**{Notice: Dungeons will only reset 3 hours after the Dungeon Boss has been defeated. Failure to leave within the set time will result in automatic expulsion and mana backlash.}**
This put Arthur into deep thought. This meant they could spend however long they wanted in the dungeon as long as they delayed defeating the boss; that time could be spent mining resources, as the boss wouldn't leave the Boss Room. However, it was quite obvious the Boss Room held the most valuable resources. Thankfully, they had a three-hour grace period to gather these resources after the kill before the dungeon reset.
As for what "mana backlash" was, he didn't want to find out, but it was most likely very painful. "Gather all the ores and crystals you can find. Use the Magical Detectors to pinpoint their locations," Arthur said, passing around some upgraded tools such as drills and jackhammers.
"Next time, let's bring some porters to do all the manual tasks," Don complained sullenly.
"And carry the loot," Brea agreed.
Arthur agreed as well; not everyone had the convenience of an Inventory, so he suspected the job of "Dungeon Porter" would become very popular and crucial in the future.
In this one corridor, they gathered **103 kg of Inferior Mana Crystals**, **31 kg of Cold Iron**, and **10 grams** of something called **Decay Powder**. Research would be conducted later; for now, he put it all away and continued through the dungeon. The cave system often split into several paths, which they had to clear before reaching a dead end and backtracking. They made sure to clear all paths so they didn't end up sandwiched between two groups of Kobolds. The deeper they went, the more Tier Two Kobold Troopers they met, while the Kobold Minions just kept growing in numbers.
Finally, they reached the last corridor. At its end stood a stone door twice the size of the dungeon entrance.
"That's definitely the boss room. Let's take a break before entering," Arthur said with vigilance. This wasn't a game they could simply restart after dying; they needed to be prepared and in top condition at all times. They mined all the ores and crystals before resting and having a bunch of snacks—it was all they had.
An hour later, they were finally ready, and they pushed the boss room door open. Inside was a stepped room lined with ores and crystals. A group stood there made purely out of Tier Two Kobold Troopers, and at its center was a much taller figure, standing at almost 2.5 meters. Unlike the dog-headed Kobolds, this guy had a wolf-head and wore an embroidered white loincloth and heavy armor on its chest and forearms.
**{Werewolf Warrior (Tier 3 Boss)}**
"Well, this is gonna be a pain in the ass," Arthur mumbled. "In!"
Luice fired a test shot at it, but the nail simply bounced off its exposed shoulder. "Fuck!" they all exclaimed.
"It's coming!" Don shouted as the Werewolf got into a charging position.
"You guys take care of the rest. I got the boss!" Arthur shouted and charged to meet the boss, Luice shooting down any Kobold in his way.
"Awoo!" The beast came with devastating momentum. Despite its size, the Werewolf had a crazy amount of speed. Thankfully, due to the Hyper Optic, Arthur could react in time and caught the claws—*Clang!* The impact of the wolf claws against the iron fist produced a fierce clash. Arthur wasn't strong enough to face a Tier 3 monster head-on, but the impact was absorbed by the MSA via **Shock Absorption**.
Taking advantage of the Werewolf's confusion, Arthur slashed its exposed belly with the combat axe, instantly drawing blood. "Awo-bang!" The howl was cut short as Arthur used the stored kinetic energy and released a **Kinetic Burst** right into its lower jaw, snapping the mouth shut. Arthur didn't let up one bit. Using the disorientation of the strike, he rained a series of slashes and punches. Even without using Kinetic Burst, each punch dealt serious force on impact.
*Zzzz!* A saw blade joined the fight at that moment, stabbing the Werewolf Warrior in the belly and probably mincing its organs. "Ack!" The bastard had quite the vitality; it was tough and still retaliated, though weakly. Arthur notched the combat axe to his MSA and, moving with devastating force, lopped the Werewolf Warrior's head clean off. Its body only groaned slightly before going limp.
"Thanks for the assist," Arthur said.
"And yet somehow, I feel as though you didn't even need it," Chris teased, to which he only winked.
"We all good?" Arthur asked the rest of the group.
"We're alright."
"Same here."
"I'm tired!" Everyone ignored Don.
"Let's get all the loot. We only have three hours," Arthur reminded them.
"Hey Art, check it out," Luice called out. Arthur followed his gaze and saw a cube-shaped black gem covered in undecipherable script. The key thing was that it was hovering a meter above the center of the room. Arthur approached carefully and, only after making sure there were no traps, did he pick it.
**[New Data Acquired! Scanning data... Scan Complete! Updating system... System Update Complete!]**
**[Inventory Function has been upgraded due to special laws analyzed. New Function acquired: Fusion]**
> **{Fusion: Allows the fusion of multiple compatible objects within the same Tier. Can only fuse objects once for every ten fusions. Limits: 3 items.}**
>
Arthur felt the system becoming more and more OP with every passing second. He already had many ideas on how and what to fuse.
**{Dungeon Core: Special item with the lowest probability of spawning. Contains special laws and energies that make up a dungeon. After being taken out of a dungeon, it will take the dungeon 3 days to recover and reset.}**
"Wow," Arthur mumbled.
"What's up?" Chris asked, and Arthur gave them an explanation.
"Damn, wonder what its effects actually are," Brea wondered.
Before anything else, they gathered the mana crystals and ores within the boss room. Arthur also noticed the change in his Inventory function; previously, the largest item he could store at once was about the size of a car, but now that limit had increased. He didn't know what the limit was now, but storing a bus shouldn't be a problem. Not only that, but he no longer needed to be in contact with an item to store it; as long as it was within 3 meters, he could dump it into his Inventory.
After stripping the entire dungeon clean, they left two hours later. They had gained over **880 kg of mana crystals**, **412 kg of Cold Steel**, **8 kg of Decay Powder**, **20 kg of Moon Rock**, and **250 kg of Black Iron**. All of these had a rating of Tier 1 to Tier 3, especially the Moon Rock. Arthur had also taken all the Kobold weapons and armor, amounting to almost 120 complete sets. And finally, the Werewolf Warrior; he had taken not only its partial armor—which was rated Tier 3—but had also dismantled its body with **Decomposition**, resulting in some pretty high-tier monster materials such as bone, claws, teeth, and most importantly, its leather. It was pretty good material for making armor.
Their trip out went unhindered, though as they approached the dungeon's stone doors, they were surprised to find a small crowd waiting outside.
"See! I told you there were a bunch of people who went in earlier!" someone exclaimed.
Just then, the dungeon doors shut themselves. "What's going on... it won't open?" the same guy grumbled.
"The dungeon resets after being cleared. It usually takes three days, but this one should take a couple of hours," Arthur explained.
"And why's that?" the guy asked.
Arthur just shrugged and led his group away.
"Hey, what happened in there?" someone asked before they could leave.
"We killed monsters. It was a tunnel system, several hundred Tier 1 monsters, a dozen Tier 2s, and a Tier 3 Boss. You'll have three hours to harvest loot after killing the boss before the dungeon automatically resets. If you're not out by then, well, you'll end up crippled or worse—dead. That's to say, if you can defeat the boss to begin with. Unless you have strength equivalent to that of a rocket launcher, don't try and get yourself killed," Arthur explained generously.
"Big words, and you got that type of strength?" someone smirked.
"Want a taste?" Arthur gave a chilling smirk as his Hyper Optic released a blue glow.