The air froze—The hyenas collapsed, their paws clawing at the ground. A couple of them whimpered, ears flattened against their skulls—Feared, hesitant to fight back.

They couldn't muster the courage to fight back.

Ash moved in, blade in hand, liquid drops dripping from its edge, finishing the fight with swift strikes.

[+1 Exp]

[+2 Exp]

[+1 Exp]

....

[+2 MP]

[+1 MP]

[+1 MP]

....

He barely gained any experience from killing these beasts, and while his Mana Overdrive skill restored some mana, the beasts' low level made the returns insignificant.

One thing he noticed, however, was that the amount of MP it took to use his skills against these weaker beasts had reduced considerably. Either it was because he had grown stronger—or because of the skill's upgrade.

"Why are you so proficient with your new class already? It's like you've been using it for years," Jessie asked, surprised at his confidence with the venom coating his blade.

Ash simply ignored the beasts after cutting their skin. Under normal circumstances, they should have been able to fight back, but the poison on his blade ensured their deaths.

What could suit an assassin better than poison? It was like giving a knight his sword.

Ash pressed forward, maneuvering through the stone maze. It was a zig-zag pattern with multiple paths.

Moving through it and finding the correct path was far more troublesome than the weak beasts. Packs could be hiding behind any wall, and searching required exploring every route.

After the arduous task of finding and killing stragglers, they finally came across the king beast.

It was simply a larger hyena, its muscles bulging with each movement, its large, jagged teeth menacing.

Ash wasn't in the mood to waste time.

A throwable knife rested in his hand, the transparent poison coating its blade.

Ash hurled it with all his strength, his arm snapping like a sling, sending the knife at unimaginable speed.

Swish...

The blade pierced the beast's muscle, digging deeper until it vanished inside its body.

The beast roared in agony, glaring at Ash with menacing eyes. It prepared to strike despite the pain, but slowly, the light in its eyes dimmed.

Its body shivered from the poison's effect before collapsing. Within moments, its life was gone.

"Not bad," Ash muttered, checking the other knives strapped to his waist.

The poison was lethal against E-rank beasts—killing them outright. But he was certain that D-rank and higher beasts would be able to resist its effects to some extent. Still, one thing was certain: the poison would weaken and slow them down.

Satisfied, Ash allowed the porters to begin their work. They were efficient in harvesting beast cores, and soon, they were ready to move on to the next dungeon.

The group exited the stone maze, bags heavier with fresh cores. The porters exchanged relieved glances—their first dungeon with Ash and Jessie had gone smoothly.

Their confidence in the two rankers had grown.

The next dungeon on the list, however, was nothing like the maze.

Upon entering, they descended into an old abandoned tunnel, its concrete cracked and overrun with moss. The air was damp and suffocating.

"This place feels alive," Jessie whispered, her hand brushing the wall.

The first encounter came quickly.

A pack of Ironclaw Rats rushed at them—each the size of a hyena, their incisors glowing faintly from gnawing on mana-rich stone. They weren't strong individually, but their numbers reached into the thousands.

A faint mist of venom spread through the tunnel, seeping into the lungs of every rat.

"Efficient as ever," Jessie muttered from a safe distance.

By the time the porters stepped forward, the tunnel floor was littered with twitching corpses.

---

The third dungeon felt heavier, more oppressive. A cavern system filled with sand and dust, visibility painfully low. They soon realized why—giant Blind Moles tunneled beneath their feet, collapsing terrain and forcing them to tread carefully.

Ash crouched, sensing faint tremors in the ground.

"Tunnels," he muttered. "They'll strike from below."

Sure enough, the earth erupted. A clawed arm as thick as a human torso slashed upward. Jessie's fireball only grazed it.

Ash didn't hesitate. He slammed his venom-coated short blade into the mole's arm, the toxin sizzling into its flesh.

The beast screeched, retreating underground. But the poison spread, glowing faintly beneath its pale skin as it fled.

"It doesn't matter where they run," Ash chuckled. "If they can't resist the venom, it's futile."

By the time they moved deeper, the tunnels were littered with the bodies of dead moles, twitching from the lingering venom.

One by one, all five E-rank dungeons were cleared by the end of the day.

The porters looked at Ash and Jessie with awe and admiration.

When they reported back, the officer glanced at them with a skeptical expression.

"What? Cleared one dungeon already? Good, but you could've pushed for two," he said, trying to guilt them into working faster the next day.

Ash glanced at Jessie as if to say, Who's going to tell him?

Jessie merely shrugged, putting the burden on him.

"Oh, by the way—Commander said to give this to you." Before Ash could speak, Liam shoved a black box into his hands.

Ash felt his heartbeat quicken. Please be something useful. He had asked the commander for rewards, and here it was.

Without a word to Liam, he snatched the box and left, Jessie following him. Liam's jaw hung open in shock as Jessie casually explained their true achievement—though it hardly sounded like one.

Ash was too excited to care. He rushed toward the inn, eager to open the box.

But before they could reach it, a man stood waiting for them.

"Jessie. It's time to go," he said, tall and composed, though his expression remained calm.

Ash recognized him immediately—the same ordinary-looking man he had seen with the Commander.

"Where?" Ash asked, confused.

"You told me he agreed to come with you, didn't you?" Luther asked Jessie.

"I told him… just not when," Jessie admitted.

"I postponed it as much as I could, but now your grandfather is furious. He'll come here himself if we don't return. And you don't want to face his anger," Luther warned, his voice cracking for the first time.

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