Following behind his skeleton army, Morintis traversed the dangerous Mutated Forest as easily as walking on flat ground.
Although there were plenty of monsters in the forest, they were too scattered.
Morintis couldn't even be bothered to gather them up.
It was simpler to just kill his way through.
Without using skills, it took three hits to kill one.
Using skills, it took two.
The efficiency wasn't low at all.
It was a complete and utter steamroll.
In fact, if Morintis walked too slowly, he couldn't even keep up with the pace of his Skeleton Warriors.
Morintis almost had to jog the entire way to stay with them.
"Huh?
Aren't there any Boss-level monsters in this dungeon?"
They pushed forward all the way without encountering a single Boss-level monster.
The most they ran into were two packs of wolves.
The Skeleton Warriors just swarmed them and brutally hacked them to death.
Morintis didn't even get a chance to use Corpse Explosion; by the time he caught up, the fights were already over.
In Morintis's perception, this dungeon felt even simpler than the Westsea Mine Dungeon.
However, the dungeon map was very large and offered no sense of direction.
Morintis nearly got lost several times.
After spending 30 minutes winding through the dungeon, he finally reached its end.
A fairly large pond came into view, with several massive beasts dozing at its edge.
He had seen wolf packs, dog packs, and snake nests.
But this was the first time he'd seen a monster group composed of tigers and bears.
"How illogical."
"Mutated beasts actually gathering together like this."
"Could it be they've gained intelligence?"
The group before him consisted of two bears and two tigers.
The bears and tigers were exceptionally large.
Especially the bears, standing up they were probably over five meters tall.
Although he was somewhat surprised, in Morintis's eyes, they were merely experience points.
The Skeleton Warriors charged forward without a moment's hesitation.
There was no artistry to the combat, just the simplest, most brutal gang-up.
They didn't even give Morintis a chance to use his Detection Skill before the bears and tigers had fallen beneath the blades of the Skeleton Warriors.
BOOM!
A huge pillar of water erupted from the pond.
A massive, turtle-shaped beast crawled out from the water.
The turtle carried a heavy shell on its back, which enveloped its entire body like armor.
The shell had a diameter of over five meters—immensely large.
Its maw opened, revealing a row of sharp, pointed teeth.
Behind it, a long, whip-like tail covered in sharp spikes extended.
The turtle crawled fully out of the pond and let out a piercing roar.
[Mutated Dragon-Turtle (Leader-tier Monster)]
[Level: 19]
[Strength: 4000]
[Agility: 500]
[Spirit: 500]
[Constitution: 7000]
[Skills: Bite, Sweep, Super Defense.]
This Boss had an incredibly high Constitution, surpassing even the Skeleton Warriors and higher than the Level 24 Mermaid Queen.
Such a high Constitution attribute indicated extremely powerful vitality and defense.
Its Strength was slightly lower, but still nothing to scoff at, capable of damaging the Skeleton Warriors.
While Morintis was checking the Mutated Dragon-Turtle's attributes, the Skeleton Warriors had already swarmed it.
Their greatswords fell upon its shell, producing a sound like clanging metal.
The turtle used its teeth to bite down hard on a Skeleton Warrior, while its long tail lashed out like a whip against others.
The difference in size was enormous.
When a Skeleton Warrior was struck by the tail, although it wasn't significantly injured, the tremendous force sent the skeleton flying.
The tail was usually retracted within the shell, but when it started lashing out, it fully extended.
The tail was very long, at least ten meters.
Each lash sent several Skeleton Warriors flying.
Skeleton Warriors jumped onto its back, relentlessly hacking at the turtle shell with their greatswords.
Its Constitution was too high; its defense and vitality were extremely powerful.
The attacks landing on it weren't causing significant damage.
"Its Agility and Spirit are too low."
"No matter how high its Strength is, it's useless if it can't hit anyone."
Red light glowed in Morintis's palm.
Skill: Slow Curse!
A red glow fell like a large net.
A red shackle pattern appeared above the Mutated Dragon-Turtle's head.
Under the curse, its speed plummeted.
The Mutated Dragon-Turtle's attack rate slowed by a full half, looking as if it was moving in slow motion.
It seemed to realize its predicament.
It pulled its entire body into its shell.
A faint light emanated from it.
Skill: Super Defense!
Within the faint light, Morintis saw its wounds rapidly healing.
Where the Skeleton Warriors could previously cause a little damage, now they couldn't even scratch it.
Even the wounds inflicted earlier were recovering.
With its super high Constitution attribute, plus the skill bonus, the Mutated Dragon-Turtle had now become an impregnable fortress.
"There must be something I'm overlooking," Morintis thought.
If even his Skeleton Warriors couldn't break through, other classes would have an even harder time.
So how did others clear this dungeon?
Morintis suddenly realized where the problem lay.
Among the top three ranked teams, the damage dealers were all magic-based classes.
There wasn't a single melee, archer, or other physical class among them.
"It must be weak to elemental attacks."
Flames instantly appeared in his palm.
Skill: Soul Flame!
A flame simultaneously appeared above the Mutated Dragon-Turtle's head.
The flame rapidly sank into its body.
The previously motionless Mutated Dragon-Turtle began to struggle violently, letting out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering scream.
After all, Morintis was still a Mage.
Not only did he possess the Skeleton Warriors' super physical attack power, but his own magical skill attack power was also considerable.
Moreover, it was a spiritual attack enhanced by a full 20 levels, ignoring defense.
It was even more terrifying than an Elemental Mage's elemental attacks.
Finding it effective, Morintis continued to cast Soul Flame.
The Mutated Dragon-Turtle's screams were continuous, its massive body trembling...
It finally couldn't take it and attempted to charge Morintis.
But the Skeleton Warriors firmly blocked its path, giving it no opportunity.
When it stretched out its head and limbs, the Skeleton Warriors seized the chance, avoiding the shell and attacking its exposed parts.
Red light glowed on the greatswords of the Skeleton Warriors as they activated their skill.
In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere.
The Mutated Dragon-Turtle's screams intensified.
Morintis cast Soul Flame again and again, his Spirit plummeting rapidly.
He took out a Low-Grade Mana Potion and gulped it down, replenishing his Spirit.
The Mutated Dragon-Turtle's vitality was too strong.
Morintis felt that even if he exhausted all his Spirit, he might not necessarily kill it.
Then he'd be back to square one.
Suddenly, he thought of a method.
"Flip it over!"
On his command, the Skeleton Warriors immediately exerted their strength together.
Their massive power concentrated and erupted.
With a thunderous noise, the Mutated Dragon-Turtle was flipped onto its back.
The soft flesh of its belly was instantly exposed.
Without the protection of its shell, the Skeleton Warriors had a field day, each slash causing significant damage.
The Mutated Dragon-Turtle struggled continuously, but no matter how it struggled, it couldn't right itself.
Blood covered the ground, dyeing the pond red.
The Mutated Dragon-Turtle's struggles grew weaker and weaker.
After three minutes of continuous attacks from the Skeleton Warriors, the Mutated Dragon-Turtle was finally slain.
[Mutated Dragon-Turtle slain.
Experience +150,000]
[Obtained Bronze-grade weapon: Dragon-Turtle Gauntlets.]
[Obtained Bronze-grade armor: Dragon-Turtle Heavy Armor.]
[Obtained Low-grade Monster Crystal Core.]
[Dragon-Turtle Gauntlets: Bronze-grade. Strength +20, Constitution +20. Increases power of Pugilist skills by 6%. Usable after Level 12.]
[Dragon-Turtle Heavy Armor: Bronze-grade. Constitution +30. Increases power of Defense skills by 6%. Usable after Level 12.]
Morintis merely glanced at the two pieces of Bronze-grade equipment before storing them away.
Checking his experience, after the entire dungeon run, his experience bar had risen from 32.
57% to 67%.
An increase of just under 35%.
One more run, and he would reach Level 18.
The moment Morintis successfully killed the Mutated Dragon-Turtle, a bell tolled within the Dungeon Hall.
The bell's sound echoed throughout the entire Dungeon Hall space.
It rang three times.
Everyone, both inside and outside the hall, heard it.
"Holy crap, someone set a new dungeon record!"
"It's been a long time since a new record appeared."
"Quick, let's go see which big shot it is, so we can try to latch on later."
"I didn't see any elite teams entering earlier, that's weird."
For a moment, all the hawking and recruiting stopped.
People from outside the hall swarmed in.
Fortunately, the hall was large enough, remaining spacious even after accommodating hundreds of people.
Above the Mutated Forest dungeon portal, the light screen was emitting a brilliant radiance, capturing everyone's attention.
A brand new record had appeared on it.