[LEVEL 3 - THE DEPTHS]
"We don't need to go deeper," Alex said, checking the dungeon map on his phone. "We have the necklace. Mission complete."
Grim stopped. Tilted his head toward the tunnel descending to Level 3.
*"More... enemies. Below. I... sense. Many souls." *
Alex hesitated. Technically, the mission was complete. He could go back, collect his 300 crowns, deliver the necklace.
But "many souls" meant real progress toward Grim's evolution. And every soul brought him closer to being strong enough to survive whatever came next.
"How dangerous?" he asked.
*"Level... fifteen. Maybe. Twenty. Manageable. If. Careful." *
Level 15-20. Alex was level 15 now. Technically in range. But "technically in range" didn't mean safe—it meant "you probably won't die if you're lucky."
He thought about Michelle. About Marcus Webb. About all the bodies he'd seen.
He thought about the Paladin saying "hunting squads will come."
He thought about Raven entering his apartment undetected.
He thought about the Ancient Gods watching.
"We go deeper," he decided. "But carefully. And at the first sign it's too much, we retreat. Understood?"
*"Understood." *
They descended to Level 3.
---
[LEVEL 3 - GOBLIN NEST]
Level 3 was different. More organized. The tunnels had makeshift barriers—sharpened stakes, tripwire traps, warning signs painted in blood.
Goblin territory. Real, defended, claimed.
Alex activated Soul Sight.
[MP: 130/330]
And immediately deactivated it when he saw how many auras there were.
"Shit," he whispered. "Grim, there's... has to be thirty. Maybe more."
"Thirty-four," Grim confirmed. *"I... counted." *
"We can't fight thirty-four goblins head-on."
*"No. Head-on. Ambush. Lure. Small groups. You... good. At tactics." *
He was right. Alex had gotten better at that—using terrain, creating advantages, fighting smart instead of hard.
"Alright. Same strategy as the Golem. Make noise, draw small groups, crush them one by one."
It took forty minutes.
Forty minutes of tense, tactical combat. Alex using Reanimate on every fallen goblin, building a small temporary horde of skeletons to distract while Grim did the heavy killing.
[+45 EXP] [+45 EXP] [+45 EXP]...
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The numbers became a blur.
By the time they finished, Alex's status showed:
[Level: 17 (+2)]
[HP: 280/720]
[MP: 40/370]
[Souls: 104.2/1000]
One hundred four souls. He'd crossed one hundred.
And in the center of the goblin nest, they found the treasure—basically just shiny junk the goblins had accumulated. Some coins (180 crowns), two cheap potions, and surprisingly, a skill scroll.
[Skill Scroll: Shadow Step]
[Rank: D]
[Effect: Teleport up to 3 meters instantly. Cost: 20 MP. Cooldown: 10 seconds]
[Compatibility: Death Sovereign - 100%]
"Oh, this is useful," Alex murmured, crushing the scroll. Knowledge flowed into his mind—how to activate the skill, how to sense the shadows, how to step through space.
[New skill learned: Shadow Step]
Perfect for escaping. Or for combat positioning.
"Alright," he said, stashing the rest of the loot. "Mission complete, plus bonus. Let's get out before we—"
ROAR.
The sound shook the tunnel. Deep, rumbling, definitely NOT goblin.
"What the fuck was THAT?" Alex spun toward the source.
Grim tensed. *"Boss. Dungeon has. Boss. Not. On map." *
"HOW IS IT NOT ON THE MAP?"
*"Bosses. Sometimes. Hide. Wake when. Territory threatened. We. Killed. His goblins." *
Another roar. Closer.
Footsteps. Heavy. Something big moving through the tunnels.
"We run," Alex decided. "Now. Awakened form, all MP—"
"No MP," Grim reminded. *"You. Only forty. Not enough. For. Awakened." *
Shit. SHIT.
The creature appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Sewer Ogre. Three meters tall, green-gray skin, muscles like steel cables. It held a club—just a metal pole ripped from somewhere—that probably weighed more than Alex.
[DUNGEON BOSS: Sewer Ogre]
[Level: 22]
[HP: 2,800/2,800]
Alex and Grim looked at each other.
*"Run?" *
"Run."
They turned and ran.
The Ogre roared and chased, its club destroying walls as it lunged after them.
---
[THE CHASE - LEVEL 3 → LEVEL 2]
"LEFT!" Alex shouted as the Ogre's club smashed where his head had been a second before.
They ducked into a side tunnel. The Ogre was faster than anything that large should be, but the narrow space slowed it.
"Stairs!" Alex saw the exit to Level 2, ran—
His foot hit something. A tripwire trap he hadn't noticed earlier.
He fell, tumbling awkwardly. The Ogre closed in, raising its club—
*"MASTER!" *
Grim interposed, blocking with his scythe. The impact sent the skeleton flying, crashing into the wall hard enough to crack bone.
[Grim HP: 180/400]
"GRIM!" Alex forced himself up. He needed—needed to do something—
Shadow Step.
The new skill. He could use it.
He focused, felt the shadows, and pushed.
[Shadow Step - Activated]
[MP: 20/370]
The world blurred. He materialized three meters away, behind the Ogre.
The Ogre turned, confused—
Grim struck from his fallen position, scythe slicing through the Ogre's Achilles tendon.
[Critical hit! -420 HP]
The Ogre roared, dropping to one knee—
And a voice shouted from above: "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Alex looked up just in time to see a fireball the size of a basketball streak down the stairs and explode directly in the Ogre's face.
[FIREBALL!]
[-650 HP]
The Ogre staggered back, roaring, half its face burned away.
Three figures ran down the stairs—adventurers, properly equipped, clearly not Iron Classification.
The leader was a woman, early twenties, black hair in a ponytail, wooden staff in her hands still glowing with fire energy.
Beside her, a man with sword and shield—paladin or warrior.
And behind them, another woman with a bow, already nocking another arrow.
"Formation!" the leader shouted. "Jake, hold aggro! Lin, arrows in the eyes! I'll cook this bastard!"
They moved with professional precision. The warrior (Jake) charged, his shield glowing with protective light, slamming into the Ogre and forcing it to focus on him.
The archer (Lin) fired three arrows in rapid succession—all landing in the Ogre's remaining good eye.
[-180 HP] [-180 HP] [-180 HP]
The mage prepared another spell—
And noticed Alex.
Her eyes widened. "You? What the hell is an Iron Classification doing on Level 3 ALONE?"
"Recovery mission!" Alex shouted back. "I didn't know there was a boss!"
"You didn't—? Of course there's a boss! Every dungeon with two or more levels has a boss!" She launched her second spell. Another fireball, this one bigger, slammed into the Ogre's chest.
[-890 HP]
[Ogre HP: 480/2,800]
The Ogre, now half-blind, burned, and bleeding, tried to flee—
Grim chased it down, scythe cutting through the back of its knee.
[-320 HP]
The creature fell completely. Jake pinned it with his shield. Lin put an arrow through its throat.
[Sewer Ogre - KILLED]
[+1,200 EXP]
[You have leveled up! 17 → 18]
[Soul harvested: 3.5/1000]
Silence fell.
The three-person team turned to Alex, who was still standing there, covered in sewer grime, holding a cheap knife, with a meter-and-a-half skeleton at his side.
The mage—clearly the leader—approached.
"Alright," she said slowly. "Explanation. Now?"
"Recovery mission," Alex repeated, showing his phone with the mission details. "I needed to find a necklace, level 2. I didn't know about level 3 or the boss."
"So you decided to explore deeper alone," she said flatly.
"...Yes."
"With a skeleton companion."
"Yes."
"And you survived."
"Obviously."
She studied him for a long moment. Then extended her hand. "Maya Park. Silver Classification, fire specialist. These are my teammates, Jake and Lin."
Alex shook her hand, surprised by the firm grip. "Alex Carter. Iron Classification."
"Iron," Maya repeated. "Uh-huh. And I suppose your skeleton companion is F-Rank like your guild profile says."
"...Yes."
"Right." She didn't look convinced at all. "Well, Alex Carter Iron Classification, you just survived an encounter with a level 22 boss. Alone. With an 'F-Rank' companion. That's... impressive. Or stupid. Possibly both."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"How exactly did you survive until we got here?"
Alex opened his mouth—
A presence appeared behind him. Cold. Hungry.
He turned.
Grim had returned to the Ogre's body. And he was... eating.
The skeleton's mouth was open—too wide, unnatural—consuming the Ogre's flesh. The corpse dissolved into black dust that flowed into Grim's jaws.
[Consume the Fallen - Activated]
[Corpse consumed: Sewer Ogre (partial)]
[Grim HP restored: +150]
[Grim MP restored: +80]
The three adventurers stared in absolute horror.
"What," Maya said slowly, "the hell. Is. That?"
"It's..." Alex searched for words. "...combat recovery?"
"That's a SKELETON EATING AN OGRE."
"Technically absorbing," Alex corrected weakly.
Grim finished, turned his skull toward the group, and tilted his head. Sorry. Was that rude?
Maya looked between Alex, Grim, and back to Alex.
"You know what," she finally said. "I don't get paid enough to question this. Jake, Lin, let's take our loot and go. Let Iron Classification here handle... whatever this is."
They collected their share of the Ogre's loot—mostly crafting materials, some mana crystals—and started to leave.
Maya paused at the stairs, looking back.
"Hey, Carter. Free advice: if you're going to run suicidal solo missions, at least have the sense to lie better about your companion's capabilities. Because that little guy there?" She pointed at Grim. "Not F-Rank. Not even close."
She was gone before Alex could respond.
---
[DUNGEON EXIT - 5:47 PM]
Alex emerged into the evening light feeling like he'd been hit by a truck. His status showed why:
[Level: 18]
[HP: 280/760]
[MP: 85/390]
[Souls: 107.7/1000]
[Status: Fatigued, Injured, Needs food/rest]
But he'd survived. Completed the mission. Gained souls.
And made three Silver-ranked adventurers witness something they definitely wouldn't forget.
