As soon as Jash regained his vision, his head involuntarily turned to take a peek at the entrance.


    Behind him was a huge gate that was sealed shut.


    ''So I can''t leave anymore,'' he thought seriously and focused back to his front, finally taking note of the boss monster.


    The lupine boss could easily pass off as a D-Rank, much more powerful than Jash, who was currently at early E-Rank.


    Generally, someone around his rank would have a hard time even defeating (E-)-Rank monsters, but he was an anomaly, having already dealt with E-Rank monsters as an F-Rank.


    s, the difference between ranks wasn''t so simple.


    ''What the heck!?'' Jash cursed his bad luck for encountering such a boss monster.


    Not only were boss monsters easily 5 times more powerful than monsters of the same rank, they were incredibly hard to deal with.


    Boss monsters simply had other abilities that differed from their normal counterparts.


    Analogically speaking, they were basically the caretaker—guard—of the Dungeon, preventing entry to the Reward Room behind it.


    The Reward Room was where the first clear reward of the dungeon was present.


    It could be anything—items, artifacts, materials, potions, techniques, sacrificial methods.


    Of course, low rank dungeons did not usually give worthwhile items, but they remained better than crafted ones of the same rank.


    It was strange, so many tried uncovering the secrets, but none had seeded.


    ''Well, it''s indeed enticing formoners to try their luck,'' Jash mused, believing he didn''t need anything like that.


    Yet here he was, trying to kill the boss monster and take the reward from here.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t take it without killing the boss, or else the runes around the door or portal wouldn''t activate.


    ''At least it makes stealing the treasures impossible before someone retrieves them,'' he jeered at the fools who attempted it nheless.


    Naturally, the results were much worse as the runic formations simply destroyed each other, sealing it forever.


    Looking behind the monster, Jash only saw a simr gate to the one he entered from which could only be essed if Jash could somehow manage to kill this boss.


    ''Damn! If not for the difference in ranks!'' Hemented his weakness, but didn''t have an option.


    The difference between ranks was much more steep as one reached higher and higher since the difficulty to rank up increased exponentially.


    As if to prove his point, the wolf-like monster woke up and its piercing red eyes met his gray eyes.


    In the next second, the air was filled with a deafening growl as it rose to its full height.


    —RRRRAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH


    The walls vibrated as the beast roared and the temperature in the isted cavern increased quite a bit.


    This heat was unbearable for a normal human, but Jash remained steadfast, determined to bring an end to it one way or another.


    Although it increased his mana consumption, he didn''t care. ''It can''t be helped.''


    Silence took over the cavern as the two stared into each other''s eyes, but the standoff didn''tst long.


    As the monster moved from the center of the cavern, where its massive form dominated the space, Jash could finally see its true form.


    It was a four-legged beast two times the size of the wolves outside, but its fur had distinct red,va-like vein patterns that radiated intense heat.


    A single jagged horn with reddish hues on it jutting out from between its ears glinted menacingly in the dim light.


    It was like nothing Jash had ever seen before.


    It looked simr to any other wolf, but they were nothingpared to this monstrosity.


    ''No... Something''s not right here!'' Jash thought as he entered into a hyper focused state.


    Despite his suspicion, he didn''t want to end up getting caught by surprise and die without knowing how.


    The lupine monster was definitely a D-Rank yet it hadn''t pounced on Jash already, confusing thetter.


    No monster carcasses could be seen around the beast, which red menacingly at Jash with saliva dripping from its mouth.


    It growled, its muzzle twitching as it sniffed the air.


    ''Can I take it down?'' Jash wondered in self-doubt.


    Normally,rge monsters like this one required long-range hunters to hunt them efficiently in a team with strong defenders.


    Sadly, he didn''t get the time to mull over it as the ck-red wolf dashed at him, swiping its ws to tear him apart.


    Jash sidestepped in the blink of an eye and shed his sword at the wolf''s paw, leaving a small abrasion.


    The boss monster seemed so crazed for hunger that it didn''t even care and swung its ws once more.


    "Argh," Jash grunted as he parried with his sword and got pushed back due to his unstable footing.


    It didn''t wait for him to recover and opened its mouth, revealing its massive jaw, and emitted a stream of fire.


    All Jash could feel was an intense heat approaching him as he kicked off the ground to dodge the attack instinctively.


    ''Dangerous,'' he judged the attack and marked it as a must-dodge.


    Even if he wore A-Rank armor, he didn''t want to test if he would end up like cooked meat inside or not.


    However, the boss was no pushover as it was a D-Rank monster.


    It had already charged at Jash the moment he dodged its attack, surprising him.


    But all it did was surprise him as he used a small burst of mana to kick off the floor andnd farther via air.


    This time, Jash had prepared a surprise for the monster.


    As soon as it reached his previous position and found no one, it turned around to locate its prey, but all it received was a sudden pain in its nk.


    Due to the height difference, Jash had an easier time evading and attacking, but one attack was nowhere near enough to stagger the boss.


    ''Now!'' he shouted internally and used his sword as a foothold to climb upon the surprised wolf.


    He did not give any time to his foe and attacked again, focusing on causing as much damage as possible before jumping off.


    —Rrraaagghhh!


    The wolf grunted in pain due to the numerous shes and flesh wounds, not used to the sensation itself.


    Jash also realized that he failed to give any substantial damage as heined, "What the heck are you made of?"


    His question was valid since his sword was a B-Rank artifact he had been using for quite some time.


    Of course, his limited rank didn''t allow him to use any effects of both his armor and sword, making them nothing more than cold weapons.


    However, he did seed in enraging the boss monster.


    It rushed towards him, using the dungeon wall as its foothold, making a few stones fall from the ceiling.


    Jash''s eyes widened at the sight of the ominously glowing orangish-red ws as they grew bigger.


    The wolf didn''t give him a chance to retaliate as it dashed and shed its ws angrily.


    It could sense that Jash was by far one of its weakest prey yet it could take it down, making it go crazy.


    It stopped caring for using its long-range attacks and tried tearing its prey to shreds.


    Jash didn''t mind the challenge and circted most of his mana into his arms, shoulders, and chest to handle the attack.


    Thest of his mana was channeled to his legs to dampen the impact as he lowered himself further.


    ''A chance!'' His eyes lit up as he changed tactics midway and pounced on the other limb of the wolf monster.


    ''Worsees to worst, my armor is strong,'' he told himself and went on with his decision.


    Luckily, it didn''te down to it as the monster was quick enough to dodge, changing its path.


    It instinctively felt the strike would''ve cost it a limb.