Dungeon cleared!

Kyoma was bewildered as he felt the Terpsichorean Art take over his body, causing him to dance uncontrollably. "What... What the hell is this?" he exclaimed, his limbs flailing about in a silly yet mesmerizing manner. The more he danced, the more he became engrossed in the profound feeling that was surging through his body. It was like he was a pretty flower dancing with the winds, or a marionette being controlled by invisible strings. Despite his attempts to resist the urge to dance, he was caught in the flow, unable to stop his body from moving. Kyoma twisted and turned, his movements becoming more fluid and exaggerated with each passing moment. As he danced, he entered a state of flow, where time seemed to stand still and he was completely absorbed in the task at hand. It was the same state of mind one would experience when doing something they loved, like writing a book, playing a game, or even playing a musical instrument. Yet, for Kyoma, it was the flow of dancing that he was caught in, even as he faced the dungeon boss. The wibbly wobbly woo and ulalala sounds that emanated from him only added to the comical nature of the situation.

As Kyoma continued to dance, the hobgoblin let out a confused "Roar?" and appeared to be caught in a trance-like state. Its heavy sledgehammer slipped from its grip as it gazed, wide-eyed, at the strange spectacle before it. Meanwhile, Kyoma's undead companions seemed overwhelmed with a massive tide of emotions, invigorated by Kyoma's dance, and launched attacks with increased vigour. Kyoma appeared to be conducting an orchestra, his three undead companions launching synchronized attacks in tandem with his gestures.

Whenever Kyoma waved his hands towards the right, a flurry of arrows would fly towards the right side of the hobgoblin, while the dark goblin swung his mace at the hobgoblin's exposed left side and the rabbit bit into the back of its neck. When Kyoma retracted his arms and performed a body wave, the close combatants made a surprising jump back, avoiding the hobgoblin's counter-attack after it had awakened from its brief stupor.

Without a chance to rest, Kyoma waved both arms outwards in both directions, signalling the close combatants to launch a two-pronged attack from the left and right of the hobgoblin while the archer shot an arrow straight towards its face. The hobgoblin was forced to block the otherwise fatal arrow, allowing the mace of the dark goblin, enhanced by dark matter to make it heavier and sturdier, and the sharp claws of the windcutter rabbit to strike its exposed fleshy abdomen, dealing heavy damage.

-155 HP (arrow)

-125 HP (mace)

-65 HP (rabbit)

The first exchange took out nearly 20% of the hobgoblin's health as it was caught in a stupor from Kyoma's dance.

-1 HP (arrow)

-130 HP (mace)

-70 HP (rabbit)

The second exchange took out 10% of the hobgoblin's health as it was ready for the arrow, but not the two-pronged attacks from the dark goblin and rabbit.

As Kyoma continued to dance, the hobgoblin appeared to be in a trance-like state, staring wide-eyed at the strange spectacle. Meanwhile, Kyoma's undead companions were invigorated by his dance, launching attacks with increased vigour in perfect sync with Kyoma's gestures. Like a conductor leading an orchestra, Kyoma's movements directed his three companions to strike the hobgoblin's vulnerable spots with precision. Whenever Kyoma changed his dance pattern, the hobgoblin would become distracted, leaving it open to attacks from the undead trio. The hobgoblin struggled to fight back against Kyoma's synchronised assault, as it was constantly bombarded by attacks from all sides. It was a comical sight, reminiscent of a strong adult being beaten by a group of adorable children while distracted by their favourite TV show. Whenever the hobgoblin attempted to strike back, the close combat undeads would nimbly dodge out of the way and re-engage with Kyoma's dance. The relentless assault quickly whittled down the hobgoblin's health, with a third of its health gone after just two exchanges.

-50 HP (arrow)

-60 HP (mace)

-70 HP (rabbit)

-1 HP (arrow)

-125 HP (mace)

-10 HP (rabbit)

-100 HP (arrow)

-10 HP (mace)

-70 HP (rabbit)

-130 HP (arrow)

-140 HP (mace)

-3 HP (rabbit)

When the hobgoblin's health reached a critical point of 10%, it activated its berserk skill, increasing its stats and losing all rationality. "ROARRRRRRRR!" In this state, the hobgoblin was immune to Kyoma's soul attack, rendering his mesmerising dance ineffective. Kyoma decided to cancel his dance and join the battle.

Kyoma quickly issued commands to his undead companions: "Dark goblin, use dark matter to block the hobgoblin's attack! Rabbit, wait for the opening and attack its neck! Archer, aim for its eyes!" The undeads obeyed without hesitation.

When the hobgoblin swung its sledgehammer, the dark goblin used his dark matter-enhanced mace to block the attack. Unable to withstand the enormous low, Kyoma's dark goblin flew backwards and lost 100 HP. The rabbit took advantage of the opening and gave the hobgoblin a vicious bite to the neck, while the archer missed the eyes and landed a shot on the hobgoblin's left shoulder instead.

Kyoma quickly realised that the dark goblin was heavily damaged and immediately cast: "Summon undead, heal!" The dark goblin was then healed, regaining a fifth of its HP after defending the hobgoblin's attack.

"Rabbit, continue biting"

"Melee goblin, prepare to attack"

"Archer, hold your fire"

"Rabbit, jump back"

"Melee goblin, attack"

"Melee goblin, retreat"

"Archer, cover fire"

Kyoma continued to give commands to his undead companions, directing the rabbit to aggro the hobgoblin. The agile creature successfully drew the hobgoblin's attention, deftly dodging its attack. Meanwhile, the dark goblin, as if anticipating this moment, moved in to deliver a powerful blow to the hobgoblin's head. The impact was devastating, causing the hobgoblin to stumble and lose its focus. Immediately after, the dark goblin quickly jumped back to dodge the hobgoblin's retaliatory strike. The dark goblin had successfully attracted the hobgoblin's aggro after inflicting a massive amount of damage to its head. As the hobgoblin gave chase to the dark goblin, a volley of dark arrows suddenly rained down upon it. The barrage of arrows struck the hobgoblin, providing a brief respite for the dark goblin to make its retreat.

-35 HP (rabbit)

-99 HP (mace)

-54 HP (arrows)

"Appraise" Kyoma appraised the hobgoblin's current HP (12/2000) as he went in for the final blow, sending his Serpent Fang's dagger deep into the hobgoblin's chest.

"Kyaaaa" The hobgoblin let out a final cry of despair as its health reached zero. In response to its defeat, Kyoma's mind was flooded with a series of notifications.

<+700 experience points>

<Title earned: Conquerer of Dungeon>

<A great curse has lifted. The passageway towards the exit has been revealed.>

With the battle finally over, Kyoma allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. It was only then that he realised his MP pool had been completely depleted, and a wave of fatigue washed over him. "Thank goodness it's over," he thought, looking around at the boss room. The walls and floors were covered in marks of the intense battle, with arrows sticking out and scorch marks from mage spells. The ground was cracked from the hobgoblin's heavy swings, and the room was littered with goblin horns. As the bodies of the goblins disintegrated, Kyoma approached the hobgoblin's body and took a closer look. While he felt a sense of satisfaction from his victory, he couldn't help but worry about how close the battle had been. It was like walking on a tightrope, and one misstep could have cost him his life."

Although this battle appeared easy on the surface, it was a carefully planned strategy that Kyoma had executed with backup plans in place. He was faced with being vastly outnumbered, and in a war, a pyrrhic victory consisting of an attack with a sheer volume of numbers can often win battles. This battle favoured the goblins, who could have easily dominated Kyoma and his three undeads just by overwhelming them with their numbers. However, Kyoma was able to exploit the goblins' unintellectual nature and their disorganised attacks to his advantage. As he realised he couldn't win a frontal clash with the mass of goblins, he relied on quality instead of quantity. His three undeads were evolved forms with superior stats compared to their goblin counterparts, and Kyoma was also strengthened by the bonds from "Assimilate", which transferred a portion of his undead companions' increased stats to him. With these advantages, Kyoma could be considered a super combatant relative to the weak regular goblins.

In addition, an unknown variable in the battle was the hobgoblin, which played a crucial role in Kyoma's plan. To avoid attracting the hobgoblin's attention, Kyoma kept his attacks far away from it by splitting the army into two and attacking the two ends of the room. Using his archer to launch long-range attacks on the goblin army one by one would have been easier, but Kyoma didn't want to risk a goblin stampede if they rushed in all together. Keeping the archer in stealth was crucial to the battle's success. Kyoma sent his rabbit to harass the long-ranged enemies and keep them at bay, creating space to fight the goblins. The rabbit's position closest to the hobgoblin had strategic significance, allowing Kyoma to send it to distract the hobgoblin while using Appraisal on it to gather information and reorganise his dark goblin companions for Plan B if needed.

Finally, Kyoma was gambling on his level up. He was on the verge of levelling up to level 5, which would refresh his HP and MP. This allowed Kyoma to fight with reckless abandon, using up his HP and MP to dwindle the goblin army's numbers. Although he was close to dying, he managed to survive thanks to his Serpent Fang's dagger, which he used to inflict poison damage over time on as many goblins as possible. This lowered their health and enabled Kyoma to level up quickly when he was about to be overwhelmed.

The only unexpected variable was the acquisition of a new skill, which turned out to be helpful. Exhausted, Kyoma rested beside the hobgoblin's remains while his undead companions gathered the goblin horns scattered around the boss room. Although the level up refreshed his HP and MP, it did little to alleviate his mental fatigue. The hobgoblin left behind a dark crystal, a ring, a tattered scroll, and its horn after disintegrating.

"Appraise" Kyoma appraised the items that were dropped by the hobgoblin.

Item: F Rank Monster Crystal

Durability: 99/99

Description: This Monster Crystal was a condensation of mana that flowed inside an F-ranked mutated hobgoblin. It can be used for alchemy.

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Item: Loran's Ring

Rarity: Saint-level artifact

Durability: ******/*******

Requirements: Level 5

+10% all stats

+40 Intelligence

+500 MP

+15% Curse affinity

+35% Curse resistance

-30% Mana expenditure for Dark magic

Unique passive: Soul strengthening (Level: Maxed), Curse strengthening (Level: Maxed)

Active skills: Curse barrier (Level: Maxed), Life Drain (Level: Maxed)

Description: This is a ring crafted by an unknown entity. It had been passed down traditionally for centuries in the Loran's clan. It possessed a tremendous amount of cursed energy. Users who are unable to handle the curse contained in this ring will be cursed.

Soul strengthening: Absorbs and devour the soul of nearby slain enemies. Purifies the soul and converts the soul energy to strengthen the soul of its user.

Curse strengthening: Curse energy in the user is amplified. If user is unable to contain the curse energy, user will be cursed and lose their sanity.

Curse barrier: Creates a barrier around the user made out of tangible curse energy that lasts for 10 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour. Size of barrier scales with amount of curse energy of user. Current barrier HP: 5000

Life Drain: Heals the user for 10% of the damage inflicted onto the enemy.

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Item: Ice Magic scroll (Consumable)

Durability: 100/300

Description: A scroll that has been created using alchemy and magic. It contains an explosive amount of ice energy. Upon activation, consumes 50 durability and unleashes a wide range of effect skill "Blizzard storm", slowing targets caught in the zone and dealing 200 health per second over the period of 10 seconds. Range of effect: 10 meters in diameter.

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Item: Mutated Hobgoblin's Horn

Durability: 500/500

Description: This horn is a remnant of a mutated hobgoblin boss from an instance dungeon. It is a valuable tool for summoning undead goblins, making it a handy item for battles. The horn is also recognised by the adventurer's guild, and it can be traded for quest rewards or sold for a good price in the market.

Rarity: Rank E

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End of chapter stats

Name: Kyoma

Class: Necromancer

Level: 5

Experience points: 705/1600

Hp: 700/700

Mp: 0/120

Strength: 40

Agility: 45

Intelligence: 58

Physical resistance: 12

Passive skills: Reincarnation's Blessing (Level 1), Necromancy Mastery (Level 4)

Active skills: Summon Undead (Level 2), Appraisal (Level 2), Assimilate (Level 1), Terpsichorean Art (Level 1)

Titles: Necromancer, Killer of Lesser Field Rabbit, Killer of Goblins, Conqueror of Dungeon

Items: Serpent Fangs Dagger, Loran's Ring, Ice Magic Scroll, Leather Armor, x37 Lesser Goblin Horn, x1 Mutated Hobgoblin Horn, 100 Bronze Coins, 3 Silver Coins

Pets: Undead Windcutter Field Rabbit (Level 5), Undead Dark Goblin (Level 5), Undead Dark Goblin Archer (Level 5)

Note: Conqueror of Dungeon gives +10 All Stats, 1% Health regeneration every 5 seconds and 1% MP regeneration every 5 seconds whenever one is in a dungeon.