Even though Luke had easily punched their brother into dust, the Trolls didn’t run away. If anything, it angered them, drawing a group roar that trembled the dungeon.

"You kill brother! We eat you slow!" one Troll yelled.

Both of them jumped at Luke at the same time. One swung his club from the left, and the other tried to grab Luke with his huge, filthy hands.

But Luke’s eyes moved fast behind his red mask. "I have to be careful," he thought. "The system says I have heightened defense, not constitution. My chest and legs are just wearing my school uniform. If they hit me there, I’m going to pop like a balloon."

He used his boosted agility to slide between the two monsters. To the monsters, he was so fast he felt like he was skating on ice. The first Troll’s club smashed into the ground where Luke had been standing a second ago.

As the Troll tried to lift its club again, Luke reached out and caught the thick bone weapon mid-air. He didn’t even activate a skill; he just tightened his grip.

Crr-ack!

The massive bone shattered into a hundred pieces, leaving the Troll staring at its empty hands dumbfoundedly. Before it could even grunt, Luke reached up and grabbed the tusks jutting from its lower jaw.

Luke planted his feet and used his strength increase to lift the ten-foot Troll off the ground by its tusks and spin it like a tornado. The dizzy Troll let out a Glergh! sound before Luke threw the monster into the wall so hard that the rocks cracked.

The last Troll tried to sneak up behind him, but Luke spun around and delivered a similar punch as the first.

BOOM!

Another explosion of red ripples. Another cloud of red dust.

〖Flame +15.0〗

〖Flame +15.0〗

Luke stood in the quiet cave. The first wave of monsters was gone. He had to admit the Gamma-grade dungeon was easier than he’d anticipated, or maybe he was just stronger.

He sat down on a rock for a second to catch his breath. Doing so, he checked his status and noticed he had three innates.

The first, Forge, the second, Summon, and the third, Devour.

Luke realized he had known about Devour since he was a little kid. Back when he was a baby on the rug, he had crushed that bug and seen the red dust. For seventeen years, he had been a scavenger. He would find dead rats in the garden or smash beetles in the attic, and every time, he would get a tiny bit of Flame. Luke had thought it was just a weird trait in his clan, or a small blessing.

But the system explained it better now. Devour was how he fueled his forge. He could consume the essence of dead or living matter, automatically converting it into Flame Points.

"I’ve been doing this my whole life," Luke mused. "But I was doing it wrong. I spent years hunting ants and flies to get +0.1 points. I thought I was being smart, but I was just wasting time."

He looked at the space where the Trolls had been. A Troll gave him 15.0 points. That was the same as killing 150 bugs!

If Luke had known bigger things gave more points, he would have found a way to hunt monsters a long time ago. He felt a little bit annoyed at his past self’s ignorance.

But after deeper thought, Luke didn’t feel bad about not knowing the truth sooner. In fact, this was perfect timing. If he had been strong back then, he would never have known who really had his best interest at heart. The false exposure of weakness had revealed the character of many to Luke, giving him a clear view of the world as he prepared to burn down his old life.

He stood up straight and looked toward the back of the cave. There was a thin veil of energy hanging like a curtain, the entrance to the next stage.

Luke walked through the veil. On the other side, the air became hotter. Standing in an open area were four mammoth creatures. They were much bigger than Trolls. These were Ogres. They were twelve feet tall with skin like gray stone. Instead of bone clubs, they held maces.

The Ogres saw the hunter, roared, and attacked immediately. One of them quickly swung its mace right at his skull.

Luke was tasked. The battle was intense. A teenager without a beast ought to be crushed in one second, but Luke wasn’t really human anymore.

"Purgatory Charge!"

〖Skill: Purgatory Charge has been triggered!〗

Luke’s body was suddenly covered in a hellish glow with what looked like spirits wafting from him. Purgatory Charge was a skill coming from the Hell Ape Gauntlet. It turned him into a red blur as he smashed into the first Ogre’s chest.

Crack!

Boom!

The Ogre exploded into red dust. But the other three were already on top of Luke, two maces coming down at the same time. Luke jumped back, but the shockwave from the weapons hitting the ground made him stumble.

Huff!

The fight continued as Luke ducked under a swing and grabbed the handle of the third Ogre’s mace. He used the 50,000% strength boost to pull the Ogre toward him and then slammed his fist into its throat.

〖You have defeated an Ogre!〗

But as he finished off the last two, Luke realized how exhausted he was. His legs were wobbly, and he was gasping for more air.

"Wait... why am I so tired?" he asked, leaning on his knees.

〖Note: Maintaining two pieces of Ancient Beast Armor requires high physical endurance. Stamina is currently poor. 〗

Luke was expecting this. He was wielding the souls of two Ancient-grade beasts. That was a huge amount of power for a teenager’s body to carry. If he didn’t end his battles quickly, the armor would melt the man inside it.

Luke understood, but there was no turning back now, so he pushed forward. Finally, he reached a door made of bones. They creaked open, revealing the Boss Lair.

In the center of the room stood a grisly creature, the same height as the ogres, but it had one eye in the middle of its forehead. A Cyclops. Its weapon wasn’t a club or a mace, it was a stone pillar.

Just as quickly as the hunter had entered, the Boss was eager to end him. It roared with pure hunger for bloodshed as it swung the pillar wildly, smashing everything in its path.

Luke immediately knew this wasn’t a monster to play around with. Giving the Boss a chance to corner him while his stamina slowly weakened was the wrong move. So, he ignored the draining pain and sprinted forward.

The Cyclops slammed the pillar down, but Luke was quick enough to dash to the side, escaping the crash. While the pillar was still on the ground, he bolted up its length. A giant eye looked at him in surprise till it tried grabbing him with its free hand, but Luke parried and leapt.

In the air, the Hell Ape Gauntlet shone brightly as Luke aimed for the giant eye.

BOOOOOOM!!!

A massive shockwave filled the entire Boss Lair. The Cyclops’ bellow resonated as its colossal head disintegrated, followed by the rest of its body.

〖Congratulations! You have cleared the Gamma-Rank Dungeon: New Florence Mall!〗

〖You have defeated a Lower-Tier Lesser Boss!〗

〖XP + 500〗

〖Flame Points + 200.0〗

〖You have leveled up to LV. 7〗

〖Congratulations! You’re Forge Slot Is Full!〗

Luke landed on the ground. He was victorious, but almost at his own cost. All equipped armor disappeared because he ran out of energy to keep them summoned.

"I... I need to get out..." he said.

The dungeon started to shake. Without a boss to hold the energy together, the cave was collapsing, rocks falling from the ceiling.

Luke saw a glowing purple orb floating where the Cyclops had been. That was the Dungeon Core. If he didn’t take it, he wouldn’t get the best reward, and he might get buried alive. So he crawled toward the orb with all the strength he could muster, reached out, and grabbed it.

〖Dungeon Core Detected. Would you like to Devour?〗

"Yes."

〖Dungeon Core Absorbed!〗

〖Flame Points + 1000.0〗

〖1 Mythic Draft Card has been generated!〗

As Luke revitalised, the dungeon slowly dematerialized, and the food court started to reappear.

Outside the mall...

The Bureau officers felt the Aeon pressure drop, followed by the mall threatening to crumble and fall.

The change confused them because they thought they had at least an hour before the gate became stable.

"Is it an unstable gate?" a captain asked worriedly. "Sometimes they just collapse on their own if the energy isn’t right. But they usually come back even stronger. Everyone, prepare to move in!"

Standing at the front of the Bureau was the Warden, Silas, a man of honor who everyone respected. His summon was a Humus Gorilla.

"Advance!" Silas commanded. "Find the survivors. We need to see if this gate is really gone or if it’s just a trick."

The Bureau executed their operation. Soon, they rescued the teenagers who were trapped in the movie theatre. Surprisingly, the teenagers weren’t crying or shaking with fear. Instead, they were whooping and cheering as if they had just watched a great sports game.

"Did you see him? Did you see the warrior?" Jax yelled at the Bureau officers who were trying to help him.

"Calm down, kid," an officer said. "We need to get you to an ambulance."

"No! You don’t understand!" Chloe shouted excitedly. "A hero went in! He was a humanoid summon with a cool mask. He jumped right into the gate and cleared it, saving all of us!"

Once the Warden heard this from the teenagers, he stopped walking. He had thought the gate closed because of natural causes or energy instability. Hearing that a single summon had entered and cleared a Gamma-rank dungeon by itself baffled him.

"I didn’t authorize any guild to enter yet," Silas thought to himself. "And no solo hunter would be crazy enough to send a summon in alone without a team."

If what the kids were saying was true, then a mysterious powerhouse had been here. The Warden looked at the gorilla by his side. Even his own beast would have struggled against a Gamma-grade Boss.

With unanswered questions hanging in the air, Silas hurried toward the food court. When he arrived, what he saw confirmed everything.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!