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The large double stone doors swung open inward at the first touch into the room beyond, and before Avan could take a step forward, a hand held him back from the left.

"The doors close behind us a few seconds after the first person enters the room. Adventurers take the chance to look into the room from a safe distance before entering." Came the quiet explanation from Patris, who didn't look at him at all and instead observed the boss room behind it himself.

The cave saw natural origins, even if the thirty meter diameter in average this cave was one of the larger ones, not to mention caves that Avan himself knew from documentary films from the earth. It always left him speechless, as a city dweller to see such natural rock formations and places.

Stalagmites ranged in height from a few centimeters to almost 5 meters, while stalagtites of similar size hung from the ceiling. Hanging from the largest and thickest of these rock formations hanging from the ceiling was the ugliest bat the group had probably ever seen, certainly Avan.

The boss monster made an impression of a cross between a naked mole rat, a naked cat and an oversized bat, all coupled with wrinkled and leathery skin, as if the beast was in its last years. The beast hung upside down, just as Avan had seen it before in his sphere of influence, and the two clawed grips held the whole monster still and without problem thanks to some notches in the giant stalagtite.

"What an ugly monster.... I wonder if its parents abandoned it here and that's why it's locked up in the boss room?" Dani quipped as she stared at the creature in disgust and with a grimace to match.

Even Linob, the usually extremely quiet type, grunted in agreement when he heard the young ranger's statement.

"That thing has more skin wrinkles than my grandparents, and that's saying something!" Patris added to the joke, and even Jen chuckled as Avan looked at his comrades with a slight smirk.

"Um, yeah. Ugly, tall. Let me ask you a question, because I just thought of something..." Avan said hesitantly, and the others, still with sly grins on their faces, turned to their mage.

I really forgot...

"Can you attack boss monsters from outside the doors, rather the room?"

Now Dani became serious again and nibbled her upper lip for a moment while unconsciously stroking her chin. "Yeeee... And nope. Any spells or projectiles coming from outside bounce off the magic barrier placed by the dungeon that surrounds the door frame..." She began her explanation, then stopped as she eyed Avan emotionlessly and thought of something. "...But that doesn't apply to you, I forgot. Huh..."

A few seconds and probably some ideas and considerations discarded again, she continued. "I heard stories about it once, and I think I read something about it. Some dungeons have created failsafe measures for such intruders. For example, the monster itself instantly regenerates any wounds, the dungeon mana itself puts so much pressure on the spell that it ceases to exist.... Or the boss monster is allowed to leave the boss room... Whereby the latter would be the worst."

Avan whistled loudly, not even thinking of such possibilities, although it was so obvious that dungeons would have to develop measures against it after some time, sooner or later.

"But if I had a way to inflict massive damage on the boss, from here, in the shortest possible time. Would it be worth trying, at best, to be able to skip the boss fight?" And most importantly, I can look at how strong I've become in the meantime... And further down, I can't do that from a safe distance without touching my enemies, so blurred is my sphere of influence in the deeper part of the dungeon.

A certain thoughtful silence fell over each of the small group, but no one questioned Avan's ability to actually do what he had just indicated.

Every single one of them knew that Avan was a lot more highly leveled than they were, and from what his teammates had seen so far, there was no reason to doubt his claims about his own abilities.

Patris the loose warrior was the first to break the thoughtful silence. "Honestly? I don't see any problem with that. Even if that ugly thing can attack us here, I can even tank better since it can't maneuver as much as it can in the big room. And even if it can attack us from a distance, we can retreat. But if it really dies just like that, we can save our reserves and move forward fresher for the coming battles."

Linob briefly looked slightly surprised at the young warrior, as if he had to reconsider his previous prejudices about the otherwise always jolly man, while all the others more or less immediately agreed one after the other and could find nothing wrong with the logic.

"Then we should test that, yes. Let us know when you get going, Avan. Patris, up front, line up. Jen next to the door so the boss can't attack you." And Dani herself drew her bow from her shoulder without comment and nocked an arrow, but without cocking the bow.

Avan nodded in her direction, closing his eyes so as not to occupy his other senses as he gathered a massive amount of his dungeon mana and piled it in the boss room in front of him in an increasingly visible blue cloud.

---

 

What the abyss is he doing? And HOW? Was all Jen's thoughts could manage at that moment, as she first anxiously felt mana being drained from her surroundings, and then visibly gathering in an ever-growing blue mana cloud in the boss room before her eyes.

To drain the mana of the environment to such an extent that it even greatly reduces my own mana regeneration due to the much thinner mana in the atmosphere is just ridiculous! And to then manage such a high mana accumulation in a single location is like icing on the cake! I have only seen a SINGLE time how the otherwise completely invisible mana took a physical form, outside of the spellcasting. And that was when Father's court wizard got so angry about something that even his face turned red! What the bloody hell is Avan doing...? And how...?

The blue cloud continued to grow and by now had reached a diameter of three meters, while it billowed and hung in the air behind the double door like a piece of fog, ready to fray again at any moment.

Dani, Patris and Linob also watched with wide eyes at such a spectacle of magical might.

Suddenly, Jen squinted her eyes slightly and rubbed her eyelids, not sure if she was seeing correctly. At the top of the cloud, a small strand of misty mana first fizzled, but then became much more visible and powerful as it drifted, first slowly and then faster and faster, toward the boss bat.

Avan himself abruptly opened his eyes again, a slight twitch of the corners of his mouth telling Jen that he was satisfied with his work and wanted to see it for himself.

The cloud of shimmering blue mana now drifted up to the monster in a whole, and soon enveloped the bat's head, but without touching it or warning of the impending magical attack in any way.

The only indication that the attack was about to begin was the jerky clenched fist on Avan's right hand, which Jen saw out of the corner of her eyes before the entire mana cloud wrapped itself around the boss's head at the same time.

Contrary to the group's expectation of suffocating the monster with it, the next moment it was also nullified, and none of the spectators knew exactly what Avan was trying to do.

The blue cloud did not sit around the head, but penetrated INTO the head!

For fuck's sake?! If one of her parents or teachers had heard her swearing like that inside, Jen would have had to listen to a lot, but this way she could swear with all her might, and a muttered "Fuuuuuck...!" followed only a few seconds later, when all visible mana had disappeared, and the boss bat simply fell to the ground, lifeless.

 

[Emperor Bat- 135] defeated!

Extra experience granted for killing a much higher creature.

Boss monster of the level defeated - Extra experience granted.

 

---

 

[Emperor Bat- 135] defeated!

For defeating the boss with a single blow - you will receive extra experience!

And again no level up, yay... Avan was about to complain when another message came in with a mental chime.

 

Congratulations!

You have unlocked your first title:

 

[Reign of Might]

Boss monsters or other powerful creatures are no challenge for you. You live to challenge yourself.

+100% damage for each first attack you deal to a superior or unique opponent in a fight.

 

Ohhh yeah! Avan reflexively avoided the feeling of having to jump for joy, so liberating it felt to finally unlock something new through the system again, and somehow he had missed the personal comments in the system messages, even if he didn't know where they actually came from.

I should try something like this more often if it gives me cheat skills like this! A fucking title, baaam!

Distracted by his inner joy and the achievement of killing a dungeon boss with a single blow, he didn't notice the open mouths of his teammates, who were staring at him speechlessly.

He had applied what he had learned before he became a slave, and directed his mana directly into the opponent's head. Akkalon's touch could heal or cause internal damage, and he had completely forgotten about this cheat skill in all that had happened. When the opportunity arose and he wondered if he could damage the ugly bat from outside the boss room, it had dawned on him again.

The fact that everyone could see the mana visually had not mattered to him in his test attempt and he just hoped that it was still within the realm of possibility and simply found as "Avan pulls his thing through again".

The first to completely catch himself and give a shit was of course Patris once again, who ran into the room with a loud laugh and an extremely wide grin on his face, completely ignoring the panicked cry of Dani, who immediately followed him.

Jen opened her mouth several times like a stranded fish out of water, not knowing what to say. A brief but otherwise neutral nod from Avan, and he too went into the room after the other two, having long since realized what Patris was heading for.

A boss loot chest! Hah, just like in the games! Awesome! He rubbed his inner greedy loot hands, and hurried not to miss opening the chest.

A wooden chest had appeared at the other end of the cave, and all three running adventures ignored the dead boss's body for now, maneuvering around it until they came to a stop in front of the chest.

"Patris, you ass! Don't scare me like that..." Dani muttered, but then looked at the chest with equal anticipation. "But under the circumstances, I forgive you, honey..."

The chest seemed relatively inconspicuous, were it not for the bronze decorations of flying bats attached to the wood all around, and small glowing blue runes that testified to the magical nature of this otherwise innocuous-looking chest.

Avan sat down in front of the still-closed chest and took a closer look at the decorations and runes. There was no lock, and only a small bronze handle on the front of the chest to open it.

"Hmm... interesting runes..." He spoke quietly to himself as he tried to understand the runes, but almost all of them eluded his current understanding. They were all stored in his internal rune lexicon, but he couldn't do anything with them with the best will in the world with his current level of knowledge.

A sigh and a minute later he stood up again and knocked the non-existent dust off his robe. The robe, unlike his previous leather clothes, didn't need dust knocking off, as nothing stuck to it unless Avan wanted it to.

He turned his head and saw that Jen, and Linob a few meters away, had also joined them. Jen herself still had an almost reverent look when she looked at him, coupled with the amorous glint that was still in her eyes, while the other two were just waiting joyfully to finally open the chest.

"After you, oh murderer of bosses and dungeons!" Teased Patris with a wink, then waved impatiently at the chest. "Go, go now! Chests are very rare, and we all want to see what the kill got us here!"

Avan chuckled slightly, and then put his hands on the bronze handle at the front of the chest, and opened the heavy-looking chest effortlessly. Nothing squeaked, and the one meter wide loot chest swung upward, revealing the contents.

Everyone looked next to Avan and over his shoulders into the chest as well.

Something round bronze and covered with runes greeted the group first, and an enchanted shield lay on top in the chest.

"Ya man! Anybody mind?!" Came the euphoric question from their tank, and when no one objected, Patris reached into the chest and heaved out the heavy-looking shield.

 

[Bronze shield of size]

*Shield size can be doubled or halved at will

*Extra resistant

*Self-repair

 

"Congratulations! Now you can replace that dented thing." Avan congratulated the warrior of their party, who held his new treasure in his arms with great joy and ran his hands over the surface with glittering eyes, all others already blanked out.

"There's more inside." Spied Jen, who leaned on his back and peered over his right shoulder, completely forgetting any shyness in loot fever.

Avan reached into the chest again and fished out the next item, which turned out to be a pair of silk white gloves.

 

[Silk Gloves of the Holy Mother]

*Increases any healing done by the hands by 20%.

*Self-repair

 

"Oh, Jen! I guess these are for you, healer gloves!" And Avan handed both gloves to the now yet blushing Jen behind him, who finally realized how she had been so close to him.

A mumbled "thank you" and she fiddled with the gloves, while a chuckle sounded from Dani, who looked back into the chest and pulled out what seemed to be the last item.

A red piece of cloth, which turned out to be a cloak with a bronze buckle at the throat to fasten it, unfolded in her hands.

 

[Blood Red Cloak of Xavier]

*Doubles the might of any blood abilities

*Halves any effect time of blood abilities

*Provides moderate stealth in the night

*Self-repair

 

Dani looked at the coat, letting the fabric slip through her fingers as she made a pouting impression. She sighed once, then reached her hand over to Avan. "This one's for you, Avan. After all, you killed the boss all by yourself, and it wouldn't be fair if you were the only one to go away empty-handed."

"But, don't you want it? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. The others would turn my head if you went out empty. And I don't need it either, but as an adventurer you're just loot hungry, you know? Part of the job description and all, haha."Laughing sheepishly, Avan grabbed the blood red, almost black, cape.

"Thanks, Dani." And gave her a smile. He himself didn't really have a problem with giving her the cape, but didn't say no when she offered it to him like that. I am after all pretty loot hungry myself!

A short swing and jerk unfolded the cloak completely, and a short time later the cloak hung around his shoulders, fastened in front with the bronze buckle in the shape of a drop of blood.

Not very surprisingly, especially as the chest had manifested itself, the now empty reward chest disappeared and dissolved into mana.

Through all the looting itself, the spectacular unspectacular kill of the boss was forgotten, and the group sat down on the spot on the ground, while the further steps clarified with a small happen food and drink.

Avan agreed that he had no need for parts of the dead boss, and Dani set to work extracting the most important and valuable parts of the imperial bat.

At the right rear part of the boss cave itself, after the death of the monster, a roughly hewn stone staircase had opened down to the second level of the dungeon.

After some preparations and everyone with a full stomach and happy about the individual loot, Avan told the others that the next level would now contain the wolves, and his senses would dull more and more the deeper they descended.

General approval and a "thank you" here and there for the extremely important information so far thanks to his senses, and the group set off to explore the other floors.

With a natural dungeon like this one, they didn't have to worry about monsters respawning on the way back, because the dungeon wouldn't summon new monsters until no one was inside it anymore.

 

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