Arriving at his long-awaited destination, all the young man saw were remnants of crimson with the decaying stench growing stronger.
It was to the point that the man couldn't even breathe without agitating his nose and throat.
Even though he was a hunter, someone far stronger with more resilient senses than common people, his sharper senses only served to worsen his situation.
'Way to go, Jash, way to go!' He mocked himself for his pathetic display as he stepped towards the cave entrance.
This was the same cave entrance he entered with his younger sister, Caera, where she got traumatized, partially because of him.
Thankfully, it had long become something of the past and she had moved on, almost reaching mid E-Rank.
All she needed was a strong trigger to break through and she would reach an Orange Mana Core.
Compared to her, Jash was much more monstrous.
Not only had he awakened a year later than her, he also skipped training many times yet he recently broke through to E-Rank.
His mana core had morphed to a more compact and stronger light orange color.
'I am roughly 15 times stronger than the first time I came here,' Jash mused as he finally entered the cave.
Channeling a wisp of mana into his eyes, he could see much better in the dimly lit dry cave.
'I would've much rather preferred the crimson pool than this,' he thought as every step disgusted him.
If it were only the smell, he might've chosen to cut off his sense of smell by covering his nose using mana, but that wasn't the case.
It would be really stupid of him to lose one of his senses in a dungeon where people die despite being alert all the time.
'No more rookie mistakes,' he chided himself internally every time he almost sealed his sense of smell.
After his fair share of experience inside various dungeons, he had long come to understand that things can take a turn for the worse anytime.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he never had to go through another anomaly during any of his hunts.
'It proves that the first time could've been a coincidence, or I just haven't entered another dungeon like that,' he theorized.
Currently, he had a few theories, but the one he wanted to believe in was: 'It was just a coincidence, nothing more.'
However, he wasn't stupid enough to believe it.
There were various possibilities, ranging from it only taking effect once every rank of a dungeon to it only taking effect in specific dungeons or under specific conditions.
Technically, there were many possibilities, but Jash had already tried and tested various methods before concluding these as the most probable.
'It wouldn't surprise me if it's something totally out of comprehension, like a miracle,' he sneered at the idea, but kept it at the back of his mind.
"Hmm? Isn't this where her arrow connected?" he mumbled to himself, looking at the charred cavern wall.
Tracing the spot with his hands, he recognized his position and walked further inside the dungeon.
Up until now, he had not found any living creatures inside the dungeon, but he wasn't so sure about this path.
Unlike an overconfident idiot, he prepared himself by shuffling his hands around and gripping the hilt of his weapons.
Jash appeared ready to unsheathe and use his best attack at the slightest moment in his vision as he focused on his surroundings.
He missed nothing, be it the slightest moss or a cracked wall or a claw mark or a red spot or be it the uncomfortable sensation due to wind or the putrid stench.
Working his brain full-throttle, he cautiously took every single step, ready to dodge in case any trap got triggered.
Fortunately, it seemed he was thinking too much as he walked for half a minute before encountering a diversion.
"Both the caves are narrow and too dark to see anything past a few meters," he muttered in contemplation, looking closely at the paths.
'It's obvious that the one that seems used is where the boss monster ought to be,' he guessed in his heart.
Unfortunately, both the paths had bloodmarks, but the disgusting scent of decaying corpses had decreased, surprising him.
"Is it because it's still alive?" he mumbled in confusion before taking the left path.
It had a few claw marks on the inner walls, as if someone had tried to capture an escaping prey.
'If push comes to shove, I should at least be able to escape, right?' he hoped for it to be true in his heart.
Even if he had already reached a new major rank, it wasn't enough to rid his anxiety about the unknown boss monster.
Something that could remain alive despite being sealed for 11 months, possibly more, wouldn't be an ordinary foe for sure.
Despite the danger involved, it did nothing to shake Jash's resolve as he continued further down the path and stopped after a few tens of minutes.
The path seemed endless but that didn't make any sense to him as he thought, 'Since when did wolves start building traps?'
Although he had prepared for it, he too didn't really believe it.
It was just that this dungeon seemed far too much of an anomaly for him to ignore any possibility.
As if to prove his point, he finally saw a wolf's corpse.
Its rotten sight did emanate an unpleasant scent, but it was far more bearable than outside.
'Did it die recently?' Jash observed carefully and noted that it had a shriveled-up corpse, unlike the others.
'Maybe it starved to death due to a lack of prey?' he guessed in his heart and nodded as it seemed the most logical reason.
Its size, however, still served as a warning.
Even its corpse easily expanded well over 6 meters, possibly 7 when it was alive.
"(F+)-Rank at the minimum, maybe (E-)-Rank?" he mumbled to himself with a calculating expression.
His eyes narrowed in thought before he shook his head, "Forget it. Most, if not all, of them should've already starved to death."
Be that as it may, he didn't let down his guard and continued farther down for more than an hour.
All he saw were scarce corpses of the wolf with no visible cues of any fights around their dead bodies, indicating his guess to be correct.
"Just when will it end?" he yelled in frustration, his voice echoing off the empty cave walls, adding to his agony.
If he were just another hunter, he'd be delighted at the discovery of their guess being right and the prospect of free loot.
Alas, he was far from ordinary.
Nothing in this dungeon, or any F-Rank dungeon for that matter, enticed him in the least.
His family could easily buy anything they needed up to A-Rank, setting a smooth journey for him.
'If not for that compulsory darned academy, which noble would even care to go and raid dungeons?'
And Jash was absolutely right.
That was the exact reason the Solarnelle Academy was established in the first place, before other academies followed suit due to the increase in population.
Since the world had become a safer place to live under a single Empire with academies birthing better hunters, it formed a virtuous cycle.
"Damn it! What does it matter to me?! It's just annoying!" Jash cursed in frustration, his patience seemed to wear thin.
Still, that didn't stop him from walking further into the dungeon.
Only the amount of mental power he was using to stay at guard at all times was wearing down.
It seemed that the dungeon wanted the hunters to lose their sense of danger before presenting them their bane.
Before they'd know it, they would have already become some monster's food.
"Ah! Finally!" Jash exclaimed as a teardrop fell from his left eye.
For the first time, he felt happy to find the boss room inside a dungeon.
Alas, his happiness didn't last long as he felt an ominous feeling in the next second. 'Shit! Something's off!'