As soon as Lucian stepped through the portal, he found himself in a cave barely tall enough to clear his head.
The transition was abrupt.
One moment, he had been standing in the damp, suffocating sewers beneath the city.
And the next—
The world twisted.
And he was here.
Inside the Dungeon.
The cave ceiling loomed just slightly above him, uneven and jagged.
The cave was dark, and he could barely see anything.
The faint scent of moss and wet stone filled his lungs, and his shoes scraped against the uneven ground.
'So, this is a dungeon,' he thought, taking out his mobile and switching on the flashlight.
The cave was small, but thankfully, he could move freely—though with some struggle.
'This is the worst place to fight.' He thought with a grim expression.
The narrow environment meant limited mobility, no space to dodge or retreat quickly.
He looked at his crowbars. One was slightly bent near the hook from the earlier clash outside.
He hadn't prepared much for this fight, and now it could backfire on him.
[You can go back, you know?] Akasha said, her tone held mild amusement.
'You're the one who gave me the quest, and I don't even know the penalty for failing it.' Lucian responded dryly.
He moved forward slowly. The cave was silent, which made him suspicious.
Each step made a noise—that was how silent the cave was.
Suddenly, he stopped.
'Is this a goblin dungeon?' he asked internally, not really expecting an answer—but surprisingly got one.
[Yes. There will only be one type of monster in F-rank dungeons. This one only has goblins.]
He nodded, understanding.
'These goblins are like the ones in novels and games, right?' he asked internally.
[Yes, more or less.]
He had played a few games as a kid and read a few novels. He remembered something about goblins.
'They use traps.'
Yes, goblins in most stories used traps to capture people—mostly women, since they usually killed men—at least that was what he had read in some novels.
But he didn't know how to spot traps. He wasn't a soldier trained in such things.
Thinking about it, he called out his status.
[STATUS]
Name – Lucian Foster
Race – Human
Rank – F
Titles – Loved by ######
Bloodline – Devourer's Bloodline
Affinity – None
Talent – B
[Attributes]
Strength – 12
Agility – 14
Constitution – 11
Intelligence – 12
Will – 15
Perception – 11
Charm – 13
Stamina – 12
Mana – 1➝3
Attribute Points (AP) – 42
[Skills]
Minor Pain Resistance, Basic Analysis
[Unique Skills]
Devour
– – – –
'So, now my stats can go above 10?'
He had seen this before, but had forgotten to question her about it.
[Yes. The cap of 10 was for unawakened humans. Now the max cap has been removed.]
'What about the cap for F rank?'
[It's 20. Some can exceed it if they train a stat intensively without increasing rank. Monsters can also have higher stats if specialized.]
'What about the mana stat?'
[It shows your mana pool—how much you can contain. It increased after you devoured the goblins.]
Lucian nodded, taking in all of the information.
'But how do I use this mana?'
[You can't, not yet. F-rank awakened can't do much with mana.]
Hearing it, Lucian exhaled through his nose, disappointed.
'So I'm like a small battery with no circuits to use, to flow the energy,' he thought to himself.
But suddenly remembered something.
The others cannot increase their mana since it is difficult to do so.
It was also affected by their talent.
Even though his talent was just B rank, above average, but still slow, still limited.
However–
He had something that others didn't—something that would let him gain more.
A shortcut of sorts.
'Increase my mana stat to 10.'
[Your mana has increased by 7.]
[AP – 42➝35]
Instantly, he felt the change.
Not pain, but something weird.
It felt as if a hollow space inside him had expanded.
He inhaled sharply.
He could feel something faint in the air around him now, and he could feel an invisible presence brushing against his skin.
But it slipped the instant it came.
[Now you can absorb more mana, but it is still too slow.] Akahsa said, but it felt like she was somewhat disappointed.
[Try absorbing more mana.]
'How?' He asked, trying to ignore the disappointment in her tone.
He didn't like that, but there was nothing he could do for now. He didn't even know why he cared about how she felt about him.
[First, try sensing it. Sit down, close your eyes, and try to focus on the surroundings.]
Lucian hesitated for half a second.
Sitting down inside a dungeon felt reckless, stupid even.
Who knew when a goblin might slice his neck out of nowhere?
[Don't worry, I'll inform you when someone arrives.] she reassured, feeling his hesitation.
'Thank you.'
Lucian lowered himself, sitting down cross-legged, and closed his eyes, trying to sense the so-called mana.
Darkness swallowed him.
He tried to focus on the feeling, on that faint presence he felt earlier.
He inhaled slowly… then exhaled.
His breathing turned calm.
After a few minutes, he opened his eyes.
'I… can't.'
[No wonder. With your talent, it will be difficult.]
His brows knitted together as frustration flickered.
He couldn't linger here—since he didn't know when a goblin might strike.
He looked at his status again and thought of something.
Talent affected intelligence and perception.
If sensing was linked to awareness—
Then—
'Increase intelligence and perception to 20.'
[AP – 35➝18]
His mind and senses expanded; he could store more information and see more clearly.
He could now somewhat see through the dark surroundings without a flashlight.
He closed his eyes again, focusing.
Minutes passed.
This time—
He sensed something in his surroundings, like dust particles floating in the air.
But—
They weren't physical.
They were everywhere.
Inside him.
Outside him.
[...] Akasha kept silent, letting him focus.
The sensation grew clearer.
Mana.
Flowing in faint currents.
It was faint in the cave, but it was present.
A few seconds later—
[Ding!~]
[You have learned the skill: Minor Mana Awareness.]
He could now sense mana inside and outside his body, but external sensing was harder.
But inside—
He could clearly see it.
About 40% of his mana was filled in his pool.
[Now try absorbing the mana from the surroundings.] Her voice whispered inside his head, guiding him.
He willed it inward, into himself. Since he could sense mana, absorption wasn't difficult.
The floating particles shifted, drifting towards him.
They entered through his skin, through his breath.
Slowly.
Steadily.
After a minute—
[Ding!~]
[You have learned the skill: Minor Mana Recovery.]
His mana recovery rate increased slightly.
It was still slow—but it was at least faster than before.
He opened his eyes.
'How much time passed?'
[About 20 minutes.]
He blinked, surprised
He didn't realise how time had slipped by.
Still, he was satisfied.
'I gained two more skills.'
[The guests have arrived.]
Lucian didn't flinch.
'Yeah, I noticed.'
Five goblins moved toward him.
Thanks to his perception, he could see them clearly despite the darkness and distance.
Even though he had gained two skills, he couldn't use them to fight the goblins.
'Old-fashioned way it is. But I can kill them before they notice me.'
He thought about something.
'Akasha, put 10 points in agility.'
[AP – 18➝8]
He didn't need more strength—goblins relied on traps and speed, and they were physically weak.
His legs coiled, and he shot at the goblins.
But he forgot one thing.
Peak F-rank agility meant nothing without any experience handling that speed.
His balance faltered.
"Shit!" He realised too late. He smashed two goblins' heads with his crowbar in a sweeping motion—
Their skulls cracked instantly, but his body kept moving.
He stumbled, passed through them, and rolled across the rough stone.
"Fuck." He groaned. Thankfully, he didn't hit his head.
He stood up with a groan, and his previous injuries made it more difficult.
The goblins didn't even understand what had happened.
They were just strolling through the cave when suddenly two of them fell to the ground—dead, their bodies twitching.
The other three looked at each other, bewildered.
Hearing the footsteps, they looked at Lucian.
Confusion turned into rage.
Screeching, they all ran up to him, with crude weapons in their hands.
Lucian thought that this might be difficult since he was injured, but when he saw their speed, he realised—
He was way faster than them.
Before they could run up to him, he flexed his legs and shot up again, this time more slowly, more controlled.
He twisted the crowbars and hurled both of them at each of the goblins.
One missed, clanking against the wall.
The other stabbed the goblin's eyes.
It shrieked and collapsed.
Lucian didn't pause.
He closed the distance, grabbed two goblins by their necks, one of whom dodged his thrown crowbar, and before they could struggle, he squeezed—hard.
Their physical bodies were weak, so with a crack, he snapped their necks.
Their bodies went limp.
He threw them aside.
He then walked up to the goblins whose head he had smashed earlier.
They were barely alive. Rather than using his crowbar, he picked up their bone knife.
He studied it for a while, then stabbed it in both of their hearts.
Both bodies went still.
"Whoo~" He exhaled.
The cave again felt quiet.
'I should be mindful of increasing my stats.'
If he suddenly increased his stats too much, then it would do him more harm if he couldn't handle it.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
He called out his status again, but focused on a specific stat.
[Agility – 14➝24]
His agility had increased, but more than that…
'Akasha… didn't you say that the cap for F rank was 20?'
[Yes.]
'Then what about me? My agility is above 20.'
[Hm… honestly, I don't know.]
Hearing the answer, his eyes twitched, but he didn't say anything.