It should’ve been wolves, or beasts with names that sounded dangerous.
But no. It was mutated birds.
Sure, they were thousands of times stronger than regular beasts of their species—but still, deep down, he couldn’t accept it.
That was just... fucking ridiculous.
Without his protective Mana armor, their dagger-like beaks had pierced his strengthened body, stabbing deep into his skin to his bones.
Their claws had torn through him—ripping his clothes, slicing his skin, revealing white flesh that was now drenched in blood.
Leon’s clothes were in tatters, barely hanging on to his body.
He looked like a vagabond wrapped in rags—but he didn’t care.
There wasn’t another human in this dungeon.
And this was not where his life would end.
Despite the pain—he remained calm.
He still had a chance.
His body was covered in cuts and bruises. His once-dark clothes were now dyed red. Blood trickled through his hair and down his forehead.
All he could feel was pain.
Raw, unforgiving, bone-deep pain.
But the ravens didn’t stop.
They kept attacking, because they knew—this was their only chance.
Their clans had all been wiped out by one person. Just one.
And now, they were venting every ounce of their rage.
They remembered the cries of their brethren, the sound of bones breaking under Leon’s fists, the last screams before death.
They saw it all in their minds, and it fueled their fury.
He was a thorn they needed to tear out before it grew any deeper into their flesh.
Their attacks became more savage.
Leon looked up again, blood dripping from his jaw.
As expected, the mocking gaze of their leader was still there.
But this time—Leon smiled back.
It was faint. Tired. But still... a smile.
’It’s such a shame I’ve been injured before it even used its trump card... before I could even fight it.’
’I’m so weak,’ Leon almost said aloud, disgusted at himself.
Despite the pain and blood, he wasn’t without hope.
He still trusted the system.
If he kept following its path, he would survive. He believed that.
Letting the ravens attack for a few more seconds, he quickly checked his HP bar—
And he instantly regretted it.
He was down to his last ten percent.
Wanting motivation—or perhaps desperation—he glanced at the timer.
Leon’s mind snapped into gear.
His HP was nearly gone, but...
His Mana reserve had already surged back up—past the halfway point, even pushing into the upper quarter.
He gritted his teeth and stood.
It hurt. Every muscle burned.
With the last bit of strength he could muster, he crushed the life out of the two ’insects’ that were draining his health points.
He looked up again—breathing hard.
His body screamed for it.
But he wouldn’t get it. Not yet.
He stared at the sky, waiting.
Would the leader now unleash its trump card?
To his surprise... the leader’s expression didn’t change.
Leon narrowed his eyes.
The beast had expected this.
It knew its subordinates would die—it had planned for it.
All boss monsters were the same.
They never cared about their underlings.
Dead or alive, it didn’t matter.
If they lived, they served the clan.
If they died, their life force flowed back to the boss beast.
Why would the leader care?
That’s the nature of these monsters.
The raven’s eyes suddenly flashed, glowing crimson brighter than ever.
Even in daylight, Leon could see the gleam.
He recognized the light immediately.
It had finally been activated.
It was normal for boss beasts to activate their Berserk skill at will.
He had anticipated this.
What worried him more was whether this was the trump card the system had warned him about...
Or if there was still something else.
Something he didn’t know.
The raven’s flight didn’t worry him too much.
Leon had his own plan for that.
The problem was... his plan consumed twice as much Mana as his first flying skill.
The consumption rate was outrageous.
If he kept using it carelessly, he’d be drained in minutes.
But Leon wasn’t stupid.
He’d modified the technique.
Now, instead of releasing Mana through all his pores, he would restrict it—using only a limited set.
That way, the force would be more focused, and the Mana loss—much smaller.
He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, feeling the burn in his limbs.
If he did not have the skill, he would probably be worried—but he had already thought everything through.
Although he hadn’t tested that theory yet, he was a hundred percent sure that it would work. And that kind of flying... to him, it looked familiar.
As if he had seen it somewhere before.
He couldn’t place the memory. Couldn’t remember the exact place or time. But deep inside, he was sure—that place wasn’t this world.
And that was why he got the idea in the first place...
As if it was a fragment of his memory— the very kind the Crystal had been talking about.
Just thinking about it made his mind drift back...
To the time he and the Crystal first met.
The confusing words it had said about things he had done, which Leon himself didn’t remember doing.
"Am I missing a part of my memories? Did I lose something I never even knew was gone? But why... why don’t I feel anything missing? Why do all my memories feel intact while my instincts scream otherwise?" Leon sighed, the thought weighing heavy on him.
Even now—he trusted his instincts.
If they said something was missing... then something was missing. There were no two ways about it.
That instinct—he now saw it as a life-saving skill.