The morning sun rose over the plains in a pale haze.
Soft rays of light filtered through the nearby trees, brushing against the grass and rough canvas of Soren's tent.
It was day eight of his grinding.
Soren sat quietly by the fire, a small pot bubbling as he stirred absent-mindedly with a stick.
He had grown used to this place.
The endless loop of days blurred together; sleep, eat, fight, repeat.
The dungeon, the Goblin King's Nest, had become simply routine.
There was no thrill, no fear, and no excitement.
Just repetition.
He finished his meal, put out the fire, and stood, brushing the dust from his cloak.
His body felt light now, trained and tempered by the constant motion.
His handaxe hung easily at his hip, its edge faintly gleaming in the dawn.
"...Day eight," he muttered, glancing toward the dungeon entrance hidden beneath the veil of mist. "Let's finish this."
The words were quiet, carried away by the morning breeze.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Inside the dungeon, the stale air greeted him once again.
The faint green glow of moss along the walls, the dripping of water echoing down the narrow tunnels; it was all the same as every other day.
He followed his perfected route with mechanical precision.
Each turn, each ambush point, each monster was memorised.
The goblins lunged at him in groups of five or six, crude weapons raised high, but Soren cut through them in silence.
His blade flashed, his spells flickered, and the bodies fell.
There was no wasted motion.
He no longer needed to think about dodging or attacking; his body simply moved on instinct.
By the time he finished his circuit, his clothes were barely stained, and his breathing was calm.
He checked his map, then glanced toward a deep passage that stretched further down than he had gone before.
The boss room.
He had marked it days ago, but deliberately avoided it until now.
Killing the boss meant the dungeon would stop respawning enemies, halting his farming, but after over a week of endless repetition, he felt it was time.
Time to move on.
Still, the question lingered in his mind as he walked.
'Where should I go next?'
His boots echoed lightly against the stone as he walked.
There were countless dungeons across the surrounding cities, mapped ones known to adventurers, and unmapped ones known only to him.
The mapped ones were safe and predictable; their bosses studied, but their treasures had long been plundered.
The unmapped ones, however…
He could still recall them clearly, places from the game's story.
Hidden caves where relics slept, shrines tied to long-revered gods, ruins sealed behind puzzles that only Alex, the game's protagonist, was ever supposed to uncover.
Those dungeons were special.
They held weapons, relics, potions and gold, far beyond what everyday adventurers could access.
It was tempting, very tempting.
There was one location he had to go to before the end of break, though, and that was nonnegotiable.
Soren ran a hand through his white hair as he walked.
'Should I really?'
He still hesitated to interfere too much with the story's flow, a remnant of his survivor's guilt.
Ever since the final exam, he had grown bolder, yes, but there was always that quiet fear in the back of his mind with every action he took.
If he took those treasures now, would it change things?
Would it affect Alex's growth later on?
He didn't know.
And that uncertainty, more than danger or difficulty, held him back.
He sighed softly.
"...I'll decide later."
His thoughts faded as the corridor widened, revealing a massive stone door before him.
The boss room.
The stone doors loomed several metres high, their surfaces carved with intricate symbols and drawings, faded and worn down by time.
Soren placed a hand against the cold surface, and with a deep breath, he pushed.
The doors groaned open, scraping against the stone floor as the stale air from within rushed outward.
Dust swirled through the dim light, and Soren stepped inside.
What greeted him was a vast chamber, wider and taller than anything else in the dungeon.
A single throne sat in the centre, carved from rough stone and bones.
Torn banners hung along the walls, their faded crests depicting crude, monstrous figures.
Broken weapons and skeletons littered the floor around.
And upon the throne sat a massive, hulking figure.
The Goblin King.
His green skin was dark and coarse, stretched taut over layers of muscle.
Bone ornaments clattered against each other as he moved; necklaces of teeth, skulls tied to his belt, even a crown of ribs encircling his head.
Soren frowned slightly, the stench of rot and decay thick in the air.
The Goblin King stirred, his deep yellow eyes glinting faintly in the dark.
When he spoke, his voice came out as guttural growls, words too crude and broken for a human to understand.
Demons had intelligence, but greenskins were considered primal, communicating in rough, broken words because they had not yet developed a proper language system of their own.
[Kerruk? Keurraak.]
Soren tilted his head slightly.
"...Why is a beast talking?"
The Goblin King bared his fangs, a rumbling growl shaking the air, and rose to his feet.
The throne creaked under the sudden shift in weight.
The massive greataxe in his hand was chipped and stained black.
Even so, when he lifted it, the weight of the weapon alone made the ground crack slightly under his stance.
Soren's gaze hardened.
He drew Labrys slowly, keeping his eyes on the Goblin King's every action.
'Alright. Let's see what you've got.'
The Goblin King moved first.
A heavy swing, wide and slow, tore through the air toward Soren.
Soren's eyes widened.
'Fast… wait, no?' Soren realised mid-motion, 'It's slow?'
He stepped to the side effortlessly, the greataxe slamming into the ground where he had been standing a moment before.
The impact sent dust flying.
Soren blinked, then frowned.
The attack was strong, yes, but unrefined.
The King's muscles rippled as he pulled the axe free again, growling in frustration.
Another swing came, this time angled from above, but it was just as slow.
Soren sidestepped again, his cloak fluttering as the axe smashed into the stone floor, cracking it open.
He exhaled quietly.
"So this is it?"
The Goblin King growled again, more agitated now.
His massive body trembled, his eyes darting between Soren and the weapon he could never seem to land.
He swung again… and missed again.
Then again.
And again.
Each time, Soren avoided the blow by a hair's breadth, barely moving more than necessary.
Slowly, the creature's movements began to falter, its rhythm breaking.
The Goblin King's breathing grew heavier, its footing uneven.
Soren could see it, the anxiety in the demon's stance.
Greenskins weren't mindless beasts.
They were demons, primal, yes, but they felt anger, despair and fear just like any other humanoid.
And right now, that fear was plain as day.
Soren took a slow step forward.
For a brief moment, he almost pitied the creature.
Almost.
Still, something about this fight felt off.
But Soren quickly realised that he was just overthinking.
The King's weakness wasn't a trap; there was no sign of hidden power, no shift in mana.
It definitely wasn't pretending; it was just weak.
Soren was just too used to fighting real monsters.
In the closed walls of the academy, where every student was a monster of talent and effort, Soren was seen as weak, pathetically so, but outside?
Outside was a different story.
Even the lowest-ranked students at Stellaris Academy would be considered monsters outside.
And Soren, though he didn't feel it, was far beyond the realm of the weakest students.
Divine power, moving magic, axemanship.
A complete all-rounder.
It was a combination that was unheard of.
He could fight at close range, heal himself, and even attack from a range with magic.
It was no wonder that things seemed easy for him.
He sighed softly and attached his handaxe to his belt.
If the fight was going to be this easy, there was something he wanted to try before finishing it.
Ever since the final exam, his second unique skill [Chimera] had fully awakened, but he still hadn't learned to control it.
There were no guides, no instructions, just instinct.
And that instinct had started to whisper again, deep inside his mind.
His left eye had been twitching for days, reacting to the dense mana fog in and around the dungeon.
And it was twitching again now.
He shifted into a defensive stance and watched more closely.
The Goblin King raised his axe once more, roaring in frustration, and charged.
Soren didn't counter; he watched.
He watched the movement of the axe, the strain of the muscles, the faint glimmer of mana flowing through its enhanced veins beneath the skin.
The dungeon's fog-like mana thickened around them, swirling as the monster swung again.
Soren could feel it, a faint pulse behind his left eye.
He focused.
And then…
.
[Unique Skill [Chimera] has activated.]
.
Suddenly, his vision shifted.
The world around him became vibrant; mana, usually invisible to the naked eye, became vividly clear.
He could see the faint energy rippling in the air, the mana entering the Goblin King's body with every breath it took.
The thick, sluggish mana flowed through the demon's limbs with each movement.
Soren's left eye flickered faintly, its crimson hue fading to clear.
His breath caught in his throat.
"I did it…"
It was a much different experience from last time.
Before, he could only see the slight movement of mana inside of Carlen's body, but now, he could see everything, every particle of mana in their surroundings, every minute movement it made throughout the Goblin King's body.
It was breathtaking.
The Goblin King swung again, but Soren saw the movement long before it happened.
The flow of mana inside its muscles shifted a moment before the body followed.
He stepped aside casually, avoiding the strike.
"I finally did it."
It didn't seem particularly useful in a fight, especially compared to the time [Chimera] activated on his hand, but it was progress.
That was all that mattered to Soren.
He smiled faintly and stretched his neck, rolling his shoulders as a quiet thrill ran through him.
"Alright," he whispered, forming a magic circle in his left palm. "Let's end this."
The stone floor of the chamber cracked once more as the Goblin King roared in rage.
Soren stepped forward, the blade of Labrys gleaming, his left eye as clear as glass.
And the fight truly began.
————「❤︎」————