Arios kept walking. The forest path seemed endless, but he didn't slow down, pushing past the agonizing protests of his fatigued body. His wooden sword stayed at his side, always ready, a meager weapon against a seemingly inexhaustible illusion. His uniform was torn at the sleeves and chest from countless claws and near hits, though none had cut him deeply—a testament to his flawless defense. His movements remained sharp, though his muscles ached from the constant, demanding rhythm of battle.

The dungeon hadn't let him rest once. Every time he stepped into a clearing, monsters came. First wolves, then hybrids, then humanoids, then new variations. He had already lost count of how many he had cut down, measuring time only in dissolved mist and fresh opponents. The mist never cleared, and the path always stretched forward.

It felt deliberate. Each wave harder than the last, increasing the physical and mental toll. Each enemy type meant to test a different part of his fighting style, from speed (wolves) to brute force (hybrids) to technique (humanoids) and psychological resilience (disrupters and crawlers). He already understood it wasn't random. It was escalation, a carefully designed syllabus of combat.

And still, he pressed forward, his will unbowed.

The next sound was familiar—low growls. Wolves again.

But these weren't the standard wolves. Their bodies were bulkier, their fangs longer, and their eyes glowed with faint **purple light** instead of red. A new color, a new variant.

Three of them stepped into view. They didn't hesitate. They ran in formation, two circling wide to flank while one went straight, forcing a three-way focus.

Arios blocked the front wolf, spun, and struck the second before the third leapt at his back. He pivoted, his blade cutting upward to meet its throat.

The wolves dissolved quickly, their forms less resilient than before. But more followed. Five this time, all coordinated, moving like trained hunters. Arios kept moving, deflecting, striking, sidestepping until all five were down, clearing the immediate threat.

"Stronger variants. They sacrifice durability for improved tactics and speed," he muttered quietly, mentally updating his threat assessment.

The crawlers returned next, but they were also different. Their black liquid no longer spat in single sprays—it came in wide arcs, forcing Arios to move constantly, using more energy to avoid the larger splash area. He kept his distance until their attacks slowed, then rushed in to cut them down one by one, minimizing exposure.

The spike-throwers followed. They launched their bone spears faster than before, two at a time instead of one, doubling the incoming projectiles. Arios deflected, dodged, then closed the distance to strike them cleanly, accepting the short-term risk for the long-term gain of eliminating the ranged threat.

The humanoids were worse. Faster, sharper, their claws coated in some faint glowing haze—likely another form of poison or debuff. Arios's wooden sword met each strike, though the impacts rattled his grip harder than before. It took more careful precision and patience to find their openings, but he did, finishing them before they could land a clean blow.

The forest stayed relentless.

Another greater hybrid appeared, this one larger than the last, a colossal mass of muscle and fur. Its roar shook the clearing, its claws ripping through tree trunks with each swing, leaving massive gouges in the earth. Wolves backed it up, darting at Arios from the sides while it pressed forward with raw power.

Arios cut through the wolves quickly, though each dodge put him closer to the hybrid's crushing blows. He shifted his stance, waited for the heavy swing, and stepped inside the arc, his blade driving deep into its ribs. The hybrid roared, swinging wildly, but Arios stayed steady, striking again and again until it dissolved like the rest, the combined assault failing to break him.

He exhaled slowly, adjusting his grip again, forcing his tired muscles to obey. "The pattern is obvious. Push harder. Test more. Don't let me breathe. Garron is attempting to achieve total physical breakdown."

The path twisted tighter. The mist grew thicker, swirling around his ankles. The ground felt heavier, as if dragging at his steps, a pervasive sense of inertia meant to slow his response time. Arios ignored it, focusing on the space immediately in front of him. He walked forward, sharp as ever, a man running on pure, unwavering mental discipline.

Then the next clearing opened wide, far larger than any before, ringed by the massive, gnarled tree trunks.

And he saw it.

Not wolves. Not hybrids. Not humanoids.

But something else. Something primal, something that shifted the entire balance of the illusion.

At first it looked like a shadow moving in the fog. Then the sound of **heavy wings** broke through, a rhythmic, powerful beat of displaced air. A gust of wind—real, physical wind—blew the mist aside, revealing the terrifying truth.

And the monster stepped into view.

A dragon.

Its body towered above the trees, a colossal figure of dark power. **Black scales** covered its body, each glinting faintly in the dim light. Its wings spread wide, their span larger than the entire clearing. Its eyes glowed faint red, locking directly on him, the single, conscious focus of its immense power.

It wasn't an illusion of many small monsters. It was a single, massive beast, the perfect embodiment of unstoppable force.

The dungeon's boss. The final threshold.

Arios narrowed his eyes. His grip tightened on the wooden sword, the utterly inadequate nature of his weapon starkly apparent against this creature.

The dragon let out a roar, the sound shaking the ground beneath Arios's feet. The force of it blew back the mist and rattled the roots of the ancient, illusory trees. The air grew heavy under the weight of the sound alone, a sonic weapon far greater than any disrupter.

Arios stood firm, a solitary figure of defiance.

The dragon lowered its head, its claws—each the size of a man—digging into the dirt, before charging forward with surprising speed for its size, an earthbound avalanche.

Arios dodged left, a desperate, sudden maneuver, the claw smashing into the ground where he had been. Dirt and stone exploded upward in a concussive blast. He countered with a quick slash against the dragon's foreleg, a token gesture, but the wooden blade barely scratched the scale.

"Stronger defense. Not surprising," he muttered, eyes sharp, his plan shifting instantly. He couldn't rely on simple offense.

The dragon swung its tail, a massive, muscular flail. Arios ducked, rolling forward to avoid the sweeping strike that smashed through several trees behind him with the force of a battering ram.

The dragon roared again, its mouth glowing faintly with searing light. Arios didn't wait for the attack to materialize. He sprinted forward, moving under the rising glow, pressing the attack before the range weapon could fire. The dragon's breath erupted in a cone of searing flame that consumed the space behind him, the heat radiating intensely off the illusory fire.

The heat washed over his back, though he wasn't touched directly. He pressed in closer, striking the dragon's leg again, searching for weaker points between the scales, the softer joint tissue. His strikes landed with precision, but the creature hardly reacted, its focus entirely on its overwhelming power.

The dragon roared, snapping its head down to bite, a strike faster than any hybrid. Arios darted back, the jaws slamming shut just inches from him. The ground cracked under the force of the bite.

He moved again, fast, his strikes sharp, but the scales resisted. The dragon's power wasn't like the others. It was overwhelming in both strength and defense, a challenge of pure survival.

Still, Arios didn't back away. His stance stayed firm, his movements precise, focused entirely on evasion and identifying the vital flaw. He dodged the tail again, deflected a claw with a bone-jarring block, and aimed for the softer tissue of its joints and underbelly when the openings appeared, striking the same spots repeatedly, exploiting the subtle imperfections in the illusion's construction.

The dragon grew angrier, its movements more violent and less controlled. Each roar shook the air, each strike stronger than the last. Arios stayed calm, weaving carefully between the attacks, his blade striking cleanly at every opening he could find.

The battle stretched on, neither side faltering—the dragon with its immense power, Arios with his unbreakable will.

And Arios's eyes never left the monster. He was not just fighting; he was calculating.

He already knew.

The dungeon's test wasn't over until he brought the dragon down.

And he didn't intend to fail.

****

[A/N:] Happy new month to all my readers, thanks for giving my book an opportunity, the truth is that the book hasn't been successful so far and the book is really having an effect on me, I hope that didn't drop the quality, I have stretched this arc so that I can find my footing in this book, I just hope it paid off.

I appreciate all form of support, from gifts to power stones, review and golden tickets, everything is on the table.

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