"Level thirty-five already, huh?"
Silas leaned his back against a half-destroyed boulder, and his breathing started to turn ragged. His shirt was half torn, completely drenched in sweat, clinging to his skin tightly. Small trails of blood dwelled across his cheeks—some of it wasn't even his, most of it wasn't.
The floating system panel in front of his eyes was flickering with bright blue lights.
[You have 30 unallocated stat points.]
A small, tired laugh escaped Silas's mouth. "Let's fix this shit-ass stats of mine now."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
[Stats Updated]
[Agility: C+]
[Strength: C–]
[Intellect: B–]
[Luck: D–]
[Charisma: E+]
Silas rolled his shoulders, cracking them a bit. He felt the effect of the sudden stat change immediately.
"C+ agility… that's nice. Strength section still sucks a lot, but B- in intellect? Am I a genius of what?"
[No, you're not.]
A vein popped up on Silas's forehead, eyes closed in anger, voice came low yet firm. "You little shit, come here bitch." Silas tried to grab the system with his fingers, but it faded into the thin layer.
He looked at his stats once more, a small smirk curled up on his lips. "Yeah… I'm fucking improving, let's go." Silas let out a happy chuckle, his voice filled with excitement.
The heat around him crackled. His expression darkened a shade.
"I left that rat-hole life behind. I'm not fighting for scraps anymore, I'm not that same F-Rank loser anymore." His voice came firm, a bit motivated.
He tilted his head a bit, fingers scratching the back of his neck, voice dripping with venom.
"The damn C-Rankers… I have already caught up to them… life has started to feel real Good now…"
Then his smile twisted a bit, a smile of a hungry human being.
"And the S-Rankers…" Silas scoffed, took his hand next to his chin. "You shiny arrogant motherfuckers, who think that they have attained the best in the world. One day… I'll line all of your heads on spikes and hang them outside a god-damn house."
A system panel appeared in front of his eyes from the thin air, flickering with bright blue light.
[Quest Active: Clear a D-Rank Dungeon.]
[Target: Scorching Rift Cavern]
[Completion Required.]
"Oh yeah, right," Silas muttered under his breath, rubbing his temple with his thumb. "I definitely had forgotten about that one. Thanks for reminding, system."
He turned toward the gaping red crack in the earth ahead—a glowing wound in reality. Steam hissed from it in angry bursts. The heat licked his skin like claws.
This was the D-rank dungeon, the one that he had never imagined raiding alone.
'Finally..' he exhaled slowly. "Alright, it's today or never."
[DUNGEON ENTERED — SCORCHING RIFT CAVERN]
[Element: Fire]
[Hazard Rating: High]
[Objective: Eliminate the Boss]
The moment Silas stepped inside the dungeon, the world suddenly shifted around him.
It was not a normal heat, not a kind that one experiences during summer. It was furnace heat—like walking straight into the breath of the dragon.
Lava was flowing out of the cracked walls in thick, red, gooey veins. The ceiling dripped with molten droplets that sizzled when they hit a stone. The air smelled like it was filled with the fumes of burning metal.
Silas raised one of his eyebrows. "Oh, nice.. a fire dungeon for me, eh? It's like I'm walking in the mouth of the dragon by my own will."
"Hey, system. If you can scan this dungeon for me, then it'll be a huge help."
[Right away, host.]
[The system scanned.]
[System Scan Active…]
[Hostile Entities Detected:]
[- Ember Hounds (E-Rank): Fire-coated beasts. Hunt in packs. Melt faces.]
[- Blazewings (E-Rank): Flying flame-chickens. Dive-bombers. Explode on contact.]
[- Cinder Serpents (E-Rank): Lava snakes. Aggressive. Jump scares guaranteed.]
[- Magma Tusker (D– Rank Mini-Boss): Huge fire boar. Exploding tusks. Not friendly.]
[- Inferno Wyrmling (D-Rank Boss): Baby dragon. Still deadly. Probably hates everything.]
A deep sigh escaped Silas's mouth, voice came low. "This place will definitely kill me…"
The path ahead of him was a nightmare to a normal hunter, jagged with stone platforms that were floating over the flowing magma. Heat filled the whole area, making everything shimmer like a hallucination.
"Well, let's dig right into it then, shall we?"
[Area One: Ember Pits]
The growls of the bears came first—deep, vibrating and full of hunger.
Then they started to appear. Six Ember Hounds burst from the shadows, their bodies covered in blackened fur that was flowing with bright ember cracks. Their jaws flowed like furnaces.
Silas cracked his neck slightly. "Let's dance, bitches."
The first hound lunged—it was fast. Silas slid under it, dodged it as he delved his dagger up through the soft flesh under its jaw. The hound let out a fiery groan, its body exploding in sparks. One of the sparks hit Silas's shoulder.
Another hound came right after that, not giving Silas any time to rest. He twisted, sliced its spine clean through, and kicked it into a lava pool.
"Okay, two down… many more to go." He took deep breaths as he raised his dagger next to his face and took his stance.
Another one latched onto his arm, its teeth were burning like molten iron.
"Fuck it—ugh!!" Silas groaned as he tried to snatch his hand back out of its mouth.
He stabbed it in the gut without hesitation, ripped the blade free, and flung the dying creature aside. His arm smoked, skin sizzling, but he barely looked at it.
Pain wasn't new. Pain was routine now.
Three more surrounded him from behind.
"Cute."
He leapt backwards into them, landing right in the middle. His blades spun in a blinding arc—sparks flying, flames bursting—and three severed bodies hit the ground.
[You have slain 6× Ember Hounds. XP gained.]
[Targets Eliminated. ]
[Life-Stealing System Activation Possible.]
[Would you like to use the Life-Steal?]
Silas shook his hand, trying to shake off the pain, and blood splattered onto the floor.
Silas took his hand out, positioned it next to the bodies of the deceased hounds as he muttered. "Life-Steal"
A faint red mist started to pop out of the body of deceased hounds, the threads leapt upwards, with just a blink of an eye, they shot out near the hand of Silas, and entered it.
Silas's arm veins popped out, fingers started to tremble a bit, sweat dwelled up on his temple, and the sudden surge of pain shot inside his muscles.
After a while, it all settled.
[Life absorbed: 5 Days]
[Stats Increased: ]
[Strength: +2 Strength]
[Agility: +1.5 agility]
[Endurance: +2 endurance]
Silas looked at the rewards, a small warm smile curled up on his lips, "Fucking worth it."
[Area Two: Searing Cliffs]
Silas had now stepped inside of the literal hell—not the real one.
Massive cliffs cracked open like broken bones. Rivers of molten magma snaked below, glowing bright enough to hurt his eyes. Firefalls crashed from the ceiling, painting the whole cavern in a violent orange.
Above him, B lazewings circled and in swarms, their wings were imaging the small sparks of fire as they flew. Each one of them pulsed like a living bomb.
On the ground, Cinder Serpent were coiling out of the bubbling lava pits. Dozens of them, their scales reflected fire like polished obsidian.
Silas's mouth opened wide, staring at them all. "Okay… fuck it. There are a lot of them; maybe they want me dead… so do I?"
He raised his daggers slowly, taking his stance as a wide smirk curled up on his lips.