“This place had been turned upside down.”

Walking through the deep forest that ate the buildings and houses, Ashe didn’t fail to note the lushness of the greeneries.

“I was in Astralius for ten years, so how can such a thick forest grow in such a small amount of time? Is the timeframe 10:1? That’s not a good sign, I hope this is just the effect of the dungeon.”

Despite his words being worried, everything else about him didn’t so much as showed an emotion. Not that he was unfeeling, no, he still had feelings—of whatever’s left at least.

***

“Dammit, how long have I been walking?” the returner…was out of breath.

He had now confirmed that his strength and stamina had been reverted to a normal human’s. Now, he wished that he got a Physical trait Class.

‘If I was a Berserker, my body would at least be changed…well, what can I do.’ Everything had a flaw. There was nothing he could do.

He was already deep into the forest, and a few minutes later, he managed to get used to his current self. He changed his breathing in accordance with what he could handle, taking deep breathes to ensure he wouldn’t get tired.

The Class system is just an auxiliary power. In the end, it was nothing but support. The skills and usage depended on the user. Ashe spent ten years of his life in the other world trying to survive. He had already scraped the bottom of the barrel, trying to find a semblance of an advantage he could take.

While walking, Ashe noticed a rustling sound from the side. Quickly, he moved back as he felt something had gone awry.

His senses had grown dull, but his instincts hadn’t. His hundred meters range had been turned to a few meters.

A pitched screech escaped the being that jumped from the shrub nearby. The bastard was fast-moving. Ashe would not be able to avoid it even if he tried.

He extended his left hand, and the being latched onto it.

It was a snake-like being, Ashe showed a twisted smile as it did so.

He had seen its speed, and he was sure that he would have been taken out if the speedy bastard capitalized using its speed.

‘Do you really think I reached out for no reason? Now, die.’

His fingers stiffened as he got ready to take out this little monster. Ashe prepared his pinky finger to dig through its eyes and take out its break.

However, as he prepared to do so, the green, snake-like monster raised its head and met his eyes, “Human, Run! Gnolls, Coming!”

Ashe registered its words just as he was about to kill it. He raised his head towards where the snake came from.

He saw two Gnolls, hyenalike bipedal creatures coming his way. They held onto rusted axes and spears. They were grunting and growling as they quickly paced over Ashe’s direction—the snake did not lie.

‘Two Gnolls? They have weapons, perfect.’

“Human, Run, Not, Escape, You, Die.”

The snake tried to pull the human away, but it failed.

Ashe did not escape. Instead, he darted forward like an arrow.

‘With my stamina, I can’t outrun them.’ so, Ashe went to challenge them head-on.

The Gnolls grew frenzied at the sight of a challenger and swung their weapons. The one holding the axe took the charge.

The axe came from above. It was moving fast, but Ashe could follow it, granting a massive boost in his confidence.

His body swerved to the right of the Gnoll. The twisted grin he carried only became more prevalent.

With his right hand free of anything, he spun his body, gathering the momentum, and when it felt like he had reached its peak, Ashe struck the Gnoll’s snout.

It was stunned and lost its grip on axe. Ashe stole the axe and stepped forward, ignoring the whimpering enemy.

‘I am currently weak, so use the momentum to deliver a strike!’ Ashe gritted his teeth.

He grabbed the axe and twisted his body, and with a roar, the Gnoll spearman that was preparing to attack had its body split in two!

Blood spurted out; its entrails hanging as the body was torn in two separate pieces. And as he turned around, he saw the Gnoll writhing in pain, looking at him with instinctive fear.

The Gnoll was not sentient, but it knew how to feel fear. Right now, with Ashe’s blood-splattered body, he seemed like a natural predator. The Gnoll trembled and whimpered.

Ashe easily beheaded the frightened Gnoll.

“Huu, This is far more exhausting than I thought. It’s a good thing there were only two of them.”

He was happy about the result, and with his body covered with the Gnoll’s blood, Ashe would not need to be worried about camouflaging his scent. It was a pretty good result.

While picking up the rusted spear, he noticed a glowing blue light appearing on one of the Gnoll’s head. Ashe walked over and crushed its head, and inside, a black stone with a rune glowing a metallic sheen was found.

The Gnoll dropped the Skill Rune [Scent Tracker] [Iron] [Scent Tracker] – Once you mark a scent, it will remain trackable for 100 meters. The marking shall remain for three days before disappearing.

Ashe picked up the glowing stone.

Would you learn this Skill Rune and learn [Scent Tracker]?

‘I really can learn any skill. Better choose carefully.’ Ashe rejected the offer and kept it in his Inventory, the Skill Rune may prove useful for trade.

“A tracking skill is not that useful for me at the moment.” Ashe was pretty sure he does not need such a thing inside this Dungeon. With all that matter taken cared of, he lifted his left arm and looked at the snake, “So, what are you supposed to be?”

“Me, Plead, Human, Spare, Me, Follow, Me, Obey, Please, Mercy.” the tiny snake jumped out of Ashe’s arm and lowered its head on the ground and pleaded for a better fate—at least not the same with the Gnolls.

Ashe’s piercing gaze frightened the tiny creature. Ashe, however, did not care much about it and simply looked at its name.

[Treant Vinesnake] [Bronze]

‘Treant Vinesnake? That’s new. It appears that not every monster I encounter would be the same as the ones I saw in Astralius.’

The Vinesnake had a meter-long body and was fully green. Its appearance was that an amalgamation of vines to form this tiny snake. Ashe remained silent as he directed a heated glare at the Vinesnake.

The Treant Vinesnake had seen Ashe’s moves. It didn’t want to fight against this Human—it was a coward.

Ashe took note of this and smiled, “What can you do for me?”

“Me, Useful, Tie, Enemy, Me, Grow, Longer, Bigger.” It advertised itself with enthusiasm. Its tail moving from side to side as it believed that Ashe was interested.

‘It’s like a dog. A monster that looks like a snake and acts like a dog…this little one is fantastic. It wants to follow me, must be for protection.’

Ashe smiled at the Vinesnake and extended his left hand, “That’s good enough. Come with me.”

The Vinesnake’s body jolted. As its tail moved from side to side with enthusiasm, it moved and wrapped itself around Ashe’s arm.

“Me, Happy, Companion, Protector.”

“I really wanted a dog since long back, I’ll name you Vine.”

“Vine, Name, Me, Like!” Vine celebrated as it moved from side to side.

Ashe really liked Vine. He was satisfied with this situation. And so, with him still buck naked and his body drenched in Gnoll blood, Ashe continued his exploration of the Dungeon with a dog.

***

Dungeon Exploration took days and even weeks to complete. It was a long and arduous process where one searches for the Dungeon Core or otherwise known as the [Boss Monster].

Two days passed, and Ashe had yet to get any pants, but his body was reeking with all the Gnoll blood he managed to hunt.

He already killed seven Gnolls in total, he had a number of weapons in his Inventory. But he had yet to find the weapon he liked using.

But he did encounter an ungodly sight.

“It had been years since I’ve entered a Dungeon. I doubted if the ones found on earth would be any different, but it seems like that thought was unfounded.” Ashe stated as he looked at the hanging skinned human corpse, “It’s as disgusting as I remember.”

He cut the rope and freed the corpse.

“May your soul past on.”

Ashe didn’t have the time to dig a grave, but he offered a prayer as he touched his forehead with his index finger and then his chest with his middle finger. These two fingers then interlocked to form a sign that meant respect for the dead.

“Companion, What, Doing?”

“I’m offering a prayer to the dead.”

“Why.”

“No reason, I was taught, and it just became a habit of mine. We should go.”

Ashe had learned a lot of culture in Astralius, and this was one of the many that stuck to him.

As he walked deeper into the Dungeon, Vine suddenly turned to the ocean with a worried expression.

“What is it, Vine?”

“Stranger, Enter, Home.”

“Do you mean someone entered the Dungeon?”

Vine nodded its head.

“How do you even know that?”

“Me, Feel, Presence, Together, Trees.”

“…”

Ashe sighed. He had an unwanted thought.

He then realized a rather bright idea, “Vine, do you mean to say you can sense what the trees can feel?”

“Here, Me, Yes.”

“So, you could actually do that? This would have been easier if you told me that first. Then, can you tell me where every Gnoll is in this forest?”

“Yes.”

“Lead the way then, I want to find a good Skill Rune. I’m leaving the Dungeon Boss to the ones that entered.”

Ashe followed Vine’s directions, and while they walked away, Ashe became curious.

“If you can sense everything in this place, how did the Gnolls found you? You could have easily avoided them.”

“Me, Sensed, You, Near, Enemy, Me, Wanted, Companion, So, Save.”

“Good boy.”

Ashe had really taken a liking to Vine.

[Astral Page (Level 2)]