"More!" Max growled, his voice strained but defiant. He called upon the power of the eighth black light.
The moment he did, his body rebelled. His muscles clenched so tightly they felt like iron cords ready to snap. His veins bulged grotesquely, snaking across his skin like dark rivers, and every nerve in his body screamed in agony.
Sweat poured down his face in torrents as his skin flushed red from the pressure of the untamed, raw strength inside his body.
"Eight it is then..." Max took a deep breath and released the power within his body back into the black lights. "With my current body, I can only use the power of eight black lights... If I go any further, I fear my body would just explode," he muttered in contemplation.
Having figured out the use of Draconic Essence, Max pondered the Dragon Scales but couldn't come up with anything specific. "I'll figure something out later. Let's first go back to the cave of the lava serpent. I can't let those two girls take everything inside for themselves, but I wonder if I'm too late," he thought, sighing.
He scanned the cave one final time when something gleamed on the ground beside the skeleton.
Max cautiously circled the skeleton, still wary of what happened last time, and approached the gleaming object from the other side.
Upon reaching it and examining it closely, a smile tugged at Max's lips. The gleaming object hidden underneath the ground was a sword. Digging it out, Max grasped the sword in his hands.
It was of a normal size, the only difference being the blade, which was pitch black. Max guessed it belonged to the same person the skeleton belonged to.
"It's good," he said, feeling very comfortable holding the sword. Even the weight was just right for his strength. "Looks like I won't need a new sword anytime soon."
"Let's leave," Max muttered to himself, taking the open box with runes on it. He put the sword and the open box away and left the cave.
The lava serpent was waiting for him outside, wagging its tail like a little dog when it saw Max emerging from the cave.
"Let's go, buddy." Max smiled and headed back to the lava serpent's lair. He had left behind many level 6 and 7 cores, along with a level 8 one. Even if he couldn't get anything from the two girls, he still had to take what belonged to him.
---
Inside a dimly lit cave, a young girl no older than fifteen sat cross-legged in serene meditation. Her fiery red hair cascaded down her back, a striking contrast to the sleek black battle uniform she wore. Yet, there was something undeniably otherworldly about her.
If one looked closely, they would notice an ethereal phenomenon surrounding her—a dark red lotus, its petals flickering like embers, enveloping her entire figure. The lotus pulsed faintly, radiating a mysterious, oppressive energy that seemed to distort the air around it.
Standing not far from her was a girl of the same age with brown hair. Her attention was entirely focused on the red-haired girl, not looking away for even a second.
Just then, the red lotus surrounding the red-haired girl faded away as she opened her eyes.
"Young Miss, is it done?" The brown-haired girl asked quickly, seeing the red-haired lady open her eyes.
"It's done. I've finally integrated the entire essence of the Eight Petal Flaming Lotus." Alice smiled, her tone laced with satisfaction. "It's good that no other guilds heard about the Eight Petal Flaming Lotus born in this dungeon, or chaos would surely have ensued."
"Also, Amy..." Alice looked at the brown-haired girl, sending daggers at her with her eyes.
"W-What, Miss Alice?" Amy stammered in fear.
Alice sighed, seeing her personal maid—whom she had spent more time with than anyone else—so scared of her. "How many times have I told you not to call me 'Miss' when we're outside? Moreover, we're childhood friends, so you should just call me Alice like everyone else."
"B-But... I am your maid," Amy said, her head lowered.
Alice folded her hands in front of her chest and sighed. "You never learn, Amy, do you?" She shook her head lightly.
"Let's go and leave this cave." She glanced around, seeing thousands of shiny red crystals scattered around them. "Also, collect all these mana crystals. They might come in handy just in case."
Amy nodded quickly and began collecting the mana crystals one by one. It took them an hour to completely collect all the cores.
"That lava serpent was smart. It used the mana crystals from all over the charred forest to accelerate the growth of the Eight Petal Flaming Lotus," Alice mused, looking at the storage ring on her hand before putting it away. "Let's go."
They headed back, but when they reached the entrance of the cave, they found it blocked by rocks and stones.
"Looks like a fight broke out between the level 8 lava wolf and that level 9 flame serpent," Alice muttered softly.
"Step back," she warned Amy, her hands blazing with red flames. An arrow of pure red flames floated above her hand.
The red-hot flaming arrow shot out from her hand and struck the blockade.
BANG!
The blockade was blasted open, revealing the world outside.
"Let's go." Alice called out to Amy as she stepped outside the cave, but what she saw surprised her. She saw the level 9 lava serpent sleeping peacefully beside a young man with greyish-silver hair.
'Him?' Alice frowned. If she recalled correctly, this guy had the strength of level 3, which now appeared to be level 4. 'But what is he doing here with the level 9 lava serpent?'
"What have you two been doing inside? I've been waiting for you guys for quite a while now." Max said with a smile, seeing the two ladies finally come out. He had returned about an hour ago when he saw the blockade was still intact, so he had been waiting since then.
"Are you sent by the other guild? The Black Lotus?" Alice immediately asked coldly.
"Huh?" Max looked confused, not understanding what she meant. "Have you gone mad inside the cave or something? I'm here for the treasure you two found inside. I've seen you two go in, so you must have found something valuable that this dumb snake was protecting," he smiled greedily.
Alice narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Where did all those level 6 and level 7 wolves go? What about the level 8 lava wolf?" she asked warily.
"Oh, them? I killed them," Max replied, before returning to the topic. "Where are the treasures?" he asked, smiling.
"You think anyone will believe you?" Alice sneered.
Max sighed, understanding her meaning.
"But still, I want a part of the treasure, or I won't let you two leave from here," he insisted.
Max really wanted some treasures right now whatever it was that they found inside the cave. He had come to this dungeon with the hope of finding many mana crystals and getting rich overnight but what he had gotten till now was pure disappointment except for the bloodline he obtained a while ago.