon he had entered that day. The dungeon's vortex glowed blue.
Silas entered with Draven. Once inside, he gave Draven a quick kiss on the lips and said, "Drav, wait for me here. I'll finish the dungeon soon." Draven chuckled and nodded. He knew Silas could fight with the power of a level 30 even though he was only level 10.
Silas moved out. The dungeon was a vast plain covered in snow, with clusters of trees here and there. From those forests, hundreds of frost wolves emerged D-rank monsters, powerful, with red eyes and thick white fur.
Silas moved with precision, killing them one after another. After about fifteen minutes, he had already cleared the forest.
His system sent him many notifications, but he didn't check them. He would look at them later, after killing the dungeon boss.
Draven pulled Silas into his arms, gently pressing his lips to Silas's. He wrapped an arm around Silas's waist, holding him close. Silas deepened the kiss for a few minutes, leaving Draven out of breath. Draven's arousal was obvious, his heat rising.
Silas pulled back, looked into Draven's eyes, and kissed him softly once more before separating. "I need to fight the dungeon boss, so not now. I can't give you what you want," he said, glancing at Draven's tenting pants with a chuckle.
Ever since that day, Draven had wanted to give him release again, but Silas had been too busy.
Draven sighed and nodded. Silas already put water on his surging heat so he just sighed in response.
They both headed toward the boss room. Silas opened the door and stepped inside. The boss was a level 22 Snow Wolf Alpha, a mid-level D-rank monster.
Silas first tried his lightning element, burning the wolf's skin, then froze its legs with ice. But the wolf was also a frost-element user, so it broke free in seconds.
This time, Silas switched back to lightning. He didn't give the wolf a chance to dodge, he froze the space around it with his space element and struck it with lightning in a single, focused point.
The wolf died with a scream.
Two fangs and a pelt appeared where the boss had been. Silas stored them in his system space. Then he searched the room and found a beautiful blue box.
He opened it to find 1,677 gold coins, 798 silver coins, and 321 bronze coins, along with a level 20 scepter for mages, made of pure frost element.
The scepter was useful to him. As a mage, he could use it as a wand. Since it was level 20, he could wield it easily as long as he didn't use spells far above that level.
Silas was still admiring the treasure when the system feedback came, his realm broke through directly from level 10 to level 12. He checked the notifications and distributed his free stat points.
Silas and Draven left the dungeon, searched for more dungeons nearby, and that night they raided two more.
After killing the level 25 dark blue snake in the boss room, Silas took a deep breath. In just a single day, he had cleared three D-rank dungeons , one mid-rank and two lower-rank.
Silas checked the notification from his system.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for reaching level 15. You've gained 50 stat points and the new feature: System Shop.]
Silas became interested in the new feature, but first he checked his stats and distributed all his stat points.
[Silas Valerius
Class: Author (Unique Hidden Class)
Level 15
Strength: 193
Agility: 177
Stamina: 163
Mana: 267
Intelligence: 200
Free points: 0
Experience points: 3,432
To reach level 16 you'll need at least 15,000 experience points.]
He felt his intelligence was so high now that he could calculate anything in seconds. He had always been smart, but now he could see through almost anything in just a few moments.
He opened the system's new feature to check the shop. Inside, he saw many miscellaneous items medicines, pills, weapons, and herbs of different grades ranging from a few silver coins to millions or even billions of gold coins.
His eyes widened at the sheer number of things in the shop. He asked in his mind, "System? Is everything in this shop available for me to buy anytime, if I have the money?"
[Ding!
Host, this is only level 1 of the System Shop. The more powerful you become, the more advanced the shop will be.
You can buy anything from the System Shop using the corresponding coins.]
Silas became excited in seconds. Money was the one thing he did not lack in this world. As one of the heirs of the Valerius Archduchy, he was wealthy. These trinkets could not shake him at all. His family probably wouldn't even notice if he took trillions of gold coins from their treasury. As an ancient family, they had held enormous wealth since ancient times.
After that, Silas collected the treasure box from the boss room. It contained only 2,643 gold coins. It was a huge amount for anyone else, but for Silas it was just pocket change for trinkets.
He went to Draven and pulled him into a tight hug. To him, Draven was the most important treasure in his life. He gave him many kisses before they left the dungeon together through the appearing vortex.
Silas and Draven both returned to the academy. Draven walked him to his dorm room before heading to his own apartment.
In a distant beastman village, Aleric was playing with the other tiger children. He had become good friends with them. He even took care of the elders in the village, helping them solve small problems by giving them precious medicine from his own spirit pouch.
They were so grateful to him that they had already accepted him as one of their own. Aleric felt the same about them. He even offered to take them back with him to the Luminus Imperium, but the villagers refused.
Torin had asked Aleric many times not to leave the house. There were patrolling soldiers around the village. But Aleric was stubborn. He slipped out right after the soldiers finished a round, and whenever he sensed them coming back, he returned to his room.
The villagers would never snitch on him, so he lived there happily. He had even grown interested in Torin. He could see that Torin was a great warrior who often hunted small beasts for the villagers to eat.
But why did he never leave the village? Aleric asked, "Torin, why don't you leave the village and come with me?"
Torin shook his head. He sighed and said, "My father was the chief of this village. After he left for war, it became my duty to take care of these villagers. If I leave too, how could I face my father after death?"
Aleric sighed. He could feel the pain of this young tiger. Although he was only a few years older than Torin, he always saw him as a little tiger. He chuckled. "Then let me see the surroundings of your village."
Torin was about to refuse, but Aleric pulled him out of the village and headed toward the forest where Torin usually went to hunt.
The forest around the village was thick with pine and damp earth, the air carrying the musky scent of game. Aleric and Torin moved low through the undergrowth, silent despite their speed. Ahead, a small herd of wild boars rooted through the soil, their tusks flashing, bodies heavy and bristling.
Aleric grinned at Torin and mouthed, 'Ready?'
Torin nodded, his golden eyes narrowing.
They burst forward at the same time.
Aleric was a blur of silver-white light, his speed unnaturally fast for his size. He darted between trees, kicking up snow and leaves, circling the herd to cut off their escape. One boar tried to bolt left. Aleric was already there, feinting, driving it back toward the center with a sharp clap of wind from his palm.
Torin moved differently. He was raw power and instinct. As he ran, his hands changed fingers elongating, nails darkening and curving into thick, black claws. It was their clan technique, Tiger's Rend, the bloodline art that let the tiger beastmen manifest their true weapons. His claws gleamed, sharp enough to slice stone.
A large boar charged him, head down. Torin didn't dodge. He met it head-on, dropped low at the last second, and slashed upward in a single clean arc. His claws tore through the boar's throat. The beast stumbled and fell, dead before it hit the ground.
Two more boars turned to flee. Aleric flickered in front of them, moving so fast he seemed to be in two places at once, herding them back. Torin leapt, claws extended, and brought both down with two swift strikes to the spine precise, efficient, the way a hunter should kill.
Within minutes, three boars lay still in the snow, steam rising from their bodies.
Torin retracted his claws, breathing hard but steady, a faint pride in his eyes. Aleric laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, both of them already covered in blood and snow.
"Not bad, little tiger," Aleric said.
Torin huffed, but the corner of his mouth lifted.
They both returned to the village with the three wild boars slung over their shoulders. The moment they stepped through the wooden gate, the villagers erupted in cheers. The children came running, clapping their hands and shouting.
"Meat! Real meat!" one little girl cried, jumping up and down. "Torin, you really caught three?!"
"Look at the tusks!" a boy yelled, pointing. "They're huge!"
The youngsters Torin's age crowded around, eyes shining. "You two are crazy fast," one of them said, grinning at Aleric. "We didn't even hear them coming through the trees!"
"Can we help skin them?" another asked eagerly, already rolling up his sleeves. "Please, Torin, let us!"
Torin nodded, and the group cheered again as they dragged the boars off to the clearing to prepare them for the feast.
Aleric and Torin stood back for a moment, watching the chaos with quiet smiles. The warmth of the villagers wrapped around them laughter, chatter, the smell of woodsmoke already rising as fires were lit. It was something the village hadn't enjoyed in a very long time.
The elders shuffled out of their huts, faces creased with smiles, carrying clay jars. "Bring out the wine!" one old man called. "The good batch, from the red berries!"
"We've been saving it for a proper occasion," an old woman said, uncorking a jar and letting the sweet, sharp scent fill the air. "And today, the children brought us a feast. If that isn't an occasion, what is?"
Music started . A boy tapping a drum, a girl shaking a rattle made of bones and the whole village moved toward the firelight, the night suddenly feeling like a festival.