Droplets of water, the accumulation of moisture from the ceiling, fell to the ground, their echoes stretching out into the distant dark corners of the cave.

Art, his hands on the rough walls of the cave to navigate, paused for a moment, his glowing sapphire eyes piercing through the dark cloak ahead.

"Something is ahead."

As he muttered, he crouched to grab a fragment of the wall that had fallen off long ago.

Crushing it within his palms, he took the smallest fragments he could find and infused them with aura as he aimed at the dark stretch ahead.

The growls were getting closer, and his heart was pounding, but he didn't make any move to throw the rock—not until...

"Now!"

A blurry figure darted out of the dark stretch, its form coated in lightning as it aimed its ferocious claws at him. But Art was prepared, launching the stone forward with all his might. The pebble-like stone whistled through the air, golden aura lingering behind its trail as it penetrated the lion's right eye, causing it to let out a pained shriek. Its legs twisted in accordance with the pain, causing its balance to break and its body to tumble on the ground, rolling at him like a barrel.

Cutting it in two before it could reach his body, Art felt the wet, sticky insides of the creature drench his shoulder as he leaped back just in time to avoid the claws of another lion beast.

This one, more fierce than the previous, opened its maw, its vicious teeth crackling with red lightning, which was unleashed on Art.

Having long crouched behind the frame of the lion he had killed, the stench of burnt meat filled his nostrils as one of the divided halves of the corpse took the attack for him.

Peeking up and noticing the lion was charging another round of magic, he took out the mana core nested in his pocket and tossed it at the creature, which stopped its charge and stepped back.

As it did, Art leaped over the carcass, his back bent and his knees full of power as he launched himself into the air, the ground underneath him caving in.

Having launched himself up, he came down on the retreating lion with a stab that dug deep into its head, breaking its skull and ripping through its brain.

"Pant..."

With an exhausted sigh, he pulled out his blade, leaking with blood and brain matter, as the lion collapsed to the ground with a wet thump, its head gushing with blood.

Turning back to pick up the core he had tossed, he continued his journey through the dark caves, soon coming across another duo of lions—these ones much slimmer and smaller in shape.

They both growled, streaks of red lightning snaking across their feet as they ran at him.

Even though they wielded lightning, they weren't lightning-fast like the principal, so he could react in time as golden aura wrapped around the edges of his blade.

"Aura Slash!"

Screaming with all his might to conjure an image, a crescent arc shot out from his blade, whipping through the air and severing one of the lions in two.

"Another Slash!"

The other one, ignoring the death of its comrade, leaped at him, causing him to panic as he swung his blade diagonally, followed by a brilliant flash that forced him to cover his eyes.

Once they were open, the frame of the lion—inches away from ripping his head off—parted, its divided body dropping to the ground with a squishy sound.

Feeling his legs almost give in after such a close call, he stabbed his longsword into the ground to maintain his balance.

"Ha... fuck... maybe I should turn back."

Sweat and blood drenched his entire body, the sheer discomfort making him want to rip off his shirt. The gore didn't help either, and with each passing second, he couldn't help but want to vomit.

"Shit... I really hate this so much."

Killing those things was really taking a toll on him. He wasn't physically exhausted, nor had his aura diminished much, but his mind was worn out.

"It's just killing pests... don't overthink it."

Steeling his mind, he delved deeper into the cave and soon came across a slope leading below.

At the end of the slope was a circular area where a pride of thunder lions lay at rest.

At the center, surrounded by dozens, was the king of the den. Its majestic frame was adorned in crimson hair as it stood tall on its two back legs, bent inwards.

It had evolved to take on a humanoid structure as it opened its jaws and lavished in the pieces of raw meat it tossed into its mouth using its massive hands.

"A-rank!"

After the awakening of his intent, parts of his memories began to open up as he began to reminisce about this dungeon.

It wasn't particularly important to the plot since, by the time the main cast had come across it, they were far too strong to struggle with it.

Everything here was merely a throwaway Saturday morning type of mob. It could be replaced—but still, it had an A-class mana beast.

In the future, it shouldn't have been a problem for the main cast, but as someone unfamiliar with combat, it definitely was.

"Wipe away the weeds first."

Allowing his aura to seep into his sword once more, he pushed his legs forward, sliding down the slope while gathering an enormous quantity of aura for a fatal attack.

Art's intent—that being the true essence of his aura—was "Power" .

It increased the output the raw state of his aura could unleash.

Aura went in tune with a technique to dish out damage, but with Art, as long as he could pull aura from his core, all his attacks would hit hard.

So as he reached the end of the slope, he leaped into the air, his sword glowing with a brilliant golden glow, banished forward as the light—once the length of his sword—expanded, soon growing to reach the ceiling up top as he swung it down.

"Aura Burst!"

An energetic roar accompanied his attack as the lion, catching wind of the attack, looked up—only to be completely incinerated by it.

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