“[Divine Protection]!” Opel shouted echoing throughout the cave. He stepped forward, shield raised.

  A warm yellow light shimmered over them. Kana felt her body tighten, her heart pounding slower—more controlled. She did not have time to check her HP but there must be an increase to it.

  Across the broken cavern floor, the Horn Werewolf emerged. Towering. Muscles coiled beneath gray fur. Its single, jagged horn glistened. Red eyes fixed on Kana like burning brands.

  Kana stood frozen. Just for a breath. Just long enough to consider what stood at her back.

  Two seasoned dungeon raiders. Older. More experienced. If not for the experience multiplier, they’d likely outrank her in level. Asha and Opel could tip the battle—but only if they would have excellent coordination with them.

  Boris and Suri knew their roles. Knew what to do. Knew how she moved. Knew how each other moved. They trusted each other without needing to be told why. The Veterans didn’t. They did not know them. That unfamiliarity could be deadly in a fight where a fraction of seconds mattered.

  She weighed the odds.

  Too many things were at stake.

  The merchant thief’s coin. The eyes of little children in the slum yelling to be rescued. Her mother if she failed.. If she died. This dungeon wasn’t just a proving ground—it was a crossroads. One misstep here, and all her momentum could collapse.

  No more hesitation.

  “Asha! [Ice Wall], now!” It was a voice full of authority like a general commanding her soldier in the battle.

  The mage obeyed as if her instinct told her to do so. No questions asked. A weak tremor felt through the cave as jagged sheets of ice burst from the ground—thick and jagged. The Horn Werewolf didn’t hesitate. It slammed into the ice wall, cracking it down the center. Ice slowed it, not stopped it.

  Just enough.

  “Opel! Use [Weaken]!” Kana cried.

  The paladin placed a hand on his chest, then extended it toward the beast. Something shimmered through the air, invisible but heavy. Kana couldn’t be sure what changed, but the Horn Werewolf staggered mid-step, just slightly. It must be weakened somehow.

  Suri was already moving without instruction. Transforming her skill into a black mass—dense, shifting, a blot of nothingness—appeared over the monster’s face. Suri's focus narrowed, hands trembling slightly as she guided the living darkness, dragging it to obscure the beast’s eyes.

  It howled, blinded, furious.

  That’s when Boris struck.

  He had looped behind during the chaos, and now—without warning—he slammed his spear into the back of one leg. [Giant Spear], combined with [Consecutive Spear Strike]. Metal rang against bone. Then he thrust again—[Spear Strike], over and over, a rhythm of steel and fury.

  The monster swung wildly behind it, blinded and furious. Opel grunted, stepped forward again, and caught the incoming axe with his shield. Sparks flew. His boots dug into the stone as he absorbed the force.

  “Hold!” Kana shouted. “Keep him there!”

  Asha's voice echoed behind them. “[Ice Shard]!”

  Needle-like spears of ice shot across the side of the cave, slamming into the beast’s flank. The damage was minor, but consistent. The monster’s movement was dull and slowed a bit compared to before. Asha didn’t stop—casting, again and again.

  Kana saw her moment.

  She ran, leaping up the remnants of the Ice Wall, a dagger drawn in each hand. Her legs coiled, then sprung—straight toward the beast’s head.

  [Dagger Assault]

  Her right hand blurred. A storm of slashes, like wind carving through rain, each cut landing in less than a blink. One—just one—sank into its eye.

  The monster shrieked, staggering backward. The force of its scream knocked Kana from the air, but she twisted mid-fall and landed, barely, on both feet. She pulled her bow and shot all her arrows until her quiver became empty.

  She didn’t stop.

  They repeated the rhythm—Asha’s throwing her skill at the distance, Suri’s skill obstructing its remaining eyes, Boris’s flanking strikes, Opel’s defense. Kana with her dagger strikes, jumping in and out.

  Each attack broke something more.

  The Horn Werewolf leg's broke. Then its second eye. One arm. Blood—dark and thick—poured across the cave. Its regeneration faltered. It couldn’t keep up.

  It took one last step toward them—and collapsed.

  Its body convulsed, shimmered with the blue light, and then vanished—dust dissolving into the dungeon’s air.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Silence.

  Then the Text of God flickered before them:

  [Dungeon Boss has Defeated!]

  Kana exhaled, every muscle in her body trembling.

  She looked at her team—bloodied probably from the dungeon boss, exhausted but alive. And they smiled.

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have reached level 20!]

  [Select 1 New Ranger Skill to Acquire:]

  Rapid Shot

  Range Extension

  Dagger Strike

  Tame

  Trap Bomb

  Two-Handed Dagger Mastery

  Accelerate

  Dagger Pierce

  [Skills: 1 point remaining. Please select one skill to evolve.]

  Marksmanship

  High Awareness

  Dagger Assault

  Kana let out a slow breath. The familiar system status or Text of God popped out in front of her.

  She noticed the two new skills appeared before her eyes, [Accelerate]

  and [Dagger Pierce].

  Useful. Both of them. But this wasn’t just about adding new tricks—it was about what their party lacked. They need more damage dealers. Suri controlled the battlefield though concentrated more on support, Boris held the line and at the same time dealt a good amount of damage but it wasn’t enough especially for dungeon bosses.

  She scrolled to her existing skills.

  Kana hesitated.

  She’d considered evolving [Marksmanship] if she ever had the chance again, but its weakness was obvious: arrows ran out. In long battles, she always had to fall back to using daggers. A two-handed style offered more reach, more raw strength. But still not enough lethal damage that they needed.

  Then she saw the new alternative.

  [Dagger Pierce]: Delivers a powerful strike that scales with an additional 30% of the user's current AGI stat and grants a low chance to ignore an enemy’s base defense when striking using daggers.

  Precise. Lethal. Just like what she wanted.

  She chose it.

  A slight shift ran through her body, weak but unmistakable. Her arms felt lighter, her strikes more aligned as she tested it in the air. It was as if her daggers knew how to seek out the gaps in armor whenever she had a thought of using the [Dagger Pierce].

  Then her attention returned to the next prompt.

  Evolve [Marksmanship] -> [True Shot]?

  Each arrow will be incredibly accurate, deal increased damage, and has a 50% chance of landing Critical Hit.

  She didn’t hesitate this time.

  Yes. The change came like a rush of wind—her vision sharpened, the world stretching around her. Trajectories, weak points, distance—all clearer than they had ever been.

  …

  Asha stood still, stunned, her breathing shallow in the lingering silence of the dungeon.

  The boss was gone. Just like that.

  Not like before—where victory came with losses, with aching limbs and broken morale—but clean, precise, controlled. Perfectly executed dungeon raid.

  She glanced at the trio. Kana was doing slashes with her blades as if reviewing what could have been done better. Boris, still poised, checking the condition of his spear in hand. Suri, her eyes gleaming as she dispersed the last flickering scout illusions on the ground.

  They were kids. Yet every movement spoke of discipline honed not just in training, but battle. Kana didn't need to shout or provide instruction at least to her companion though she heard her shout at them a couple of times. She led like a Commander who had already been in countless battles. Leading not at the back but in the front line.

  Asha’s fingers tingle from residual mana. “I…” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else, “I can’t believe this.”

  Her voice gained strength, disbelieving but reverent. “We may have just made history.” The smallest and youngest group who cleared a mid-low level dungeon.

  Kana turned to her, expression unreadable beneath soot-stained cheeks and sweat-matted hair. “You two were a big help,” she said calmly. “It made things easier.”

  Opel, eyes still distant, whispered, “I got a new skill…” He tapped the glowing text hovering only he could see.

  Asha blinked. Her own interface hovered faintly, a soft light on the edge of her vision. A new skill. She hadn’t gained one in over a decade. And now, after following a group of teenage dungeon raiders?

  No. Not just a bunch of kids.

  Something else. Something more.

  How many dungeons did they raid to achieve such confidence in life or death battle? She knew better than to ask. It was the first rule of Dungeon Scrappers: Don’t dig into your client’s details. If they want you to know, they’ll tell you.

  “Once more,” she whispered to herself, a promise meant only for her husband, “We’ll take the Adventurer’s exam. One last time.”

  She had a good feeling this time. And they would most likely pass the exam as well once they reach the required age.

  “Good luck and remember,” Kana said, voice flat but firm, “You don’t know us. We don’t know you.”

  Asha met her red eyes. Understood the warning wrapped in that simple reminder. “Right,” she said, nodding. “Right.”

  ….

  Boris stretched, bones popping. “Feels like it’s been a while since we heard the voice of God.”

  Suri, tugging at her cloak, nodded. “Agree. I feel… refreshed.” She looked around. “But no loot again. Not even a single drop.”

  “The same,” Boris muttered. “Heard God speak, but nothing came out of it.”

  Asha chuckled. “In all my raids, I’ve only seen a dungeon drop once. One item. That’s it. Thought it was a myth until then.”

  Kana folded her arms, disappointed. Two item loot. That was all they’d found before. From backwater dungeons, no less.

  She looked skyward—the dungeon’s ceiling where there seemed to be an unknown presence. “There must be a class that increases loot drop rate,” she muttered to herself. “Or a Skill. There must be something.