The next morning—or what passed for morning in the Core Dimension—broke with a slate-grey light filtering through the thick canopy.
Ren stood on the ridge, his breath misting in the chill air. Below him, in a crater-like depression, the Obsidian Iron Mine pulsed with a faint, rhythmic vibration. It looked like a gaping wound in the earth, surrounded by jagged black rocks.
He checked his stats after a night of grinding weaker mobs near the cabin.
**[Level 7]**
**[Strength: 42]**
**[Agility: 31]**
**[Physique: 40]**
He was becoming a force of nature. His muscles felt like coiled steel cables, and his skin had hardened, taking on a faint, leathery texture from his constant exposure to the ambient mana of the Core.
Ren crouched behind a moss-covered boulder. Thorne was beside him, barely visible even in the daylight. The Shadow Stalker's new fur was a perfect camouflage against the grey rocks.
"Report," Ren whispered.
"The Crabs are territorial," Thorne replied, his voice a low rasp. "They circle the mine entrance. There are six of them. Five guards... and one big one."
"I see it," Ren said, peering over the rock.
The biggest crab, easily the size of a compact car, was lounging on a flat obsidian slab near the mine entrance. Its shell was a jagged, volcanic black rock, glowing with veins of magma-orange. Its claws looked like hydraulic shears capable of snipping a man in half.
**[Monster: Magma Carapace Guardian]**
**[Level: 15]**
**[Threat: Lethal]**
Level 15.
Ren narrowed his eyes. The guards were Level 12. The Guardian was 15.
"Can you take the guards?" Ren asked.
"The shadows are thin here," Thorne muttered, looking at the exposed rocky ground. "I can kill two, maybe three, before the Guardian reacts. But then... I am slow without cover. The Guardian is fast in short bursts."
Ren looked at the mine. He needed that Iron. Not just for weapons, but for the *Smelting Manual* he would get from the trade deal. To upgrade the cabin into a Fortress, he needed high-grade structural materials.
"We need a distraction," Ren said.
He looked back toward the tree line, where Merrin and Elara were hiding with the supplies.
"Jace," Ren whispered into his communication amulet—a crude crystal Merrin had fashioned from spider silk and quartz.
"My Lord?" Jace's voice crackled, nervous.
"I need you to setup the 'glue traps' along the southern ridge. Don't get close. Just throw them."
"The... the jugs? My Lord, they are unstable."
"Just do it."
Ren turned back to Thorne. "I want the Guardian. You handle the guards."
Thorne's burning blue eyes widened. "My Lord, a Level 15... your defense—"
"I'll dodge," Ren cut him off. "The key is the legs. If it can't walk, it can't crush me."
Ren opened his inventory. He had prepared. He pulled out a vial of *Frost Toxin* Merrin had distilled from the glands of a Winter Frog they had found in a cave. It slowed reaction times.
"Merrin," Ren whispered. "Cover the approach."
A small clay pot flew out of the bushes from the south. It smashed onto the rocks in front of the mine.
*SPLASH.*
A cloud of pale blue gas erupted.
The Magma Carapace Guardian roared. It didn't like the cold. It stood up, its massive pincers clicking menacingly, and moved toward the source of the irritant.
"Go," Ren commanded.
Thorne vanished.
Ren sprinted down the slope, staying low.
The Guardian reached the gas cloud. It hesitated, then swiped its claw through it, dispersing the smoke.
That was the distraction.
Thorne materialized out of thin air on the back of the first Level 12 guard. His black chitin daggers flashed. *Snip-Snip.* The crab's legs were severed, and it collapsed, helpless.
The remaining four guards turned, scuttling toward Thorne.
Ren didn't look at them. He aimed straight for the Level 15 Guardian.
The beast saw him. It let out a hiss like escaping steam and charged.
It was fast—much faster than it looked. A boulder the size of a car came at Ren.
Ren planted his feet. *42 Strength.*
He didn't swing his axe. He used the handle like a battering ram, striking the underside of the Guardian's upward-swinging claw to deflect it.
*CLANG.*
The impact jarced Ren's teeth, his boots skidding backward in the scree. The Guardian recovered almost instantly, snapping its other claw at Ren's head.
Ren ducked—the claw sheared off a piece of the rock behind him, sending stone shrapnel flying. He lunged forward, inside the Guardian's guard.
He drove the axe blade into the joint between the claw and the body.
It was like hitting solid bedrock. sparks flew. The chipped axe blade held, burying an inch deep.
The Guardian shrieked and tried to shake him off.
Meanwhile, Thorne was a whirlwind of death. He had already killed two more guards, using their bodies as shields against the others. He was efficient, silent, and lethal.
"Ren! The legs!" Thorne shouted mentally through their bond—Ren didn't know how it worked, but the *Absolute Dominion* seemed to allow for basic telepathic impulses.
Ren looked at the Guardian's thick, pillar-like legs. They were covered in rock armor, but the joints glowed with magma-veins.
He dodged a crush, the shockwave rattling his bones. He was taking damage just from the air pressure. He needed to end this.
He pulled the Frost Toxin vial from his belt.
The Guardian lunged, mouth opening to spray molten spittle.
Ren threw the vial. Not at the face, but at the joint of the front right leg.
*SMASH.*
The glass shattered. The Frost Toxin splashed into the magma vein.
The Guardian shrieked—a sound of grinding tectonic plates. The liquid flash-froze on contact with the superheated blood, causing thermal shock. The rock armor on the leg cracked.
"Now," Ren roared.
He leaped. Not at the body, but at the cracked leg. He swung the axe with every ounce of his 42 Strength.
*CRACK.*
The leg shattered. The Guardian, weighing tons, crashed to the side, its balance destroyed.
Ren scrambled up its flank, running up the rocky shell as the beast flailed. He reached the top, near the head.
The Guardian's eye—a glowing orange gemstone—looked up at him.
"Mine," Ren growled.
He drove the axe down.
*SPLAT.*
The orange light went out. The Guardian convulsed once, spraying magma-blood across the ground, and went still.
Ren leaped off before the beast collapsed on top of him.
He hit the ground rolling, coming up with his axe ready.
Silence fell over the crater. The remaining guards—seeing their Alpha fall—did not run. They were simple creatures. They paused.
Thorne appeared beside Ren, his blades dripping with crab blood.
"Clean up," Ren ordered, pointing to the confused guards. "Leave me the big one."
Ren caught his breath. He felt the familiar surge of energy.
**[Target Defeated: Magma Carapace Guardian (Level 15)]**
**[Massive XP Gained]**
*Ding. Ding.*
**[Level Up!]**
**[Level Up!]**
**[Level Up!]**
Ren's body glowed. The exhaustion vanished. His bones creaked as they grew denser. His muscles swelled.
**[Level 8]**
**[Strength: 47]**
**[Agility: 36]**
**[Physique: 45]**
He looked at the loot.
The Guardian dissolved into a pile of glowing resources.
* **Magma Carapace (Rank S Material):** The shell itself.
* **Obsidian Iron Ore:** 500 Units.
* **Gemstone: Fire Heart (Tier 2 Magic Core).**
And the drops.
**[Drop: +3 Strength Points]**
**[Drop: +2 Physique Points]**
**[Drop: Skill Book: Heavy Strike]**
Ren absorbed the points. He felt nearly invincible now. 50 Strength. He could probably lift a truck.
"Jace, Elara, Merrin! Get down here!" Ren shouted.
They scrambled down the ridge, eyes wide at the size of the fallen monster.
"Elara," Ren pointed to the Mine Entrance. "Fortify it. Use the stones. Build a barricade that blocks the tunnel but allows us to get in."
"Yes, my Lord!"
"Merrin," Ren pointed to the Magma Carapace. "Process that shell. I need armor for Thorne. And for me."
"Already calculating the mixtures, my Lord! If I use the Spider Silk and the adhesive... I can create plate armor lighter than steel and tougher than diamond!"
Ren looked at the map. The fog had receded significantly. He had a foothold in the Silent Expanse. He had the mine. He had the materials for trade.
He looked at the timer.
**[Time Remaining: 26 Days, 12 Hours]**
He was ahead of schedule.
"My Lord," Thorne approached, wiping his blades. He looked at the mine entrance. "I sense... movement deep inside. Not monsters. Something else."
Ren frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Beating hearts," Thorne said. "But slow. Many. And... I smell humans."
Ren froze. Humans?
He walked to the mine entrance. The air coming out was hot, smelling of sulfur and iron.
He peered into the darkness. It went down deep, a spiral ramp into the earth.
"Jace," Ren said. "Guard the perimeter. No one enters."
"Yes, my Lord."
Ren looked at Thorne. "Come with me. If there are humans... they could be slaves. Or food. We find out."
Ren lit a torch, the flame flickering against the obsidian walls, and descended into the mine.
***