Pro Cave Explorer (1)

'Alright, System. Tell me something useful about these cave monsters before I get eaten.'

Lindarion's voice echoed through his mind as he trudged forward, forcing himself to focus on anything other than the suffocating abyss around him. 

If he let his mind wander too much, the silence would creep in, and then he'd start questioning his life choices. Again.

[Let's start with the basics. Monsters are categorized into the same ten tiers as affinities. Unlike affinities, however, monsters have sub-tiers within those categories.]

'Wait. Affinities are ranked in ten tiers too? You could've mentioned that earlier,' 

He grumbled, casually slicing a bat in half as it lunged at his face.

[2/100]

[As for these Dungeon monsters, they follow the same tiering system. A Tier 4 cave will generally contain Tier 3 to Tier 5 creatures.]

'Caves have tiers now? Are you telling me these so called dungeons have difficulty settings?'

Lindarion nearly tripped over a loose rock in the dark.

[Correct. These dungeons are also divided into ten tiers, with sub-tiers similar to Mana Cores.]

Lindarion exhaled through his nose.

'So basically… there are potentially thousands of different monsters in this world.'

[More. Tens of thousands, even. Who knows what lurks in the dark?]

'Oh, that's very reassuring. Thank you, System. Love the optimism.'

His Darkness Affinity flickered faintly in his palm, giving him just enough vision to move without breaking his neck, but not much else. He briefly considered using his Fire Affinity to make some light—

Then he remembered that mana wasn't free, and he might need it to fend off some creature lurking in the darkness.

'Alright, so what about these bats? What tier are they?'

[Tier 1, Low-Tier. Gloombats.]

'So, basically trash mobs. Great.'

Lindarion's sarcasm was cut short when his nose was violently assaulted by the most gut-wrenching stench he had ever encountered.

A putrid, metallic odor. Thick. Suffocating.

Wrong.

His stomach twisted.

"What the hell is that—"

Before he could finish, his body betrayed him.

He vomited.

Right there. On the cave floor. Like a weak-willed NPC.

[…]

"Disgusting…"

He wiped his mouth, grimacing as he forced himself forward. But the smell only got worse. His instincts screamed at him to turn back.

Then—light.

A faint glow flickered in the distance.

'Okay. This is either a trap or my paranoia acting up.'

As he approached, he realized the glow was coming from torches mounted along the cave walls. Their eerie light cast jagged shadows that danced like mocking specters.

'This is unsettling as hell.'

[Mana Perception]

Lindarion reached out with his senses, expecting to feel something.

Nothing.

An empty void. Like a graveyard abandoned by time itself.

'…Cool. Not ominous at all.'

At least now he could see. He followed the torch-lit path, his grip on his sword tightening as the stench of blood grew even thicker.

Then, he saw it.

A massive gate.

Slightly ajar.

And from within… the unbearable, overwhelming stench of death.

'Well, guess I'm walking straight into a fresh nightmare.'

Taking a deep breath. Lindarion pushed through the opening.

The moment he stepped inside, he regretted it.

His stomach twisted. His vision blurred. His body convulsed.

And then—

He vomited. Again.

"What the actual fu—"

The chamber before him was a slaughterhouse.

Twisted, mutilated corpses of adventurers lay sprawled across the ground, their bodies torn apart like ragdolls.

Monstrous remains were mixed in—a grotesque mess of guts, claws, and shattered bone.

The floor was slick with blood, forming dark, unholy patterns. Some of the stalagmites… were impaling bodies.

Water dripped from above, the sound echoing like a death knell.

Lindarion's hands trembled.

His breath came in ragged gasps.

'What the hell did this…?'

The world tilted. His vision swam. Every part of his body screamed at him to run.

But then—deep within his Mana Core—

Something stirred.

Darkness.

His affinity pulsed.

Then it moved.

"The fu—?!"

Shadows slithered from beneath his feet, stretching toward the monstrous corpses.

One by one, the bodies were swallowed by the abyss.

Gone. Devoured. Left as nothing but bare bones.

Lindarion gagged.

'Holy shit.'

He wiped his mouth again, looking at where the bodies used to be.

But the human corpses were untouched.

His affinity had only consumed the monsters.

'Okay. That's… weird.'

Before he could even process what just happened, his system bombarded him with notifications.

[3/100]

[25/100]

[78/100]

The numbers kept climbing.

[165/100]

[200/100]

Then—

[Quest Completed!]

Quest: Monster Slayer – Completed!

Rewards:

+1 Strength

+1 Intelligence

+1 Charisma

+1 Choosable Passive Skill

[Hidden Quest Completed! Extra Rewards Granted.]

Bonus Reward:

+1 Mystery Box

[Congratulations, Host. The Darkness's consumption contributed to the quest's completion.]

Lindarion's brain short-circuited.

'A hidden quest? A mystery box?'

He stared blankly at the notifications.

'The darkness counted as part of my kills??'

There were too many questions.

'Yeah. Not dealing with this right now. I'll check everything when I get out of here.'

Suppressing the urge to overthink, he turned his attention to the human corpses.

His stomach twisted again as he forced himself to step forward.

And then he noticed—

The bodies seemed fresh for some reason. No decay. No rot.

'That's… not normal.'

Cautiously, he knelt beside one of the fallen—a young woman impaled on a sword.

Her lifeless fingers clutched something.

A badge.

Lindarion's hand trembled as he pried it from her grip.

An insignia was etched into the metal.

One he didn't recognize.

'What… is this?'

His instincts screamed at him to keep it.

So he did.

Tucking the badge under his amor, he pressed forward, his mouth covered with a hand as he continued stepping over corpses like they were just another part of the scenery.

'This place is definitely cursed.'

The next chamber was different.

No blood. No bodies. No obvious signs of death.

But something felt wrong.

[Mana Perception]

His breath hitched.

Beneath the stone floor—mana surged.

Wild. Unstable. Barely restrained—like an ocean held back by a fragile dam.

His entire body tensed.

His instincts screamed at him.

Like something was sealed below.

'Well… there's no other way, huh?'

Lindarion sighed, staring down at the crack in the stone floor, where ominous wisps of mist coiled out like some bad omen. 

Every part of his instincts screamed bad idea, but at this point, he was getting used to ignoring those.

'Alright… whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.'

With that inspiring bit of self-delusion, he reeled his fist back, ready to smash through—

Only for the ground to betray him first.

"Wait—"

The stone crumbled like wet paper beneath his weight, and before he could even process what was happening, he was falling.

THUD.

"Ow. Ow. Ow."

Lindarion groaned, pushing himself up. Well, that wasn't too bad—aside from the everything hurting part. He rubbed his sore shoulder, blinking as he took in his new surroundings.

Pitch. Black. Barren. Creepy.

The cavern was massive, the silence so overwhelming that even the distant drip of water sounded unnaturally loud.

Stalactites loomed from above, casting jagged shadows, and the air? Thick. Musty. Heavy with something very bad.

That's when he felt it.

A presence.

Goosebumps prickled along his skin.

Lindarion didn't hesitate—he dashed backward, purely on survival instinct.

And that was when he saw it.

A figure.

Big. Humanoid. Wrong.

It stood motionless, draped in tattered black robes. Twisted, jagged horns curled from its skull like a demon straight out of a nightmare.

And its torso—

Half gone.

'Oh, that's nice. Real comforting.'

But despite being very clearly dead, the thing practically radiated death.

More importantly—Lindarion's eyes landed on what it was holding.

A book.

No, not just a book—a grimoire.

Completely black. No title. No markings. Just an overwhelming presence that screamed bad news.

The aura surrounding it was thick, dark, and so suffocating that it felt like even the cave itself wanted nothing to do with it.

'And I have to go near that, huh?'

He sighed, glancing past the corpse. The cavern stretched deeper, ending in another massive, ominous stone gate. His only way forward.

So, in summary he had two choices lingering in his mind.

'I either go back and pretend I never saw this, or approach the probably cursed book and hope for the best.'

Lindarion let out a deep sigh.

'Well… I've made worse decisions before, one of them was coming here.'

Carefully, he approached.

Each step felt like he was walking straight into his own grave, but hey—nothing ventured, nothing gained. His fingers hovered over the grimoire for a moment, then, with a deep breath—

He grabbed it.

And…

Nothing happened.

No explosion. No surge of dark energy. No whispers in his head promising ultimate power at the low price of his soul.

Just silence.

Lindarion blinked.

'Huh. That's… anticlimactic.'

Then, BEEP.

A piercing system notification rang through his skull so loudly that he nearly jumped out of his own damn skin.

[Host, the book has triggered Ouroboros's Mark. It's mental attack has failed.]

Lindarion froze.

Mental attack?

He slowly turned his head back to the book in his hands.

'…Was this thing just trying to brainwash me?'

He squinted at it.

It remained silent.

Suspicious.

His grip tightened around the cover, the weight of what just happened slowly settling in.

'Alright, well… guess I own an evil book now?'

Yup. Definitely one of his top three worst decisions ever.