"GROOOOWL!!!"

An enormous creature just landed right in front of me.

"A dragon?"

No, it might look like a dragon but this is clearly a monster. And to be frank, comparing this thing to the one dragon I know is like comparing a tiger to a house cat.

First of all, it's a lot bigger, around 30 meters long I'd say, not counting the tail, I can also sense a very high concentration of mana in its body. It also has a much more monstrous appearance, three pairs of eyes, a deformed mouth that looks half-melted, and a body covered in spikes that point in random directions.

It can't be... I remember reading about a monster with that same description in a history book. The 'hell dragon', a living calamity that appeared a long time ago. It took a group of heroes from multiple kingdoms teaming up to defeat it.

But the hell dragon from the stories was level 430, and according to my appraisal stone, this one is level... 500! I can't believe that there was a monster this strong hiding in this place.

"GROOOOWL!!!"

"I know, I heard you the first time."

It's staring me down, how scary... it looks like I'm staring back at it but I'm actually just not sure of what to do.

Heh? It turned around, is it going to leave me alone? That can't...

"Ah!"

*Crash*

Oh, it was only turning around so that it could hit me with its tail. I got sent flying and now I'm not sure of where I am, I think that I got embedded into a wall.

I only manage to get out just in time to jump out of the way of the next attack. It's the same fire beam from the hydras only this one is even more intense, it even caused a massive explosion... an explosion breath?

'Obliteration blast'

When I try to counterattack... nothing happens. Why did my spell fail!?

Ah, it turns out that the hand I tried to cast the spell with is not there, I must have lost it to that explosion just now... and I do need a hand to cast that spell after all. I can make another one easily enough, but this still proves that the hell dragon is capable of hurting me quite badly.

I now realize that this entire room is a trap, with the only exits being two small gaps in the walls, there's no way I can crawl my way out while that thing is breathing explosions at me.

"Huh... this is bad, this monster might be strong enough to be a threat to me, what do you think I should do Longleg? Wait... Longleg!?"

He's not here where did he... oh! there he is! He went to the exit, he's small enough to easily get out after all. Also... it looks like he's lifting one of his legs... is that supposed to be a thumbs up?

"DON'T RUN AWAY YOU COWARD!"

For some reason, the hell dragon stopped moving. Actually, I think that I know why, a bit earlier I decided to put on those gloves that paralyze anyone who attacks the wearer, and it attacked me just know. It's a shame that I lost one of the gloves along with my hand, I don't think that the other one will work by itself...

Huh, it's starting to move again, the paralysis didn't last long. If I'm not mistaken this must be what some people call a 'boss' monster, which means that effects like paralysis are less effective and that it can endure a lot of damage before going down.

It's coming! I need to do something fast!

'Black wa...'

I didn't have enough time to cast my spell, a claw bigger than I am just tore a big chunk of flesh from my shoulder to my leg.

This monster is much faster and stronger than me... that makes sense, I am a mage, after all, of course I should be keeping my distance from the enemy! How can I fail even at something this basic!?

No, I know why that is, after only fighting weak enemies I got used to not having to fight like a mage. This is the first opponent close enough to my level to make me need to use even the most basic tactics.

'Mana push'

That spell takes no time at all to cast and it can push the opponent a little while also sending me flying backward. It's perfect to create some distance.

Some spells take longer to cast than others, I should be taking the time it will take that monster to close the distance and complete its attack into account when deciding which spell I should be using each time.

*Ping*

What!? That noise means that I got a new title or skill, why now?

I'll figure it out later, the monster is getting ready to use its explosion breath again, but this time I'm ready.

'Black wall'

As expected, that attack is powerful enough to shatter one of my walls, but it takes long enough to charge for me to be able to make two so there's no problem.

That said, the explosion made a lot of smoke and I now I cannot see anything, I can feel the dragon charging at me, it's probably planning to slash me with its claw again.

But for some reason, I feel like I can predict its attack. Having seen it move I know its speed, I also know the distance it has to cover, the reach of its claw, the slopes of the ground, the size and positions of all the rocks in this room... I've always been obsessed with memorizing all the meaningless details of every single place I go, of everything that happens, I can notice when even the smallest thing is out of place in a room, other people often think that I'm a bit crazy because of it. I certainly never imagined that such a thing could be useful in a fight, or the fact that I'm good with numbers.

And yet, I think that I might be able to calculate the exact timing and direction of this attack, no, I'm certain of it, is something like that really possible?

'Shadow chain'

"GROOOOWL!!!"

I did it! My prediction was on point! I caught the claw in midair and chained it to its head. Considering how strong it is, it won't take long for the dragon to break the chain, but this will give me time for a stronger spell.

'Obliteration blast'

A boss monster can take more damage than what its level would make you think, it won't be defeated by a single attack, but that clearly did quite a bit of damage.

Next, it seems like it is about to swing its tail again, I was about to use a spell to block it but... there's no reason to waste mana. I've already seen the speed of that attack, I also know its reach, I know that it will miss if I move just a bit further away.

Again, I managed to move to the exact spot that would make the tail just barely miss, it's amazing how precise I can be.

'Shadow lance'

It's not that I could see it or react to it, I just knew the exact moment when I needed to fire a spell to hit the tail. I had to use a faster but weaker attack, but a point-blank hit to the tip of the tail must have hurt.

Now it's trying to stomp me? That won't...

"Ouch!"

Ah, that's a new attack, it stomped in front of me and fire emerged from the ground.

That burned a lot of my skin, but it doesn't matter, I can heal something like that with almost no mana, the damage I took at the start of the fight was also nothing. I'm not only a mage, but I'm also primarily a healer, until now that was not a factor in battle because my enemies couldn't even hurt me, but the truth is that my healing is far more powerful than my offensive spells.

But perhaps I should try to figure out if there's a way to 'heal' my clothes too, because my dress is gone. I guess I'll have to fight naked...

Well, that should not be too hard, I can take damage from an attack when I see it for the first time, but after that, I can include it in my calculations. This ability to perfectly analyze my enemy... is something that I was always capable of doing, I just didn't know that it could be used in battle.

I always kept hearing that the best way to learn to fight properly was to get enough practice and experience to be able to develop a 'battle instinct', but now I understand that that's not my way of fighting. Something like instinct is better suited for a lowly beast like this one, I'm above that, if anything, the fact that this monster is using instinct to fight is what makes it so easy to predict.

Huh... I think that I'm letting this get to my head a bit too much. I'm sorry, but this is the first time I've been able to look cool when fighting!

After that I keep countering every one of the hell dragon's attacks, it never manages to hurt me again. It even tries to use dark magic to curse me, but that doesn't work on me.

At this point, it's clear that it no longer has any chance to win, or rather, it never had a chance from the start. Even if all of its attacks had been successful, I would have only needed a fraction of my mana to heal the damage.

'Shadow lance'

One last attack to the back of its neck finally ends the fight. As I kept fighting, I started to notice a few weak points that I could target to cause a lot of damage without needing to use my stronger spells. Now I feel even more embarrassed about what I did against all of those monsters from before, that way of fighting was so wasteful.

Well, since that's done now, I'll take another dress from my storage and see if I can find that spider.

"Alright, that should be enough."

Now that I've redirected the leyline I can finally start the journey back. But it seems like this is still not the bottom of the infernal caverns, there's at least one more room below, and the stairs that lead there actually look manmade...

But first things first, I want to check my status after all of that.

Name: Luna
Race: Elf
Class: Mage
Level: 534

Stats
Strength: 658
Speed: 634
Magic: 2521
Dexterity: 1882
Toughness: 865
Wisdom: 4

Magic
Light: 0 (Rank 0)
Fire: 1 (Rank 1)
Water: 12 (Rank 3)
Earth: 8 (Rank 2)
Wind: 5 (Rank 2)
Dark: 1207 (Rank 20)

Skills

Focused mind
Self-control
Fast reading
Quick casting
Mana conservation
Encyclopedic knowledge
Multi-casting
Intimidate
Trap detection
Battle analysis

Titles
Outcast
Bookworm
Deranged perfectionist
Archmage
Queen of darkness
Demon lord
Battle analyst
Gold explorer

Level 534... I only got 7 levels since I started traveling and yet I got 20 from these caverns. But I'm probably starting to reach the limit of the bonus from not having fought before so I don't think that I'll continue to level up this quickly even if I keep killing monsters in this place.

Battle analyst
An individual of great intelligence and extraordinary observation skills who after a long time has fought a battle for the first time
Grants the battle analysis skill

Battle analysis
Allows to use skills of observation, calculation, and tactics in the heat of battle to determine the best course of action at all times

Oh, so that's why my fighting skill got so much better all of a sudden.

But what do you mean 'fought a battle for the first time'!? Do you even know how many monsters I've fought already? Why didn't I get this title until now!? I can think of a few times when that skill would have been useful...

Gold explorer
Someone who has been to some of the most difficult to reach places in the world.

I know about that title, there are also bronze and silver versions of it. You're supposed to get them after reaching many different 'difficult to reach places', and gold is the highest one, you're certainly not supposed to get it directly after reaching only one place. I guess that the bottom of the infernal caverns is really difficult to reach but still...

So that's my status as of now, next, I want to check what's in that last room, I wonder if there are even more monsters.

'Mana sense'

"!!!"

What was that!? All of a sudden I'm covered by a cold sweat, my blood feels frozen, my whole body is shaking and I'm crying for some reason.

I didn't sense any monsters, but there's something there, or someone... even stronger than the hell dragon I just fought.

But that's not what made me react the way I did. There's also... a thing... I don't know what it could be, but it is terrifying.

A thing that should not exist in this world, should not exist anywhere, and yet, it feels very familiar...

I always thought that if I ever sensed danger like this I would run away without thinking twice. But right now, there's another part of me that feels even stronger.

I've always been a very curious person, never able to pass on an opportunity to obtain knowledge, that had never been much of a problem until now. I told Arana that I would turn around if there was anything dangerous but...

"I need to know."

forli

The new longest chapter by quite a bit. I hope that it's easy to understand because I had some trouble writing a few parts.

Also, I wonder how many action stories there are where the MC doesn't get into a battle until chapter 65...