"AWOOOOOO!" The Were-Hound howled in pain and rage while stumbling backward but it was a creature born for combat... it didn’t freeze or panic.

Instead, it immediately tried to retaliate with its remaining left arm, lashing out in a wide horizontal slash aimed at Klaus’s torso.

In another flash of steel moving faster than most people could track, that arm also flew off, severed cleanly at the shoulder this time. It tumbled away end over end to land in a corner of the chamber.

Now completely armless and bleeding heavily from two major wounds, the Were-Hound stumbled forward on unsteady legs, trying desperately to use its fangs as a last resort.

Klaus didn’t give it any opportunity to recover or adapt.

He slashed horizontally through both of its legs at the knees, severing them cleanly in one smooth motion. The creature collapsed onto the cold stone ground immediately, falling onto its back with a heavy thud, now completely unable to fight or even move effectively.

Klaus stood over the defeated boss, looking down dispassionately at what had been a fearsome predator just moments ago. T

he Were-Hound let out one final sound... it was not quite a howl of defiance, more like a pitiful whimper of pain and confusion.

Klaus raised his sword one last time and slashed downward with both hands. The blade cut through the creature’s throat first, then continued through its neck vertebrae, completely decapitating it. The head rolled several meters away from the body with its yellow eyes already starting to dim.

The Boss had been defeated...

Klaus straightened up and turned to his right side with his sword still raised in a ready position in case there were any remaining threats he’d missed. "Are you all alright? Anyone injured?"

"We’re perfectly fine!" Serra called back cheerfully, finishing off another Direwolf with a precisely aimed beam of holy light that punched through its skull.

"Not even scratched!" Mirela added quickly, her new staff still glowing with residual moon mana.

Taula descended from the high ceiling like some kind of gore-covered avenging angel of death, somehow still holding two absolutely massive spider corpses... one in each hand by their legs as if they weighed nothing.

She had the most satisfied, bloody grin on her face, completely covered head to toe in monster ichor, blood, and bits of shattered shell as she looked like she’d bathed in a slaughterhouse.

Serra cast a Clean Spell on her the next moment.

"Oh, we’re already done?" She tilted her head to the side, looking genuinely disappointed that the combat had ended so quickly then she blinked and shrugged philosophically, dropping both massive spider corpses unceremoniously onto the floor with wet thuds. "Yeah! My hands were getting kind of tired anyway from holding onto the ceiling for so long."

Klaus sighed deeply and looked down at the Were-Hound’s bisected body.

Like all World Dungeon boss monsters when defeated, it was beginning to disperse into countless motes of white light... similar to fireflies but brighter that floated gently upward toward the ceiling before fading away into nothing.

The physical corpse disintegrated completely over the course of about ten seconds, leaving behind only its drops and core as loot.

On the stone ground where the body had been, several items now lay scattered: one singular large fang that was easily twenty centimeters long, a luxurious-looking scarf made of pristine white wolf fur that appeared incredibly soft and fluffy, there was also some kind of decorative cloth sash with intricate patterns and the boss’s glowing core... which had Tier 2 magical energy.

Klaus understood the underlying mechanics because he’d played Artemis Online for years in his past life.

World Dungeon bosses operated on different rules compared to regular Dungeon bosses. Regular dungeons would eventually destabilize and collapse if not cleared regularly, causing "dungeon breaks" where all the contained monsters would spew out into the surrounding areas and cause massive destruction that required emergency Guild intervention to handle. It was a major problem and constant threat.

World Dungeons, by contrast, didn’t collapse at all... they were permanent magical structures that seemed to be maintained by the world itself, with anywhere from 100 to 150 floors each depending on the specific dungeon.

Every 20 floors had a mini-boss encounter like this Were-Hound, and at the very top of each World Dungeon was the true main boss... usually a ridiculously powerful entity that required coordinated raid groups to defeat.

Mini-bosses left randomized item drops and cores when killed, but their actual bodies couldn’t be harvested for materials or sold to butchers and crafters the way regular monster corpses could be.

The drops were different each time you killed them, following some kind of loot table system. The boss itself would respawn after a set period... usually between four and six hours with absolutely no memory of being killed before.

It was just one of those game-like mechanics that governed how this world operated on a fundamental level.

Adventurers who died in these encounters stayed dead permanently, though. No respawns for actual people as death was final.

"Ooh~ What kind of drops did we get this time?" Taula said with excitement, running over to Klaus with an eager expression.

Serra and Mirela also approached cautiously, and all four of them gathered in a circle to look down at the scattered loot on the ground.

Klaus focused his attention on the first item, activating his Appraisal skill, and information immediately appeared in his mind.

「Item Name: Wolf’s Fang」

「Tier: 1」

「Description: A remarkably sharp and durable fang harvested from a powerful Were-Hound. Its natural edge is keen enough to easily pierce through steel plate armor. Can be used as a high-quality material to craft a superior dagger or shortsword with significantly enhanced piercing capabilities and minor dark magic resistance. Alternatively, can be sold to wealthy collectors, specialized weaponsmiths, or nobles for a decent price... probably 500 silver coin depending on the buyer.」

’That’s somewhat useless for me personally since I already have a perfectly good sword,’ Klaus thought pragmatically. ’Though commissioning a good dagger as a backup weapon wouldn’t be a bad idea. Or I could just sell it... I’ll decide later.’

He shifted his attention to the next item.

「Item Name: Wolf Sheep Scarf」

「Tier: 1」

「Description: A luxuriously soft and warm scarf expertly woven from the pristine white winter coat fur of a Were-Hound. Provides excellent protection against cold weather and grants minor passive resistance to ice-based magic and cold environmental damage. Its primary function is aesthetic... wearing it makes you appear distinguished, classy, and well-off. Provides basically no combat benefits beyond the cold resistance and looking good while staying warm.」

「Item Name: Were Sash」

「Tier: 1」

「Description: A ceremonial cloth sash imbued with concentrated essence of ancient wolf spirits. When worn by wolf-type or canine-type Beastkin, it significantly increases their base physical strength by approximately 20%, grants them enhanced pack coordination instincts that improve teamwork, and provides a moderate boost to maximum aura capacity. Completely useless when worn by non-wolf Beastkin, other animal types, or humans.」

"Well, these don’t look too bad overall," Klaus said diplomatically, keeping his tone neutral. "Could have been worse loot."

Before anyone else could respond, Taula immediately snagged the fluffy white scarf with greedy hands and wrapped it around her neck multiple times with obvious delight.

She practically purred with contentment as she rubbed her face against the incredibly soft fur, her eyes half-closing in pleasure.

"Hehehe~ I’m a princess now, so you all need to obey my royal commands!" she declared with mock seriousness.

Klaus rolled his eyes in exasperation. "A violent brute like you could never be a princess. Princesses are supposed to be elegant and refined."

"Hey!" Taula’s face scrunched up in offense, her cheeks puffing out. "I can be elegant when I want to be! You don’t know!"

Mirela spoke up hesitantly with her ears drooping slightly in disappointment.

"I actually studied the possible drop tables and loot percentages for the Were-Hound boss before we attempted this raid. This is the minimal tier of possible drops so we were really unlucky with the randomization."

Serra shrugged philosophically, already moving past the disappointment.

"We could get better luck next time we run this. Or we could just wait around for five or six hours for it to respawn and try again immediately if we really wanted to."

Klaus waved off that suggestion immediately.

"No, let’s just head back to the Guild and sell our cores and whatever materials we collected. We’ve done more than enough dungeon raiding for today, and I’m getting tired. We can try for better drops another time."

He gathered up all the dropped items efficiently and stored them in his own personal storage ring. Everyone else pulled out their Dungeon Escape Stones... small crystallized green emeralds that glowed with spatial transportation magic when activated.

They all looked at each other, nodded in silent agreement, and crushed the fragile stones simultaneously in their fists.

Bright white light enveloped each of them completely, and they instantly vanished from Floor 20 of the dungeon, teleporting directly back to the entrance area on the surface.

...

"What a wonderful and profitable raid," Astrid said with a small but genuine smile on her face. She was looking significantly better than she had a week ago... the dark shadows under her eyes had faded substantially, her skin had better color, and she seemed far less emotionally burdened by her brother’s imprisonment. "At this rate with your current progression speed, you all could legitimately reach Floor 50 before next week ends. That’s really impressive for your party composition."

Klaus leaned casually against the polished wooden Guild counter, setting down his heavy pack of collected monster cores, and let out a tired sigh. "I sincerely hope so. We’re putting in the work at least."

He was definitely, measurably stronger now than he’d been even two weeks ago... there was absolutely no question about that observable fact.

The Aura trait had been a complete game-changer for his combat effectiveness, and the consistent dungeon raiding was giving him invaluable real combat experience while also steadily improving his stats.

But the Divine Academy entrance exams were rapidly approaching.

Once those exams started and he was officially enrolled as a student, he absolutely did not want to bring too much attention to himself or stand out as exceptional.

Being a commoner who suddenly displayed incredible, prodigy-level power would raise far too many questions and attract far too much dangerous scrutiny from nobles, professors, and other students. People would want to know where his power came from, who trained him, and what his background really was.

Maybe he should deliberately aim to place somewhere in the middle of the entrance exam rankings? Not too high where he’d be considered a genius threat, but not so low that he’d be dismissed as worthless. Just... average enough to be accepted but forgettable.

He was reasonably comfortable that he could manage that kind of controlled performance now with his current abilities. Though he probably needed to get just a bit stronger to have a comfortable safety margin for that strategy.

’Out of all the herb combinations and mixtures I’ve been experimenting with,’ Klaus thought with growing frustration, ’I haven’t found a single one that provides a significant boost to my mana stat the way the Azure Lotus Root did. That was a one-time miracle, apparently. I really need to figure out how to break through to Third-Class Wizard Apprentice already and expan—’

BANG!

The heavy wooden door of the Adventurer’s Guild building was suddenly kicked open with tremendous force... the impact was loud enough to make everyone inside jump in startled surprise.

The door slammed violently against the interior wall, and the metal hinges actually bent slightly from the sheer force of the impact as the doorframe cracked.

A woman strode confidently into the Guild hall immediately after her dramatic entrance, her long crimson hair flowing behind her like a banner or war standard.

She wore the instantly recognizable and distinctive cloak of the Aestrea Noble family... expensive black fabric embroidered with intricate white wing patterns on the shoulders and back, marking them prominently as a Rider family specifically known throughout the kingdom for their ancestral bonds with flying mounts and aerial cavalry traditions.

Walking beside her with a more leisurely pace was a man with striking black hair and the most unusual gold eyes Klaus had ever seen... they seemed to literally shimmer and glow even in the relatively dim interior lighting of the Guild hall.

He wore a simple but clearly high-quality black traveling cloak pulled up over his head in what seemed like a half-hearted attempt at maintaining anonymity.

Klaus’s entire body went completely rigid as his eyes widened in recognition.

’W-Why the hell is this fucker here?!’

Why the hell was the Protagonist of this entire world and his first canonical harem member here in the Galen Town Adventurer’s Guild at this point in the timeline?!

This wasn’t supposed to happen for several more months at minimum!

One of the adventurers sitting near the entrance... a rough, scarred man covered in old battle wounds and wearing leather armor actually spoke up despite the obvious danger.

"Oi, isn’t it considered a bit rude to just kick down the door like that in someone else’s establishment? This ain’t your private noble estate where you can do whatever you want."

The crimson-haired noble woman turned her sharp gaze on him instantly as her expression immediately twisted with obvious contempt and disgust.

"Shut up, you disgusting dirty commoner," she said with pure venom in her voice, her tone making it clear she considered him less than human. "Have you even had a proper bath this month? You smell absolutely revolting. Like sweat and failure and poverty."

The adventurer visibly flinched backward as if he’d been physically struck wth his hand dropping away from his sword hilt.

He very clearly did not want to start a confrontation with nobility... that was a fast, guaranteed way to end up arrested on false charges, fined into complete poverty, or just mysteriously disappearing one night when the town guard looked the other way.

Klaus felt a wave of disgust rising in his throat, but also grim resignation.

Yes, this was exactly, precisely how nobles genuinely behaved in this world toward anyone of lower social status.

Arrogant, dismissive, and viewing commoners as basically subhuman. The Aestrea family was particularly notorious throughout the kingdom for their extreme pride and contempt for common people.

The woman cleared her throat loudly and dramatically, clearly demanding everyone’s complete attention as the entire Guild hall went dead silent and even the background noise of conversation died instantly.

"I am looking for the commoner who allegedly saved Cedric Arlain from the Death Cult," she announced in a clear, ringing voice that carried to every corner of the building. "If anyone present knows where this person currently is, point me in his direction immediately and without delay. You might even be financially rewarded for your cooperation and assistance!"

There was a moment of silence then, as one unified movement, every single person in the packed Guild hall turned to look directly at Klaus.

Klaus sighed deeply and brought his hand up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration and exhaustion.

’Why can’t I ever just have any peace?’