Dungeons are secluded places where only the strongest can survive. This is true for humans as well as monsters. Inside, dungeons monsters fight over the best places with the highest mana density, the best prey, and the most beneficial treasures. The monsters constantly fight and challenge each other. The strong will grow further and the weak will perish.

But in each dungeon exist one monster that surpasses all others, one beast stronger than all others. The apex predator of each dungeon is generally called a Boss. These monsters have conquered the place with the highest mana density in the entire dungeon and often live near the most valuable treasures.

Dungeon bosses are symbols of power and prestige, their cores a source of immense power and wealth.

As they silently made their way through the dark stone halls, Lena took a moment to inspect her core. The soothing orb of silver that always shone like a bright star wasn´t as brilliant as before. The shining orb had lost a lot of mana on the last day. It wasn´t like she was running on fumes, but her recent injuries had left a significant strain on her core. She could probably still explore the dungeon for a while without any major consequences, but Lena could already feel some side effects.

It was like a continuous sensation of weakness combined with much greater thirst for mana. Without the higher mana density inside the dungeon, she would probably feel much worse. She needed to refill her core soon. But she couldn´t just pop out a flask of concentrated mana and chug it down in front of Garro.

The big Beastmen may not be super suspicious or intelligent, but concentrated mana could be sensed easily. Even for people without high mana sensing abilities, concentrated mana was like a beacon to every living being. If she added the fact that she risked revealing her storage ring and needed to take off her mask to even drink it...

It was just too risky. Garro seemed to be a nice guy and she wasn´t going to make any mistakes that could lead to a fight. No, she would continue to follow the large Beastmen. They would find the boss, kill it, split the loot, and part ways. Then she could refill her core before making her way towards nightfall again.

"So. What kind of monsters did you encounter until now?" She asked the large warrior in front of her.

"Apart from small groups of the small metal reapers, only a large armored slime with acid. You?" He answered in a deep warm voice. It almost sounded like a deep growl whenever he spoke. She liked it.

"A few baby slimes, a few zombies, and a larger version of the metal reapers as you call them, only with giant metal spikes as arms and flashy metal magic. All in all this dungeon seems quite empty." She said. Even if it was normal to be covered in blood in a dungeon she didn´t want him to question the undead stench that came together with her blood. But he seemed to believe her and only nodded without further questions.

Together they pushed open another heavy stone door. The hall behind was empty.

"It has been cleared too often over the last years, the dungeons and its monsters didn´t have the time to breathe and grow again. Due to its multiple entrances and a relatively weak mana source this dungeon just isn´t able to really grow in power fast. Without being sealed for years it can´t regrow what has been harvested, monsters and resources alike."

His tone let her know that he wasn´t pleased by this.

"Normally this dungeon would be sealed by multiple tribes. In order to give the strongest warriors of each generation a chance to prove themselves in a grand trial every few years. But some tribes decided that too many warriors lost their lives and chose to send them in while the dungeon was still weakened by the previous trial." He let out an angry growl that echoed through the empty hall before he continued.

"Isn´t that against the concept of such a trial?" She asked. He only looked at her mask with a sad glint in his eyes.

"Over the years the dungeon didn´t have a chance to gain strengths again and the collected resources from the dungeon became less and less. Many tribes grew in numbers as they didn´t lose as many people to the dungeon as before, but they also became weak. Without powerful warriors forged by powerful foes, and without enough resources to supply their needs many tribes perished."

They both stood in front of a grey stone wall and looked at the carved pictures. Lena hadn´t really paid attention to them before, but now that she took a closer look she could see that many of the carved pictures showed large Beastmen with axes and swords fighting monsters and even each other. Some of the carved monsters were similar to the creatures she and Garro had met before. A sudden question came to her mind.

"You don´t seem to agree with the past event but nevertheless you try to prove yourself in a weakened dungeon. Couldn´t you wait until it grows in strength again? You're still young and you said that most other tribes have perished. What prevents you from waiting a few years and proving yourself against a fully grown dungeon?" Her words weren´t meant to be disrespectful or even accusing she was just curious. But Garro looked at the ground as if she had just kicked him in the nuts.

"I´m not here to prove myself but to provide my people with a better future." He clenched his furry fists.

"If I could I would wait decades in order to prove myself against a worthy dungeon but unfortunately the dungeon wónt grow back anymore. Two decades ago an enemy tribe cleared the weakened dungeon and broke the mana source. Since the dungeon doesn´t grow as before and the general mana density even declined." After a moment he spoke again, his eyes on the carvings.

"My goal is to retrieve what is left from the mana source." he finally admitted. He turned her wait and stared at her in panic as if he didn´t want to say that.

Lena stared at him in shock. He couldn´t see her expression but he must have seen the change in her stance.

"It is the only hope for my clan to survive." He finally said with a determined growl trying to justify what he had just said, and gripped his sword harder.

Lena didn´t know how to react, it was madness. He wanted to retrieve a mana source. A dungeon heart! He wanted to destroy this dungeon for the future of his tribe, but she couldn´t let him. Or could she?

Garrothon´ag felt the warm handle of his heavy sword in his hand as he looked down on the small warrior in front of him. Small in size only, because in terms of strengths she was clearly stronger than him. He could feel the cold power radiating from her small frame. He had never met someone like her.

Under the savage-looking black steel armor that almost seemed to be her second skin, and behind the elegant mask, lay a powerful warrior. The way she moved, the way she spoke, everything screamed dangerous predator and innocent girl at the same time. The first time he saw her she was standing there like a beast ready to pounce at him with sharp blades, but a few minutes later she casually walked beside him like a child. He even saw her stumble over a loose rock once.

Her young voice was soft and quite melodic at first, but if he listened properly he could hear a deep almost hollow ring in her voice. Like a constantly suppressed growl, almost impossible to hear without concentrating.

And now she just stood in front of him like a statue, not a single muscle was moving. He couldn´t even hear her breath.

He wasn´t sure if he could beat her. He wasn´t even sure why he told her his plan. All he wanted to explain was why the dungeon was how he was, but he had explained too much. His plan was to kill the boss with her help and then retrieve the core after she left. But he had said too much. Taking the core of a dungeon was blasphemy, complete madness, and utterly deadly. Not only was it forbidden and punished by death by every law or religion, but it was also extremely dangerous.

Dungeon cores were treasures of extreme power and often possessed a will on their own. To move one against his will was risky at best. But Garro didn´t have another choice. If he wanted to provide a future for his tribe he had to take this risk. Now his entire mission was endangered because of a small but perhaps deadly mistake.

The fact that he couldn´t see her face under the mask only increased his discomfort. He never knew if she was smiling or even looking at him. Lena followed him for less than a day and he knew nothing about her. Was she going to stop him? If she was part of a religion, like the Great Phoenix or the Church of Grace she would have attacked him already.

But Lena only stood there, unmoving, as if she was thinking about a way to convince him to quit his mission. Or perhaps she was just thinking about how she would kill him. After a tense minute, she finally spoke.

"Sure, if you're destroying this dungeon I can at least take whatever is left." She said in a joyful tone. With a casual turn, she made her way down the corridor, leaving him alone and confused behind.

Lena had been shocked at first about Garro´s plan. Taking the dungeon core, retrieving his main mana source meant the destruction of the dungeon. It was not only forbidden by law but also extremely dangerous.

In Eshen´s library, she had read about multiple cases of people stealing a dungeon core. All of them ended with death, either because they were caught or because the core killed them. But it was not unheard of that people tried. After all, dungeon hearts were extremely valuable.

These rare treasures created mana. It was possible to create powerful artifacts with them or even to create a completely new dungeon. She suspected that this was what Garro wanted to achieve.

The question was, what was she going to do? On one hand, it was dangerous and absolutely illegal. But on the other hand, she didn´t take the majority of the risk she would probably get lots of good stuff. The main point was, however, why would she care about what he did?

She didn´t know him and apparently, the dungeon was already dead. As soon as she looted whatever was guarded by the boss she would travel to Knightfall and probably never return here. There was no reason to make a fuss about it. After all, she was not the one committing the crime nor was she the one taking the risk. She smiled under her mask.

"Sure, if you're destroying this dungeon I can at least take whatever is left." She said.

It was time to kill this stupid Boss, and she had a feeling that they weren´t far away anymore. The mana density was rising.

After a few moments, she heard Garro behind her, and soon they both walked side by side through the dark corridors again.

"Why?" He asked after a while.

"Why what?" She gave him a quick glance as they made their way toward the boss. The mana density was slowly rising with each step.

"Why do you just go along with it? I know that many humans venerate dungeons and that they would do everything necessary to stop me. Even many of my clansmen were against it. Why do you just accept it like that?" She looked up at him. His expression was cute. His dark furrowed brows and the slightly crunched nose reminded her of a cat.

"I´m not religious and I simply don´t see a reason why I should care. You said it yourself, this dungeon is already dead. If taking the source can help your tribe why not take it. And if your taking the dungeon core that only means that I can take all the rest, right?" She said. She wanted to make sure that she would get as many resources as possible. It was only fair after all, he got a dungeon core.

"Humans really are greedy. But if it is all you want, why not, I´m only here for the core." He said.

"That has nothing to do with my race. We equally divide the gains, that´s all. Everyone does that. It's not my fault you´re taking the biggest treasure." Without further useless talking, they went deeper into the dungeon.

After another hour of empty corridors and halls, the surroundings began to change. The clear and dark stone around them began to show cracks and holes. The ceiling changed from a carved flat surface to a jagged mess with stalactites, loose rocks littered the floor and occasional metal ore glimmered on the rough walls.

The further they went the more strange glowing ores could be seen, each time they passed another piece of shimmering metal it lit up for a second. As neither of them used torches to see in the dark the occasional light made the jumpy. The walls almost seemed to be alive.

Soon they saw another door at the end of the corridor. But this one was much larger than the others.

"I think this should be the boss room." Garro said as if she hadn´t already known that. The door was clearly larger than the others, not as big as the dungeon entrance but still. And if that and the higher mana density weren´t enough of a hint, the two large metal reapers that guarded the door were.

The two creatures were identical to the one she had fought before. Big metal spikes, grey hide, and large poisonous teeth.

"Watch out for the poison and their magic. Without armor you're pretty vulnerable," she said. Garro let out a small grunt.

"Armor isn´t really appreciated in my tribe, but I will be careful. Anything else I should know about them?" He asked. The Large creatures hadn´t seen us yet.

"They're pretty resilient, I would advise going for the head. The one I killed was still able to attack even with both of my blades in his chest." Lena was still miffed at how the creature had surprised and injured her. She couldn´t let herself get injured again.

Even with the higher mana density around it was still not enough for her. Another injury could deplete her core faster than any of her magic. As soon as she parted ways with Garro she had to refill her core.

"I take the left you take the right." He said and Lena nodded. A second later she felt the mana rush through her body. Between the creatures and Lena were over a hundred meters of uneven cave ground. Stealth was no option. All that was left was to strike fast and hard.

After a few meters, the metal reapers noticed them. In unity, they raised their large metallic arms as they began to shine with grey energy. Hundreds of large metal spikes, shards, and literal boulders formed all around the large monsters. Within seconds a deadly rain of metal began to fly their way.

Lena already knew the attack and was prepared. She easily deflected the largest projectiles and let the others harmlessly bounce off her armor. She was about to look how Garro was dealing with the spell when a deafening roar echoed through the tunnel. A moment later she saw the giant Beastman running beside her on all fours.

His large form was covered in long fur crackling with some kind of energy. His hands and feet were large paws and deadly claws. She watched as he bounced towards the monsters, with each of his steps his long claws tore deep furrows in the cold stone floor. He completely ignored the constant rain of metal and Lena was about to try and help him when she saw why.

Most of the sharp metal projectiles harmlessly bounced off his fur, unable to pierce the thick hide. The few projectiles that managed to pierce his hide and wound him were no threat to him either, as the shallow wounds regenerated in an instant. Even the large metal boulders with sharp edges were simply shrugged off. He really is a Beast. She thought and smiled.

When she was only twenty meters away the two monsters realized that their tactic wasn´t enough and decided to attack directly. Much to her surprise, their bulky metal arms were slowly morphing. Just as she reached her designated target she was met with two large metal blades. Sparks flew as their blades clashed and Lena couldn´t do anything but laugh.

"You want to dual with me?" She laughed and watched her blades slice through the creature's side.

"I was trained by a master of dual blades, and you think just because you can form fancy blades you are a match for me?" She effortlessly evaded a wild swing from the creature before she tore through one of his legs

The monstrous creature fell and before his frame could hit the ground Lena decapitated him with a single motion of her sword.

After confirming that the creature was really dead she turned around and watched the fight between Garro and the other metal reaper. The Beastman was clearly dominating the fight but he wasn´t winning unscathed.

Lena watched him tear apart the creature's head with his long claws. Soon the creature was dead and Garro stood up. His entire body was covered in blood and a deep wound could be seen on his right side. His astonishing regeneration wasn´t active anymore and his fur and claws slowly grew back to normal. The energy that had surrounded his body before was gone.

"That was cool." She said, honestly impressed. She didn´t know Beastmen could do that.

"Yeah, it´s a talent all Beastmen have. It can provide different boosts for a short amount of time but has some mental drawbacks." he explained.

"Huh? It makes you go nuts?" she asked.

"No of course not! It makes it harder to discern friends from foes, and its..." He started, but Lena could only laugh. She had never seen an embarrassed Beastman, it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. It was as if someone had replaced the face of the most dangerous, blood-covered barbarian with the face of a cute cat.

But seeing the fierce look the warrior gave her she quickly stopped. It wasn´t nice to antagonize cute cats, especially those with sharp claws and a giant sword attached to their backs.

After a quick glance, she knew that these creatures wouldn´t form a core. Their mana already dissipated into the surroundings, she managed to absorb a large amount but it was far from enough. The drain on her core became weaker, but Lena knew that it wouldn't last long. The feeling of weakness would only grow again, the surrounding mana and the mana from the defeated monsters were only short-term relief.

She had finished the fight as fast as possible without using any skills or magic in order to conserve as much mana as possible, but how many more battles could she fight before she lost control? She had to refill her core soon, otherwise, she would regret it.

After a few minutes later were Garro confirmed to her that his injury wasn´t going to be a hindrance, they stood before the closed door of the boss. Lena´s first dungeon Boss: she never thought that she would fight one so soon. Dungeons were rare and their access restricted. It was her best chance to get good resources before she reached Knightfall.

With one last nod from Garro, they pushed open the heavy stone door.