Lev decompressed for the next day. Even he wasn't callous enough to just pretend like nothing had happened after almost dying. By the hands of a monster, no less.

  That thought irked him to no end. Sure, he was most likely going to perish against a monster one day, but it still angered him. Just the thought of a mindless beast reaping his life felt like seeing all his hard work and beliefs come tumbling down despite sitting in a park.

  The day after that, he was topped on mana and ready to tackle the dungeon again for his eighth dungeon clear. It was bound to be difficult, and he sincerely hoped the dungeon would be normal this time.

  The Master guard nodded at him, wordlessly permitting him to enter. Lev returned the nod and stepped inside.

  Everything was the same. Four shields floated in front of him as Lev went deeper with a mace in hand, earth mana flooding the weapon.

  The first monster was just around the bend. He waited for it to notice him, but the monster remained still. Lev took charge and rounded the bend to see a centiquus golem that was… much smaller than he was expecting.

  He had to lower his head a little to look at the golem that was charging him. It was only 2/3rd the size of the previous centiquus golems. Lev casually darted back because of course, it was much slower too.

  A laugh slipped out of his lips. With his enhancement formation active, Lev dashed in and blew half its head to bits in a single swing. He kept going, not stopping when the notification ran through his mind.

  For half a minute, he ground the corpse into dust with his mace. Feeling better, he stored the core and simply continued on.

  [

  You have slain [Centiquus Golem - Level 177]

  ]

  The core didn't exhibit any properties. He wasn't expecting them to drop so much in quality, but with how weak the monsters were normally, it was no surprise.

  The borrower golem's charge this time was much more noticeable. Lev felt the mana it used to swim through stone getting closer and simply stepped out of the way as it flew past, burrowing into the ground.

  Four seconds passed before an explosion announced its demise.

  [

  You have slain [Burrower Golem - Level 180]

  ]

  The delve continued much the same as Lev smashed apart centiquus and borrower golems. When he reached the first gargoyles, he paused. There were three of them, yet the numbers were of no consequence.

  These monsters were lanky compared to the gargoyles he had faced before. Ten arrows formed behind him before they could even reach him, and they ceased to exist.

  Gathering the cores, Lev kept advancing. More golems fell, their numbers much higher than before. Nearly seventy of them fell to his mace and arrows before he arrived at the Imp cavern.

  There was, surprisingly, a commander amidst them, though with only nine other imps. Lev prepared himself for a fight until he identified them.

  [Imp Commander - Level 159]

  [Imp - Level 145]

  [Imp - Level 147]

  …

  With a sigh, he finished them off with a large barrage of arrows without wasting time.

  The final area took just as long to reach as before. He didn't stop to prepare for a retreat. Lev was ready, even if he had to face the same monster as before. The fight would go down much differently compared to before.

  Entering the cavern, the boss was waiting for him in the middle. It was similar to the gargoyles with two wings and clawed hands. Mostly, though, it looked just as weak as them.

  [Guard Captain - Level 208]

  Ten lances filled with fire formed behind Lev as the boss moved. The first lance flew forward with a loud boom, producing a shockwave from its passing.

  Two stone walls rose from the ground in time, shattering as the projectile exploded. A pair of lances reached the boss just after a moment, who fired multiple boulders and pillars to stop their approach.

  The lances pierced through multiple of them each before they broke, releasing their payload well off from the boss.

  Four more lances followed immediately after.

  A screech echoed in the cavern, disrupting one of the lances as pillars and walls rose to meet the rest. Two more lances were stopped, but the final one landed a meter away from the boss.

  While the blast sent it flying, two more lances hit the boss in mid-air, destroying its body entirely. Lev fired the last lance at its remains anyway.

  The core was shattered too. Lev couldn't have cared less. Disappointment was all he could feel during the delve. He had come here after hyping himself up for another long and difficult delve, yet it had been finished in half an hour and less than a fifth of his total mana.

  How fucking stupid is this, Lev thought, unhappy with both the delve and himself. I got to farm money like it grew on trees and even got a level from the delve. Why am I so disappointed?

  [

  You have slain [Guard Captain - Level 208]

  Mana Tempest has reached Level 162

  ]

  Still, the letdown stung. The expectations of another bloody victory remained a dream, and he was teleported outside after a few minutes.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "Do I want to ask?" The guard asked as Lev appeared so quickly. Being teleported outside meant he had cleared the dungeon, and the guard now knew he cleared the same dungeon in a fraction of the time as before.

  "Probably not," Lev replied. "Did the instance cycle?"

  The guard waved him in, and Lev was flying to the mistcrawler dungeon after another half an hour. There were no changes in the next delve, and the 'fights' were just as sad as the previous ones.

  He had something to look forward to, at least. The mistcrawler dungeon was supposed to be something even Hakim believed would challenge him greatly. Lev sincerely doubted that, but he was still mentally prepared.

  If the instance warped like it had done for his first golem dungeon delve, survival would be impossible. Depending on what he saw, Lev was going to simply leave this time. Golems he could deal with, mistcrawlers he could not. They were elusive creatures that would tear him to pieces without giving him a chance to fight back.

  If the instance was as messed up as the golem delve, that is.

  The flight was slow to let his mana regenerate. Lev simply glided forward several hundred meters above ground, enjoying the scenic view. Far to his right, the walls of windkeep were visible. Even from such a distance, they seemed titanic and robust.

  Other than that, there was only grass. The sheer scope of the plains was mind-boggling in how there was nothing but grassland for so much land. No mountains, no forests, and no other biomes. Just grass.

  For hours, he just stayed there with his Perception held back. Time passed quickly as the suns slowly dipped into the distant horizons, bathing the world in a few ephemeral rays of sunlight before vanishing entirely.

  Some time later, Lev landed near the large camp in front of the dungeon portal. That was surprising, as he thought the mistcrawler dungeon was too difficult for most teams.

  Looking around, Lev eventually decided to ask a Master team that was currently waiting for their turn.

  "Hey there," Lev called out as he approached. Most of them ignored him, but a mage answered him.

  "What?"

  Sometimes, I wonder where all the inflated sense of self comes from in these people.

  "Just wanted to ask why there are so many people here. Isn't the dungeon supposed to be pretty difficult?"

  "It is," the mage answered dismissively. "But it is also a great place to train all sorts of Perception skills."

  Lev was completely ignored after that, so he approached the Master guard managing everyone's turns near the portal.

  "There's still four more hours before you can enter," she said before Lev could even open his mouth. "Wait wherever, I will call for you when it's time."

  Lev simply nodded and flew a bit further from the camp. Forming a barrier chair, he sat down to meditate.

  The solitude lasted all of five minutes before he felt someone approaching him. Lev opened his eyes and saw a group of four moving his way.

  [Warrior - Level 189]

  [Mage - Level 190]

  [Warrior - Level 188]

  [Warrior - Level 189]

  "Hey, you," the mage woman called out to him, fully expecting an answer. Given Lev's terrible mood, he just tilted his head a little and waited.

  Several seconds passed before the mage's calm facade started to slip. "Did no one teach you to respect your betters?"

  "I don't see any 'betters.'"

  The pretense of civility was dropped immediately after that reply. The moment they took a step forward, Stargazer appeared in Lev's hand. Fire mana rushed out of his gauntlet like a raging river into the glaive's blade, which was set alight with a shockwave.

  "I dare you," Lev taunted, not moving a muscle as the air heated up from his weapon's presence. "Test me."

  Nervous glances were exchanged, and it seemed like the team was too prideful to back out before the Master mage from before arrived at the scene.

  "That's enough, kids," the mage stopped in between Lev and the opposite team. The Master's team was also observing the scene. "You can go face off each other in a tournament if you can't keep it courteous."

  "Someone should know to answer when a stronger person addresses them," the girl spat.

  "In what world are you stronger, girl?" Just to prove his point, Lev swung his glaive away from the camp. A gigantic fire slash originated from the attack, racing forward as a blur for more than a hundred meters before illuminating the camp with a large explosion. "Just fuck off already."

  The Master mage looked at the other team in a silent question. With some hesitation, they backed off to wait for their turn to delve.

  "I was watching," the mage addressed him. "Even if they seem arrogant, there was no need to escalate it to this point. They wouldn't have done anything amongst so many people."

  Lev nodded to show that he understood, mostly to not ignore the Master, and sat down on his chair again.

  Hours passed in silence. There was some bustle in the camp and sounds of sparring, but Lev ignored those. He just wanted to know if the dungeon was going to be normal and be done with it. Without a lightning converter, it was going to be hard, but fire would be more effective anyway.

  In such a humid dungeon, lightning would hurt him just as much as the enemy. Heat and fire would be slightly subdued but much safer.

  Lev entered the portal when his turn came. Stepping inside, the first thing he noticed was the brightness.

  Swirling mist obscured any details that may have told him about the layout of the land. His surroundings were illuminated by some bright white light, not helping with the mist in the slightest. It was like a distant street light was shining down on him during extreme fog.

  With the durability rune instead of enhancement formation on his armor flooded with mana, and the armor's resilience enhanced to the maximum through the class skill, Lev took slow, measured steps forward on the wet grassland.

  His heart beat wildly in his chest, expecting some horribly overleveled abomination to leap out of the mist at any moment. Nothing came. For minutes, Lev remained tense, putting one foot in front of the other. No auras could be felt anywhere near him.

  Eyes wide and dry from not blinking, Lev instantly halted when he noticed the first sign of movement. There was barely any indication. Just a slight shift in the mist to his left.

  Seeing that it had been noticed, the crawler threw itself at him with a high-pitched cry. Lev was prepared for a sound attack but there was none.

  [Mistcrawler Fiend - Level 187]

  The monster looked like a blurry stickman that blended with the mist almost seamlessly. It was two heads taller than Lev but far thinner. With two arms that almost touched the ground with their length and ended in serrated bones, it dashed in a straight line and tried to skewer him.

  Lev didn't take any chances and darted to the right, the movement slow without his enhancement formation but fast enough to avoid the bone entirely.

  He retaliated by swinging Stargazer down on the outstretched limb. Fire mana seared the limb as the blade cut halfway, almost severing the arm. The monster screeched and threw its other arm at his face. Leaning back under the attack, Lev pulled Stargazer out and swung it in a point blank fire slash.

  The crescent attack hit the monster in an instant, sending both of them flying due to the proximity of the blast.

  Lev instantly righted himself and rushed to the downed monster. It took him several seconds to find the camouflaged monster writhing on the ground. Much of its lithe body was burnt and torn. Without wasting a moment, Lev thrust Stargazer into its head.

  [

  You have slain [Mistcrawler Fiend - Level 187]

  ]

  Lev didn't stall and backtracked to the portal and thought back to the fight in a safe area. Nothing had indicated the monster being too strong for its level, and the level seemed reasonable for the most difficult gold dungeon.

  I think it is safe to progress deeper, He eventually concluded. Fire mana seemed to work well enough for now, and the monster was physically weak. It was pretty fast but Lev had the Perception to deal with the speed.

  Slowly, he advanced ahead. When he reached the corpse, he harvested the core through its condensed, corded muscles. Even dead, it remained a pale color that mixed with the mist to a surprising degree.

  [

  Mistcrawler Fiend Core

  The core possesses decent mana conductivity. Useful in crafting.

  ]

  No exhibition of properties, Lev noted. The detail soothed his nerves even further. Steeling his resolve to completely clear the dungeon, he stepped deeper into the all-encompassing mist.