Berdrogh kept closing the gap between them, alas, he wasn’t moving without interruption. After a couple more goblins, he seemed to have finally had enough. The next goblin that rushed to attack him didn’t meet instant death; he encountered something far worse.

  He kicked the small goblin down and placed his battle-axe on its stomach, the weapon shortly leaned over, crashing into the ground with a loud metallic thunk. The goblin kept squirming under it, though Han’s focus decided to follow the unarmed Berdrogh.

  The evolved goblin acted unlike they all had expected; despite being woken up angry, it had calmed down. Whether it grasped that it was dying today, or a sign of sentience beyond what they care; didn’t matter. In the end, it leapt towards Berdrogh, creating a gust of wind with its insane mass that was capable of reaching Han, who is far out in the sidelines.

  The goblin’s fist landed straight into Berdrogh’s unflinching face, not without him doing anything about it. As the goblin’s wrist scrunched up on impact, Berdrogh‘s right foot kicked him in the stomach. The meaty impact echoed due to the trees; it didn’t buckle the powerful kick yet pushed it six feet, leaving a shallow furrow in the ground.

  Its right hand had no shade of green left; the intense bruising happened in a mere few seconds. Worst of all, everything under his forearm was limp; his whole hand broke just from its own force.

  —Crunch!

  “OUAGHHHHH!” The loud roar reverberated in Han’s head as he hadn’t braced. His eyes were still glued to the fight, as they entered the second round. A barrage of punches, seemingly equal in strength, went from one another. The hand that was purple kept somehow regaining the natural green skin, though every impact made it bruise once more. Despite it seemingly being an even match up.

  We’re wasting time.

  Upon an outward look, everyone was done; Juuka simply watched, Kanade was retaking her shot arrows, and Lionel was marching towards Berdrogh. Nonetheless, the goblin was losing a battle of attrition, its punches no longer had the same power or speed.

  “I told you to not go overboard and conserve energy.” Lionel says right beside Berdrogh without worrying about the evolved goblin. Though, before it could even think of doing anything malicious. Berdrogh kicked it in the stomach once more. This time the fat couldn’t protect against a stronger kick, its belly collapsed inwards, then eventually the whole body arched in such a way, promptly crashing down face-first moments after.

  “I’ve got a lot.” He smiled, returning to take his battle-axe. He dusted off the hilt, ignoring the goblin that was crushed to death, and went to get his shield. Han, seeing Kanade rummaging around the goblin corpses, decided to group up again. As he ran past, Berdrogh managed to gloss his hand over him; Han’s spine shuddered. After seeing what he did, he’s never letting him close to either of them.

  Kanade, on the other hand, was retrieving arrows from the corpses. He hadn’t seen her use her bow, but to be fair, his attention was drawn to the bigger things around him. He followed her around; he didn’t count, but they stopped by another five corpses after he joined her. As they were walking to the outpost’s center, where Lionel and Berdrogh were, his eyes were finally drawn to the red boxes.

  [STRONG ENEMY FELLED]

  [368 EXP GRANTED]

  [32 EXP GRANTED x13]

  Seeing as how he literally killed a single goblin, he was happy with the yield. He couldn’t check how much EXP was needed to level up right now; he guessed it shouldn’t be too much. And he darted back to them. Berdrogh’s shield was on his chest once more, the battle-axe still in his hands.

  “How come you didn’t do anything.” Lionel broke the after-battle silence first; his voice was rather confused compared to the prickly tone he had before. Han quickly darted to check who was in trial here. And it was none other than Juuka. Han did think that she was quiet, alas, hoped that she would have pulled her own weight.

  “I didn’t want to waste arrows.” Juuka explained, averting her eyes from everyone, and them landing somewhere in the woods. She was already of meek build due to being an elf; Lionel putting her in the spotlight made her seem even smaller; she tucked in her shoulders and toes, yet despite everything, her head was up high, although facing away from the problem.

  Lionel acknowledged Kanade’s presence. His faceless gaze acted as if saying, “Go on.”

  “…You can collect your arrows back.” Kanade added on the spot without ridicule. To be fair, it was absurd that she didn’t know that, though not that she knew a lot about elves in general. The dungeon-scouting didn’t include socializing. In fact, Henris was the first one she’s actually spoken to. Han though, had trouble ignoring it, he didn’t care enough to mull over it any longer. He face-palmed and focused on the dungeon;

  Sheesh, what an amateur...

  “Ah, okay.” The amateurish perpetrator recognized and nodded, her eyes landing on Kanade tardily. This was such a non-issue that they continued walking without him even noticing. However, he saw Kanade staring at the ground.

  “O-ke… okay? Okay.” She muttered to herself and caught up to them, passing by the stunned Han. It was Ferul all over again. He shook his head and followed after them.

  He quickly saw the party walking with one of their hands against their face, at a closer look, they were pinching their noses shut. Since he learned to block out certain stenches, this was a worthy use, making him walk a tad faster.

  Anyhow, they approach the cave’s entrance. From the outside, it seemed like any other caves he’s seen, as they stepped inside, that also applied. At least now he could guess what they were smelling, all kinds of discarded meat lay bare with an abundant amount of flies squirming around inside the tiny cave. They kept to the right of the cave, and as they approached the supposed dead end, they approached it, a staircase made out of stones that led them further.

  The temperature drastically shifted; the cave itself wasn’t hot, nor was the dungeon absurdly cold; they simply crossed over an imaginary horizontal temperature line. Once all of them reached the bottom, the familiar architecture greeted them, at least for Han and Kanade.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Humid corridors with rock walls and wooden pillars, there wasn’t much. The same old, same old. He guessed that they were purposely made like that to signify the overall level, or could be bad game-design. He didn’t care; if it’s the same layout, it’s better for all of them. Due to his eye level, he did notice skeletons, the goblin kind. There were a couple of them; one seemed to be semi-recent, as there was flesh still on it.

  “Huph.” Berdrogh lifted his armor for a moment, “I’ll take care of the weak ones along the way.” He said without looking back as he marched on first.

  The first corridor, the one they initially entered, wasn’t long, so as they turned to the right, they were met with a couple of humanoid skeletons. Same old, same old. Without anyone really reacting, they kept walking, and so did the skeleton. Ultimately, there wasn’t even a battle; it swung, he swung. It died. They kept it going like this for a few minutes until Kanade sped up, leaving Han in the back. Since there was enough space, she didn’t barge through either of them.

  “Sorry…?” She tapped the back of Berdrogh’s, specifically where he had a chance to actually feel it. He didn’t turn around, keeping his focus, he simply let out a questioning, “Hm?”

  “What rank are you?” Kanade slid to Berdrogh’s left side to avoid being in the swing zone. Han also joined in.

  “Ah… I thought you were gonna ask something serious. It’s C plus.” He smiled.

  “Plus?” Kanade asked, urging him to glance at her.

  “You’re new. Every five years, you gain a plus. And don’t get me started—it’s nothing praise-worthy in my eyes. It’s like a symbol that follows me; a reminder that you’ve stagnated.” He lets out a deep sigh from the bottom of his huge lungs; his eyes finally leave the upcoming turn. Instead, he hovered his left hand around his collar.

  “Though, maybe it’s for the better…” His voice was somber and calm despite everything. He glanced at, what Han guessed, was a pendant of some sort.

  C plus? So, some elf could have ten plus signs?

  He’s never heard of a rank having that kind of system before, catching a goof in it. Though it probably had some kind of backend solution for those with longer lifespans. However, Han was more interested in Berdrogh’s level more than anything right now. He was lucky to know innate elf abilities to gauge Henris’s. But Berdrogh hasn’t shown anything too flashy, and since he’s a human with a simple class, even less likely that he would.

  Around 40… right?

  Guessing just by what he’s seen. Level 30 to 40 should be a good range where he was probably located. That, however, begs the question.

  How the hell is that kinky rope guy C rank?

  Now, Wenn shouldn’t be that weak for a C rank, yet he couldn’t put a finger on it; something wasn’t adding up. A constant sound grabbed his attention, a heartbeat going a little too fast. He glances back, and the source of the incessant banging was Juuka. She kept her smile hidden pretty well, as he predicted; she burst.

  “H-How… ahem. How deep were y—we planning to go?” Her voice cracked. Despite it not carrying the excitement she was probably feeling, she asked.

  “Floor 30. Max.” Lionel’s muffled voice exclaimed quietly, with drive that surprised Juuka. Notably, Han instantly noticed her being unbothered from hiding her smile and even managed to regain some pep in her step.

  It might not be terrible after all.

  Though floor 30 was a bit of a reach. Unless Lionel and Berdrogh absurdly carry the three of them, which isn’t exactly plausible later on. If Han’s knowledge was still up-to-date, they would have to fight level 25 monsters. Although it doesn’t seem that high compared to Berdrogh’s, he will need support as they will replace the mindless massacre of skeletons they’ve been doing for the past hour. Speaking of.

  I love thisss.

  The notification kept popping up without him needing to even lift a finger; it was literally an AFK farm for him. One that he had to walk alongside with, nonetheless, an appreciated one. Finally, right in front of them was a landmark boss, though not entirely. It was the boss’s room’s door, akin to one that Ferul had. And in fact, it was very similar, though less grungy and didn’t have that frozen-over appearance.

  They walked up to the giant double doors, and sat down. Seeing how he and Kanade were the only ones surprised by this, they followed their example. Han didn’t object to a short break, Berdrogh’s their main guy after all. Keeping him well-rested was quite a priority.

  Anyhow, to avoid sitting blankly, he quickly opened up his menu and hovered over his level. To his surprise, he needed less than a hundred EXP to get level 15. He jolted up.

  “Be right back.” He spoke for some reason, although his host could only bark twice, it had the same intonation. He went backwards, checking if some skeletons had respawned, and turned the corner. Level 15, following the familiar leveling, it’s prime time for him to gain something useful. Something he could possibly use in the boss fight.

  Kanade watched him roam off, even though knowing he’s pretty much as safe as he can be; her eyebrows furled. Though that didn’t last long.

  “He said he’ll be right back.” Juuka said out of nowhere, making Kanade swiftly turn to her. Noticing her rather obvious intrigue, “I can talk to majority of the animals. It’s uh, a level 10 passive for elves.” Despite Juuka’s quick explanation, it turned Kanade’s mind into a jumbled mess; although she wasn’t that eager to rapid-fire questions about levels, passive, and abilities.

  “Stop with all that useless chatter. It’s gibberish to her anyway.” Lionel finally spoke, though it’s hardly an appreciated gesture. Without turning to either of them, he switched topics. “The boss inside is a Dark Night Gorilla, level 12. Heavily armored, deceptively fast, and wields a club. All my spells, in case of a hindrance, could, in theory, harm you. I’ve already taught Berdrogh the strat, you two; shoot where you can and don’t get in either of our ways.”

  As the party planned, Han on the other hand, had killed two skeletons, due to the EXP sharing, one wasn’t enough. Anyhow, he could only glance over the description, the message he gathered from it was that level 15 was busted. Though he decided to regroup first. In a couple of moments he sprinted back. There wasn’t much area to get lost in, a simple left, right, right, and he was back at the party.

  Upon seeing Han, they stood up and got ready. Berdrogh’s shield chest buckle snapped open, and he threw it on his left arm, attaching it to the bulk of the left forearm with a couple of straps. Seeing it from the back gave him a neat discovery. The huge shield was parallel to his forearm. Unlike with what he’s seen with other great shield’s, it’s more ergonomic. At least mimicking the position in his head felt more so than usual.

  As the frontline, he went first. Pushing the thick double doors, the wood creaked whether from Berdrogh’s pushing or because it fought against the uneven door path. Nonetheless, they opened it up, giving them a clear view of the obstacle ahead.

  Is that a fucking gorilla?

  His size perception was still off, though not that horrid to tell that that gorilla wasn’t of normal size. It seemed to be multiple heads over Berdrogh, yet it wasn’t even fully upright, and that wasn’t even the worst part. The reflective armor covered every joint, every weakness he could try and guess. However, the helmet was a double-edged sword; while it protected it, they won’t be worried about it using the immense jaw strength it’s got.

  Its large upper body relied on its arms. It used to them to stay in that leaning natural position of a primate; its gauntlets weren’t covering his hands all that well because of it. As it used its knuckles to maneuver. Han’s eyes were drawn to the fact that it had a club-shaped object in its right hand. The blue mana crystals didn’t give off much light, but he knew that one swing of that thing would cave in his skull.

  At least now, he took a look at the bigger picture. The dim mana crystals were to their, or at least Han’s, advantage. The whole boss arena was twice as long as it is wide, and the rock walls were entrenched in trickling water, making the arena have noticeable background noise.

  I’m off.