Mat plopped Wingman on the stone floor. The wound of the ghost bird was apparent with an arrow lodged into the wing. Wingman let out a weak squawk as Mat ran a finger over the bird's little head, trying to comfort him.

"Don't worry buddy, it's gonna be fine." Mat held out his hand over Wingman as if he was taking a soul. The ghost bird then dissolved into tendrils of green light, flowing towards Mat's hand like a flowing river. The light- the soul- then seeped into his skin. His hand now glowed green with Wingman inside.

All that's left on the ground where Wingman last was is a broken arrow.

"I hope that worked." Mat found he could reabsorb his minions back into his hand like he was calling a pokemon back into its pokeball. He couldn't absorb them into his body- given that they're materialized souls already, but this neat little trick allowed him to carry around his wounded minions. This way, Wingman wouldn't be taken from his beauty sleep while he healed up for the next fight onward.

Just like a pokemon and a pokeball.

. . .

Mat fought alongside his three familiars as he pushed deeper and deeper into the dungeon, winding through giant corridors and hallways with every bite, talon, and clank of armor driving him further in. Wingman had already healed up his wound, up and about on the air actively pouncing on monsters.

Mat's current monster count was one-hundred and ten, and with the three days that passed, he was near the end of his dungeon clearing journey.

He didn't even need health potions anymore, with most of the work done by Amigo and Juggernaut. He only took care of the cleanup that was left to him. He didn't mind it anymore though, fighting alongside his summons was pretty fun in and of itself. As Nian said, these summons were a part of him- a part of his strength- and not acknowledging that was just pretty stubborn of him.

Still, he'd let his familiars take a rest from time to time and do some of the fighting himself. He didn't want to overly depend on them and end up incompetent of fighting and lacking of experience. His goal was still there, to get stronger to survive the fantasy world he found himself in.

"Your magic really is something." Nian said from behind, plopping herself on his shoulders while Mat was examining the monster drops on the ground.

Minotaur Horn (F) [Material]

A black horn made of solidified mana.

2 Beast Essence (F-) [Material]

The affinity of the monsters manifested to physicality.

Giant Axe (F) [Weapon]

A giant steel axe. Grants passive arm strength when used.

"Hey Nian." Mat turned to Nian.

"Yeah?"

"What are these for?" He held up the blue-green glowing coins for her to see. These were the beast essences- at least, according to his sprite. "Ruan told me they're for ritual magic, but that's about all I know."

Nian took the coins. "These are used as tokens for ritual magic to work. Think of it as trading coins for food- but in this case it's trading essence for magic."

Mat then stared at his ghost familiars on the side. "But I didn't need the essences when I summoned them though?"

After a while of going back and forth with the questions and answers, Mat more or less understood the concept. According to Nian, there were two types of magic: ritual magic and innate magic.

Ritual magic is a process that involves studying up on books and theories to make diagrams and symbols, all in order to cast magic. Almost anyone can do ritual magic if they have the knowledge and skill to do so. This type of magic is more commonly used for utility rather than straight-up fighting because they take a longer while to set up with all the process associated with it and its requirement of magic circles and essences.

The other type of magic, innate magic, is a type of magic that is blessed to an individual like a gift from the heavens. There are three types of innate magic all according to mana type: sun, moon, and eclipse. Eclipse is what Mat's soulmancy is.

Innate magic can be earned in various ways, though Mat was lucky enough to be born into this fantasy world already with it. Most people earn it through hard work and years and years of dedication coupled with talent and natural gifts, which made Mat feel pretty bad that he just so happened to wake up one day already with magic- a rare one at that- without putting in any effort. Still, he wasn't about to disregard his magic in favor of playing it fair. He took what he could get.

Mat stared at his hands. He's really been lucky- so lucky to get to where he currently is. It was as if there was a hidden stat, a luck stat that was cranked up to an eleven.

His gaze then landed to Nian. "Can you show me your magic?" He's started to wonder how her magic would hold up against his.

Nian turned to him. "Sure."

She then looked ahead deeper into the dungeon before doubling back on herself. "Never mind, you'll get to see a taste of my magic soon enough."

. . .

In front of them were massive brownstone double doors towering high above the dungeon, laden and adorned with carvings and symbols and drawings of unknown beings. The door itself gleamed a soft light, complimenting the age-old stone of the dungeon-like structure.

Mat called for his sprite as he examined the carvings on the doors. "What's this?"

[Guide]

Unknown.

Figured. Mat more or less understood what the sprite could and couldn't tell him. It could only give him information that was commonly known and public, and not any private or secreted information kept hidden. That was why the sprite couldn't answer his question on why and how he came into this world in the first place- not because the sprite wanted to keep a secret, but because it wasn't common knowledge.

"You should sit this one out." Nian said, tying all her leather armor together to a tight fit on her body. She strapped her bow and quiver behind- a picture of a ranger embossed on her silhouette.

"Come on, I already got this far-" Nian stared daggers at him, shutting him down immediately. It was clear he didn't have a say in all this.

"You may be stronger than when you first entered the dungeon- killing this and all that- but this is a different monster we're dealing with here." Nian sighed, not a tint of a joke in her tone.

"You don't underestimate a dungeon boss."

Youmu was checking her silver armor, making sure everything fit perfectly to herself while Ruan was stripping herself in the corner, removing her clothes. Ruan did say that was because her feral fighting form would burn her clothes anyways, but it wouldn't have killed her to give Mat a heads up or something before going full-on commando.

"Just stay back and watch." Nian patted him, giving him an awfully honest smile. "You did say you want to see my magic in action."

"Alright." Mat gave up. Nian was more the playful type, but she clearly meant her no this time around. At the very least, he could see some action unfold.

The girls nodded to each other before making their way towards the gates. Youmu was more than likely the tank of the team- the frontliner soaking up the attention and damage, while Nian was the damage dealer that fought from behind with arrows. Ruan- with a guess- acted as both a tank and damage dealer, a jack of all trades but a master of none. Their team was pretty balanced with all things considered- though Mat was basing all his guesses off on his gaming knowledge. Surprisingly, his gaming roots from Earth helped him a ton in this fantasy world.

The girls then placed their hands on the giant double doors, prompting a loud ghost clunk to echo around the dungeon like a silent whisper before the doors loomed to open, revealing a colossal cube room behind.

The girls entered, with Mat following closely behind with his giant direwolf, kite eagle, and armored juggernaut close by his side. With each step of his an aura seemed to eat away at his courage, almost as if a curse- a debuff was in place the moment he stepped foot inside the giant room. The room had the same brownstone floors, walls, and ceiling as the rest of the dungeon, though they seemed to be in mint condition, with no wear and tear and no roots, dirt, nor mushrooms dotting the place. It was eerily new, like the room was built just a day ago.

At the center of the room was a colossal statue: a giant skeleton figure with a robe holding a spherical ball in its bone hands. And when the statue's eyes glowed ghost blue and the double doors behind snapped to a close, Mat knew the show was about to start.