Nolan and Reina looked in the position where Draven’s towering figure was supposed to be.

The wolves now obstructed their line of sight.

The pack attacked the two other injured Hunters and ripped them to pieces.

[+650 EP]

[+650 EP]

—

[+5,200EP]

They were dead.

The smell of burning grass filled the air, quickly reaching Abel’s sharp nostrils.

A system notification panel popped open before Abel.

[Mission Complete. You’ve successfully defended the Level 1 Dungeon - Baneroot Forest.]

[Reward Extraction has been activated. You’ll obtain a fraction of the Final Boss’s power. You may use your Emotion Points to obtain additional rewards by extracting the stats, attributes, or skills of the Final Boss - Silverback Tyrant.]

[Emotion Points: 5,830EP]

[Please note that if the stats, attributes, or skills to be extracted don’t meet the required Emotion Points, you may still use them to obtain a lesser version of them.]

The wolves brought the prizes of their hunt and placed them before him.

Abel saw the frozen, contorted faces of the corpses before his vision turned dark. He reappeared within a dark, floating space, now in his human form.

Abel opened the reward extraction. A series of system interfaces popped open before him.

[Reward Extraction]

[Skills: Alpha’s Mark (D+): Mark a target. All wolves prioritise that prey. [Extract: 1000EP]]

[Bloody Howl (D+): Releases a terrifying howl to induce fear or disorient prey. [Extract: 1000EP]]

[Passive Final Boss Skills: Pack Leader (D+): Wolves will instinctively obey, follow, and protect you. [Extract: 1000EP]]

[Alpha’s Command (D+): Boosts all nearby wolves’ speed and attack coordination. [Extract: 1000EP]]

[Ironhide Defence (D+): Physical attacks deal reduced damage unless aimed at weak points. [Extract: 1000EP]]

[Select the stats you want to extract?]

Abel realised that the Emotion Points he had gathered in this dungeon run were more than enough to extract all of the Final Boss skills. With them, he was certain that he could become a Beastmaster, a rare, specialised Hunter Classification that was rarely attained.

Though he had never seen a Beastmaster himself, he had heard enough rumours to know that they existed. However, rather than focusing on the skills, Abel focused on increasing his mana purity first.

"What do I gain by extracting the Silverback Tyrant mana [D] stat, and how much does it cost?" Abel asked with bated breath.

[Unlike stat skills, stats are calculated in accordance with the Host’s overall stats. Since the host already has a [D-] mana stat, obtaining the Final Boss - Silverback Tyrant mana stat will only improve it to [D]. The cost will be 500 Emotion Points.]

Abel sighed tiredly. "That’s half the cost of a [D+] skill. It’s expensive." He was glad the system considered his status when calculating stat costs, but he still found it costly.

Still, he had no choice.

"Extract."

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Abel. You’ve extracted Mana: [D] stat.]

[Emotion Points: 5,330EP]

Abel didn’t pay attention to his other stats. He could improve them later, but the opportunity to become a Beastmaster might not come again.

Abel chose to extract all the skills.

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Abel. You’ve extracted Alpha’s Mark (D+) skill.]

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Abel. You’ve extracted Bloody Howl (D+) skill.]

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Abel. You’ve extracted Pack Leader (D+) skill.]

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Abel. You’ve extracted Alpha’s Command (D+) skill.]

[Extraction complete. Congratulations, Abel. You’ve extracted Ironhide Defence (D+) skill.]

[Emotion Points: 330EP]

Abel’s expression turned surprised as some of the skills had changed.

[Bloody Howl (D+): Releases a terrifying mana-infused roar that affects the minds of nearby enemies, causing fear, panic, and temporary disorientation.]

[Ironhide Defence (D+): Hardens the user’s body with mana, reducing the damage taken from physical attacks. However, attacks aimed at vital weak points such as the neck, joints, eyes, and spine are less affected.]

He read through it and realised that extracting the skills would also transform them to fit him. This was one of the things he had been worried about when extracting a non-human skill. However, it seemed that his fears were for nought.

"How much does it cost to extract the Strength: [D+] stat?" Abel asked.

[It’s 500EP.]

"I thought so," Abel sighed in defeat.

With his current Emotion Points, he could not extract any other stats. He could only save them for the next dungeon run.

[Do you wish to accept your reward? Yes/No.]

A system interface popped open, asking for confirmation of Abel’s extracted stats.

Abel selected ’Yes’ without hesitation.

Instantly, his vision blurred again as he vanished from the space.

***

Inside a towering skyscraper, an entire floor was lined with office chairs and desks. Each workspace was enclosed in its own cubicle, mirroring the uniform layout of countless other floors above and below it.

A man dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his arms, and a pair of black trousers, shot up from his seat. His expression shifted into shock. Sweat beads formed on his face as he stared at the livestream before him.

Twenty minutes ago, he had escorted a party of newbie Hunters, whom he was in charge of overseeing, to a dungeon gate to further train their skills and evaluate their current level of strength. But minutes after the dungeon run began, things took a turn for the worse.

The Final Boss had launched a surprise attack right at the beginning phase of the dungeon, catching them off guard and forcing them to retreat.

He even attempted to get on the phone to assign another party of Hunters to rescue them, but before he realised what had happened, they were all dead.

There were no survivors.

From gruesome battles to betrayals and the loss of close companions, he had seen terrible things. Never had he heard of or seen a dungeon where the Final Boss acted this differently.

As his thoughts whirled through every plausible explanation he could think of, he quickly arrived at one conclusion.

A Special Dungeon.

Still, he wasn’t even sure if he was right.

As though noticing the strange atmosphere around him, a woman seated in a nearby office cubicle stood up and asked.

"Is everything okay, Jerry?"