Fionn quickly arrived in front of the swamp after following the route indicated on the map.

The swamp does not have a specific name, but it is commonly referred to as the Gloomy swamp. The reason for this name is that the area of the swamp reeks of rot and decay, and a poisonous miasma lingered above the swamp all year, causing all living creatures to avoid it.

"Ahh! This odour is revolting! It's no surprise that no one has killed the monster here in three years "Fionn groaned, his head spinning from the foul odour emanating from the swamp.

"Let's just not complain too much; the presence of a monster in this forest is a blessing for me in my tight schedule," Fionn reasoned, trying to console himself.

Other reasons Fionn chose this monster were his immunity to poison and the fact that, unlike other magical creatures that he might have to track down, this monster would undoubtedly be in the location depicted on the map. Monsters have the distinct characteristic of remaining in the location of their birth unless they find a better place to live than where they were born. The reason for such behaviour is that, unlike beasts and other preditory races, which can rank up by consuming prey and relying on their bloodline, Monsters must tune their resonance with their innate elements better in order to rank up. And what better place to achieve that goal than their birthplace.

"Let's prepare thoroughly first before entering the swamp," Fionn thought, enduring the horrible smell. Lifting his hands, he attempted to summon his avatar but failed; not giving up, he tried a few more times but failed each time. His body felt like a car with an empty fuel tank, unable to function as it should. Feeling dejected, Fionn sighed, waved his hands, and took a vial of mana potion and a spell scroll from his spatial ring. Both of them were items that he exchanged during the exam but was unable to use.

Fionn felt 100 times better after drinking the mana potion, as his body's strength returned and his mana reserves were replenished. Stopping the sun mark on his head from consuming the mana forcefully, Fionn attempted to summon his AWM avatar once more. This time, the avatar materialised smoothly in his hand as the dark element mana burst out of his body. But, as his most gluttonous avatar, it begin devouring the limited mana in his body as soon as it appeared. Not wasting any more time, he activated the spell scroll and dashed into the swamp.

As the Superspeed spell activated Fionn felt his body become as light as a feather; with half the effort, he can now travel three times the distance.

Not even looking left or right Fionn wildly dashed into the swamp, he is unconcerned about being ambushed or surrounded because he knows that monsters are extremely territorial and solitary creatures. They kill any intruders as well as any monsters that are born in their territory after them.

Fionn continued to enter the swap unhindered because he was immune to poison. The poisonous miasma was not as thick inside as it was outside, making everything more perceptible. Upon noticing this change, Fionn sighed with relief because he didn't want to use his scope's ability. Looking around, he noticed algae-covered trees everywhere; their density was quite high, with them occupying the majority of the swamp. The swamp's water was pitch black like tar and looked like a mash-up of thousands of decaying corpses. The swamp's water was also the source of the poisonous miasma, which rose from it like vapour from hot water. Various bones and skeletons of unknown creatures were floating in the swamp water like vegetables in a bowl of soup, making the scene even more terrifying. The entire swamp was deafeningly quiet, not even the sound of insects could be heard.

ROOOOAARR!

As Fionn was looking around, the swamp waters beneath him suddenly began to roil violently, and a head emerged, letting out a deafening roar.

The head was also entirely made of black gooey swamp water and resembled a humanoid with deformed facial features. Following the head, the body of the monster appeared, which was also made of swamp rot and decay.

"Damn! I'm more likely to die from this stick than from this monster "Fionn cursed because of the sudden increase in stink caused by the appearance of the monster.