During the battle, he had deliberately controlled his attacks, avoiding damage to valuable parts whenever possible. Even while fighting, profit had remained in his mind.
Efficiency in combat.
Efficiency in reward.
That was Arthur’s style.
When he finally finished, the camp looked strangely clean.
The chaos of battle remained, but everything valuable had vanished.
Only bodies and destruction were left behind.
Arthur stood at the center of the silent camp.
He could feel it.
The disturbance he caused.
Sensitive explorers would notice soon. And his exploring teams could already be moving in this direction.
But most importantly, ti was running.
He wiped his hands, adjusted his dagger, and prepared to leave.
Still, before stepping away, he turned back.
He stared at the scene one last ti.
The slaughter. The silence. The proof of his strength.
A satisfied smile ford on his lips.
"This... was worth it."
Then he moved.
Intent Step activated.
His body surged forward, gliding across the dungeon path like a shadow. The air bent slightly around him, his presence sharp and focused.
His next destination already decided.
Behind him, the goblin camp remained as a quiet testant to what had happened there.
From the goblins’ perspective, the battle had never been fair.
A predator had entered their territory. And they had simply been prey.
Arthur had just left the camp.
And not long after, two groups of explorers arrived.
They walked in carefully, weapons ready, senses alert. At first they expected resistance, maybe a few scattered goblins.
But what they saw made them stop.
Bodies.
Everywhere.
A full goblin camp wiped out.
Fresh blood still soaked the ground, and the air carried the lingering heat of battle.
One of the explorers crouched beside a corpse and touched the wound. "Still warm..."
Another scanned the surroundings, eyes sharp. "This wasn’t long ago."
They moved deeper into the camp, examining everything.
The signs were strange.
No scattered footprints of a group battle. No chaotic struggle. No signs of prolonged resistance.
The fight had been controlled. Clean and efficient.
An explorer frowned as he studied the ground. "One person," he said slowly.
Soone beside him blinked. "One?"
He pointed at the tracks. "Single movent pattern. No overlapping paths. No formation marks."
Silence fell.
Then they began inspecting the corpses more closely.
The cores were gone.
Not roughly taken, but carefully removed. Clean cuts. Precise extraction. Valuable parts stripped away while useless scraps were left behind.
Even weapons and armor of value were missing.
Only damaged pieces remained.
One of them clicked his tongue and picked up a cracked blade. "The person even sorted the loot."
"Greedy bastard," another muttered, though there was clear respect in his voice.
They still gathered what remained. Even damaged materials counted as spoils. Nothing in a dungeon truly went to waste.
But their real concern wasn’t the looting.
It was the camp itself.
A goblin camp... in a dungeon that had already been cleared.
One of them spoke quietly. "You felt it too, right?"
"The mana?"
"Yeah. Tainted."
They had sensed it on their way here. Sothing heavy in the air, sothing unstable, like corrupted energy leaking into the surroundings.
The conclusion was obvious.
Mutation.
The dungeon was changing. As they exchanged looks.
Fear surfaced briefly, but practicality replaced it just as fast.
"It’s early stage," their leader said after a mont. "The mutation just started. If we clear the respawned monsters quickly, we’ll be safe."
"And the loot," soone added.
A few nodded.
Danger existed, but so did opportunity. If goblin camps were forming again, there would be more resources, more rewards.
They would just have to move fast.
Still, protocol mattered.
"We report this to the mission leader Kael," the leader continued. "Take note of everything."
Everyone silently morized the scene. The corpses. The mana density. The structure of the camp.
But another thought lingered in their minds.
Soone else was already moving ahead of them.
Soone strong.
Soone fast.
Soone taking everything.
Their expressions hardened.
"If more camps exist, we can’t let him claim them all."
"Agreed."
They finished collecting what remained and quickly moved out, following the faint traces left behind.
They refused to be outdone this easily.
But they weren’t the only ones noticing the change.
Elsewhere in the dungeon, another group had taken a different route.
Luck guided them to sothing unexpected.
A smaller goblin camp.
The explorers stood hidden behind rocky cover, staring at the crude structures in disbelief.
"Wasn’t this area cleared yesterday?"
"It was."
"Then why is there a camp again?"
The goblins moved inside the area, patrolling, guarding supplies, behaving like a fully established group.
The air around them felt heavy with strange mana.
Uneasy murmurs spread among the explorers.
Soone suggested calling reinforcents.
Soone else suggested retreat.
But then a tall young man stepped forward.
Kael.
He studied the camp quietly, arms folded, gaze steady.
"Dungeon mutation," he said calmly.
The others looked at him.
He continued, voice firm. "Respawn speed has increased. Monster behavior is stabilizing faster. That ans the dungeon is trying to rebuild."
One of the younger explorers swallowed. "Isn’t that dangerous?"
Kael nodded.
"Yes. But it’s also an opportunity."
As they gathered around him as he began outlining a plan.
They discussed everything.
Enemy numbers.
Goblin types.
Entry routes.
And lastly, Retreat paths. If it was too much for them to handle
"If camps are forming again," one explorer said, "our mission changes. We’re not just clearing leftovers anymore."
"We’re stabilizing the dungeon," another added.
Kael listened, then spoke.
"We move fast. Clear what we can. Reclaim resources. But safety cos first."
His tone was calm but carried authority.
"I’m responsible for your lives. If anything exceeds our limit, we retreat imdiately."
No one argued. As they trusted him.
Still, excitent spread through the group.
A mutating dungeon ant more monsters.
More monsters ant more rewards.
Blessing or curse.
Maybe both.
Preparation was quick but organized.
A shield user took the front.
Two lee fighters positioned behind him.
Ranged attackers spread to the sides.
And a support mage prepared reinforcent spells.
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