Caden finally stood. The dungeon floor cracked beneath the pressure radiating from his body. The blue flames grew hotter and brighter with each passing second, forcing nearly everyone to retreat—everyone except the boss. The fourth-floor dungeon boss stepped closer to Caden.
Mason staggered back. The heat was unbearable. He glanced around frantically. Where was Arthur? Arthur had been with them during the golem battle, but the moment the boss arrived, he had vanished without a trace.
Mason scanned the area again. Something else was wrong. Where was the blood? After all the fighting with the golems, there should have been blood—at least droplets. Yet the floor remained pristine.
Nemo approached Mason. "You have a strange look on your face," he said, sword still in hand.
"Yeah, but where's the blood?"
"What do you mean?" Nemo asked.
Mason pressed on. "There should be blood, even droplets, but I don't see any. Not a single trace."
"Maybe it's just your eyesight," Nemo suggested, though he too looked around and noticed the absence of blood. "And another thing—did Arthur run off? I don't see him anywhere."
Nemo's eyes widened. "You're right. Where is Arthur?"
"He might have fallen to the boss," Mason said grimly. "That's a possibility. We have to find him. Who knows what could happen—"
"Relax." Both of them spun around to see Blake standing there. His calm expression somehow eased the tension. "Arthur's probably fine," Blake said, pointing to one of the cracks in the dungeon walls that led into a large cavern. "He's probably in there, trying to kill more golems. Nothing for either of you to worry about."
Both men exhaled in relief. "Thank you," Mason said. "But wait—you forgot one more thing. The blood—"
BAM!
Before Mason could finish, the entire floor shook. Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone of the fourth floor. The boss staggered backward, its wand—the source of its magic—slowly breaking apart.
Caden stood tall, the blue flames around his body intensifying beyond anything they'd seen before. "I see you're getting tired," he said, his arrogant demeanor returning, though now laced with deadly seriousness.
Caden unleashed a massive wave of fire toward the boss. The boss countered with a lightning bolt. The two attacks collided in a violent struggle. Eventually, the flames overcame the lightning and struck the boss directly in the leg, searing the stone flesh. Though still usable, the leg began to heal as the boss kicked forward, trying to drive Caden back.
Caden dodged and leaped upward, his fist illuminated by blue flame. He struck the boss with devastating force. A crack sounded like a gunshot as a chunk of stone fell from the golem's body.
The golem snarled and unleashed multiple spells—fireballs, lightning bolts, wind blades. Yet in his new transformation, Caden somehow evaded them all. Without this form, he would have died within the first few minutes. Now, he was not only surviving—he was wounding it.
Most people in the room stood frozen in shock. Caden—the arrogant, selfish brat—was fighting the boss and actually damaging it. How did someone possess so much power?
A young man stepped away from his party members. His three friends rushed to him. "Hey, what are you doing? You're not going into the fight, are you? That's suicide! You'll either die from Caden or from that boss monster. It'll kill you instantly. What do you think you're doing?"
The man turned around, his face pale. "I'm not going into the fight. Who do you think I am, an idiot? I'm not trying to die here."
"Then what are you trying to do?" his friend demanded.
"I'm going to—"
Before he could finish, the boss grabbed him by the head with its free hand—the one not holding the wand. It lifted him into the air. The man thrashed wildly, but the stone golem's grip was immense.
"You're getting in the way," the boss spoke for the first time, its voice deep and terrifying.
"It can speak?" his friend gasped.
"Is that really your biggest worry right now? Get me out of here!" the man screamed as the boss began to squeeze his head. "Please! Please get me out of here! I'm begging you!"
Caden floated higher into the air. "The boss is right, you know. You're getting in the way of our fight."
Caden charged up a massive fire beam and shot it toward the man. The man thrashed harder, his eyes widening as the fire attack rushed toward him. But before he could scream again, his head was crushed in an instant.
The boss hurled the body toward the ground. The act alone nearly shook the entire floor. When the body hit, it left a large, spanning crater.
"Boss! It just killed him!" his friend yelled.
The boss turned around. It wasn't just focused on Caden anymore. It was going to kill everyone here—including Caden.
Caden laughed coldly. "If you're thinking of grabbing one of these people and holding them against me to distract me enough to end my life, you're wrong. I care about none of these people here."
Gordon stared at his friend in horror. Gordon was Caden's oldest friend. They'd been together for so long, and now Caden would just allow this boss to slaughter everyone—including him. This was heartbreaking.
"Caden, you monster!" Gordon's voice cracked with rage and grief. "I didn't know you were like this! I always knew you were selfish and arrogant, but not like this! I see your true colors now!"
Tears streamed down Gordon's face. "You traitor!"
Caden turned to Gordon, his expression cold and merciless. "Gordon, I'm sorry about this, but in the will of battle, everyone dies."
Caden charged up a massive fireball and hurled it toward Gordon. Gordon tried to dodge, but he was too slow. The fireball struck him directly in the chest and exploded on impact, tearing him apart.
---
**Meanwhile**
*45 XP gained. 50 XP gained.*
Arthur stared at the defeated golem at his feet. "All right, that's nearly nine killed. If I just get two more, I'll finally reach level two and gain that skill."
Another golem charged toward him, seeing its fallen companion. It shot off a large fireball. Arthur ducked, but the fireball singed his hair and scalp. He grimaced in pain, then leaped up and threw a punch directly at the golem's head. The head flew right off its body from that single blow.
"These golems have gotten weaker," Arthur thought. "I used to not be able to take one down with just one punch. Something's telling me that something's going on."
Another golem materialized from a slab of stone and immediately charged up two enormous fireballs in both hands. The fireballs shot toward Arthur. He ducked under both. They hit the wall behind him, doing no damage to the stone.
Arthur rushed forward and leaped, kicking the golem right in the chest, caving it in. The golem flew back and smashed into the wall, exploding into pieces.
*50 XP gained. You have reached level 2. New skill unlocked: Aurum.*
**Skill Description:** *Aurum is a skill that allows the user to cover himself in a dense aura. This aura will make the user's stats two times stronger than they were before.*
Arthur stared at his void system. This new Aurum skill was powerful—it doubled his stats. His strength was only at level two, so if he used the skill right now, his strength would be at four. All of his stats would technically be at negative four, considering how his system worked.
"All right, this skill seems pretty useful," Arthur thought.
Suddenly, the floor began to tremble. Arthur was knocked off his feet as he felt a large rush of heat wash over him. "Is something going on?"
Arthur walked toward the exit—a large crack he had entered through. He made himself as thin as possible as he squeezed through, his back pressing against the stone. After a few seconds, he emerged on the other end.
He saw a massive golem, nearly four times as tall as the weaker golems, holding a wand riddled with cracks. The next thing he saw made his blood run cold—Caden, floating in the air, surrounded by blue flames.
"What in the world? There's no way I can fight that thing. There's no way I can fight Caden. If I go into this fight, I'm dead. The best thing for me to do is head down to the third floor while the others fight. I'm sure they'll be able to catch up to me somehow."
Arthur walked back toward the other end of the crack and activated his Aurum skill. A black and purple aura surrounded his entire body. He rushed forward with newfound speed and punched the wall.
Nothing happened.
This was expected. His strength was at negative four. He needed his strength to be higher. Negative four wasn't going to cut it if he wanted to break through this wall.
"How am I supposed to farm more monsters if I can't even break through this wall? There are barely any monsters left on this floor besides the boss, and it's suicide for me to fight that thing."
"I see you're looking to break through that wall."
Arthur spun around. He saw a man—tall, with one distinguishing feature: a large eye in the center of his forehead.
"I can help you break through that wall if you want. Just know this—you'll have to form a little deal with me."
Arthur stared at the man, getting terrible vibes from him. He didn't know if he should trust this guy. Eventually, he spoke. "Where did you come from?"
The one-eyed man stared at him for a long moment. "That's none of your business," he said coldly. "Just know that I'm here. I can help you get to the third floor if you do one thing for me."
"And what is that?" Arthur asked warily.
The man laughed darkly. "Step away from the Church of the Black Serpent as fast as possible. Don't go near them. Don't even think about it. I regret to inform you that the Church of the Black Serpent has already waged war. There's nothing you can do."
The man's laughter grew darker. "But there's definitely something you can help with. You might not be able to fight them directly, but you can help in a large way."
"By what?" Arthur demanded.
The man fell silent. Then Arthur felt a massive pressure at the back of his head. He fell forward and landed on his stomach. He turned around. "Why?"
"I'm going to need your power now, Arthur. I hope you don't mind. It's not going to diminish your power at all, but it's going to make sure that I have the same power as you. Nothing's going to happen to you at all."
The man's eye began to glow red, and his hand glowed as well. He placed his hand on Arthur's chest. Arthur didn't feel anything. His power was still intact. His void system wasn't interfered with at all. It felt like someone was simply placing their hand on his chest and then removing it.
"Thank you, Arthur. I really appreciate it. You may only have one skill at the moment, but that's just enough. That's all I need."
The man laughed as he turned to dust and vanished.
---
**Deep in the underground chamber**
A man with one eye stood between two dead young men. "Well, I hope this is what you wanted, Ormond," the man said. "Your brother suffered an extraordinarily long time, and you just sat there and watched with a smile on your face. Even as you lay dead beside your brother, you still have that same smile. It's extraordinary. Hate can go a long way, can't it?"
"Something's going on," the one-eyed man murmured. He felt something in his body change. "Has it happened? Has my clone finally found someone with void power? How wonderful. How graciously wonderful."
"That job was done perfectly well. Now that I have another power under my belt, I can finally eradicate the Church of the Black Serpent and forge my own kingdom where no one will ever stop me."
The man laughed as he disappeared inside the large chamber. The pink cushioning that once covered the floor was gone, replaced by cold stone flooring.
"The Church of the Black Serpent—let's see how you like me doing all this taking from you, like you've always taken from me."
The man's laughter grew darker. "And that old man—oh, that old ancient man who thinks he runs everything—I'll make sure your death is as miserable as possible."