The moment he stepped into the underground cave, a low, guttural rumble echoed from somewhere in the shadows ahead.
He froze.
"What was that?" He murmured, narrowing his eyes and peering into the dense blackness that swallowed the path beyond. The darkness pulsed with quiet menace, and something unseen stirred just out of reach.
From the shadows, a flicker of movement caught his eye—then another. Several pairs of glowing red eyes emerged, inching closer with every heartbeat.
"What!?"
He stumbled back as the shadows gave way to a swarm of small, red-skinned creatures. Their pointed ears, sharp as blades, jutted out from beneath tangled hair.
They numbered up to twenty five, cladded in ragged scraps of cloth and wielding crude clubs.
[Multiple Red Goblins have appeared]
[Fortitude: 2.1]
"Goblins? Huh, just what you'd expect to see in a typical cave."
The goblins charged at him, swinging their clubs without mercy like the diabolical creatures they are.
A slight grin tugged at Mason's lips—calm, confident. He didn't flinch, didn't waver. Was it because he had expected this all along?
"With a fortitude of 2.1, you all are nothing compared to the supernatural I ran away from a day ago." With a strong will, he dashed forward to meet them.
He focused the spiritual powers and his enhanced strength into his legs, and In a flash, he leapt high above the charging horde, spinning through the air with a series of fluid front flips.
Then, with pinpoint precision, he came crashing down—landing squarely on the head of a goblin, slamming it into the ground with bone-crushing force.
SQUASH!
The head of the goblin splattered into chunks of hard meat as Mason landed on it, utilizing his spiritual energy to increase the weight of his foot by concentrating it. These were some of the practical use of spiritual energy which he himself had no knowledge of till now.
Crouching low, he surged forward in a flash, spinning his katana with deadly precision before slashing through the neck of a goblin that rushed at him in a fluid motion.
[You have gained ×2 spirit points!]
"Hm?" Hearing a low growl behind him, he instinctively thrust his sword upward, positioning it just behind his head. The blades met the descending clubs of two goblins, deflecting the strikes with a resounding clash.
Relying on his quick reactions, he rotated his right leg sideways, his movement smooth and precise, flowing behind the two goblins with the grace of a Tai Chi practitioner in one, seamless motion.
With a precise slash, he beheaded the two goblins in one strike.
[You have gained ×1 Spirit points!]
[You have gained ×1 Spirit points!]
The more he struck down the goblins, the more notifications popped up in his line of vision. Each strike was a dance, and with time he slayed a majority of the magical creatures.
"Two more to go." With fierce determination in his eyes, he gripped the sword tightly as the goblins charged toward him in a straight line. In one swift, powerful thrust, he hurled the blade through the air at the head of the goblin in front of him.
Unexpectedly, he sliced through the skulls of both goblins and defeated them both in a single strike.
[You have gained ×2 Spirit points!]
[You have slain all goblins!]
"Awesome..." He muttered to himself, staring into his palm with curiosity.
He couldn't help but marvel at the sheer strength he had gained. Against the supernatural and Lillian, it felt futile, but here, facing the goblins, he was unstoppable—like a force of nature, he was literally a messed up version of Superman.
He could feel it pulsating in his veins, the power of his bloodline.
He pulled out his sword from the head of the last goblin and proceeded further into the dungeon. After walking for several meters, he found himself standing in front of three strange, huge holes in the walls.
"Huh, judging by the intricate shape of those holes my guess is these holes aren't natural?"
[Yes master, from it's shape and size, it was carved by something extraordinarily large.]
"Eh?"
Suddenly, a deep, guttural growl reverberated from the three holes in the walls. From the middle hole, a massive spider emerged, its metallic legs scraping against the stone as it crawled forward.
Its jaws clicked menacingly, and with each heavy step, the ground beneath Mason's feet trembled, the vibrations shaking through his body. The creature was fully encased in glistening metal armor, a terrifying hybrid of nature and machinery.
"WHAT THE LIVING FUCK IS THAT!?" His eyes widened in terror, his legs trembling slightly as he stared up at the colossal beast—its towering form nearly twice his size
[The boss of the dungeon has appeared!]
[Steel-Webbed spider — Lycan]
[Fortitude: 7.5]
"Fortitude wha-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the spider lunged with a terrifying speed, its massive metallic leg swinging down toward him without warning.
"Shit!"
Instinct kicked in. In a split second, he executed a swift forward roll to his left, narrowly dodging the crushing blow of the spider's leg as it slammed into the ground where he had just stood.
Its metallic leg sliced through the ground effortlessly like a knife through butter, sending debris flying in all directions.
Mason's eyes widened in disbelief, fixed on the shattered ground beneath him.
"If I had wasted anymore time to avoid that strike, that spider would have sliced my skull into two."
Impatient, the spider lunged at Mason, its fangs bared, aiming to sink into his flesh. Battling the surge of anxiety, he leaped high above its head, narrowly avoiding the deadly bite as the fangs sunk into the wall.
He landed softly, crouching on his right knee, taking shallow breaths as he gasped for air.
Shaking off the shock, Mason's eyes widened as he watched in disbelief—the walls where the spider's fangs had sunk melted away instantly, as if the metal had been dissolved by an unknown acid.
"What!?"
[The spider's fangs contains a deteriorating poison corrosive acid. It can easily melt down it's target cellular membrane with a bite, making it easier for it to consume it's prey.]