Four cloaked individuals stood in a smooth-chiseled corridor when an unnatural alley diverged from the main path. The Iscar Dungeon had been mapped, and this alley was new. Even more alarming was the pile of discarded gear. There was no blood. There were no signs of struggle, no marks on the walls or floor. The only thing that stood out to all of them was the pile of white grains that looked like salt.

"This was most certainly the lair of the thing we are looking for," Rium said. "Maybe it is a mimic?"

Alessa crouched down to get a closer look at the alley and the pile of gear. "It seems to attract adventurers. But even mimic-class monsters leave behind some remains. There is no blood. No bones. No hair."

"A slime then?" One of the two trainees asked.

"A calamity rank slime?" Rium asked and then shook his head. "No, even they leave behind remains. They can't fully digest bones and leave behind a sort of ooze."

Alessa looked at the salt and pondered. "Why salt?"

Rium shrugged. "It is quite odd. Do you have a theory?"

"I don't come up with theories," Alessa said. "I slay them."

Rium sighed.

"If this is the doing of a Calamity, it is most likely of a unique type. It could be anything. We won't know until we see it," Alessa said.

"Should we ambush it here?" Rium asked.

Alessa shook her head. "No. I don't think it will return here. This place is too exposed. On second thought, I don't think it was actively trying to attract adventurers. I think they simply stumbled upon it."

Rium nodded. "You are the boss."

The creature took a particular interest in studying the reactions of slimes whenever it revealed itself to them. They could not detect anything but heat, or so it seemed. However, in the many hours it spent prowling this part of the strange "facility" it was in, it did come across one type that seemed to be somewhat aware of it.

Furthermore, what confused the creature was the fact that these slimes seemingly had no natural weapons, yet still considered themselves predators. However, throughout the dungeon the creature noticed piles of bones that were the handiwork of these slimes. Upon analysis, the creature found the bones to be slightly eroded by acid.

Once killed, the slimes left behind nothing but a puddle of acid. Because the creature did not have profound general knowledge, it did not seem that suspicious to it that a ball of slime could have a will, or even something that resembled autonomy.

Coming upon another member of the Slime family, the creature leisurely approached and did not reveal itself this time. The moment it was within striking range, the creature speared the unaware slime.

Critical Strike!

You have unlocked the Assassination skill group.

As an individual with a tactical preference on maintaining advantage, you can utilize the shadows to remain hidden. Your attacks against targets who are unaware of your presence inflict critical strikes of higher severity.

The slime instantly lost cohesion and with a hiss, began eating away at the floor. However, the creature's leg did not react with the acid at all. Things such as liquids, or even dust and dirt, would not stick to the creature's surface. Its body was an almost perfect pitch-black and extremely smooth. In fact, if the surface of the creature's body were to be increased in scale to be the size of the world's surface, the tallest mountain would measure only a few centimeters.

For the most part, the creature did not think too hard about unlocking the Assassination skill group. As far as it was concerned, that update came from the Education Protocol. Although the fact that this update did not seem to originate from within its circuits did raise the creature's suspicion, but was quickly dismissed as simply an error.

The creature pressed on, moving through the corridors. Most of the chambers were empty, and the few that weren't contained slimes. However, the creature was not interested in slimes anymore. Their acid was not useful to the creature at all. What the creature desired the most was metals. Palladium, Beryllium, Iridium, just to name a few. Even the more common metals were useful to it, such as iron or copper. But no matter how hard the creature looked, it could not even find traces of those elements within the walls of the dungeon. It had no choice but to continue looking. Deeper.

Danger. You have entered a boss area.

Every chamber the creature had been in was a variation of the same themes. Some were ordinary square rooms, others were grottos. But this one stood out because it was an ornate room and well-lit by torch sconces mounted on the walls.

In the center of the room was a tall, bipedal creature with two horns. In its right hand, it held an axe, and in its left hand it held a chain attached to a wolf's collar.

Jotaur

Type: Taur

Evolution Pattern: Highland Taur

The wolf growled at the creature as it entered the chamber, and the Jotaur turned around to face it. Even though the flames from the torch reflected on the Jotaur's axe, there was no such reflection on the creature's metallic skin.

The creature approached, carrying itself with an imperious air. Like a conqueror, it strode forward, as if inviting an attack. It did not lower its stance like it would usually do when attacking or defending. It was as if the Jotaur and wolf were beneath its notice.

This angered the Jotaur and it roared, stepping forward to meet the creature's challenge. Or perhaps, to challenge the creature who didn't seem interested in fighting them. This was the Jotaur's arena. It was here to be challenged, not to be the one doing the challenging!

Almost immediately, the anger and indignity caused the Jotaur to become frenzied, and its brown skin became bright red. Even the tuft of fur around the Jotaur's neck and shoulders became a darker shade of red.

The creature stopped in front of the Jotaur and then rose to its full height. Even so, the creature only reached up to the Jotaur's chest, but its display of defiance did not miss its mark.

The wolf whimpered, and prostrated itself before the creature. Wolves were intelligent creatures, their keen senses could distinguish important characteristics that most other creatures could not. Jotaurs, on the other hand, were dumber than nails.

The Jotaur's bloodshot eyes narrowed at the creature and it roared once more. Its spit struck the creature's skin and rolled off, as it had nothing to adhere to. Then the Jotaur lifted his massive battleaxe and swung down at the creature.

Your natural physique reduced the damage to 0.

You become more proficient with Supernatural Durability

Your skin becomes harder.

Upon impact, the axe exploded into a thousand little fragments, falling all over the room like stars snatched out of the sky. The chains rattled as the wolf frantically tried to flee.

The Jotaur looked at the handle in his hand, which was all that remained of his axe, and his expression was a mix of confusion and fear.

"What is name, challenger?" The Jotaur asked.

The creature raised its tail. "Halas," it emitted through its sonic weapon battery, and the sound was so loud it blasted away the glimmering fragments of the Jotaur's axe.

"This one will remember," the Jotaur said.

Halas slashed its tail across the Jotaur's chest, cutting him in half.

You are now level 2.

Your attributes have increased.