I didn’t encounter any monsters after my fight with the rock lizard, so I found myself on the final floor in no time. The boss room door towered above me, stark and unfeeling.
“Wow, not even thirty minutes to get down here. It feels kind of like cheating to tackle my first B-rank dungeon so easily, but who’s going to complain, I guess.” I took a deep breath. “Time to shake it off and get it over with.”
On that note, I opened the massive doors with a bold push. They swung open to reveal an empty room with a flame-draped lizard in the center.
A salamander.
I walked in, sizing the beast up as the doors shut behind me. The salamander was large—at least a meter tall. I admit, I researched this dungeon to find out what kind of boss I was in for ahead of time, but…just in case, I used Appraisal.
Salamander
Level: 10,000
A monster clad in fierce flame. It can manipulate fire at will and land strong attacks with its tough body.
“Sounds like what I read. I should be fine.”
I equipped Greed and faced the salamander, but it moved first. It roared so loud that the space around us shook. As if the roar was a spell, fire gathered in front of its mouth in the shape of a long lance. It narrowed its gleaming black eyes and launched the scorching-hot spear of flame my way. If it hit me, I’d take massive damage.
Big if.
“Absorb it, Greed!” As the fire touched the transparent gleam of my blade, it was sucked into it. The blade lit up with a crimson color. “Ha, how you like that?”
The salamander wasn’t a clever creature. It froze in bewilderment upon seeing this turn of events, and I didn’t let the opening go. No need for Time Zero. In a flash, I activated my speed-boosting skills and closed in on the salamander.
I slashed at its magma-covered, slick body in a flurry of attacks—but then I wondered something. What if Greed could absorb the fire that cloaked the salamander’s body? If it could absorb a monster’s water and lightning attacks, a magic cloak shouldn’t be impossible. This was a good chance to experiment.
“Absorb!”
The blade ravenously absorbed the weaving flames and exposed the salamander’s wet body to the air, completely removing its only armor.
“It worked!” I exclaimed.
Unlike the rock lizard, it didn’t have hard stone scales to hide behind. I brought my blade down and struck deep. It screeched and bucked with no regard for the blade slicing its flesh, propelling me and Greed backward with the force of its thrashing.
“Whoa!”
Not the kind of enemy that would die easily with one hit, huh? But the odds were still very much in my favor.
“Hyaaa!” I held Greed with both hands and chopped into the salamander’s face. It shrieked as liquid filled its ruined mouth, but there was no more fight left in it. It slumped to the floor moments later.
The system spoke in my head.
“You have defeated the dungeon boss.”
“Gained XP: Level increased by 1!”
“Dungeon Takedown Reward: Level increased by 50!”
“Woo! I beat the dungeon!” I cheered. For my first B-rank dungeon, this was way easier than I expected, but that checked out considering my high level.
“Phew. It’s good I managed to absorb its cloak, but that cost a lot of MP.”
The MP bar in the corner of my vision had reduced by a quarter. Most of that was from absorbing the salamander’s armor. It was a stark indicator of how much mana a boss like the salamander had to play with. The lightning beast’s armor was the same way; it had enough mana to maintain it and restore the armor when it broke. Depending on the monster, this could make a great trick, but I needed to time when I used it.
Enough thinking! I needed to gather the magic stone and return to the surface with my takedown reward. Supposedly, Suzuka’s takedown reward was a magic item called a Mana Amplification Stone. Like other magic stones, it came infused with mana, but a Mana Amplification Stone worked as a source of magic energy for adventurers—and an excellent one at that. When a spell was released, the stone’s mana could boost its power exponentially. They were popular among sorcerers, so it would fetch a good price.
I waited on tenterhooks for my reward to manifest, but…
“Is the system asleep?” I complained. No matter how long I waited, there was no sign of it. It should’ve dropped into my inventory by now.
“Wait a minute. I feel like this happened bef—”
“First-time challenger of this dungeon: Confirmed.”
“Solo dungeon takedown: Confirmed.”
“Dungeon defeated within sixty minutes of entry: Confirmed.”
“Condition of ‘Hunter of Divine Speed’: Fulfilled.”
“Now spawning extra boss: Gryphon.”
“I knew it!!!” I hollered.
Abruptly, the sound of massive, flapping wings echoed above me. I whipped my head back to see a beast with an eagle’s body in the front and a lion’s body in the back.
Yup, I’d call that a classic gryphon, all right.
Gryphon
Level: 25,000
Extra boss: Suzuka Dungeon
Amane Rin
Level: 14,418 SP: 4,510
Titles: Dungeon Traveler (10/10), Nameless Swordsman, Endbringer (ERROR), Wiser Wise Man
HP: 112,500/112,500 MP: 23,150/31,680
Attack: 26,970 Defense: 22,710 Speed: 28,210
Intelligence: 22,370 Resistance: 22,500 Luck: 21,420
Skills: Dungeon Teleportation LV 21, Enhanced Strength LV MAX, Herculean Strength LV MAX, Superhuman Strength LV MAX, High-speed Movement LV MAX, Gale Wind LV MAX, Revitalize LV 1, Purification Magic LV 1, Mana Boost LV MAX, Mana Recovery LV 2, Enemy Detection LV 4, Evasion LV 4, Status Condition Resistance LV 4, Appraisal, Item Box LV 6, Conceal LV 1, Battle Barrier LV 1, Plunderer LV 1