[Killed a boss fire lizard singlehandedly. Loot dropped.]
[Congratulations on clearing an E-rank dungeon. Loots and dungeon core are in the system space. Please explore them.]
Arthur shifted his attention to the system space and noticed the loot he had obtained.
Most of his kills had dropped coins, and along with that, there were three mana recovery potions.
After reading through the information and suppressing his excitement, Arthur was just about to exit the dungeon when a ripple appeared in space and the fox materialized in front of him.
"Hungry again?" Arthur raised a brow. "Would you like to eat lizard meat? I'll be real, they probably taste like dragons…" He tried to appease the little creature.
The little fox nodded, then turned its gaze toward the massive fire lizard beside Arthur.
…
A few minutes passed, and Arthur finally finished satisfying the little fox. His energy had fully recovered as well.
Shifting his eyes toward the shimmering portal, he walked toward it and stepped in.
Whoosh.
A gust of blinding light clouded Arthur's vision before he appeared back in the real world.
Behind him, the portal to the dungeon gradually dimmed and then vanished.
It was obvious that this was an instance dungeon that would disappear after being cleared.
The moment he appeared, Gabriella and the driver's gaze fell on him.
'He cleared an E-rank dungeon all by himself?' Gabriella was pleasantly surprised.
She glanced at Arthur through the corner of her eyes and noticed a few burnt scars on his hand.
She signaled to the driver, who approached Arthur with a smile.
"I am a priest. Let me deal with the injuries before they become something worse."
"Oh? A priest?" Arthur never expected the seemingly harmless driver to be one.
He knew priests mainly specialized in supporting roles like healing and mana recovery.
Because of that, they were exceedingly rare, and it was difficult for anyone to awaken the class.
Seeing no resistance from Arthur, the priest stretched his hand, and a white light surfaced on it.
The white light glowed softly, releasing a pure aura that gently spread through the air.
He brought his hand close to Arthur's hand, which had been grazed by the fire lizard.
His palm hovered briefly, and within a few minutes he pulled it back.
Surprisingly, if one took a closer look, the diagonal scar that had run across Arthur's arm was nowhere to be seen.
It was as though the danger had never existed. His skin looked completely restored, and even the stinging pain from earlier had vanished.
'This is truly magical…' Arthur thought in awe.
The driver proceeded to heal his remaining injuries.
Feeling no discomfort anywhere in his body, Arthur finally released a controlled exhale of relief.
'Priests are truly helpful,' he thought.
"There is still some distance to the Sentient Academy," Gabriella calmly interrupted his thoughts.
When Arthur turned to her, she was already stepping into the carriage.
He glanced around and was just about to follow her when a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, followed by a loud explosion that thundered across the surroundings.
Arthur reacted instantly, plunging forward and pushing himself into Gabriella. They both fell to the side while a long spear slammed into the carriage and detonated.
"What the fuck?" Arthur cursed as he scrambled up and scanned the area to find the attacker.
Gabriella brushed off her clothes and mouthed a quiet word of appreciation toward him.
Arthur's gaze landed on a group of five radiating an aura that was at least level 10.
The battle-hardened sharpness in their eyes proved they were veteran players, not ordinary ones like the bandits before.
Arthur stared at them, and his face darkened.
All of them wore the same guild cloth, and their eyes scanned the trio with malicious intent.
"Hand over the dungeon rewards you obtained from clearing our dungeon, and we will let you leave in one piece."
The leader, a man in his late thirties with an average build and dark green eyes, spoke with a commanding tone.
His gaze treated Arthur and Gabriella like cornered rabbits. As for the driver, he did not spare him even a glance, completely dismissing the man.
"As old as you are, look at what you are doing for a living…" Arthur muttered under his breath with a shake of his head and began to summon Titan.
The leader's eyes sharpened. "Kid, what did you just say?"
His eyes burned with fury as he glared at Arthur.
'He heard me?' Arthur was startled, but he did not bother responding.
He was about to summon Titan when Gabriella sighed beside him.
"Why do you have to cause so much trouble?" She walked forward calmly, her steps light and her hips swaying behind her. She stretched her slender hand toward the group.
The eyes of the bandits sharpened at that moment, instinctively sensing an unprecedented danger coming from the woman.
"Guys, be alert," the leader warned in a low voice.
The expressions of the others stiffened, and their mana surged without hesitation.
It was already too late.
Gabriella spoke in a faint voice. "Fire snake."
The air around her rippled violently, and the temperature spiked.
Mana surged through the area, and a red glow flashed before solidifying into the shape of a snake.
Its dark red scales radiated intense heat, so much that even Arthur stepped back without meaning to.
'What the hell is that?' Arthur's heart pounded as the next scene unfolded.
Gabriella mouthed a single word: "Go."
The snake lunged at the five men before any of them could react.
In a blink, it was already on them.
It coiled through the first man, and his body turned to ashes that drifted away into the air.
Then it swept through the remaining men just as effortlessly.
Before the leader could beg for mercy, the snake wrapped around him and tightened. His body burst apart, turning to ashes like the others.
Arthur stood rooted to the spot, stunned.
'She is that strong?'