-Three months later-
Fangs bit down around my arm. Blood spurted out and dyed the ground red. Looking the devil dog in its eyes, I grabbed the inside of its throat before ripping its head off. The bite was a cheap shot in a desperate attempt to kill the enemy.
I had to give the dog props; it saw its whole pack get killed yet still attacked. Any sane man would have run away. It was a monster. So, the dog wasn't rational. But you would think it would heed its instinct to flee.
I ran into this pack of devil dogs while returning "home." I set up a base of operations next to the river I found. It took me three months to map out the first floor alone. I had to keep busy if I wanted to survive. This dungeon was underground, so you'd think the entrance would be up here.
If it was, I had yet to find any sign of it. Even following the river led to nothing. Teleportation circles teleported the water in and back out. My knowledge of magic wasn't good enough to reverse-engineer those circles either.
There was only one path off the first floor, and it went down. It was the same path I took when fleeing from the Hydra. I was reluctant to admit it, but this was likely a trap dungeon. Some dungeon masters were evil and made their dungeons with no exit.
The only ways to escape were to reach the end or destroy the dungeon. To compensate for their design, these dungeons tended to be lower levels. The one I was in was an anomaly among anomalies.
The highest-level dungeon in the Aeulus Empire was a ninth-ranked one. It had an eighth-ranked boss. This dungeon had a ninth-ranked boss. And presumably, many eighth-ranked monsters on the last floor. It was unfair.
I healed the dog bite on my arm as I checked my mental map. At this point, my body was over 50 percent nanomachines, so there was no real need to use magic to heal. I used it in case I had to be on guard.
My mental map covered the first floor completely, but it was wise to exercise caution. My core was as big as possible, and I was almost at the fifth tempering level. My senses covered everything within a hundred feet. My mana sense could map mana up to 500 feet away.
I confirmed that I was appropriately healed before heading out. This time, I would scope out the second floor. From what I saw before, monsters rose to the sixth rank, so I had to be careful.
My magic was barely sixth-ranked. My body was fourth-ranked, on the verge of breaking through. So, my combat power averaged out to fifth-ranked.
I could still hold my own against the sixth-ranked beasts but couldn't win. Arriving at the downward path, I sent out a scouting spell. Getting ganged up on by monsters is never good, no matter how strong you are.
Confirming it was safe, I headed down. At the bottom, another path led further down. Two other paths were to the left and right, opening up to more extensive caves. The dungeon was big, so I wouldn't encounter any beasts for a while unless my luck turned against me.
The dungeon had its ecosystem. The first floor's river, where I made my home, was a point of contention for all the monsters there. That's why they attacked me so much. I walked down the left cave for almost 10 minutes before encountering a monster.
It was a rank-four monster, so I defeated it swiftly. It was a pack monster called the bull-pig. Seeing one here meant the rest of its pack wasn't far away. My mana sense had reduced effectiveness the further down I went.
The increasing mana density made it hard to penetrate walls and confused signals. I could only sense up to 200 feet away, meaning it would take me a lot more time to map out this layer.
I continued into the cave, encountering a few more bull-pigs. None were stronger than fourth-ranked, but the area the pigs covered was massive. They had to have one, if not more, leaders at the sixth rank to control such a large territory.
As I approached a high density of mana, I cloaked myself. The cave was dark, but occasionally, bits of light would float on the ceiling. The animals here had long adapted to the dark, so hiding in the shadows wouldn't be enough.
It was a little weird. All the animals I have encountered thus far should have an aboveground habitat. It's an odd choice for a dungeon master to put them in an underground dungeon.
I camouflaged around the wall as I approached. The strong scent of blood and corpses would hide me, but I also concealed my smell. Mistakes become failures when you fail to learn from them.
I approached the main group of bull-pigs. They were sleeping. The leader, a rank-six monster, slept in the middle, surrounded by the females. The main fighting force around the outside surrounded the children and elderly.
Four other rank-six monsters slept on the outside. They were lieutenants of the boss pig guarding the whole group. The pigs I met outside must have been the scouts. While monsters primarily relied on instinct, the higher-level monsters had some rationality.
They could even command other lower ranks if they are part of a social species. This type of leadership is only present in rank five monsters and above. The packs on the first floor were only together by instinct.
The bull-pigs here were smarter. They had actual defenses and security set up. I viewed the den a bit longer before leaving. Once they noticed the dead scouts, their guards would be up. With five rank-six monsters and tens of rank-fives, I stood a negative chance.
As I headed back up, I decided on a game plan. My body and magic were both close to ranking up. I would focus on cultivating, but I would also scout the second floor when I had time. Until I was at least a sixth-ranked fighter, there wouldn't be much for me to do.
I could avoid the big boys, but there was always a chance of defeating them to reveal the exit. If I couldn't find the exit anywhere else on the second floor, I would have to check the monster packs. Only then would I go to the third floor.
The monsters there were stronger anyway, and I would have to be stronger to deal with them. With my plan in mind, I set off. There was no time to waste.