The two walked through the forest. The numerous weak spirit beasts that made for cannon fodder in the outer perimeter of the dungeon were largely absent. This deep into the dungeon, John found that the fights had become significantly more difficult. Well, that had been the case before absorbing the gorilla’s power. After the hard won battle concluded, John's power had increased by more than half. Following his body having consolidated the vast power of the sub-boss, his bare strength was now enough to deal with most battles. Any beast he came across, was swiftly crushed with brute force. Instead of being reproachful, he now felt a growing love for the feeling of victory! Each time he would win, his power would grow in turn when and the ecstasy of the energy entering into him would momentarily overcome all else.

A lion sized dog with three heads entered into John’s aura field. Arther activated the aura technique and seemingly faded from the surroundings. He watched the battle between the dog and John feeling slight anxiety. He was not nervous that John might lose however. At this point John had become a certified and proven sub-boss with access to a now tested and versatile magic power. Only other sub-bosses this deep into the dungeon could even pose a threat now. The anxiety was due to how John’s desire to conquer the dungeon seemed to be growing the longer he stayed within it and seemingly reduced him to a rabid, battle hungry fighter no different from the spirit beasts that he was fighting. He knew from Vanessa, who just wouldn't stop bragging about her discoveries within academia, that the drives of spirit beast in a dungeon boiled down to two things. One, the more power they gained from battles won, the more they would search out for other victims to absorb. The second, would be the all consuming need to place themselves in the middle of the dungeon, where they can reap the rewards of becoming it’s dominator. These two goals would override reason in the spirit beast. When this happens, they would truly embody the name given to them by peasants and adventurers alike. Monsters.

The three headed dog was the first of it’s kind that John had seen in this world yet no time was taken to appreciate the novelty of it. Pouring spiritual power into his legs, his body jolted into a blindingly quick dash. Malice seeped from him and the dog flinched as it became aware of it’s impending doom. It turned to flee, and in that moment, John’s shadow wrapped fist pierced through its side. The spirit beast flailed uselessly as John shattered its heart from the inside without any hesitation.

The placid face John adopts in battle was contorted into one of pure delight. The three headed dog’s body dissolved into gray light and became fuel for the ever insatiable sub-boss that had defeated it. Arther knew that while in the dungeon, John would become more animalistic and driven by his newly innate instincts. Despite knowing in advance, he couldn’t help but be at the startling changes within John. While it was documented that removing a spirit beast from a dungeon would cause it to revert to its normal mental state after some time... he couldn't help but wonder if the same could be said for a mind as complicated as a human’s.

Still running off of battle lust, John ran deeper into the forest. While Arther was following closely behind, he was now cloaked. As far as John was concerned, his friend and soon to be mentor, was completely absent. He didn’t stop to wonder where Arther had gone and simply ran deeper into the dungeon searching for his next battle. Since his stamina and health was refueled after each defeat, John jumped from one target to the next. Any foe that was within his rapidly growing aura field, would become brutally dealt with before moving on to the next. It didn't take long for John to feel the presence of another sub-boss in his range. He could feel that it was close by and clenched his first with anticipation.

When he clashed with the bright green giant frog, he became more certain of his own strength. The frog, being a powerful sub-boss in it’s own right, utilized magic. It would spew corrosive saliva and also release a sleeping gas into the air. With a cloud of green fumes surrounding the beast, it should have been hard to dodge the bullet like corrosive spit projectiles. But it wasn’t.

Recognizing that although the frog was clearly equipped for long range attacks, it likely had little defense for close to mid range fighters like himself outside of the sleeping gas it secreted. John cleverly utilized his unique advantages, and called up the five shadow tendrils. His shadow bubbled up and shooting out fo it were four tendrils that shot forth and held down the giant frog with surprising strength. Aside from dodging it’s first few attacks during the brief period he spent feeling out it’s strength, John didn’t even have to move as he wielded the fifth tendril’s blade-like tip to pierce through the immobilized frog’s underbelly.

Although Arther was mildly worried by John's volatile mental state, he was mostly sure that there shouldn’t be any long lasting repercussions if he forcefully removed him from the dungeon... eventually, after he acquired just a bit more power.. In fact, he was starting to become ecstatic at the spirit-man’s progress. In a few short days, John had successfully dominated deep into the dungeon. After incrementally accruing power, he managed to defeat two sub-bosses, countless strong beasts, and effectively made himself a contender for the boss position. Currently, there were two more beacons placed by his party members to the east. Each beacon indicated s sub-bosses location and that they were trapped by the one time use aura suppressant tool.

Although Arthur had planned on leading John to defeat all of the sub-bosses before challenging the boss, that plan would have to be discarded. John had become irrational, driven by the greed for power that pushed forward all spirit beasts within the dungeon. It would be impossible to reason with John and Arther resigned himself to simply observe John's fascinating climb to the top. He smiled as he knew John would soon be confronting the boss and his heartbeat quickened with the anticipation thinking of how John would surely surprise him again, beating the odds. Arthur laughed to himself wondering how jealous Vanessa, a spirit beast researcher in the magic tower, would be of him now.