A pile of corpses lay behind me. Indescribable. Flesh burnt. Deep gashes and blood lined skin. Both human and beast alike. The once lush green landscape of this forest zone was burnt to a crisp not even cinders remained. First I looted the dead and found a black mask artifact with voice altering abilities as well as mana sight with which I could see mana fluctuations. It was like a thermal scope on a rifle. I called the system status to inspect my status window.

A translucent blue window appeared in front of me.

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 ≡≡〔Status〕≡≡

Name: A!#$*) ^@&×)

Element(s): Flame

Rank: E-

Potential:S+

Strength: E+

Agility: E

Stamina: F+

Intelligence: F+

Charms: E

Luck: E+

Mana Cap.: E-

==>「Class」

[Sworsmanship Lv. 1]

One who walks the path of the sword.

--->[Martial Manual]

[★★★ Flame Steps]<Mastery-  B>

Movement art originating from the user. Allows 

user to propel themselves forward using flames. 

User must have flame element.

>>>[Skills]

[Heart Of Phoenix ] <[rank S]> -passive-

User is granted extremely potent regenerative abilities. 

When the user dies they are reborn with 50% of their mana

Cap. Restored. All injuries sustained are healed. For the first ten 

Minutes after rebirth, the user's rank is raised by one. This skill may 

Only be used once per month.

>>>[Artifacts]

[Unknowns' Mask] <[rank B]> (progressive)

User is lifted with the visual and ocular prowess of -Unknown-

Item will grow stronger as user does. 

Trait- found in light-

Light will empower thus artifact 

Flaw- lost from light-

Artifacts' power will be drained in darkness, possibly causing damage

 to user's s0^*<

System Access level 1: User is imbued with a hint of divinity 

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    My stats were steadily increasing. This was good. I was making progress. Since I'd already cleared the first floor of this dungeon, I decided to rest for a bit before moving on. I couldn't take too long however, because the next dungeon squad of astras would be here soon. Hopefully they wouldn't send anyone too powerful. I was confident in Handling E rankers despite being at E- rank myself. However, Anything over D- rank would be a problem.

  After sleeping for about four hours I traversed roughly twenty kilometers towards the door to the next Zone. Soon I would be at E rank then I would see a considerable boost in strength. This dungeon was C ranked meaning most mana beasts inside could be killed easily. I just hoped that the dungeon king would not be too powerful for me to handle alone. If I continued at this pace I would clear the dungeon in about twelve days. With this in mind I opened the door and made my way into the next Zone.

  The next zone was lush green, but not with the ambience of a rainforest. The zone was more exotic, more tropical. In fact if I hadn't known better I'd say I was lost on some Island in the Pacific Ocean. After observing my sorroundings from the safety of the Zone Gate, which was practically just an oversized door that beings couldn't cross from within the dungeon. This only lasted until the build up and overload of a dungeon; then all the beings from inside the dungeon would be releasd from the pocket dimension and be sent into our world. After observing my surroundings I continued inward towards the end of the jungle. No Longer vines roots and lush vegetation. The gentle rays of sunlight pierced the canopy of green. As I exited the Forrest I made a mental note of how long I was taking to traverse the environment. Over long distances, <[Flame Steps]> was ineffective because it depleted my mana capacity. The mask seemed to also have homeostatic abilities as my breath was not even ragged.

  I walked out into a clearing. It was already mid day or so. I was hungry and understandably so because I'd spent the last four hours running nonstop from one end of the jungle to this clearing. Since it was a clearing, I expected the bigger more ferocious beasts to occupy this space. As soon as I set my bag down I sensed a large pulse of mana from within the forest behind me. The raid squad was here and it seemed as though they sent someone strong. From here on out I'd have to be strategic. After meditating to absorb ambient atmospheric mana I picked up my belongings and made my way North. I needed to reach the door before they got to me. Luckily while running to the clearing I had killed a few mana beasts and gotten a beast core. Absorbing the mana from it should push me to rank up but I needed a safe place to do so. Instead of heading straight for the door as originally planned, I decided that I would change route and head towards the cave to the west of me to buy time for my breakthrough to E rank.

    I ran like hell for about fifteen minutes and avoided using Flame Steps so that they wouldn't be able to sense my mana signature. I made it to the cave. It's entrance loomed over me draped in shadows. Cool damp air wafted out; the earthy scent of moss and stone was exuded. Inside, the light dimmed to a murky gloom; the end of the cave not visible through the darkness. The space echoed with dripping water. Long jagged stalactites hung like ancient teeth from above while mineral veins glistened dimly on the rough uneven stone walls. It was then it dawned on me... from the mana signature I was sensing... the impending feeling of doom. This was the dungeon king's lair. But that didn't make any sense...  the dungeon king was only suppose to reside one the final floor zone of a dungeon... usually guarding precious artifacts and items. That could only mean one thing. This dungeon was different... whether for better or worse. I don't want to tempt fate, but knowing my luck.. it was most likely the latter.

   There's no way back, now it's either through a group of armed deadly astras or through a High rank beast within its own domain. However... with my stats, I may be able to take advantage of a situation.

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  Akira got to work, scheming and perfecting his strategy of how to get away from the beast while bringing the raid squad down. He many not have been the strongest or fastest of the awakened but Akira was cunning. His ferocity was what had helped him survive and make it this far. He wasn't about to die... not without a fight. He wouldn't allow his efforts to amount to nothing. His fallen brothers and sisters' wills would be achieved.

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