Alden slashed his sword at the crimson fang wolf, which lunged at him.
Its head was sliced clean, and its body collapsed with a dull thud.
For the last five hours, Alden had been working tirelessly like a machine to clear the dungeon.
The dungeon's layout was simple.
There were many spacious clearings at regular intervals with a pathway connecting them.
Each clearing had a lake and a pack of Wolves in it.
This was the third clearing Alden had cleared.
If that was not much, each successive clearing had an increasing number of wolves.
The first only had twenty.
And the one he just cleared had forty.
Alden wasn't that strong to clear so many monsters at once. So he adapted to baiting and fishing strategy.
He lured some wolves towards his position before clearing them.
He repeated the strategy again and again to clear them.
Although it was a bit slow, the result was also great.
He hadn't gotten seriously injured in all his time.
His body only had minor injuries and his mana was nearly empty.
Although he didn't use any skills or even his sword art, he was constantly reinforcing his sword with mana.
As without the reinforcement it was harder to cut through the thick skin of the wolves.
It was just a cheap knockout of Aura that Master level hunters could use. But it got the job done for now.
He didn't immediately rush to the next clearing.
He exhaled, surveying the battlefield.
Dozens of lifeless wolves' bodies were spread across the cavern floor, their blood pooling beneath them.
He gulped down a healing potion and a mana potion.
He started storing the bodies of the wolves he had just slain into his storage ring.
Although these normal monsters didn't have chaos cores, their bodies could be sold for some money.
Chaos cores were used as energy sources in this world, and they were quite expensive.
Only Mini-Boss and Boss-Monster had a chance of having a Chaos core.
But still, they were too rare.
The academy didn't care what the students did with the bodies of other monsters as long as they submitted the boss monster body to them.
The students could also sell the lesser bodies to the academy for some credits.
After storing all the body Alden slumped down on the floor.
He had already studied the information of this dungeon beforehand as this dungeon had been cleared many times before.
According to the information he had read only two more clearing were remaining now.
The next one had a mini-boss Scarlet Fang Alpha which was at the Intermediate Initiate Rank.
But it was not alone it had three normal Crimson Fang Wolves as well.
The one after the mini-boss clearing was the final level where the boss monster resided. The Bloodfang Tyrant.
He decided to take a rest before attempting to challenge the mini boss.
He needed to be at peak as the Silver Fang wolf would be trickier to deal than normal ones.
After fifteen minutes of rest, Alden rose to his feet.
His injuries had been healed and his mana was also at peak all thanks to the potion.
He started walking towards the next clearing where the mini-boss was situated.
After walking for a while, he saw the tunnel opening into a wide opening.
It was bigger than all the previous clearings.
He didn't enter immediately; he scanned the monsters in the clearing.
He activated [Eyes of Supreme].
Although they were too far away, with his skill activated, he could still see them clearly.
A massive wolf stood on a raised rock, its blood-red fur an even deeper shade than normal ones.
It was shining slightly under the dim blue light.
It was at least twice the size of a regular Crimson Fang Wolf, and its fangs were longer than normal.
A Scarlet Fang Alpha was smarter than a normal wolf.
Stronger, faster, and more importantly, commanding.
Unlike before, Alden couldn't just bait its guards away.
They wouldn't leave their Alpha's side.
"I have to take them all down at once before engaging with Alpha," Alden muttered.
Fortunately for him the group of Crimson Fang Wolves stood a bit far away from Alpha and was near the entrance where he stood currently.
He suddenly had a brilliant plan.
He moved silently through the cave, his footsteps covered with the shadows to muffle any sound
He also activated [Shadow Stealth]
Darkness coiled around his form, cloaking him like clothes.
His presence dimmed, blending with the cavern light.
As he reached the clearing, he stayed within the shadows.
He looked at Alpha, it had closed its eyes.
The Crimson Fang Wolves were still oblivious to the predator walking towards them.
He had already activated his [Spirit Domain] as well.
The wolves were within it.
He had already moved close enough to be not detected.
He was sure the movement he took the next step would get the wolves alerted.
His stealth was still not at level to hide him perfectly.
He activated [Shadow Steps] as his body melted within his shadow.
He reappeared right behind one of the wolves.
Before it could react he had already swung his katana as it sliced through its neck like butter.
A Crimson arc of blood erupted.
Before the other two wolves could attack him, he commanded the shadows near him.
The shadows responded.
The shadows beneath the wolves surged upward—chains of darkness wrapped around their limbs, locking them in place.
The second wolf tried to turn, but Alden was already moving.
He emerged behind it, his katana slicing a clean path through its side.
The third wolf broke free from the shadows, attacking him in desperation.
Alden shifted his grip.
His sword transformed—becoming a spear in an instant.
A single thrust—straight through its skull.
Three wolves. Dead within seconds
Now only one remained.
A chilling howl echoed through the cavern.
Alden's instincts flared—
He sensed the attack coming towards him.
He immediately activated [Shadow Steps]
Reappearing a few metres ahead.
Sharp claws slashed through the empty air where he was just standing moments ago.
The Scarlet Fang Alpha's eyes burned with rage.
It roared, its voice shaking the cavern walls.
Alden braced himself.
The Alpha charged, faster than any of its kin.
He barely had time to react.
He ducked, escaping the attack as he replied with a counterattack of his own.
But it dodged the attack with ease.
It let out a howl again as a scarlet-coloured mist spread out from its body, covering the surroundings within seconds.
This was the special attack of the Scarlet Fang Alpha.
The howl was not a normal one, but it had an aura suppression effect.
But it didn't work on Alden because of his title, which gave him resistance to suppression.
Whereas the mist had the effect of distorting the vision of the opponent and creating the mirage of the wolf.
But obviously it didn't have any effect on him either.
His spirit domain was already sending him the exact location of the wolf within his radius.
He could sense the wolf circling him, being cautious.
So he decided to throw a bait.
He acted like he was affected by the mist as he started slashing randomly.
The wolf, thinking it's ability had worked, lunged at Alden from his back.
But unfortunately for it Alden had already sensed it.
He sidestepped. Dodging the attack with minimal movement.
He turned around his katana already in a quick draw position.
Everything happened in an instant.
He saw the pathway and followed it instantly.
He muttered as his Katana passed through the thick hide of the Scarlet Fang without any resistance..
The wolf froze before a thin line appeared on its neck.
Its head plopped to the ground.
The body collapsed soon after.
Alden exhaled, staring at the fallen beast.
The Bloodfang Tyrant awaited.