The strength of the fireball was far beyond Cloud's expectations.
When the roaring wave of flames died down and the fire dispersed, Cloud pushed himself up and walked toward the crater it had left in its wake.
Descending a few meters as he approached its centre, he was met with nothing but a green glass ball, the beast's mana core.
"Green mana," Cloud whispered in his head, picking up the core.
The body of the Black Dog had been burned to ashes, not even the bones spared.
"What will an epic rank skill do then," Cloud wondered.
Putting away the orb, Cloud left the crater, moving to the edge of the hill and staring at his goal, which stood several kilometres away.
Unlike the first floor, which had a wall, the third floor had a mountain, and Cloud had to reach it while ending every beast on the floor.
From the few encounters Cloud had with the Black Dogs, one observation he had made was their desire to stay in isolation.
His last encounter had been a first, but he suspected that the two beasts had been a couple.
Certain that no beast would be on him soon, Cloud went down the hill, stopping midway and seeking shelter behind a large rock that jutted from its side.
Needing only to keep watch on the area ahead of him, he took out a vial from his storage ring, gulping its contents as a soothing feeling spread through his body, the stings on his back and arms lessening.
Just like a healer, for the villages, healing potions were very rare resources. They were extremely expensive, their numbers limited, and what made things worse was that these were just the lower-grade potions.
The slash on Cloud's back hadn't been deep, but it was still serious enough to have drawn a significant amount of blood. The potion wouldn't fully heal his back, but it would at least stop the flow of blood and drastically accelerate the healing of the injury.
"This thing is a scam," Cloud grumbled within.
The books talked of healing potions that could close a cut within seconds and even regrow limbs, but whatever he held couldn't even live up to half of that.
Sighing at his lack of preparation for the dungeon adventure, never having expected to come this far, Cloud took out a ration bar and began eating.
The level-ups had strengthened him and supplied mana, but they were not nutrients.
By his estimate, he had been in the dungeon for over four hours now, and given how intense his pace had been, he needed a break.
He let his body rest for twenty minutes and without hesitation marched back outside, the rays of the ever-present sun landing on him.
His back stung, but he ignored the pain, going into a jog, his eyes and ears on full alert.
The mountain acted as Cloud's guide, and after moving for close to ten minutes, he came across his next opponent.
[Black Dog level 18]
Cloud didn't find the beast, it found him.
Jumping at him from within the forest, Cloud was forced into a roll.
Getting to his feet, he immediately had his mana moving within him, a fireball conjured in half the time it usually took him and shooting forward with incredible speed.
The attack hit dead on, eliciting a cry from the beast, but Cloud was not done.
Another fireball appeared over his palm, but this one, rather than standing still, was spinning, sucking in the wind around it. As his opponent got off the flames, the next attack sped forward.
A second explosion erupted, a cry carrying more agony leaving the beast, and when Cloud saw the deep burn drilled into its side, the inside of the beast visible, he nodded in satisfaction.
"It still consumes mana, but far less than Grand Fireball."
The evolution of the fireball from Common to Rare didn't just involve a change in size, more advanced principles came into play, and Cloud had decided to infuse those principles into much smaller fireballs.
The Grand Fireball was powerful, but by Cloud's estimates, if he kept using it, after six casts, his mana reserves would be drained completely.
Silently watching the beast struggle to get to its feet, Cloud sent another fireball slamming into it, a second following after. Silence soon returned to the forest.
[You have killed level 18 beast +400 KP]
Storing the beast's body, Cloud continued on his way, and his experience with the creature soon became a common encounter.
Deep into the dungeon, Cloud had managed to attract three Black Dogs, but he was not bothered.
They came at him from the front and back, two behind, looking to block all avenues of escape — but he was no slouch.
Bursting from within their midst, escaping their claws by an inch, Cloud cast his fireballs, explosions erupting across the battlefield.
The beasts did their best to avoid them, trying to circle him, but neither Cloud nor his attacks were slow.
It took over a minute, but the growls and snarls around Cloud soon disappeared.
[You have killed level 16 beast +200 KP]
[You have killed level 17 beast +250 KP]
[You have killed level 17 beast +223 KP]
Cloud left a trail of fire and death in his wake, drawing closer to the black mountain until finally he came across it.
[Black Dog Level 20]
It first started with a powerful howl from a hill ahead, the sound seeming to echo throughout the entire forest, a shiver running through the dungeon.
After that howl, silence filled the forest. For nearly a minute there was not the slightest noise.
Then the level 20 Black Dog appeared, its form larger than any Cloud had encountered so far, a thick mane running down the back of its neck.
Watching closely, two more Black Dogs of the same level but with white manes appeared beside it, their gazes locked on Cloud, bloodlust oozing from their beings.
As if that wasn't enough, behind the three beasts, several more followed, this seeming like a final attack meant to eliminate the intruder in their home.
It was a beast wave against Cloud.
With a roar from the lead beast, the wave rushed toward him.
"So this is what the elders face," Cloud thought, backpedalling as both his hands went up.
Channelling his mana, fireballs appeared on each of his palms, rapidly swelling until they became massive, spinning with powerful roars and blasting the air around them.
Power radiated from the attacks in Cloud's hands, but for him, that was not enough.
He channelled more mana, making the fire spin harder, more air being sucked in, the number of mini explosions within the flames increasing.
Cloud waited until the fireballs began to tremble...
Then he let them go.