Over the course of two rooms, the number of dogs increased by one each, resulting in a total of four.

  Since he had already fought these before, Faust easily noticed a few details about them. They were vicious, far more vicious than any dog he had encountered until now. They showed zero hesitation in attacking to kill or fear of death, as if their instincts had been replaced by something else.

  Not only that, but they were... weaker than the dogs he had found deeper in the swamp.

  Killing them was easy, though tiring.

  They didn’t fight in a well-coordinated way, although that coordination improved with each subsequent room.

  Truthfully, Faust feared that after enough rooms they would fight as one.

  Fighting coordinated enemies would be far more difficult than fighting large numbers that acted alone.

  Currently, he found himself in the fifth room.

  The room held the same structure as the others, except it was larger and taller, allowing more space to move. At its center was a huge shadow sphere that seemed to absorb all the light.

  It was more sizable than the others.

  Then, it popped.

  As expected, five dogs appeared from it.

  But their eyes glowed with a different shine. They seemed slightly larger in size, their claws and teeth sharper, their fur darker and healthier.

  They’re stronger!

  Faust understood in an instant, shifting from a defensive stance to an aggressive one. Fighting defensively against many enemies had proven inefficient; it was better to trim their numbers early with the maximum damage he could deal!

  He rushed forward, blade in hand as he slashed through the air. Before the beasts could even react, his attack connected!

  In the next instant, one of the dogs lost its head, blood spraying onto Faust as he used the momentum to spin and slash at the next dog!

  However, the attack did not land!

  The black dog dodged his attack!

  Faust’s heart skipped a beat as he watched what the dogs were doing. They lined up with unprecedented coordination, side by side, staring at him.

  In the time it took him to inhale once, the dogs advanced.

  Barks and growls echoed in the closed room.

  Faust dodged the first bite and a slash of claws. He tried to counterattack but was blocked by another dog, which kept pressuring him!

  While they were too slow to damage him directly, they compensated for each other’s weaknesses and didn’t allow Faust to fight back.

  He was being forced back without being able to attack!

  It was a dire situation. If it continued, he would lose from exhaustion.

  Thankfully, mana ensured his body would take much longer to tire.

  His eye moved around the room, his gaze focused as he searched for an answer to the problem.

  There were many options, but only one was reliable with his current skills: he had to break their formation. But there was no way to do it without hurting himself in the process.

  But what was better—dying or getting hurt? Injury was no problem if he could win!

  So he attacked. As before, the dogs tried to disrupt his flow by aiming a bite at his shoulder.

  But he did not stop his slash!

  Iron-Beak ran through the belly of a leaping dog, its organs spilling out as the creature took a couple of steps before falling forever.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  But it was not without consequences.

  Faust’s shoulder had been bitten through by one of the beasts, the pressure so strong his muscles seemed to rupture.

  Another chance!

  Using his uninjured arm, Faust staked everything on piercing the dog’s cranium! With a clean downward stab, the dog biting his shoulder was killed!

  It dropped to the ground as blood and brain matter clung to the blade. Faust’s gaze fell upon the two remaining dogs—they were hesitating!

  Faust wasn’t.

  He rushed toward them, his eye bloodshot as he aimed a kick!

  The nearer dog dodged, and the other used the chance to slash at his back.

  All his clothing was pierced by the slash. Hurriedly, Faust stepped back, but the dogs wouldn’t let go.

  They rushed forward in complementary motions, zigzagging toward him.

  Faust finally attacked, his intent to kill.

  Yet the beast dodged. The other leapt toward his face, opening its mouth to reveal sharp, rotten teeth!

  Shit!

  Faust took a step back but wasn’t able to completely avoid it!

  The creature tore off his eyepatch and missed his face by a hair’s breadth.

  It’s not over!

  In a clutch moment, the other dog pushed forward with mighty speed, its claws aimed at Faust’s neck.

  Reflexes allowed him to step aside, but one of the monster’s claws raked across his blinded eye, creating a vertical injury that seeped blood.

  That gave him an opportunity. Lowering his stance and stepping forward, Faust cut through the dog from anus to head, splitting its body in half!

  It fell.

  Only one dog remained. With only one left, it was easy. Faust bolted toward it; the creature had no allies to help it this time.

  In an instant, its head was severed from its body.

  Faust fell to the ground, breathing raggedly as his injuries already began to heal.

  “If not for mana, this would be impossible,” he assessed. “Thankfully there’s no time limit either.”

  With no intention of moving forward just yet, Faust began to absorb the bodies and waited for his injuries to heal.

  …

  After his tough battle in the fifth room, Faust continued on once he had healed.

  The sixth room had six dogs, all holding the same strength as those in the fifth. It was complicated; Faust almost lost his functioning eye after a blunder but managed to overcome the situation.

  His injuries accumulated at an alarming rate, but he was getting used to his new enemies.

  In the seventh room, the difficulty rose again, but it was still manageable. Faust had to wait much longer before progressing, as his injuries grew even worse this time.

  But with enough time and bodies to absorb, he would eventually feel like new.

  Both the eighth and ninth rooms were even more challenging, yet turned out to be relatively easier because he already knew what to expect.

  Still, their difficulty was enough to kill him. Precise moments and sharp decisions kept him alive.

  Now, Faust absorbed the last body in the ninth room and waited for his body to finish healing before crossing to the tenth.

  His clothing had already been torn; only part of his pants and boots remained. At least it was enough to not be naked, which he was glad for.

  In any case, if his theory was correct, the tenth room would have a spike in difficulty, just like the fifth room. He had to be prepared... at least as prepared as he could get, which was not much.

  In the ninth room, he had been slashed across his chest while another dog pinned his leg and locked him in place, with one last creature leaping toward his head.

  To be honest, he could have sworn he saw death staring at him, but he refused its gaze.

  Somehow, he felt his mana circulating through his body, at least in part. It fortified him enough that he could move his leg anyway, dodge fast enough, and counterattack with strength that easily killed the monster.

  It happened purely by instinct, and he did not know how to mimic it. But he was glad—at least it seemed there was nothing wrong with him. He could indeed use mana and was just... a late bloomer or something similar. At the same time, because of the he used the mana, he confirmed his affinity leaned toward the Augmenter side.

  Well, hitting and killing creatures was easy, wasn’t it? Could he ask for something better?

  Maybe being able to conjure all sorts of things was more interesting, maybe it held far more potential. In fact, it could be said to be overall better... he tried to not think much about it.

  But even after spending a lot of time, Faust was unable to reproduce what he had done.

  Do I need to get near death again?

  I hope not—that’s dangerous. But if necessary, I guess I could do it.

  Yes... I could do it.

  I’ll discover it soon enough.

  Faust stood before the door to the next room. He didn’t touch it yet. Instead, visible sweat clung to his forehead.

  His heart beat faster; his skin tingled.

  That sensation arose in his heart again—that strange and unusual feeling.

  But didn’t he have to keep going? There was no turning back.

  Placing a hand on the white metal door, he watched it disappear below as he stepped forward.

  Then the dark room lit up instantly with pure, shining golden light.

  It was much bigger than the previous rooms. A great-sized dark sphere hovered at the center.

  From it, macabre sounds emerged that would give any human chills.

  Go ahead, show me what you’ve got!

  Faust’s gaze held disdain for this place.

  He instantly prepared for what the dungeon—what this place—would show him next.

  How many more dogs? Ten, perhaps? Ten dogs stronger than the previous.

  Well, that would be a challenge indeed!

  Hurry up, Faust snarled internally.

  Then the sphere popped.

  Many dogs flew from inside it to the ground. Among them were mixed smaller and larger dogs.

  However, Faust did not act.

  His face was full of shock; his heart sank as he looked ahead.

  Something had gone wrong with his calculations.

  There was no logic.

  There was no chance of winning.

  What could he do against over twenty dogs?