"Is this the place?" Oliver said as he stopped in front of the cave. He then confirmed it with the map of the Delpech region. The Delpech region had dozens of towns within it, and the Barony of Delpech was one of the baronies within the County of Oaken.

The map marked nearly 50 dungeons scattered across the area. Oliver chose the one closest to Ashville, the Long Cave Dungeon. It was a Rank 1 dungeon, the lowest among all dungeons.

Each known dungeon in this world was assigned a rank finalized by the Dungeon Council. The highest-ranked dungeons ever recorded were Rank 20, and they were extremely rare, few enough to be counted on one hand.

The higher the rank of a dungeon, the more valuable resources it had inside. This did not include the drops from monsters when they were defeated, which could be sold for a fortune.

But for lower-rank dungeons like the Long Cave Dungeon, there were no valuable resources. That was why it was rarely cleared. And if left alone for too long, it could cause problems. It might trigger a phenomenon known as a Dungeon Break, where monsters would escape from the dungeon.

And that was why Oliver chose it, or more accurately, why Velkryss chose it.

"Are you sure this dungeon is safe, Velkryss?" Oliver asked as he put the map into his pocket and peeked inside the cave.

"Yes, I am very sure. I know the ins and outs of every dungeon in this region. I was its former guardian, after all," Velkryss said.

"Okay, I will believe you. By the way, can I call you by a nickname? It is very difficult to say your full name."

"A weak human like you wants to change my name, the great Ancient Guardian? Do you want to face my wrath?" Velkryss growled angrily.

"Calm down, Husk. I am your master, so you need to listen to me."

"How dare you tell me to calm down! Wait! Husk?? Is that what you want to call me?" Velkryss could not believe it.

"Yup! Your size is just like a husky dog, so I will call you Husk. No more objections. Now let’s go, Husk! This is my first time raiding a dungeon, so protect me, will you?"

"Grrr! If I were not contracted to you, you would already be minced meat." Velkryss, now Husk, was furious, but he could not do anything to harm his master as he was bound to him.

They went deeper into the cave. True to its name, it was indeed a long cave. A narrow tunnel stretched far into the depths of the earth.

"Urghh! What is this smell?" Oliver covered his nose as he sensed a very strong, pungent odor while approaching one of the cave chambers.

’This is the signature smell of Gravegnaw. It means they are close. Hmph! I would like to give a little surprise to this kid for what he has done.’ Husk smirked as he followed behind Oliver.

Oliver equipped the Assault Strike Dagger in his hand as he walked deeper into the chamber. The smell grew so strong that he had to cover his nose with his shirt.

"Uweek! The food I ate during lunch is about to come out." Oliver struggled to hold back his nausea when suddenly, he noticed a movement.

"Huh?! What is that?" He quickly turned to his side.

"What are you talking about? I don’t see anything." Husk said, pretending to be unaware. Of course, he had already identified and located all the Gravegnaws inside the chamber.

"Maybe it is just my imagination." Oliver kept walking, blaming his eyes. But not even a minute later, another movement appeared, and this time he saw it clearly.

"There! You saw it? There was something big moving just now! Over there!" Oliver said as he stood beside Husk, pointing at a large rock where the movement had disappeared.

"I do not know what you are talking about. I did not see anything," Husk said with a smirk.

"Are you actually lying to me? Is this your plan to get revenge on me? Is this your kind of retaliation?" Oliver asked.

"Of course not. You are my master, so I cannot disobey you. How about you check it yourself? Or are you scared?" Husk said.

"Tch! Even having a monster is no different than not having one. Fine, I will check it myself. But you stay here, okay? Don’t go anywhere, okay?" Oliver said.

"Fine, fine. I will not go anywhere," Husk replied playfully.

Oliver then slowly walked toward the large stone. The dagger was held forward, ready to strike at any moment. He raised the torch to reveal the darkness. As he slowly moved around the other side of the rock, he was shocked.

"Huh?!"

The torchlight revealed a large white rat, about one meter in size, eating another rat. Its mouth moved rapidly as it devoured its own kind.

Oliver was so stunned that he forgot to breathe. He slowly stepped back, while the rat remained focused on its meal.

Crack!

Suddenly, Oliver stepped on a skull, crushing it. The sound echoed loudly through the chamber.

Squeak!

The rat immediately turned toward Oliver, throwing aside the bone in its mouth before charging at him.

"No! Help me!" Oliver slipped on the ground before scrambling toward where Husk had been. But to his dismay, Husk was nowhere to be seen.

"Husk! Where are you!? How dare you leave your master!" Oliver shouted.

Squeak!

The Gravegnaw quickly closed the distance. Oliver turned his body and faced the monster.

<Gravegnaw>

Its mouth was salivating, as it had not eaten fresh meat for a long time, and a human at that, the finest prey.

"I-I will not die here!" Oliver took a deep breath. He then charged at the monster. He had no one but himself to rely on right now.

"Consider this a lesson, kid. You should be able to handle this kind of monster if you want to become an Overlord Tamer." Husk muttered.

On the other side of the cave, Husk had already killed all the Gravegnaws in the chamber, leaving only one for Oliver to fight.