"Hooh.." Lyn caught his breath as he let his adrenaline fade.

‘Even if it was nothing too difficult I shouldn't get too ahead of myself. Those two could have done that in one fell swoop even if there were more mutants.’

"Were you always a genius?" Ren said teasingly

Running up to his side, Sunny, immediately checked on Lyn "How do you feel? Any weaker than when you started?"

"Considering the fact that I gained an achievement,I am feeling way better than when I started, thanks for worrying." Lyn said, genuinely happy with his growth. Although because of the way of the system worked, he couldn't gain more than one achievement from a monster like that. Especially from such a simple kill.
It could be said the system encouraged growth among hunters, incentivising them to experiment with their own abilities. ‘I could be Level 3 very soon if I can keep stacking achievements.’ For Lyn, there was nothing better.
 

Unchangeable factors aside, Lyn began to try and practice with his [Beginner's Construct] skill further. 

‘I wonder if I could create 'that'’ Lyn could finally implement his new theories into real practice.

. . .

Still worrying that Lyn might not be able to identify the Life Force magic draining him, Sunny opted to take care of any variables down the line for this dungeon. Although Lyn fairly protested, Ren agreed with Sunny mentioning something about how 'Peace of mind is best for a warrior who needs to focus.'

"It's all bullshit.." Lyn muttered, annoyed that he was being pampered once again.

"Oh? Is it? Do you want him to continue worrying that you might collapse on the spot and not get back up again? Just let him have this for now, Lyn. We can run this dungeon again at the end our probation and I'll let you Solo it if you can, hows that?"

Ren knew how to quickly pacify Lyn. He also forced himself to give up on doing it any earlier, knowing it was irresponsible to keep running a milliant nest without letting the population rise again. Lyn was satisfied knowing that he could still fight the mobs and boss monster, no matter what.

Accepting the change in plan, Lyn focused on what he could do. ‘Since I need a bit of rest anyway, let's see what this is then?'

[Mutant Milliant's Grand Pearl] A pale turquoise pear that has a low hum coming from it. It is commonly used as a conduit for various high class electric spells. In addition this unique pearl can amplify frost spells.

“Guess I’ll sell this. Sigh, Why don’t I have luck for monster drops.” Lyn, walked forward with a slightly sluggish step.

. . .

"Krya-!" Bang!

Before it could even complete it's scream, the paralyzed [Siren Millipede] was crushed under Lyn's cube construct. It was a symbol that the trio were very close to the boss room

"Never fails, haha!" Lyn shouted while moving to collect the monster’s items.

"He's like a sadistic kid in a pet store." Sunny said insultingly

"He would have been the type to torture bugs when he was younger, right?" Ren added

Lyn was in his own world, only minding the assists of the duo for his mistakes in battle but largely focusing on clearing the room like he was tasked. 

"I'm not too sure he can fight the Queen if he gets all manic like that during the fight." Sunny commented, again worrying about Lyn. Ren couldn't retort either, as it was so rare to see this side of Lyn, that she couldn't even tell if he was the same guy who analyzed the mutant earlier. Regardless, Lyn would have to fight the Queen anyway. 

‘If only we could intervene' Sunny wished that he could go back and undo his promise.

. . .

Approaching the door ahead of the others, Sunny let his icy mana spread across the door until the system prompted him entry to the Queen's Domain.

[Are you sure you would like to enter the 'Mutant Milliant Queen's Nest']

"Dammit.. he won't let it go this time will he?" Sunny chuckled to himself, already knowing the answer.

. . .

With undivided attention, Lyn listened very closely to the news,
"And you're absolutely sure that it's a mutant?" he asked carefully

Sighing, once again Sunny repeated "The system stated it's a Mutant Milliant Queen."

"So what are we waiting for?" Lyn rushed forward, but he wasn't even close to the level where he could rush past Sunny.

"You. Rest. First." he said commandingly, not wanting to take the smallest of chances with Lyn's life.

Of course Lyn didn't argue with Sunny, understanding his intentions. Instead he backed away and spoke to the unusually quiet Ren.

"You doing alright, Ren? Whatcha working on?" he said while taking a seat next to her.

Ren completely unresponsive, continued to sit motionlessly in her trance-like state.

"She's training her skills. Let her focus." Sunny interjected 

"Even we grow while doing small things repeatedly. There really aren't many limits with this system." he added.

Lyn, who worried for nothing about her odd behavior, began to practice warping [Beginner's Construct] in any way he could think of to pass a little time.

. . .

"So we're all prepared then?" Ren asked

“Well we were only waiting on you, slug.” Lyn muttered, sad that he spent so much of his day in this dungeon. Even if he loved hunting, he would have loved to research his own ability for the day as well.

"I suppose so." Sunny said already turning his focus to the Queen's door.

"Well then, I'll take charge, right?" Not waiting for an answer though, Lyn stepped forward into the dimly lit den.

Skitter~ Skitter~

Revealing itself from a dark cavernous hall, the stalking Queen slowly circled Lyn. Wary of the two high level hunters close by, however, it flashed it's sharp jaw. It seemingly got the other two to back off into the dark because of that, leaving it's focus on it's designated prey.

Lyn didn't attack first either though. He scanned the room and odd looking Queen to see just what made it a mutant. 

‘A rosey exoskeleton? Does that mean a higher defense? Or does the inclusion of fangs mean it can cause [Bleeding]?’ 

He was well aware of the Queen's usual quirks, being able to summon lesser milliants if she wasn’t dealt with quickly or retreating into her nest's walls for healing, so those two were only things to stick out to him at first.

‘We know everything you can do.’

Confident, first Lyn armed himself and readied his defense with his skills, then rushed forward with his mace, but the unexpectedly speedy Queen dodged it and counter attacked with a snap of her jaw.

Without being able to react, Lyn had faith in his [Spark Barrier], however the power behind the jaw proved too much for the skill.

Crackle-! 

Seeing the barrier fail under the force of the Queen, Lyn did his best to jump back in a circular motion, but unfortunately for him this wasn't an even match.

‘Let's test something new!’ 

Watching Lyn change his stance, the fierce Queen lunged again, giving the hunter no room to prepare his attack.

‘Shit..!  I need to focus so just stand back you damn bug!’

"Sunny? Sunny, a little help!" he shouted

Angrily Lyn called for his friends assistance, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, the trio couldn't stay in this dungeon forever, nor did Lyn want to leave crippled. Sunny quickly came forward and kicked the bug, knocking it over on it's side.

‘[Paralysis] would be too much looking at the level difference. He should be able to work with this’ Sunny thought, retreating back into the darkness as fast as he came.

Without missing a beat Lyn jumped back again, this time behind the Queen in order to give himself more time. He couldn't launch his cube earlier, putting all his focus into fending off another devastating bite from the Queen.

'There's no space to call this easy, but lets see how you deal with an extra pair of hands.’ he assessed, anxiously.

Quite literally, Lyn created an extra pair of hands with the [Beginner's Construct] skill.

"Although the mobility is very limited due to the level of the skill, this should be enough to take care of you." Lyn armed the right hand construct with Ren's mace and planned to test the raw strength of the hands with the left handed construct.

Bating another attack from the Queen, he attempted to grab it's jaw before it could snap down, however-

Crack!

-The hand began to shatter under the Queen's raw power, just like [Spark Barrier] did before.

'Is the strength of the two skills directly related, or is it the level gap?'

There was no way to get concrete answers in the middle of battle, but it was paramount Lyn didn't try anything he couldn't place his trust in. 

Quickly reconstructing the left hand, he grabbed and dragged his own body away from the Queen. Next, as planned, he used the right hand to bash the Queen on it's face.

"Krrk?"

"Not even a scratch..?"

The one hand alone wouldn't continue to phase the Queen as long as it wasn't doing damage.
As the Queen lunged forward again, a small red glow tinted it's jaw.

'Aura!' 
As a monster expert, Lyn quickly recognized the ability.

The deep hum of aura filled the room. 

'Although it doesn't cover a large space-'

Lyn dragged himself roughly, letting the Queen smash into it's nest walls as it sped towards him.

 '-it's all the more dangerous if it's so dense!'

"If it used that power to defend.. what a broken mutant." he mutted, while the Queen shook it's head to recover from the impact with the wall.

Lyn racked his brain for a method, while Sunny prepared to have to intervene.
"Not yet..." Ren whispered. 'What's he planning this time?' Having an extra pair of hands were objectively good, but they weren't performing as well as she had hoped.

"Lyn remember to try to the cube too!" She tried to remind the hunter that he skipped a step however, Lyn was already creating a new path for himself.

"Then let's see how you do against this!" he shouted, creating five more pairs of hands and manuevering them forward to immobilize the Queen. Though not expecting the development the powerful milliant expertly snapped it's jaw at every hand should it could see, however-

'I can create them faster than though?'

-For the first time in the fight, the rhythm was completely in Lyn's favor. 

"One for mobility, Nine in the fight." he reminded himself.

Lyn prepared a cube to attack the distracted Queen.

"No, I'll lose the element of surprise if this isn't enough..." Pushing himself, Lyn created three denser cubes to launch a devastating attack on the Mutant Queen. They held a darker glow and rotated above him ominously.

"Kraayck! Kree!"

The prideful milliant shouted pitifully while the hands tired her out. Just as she reeled back and snapped at another hand-

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Three homing constructs slammed into it's underbody, face and the sturdy shell on it's back.

"KREEAH"

"As expected.."

The first cubes to hit their targets, the face and shell, didn't impact the Queen in any observable way, however the scream of the Queen meant one thing.

"..It's your weakness that works best."

. . . 

Fearful, the Queen stopped destroying the never ending hands, and was on full alert towards Lyn, who already knew of how the average Queen Milliant worked. Using aura, it defended its underbody. However, because of this, the mace wielding hand finally cracked the jaw of the Queen.

"KRYAAA!"

More monstrous then before the Queen's shaky scream vibrated the walls of the entire domain.

'Let's end this here.'

Lyn created three tear shaped constructs this time. They were not as dense as the cubed before them, but they were all aimed for the Queen's weak point. The moment he launched the three constructs, the Queen, going mad with pain, lost its edge and lunged toward the hunter to bite him.

"With a broken jaw?" he scoffed.

Without letting up-

Snap! Snap! Snap!

"[Spark Barrier]!"

-Lyn skillfully homed in on the underbelly of the Queen, while being careful to not forget the force behind it's bite. It was entirely possible that the barrier couldn't defend against once dominant milliant, even in such a weak state.

Rnng! 
The body of the Queen grazed his barrier as it crashed down.

"Kra-! ack! ack!" the fallen Queen convulsed as it died slowly.

'It was tough at the end but..'

"I fucking did it?" Lyn took a step back and realized the absurdity of his efforts.

['Beginner's Construct' skill has increased in power! New 'Split' ability available.]

[You’ve obtained a great achievement for clearing a dungeon!]

[Your total energy limit has grown!]

[Stat points accumulated: [10]!]

'Total energy limit? Is that like an increase in power, or output?' Lyn felt a sharp pain in his hand, but he ignored it as he did his other wounds from the Queen. As unsummoned his constructs the pain subsided.
Without getting enough time to analyze his upgrade, Lyn was interrupted by his team's congratulations.

"That's our teammate for you, huh?" Ren said laughing while approaching Lyn, after taking her mace from the floating hand.

‘Although it was an assisted kill, I’m still counting it.’ Lyn thought taking pride in his new found strength.

"Let's not forget the loot." Sunny said, with a warm smile.

‘Surely mutant loot is nothing to scoff at?’ Lyn thought as he moved towards Ren. He couldn't help but be excited for his first (?) boss kill.

"So what are we leaving with?" he asked inquisitively

While Sunny focused on the Milliant Queen, Ren reccounted the goods.

"We've got four pouches of the small pearls, three [Mutant Milliant's Grand Pearls], for frost, poison, and sound spells. A [Siren's Token] lucky enough, then whatever drops from the Queen. Sunny?"

"Let's see one [M. Queen's Great Pearl]. It came with a defense buff, and.. an [Aura Bead]?" Sunny had never seen the deep red bead drop before, and Lyn didn’t hold back his curiousity.

"Let Lyn have his drops, dude." Ren added, yawning

"Here, Lyn. You've earned them." he said, tossing them over smoothly.

'Although I expected a special pearl because of it's mutant status, what's this bead about?'
“Has this place really been neglected for so long that the monsters are getting stronger?” Lyn guessed.

He checked for the description of the item.

[Aura Bead] Similar to the natural upgrade of Mana to Arcane Energy, the use of an Aura Bead unlocks different steps for a hunter, depending on which stage you use it at. It's an abnormal increase in destructive power and physical ability.

‘Just like how monsters use it then..’

"Isn't this just like starting with a unique ability? How crazy” Lyn laughed, wondering what he could have done with this when he was effectively a citizen.

"Even if you got an item that changes your Mana Type, what would you do with it? Just absorb the enemy harder?" Ren followed up immediately.

Before Lyn could snap back with something he’d regret, Sunny reminded the group,
"No selling anything until a while after probation, it would be stupid to dig ourselves into a hole."
Ren sighed, while checking the dungeon one last time.
Packing up the trio walked happily out the dungeon before the furious bugs returned.

. . .

At his Library, Lyn went up to his room while Ren cooked and Sunny helped.

"[Beginner's Construct]." he whispered at his desk.

'Let's see what this does shall we?'
"[Split]."