Venturing the Cave

After merrily celebrating the clutch victory against the evolved Minotaur, some giving their preys or mourning their lost friends of whom died during the battle, the group got back on track and continued through the cave.

After encountering the evolved monster, everyone in the group was on high alert. Even while messing around with the system and trying to figure his way around it, Liam was continuing to keep his eyes and eyes pierced with intense focus.

'I wonder how I can increase my perception' he pondered while looking over at the statistics lying in the blue box. 'I know there's the statistic but I need to focus on my other stats and it'll probably take a few levels for it to be effective. I wish I could open the shop, it'd be good if I could buy skills from there' he gazed at the screen before him with a sour expression.

[Shop: Currently Locked

Shop can only be unlocked when User reaches criteria]

'It's too vague. I wish it'd just tell me the requirements' Liam inwardly sighed while he marched behind the nine man group. Since they only had nine men, things were going to be very difficult. In most occurrences, when there was one evolved monster, there would be another. These dungeons were usually handed to the more capable Rank-B and As or at least Rank Cs, Rank S wouldn't be deployed for such 'easy' missions. What was worse was that they had already lost half of their group and hadn't even gotten to the boss yet. If the boss were to be an evolved monster, they would no doubt be wiped out considering it's dramatically increased strength, in addition to the fact bosses were usually 2-10 times stronger than the average monsters of their dungeons.

"ugh" the awakened all groaned and moaned when walking through the cave. They had been in there for hours now and were getting anxious. Even though they had almost reached the boss lair and had killed countless monsters on the way, they hadn't found another evolved monster. If anything, it was only a bad omen. Only Liam knew that the next evolved monster they would encounter... was the boss himself.

In the first run of the dungeon, before Liam had gained the system and seemingly went back in time, they were with only seven members. Strangely, it had taken them longer to encounter the evolved minotaur in the previous run but they were already short of a few members when they engaged in battle with it.

At the time, they were just happy to have survived the battle. They merely hoped that luck would be on their side and allow them to survive the next encounter as well.

"Agh. When is this evolved going to show up" Julius complained, "At this rate, it might as well be the boss that's evolved" he joked and the others broke into laughter before returning to their mirthless states.

"Are you alright, Liam. I'm sorry I wasn't able to heal your arm" Eve apologised. staring at Liam's armless left shoulder.

"It's okay. How am I supposed to expect you to grow back my limbs. It's my fault I lost it in the first place" He attempted to comfort her, yet her mention of his arm made it hard to suppress the shaking in his voice. It was impossible for him to continue being a hunter without his right arm and though re-growing limbs wasn't impossible in this day and age, it was extremely expensive and Liam was the last person who'd be able to afford it.

Firmly clutching his remaining left hand to suppress his emotions, he continued to march forward with the group. At the time, he didn't have the system to guide him and right now, his dead was permanent and there was no redo. Secretly, he was terrified, so frightened that he wished he had never stepped foot in the wretched dungeon but he hid it all in order to avoid Eve becoming worried. She was the only one ever nice to him, treating Liam as her equal rather than ridiculing him as the other haughty awakened often turned to.

Coming up to the boss lair, the awakened were more terrified than ever. How come we haven't come across the evolved monster yet? Perhaps there was only one? They pondered yet there was no one who could confirm or deny their claims and questions, forcing them to go into the boss's chamber oblivious to the horrors that awaited them.

When entering the the large room, something seemed amiss. It was a large chamber with a repugnant smell that drifted, violently assaulting their noses, hiding in the thin air. Huge chiselled walls surrounded them while a throne was seen at the end of the vast chamber; it was nothing like the murky cave they had just left. Covering their noses, one unexperienced teenager vomiting repeatedly, they realised where the revolting smell was emitting from; a huge corpse. Being chewed by a titanic Minotaur, sitting on a large throne, the corpse of a small minotaur was being devoured.

"It's a cannibal" one of them shouted aloud, turning the awakened' shocked expressions to petrified ones. Frozen, completely trapped within their bodies, they watched the bloody remains of the beast being thrown into the titan's mouth.

"No....I-It must be...an evolved boss" Many of the awakened soon fell weak to the ground after hearing those words. Though they had realised it themselves, someone confirming it put the nail in the coffin. After devouring it's subordinate, the titan seemed to have become stronger, admitting it's unique ability. Some of the sporadic evolved monster would be blessed with a unique ability, and this one's seemed to be gaining strength through cannibalism.

At that point, the remaining awakened didn't even have the strength to scream. Their had lost all hope and their lifeless eyes clearly reflected this. A sinister smirk appeared on the titan's face as it approached the group, grabbing one of the ragdoll shells and throwing the awakened down their throat.

Only 6 remained and only one was still standing, Liam. It wasn't that he was brave, nor was it that he wished to stand up and fight till he last breathe, he was no hero, he simply didn't have the control over his body to fall to the ground. At least, that was until he was the last living human in the chamber, his companions all crushed beneath the titan's teeth and imprisoned within it's body. That was the moment he lost all hope and accepted death from the titan, of which he was never granted. Instead, he was given something better, a second chance.

In the current moment, the remaining nine members of the group wandered through the cave, completely on guard and ready to attack while approaching the boss's lair.

"Agh. When is this evolved going to show up" Julius complained, "At this rate, it might as well be the boss that's evolved"