The door to the boss chamber slid open, and the seal of the room broke as Ethan and Reyna stepped inside. The temperature of the room dropped instantly.
A thick mist was present in the room. Glowing red mana orbs were glowing brightly across the wall, it was casting bright red light across the massive chamber.
In front of their eyes, there was a massive platform and the one who was standing on it was the boss.
It was a massive wolf-like creature, almost the size of an oak tree. Its silver-gray fur was shining brightly, there were dark veins on its face. It had glowing golden eyes and some black markings on its neck that made it look like the runes had burned its skin.
"It's a big damn wolf," Reyna whispered to Ethan. "It looks young, it's a runt maybe. But don't underestimate it. That corruption probably gave him some nasty powers."
Ethan looked at it, his lips started to dry. He thought. 'What the fuck, that's not a normal world, that's a fucking descendant of Fenrir."
Ethan checked his mana bar—it was under fifty percent: he used most of it already while hunting down the shadow fangs.
The creature snarled, its glowing eyes were locked onto Reyna and Ethan. Then it dashed at them.
Reyna moved, her reflexes were quick. She raised her sword, she blocked the boss with a loud CLANG! It produced a lot of sparks.
Ethan ducked right, he whispered under his breath. 'I don't have a lot of moves but this will work for now.'
"Dark bind!" Tendrils of black magic started to come out of the floor, wrapping around the beast's legs and stopping its movement for a moment.
Reyna didn't waste even a single second. "Nice timing, Ethan."
She dashed forward and slammed her sword into the beast's side, the blood started to flow out of its body because of this heavy hit.
It howled in agony, it started breaking its bindings with raw strength.
Ethan focused on it again. "Shadow pulse."
A wave of dark mana hit the beach, it disrupted its balance which helped Reyna a lot.
Reyna followed up, she slashed one of the ribs of the boss. The beast screamed in pain. Blood fell on the stone floor.
"Now!" She shouted.
Ethan used the last bit of man's that was left and sent one blast of energy toward the chest of the beast. Reyna moved so fast that only her afterimages were left behind. She stroked down her sword, straight into the beast's skull.
The boss screamed one last time and then collapsed on the floor.
Silence fell into the room.
A soft beautiful blue light out from the boss's body which meant that the dungeon was now cleared.
[Boss Defeated: Shadowfang Pup – Mutated Fenris Bloodline]
[EXP Gained: 120]
[Mana Core Acquired: x2 Minor Dark Beast Cores]
[Bonus Loot: Rusted Knightblade (Uncommon), 3x Lesser Healing Potions]
Reyna started to walk toward the corpse of the boss, she crouched beside it and picked up a strange, glowing fang. "Nightglass shard." She said, slipping it into a porch that looked like a dimensional pocket. "It's rare. Hard to find outside, it's mostly from corrupted bloodlines like this."
Ethan exhaled slowly, still staring at the body of the dead beast. "Not bad for my first boss battle." He looked at Reyna. "It worked out because of you, Reyna."
"You didn't die, that's the best thing for a beginner." She said with a big smirk on her face. "Ya know, that's the first step to this journey."
He smiled at her back. "Thanks for boosting my confidence, Reyna."
He grabbed the potions and sword, he slid them into his inventory. His heart was still pounding because of the battle—but now it was not from fear anymore, it was because of the excitement. The excitement that he got by clearing his first dungeon.
For once, he wasn't a loser stuck behind a screen. He was alive, touching some GRASS, he had real strength.
The thought of this made his chest feel lighter. But then—
Suddenly a ding echoed in his mind. A golden screen popped up.
[New Side Quest Unlocked!]
[Quest: Break the Ice]
[Objective: Kiss Reyna Nightveil]
[Reward: ???]
[Note: Consent Required. Timing is Key.]
As he read the text which was in front of his eyes. He said to himself. 'You've got to be kidding me.'
He looked at Reyna, who had already put her sword back at her back and was stretching slightly.
She didn't look a bit like a romantic type of woman. She looked like someone who could punch you in your gut if you even tried to get close to her.
Ethan coughed awkwardly, trying very hard not to blush. "Uh… ready to head back already."
Reyna gave him a small nod. "Raj. Let's get your loot appraised and my relic registered. You did good in there, Rookie."
Ethan gave her a small smile. He thought. 'I did good, I never heard that from anyone in my whole life. Sigh.'
He looked at the system window again. 'Why do you want me to kiss her?'
He crossed his arms and sighed heavily. He stared at the quest window, heart started racing as he started to approach Reyna.