Jack watched with interest, his eyes gleaming with both excitement and entertainment, his whole being awaiting the spectacle that would follow. Sure, this group could not hope to hold a candle in front of his kids, their combat comparable to a work of art in progress, but then again, Jack never expected these seven to reach the same level. Spartacus was destined to be his little piece on the board that would plunge this place in chaos, likely triggering the birth of a new governing system, or at the very least a fall of the current overlords if all went according to plan, while the six maids were just that- maids, trained up to a standard that Jack expected of his servants.

  The boss chamber seemed to be set up with a bit of a flair, begging with the much expected illumination of otherwise pitch black room, one that seemed very much like a throne room, especially with the oversized throne like chair that sat in the very center. Was it not a comedy then, a parody of sorts that Jack was witnessing, since the creature in the very same oversized throne seemed tiny. Sure, objectively speaking, the overgrown kobold was two and a half meter tall, but when compared to the throne its ass had claimed, one would compare it to a toddler sitting in the drivers seat of a monster truck.

  Surrounding it, what was obviously skulls of long dead creatures sat, most of whom had no doubt dwarfed the supposed ruler kobold in size. Was that little, weak and self important kobold supposed to have slain all those creatures then? Was it supposed to be feared and avoided? Jack would not know, though he assumed that at the very least the remaining kobolds around would. Still, neither the kobold chief, lord, king or whatever else it was pretending to be, nor its supposed subjects, nor Jack himself were the stars of todays spectacle. No, that honour belonged the the seven that advanced, with Spartacus taking the lead.

  With its quarry in sight, the kobold lord rose to its feet, one hand gripping a rather large sized war hammer, followed by a rather loud scream. A call to battle, or an intimidation attempt, nobody but the kobold lord itself knew, though it seemed that whatever it was supposed to bring forth had not occured, causing the creature to glance right and left in confusion, before screaming once again, only for the same to happen.

  Clearly, it had failed twice in a row and decided that two was the maximum number of times it would be embarrassed today, thus it huffed, lifted its ginormous warhammer and slightly bent its knees, followed by an explosive jump forward, combined with an overhead swing, aiming straight for Spartacus, only to miss as the group of humans , and one Fae, dodged to sides, allowing the heavy weapon head to crash onto the stone floor, scattering numerous fragments to all sides, leaving not a single actual scratch behind- courtesy of the equipment provided by Jack.

  For its great effort, the kobold lord did not remain empty handed, so to speak, receiving a couple of spear tips in his ribs, though thankfully for its thicker hide, only superficial wounds- at least as far as the kobold was concerned- were made, leaving it more irritated and enraged than heavily wounded.

  "Curses! Its fur is much tougher than the kobolds before." one of the twins called out, warning her teammates not to make mistakes assuming they could deliver a debilitating injury on the monster just like they had done before on other ones, even if not the same size and might. One too daring a move could end with broken bones or worse. Jack might have said he would save them if push comes to shove, but even he was not omnipotent.

  What followed was a sort of a act and mouse dance, assuming that there were many mice and one, just a bit larger cat, trying its damn best to smash any of said mice into a bloody pulp with the not so nice hammer in its hands. The mice in return did not slack either, their sharp, pointy ended weapons constantly searching for purchase greater than small nicks and scratches. Still, despite their shallow cuts, the kobold was becoming more and more bloodied, the damage slowly stacking.

  "READY!" an excited yell came suddenly, followed by quick dispersal of the squad, leaving the kobold chief all alone as its hammer once again smashed down. Not for long though, as the instant that Valente deemed her teammates far enough, she lobbed a larger than usual fireball towards the kobold chief, catching it off guard as the spell connected and exploded outwards, a raging inferno enveloping the furry creature in its entirely.

  A howl of pain and rage reverberated across the hall as fire enveloped and cooked the kobold chief, its hands releasing the enormous hammer, its body falling on the ground as it rolled to douse the fire, only to whimper as the skin to stone contact made it suffer even more agony. The stench of charred flesh and burnt fur permeated the hall, bringing the group back into action, their weapons now finding a much better purchase in the areas the most charred.

  The sound of blackened and overcooked flesh breaking indicated a successful strike after strike, causing blood to pour from the charred kobold in much greater quantities, lowering its ability to resist at a much greater pace. Then, as though sensing danger, the melee fighters instantly retreated, leaving only Arsha peppering the body with her arrows. Smart choice that too, as moments later, the kobold chief shot to its legs, a howl or rage and madness escaping its maw.

  Like a corpse possessed, it lunged for the nearest body disregarding its own safety, smashing into Spartacus raised shield with all of its mass, pushing the man back all while its arms tried to reach behind the shield, sharp dangerous nails hoping to reach some flesh to rend and tear.

  "Shield Shock!" Spartacus exclaimed, his shield glowing for just a moment before it released a shockwave, blasting the kobold back as though it weighed nothing. Capitalizing on the momentary imbalance, Arsha launched yet another arrow that pierced the now scorched and brittle skin, follow by another combo of spear stabs- courtesy of the twins. Then, to further keep the monster off balance, Sindu called forth wind, smashing a rather powerful gust into monsters side.

  It was not all success though, as just a moment later the kobold chief stopped resisting the force imposed on it, rolling along the path and propelling itself from the ground the moment it fell, once again slamming into Spartacus and his raised shield, in turn propelling the man a fair few meters away, following it up near instantly with another leap, this time stopped in his tracks as lita intercepted it, having abandoned her own weapon and holding the remaining shield with both hands. She was still flung away from the impact, though the kobold chief was stopped in its tracks, even in its berserk state forced to shake off the concussion.

  "Fireball!" it was in that moment of stillness that yet another scorching ball of fire was flung and enveloped the raging kobold, forcing out a squeal like howl from its charred lips. Sindu too joined in, fanning the flames straight away this time, elevating the temperature to new heights. And as the flame died out, the monster finally collapsed, more than half its body charred beyond recognition. And then, a mere moment later, the remains scattered into mana dust, signaling their success.

  "Good. Very good." Jack spoke, as he nodded in approval. Then, he spent a quick few moments to heal up both Lita and Spartacus who had received light injuries from their momentary flight and subsequent painful landing, then proceeded to point out a few mistakes that they made during the fight, first asking for their own input as to how they could have done better, then offering his own alternatives.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Only once he was sure the fight had been analyzed enough did he allowed the group to advance, slowly heading over towards the chest that had been revealed after the kobold chiefs death, standing at the foot of the oversized throne. Whatever reward the dungeon deemed fit to hand out, Jack was more than happy to allow the ones doing all the work to go and take it. It was only fair after all. Still, something did not quite add up. According to the information he received from Frank the One Eyed, and he doubted the man had any reason to provide falsified data- lest a rather angry and trigger happy second awakening human came back with quite a few grievances, the kobold chief here had no berserker ability, nor was he supposed to last as long as he did, not if the weapons Jack had made for the group were to be taken into the equation, which they absolutely were.

  Could it be that Jack's mere presence upped the difficulty level? Surely not, for the changes that were apparent would still fail to break even a sweat from someone of second awakening. Could it be then, that perhaps there was a scaling range within which the dungeon could operate, creating variables only in the absolute upper levels of the bracket? Would that then affect the rewards?

  "So, what did you get?" Jack asked once his focus returned to the group, the seven bundled around the now open chest.

  Without a second's hesitation, they opened a path for Jack, revealing to his eyes a decently looking sword- a simple, european style longsword with a rather unremarkably crafted guard, quite like the generic sword one associates with crusaders. The only difference was the minimalistic sheen the blade itself had, indicating its slightly superior grade, though Jack was quite sure that the item was still worse than what he had made for the group.

  Paladin apprentice sword(rare T1)- A simple sword gifted to paladin apprentices after they had finished their initiation. +3 strength. Slightly stronger against evil beings. Slight increase in form correction.

  Just as expected, the item was no better than the weapons currently in teams use, each and every one of them equipped with T0 epic quality items, disguised as uncommon ones. The seven had been a bit frightened the first time they beheld the items provided for them, well aware that epic rarity, no matter the tier, were expensive and often fought over. So now, while still elated, their reactions were much less pronounced, the realization that this new weapon would serve no purpose for them.

  What was out of the expectations, however, was the items grade, for once again it surpassed what was supposed to be the limit of this particular dungeon. It seemed, once again if the information received was to be trusted, that there had never been a rare drop in this particular place, the drop pool filled with all manner of uncommon items, anywhere from armor to all manner of weapons, or if one got particularly lucky- a rare crafting material of T1 grade.

  As the group slowly moved towards the other end of the hall, a door of similar make as the one they came in through, Jack's mind stumbled onto a much, much more likely explanation for the clear difference in experiences. There was no way a second awakening adventurer had not gone through this place, that much was certain, but what then about someone of legendary rarity class? He sure as hell did not believe for even a second that another EX grade class owner had come through. If the dungeons scaled according to class rarities, it would explain the change in difficulty level, as well as the better reward.

  'I will have to remember that for future reference.' Jack noted in his mind, the group stepping through the door, leaving boss arena, and it's overcooked flesh filled air behind.

  Once on the other side, a rather simple and forgettable corridor awaited them, though slightly better lit than before, leading towards a simple, white energy vortex at the far end of it, clearly the exit of the place. Jack intentionally slowed their pace, his eyes and spirit senses alike scanning every nook and cranny of the corridor, clearly searching for something.

  ''Come out, come out wherever you are!'' Jack chuckled as he kept slowly heading forward, his mind near singularly focused on his task. It was only after they had walked past the boss chambers door did he remember a certain god that he had talked no more than twice, as well as said god's love for dungeons and the like. It was in one of those two conversations that he heard about self sustaining and repeatedly clearable dungeons. Of course, much of what he had heard had gone right over his head, the terminology and principle still foreign to him, but he remembered that even such dungeons had their core, usually hidden somewhere in the last room before exit.

  "Ah, there you are!" Jack smirked, his spiritual senses finally picking up his target, disguised as one of the four, unremarkable podiums that flanked the exit vortex. "Let's see what wonders are you hiding." he added, his gait leading him straight towards it, as moments later Jack stretched out his hand and touching the disguised core.

  The moment his hand touched it, a veritable ocean of information flooded his mind, all seemingly dumped on him for his audacity, perhaps even in hopes that his mind would break in the process. Sadly, his spirit and mind were made of sterner staff, the only result being a slight headache Jack would wake up with the next morning, assuming he decided to sleep. Of course, any other person doing the same would have had absolutely no response, Jack's Ex class that embodied creation serving as the necessary catalyst of the events that had unfolded.

  Maid squad and Spartacus, seeing Jack standing there like some sort of a statue, immediately stopped their own movement, all waiting for him to return to his senses, not even one of them considering running away, even less so attacking Jack. Then, no more than five minutes later, Jacks eyes regained their lucidity, no longer staring off into the distance like some husk devoid of soul. Then, a savage, slightly insane grin spread across his face, speaking volumes of the information, or idea he had just come up with.

  "Tell me Spartacus, if I was to be interested in finding some of the free folk, as well as a dungeon or two that only they would know of, how would i go about it?"

  "That might be more difficult than one might imagine. though I suppose you would have to start with heading towards the outer layers of the steppe, particularly ones that had not been raided in a generation or so. Then, heading further in, you would have to try and come in contact with any of the roaming, yet extremely cautious free folk. Then, in gods only know what way, you would then have to convince them that you are not a spy sent by the beastmen, with the task of infiltrating and reporting on their location to your overlords. Finally, through this contact you have somehow established with some free folk group, you would then have to reach the ones living further still, closer to the deadlands, perhaps even have to travel there yourself."

  "Deadlands?"

  "Yes. Supposedly, at the end of the Steppe, one can find either an endless expanse of water, or vast fields of stone cliffs, barren of almost any plant life." Spartacus replied. continuing "Do not assume that because there is little to no plant life, fauna of any sort does not thrive there. On the contrary. If the stories are to be believed, numerous species of mana beasts live there, all consuming ambient mana and growing larger and larger. And then, thanks to said mana beasts, plenty of predators live there as well, each larger than the last, perpetuating an endless cycle of violence and murder, feasting on the mana beasts and each other alike. Near endless lightning storms plague the place, coupled with stone storms that can tear ones flesh clean of the bones."

  "Interesting. And why the beastmen have not advanced so far? No doubt plenty of experience could be gained there." Jack asked the obvious question. He had seen the stagnation and lack of high quality materials among the beastmen.

  "Two reasons. Firstly, they need lands occupied by the free folk that they can then raid yearly, all to keep their current way of life. Secondly, the place seems to carry some sort of toxin that hurts beastmen worse than humanoid kind. Get exposed too long, and you might lose your mind entirely, at the same time the more you spend there, the more it calls you, always resulting in the former."

  "Meh, barbarians and their way of life, though the deadlands do sound rather interesting." Jack mused "No matter, everything in due time. First, we will run through this dungeon a couple more times. I need to confirm something. Let's go."

  "Yes master!" the seven replied in unison, following right behind him.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 30

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +4

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster.

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.