Taking a chance sounded tempting in a stupid, adrenaline-seeking kind of way — the sort of decision that got people killed and then laughed at by the System. That wasn’t me.
I didn’t need bravado.
I needed information I could survive learning.
So, I made the sensible choice.
“I’ll let the System choose,” I said after a moment. “Previously encountered monsters.”
That way I wasn’t walking in blind — but I also wasn’t playing it completely safe. Familiar enemies meant patterns I could refine, mistakes I could correct, and tactics I could test under pressure.
New monsters could wait.
Right now, surviving both rounds mattered more than proving anything.
A door opened on the other side of the stadium, and a goblin stormed out. It did not look happy. Its eyes found me immediately and it stormed my way.
I triggered Fleetstep. I had to put some distance between me and the angry monster.
I spun, staff already raised. “Arc Lash.”
Lightning ripped towards him, arcing back into the monster. It twisted mid-run, faster than the others I’d fought before. It staggered, burned, but still moving.
Too fast.
The goblin cackled. A sharp, breathless sound. It didn’t rush straight in—it angled, low and aggressive, forcing me to track it.
That was my mistake. I’d treated it like the earlier ones.
I slid sideways with Fleetstep still active, keeping space, but I noticed the goblin adjusting with me, matching angles instead of chasing blindly. Stronger legs. Better balance. Smarter.
Don’t tunnel. Control it.
I cast Arc Slash, aiming centre mass. The goblin roared as mana carved into its side, blood splashing across the stone, yet it didn’t fall. It powered through the pain and kept coming.
I clicked my tongue in frustration. I’d overcommitted again.
Instead of backing off, I stepped in.
The goblin hesitated for half a second, expecting me to retreat. That was all I needed. I drove the staff forward, not to kill, but to disrupt—cracking it across its jaw. The monster reeled.
Now.
Mana surged along the staff as I followed through with a close-range Mana Slash. The goblin collapsed mid-lunge, momentum carrying it face-first into the floor.
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I didn’t relax immediately. I waited. Counted my breaths. Watched for movement.
Nothing.
I exhaled slowly, heart hammering.
I was exceedingly thankful for the brief rest period. I slumped down to the floor of the stadium.
The five minutes passed far too fast. Before I knew it the System gave notice.
That damp pressure in the air, the subtle way sound dulled around me — I didn’t need the System this time to know what was here.
Mana Leech.
It slid out of the wall on the other side of the stadium, thicker than the earlier ones, glow brighter, tighter. It didn’t rush me.
Of course it didn’t.
I shifted position immediately, stepping sideways instead of back, keeping it in front of me. No flanks. No blind spots.
It compressed.
I cast Freeze before it could launch. It did not stop completely, but enough to steal the burst of speed I knew it relied on.
Arc Lash followed instantly.
Lightning tore into it, ripping through the glowing veins beneath its skin. It shrieked — that glassy, skull-splitting sound — but I was already moving, already closing the distance before it could recover.
Mana Slash cut in low and tight, aimed where the body had to stretch to move. The glow surged, trying to redistribute, but I didn’t give it time.
Second Mana Slash. Overlapping the first. Its body spasmed, form destabilizing instead of flowing smoothly.
Good. That meant it was hurt.
It tried to surge anyway, a violent lurch forward.
I stepped into it. My staff came down hard into its center mass, channeling just enough mana to disrupt its structure. The impact sent a shock through the creature and the glow flickered erratically.
The leech collapsed mid-motion, glow fading out as the body went slack and slid across the stone.t
I’d learned its rhythm. But it hadn’t learned mine.
While I was catching my breath, a platform rose from the ground with a oval crystal on top. A staircase appeared next to the platform, spiralling down. As soon as I picked up the crystal, a familiar System message popped up.
I placed the crystal into my inventory and left the stadium, legs feeling heavier with every step. The adrenaline was already draining out of me, leaving only exhaustion behind. The kind that settled into my bones.
Thankfully, the walk home was uneventful. No Kobolds crossed my path, no red dots drifted too close on my Mini Map. I kept my head down, and just walked.
By the time I reached my apartment, my shoulders ached and my thoughts felt sluggish. I shut the door behind me, leaned against it for a second, and then took out my Comm Crystal.
“Claire?” I said.
Her voice answered immediately, warm and familiar. “Danny. You’re finished the quest okay?”
“Yeah. Just got back.”
A soft breath of relief came through the crystal. “Good. I was a little worried.”
“I’m okay,” I said. “Tired. But okay.”
“How was it?” she asked.
I hesitated. “Intense. Strange. Useful. All at once.”
She was quiet for a moment. “You sound exhausted.”
“I am,” I admitted.
“Then don’t tell me anything now,” she said gently. “We will meet tomorrow. I want to see you, and I want to hear everything about the quest.”
A small smile tugged at my mouth even though she couldn’t see it. “Yeah. Tomorrow sounds good.”
“Go rest,” she said.
“I will. Night, Claire.”
“Good night, Danny.”
The crystal dimmed in my hand and placed it back into my inventory.
I went straight to the shower. Hot water poured over my shoulders, and I let out a slow breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Steam filled the room, blurring the edges of everything.
Images from the dungeon kept surfacing anyway — the silence, the shadows, the way the monsters watched before they moved. The feeling of being hunted. The feeling of hunting.
That was the part that unsettled me.
Not the danger.
How quickly it had started to feel normal.
I rested my forehead against the tile for a second, eyes closed, letting the water run until the thoughts finally loosened their grip.
Afterward, I pulled my clothes, ate something without really tasting it, and sank onto my bed.
The ceiling looked exactly the same as it always had.
Same room. Same bed. Same me.
Different world.
Exhaustion took me before I could think much more about it.
Tomorrow, I’d tell Claire everything. Tomorrow, I will fight Kobolds again.
Tonight, I just slept.
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