Arther had messaged the rest of the party to meet John and him in the dungeon’s center. As it might take awhile for them to arrive, they had some spare time to quantify John’s power after having defeated the dungeon boss. While the last reading categorized John as a middle tier D level spirit beast, that was countless kills ago. Even so, the spirit beast in the dungeon had been relatively weak as the quest for it had been cleared only days before Arther entered it. The dungeon hadn’t had time to reach C rank but the quantity of John’s battles was sure to increase his power by a good deal.

“Well, are you ready?” Arther asked while pulling out the bejeweled orb and glasses.

“Is a duck’s ass water tight?” John quipped.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, “Maybe, what’s a duck?”

John shrugged, “Never mind, Earth stuff I guess. They’re evil little fuckers, your planet’s better off without them. Go ahead, I'm ready.”

Arther put on the hot pink glasses and the jeweled orb glowed in response. John was once again covered in the tingly pink beam by the floating instrument that hummed while running its scan.

SCANNING. John. Slayder.... COMPLETE.

Arther nodded his head, “High tier D level spirit power! Based on power alone, you’re about equivalent to a high tier Initial level fighter. That's enough to take the Adventurer exam. However... Spirit beasts are normally able to greatly overpower adventurers with equivalent spirit energy so it would likely take a small party of initial level fighters to take you down. Like a spirit beast, you might be able to jump ranks and take out a low tier Intermediate level fighter! Honestly, once you become an adventurer... you’ll truly be a monster at your rank.”

“That’s amazing! I’ve only been in this world for a few days and I'm already a full fledged power house!” John comically flexed his arms with mock bravado but was inwardly surprised to see there was actually some muscle there. “Hahah, I guess I'm pretty tough looking now as well.”

“John, it hasn’t been a few days... you’ve been fighting here for almost a month. The raging state you were in must have altered your perception of time passing.”

“Huh, it really has been a month then? Near the outskirts of the dungeon, I felt pretty clear headed. As I got closer to the dungeon, I felt a growing need to conquer everything and claim the core. It was like an all consuming greed that... was honestly pretty exhilarating. Near the end, I barely remember more than the rush of adrenaline and battle lust.”

“I suppose that makes sense. You have the physiology of a spirit beast. Normally, the closer one gets to the core, the more deranged they become. But, why are you fine now?” Arther asked.

“Oh, that's simple. I already absorbed the core's divine energy. The call of the spiritual energy is alluring, but unlike the dumb spirit beasts, I’m able to resist it. It was the real good stuff that drove me practically to that state!”

John heard a gasp in surprise, “Divine energy!!!”

John turned to see that Vanessa, with her fiery red hair, stood there with eyes wide open in surprise. “You’re telling me you absorbed divine energy!? That’s something the gods do, and you are” she paused to look him up and down. John was covered in dirt and grime. His pants were in shambles while his shirt was merely a few tattered pieces of fabric held together by gods know what. “CLEARLY not a god”.

“While I don’t appreciate the subtle attack on my ego, you’re right. I’m not a god and I’m not a Spirit-man either. I’m a- well let's wait until everyone gets here so I don't have to explain everything more than once.”

Arther quietly laughed as Vanessa muttered in frustration about divine power and scientific revelations along with a few choice curses. John was mildly surprised when an intruder entered the clearing that was the dungeons center, but this was his dungeon now.

“Need any help John?” Arther asked.

Confidently, John responded “I got this... although it’s almost too cute to take down, what can I do?”

Arther nodded in agreement as the ten foot tall panda came into view. Unlike the other spirit beasts John had seen, it looked fairly normal. That is, if you ignore its massive size. The burly panda roared and pounded the ground in challenge. When its eyes glowed red, it was safe to assume that it was a sub-boss capable of magic that had come to challenge the newly appointed dungeon boss. Unfortunately for it, the new boss of Aerlohrn Forest Dungeon was John.

The panda charged at John like a pro athlete, which was a bit off putting due to it looking like an oversized teddy bear. As it ran, its body burst into flames. The panda swung at John, who nimbly avoided the strike. After missing its second attack, the panda grew frustrated when John stepped back out of its range. John snickered just before the panda breathed out a concentrated pillar of fire at him.

“Dam, you're pretty hot tempered aren't you?” John said with a wide smile, dodging the flame attack with ease.

Vanessa groaned at John's wordplay and rolled her eyes at her party leader who was loudly giggling beside her.

“Of course! He’s a second Arther” she said.

John successfully avoided the firebreath, yet was surprised by the heat it had put off. Dungeon Boss or not, he’d have to avoid getting hit by that attack if he didn’t want to become a well-done Apostle.

“What do you think you are, a dragon?” He called out to the panda. “I’m pretty sure dragons are meant to be a bit more... well intimidating! You look like an overstuffed toy from a build-a-bear workshop.”

Whether the bear could understand him or not, it seemed to pick up on the fact it was being berated. The flames, that were previously coating its fur, seemed to grow more wild in response to its rage. The panda charged once again, but fell flatly on its face with a loud THUD!!

John had summoned a shadow tendril and used it to trip the challenging spirit beast. The panda quickly recovered. It got up and prepared to charge, but hesitated. John called forth all five of the tendrils and as they coiled out from mere shadow and took on form, it made for a fairly ominous sight. In the panda’s short moment of surprise, John struck out! The panda wasn’t able to avoid the fatal attack and all five tendrils pierced through its abdomen. As the panda’s flames sputtered out, it let out a soft whimper. The gaze in the eyes of the panda changed from anger to that of a hollow look. Its massive body dissolved into a bright fire red light that was quickly absorbed into John.

Arthur yelled out “At least no one can say that the big guy didn’t have a fiery personality!”

Vanessa punched Arther in the arm.

“Hey! Just because you have red hair, doesn't mean you can be so hot headed!” he retorted, while rubbing his shoulder.

Vannessa kicked him in the shin.