What is this?
I immediately sensed that the person I assumed was the supervisor was in a pretty dangerous situation, so I used Blink to stand right beside him.
Of course, I set the spot I moved to just a little behind so no one else would notice.
“Are you the test supervisor?”
“Y-yes, that’s right… but that side…”
In the rush, I probably hadn’t heard him properly.
Now that I was close enough to see clearly, the ropes weren’t the only thing binding him—strange magic had tied up his mana too.
The moment I pulled out my mana sight, it was obvious.
This had to be the primitive sorcery some of those monsters used.
“Even a senior can be brought down like this?”
If it had been Mea, she would’ve torn it apart and escaped on her own.
The gap between ranks must have been enormous.
Still, since he was the one who would issue me my license, I decided to be extra kind and introduce myself again.
“Apprentice Explorer, Roman Sun.”
“Apprentice…? Not now! I’m out of here! Someone get me out and report back! A special B-rank variant has appeared!”
Variant?
‘He’s talking about that one.’
Although it looked like a bugbear, there was something subtly different about it.
It just sat there calmly on the altar, staring at us like it was some kind of king.
King, huh? Then it was probably a tyrant.
From the corner of my eye I saw Leaf casually firing his super high-pressure cannon, sending everything around him flying, and he didn’t even care.
“Is he instinctively warning us about the most threatening enemy?”
It was scouting.
The thing was watching me.
In its eyes I sensed not just the usual monster savagery, but a sharp glint of intelligence that felt almost human.
“Supervisor, have you been taken down by that?”
“…Embarrassingly, yes.”
“And it’s Jake.”
It had the strength to overpower even a senior.
It had to be the top predator of the first floor.
“Perfect test level.”
I tightened my grip on the new equipment—the Axis.
“Jake.”
The moment I called his name, I sharpened my mana and sliced through the mana-binding ropes holding him.
Those ropes had to be some kind of magic tool.
Right after they snapped, Jake clenched his fists, muttered a short chant, and broke the primitive sorcery’s seal.
But since he wasn’t a demonologist, and his mana was already drained from the first one, he was basically at his limit.
Even a spirit summoner had to burn their own mana to maintain their summons—how much more would the other classes, who cast all their magic through their own power, suffer?
I might have used him as a vanguard if he’d been a martial artist.
But I hadn’t planned to fight alongside him from the start.
“I’ll handle this one, Jake. You get everyone else out.”
If I’m here, you can’t use Blink freely.
If I knock him out, though, I’ll take a blindside attack— that worried me.
Best to just send him off.
I wished he’d leave already, but Jake was too clueless to catch the hint.
“No matter what, sending an apprentice…”
“This is the only way.”
“Only way…”
His voice sounded strangely distant, like he was sending someone off for the last time.
I’ll get out faster if you stop whining.
I shouted in irritation.
“Hurry!”
“Damn it!”
Only then did Jake finally make his decision. He started grabbing the others with curses flying.
With a flicker of mana returning, Jake cast a body-enhancement spell and slung two people over his shoulders.
“…Sorry. Please.”
It was the least I could do for someone helping me.
His tone sounded too heavy and resolute, so I forced a matching one.
“Don’t forget your license later.”
“…I’ll write you a recommendation too.”
With that, Jake finally left the area.
At the same time.
The thing I’d been watching finally moved.
Its caution—calmly observing me—had finally snapped under the rage of losing its prey.
“Kwooaarararar!”
Kuung!
It smashed through the stone slab it had been sitting on and leaped into the air.
It wasn’t strong enough to stop with my magic bullets.
And I couldn’t use Blink yet—Jake was still too close.
Was I just going to take the hit?
That wasn’t an option either.
Crack!
Ray’s silver mana-wrapped fist slammed into the creature’s twisted face in a blur.
It wasn’t over after one hit.
Ray accelerated with another mana boost.
In an instant she unleashed dozens of punches.
Her speed, power, and movements were all on another level.
Completely different from when she fought Malefric.
“Well, well… did you come with the guide? No, you’re not a senior… just an apprentice, right?”
“Hurry and get out.”
Get out.
Ray snapped back to attention and started moving again.
“Don’t get complacent! I’m all out of mana!”
It looked like a clean hit to me.
Even that had run out?
On top of that, the thing was a pure physical fighter—hard for Ray’s Arjentus to show full power on.
It was a nightmare matchup for a mana-killer like Ray.
“So martial artists really aren’t my path.”
But that’s exactly why having comrades is so important.
“Roman! When are you coming?!”
“I’m coming now.”
It looked like Ray was struggling alone against the variant.
Technically Ray was ahead—her silver mana was visibly eating away at the creature while her own body stayed untouched.
But the thing had overwhelming mass.
Still, it was definitely landing effective hits, even if the damage wasn’t huge.
Even its broken nose from the first solid punch was almost healed now.
Its recovery was insane.
[I need to cut it down with Exhaustion.]
[Just pierce it with that dark elf’s cannon.]
[Or pin it down and grind it with my own mana.]
All three were solid ideas.
Let’s start with the first.
I poured my mana into the Axis.
The mana circuits etched into the staff lit up with a dim glow.
Power traveled along the circuits to the core.
The dungeon core at the tip of the Axis resonated with my mana.
It started dispersing my mana in a radial pattern, drawing ultra-fine mana lines that were invisible to the eye.
Those lines formed a grid with perfect spacing.
They fed me exact spatial coordinates and the locations of any foreign objects present.
Macroscopic and microscopic expansion of space sense.
Even information from behind me that my eyes couldn’t see was interpreted and visualized by my brain.
That was exactly what the Axis was for.
I turned the Axis in my hand into the central axis of coordinates, forming the entire area into a three-dimensional spherical coordinate system.
I completely ignored the mana amplification or stabilization that normal staves or wands offered—only maximizing the spatial interference power of the dungeon core.
That was the Axis.
No panic from the unfamiliar feeling.
I’d checked it countless times on the way here.
Now, inside that familiar sensation, I set the coordinates of my movement point.
And when I blinked and reopened my eyes.
Everything I saw was the creature’s back.
Its magic bullet, already loaded and ready, flew straight for its spine.
“One shot first…”
My plan for a continuous barrage under the assumption of a hit shattered with the creature’s movement.
The monster twisted its body to dodge, and its crimson eyes grazed me.
“You’re trying to dodge this?”
[Warning. That thing has an incredibly sharp instinct.]
Poison carried in Leraje’s mana.
And the magic Exhaustion triggered the moment it touched mana.
Its instinct had warned me in time, so I twisted away at the last second.
“Ray’s instincts are on another level.”
Even among beasts.
“Kwooaarararar!”
It changed target from Ray to me mid-leap, roaring with Workra.
While I’d been judging me dangerous based on vague instinct, actually seeing the magic bullet had confirmed me as the number-one threat.
“Tch!”
Ray clicked her tongue and followed right behind.
Knowing about Blink, she gathered mana into her fist to land the strongest possible hit.
The creature’s fist filled my vision.
But it never touched me.
Pop—
I repositioned with Blink.
This time, what I targeted was.
Crack!
“Can’t dodge this?”
Even if it was behind me where my eyes couldn’t see, Blink’s blind spot no longer existed.
I occupied the space directly behind it.
I grabbed its matted fur with one hand and loaded my magic bullet.
But.
Thud!
“Ugh?!”
Something had stabbed my stomach.
If I hadn’t used Blink immediately.
“I got pierced… by that horn.”
Horn, or bone.
Sharp protrusions jutted out from the back of its neck and spine.
They only added to its grotesque nature.
“What the hell… is this thing?”
It’s evolving.
Right in front of my eyes.
§
“Hah… huh…”
Carrying two unconscious subordinates, Jake ran mindlessly.
With his enhanced senses from the perception-boosting magic, he caught a faint blood scent.
It wasn’t the scent of bugbears or anything similar.
Those creatures had too spicy a smell to even compare, but this one was unmistakably human.
The scent was faint, so it probably hadn’t been fatally wounded yet—but this was just the beginning.
“Damn it…”
Jake felt so ashamed for using an apprentice’s life as a sacrifice to escape.
He’d thought he was ready to die.
But he wasn’t.
If he had truly been ready, he should have stayed behind.
He should have used his own death to buy time and sent the others—apprentices with intact mana—out as fast as possible to call for reinforcements.
“They’re all going to die.”
An elemental sorcerer who handled water.
A battle mage with silver mana.
And a demonologist whose mana I could estimate.
All that remained was clearly…
It had to be the last resort of demonologists.
“I should’ve remembered his name.”
At least for myself.
“I’ll definitely get revenge. Definitely…”
Jake clenched his teeth and sprinted with every ounce of strength he had left.
§
“Hey, hey, move aside.”
“We’re almost done here.”
“Wait, I still have something to test.”
How long was this going to take?
“Khh, kkhuaaaa.”
The guy was suffering too.
“Let’s see if this holds up too. Ready?”
Ray, just a little help here…
“Mr. Roman is right.”
Just like I thought—Leaf was a true humanitarian.
“I have something to try too. No monopolizing.”
Ah… that side.