CHAPTER 11: WEREWOLF CAVERN

Chatting with Isolde lifted Godfrey’s heart, but when he closed the laptop and gazed out the window at the dark sky and the glittering buildings, his mood soured again. The headless statue stood in the distance, a bitter reminder that refused to fade.

Leaning back in his chair, he shut his eyes and slipped into the palace of his soul space. This time, he headed straight for the second door, continuing his search for answers. But when he arrived, he froze.

The right side of the wall had changed, what was once stone had partially turned into wood. The petrification looked as though it was wearing off.

His eyes widened.

Mountain’s door was already completely wooden, and that was why he could be summoned. If this wall fully transformed, then the second door could be opened.

A deep frown formed across his forehead as he thought about what might have caused the shift. Time? No, that didn’t feel right.

Then it clicked.

Mountain had advanced from Tier 3.0 to 3.2. His eyes lit up with realization as he studied the wooden section again, his assumption only solidifying.

’So... making Mountain grow will grant me access to the second Knight-Captain.’

Folding his arms, Godfrey stood in silence, contemplating his next step, before finally leaving the soul space.

***

The next morning, a taxi rolled down a sloped street lined with high-rise apartments before screeching to a halt. Godfrey climbed out with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He wore strong jeans, a black top, and a dagger strapped to his waist. The blade, forged from dungeon beast bones, was a 2.1-tier weapon capable of slicing through steel with relative ease.

"That weapon looks dangerous!"

The shriek made him snap his head left.

On the second floor of an apartment, perched on a railing, sat a Multilingual Parrot. Its beady eyes blinked knowingly at him.

A low-tier summon, 1.9 in rank, but infamous for its ability to mimic nearly every language, ancient or modern. Intelligent, but an endless nuisance.

Before he could respond, a black-and-white cat padded up behind the parrot and spat a puff of smoke and flame, as though scolding it.

Godfrey chuckled quietly. These summons were everywhere. Billions across the globe, rarely exceeding Tier 2.5, and with no growth potential. They were common, harmless, background noise compared to real threats.

Adjusting his grip on the backpack, Godfrey walked on.

This district was nothing like his own. The asphalt was cracked and uneven, the air faintly sour with neglect. His eyes locked onto the ten-story building ahead, the one said to house a company that had shut down more than a decade ago.

According to reports he’d found online, a summoner once lost his beast here. A massive hound had entered the building and never come back. Days later, the summoner’s bond was severed completely.

Everything about it screamed green gate dungeon. The fact that no guild had touched it only confirmed it wasn’t dangerous enough to catch their immediate attention.

As he moved closer, he passed a courier hauling a massive refrigerator. Or rather, his summon was, the Warrior Ant, nearly the size of a man, carried the two-hundred-liter appliance. Over a hundred and sixty pounds moved as if weightless.

Godfrey kept walking. Soon, he stood before the looming building itself.

Stone, heavy slabs dividing each floor like layered fortifications. Buildings like this weren’t built anymore.

A strip of yellow tape hung limply across the entrance, torn in two. Someone had gone inside.

His brow furrowed as his gaze shifted to the nearby street. A vehicle was parked just out of sight.

’Only one way to know if this is a real dungeon, and if the people in there are summoners.’

Exhaling, Godfrey pushed the door open.

The instant he stepped inside, the world shifted.

He was no longer in a dusty apartment block. Instead, he stood in a cavern vast as a football field, its floor littered with nearly fifty massive cocoons of stone. Each one pulsed faintly with deep blue light, as though something alive slumbered within.

Above, the cavern’s lofty ceiling soared over a hundred feet high, riddled with tiny cracks that allowed slivers of sunlight to spill through, pale against the darkness.

Godfrey took a step back, but his shoulders hit a wall. He turned, no exit. A typical green dungeon.

His eyes narrowed when he spotted three figures deeper inside.

The first was a hulking man with a shaved head, his thick frame radiating menace. He looked like Dale, older, meaner, more dangerous. The second was a slim man wearing a green beanie, his eyes sharp with a shrewd wolfish gleam.

The last was a woman.

She wore tight leather, every curve outlined, a crimson whip strapped to her waist that matched the fiery color of her hair. The way the two men hung around her made it clear, whether through leadership or seduction, she was the one pulling their strings.

Godfrey’s lips tightened. It didn’t matter. Whoever they were, they were already in this dungeon.

He summoned Mountain instantly.

Normal people didn’t just walk into a dungeon. These three had come deliberately, and he knew exactly why.

The dungeon core.

"You walked into a green dungeon with a golem knight? Are you a fool, or just naïve?" the hulking man sneered, his deep voice booming across the cavern.

"Kids these days," Natasha spat, eyes flashing with something personal. "They think they’re brave, but they just end up dead. Tsk."

"Leave this place, brat!" the big man growled, veins bulging along his thick neck.

Godfrey tilted his head back toward the wall behind him, then looked at the man again as if to say, Can’t you see there’s no exit?

The unspoken jab only made the brute’s face twist with anger, but before he could roar again, the beanie-wearing man unfortunately stepped on a small stone that sank inwards.

The cavern shook.

A heavy thud echoed, like something massive had just dropped from above.

Godfrey bolted forward, eyes fixed on the far end of the cavern. Beyond the maze of cocoons lay an open stretch, a set of stairs, and finally a massive door.

Natasha and her men sprinted too, all of them racing for the same goal.

The cocoons began to pulse brighter, their rocky shells cracking, pieces falling away.

One burst open beside Godfrey, unleashing a towering werewolf, seven feet of black fur and raw muscle. Its snout jutted forward, teeth like daggers, claws four inches long. Its inverted legs coiled with explosive strength as it lunged.

But Mountain was faster. He moved to Godfrey’s left, slamming his great oval shield into the beast. The werewolf was hurled sideways, its body crashing into the floor. Mountain stomped after it without hesitation, his ironclad boot crushing its skull into blood and pulp.

Natasha’s eyes widened. "That’s... a golem?"

Shock flickered across her face, but she quickly snapped a look at her men. Godfrey was gaining ground, too quickly.

"Now!" she barked.

The brute summoned a massive hound, like a rottweiler on steroids. Muscles rippled under its hide, its shoulders towering six feet high.

The beanie-wearing man responded with a black Direwolf, leaner, built for speed, its sharp eyes fixed on Godfrey.

The trio turned back toward the huge door, shoving it open as their beasts tore across the cavern floor straight toward him.

...

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