42 Reward: Title

Ding!

[You have a parcel cadet, Jadel Atlanta.]

Hearing the doorbell and the melodious sound of a girl calling me, I opened the door and found an AI robot girl holding a small box.

[Take your parcel, Jadel Atlanta.]

Taking the parcel, I pressed my thumb on the biometric screen she held out, confirming the delivery arrived safely at the destination.

"What might it be?" I muttered, eyeing the mini box.

Ripping the wrapping open, I found a silver ring with a black stone on the head. The stone gleaming with rune engravings.

"A spatial ring?" I blinked in surprise. Peering inside with my mana sense, I found it packed with potions. And dozens of them.

Buzz! buzz!

My smartwatch buzzed, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I didn't need to check the name to know who it was.

[The Bitch: Did you like my gift brat?]

[The Bitch: It has 50 cubic meters of space inside.]

[The Bitch: And I have put enough potions inside the spatial storage for you, so use it well.]

'Damn!'

[You: Why buy so many potions?]

[The bitch: Are you an idiot? It's for you, and I didn't buy it; I made it because I'm an alchemist brat.]

I stared at the message. 'Is she an alchemist too, with that impatient personality?' I shook my head in disbelief.

[You: Thanks.]

I thanked her for her generosity. "With this, all of my preparations are done."

***

***

***

The dungeon was located in Elefiasee, a city named after the Elf Goddess.

Despite being called a goddess, Elefiasee was actually an elf with unparalleled mana purity and a prominent ranker.

She had fought in the vampire war centuries ago and became a symbol of elven strength and divinity.

In elven culture, where mana purity meant everything, she was revered as a god's helper, and thus they called her an elf goddess.

But what mattered to me was that a dungeon lay hidden near her academy—Elfilial Academy.

The main cast found this dungeon when they went on a field trip to the Elfilial Academy.

Since the academy was situated close to Jungle, which was closer to the border, their assignment was to observe and note down low ranking monsters behavior and capture any unique monster if it was low rank.

Of course, the high ranking monsters can't go through the barrier, so the academy instructors didn't have to worry about the students.

And as the main cast and MC were disaster magnets, they would chase after a unique monster that broke out of the dungeon and would end up in this dungeon.

'If I somehow find that monster, I need to obtain its core'

It's a unique monster that broke out of the dungeon even with the heavy restrictions that were placed on the dungeon, and it was not even about to occur a dungeon break.

I arrived at the portal leading to Elefiasee City. After showing my identification and stating the purpose of the trip, I paid the fees, stepped into the gate.

The sensation of teleportation was brief but disorienting. When I stepped out on the other side, I blinked, surprised to find I wasn't nauseous like most people after a portal trip.

'Hmm, I'm perfectly fine.' I thought.

'So where is the Elfilial Academy?' As I was about to open and look at the holographic map, I found a castle-like building far from the city.

The building was so big and majestic, like a real castle, that I could spot it from here.

'The forest is situated at the back of the academy, so I need to round to reach the place.'

Every month, once a day, they inspect the jungle to find any high ranking monsters, and since it's already been half a month, the inspection day would be over.

'It's really surprising that they couldn't detect a dungeon. Like, what the fuck are they doing with all that equipment?'

I don't know if it was the trait of the dungeon or if they are really sloppy.

Taking out my hoverbike, I headed to the jungle.

….

Crunch! Crunch!

I walked through the overgrown grass, my feet sinking into the grass with a soft crunch. The air was fresh here, mixed with mana. I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air.

Fwoosh!

I kept my senses sharp. Even though this area only housed low-ranking monsters, caution was still key. After all, it only took one mistake to end up dead.

I stopped in my tracks, closed my eyes, and focused.

Water—if I could find a waterfall, I'd find the dungeon entrance hidden behind it. I expanded my mana senses, feeling the tiny droplets of moisture in the air.

The droplets moving on the leaf, slowly descending to another leaf.

Tinkle! Tinkle!

I increased my senses and tried to sense again, wondering if the waterfall might be far away. After two seconds, I felt a connection.

Splash! Tumble! Tumble!

I sensed water currents and the clashing of water. Keeping my senses, I walked to the waterfall.

After 6 and a half minutes of walking, I found myself standing in front of a roaring waterfall.

Tumble! Tumble!

As the wind blew, water droplets splattered onto my skin, soaking me.

"Mana!" I muttered.

Normal hunters can't sense the mana in the water, but because of my innate skill, I instantly felt the water contained a small amount of mana in it.

I stripped off my clothes and jumped into the water. There was no need to worry about aquatic monsters; none were present in this mana-rich environment.

As I jumped into the water, a strange feeling washed over me—an instinctual change. Scales began to form across my body, spreading like wildfire. Blue scales covered my arms while silver-blue ones adorned my torso.

Glub! Glub! Glub!

'Gills?'

Small bubbles came out of my mouth as I started to breathe in the water. My fingers brushed the small slits on the sides of my neck as I started to breathe like a fish—well, a merman.

I swam to the rock hidden behind the falling water. As I reached it, I saw a small fissure on the rock, the entrance of the dungeon.

Calming my erratic heartbeat, I entered the dungeon.

A dizzying sensation hit me as the dungeon's dimensional shift took effect.

When my vision cleared, a familiar notification appeared before my eyes.

========System========

[ Clear the dungeon ]

[ Rank: C ]

[ Dungeon: Mana Cave ]

[ Reward: Title ]

[ Title: ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ]

[ You lack the necessary strength to read the title ]

[ Boss monster: Lizard queen ]

[Accept] [Decline]

=======================

"The fuck!" I cursed, seeing the system window. "There are no rewards at the current time; in this first arc... how in the hell it popped out."

Titles are like the combination of passive skill, innate skill, and occupation; they're hard to get, and only a certain dungeon will give the reward title, and only a certain person will get it.

But it won't happen at this time; it only happens after the hunters clear the tower.

"So why now?" In the novel, the entity clearly says there are certain rules and times, so he can only do things according to that, or there will be backlash for that.

"He even said to me that he interfered to the maximum he could... What is he thinking now?

I shook off all the bad thoughts and looked at the system window.

I glanced at the unreadable title and felt a surge of irritation. "Why offer it if I'm not strong enough to even see it?"

I pressed decline. "… huh" But the status window didn't vanish. It stood in front of me, obstructing my vision. I tapped multiple times, but it didn't work.

'If I accept it, I can't go out halfway; if I don't accept it, it will keep blocking my vision.

==========================

[I don't have much, so listen well, Jake Dane. Accept it; it's a title your life is tied to. You don't have a choice but to accept it.]

==========================

"Entity! What does that mean my life is tied to it? I did accept your request, but you think I will just throw away my life like that–"

"Man, this guy is annoying."