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After what felt like an eternity, Tolu finally dragged the wooden platform through the dungeon gates.
His arms were sore.
His shoulders burned.
His legs felt heavy with every step.
But he kept going.
The three Mirefangs were still securely bound to the platform, their enormous bodies covered by the thick material he had placed over them.
The sight immediately drew attention.
A few adventurers stopped talking.
Someone pointed.
"What’s that?"
Another adventurer turned to look.
"Is that... a Mirefang?"
Tolu ignored them.
He kept dragging.
The platform scraped against the ground as he slowly made his way toward the Adventurer’s Guild.
By the time he reached the entrance, sweat covered his forehead.
Tolu stopped for a moment and took a deep breath.
He looked at the platform behind him.
Three Mirefangs.
Then he looked toward the guild.
"Finally."
He grabbed the wooden handles again and pulled.
The platform crossed the guild’s entrance.
Conversation inside the hall gradually died down.
Several heads turned toward him.
Tolu continued dragging the massive load across the floor.
The sound of wood scraping against stone echoed through the guild.
Someone stood up.
"Is that three Mirefangs?"
Tolu finally stopped.
He leaned forward against the wooden handles, breathing heavily.
"Yeah."
The guild fell silent.
Tolu dragged the platform toward the counter.
Tobi stared at the enormous load for a moment before looking at Tolu.
"Wait here."
He quickly called over another adventurer and asked him to help move the Mirefangs to the back.
Together, they carefully carried the bodies away.
Tobi followed them.
A few moments later, he returned and wiped his hands before approaching Tolu.
He smiled.
"I’ll admit, I didn’t think you’d kill one this big."
He glanced toward the back.
"Let alone three."
Tolu shrugged.
"We got lucky."
Tobi smiled.
He didn’t question him.
"These go for two silver each."
Tolu stared at him.
"Two silver?"
Tobi chuckled at his reaction.
"Mirefangs are normally Level One creatures, but sometimes they evolve and become stronger."
He gestured toward the back.
"These three were all on the verge of evolving."
Tolu’s eyes widened.
"That’s why they were so strong?"
"Exactly."
Tobi nodded.
"If they had successfully evolved, each one could have been worth twenty silver."
Tolu’s expression brightened.
"Twenty?"
"Yes."
Tobi laughed.
"Though I doubt you’d have been able to kill them if they’d already evolved."
He folded his arms.
"These are high-grade Mirefangs. If they had evolved, their bodies would have been considered peak grade."
Tolu couldn’t help but smile.
He had thought they were simply unlucky to encounter three unusually powerful Mirefangs.
Instead, they had been incredibly lucky.
Three high-grade bodies.
And if the Mirefangs had evolved, he would have been left with nothing but dead bodies.
Tobi counted out the payment.
Four silver coins.
Then two hundred bronze coins.
He placed them into Tolu’s hands.
Tolu looked down at the coins for a moment.
Not bad.
He tucked the money away and turned toward the exit.
His next destination was the healing cabin.
Tolu slowly made his way back to the dungeon.
His body was exhausted from the day’s events, and his shoulders still ached from dragging the Mirefangs all the way to the guild.
He expected the dungeon to be mostly empty.
After all, he had only just brought the Mirefangs into it.
He expected it would take time for the creatures to spawn.
But the moment he stepped through the entrance, he stopped.
His eyes widened.
Four Mirefangs stood inside the dungeon.
Four fully grown Mirefangs.
Tolu stared at them.
Three of them were the same Mirefangs he and his companions had killed earlier that day.
The fourth was the Mirefang they had encountered during their first adventure.
For a moment, Tolu couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
"They’re already here?"
The creatures moved around the dungeon, seemingly unaware of his surprise.
Tolu looked around.
The eggs were nowhere near them.
He followed the faint feeling coming from his dungeon until he found another chamber.
There, several heaps of slime remains covered the floor.
Beneath them were the twenty-six Mirefang eggs he had collected.
Tolu understood.
The dungeon had placed the eggs here.
He slowly smiled.
He had expected the dungeon to need time.
Instead, it had already brought the creatures to life.
The sight filled him with a strange sense of satisfaction.
The dungeon was changing.
It wasn’t simply holding creatures anymore.
It was beginning to sustain them.
Tolu looked back at the four Mirefangs.
He continued deeper into the dungeon.
His footsteps echoed through the corridors as he made his way toward the inner chamber.
For the first time, Tolu wondered just how much his dungeon could grow.
Upon reaching the inner chamber, Tolu stepped inside.
The Dungeon Heart pulsed softly in the center of the room.
"Welcome, my lord."
Tolu looked toward it.
"Welcome."
The Heart continued.
"I see you have been busy. The dungeon is already on its way back to its former strength."
Tolu nodded.
"Does that mean whenever I kill a beast, it instantly spawns here?"
"Not quite."
The Heart pulsed again.
"The reason these creatures appeared so quickly is because there were previously no creatures within the dungeon consuming its energy."
Tolu listened carefully.
"They are also only Level One creatures. The higher a creature’s level, the greater the amount of dungeon energy it consumes. Therefore, stronger creatures will require considerably more time before they can be restored."
Tolu nodded.
"I thought as much. I just wanted to ask."
He thought for a moment.
"So what’s the next step?"
The Heart remained silent for a moment before answering.
"I suggest that you seek out more powerful creatures."
Tolu frowned.
"Why?"
"A dungeon war is coming your way soon."
Tolu’s expression changed.
"A dungeon war?"
"A conflict between dungeons of the same level."
The Heart continued.
"In a normal Level One dungeon war, the creatures involved would mostly consist of Mirefangs and other creatures of similar strength."
Tolu relaxed slightly.
Then the Heart continued.
"But your situation is different."
Tolu looked up.
"You are an intelligent creature."
The Heart’s pulse became slightly stronger.
"Your presence changes the balance. Because you can think, plan, and make decisions independently, I suspect your dungeon will be pushed beyond what would normally be expected of a Level One dungeon."
Tolu swallowed.
"So... a Level Two dungeon?"
"I believe that is possible."
Tolu fell silent.
He remembered the battle earlier that day.
Three Mirefangs.
Three creatures that were already approaching the peak of Level One.
And even with Ore, Akin, and Temi beside him, they had barely survived.
If even one Level Two creature was stronger than those Mirefangs...
Tolu didn’t want to imagine facing an entire dungeon filled with them.
"Is this dungeon trying to get me killed?"
The Heart answered calmly.
"It may seem hopeless."
Tolu looked toward it.
"But remember something."
The Heart pulsed.
"There are many solitary creatures that produce numerous offspring."
Tolu listened.
"Defeating a creature does not mean defeating it in a fair fight."
Tolu’s eyes slowly widened.
"Nor does it require you to defeat it through strength alone."
The Heart continued.
"If you can trap a creature, that is effectively the same as defeating it."
Tolu’s expression changed.
He understood immediately.
A trap didn’t need to overpower anything.
It only needed to work.
And once a powerful creature was trapped...
Taking its life would be easy.
Tolu nodded.
"I understand."
He turned toward the exit.
For the first time since hearing about the coming dungeon war, the fear in his chest began to fade.
Strength wasn’t the only way to win.
He walked out of the chamber.
He had a lot of planning to do.dd