Kai moved like a phantom through the jagged corridors, his Shadow-Tread Boots swallowing every vibration against the stone. The frantic echoes of screaming grew louder, laced with the sharp, explosive crackle of failing magic.
He slipped around a mossy corner and pressed himself against the damp wall, peering down into a massive, hollowed-out cavern chamber.
Leo Vance's vanguard team was in absolute ruins. Two of his heavily armored B-Rank defenders were sprawled on the floor, their shields cracked and their armor dented. The remaining two cronies were backing away in sheer terror, frantically waving their weapons at the monstrous entity dominating the center of the room.
It wasn't a normal goblin. Standing nearly eight feet tall, the creature possessed a bloated, muscular fra covered in mottled, ash-gray skin. It clutched a massive, jagged stone club that dripped with a toxic, erald sludge.
[Entity: Aberrant Goblin Chieftain]
> Rank: E-Rank Boss (Level 5)
> HP: 450/450
> MP: 20/20
> Strength: 22
> Agility: 10
> Endurance: 18
> Weakness: Soft underbelly.
"Keep it back! Block it, you useless idiots!" Leo shrieked from the rear line. His pristine uniform was torn and stained with soot. His right hand flared with an unstable orange glow as he desperately channeled another spell.
Fla Burst!
Leo hurled the fireball. It streaked across the dark chamber and struck the Chieftain squarely in the chest. A loud explosion echoed through the cavern, filling the space with thick smoke.
Leo grinned triumphantly, gasping for air. "Ha! Take that, you ugly bastard!"
But as the smoke cleared, the grin vanished from Leo’s face. The Chieftain stood entirely unmoved. Its ash-gray skin was lightly singed, but its health bar had barely budged. Leo's magic simply wasn't dense enough to pierce its massive 18 points of Endurance.
Angered by the heat, the Chieftain let out a deafening, guttural roar that rattled the loose stalactites above. It raised its massive stone club, its small yellow eyes locking directly onto Leo.
"M-Mana exhaustion..." Leo stamred, his hand flickering out as his MP bar hit zero. His legs gave out beneath him, and he fell backward onto the dirt, completely paralyzed by fear.
The Chieftain lunged forward, raising its club for a crushing downward swing that would easily turn the elite prodigy into a blood splat.
From his vantage point in the shadows, Kai calmly analyzed the trajectory. He could slip away right now and let the dungeon take care of his bully. But his eyes drifted to the boss's status bar. An E-Rank Boss ant a massive windfall of experience points, high-grade materials, and a mountain of Evolution Points.
Besides, if he saved the headmaster's nephew after being branded a useless F-Rank failure, the look on Leo's face would be absolutely priceless.
Kai drew his Abyssal Steel Shortsword. His violet eyes flared in the darkness as he calculated his approach. With his effective Strength at 15 and his Agility pushed to 17 by his boots, he was faster than anything in this room.
He didn't yell. He didn't warn them.
Kai simply exploded out of the shadows like a bullet, crossing the cavern floor in absolute silence.
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