"Raar!" Oliver roared as he charged and swung his dagger at the Gravegnaw. He moved sideways and slashed.

Swoosh!

The dagger cut the side of the rat, making it stumble slightly.

"Overlord Eye!" Oliver activated his skill and saw the name, along with the monster’s health bar already dropping to half.

"Just one cut, and its HP dropped that much?" Oliver’s fear began to turn into confidence.

"I can do this!" Oliver charged again. This time, he decided to use his skill.

"Assault Slash!"

The dagger began to glow red. Oliver unleashed a series of rapid slashes toward the Gravegnaw, finishing with a horizontal strike before turning away.

---

[You have defeated Gravegnaw for the first time!]

[Received 50 Tamer Coins. Defeating the same monster later will not reward Tamer Coins]

---

"50 Tamer Coins? That is pretty generous! But hold on a second. If I only get coins for killing a monster the first time, that means I need to clear many dungeons!" Oliver realized. Usually, a single dungeon only had one or two main species, excluding the boss. So this meant he needed to be more active and visit different dungeons in the region to farm Tamer Coins.

[That is what is expected of an Overlord Tamer. Clearing hundreds and thousands of dungeons is the least you need to do.]

"Okay, okay. I got it." Oliver crouched down and picked up the torch from the ground.

"Not bad, kid." Husk suddenly appeared from the darkness. His red eyes glowed within it. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Where did you go just now? Did you not see I was in trouble?" Oliver said.

"Trouble? Where? I did not see even a trace of trouble in your fight just now. That monster hardly posed any problem for you. Do not forget, these are the lowest-ranked monsters in the region. Even a kid like you should have no problem facing them."

"Hmmph!" Oliver then turned and walked deeper into the dungeon, ignoring Husk.

"What a brat," Husk muttered before following him.

For the next hour, Oliver did not have much difficulty killing the Gravegnaws. He only needed three to four normal attacks to finish one. However, they became dangerous when they moved in groups. Luckily, Husk was there to handle the situation before it got worse.

Husk then began allowing two Gravegnaws to face Oliver at the same time. At first, Oliver was overwhelmed, but soon he managed to stay calm and defeat both monsters.

Then came three. Things started to get difficult.

"There are so many of them! Husk! Help!" Oliver shouted as he kept swinging his dagger.

"Just focus on the one charging at you and do not use excessive swings. Maintain your stance and keep your view wide," Husk instructed.

Oliver followed Husk’s words and used simple strikes to damage the monsters. He kept stepping back so he could see all of them, ensuring none could sneak behind him. Soon, he realized Husk’s advice was effective. He quickly dispatched all three.

"Huh... huh... huh... I did it." Oliver raised his hand to the sky, exhausted but happy.

"Now, let’s move to four."

"Give me a break!

---

After two hours, Oliver and Husk finally arrived in front of the boss monster room. Oliver eagerly drank water from his pouch.

"Decent performance today. You managed to handle up to five monsters at the same time. You are improving a little in handling your biggest weakness, that is your emotions."

"Decent?! Huh! Easy for you to say. You took it very easy today, just watching me fight alone." Oliver said, not satisfied even though he was the master.

What he did not know was that the monsters he fought were less than 10% of the total in the dungeon. The rest had been easily defeated by Husk. Of course, Husk had no intention of telling Oliver about it.

"Let’s go defeat this monster. It is already getting dark. I do not want my parents to get worried." Oliver slowly stood up.

"Before that, I need to tell you something. You should know that a boss monster is not meant to be defeated alone. Even in the lowest-rank dungeon like this, the boss requires a group of hunters to be killed," Husk said.

"What are you trying to say?"

"It means, if you were a normal human, you would be walking to your own death. But unfortunately for that boss, you are not normal." Husk pushed open the door to the boss room.

"And another thing, you have me."

Husk walked into the boss room.

"Trying to act cool, huh?" Oliver smiled widely before running beside Husk.

Inside the boss room, Oliver noticed it was not as large as the one in Mooncrest Dungeon. However, the lighting here was much worse. Only his torch provided light.

"Why is the boss always hiding when we enter? Is it to make their appearance more cinematic or what?" Oliver said, irritated.

As if the boss heard him, a large creature suddenly charged at him.

"That is the boss! It’s coming!" Oliver readied his dagger and stance.

After a few seconds, the boss suddenly leapt upward. Oliver and Husk followed its trajectory before Husk shouted.

"Evade!"

BOOM!

Oliver jumped to the side, his torch slipping from his hand and going out, while Husk landed on a nearby stone. He had no problem fighting in the dark, as darkness was his specialty. But for human like Oliver, darkness was equal to blindness.

"I cannot see anything!" Oliver started to panic. He kept turning his body, expecting an attack from any direction.

"How can I attack the boss when I cannot see it?" Oliver shouted.

Squeak!

A loud squeak sounded behind him, and before he could react, a heavy force slammed into his back, sending him flying several meters forward.

"M-my back! Arrgh!" Oliver cried out. He felt like his lumbosacral had fractured in many places. For a moment, he thought he would die again. He could feel the large creature closing in on him.

However, suddenly, a message appeared in front of him.

[Velkryss (Husk) is requesting your permission for synchronization.]