Once Kyle entered the dungeon, the scene around him quickly stabilized.
Blackstone Mine looked exactly like its name suggested.
Black-gray rock walls stretched in every direction.
Mining lamps had been fixed to the stone at regular intervals overhead, though most had long since gone dark.
Only a handful remained lit, casting dim yellow light across the tunnel.
The air was damp and cold.
Water continuously seeped through cracks in the stone beneath his feet.
But none of that was what caught Kyle’s attention.
It was the smell of blood.
He had noticed it from the moment he entered.
The scent was strong, and it didn’t seem to be coming from any particular direction.
Instead, it felt as though it had been lingering throughout the entire mine for quite some time.
Kyle didn’t immediately move forward.
He first examined his surroundings.
A heavy iron gate stood in front of him.
Its surface was covered in claw marks and dents from repeated impacts.
Rust had spread across several sections, suggesting that the gate had been here for a very long time.
And behind it— a goblin over two meters tall was staring directly at him.
It had clearly noticed Kyle.
But the dungeon had not officially begun yet, and the iron gate still separated them.
All the creature could do was remain on the other side, growling deeply as it repeatedly slammed its massive iron hammer against the ground.
The moment the gate opened, the fight would begin.
Kyle was in no hurry.
He first cast Detection on the goblin.
A panel appeared before him.
[Goblin Mine Guard] [Type: Enhanced Elite Monster] [Level: 14] [Strength: 850] [Agility: 450] [Spirit: 250] [Constitution: 1,500] [Skill: Stunning Smash] Kyle carefully read through the information.
As expected of an Enhanced Elite Monster from Nightmare difficulty.
Its attributes were far beyond those of the ordinary goblins outside.
The most noticeable was its 1,500 Constitution.
It was clearly the type of monster built around high defense and high health.
The academy had specifically covered the difference between dungeon monsters and wild monsters.
Even an ordinary Level 14 knight with relatively high Constitution growth would usually have only three to four hundred Constitution without equipment or skill bonuses.
The Goblin Mine Guard in front of him had 1,500.
That single attribute alone was several times higher than what an ordinary class holder of the same level would possess.
No wonder so few people entered Nightmare difficulty alone.
For an ordinary class holder, simply surviving a direct confrontation with an Enhanced Elite Monster like this would already be difficult.
Actually killing something with that much Constitution would be even harder.
However— Kyle didn’t spend much time thinking about its attributes.
Compared to his Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors, those numbers still weren’t particularly impressive.
Each Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior currently had 3,500 points in all four attributes.
Strength.
Agility.
Spirit.
Constitution.
Every one of them far exceeded the Goblin Mine Guard.
What Kyle cared about was something else.
He looked at the goblin’s face.
Under the dim mining lamps, its skin was an unnatural shade of dark green.
And around its right eye— several thin black lines were clearly visible.
There they were.
The same marks.
And they were more obvious than the ones he’d seen on the goblins outside the forest.
Kyle didn’t open the gate yet.
He continued observing.
The black lines stretched from the corner of the goblin’s eye toward its temple.
The darkest one had almost reached its ear.
As the creature breathed heavily, the marks even seemed to pulse faintly beneath its skin.
Yet Detection showed nothing about them.
Its level hadn’t changed.
Its attributes showed no abnormal increase.
Even its name remained the ordinary [Goblin Mine Guard].
Kyle watched for a few more seconds before turning his attention back to the coming fight.
If Detection couldn’t identify the problem, he would see whether anything unusual happened during actual combat.
With a thought, his summoning space opened.
A blue-gray figure appeared beside him.
Then a second.
A third.
A fourth…
Before long, all eight Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors had been summoned.
Kyle didn’t bring out the remaining forty Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors.
There wasn’t much room inside the mine.
Too many summons would only get in one another’s way.
Besides, there was no reason to deploy his entire force against a single Level 14 Enhanced Elite Monster.
Eight Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors were more than enough.
As they appeared, a noticeable chill spread through the previously spacious entrance chamber.
Pair after pair of soul flames stared toward the creature behind the gate.
The Goblin Mine Guard, which had been roaring and pounding its hammer against the ground, seemed to sense something.
Its movements visibly slowed for a moment.
Kyle walked up to the iron gate.
He wrapped one hand around the cold metal handle and slowly pulled.
Creeeeak— The harsh grinding of metal echoed through the mine.
The instant the opening became wide enough to pass through, the Goblin Mine Guard finally saw its chance.
“ROAR!” Its body, more than two meters tall, surged forward.
The massive iron hammer rose above its head.
Its thick legs pounded against the stone floor, every step producing a heavy impact.
It wasn’t particularly fast.
But the pressure of something that large charging straight at him was obvious.
If an ordinary Level 14 class holder had been standing here, their first instinct would probably have been to dodge.
Kyle didn’t move.
The two Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors at the front had already stepped forward.
The Goblin Mine Guard had barely passed through the gate when the first skeleton advanced.
Its long blade swept upward diagonally.
CLANG!
Blade and hammer collided.
The heavy metallic crash exploded through the narrow tunnel.
The Goblin Mine Guard’s forward momentum stopped abruptly.
It clearly hadn’t expected such tremendous strength from a skeleton that wasn’t even particularly large.
At the moment of impact, the Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior’s upper body merely shifted slightly.
The goblin’s arms, however, were thrown backward along with its hammer.
The second Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior was already closing in from the side.
Its blade swept horizontally.
Slash!
The thick leather armor tore open.
The blade cut deeply across the Goblin Mine Guard’s waist, and dark red blood immediately began running down its side.
The goblin roared in pain and spun around, swinging its hammer.
But it had only 450 Agility.
The Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior had 3,500.
The difference was simply too large.
The hammer hadn’t even completed half its swing before the skeleton that had attacked was already retreating.
Another Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior immediately moved in from the right.
Its blade fell.
Thud!
The leather armor covering the goblin’s shoulder split apart.
The sheer force behind the strike drove its entire body downward.
After being struck repeatedly, the Goblin Mine Guard finally seemed to enter a complete rage.
Its hands tightened around the hammer.
A layer of dark yellow light appeared across the weapon.
[Stunning Smash]!
Kyle recognized the skill immediately.
The Goblin Mine Guard roared and raised its hammer, preparing to bring it down on the nearest Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior.
But the instant its weapon rose— the third skeleton attacked from behind.
No skill.
Just an ordinary strike.
BANG!
The blade smashed into the Goblin Mine Guard’s back.
The tremendous force knocked it off balance before it could complete its attack.
It stumbled forward two steps.
The hammer came down in the wrong direction.
BOOM!
It smashed into the stone floor.
Rock fragments scattered in every direction.
A web of cracks immediately spread across the ground.
Kyle glanced at the damage.
The power wasn’t weak.
If that had landed directly on an ordinary Level 14 class holder, combined with the control effect of [Stunning Smash], the result wouldn’t have been pleasant.
The problem was— it couldn’t hit them.
The difference between 3,500 Agility and 450 Agility wasn’t something a single attack skill could make up for.
Kyle didn’t order all eight Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors to attack.
Doing that would end the fight faster.
But it wouldn’t tell him whether there was anything unusual about this goblin.
Only three skeleton warriors participated from beginning to end.
The remaining five stood nearby without moving.
Even so, the Goblin Mine Guard was already struggling.
More and more wounds covered its body.
Its thick leather armor had been almost completely torn apart, and blood continued running down its body.
Then Kyle suddenly noticed something.
“Stop.” The three Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors immediately withdrew their blades and stepped back.
The Goblin Mine Guard didn’t pursue them.
It remained where it was, chest rising and falling as rough breaths escaped its mouth.
Kyle’s attention settled on the area around its right eye.
The black lines— were increasing.
The marks that had previously stopped around its temple were now spreading down its cheek.
One.
Two.
More and more.
Similar black lines were even beginning to appear around the veins in its neck.
Kyle narrowed his eyes slightly.
So there really was something wrong.
The more heavily injured the goblin became, the more active the black markings seemed to grow.
Then— the Goblin Mine Guard suddenly raised its head.
Its eyes, originally dark yellow, had somehow become almost completely covered in black.
“ROOOAR—!” A deeper growl than before echoed through the mine.
It tightened its grip on the hammer again.
This time— its movements were noticeably faster.
Kyle immediately cast Detection.
The information appeared again.
[Goblin Mine Guard] [Type: Enhanced Elite Monster] [Level: 14] [Strength: 850] [Agility: 450] [Spirit: 250] [Constitution: 1,500] [Skill: Stunning Smash] Nothing had changed.
Every attribute shown by Detection was exactly the same.
But Kyle had seen it himself.
The goblin had become faster.
Detection wasn’t showing it.
Yet the black markings were affecting the monster.
That was the real problem.
Kyle saw no reason to continue testing.
He had already confirmed the abnormality.
There was no point wasting more time.
“Kill it.” The three Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors moved simultaneously.
The Goblin Mine Guard had barely raised its hammer when the first skeleton rushed it from the front.
Its blade struck the weapon aside with precision.
The second followed immediately.
Its blade cut into the goblin’s waist from the side.
The third circled behind it.
Then— all three blades fell almost at once.
The Goblin Mine Guard’s body stiffened.
Its massive hammer slipped from its fingers.
Bang.
The weapon struck the ground.
Then its body, more than two meters tall, slowly toppled forward.
Thud.
Silence returned to the mine.
Kyle didn’t continue deeper immediately.
He walked over to the corpse and crouched beside it.
The black markings had already spread down toward its neck.
Even after death, they didn’t disappear.
Instead, they seemed to have solidified beneath the skin.
Kyle took out the Goblin Bone Fragment he’d kept earlier and carefully compared the two.
The color was identical.
He remained silent for a moment.
The outskirts of the forest.
The road leading to the mine.
Outside the dungeon entrance.
And now— even monsters inside Blackstone Mine on Nightmare difficulty showed the same changes.
The situation here was clearly more severe.
Most importantly— Detection couldn’t identify the effects caused by those changes.
Kyle stood and looked deeper into the mine.
Dim mining lamps continued down the tunnel.
Farther ahead, everything had already been swallowed by darkness.
There was still no sign of the six-person party the guild had mentioned.
Kyle didn’t rush forward.
With a thought, the other Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors spread out as well, forming a defensive formation ahead of him.
The forty Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors remained inside his summoning space.
The tunnels here weren’t particularly wide.
More summons weren’t necessarily better.
If he encountered a situation where he truly needed numbers, he could bring them out then.
Once everything was ready, Kyle stepped through the iron gate.
He officially entered the depths of Blackstone Mine.
He hadn’t gone far when his footsteps suddenly stopped.
There was something beside the rock wall ahead.
Kyle sent one Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior forward first.
Under the dim mining light, a bloodstained metal shoulder guard lay quietly on the ground.
Beside it— half of a broken staff.
Kyle looked at them.
These clearly didn’t belong to goblins.
The words of the guild worker outside the dungeon immediately returned to him.
Last night.
Six class holders.
Missing after entering Blackstone Mine.
Kyle’s gaze followed the ground farther ahead.
Only then did he notice several drops of blood behind the shoulder guard.
They had already dried to a dark red.
The trail continued intermittently— deeper into the mine.
Kyle didn’t recklessly follow it.
The eight Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors spread out ahead of him first.
Only then did he move after them, following the blood trail deeper into the tunnel.
A steady sound began echoing through Blackstone Mine.
Clack.
Clack.
The faint sound of bones shifting as the skeleton warriors walked.
Other than that— there was no sound at all.