Just as Zephyr finished speaking, Charles took the lead to test the monsters in front of him, the blade of his axe smashing into the flank.
Metal collided with charred black skin, making a dull, thudding sound and sparks flew.
But it only left a slight contusion. The hardness of the skin exceeded expectations, and the muscle tissue under the cracked patterns was extremely dense, dissipating much of the force of the axe.
Charles felt his arm go numb from the recoil, and a stinging pain came from the web between his thumb and index finger.
After being hit, the Hellhound's body swayed. It immediately turned its head, aiming its mouth at Charles. The orange-red light rapidly expanded deep in its throat.
Whoosh!
Charles relied on his instincts to roll sideways. The flames grazed his shoulder armor, and the metal surface instantly turned red. The heat penetrated the armor plates and conducted to the skin underneath.
"Hiss..."
"What the hell! This should be a magic-like attack method, right?"
Charles gritted his teeth and climbed up from the ground. He tore the metal armor off his shoulder, though there was no major harm.
When Zephyr saw this scene, he utilized the width of the passage, moving his feet quickly to circle behind the Hellhounds. The passage in the middle area was wide enough that even if the team's formation was fully spread out, it still provided him with sufficient room to maneuver.
As he clenched his fists, sharp protrusions emerged at his knuckles, growing in a spiral shape.
Zephyr's gaze locked onto the connection between the Hellhound's neck and torso. That was where the skin's cracked patterns were densest, the gaps were the widest, and the seeping dark red light was the brightest
Zephyr knew that he absolutely could not delay. He sprinted in front of the Hellhound, the horn piercing into the gap. The spiral-shaped structure rotated and shredded the muscle fibers during the piercing process, penetrating the Hellhound's thick neck area.
The monster let out a shrill howl, trying to resist. But after its heart was pierced, its body collapsed to the ground and dark red blood spilled out continuously.
Hmm... Doesn't feel as powerful as expected?
Relying on his stats and monster talents, in this kind of combat situation, as long as he found the Hellhound's weak spot, Zephyr could easily kill it.
But the reaction and coordination of the remaining three Hellhounds were faster than expected. They turned towards Zephyr's direction almost simultaneously and opened their mouths at the same time, the orange-red light deep in their throats expanding rapidly.
It seemed they wanted to use a full-coverage method to deal with the Adventurer in front of them.
At least they have some brains.
Dragon Roar!
Zephyr opened his mouth and let out a roar. The Hellhounds that were charging up stopped and the orange-red light expanding in their mouths dimmed.
The duration was not long, about two to three seconds. But for them, this was enough.
Charles rushed out from the side, using his body to knock a Hellhound flying. Then his axe swept horizontally, the blade aiming at the Hellhound's abdomen.
The full-force horizontal sweep of the axe sent the Hellhound flying, its body rolling several times on the ground, and a huge tear was ripped open in its abdomen.
At the same time, Lefiya's incantation was completely finished.
Arcs Ray!
An arrow shot out from her staff, hitting the mouth of another Hellhound.
The unexpelled fire remaining in its mouth was ignited simultaneously—the combined effect of the two was spectacular.
Boom!
The Hellhound's head shattered from within, and black fragments and flesh splattered against the rock wall, leaving behind dark stains.
As for the last prey, the stun effect wore off, and the Hellhound regained its ability to move. The monster did not gather flames again, instead lunging toward Zephyr.
With only two meters of distance between them, there was no time to dodge.
Dragon Scales!
Zephyr raised his mutated left hand to his chest, relying on the scales for defense. The full-force bite left only a shallow white mark on the surface of the scales.
Immediately after, he raised his right fist, which had a sharp horn, and pulverized the Hellhound's heart.
"Job done." He looked at the corpses scattered on the ground.
This battle just now was not without gains. He now knew that the talent obtained through the Infant Dragon could produce the same effect against the brand-new monsters in the middle floors. This information was very important.
"Zephyr! Are you okay?" Charles ran over.
His shoulder armor had already been removed, his clothes were slightly yellowed from being scorched by the high heat, and his face was full of lingering fear.
"I'm fine. Monsters of this level can't pose a threat." Zephyr smiled and waved his hand.
At this moment, most of his attention was entirely on these Hellhound corpses. Considering the unknown reward, it was really hard not to look forward to them.
He pulled out the dagger he was carrying and cut along the soft flesh of the Hellhound's abdomen, peeling away the charred black hard skin, and exposing the internal muscle tissue.
[Hellhound]
[Capture Level: 5]
[Rich in magic power, the fat layer around the internal organs has a unique flavor and can release a rich, smoky aroma after long-time stewing.]
[Recommended cooking methods: Braising, red-cooking, long-time stewing.]
Zephyr continued to process the corpses, cutting the leg meat and the fat layer around the internal organs separately. His movements were very skillful. After all, since transmigrating to Orario and exploring for this period, encountering so many monster ingredients, he had long known what tasted good.
And the most critical part—he remembered Lili's introduction: the monsters encountered from the middle floora onwards would use long-range attack skills similar to Magic.
The magic power contained within the Hellhound was the reason for producing flames, so by devouring the Gourmet Cells contained within the Hellhound, could he gain the flame attack?
Thinking of this, Zephyr's movements sped up significantly. He finished processing all the leg meat of the four Hellhounds, and when handing it to Lili, who had come over to help, he said with a relaxed smile, "Please help me keep this. I'm actually quite curious about the taste of a Hellhound."
Lili took the ingredients and stuffed them into the empty space in her backpack.
Her movements were very natural. From initial hesitation to current habit, she had adapted to the job of helping Zephyr collect monster meat.
Noticing Zephyr's actions, Charles came over. Looking at the hideous monster remains on the ground, the corners of his lips twitched. "This thing... can it really be eaten?"
"You'll know once you try."
Zephyr recalled the battle scene from earlier and didn't hide anything. "Mainly, I'm very interested in the Hellhound's ability."
That's right!
Zephyr eating monster meat was ultimately because he wanted to use his skill to acquire the monsters' abilities. This point was actually very easy to understand.
It's just that...
Charles looked at the boy in front of him, his eyes inevitably looking somewhat complicated.
If an Adventurer could acquire a monster's special abilities, then what was the difference between Zephyr and the monsters?
After packing up, the party continued to explore the current area.
As for the monster types, there weren't many changes. They still primarily encountered Hellhounds, occasionally running into some solitary Silverbacks.
Eventually, after exploring to the 14th floor, the party chose to return to Orario.
The stamina consumption and the increase in monsters' strength were nothing to Zephyr and Charles, but they also had to consider the feelings of the others.
When they returned to the surface, it was already approaching dusk.
The party parted ways at the entrance of the Guild.
Lefiya waved to Zephyr and turned to leave in the direction of the Loki Familia headquarters. She had to tell Loki Zephyr's answer.
As for Charles, Kate, and the others, they were going to get bentos from a restaurant outside.
Only Zephyr and Lili remained.
After returning to the Communal Dormitory, Zephyr wasn't in a rush to go back and cook. He had to return the equipment he had rented a few days ago to the Guild first. Today was the final deadline.
Now, he didn't need this stuff at all. Unicorn, Dragon Roar, Dragon Scales... The monster talents he currently had were enough to handle all the battles he encountered in the Dungeon for now. The weapons had instead become a burden.
Thus, carrying the repaired equipment, Zephyr came to the Guild once again.