In L City, beginner-level skills are worth their weight in gold. Even with a million-dollar price tag, people would fight for them. Now, Lucas, the lowest-ranked student, has somehow mastered three beginner skills. Jack couldn't help but laugh. "Who ranked this guy? If Lucas is the worst, then I'm the MVP of losers."
But there was no smile on Lucas' face. They were still up against five frost goblins and a throwing goblin, and his stamina was running low. Thankfully, thanks to his passive skill, Mana Surge, Lucas could keep fighting efficiently.
"You guys take care of one frost goblin and the thrower. I'll handle the rest. Sound good?" Lucas called out, quickly forming a plan.
Emily, Jeff, and Jack exchanged a glance. Their armor was cracked, and their bodies bruised, but they agreed without hesitation. "We've got this! Although, if we can't even handle two goblins, that'd be pretty embarrassing," Emily muttered.
Their beginner armor was in tatters, barely holding together, and Lucas' task was even tougher—taking on four frost goblins solo. Fortunately, Lucas had already taken down the flame goblins, removing the biggest threat from the fight.
Boom!
A Fire Blast erupted from Lucas' hand, the heat wave pushing back the frost, giving his team space to breathe.
"Let's go!" Jack charged first, moving like a black flash toward the throwing goblin. Meanwhile, Emily and Jeff focused on one frost goblin, fighting as a team.
Lucas wasted no time. He bit into a wild berry, restoring a bit of his energy, then zigzagged between the goblins' attacks, dodging their icy assaults.
Sensing the threat, the frost goblins began casting spells faster, sending ice spikes crashing down from above. But Lucas' quick reflexes allowed him to dodge effortlessly, weaving through the attacks.
"Perfect chance!" Lucas spotted an opening. With a gleam in his eye, he fired off a Rapid Arrow, the golden projectile piercing a frost goblin clean through, leaving it as a cold, lifeless corpse.
The remaining three frost goblins panicked. They ramped up their spell-casting, trying to lower the temperature further to slow Lucas down. They knew his new skill was a serious threat.
Lucas didn't hesitate. Another Fire Blast added to the chaos, and amidst the confusion, he smirked. He conjured two more glowing arrows but waited, searching for the perfect moment to strike.
Then, in a stroke of luck, two frost goblins clumsily overlapped, creating the perfect target. Lucas' eyes gleamed as he unleashed Rapid Arrow. The golden arrows zipped through the air, striking two goblins at once, and the final shot took down the last frost goblin.
While Lucas finished off his foes, Jeff and Jack had just about wrapped up their fight. Jack's sword cleaved the throwing goblin in half, while Emily and Jeff teamed up to bring down the frost goblin they were facing.
"Finally... it's over." The three of them collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. Lucas, still calm, handed out wild berries to help them recover.
"Let's collect the energy stones," Lucas said, already gathering the dust left behind by the fallen goblins. Sitting down, he immediately began refining the dust. With Mana Surge aiding him, it didn't take long before the refining process was complete.
"My stats went up again!" Lucas smiled with satisfaction. However, he noticed that as his progress increased, the stat boosts from the dust were becoming smaller. Despite their hard work, the gains were starting to plateau.
After refining, Lucas studied his Mana Surge ability, mumbling to himself. "What level is this passive skill anyway? My intelligence stat seems to be growing way faster than everything else."
Before Lucas could dive deeper into his thoughts, Jeff and the others had already recovered. Though their armor was now barely functional, and their bodies covered in bruises, they could still move.
At this point, Lucas' magic pistol was out of bullets. It was clear to everyone—their dungeon raid was coming to an end.
"Let's head back. We've got enough for first place in the hunt, no doubt about it," Jeff grinned, holding up a glowing energy stone with pride.
"Yeah, let's just teleport out," Lucas nodded. Since they were no longer in combat, they could safely teleport out of the dungeon, a feature designed to protect beginner players.
Emily and Jack agreed, and the group began chanting the teleportation spell. A soft glow surrounded them, and the space around them began to warp as their forms started to fade.
But just then, a deep sense of dread washed over them. Something big—something dangerous—was coming.
From a distance, a white goblin slowly emerged, holding a curved blade. Its eyes crackled with fierce lightning as it stared coldly at the group, sizing them up like prey.
"That's the Thunder Goblin Lord!" Lucas gasped. This goblin was the dungeon's final boss. Even standing still, its presence radiated an overwhelming pressure, like an unstoppable force.
"That thing... is terrifying," Jeff muttered, swallowing hard. "I bet it could chop me in half with one swing."
"No kidding. Your scrawny body wouldn't stand a chance," Emily quipped, though she and Jack were equally on edge. They tried to stay calm, but fear crept into their voices.
Crack!
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, aimed directly at them.
At the last second, their teleportation spell activated, whisking them away just before the lightning struck. The bolt hit the ground, leaving a smoking crater ten meters wide. Everything in its path had been obliterated.
The Thunder Goblin Lord gave a cold glance at where they had disappeared, then turned and wandered off. It knew something had disturbed the dungeon's balance today, forcing it to intervene personally. While a few humans had escaped this time, it wouldn't be so lenient next time.
"Whew... that was too close. One more second, and we'd have been fried," Jack panted, his face pale from the near-death experience.
Jeff clutched his chest, still shaken. "That Thunder Goblin Lord is on another level... it's way too strong."
Lucas remained silent, already reflecting on the encounter. He realized that if he wanted to dominate even the lower-tier dungeons, he still had a long way to go.