Another fissure split open after the attack.
More black mist poured out.
As the air grew heavier. Breathing beca harder.
Eyes burned and hands trembled.
Yet their attacks only beca more violent.
A swordsman scread as he swung.
A rogue stabbed over and over, ignoring the way his hands shook.
A mage collapsed to one knee, forced himself back up soon, as he fired another spell with blood at the corner of his mouth.
Arthur watched quietly.
He understood what they were doing.
This was not just about escape anymore.
This was close to revenge.
Against the dungeon. Against the monsters. Against their own helplessness.
So he did not interfere.
Did not step in.
They needed this.
Instead, his attention shifted.
As a familiar translucent window slid into view.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
━━━ BOSS DEFEATED ━━━
✦ Target: Mutated Skeleton Overlord
✦ Classification: Pseudo E-Rank
━━━ BASE REWARD ━━━
• Base Intent Points: 25 IP
⟬ Modifiers Applied ⟭
→ Decisive Kill Bonus: 20%
→ Near-Death Combat Bonus: 30%
→ Higher Threat Target Bonus: 25%
→ Aligned Intent (Dominance / Execution): 25%
━━━ BONUS CALCULATION ━━━
Total Modifier: 100%
25 × 2.0
━━━ INTENT POINTS GAINED ━━━
✦ 50 IP ✦
⟬ System Acknowledgent ⟭
→ Sovereign authority validated against superior threat
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur’s eyes lingered on the numbers.
"Fair," he muttered.
Pseudo E rank. It wasn’t true E yet, and with ti it may have mutated even further.
But still was a tough fight regardless, as he imagined what other mutated dungeons would.
But he didn’t think about it too much as he continued glancing the interface. The modifiers... this breakdowns.
Near death.
Yeah, he couldn’t argue with that.
What caught his interest more was not the total.
It was the consistency.
The system paid attention, not just to his actions or flashy techniques.
His Intent.
How he fought, why he fought, what he committed to.
and It rewarded the that alignnt.
Soon another interface slid in smoothly as he willed.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
⟦ Intent Point Summary ⟧
• Previous Total: 13.3 IP
• Newly Acquired: 50 IP
━━━ CURRENT INTENT RESERVES ━━━
✦ Total Intent Points Available: 63.3 IP ✦
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur felt a quiet satisfaction settle in his chest.
Not from excitent or greed.
It was assurance. Intent Points were potential.
They were future upgrades. Future survival.
Every single one mattered and he was going to make it worth it.
Finally he closed the interface.
As he looked back at the seal.
It was close.
Chunks of the outer shell were falling off now, crashing onto the floor in jagged pieces.
The pulsing veins flickered erratically.
Cracks ran so deep that dim light could be seen through them.
The awakeners were past exhaustion.
But they kept swinging. Kept casting. Kept screaming.
Because stopping ant everything they had endured would be for nothing.
Arthur felt sothing stir inside his chest.
It was anticipation.
This was it. If they got out...
He would not be dragged into slums again.
Where he was powerless and had to starve, and beg for survival.
His new life would actually begin.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"I’m really doing this," he whispered.
Another explosion rocked the chamber.
The seal shrieked. With a sound like tal tearing.
CRRRRRRACK!!!.
A massive fracture split down its center.
Black mist blasted outward, thicker than before, but behind it...
A circular distortion began forming inside the cracked core.
Space twisted, and stretched. Then stabilized.
A portal.
Soone saw it first.
"There!"
Another person followed their gaze.
"The exit!"
Cheers erupted again, louder than before.
So people dropped where they stood, laughing and crying at the sa ti. This ti they were more assured.
Others forced their tired bodies to move, gathering whatever monster cores, weapons, or intact materials they could find.
Arthur walked toward the boss corpse.
No argunts, No disputes. As everyone knew who killed it.
He carved out what was left of the core.
Took several dense bone plates. And few more quality cores and weapon he could find around.
As he stored them with care.
Around him, the seal continued to deteriorate.
Chunks collapsed. And the portal widened.
Energy pulsed steadily now, stable enough to pass through now.
The awakeners slowly gathered near it. Their faces filthy. Clothes torn and eyes red.
But alive.
Arthur stood among them, looking at the swirling light.
A way ho.
As he tightened his grip on his dagger and waited.
anwhile on the outside, the dungeon gate pulsed.
Not violently, but wrong.
Dark veins crawled along the stone arch like infected roots, faint and twitching, disappearing and reappearing in irregular patterns. The air around it carried a sour tallic stench that clung to the back of the throat.
Anyone with even a little experience could tell.
Mutation.
"Sa pattern as the last one," a scout muttered, lowering his spyglass.
"Yeah," another replied. "Slow buildup. Seal’s probably already mutating inside."
A group of explorers stood in a loose semicircle around the dungeon entrance.
Dressed black and iron armor, with mixed weapons. And mana lights flickering softly along runes etched into their gear.
Grimwatch’s emblem, a split tower over crossed blades, marked their shoulders.
As they waited
Which, in this case, was worse.
A middle aged man stood at the front of the formation, arms folded behind his back. His hair was streaked with grey and a thin scar ran from the corner of his eye down to his jaw.
Captain Veylor.
Captain of the Bronze Squad of Grimwatch’s Third Combat Division.
Behind him stood two squads from his own division and one borrowed bronze squad from the Second Division.
A total of twenty three explorers.
Not many. And not impressive by large stronghold standards.
But just enough to hold a dungeon break.
Although barely.
Footsteps approached from the rear.
As another small group arrived, their armor scratched and dusty.
"They’re back," soone whispered.
The returning explorers were the ones who had originally discovered the mutation and sent word to Grimwatch.
They did not look relieved, neither did they look hopeful.
One of them stepped forward and saluted.
"Captain. Reinforcents were limited. The Second Division lent one squad. Fourth Division couldn’t spare anyone. They’re covering a spreading corruption near Silverfall Basin."
Veylor nodded slowly.
"Figures."
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