"What bad luck… a Silver-ranked team almost died in a dungeon rated Normal! If word gets out, we'd be a laughingstock…"
Steran grumbled as she skillfully used her enchanted dagger to slice off the minotaur's horns and stored them in her dimensional backpack.
As a noble pure-blooded elf, she had traveled for fifty years, and thanks to her unmatched archery, she had risen to Silver rank. Her strength wasn't low either—she could face off against twenty Fillys alone!
Her team, "Dawn Breeze," consisted of another Silver-ranked adventurer and two nearly-promoted Bronze adventurers. Their success rate was over 80%.
Yet here in the Saen dungeon… they were nearly wiped out.
One Bronze teammate had been dragged into a swamp by skeletons and rot-hounds. When they rescued him, he was afflicted with "Severe Poison" and "Corruption."
Though they had brought antidotes…
The one carrying them triggered a trap while opening a common chest:
Teleportation trap activated!
They hadn't seen him since.
Steran was an advanced ranger. Her Silver teammate was a sword-and-shield warrior, but neither of them could heal.
So they could only watch their friend die from poison…
The swordsman, impulsive as he was, flew into a berserker rage. He charged down from the upper level to the middle floors, destroying everything in sight.
But rage clouded his mind. He didn't see a trap: a massive iron ball struck from the side and sent them both plunging into the abyss.
R.I.P.
"Who puts a hidden iron ball in a corner like that?!"
Steran kicked the door that led to the lower level, where the mine shaft began.
But she didn't rush in. She tossed a stone first—checking for ambushes.
Not that she was overly cautious by nature… this damned Saen dungeon forced her to be.
She'd encountered more traps here than in the past ten years combined.
Monsters disguised as corpses, hidden in swamps, on ceilings, hanging from bridges…
"This dungeon is clearly Hard-rated. If the monsters were stronger, it'd be official!"
But… Steran also noticed a fatal weakness: the monsters were too weak.
Skeletons, goblins, rot-hounds, blood mosquitoes—basic trash mobs. Only the minotaurs had some threat, but even they were just slightly above average.
No real bosses. The traps were dangerous, sure, but if she was cautious, they were meaningless.
"If we find the exit, we're leaving immediately. Nothing's gone right since we entered."
Their original reason for coming wasn't even a mission. It was tourism—checking out the "easy" legendary Saen dungeon.
But upon entering: "This isn't easy—it's malicious!"
She quickly realized there had been a mutation. The dungeon's structure and monster types had changed.
A thousand years ago, dungeon mutations were common. Layouts shifted daily, making exploration unpredictable.
But nowadays, most dungeons hadn't changed in decades—many had complete walkthroughs published.
Saen was the first to mutate in thirty years.
"If we make the first complete guide for this dungeon… we'll be rich!" Steran thought. "Rest a few days, then we come back. We'll be the first!"
She moved forward, descending spiral stairs, killing lurking ghosts, dodging falling rocks, and defeating mimic chests… until she arrived at a mining cave filled with glowing red crystals.
Steran stopped.
The red glow from the crystals filled the room, but what truly stood out was the figure in front of her.
A massive knight, clad in old bronze armor, helm shaped like a battle axe, sword and shield marked with battle scars.
Strange, intricate engravings covered the armor.
He faced away from her, but even standing still, he exuded overwhelming strength.
Skill: Combat Energy Perception!Her left eye glowed. She sensed his strength:He's stronger than me and Biggs (the swordsman) combined!
"Uh… hello?" she called cautiously.
She couldn't see his face or sense malice… could he be an ally?
The Furnace Knight turned slowly, and just as Steran opened her mouth again—he charged!
"Knew it! Not friendly!"
She jumped and fired a dozen arrows instantly.
The knight raised his shield. All blocked.
Not a scratch.
"Who just casually blocks like that?!"
In the city lord's chamber, Gong Qiying observed through his crystal orb, hands folded under his chin.
"Shield mode is completely busted… too bad I can't change the Furnace Knight's equipment."
He was gathering battle data.
The Furnace Knight was his strongest unit of Class C. He also had access to black knights, silver knights, etc.
Class F monsters cost a single digit of mental energy to summon. Class E, two digits. Class D, 100–500. Class C? Hundreds to thousands. He couldn't yet handle too many.
Thanks to Godwin's memories, he could analyze others' strength. Steran, for instance, had at least one advanced and one mid-tier class.
Everyone could have multiple classes: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Royal, Sacred, and Legendary.
Adventurer ranks like Iron, Bronze, Silver, etc., were based on missions completed.
Steran was above average. Gong wanted to test how far his Furnace Knight could go.
After ten minutes, Steran was visibly exhausted.
Normal arrows did nothing. Only magical arrows and high-consumption skills could hurt him.
But that drained her fast.
The knight, covered in arrows, didn't slow down. Still fast, still deadly.
Steran retreated to dodge a shockwave attack, but cut her arm on a jagged rock. She was about to strike back—
A golden glow!
Wings burst from the knight's back!
Danger!
She dove to the side on instinct.
The knight dive-bombed her!
"Ah!"
She dodged, but one wing slashed her ribs.
"Healing potion! Quick! Thank goodness I brought one!"
The dive gave her a bit of space—just enough time to drink.
She popped the cork and downed the red potion—just in time to see:
The Furnace Knight glaring at her like she'd gone mad—and charging with furious speed!
All I did was drink a potion! Was that so wrong?!