The fortified gate plaza buzzed with weekend energy. Students clustered around the various dungeon portals—some hauling heavy sacks of loot on their way out, others double-checking gear before stepping in.
Most were second- and third-years, their equipment scarred and confident, but a noticeable wave of first-years had shown up too, all chasing merits before tomorrow's Personal Disciple Ascension Ceremony. The pressure to level up and climb the ranks hung thick in the air.
Lucas's team made final adjustments at the edge of the F-rank Undead Dungeon gate. Lucas secured his greatsword across his back, the invisible armor shimmering faintly as it powered on. Vivienne tested her bowstring and quiver.
Yuna slid her daggers into their sheaths with smooth, practiced flips. Kira double-checked her protective artifacts while Owen hefted his reinforced shield, even though his collector class kept him out of the real frontline.
Owen wiped sweat from his brow and spoke up as they waited for the gate to stabilize. "F-rank Undead Dungeons are a pain in the ass for newbies, even at low grade. Skeletons, zombies, ghouls—weak one-on-one, but they swarm and never quit. Skeletons swing rusty blades, zombies have a slow poison bite, and ghouls claw fast and cause bleeding. Wraiths might pop up too—phase through physical hits and drain your stamina with curses."
Kira nodded, voice soft but steady. "Undead resist physical damage hard, but they hate holy, fire, or light. My purification buffs will help, but they burn mana like crazy if the swarm gets thick."
Lucas gave a single nod. "We adapt once we're inside. Owen, you're with me on the front line. Vivienne, keep Kira covered. Yuna, slip through the gaps and hit from the shadows."
Yuna pressed against his side, pink eyes locked on the gate with fierce protectiveness. "I've got your back. No one touches you."
Vivienne offered a short nod. "Clear rooms fast, skip what we can, and smash the reanimation cores. The gate will scale a bit to our highest rank, but we're mostly F-rank, so it should stay manageable. Exit portal opens after the boss or if we pop an emergency recall crystal—use that early, and we fail the raid, lose the slot fee."
A system notification lit up every bracelet:
[F-rank Undead Dungeon Gate — Stability 87%]
[Recommended Party Size: 4–8]
[Entry Window Open]
Lucas took the first step, voice low and final. "Let's move."
The team crossed the pulsing violet threshold.
The gate sealed behind them with a deep, resonant hum, cutting them off from the outside world.
Cold, damp air hit like a slap. The dungeon stretched ahead—a long, crumbling stone corridor lit by lazy green ghost lights drifting overhead. Thick fog hugged the ground, visibility down to twenty feet. The stench of rot and old bones clung to everything, undercut by the distant shuffle of feet and low, hungry moans.
Clatter… clatter…
The first pack of skeletons rounded the corner, rusty swords and cracked shields raised. Sickly green light glowed in their empty sockets.
Lucas stood still, arms crossed, greatsword still sheathed. His blue eyes narrowed, assessing. "Yuna," he said calmly, voice carrying through the mist, "show me how far your Secret Art has come."
Yuna's lips curved into a sharp, hungry smile. Shadow energy coiled around her daggers. "Gladly."
She vanished.
Shing—!
She reappeared in the middle of the pack like living smoke. Daggers flashed in a deadly blur—shing shing shing—bones exploding outward as dark energy trails lingered in the air before dissolving the undead completely. Ten seconds later, the corridor was silent.
Kira clutched her staff to her chest, eyes wide with awe. "Wow…"
Owen let out a low whistle, adjusting his bag. "Shit… at that pace we'll be done in no time."
Lucas's mouth twitched into a satisfied smirk. He stepped forward and gently ruffled Yuna's hair as she returned to his side, faint shadows still flickering on her blades. Worth every investment, he thought, pride and cold calculation mixing behind his eyes.
"No time to waste," he said, drawing the greatsword with a metallic ring. "Let's go."
They pushed deeper.
When the next wave hit—skeletons mixed with shambling zombies—Lucas unleashed his kit. His greatsword hummed with abyssal energy as Mana Absorption pulled ambient mana from the dungeon itself, making the blade heavier, darker, and brutally powerful with every swing.
THWACK!
Three skeletons shattered into shards, the impact booming like cannon fire. At the same time, he triggered Shadow Step, blinking through the fog in short, unpredictable teleports that left the undead swinging at ghosts.
Yuna danced through the shadows beside him, daggers singing. Vivienne picked off clusters from the backline with frost-tipped arrows that froze them in place.
Kira chanted soft purification spells, weakening the horde and refreshing the team's stamina. Owen held the front with Lucas, shield-bashing stragglers while scooping bone fragments and cores into his reinforced bag.
The corridor widened into larger chambers stacked with bone piles and flickering green flames. They moved faster now, clearing room after room while the fog thickened and the passive stamina-drain curse tried to grind them down.
Finally, they reached a massive stone door at the end of the main hall. Dark runes pulsed across its surface; the air had turned noticeably colder.
Boss room.
Lucas stopped, greatsword resting on his shoulder, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Ready?"
The door rumbled open with a grinding roar, revealing a vast circular chamber bathed in sickly green light. Ancient bone pillars jutted from the floor like twisted trees. The stench of decay and old blood thickened the air.
In the center waited the boss.
Bone Lord Thalor—a ten-foot skeletal knight fused into rusted black plate armor glowing with green runes. A cracked bone crown sat on its skull.
One hand gripped a jagged greatsword; the other held a floating orb of necromantic energy that pulsed like a heartbeat.
A system notification flashed across every bracelet:
[Boss Encounter: Bone Lord Thalor (F-rank Elite)]
Unique Mechanics:
• Bone Reassembly – Periodically summons and reassembles fallen skeletons. Destroy the reanimation cores on the walls to slow it.
• Curse of Decay – Pulsing waves drain stamina and halve healing for 10 seconds.
• Shield of Bones – At 60% and 30% HP, forms a near-invulnerable bone shield while regenerating. Destroy or interrupt it.
• Final Stand – Below 20% HP, rage mode: faster attacks, higher summon rate, 40% movement slow curse.
The Bone Lord's empty sockets flared with green fire. It raised its greatsword and let out a hollow, echoing roar that shook the chamber.
"Intruders… feed the legion!"
The ground trembled. Bone piles detonated upward as dozens of skeletons and zombies surged forward, rusty weapons raised.
Lucas's grip tightened on his greatsword. A cold, predatory smile spread across his face.
"Vivienne and Yuna—handle the ads and smash the reanimation cores. Kira and Owen, support them."
A hint of annoyance crossed Vivienne's face as she drew her bow taut, her amber-brown eyes hardening.
"Lucas, leave the boss to me."
Lucas turned, blue eyes suddenly ice-cold and commanding. "Do what I said, Vivienne. Don't make me repeat myself."
Yuna smirked behind his shoulder, a dark, satisfied glint in her pink gaze.
Vivienne's face stayed neutral, but the corner of her mouth lifted in a cold, calculating smile. There it is… your real face. She nocked an arrow, frost energy crackling along the shaft. "You got it."
Both women moved instantly—Yuna melting into the shadows, Vivienne leaping to a high vantage on a bone pillar.
Their job was simple: keep the trash off Lucas.
Lucas slammed the tip of his greatsword into the stone floor with a heavy THUD, eyes locked on the towering Bone Lord.
"Alright…" he murmured, voice low and hungry. "Time to kill with my own hands."
Lucas blurred forward.
Shadow Step.
The world flickered. He reappeared in a burst of dark energy at the Bone Lord's right flank. His greatsword—already heavy and humming with absorbed dungeon mana—whistled through the air in a vicious horizontal arc.
THWACK!
The blade slammed into the boss's ribcage with devastating force. Abyssal energy erupted on impact, shattering armored plates and sending deep cracks spider-webbing across its torso. The Bone Lord staggered sideways with a furious roar.
But the fight was far from over.
The towering skeletal knight retaliated instantly, swinging its massive, jagged greatsword in a wide, sweeping counter. Lucas twisted at the last second. The blade missed him by inches and carved a deep trench into the stone floor.
A wave of necrotic energy exploded outward—Curse of Decay—meant to drain stamina and slow movements.
The dark wave washed over Lucas harmlessly.
His lips curled into a cold, arrogant smirk. "Just as I expected."
His class gave him strong resistance to negative effects, and at the same rank, the curse was useless against him. It was exactly why he'd had no problem leaving the others to handle the ads.
"I'm your worst fucking nightmare, Skully," he muttered.
He triggered Mana Absorption again. The greatsword grew even darker and heavier as it greedily drank in more ambient mana. Lucas stepped in and unleashed a powerful overhead strike.
CRASH!
The blow crashed down on the Bone Lord's shoulder, cracking bone and armor. The boss roared and immediately summoned a fresh wave of skeletons while swinging again.
Lucas Shadow stepped behind it, but the creature anticipated the move and swept its sword in a wide arc, forcing him to block.
The jarring impact rattled his arms. He grunted, skidding back several feet. Still a little slow…
In the background, Yuna and Vivienne carved through the summoned undead with ruthless efficiency. Yuna moved like a shadow wraith, daggers flashing as she dismantled skeletons and shattered reanimation cores on the walls.
Vivienne's frost-tipped arrows rained down from above, freezing entire groups in place and creating clean openings.
Kira's soft purification light continuously washed over the team, weakening the undead aura, while Owen held the front line, shield-bashing anything that slipped through and quickly scooping valuable bone fragments into his reinforced bag.
Lucas narrowed his eyes at the Bone Lord, greatsword thrumming with power. He sent a mental command to his hidden servant.
Imp. Confuse its mind.
Deep in the shadows, the Imp's silver eyes gleamed with wicked delight.
Amplify Doubt.
The Bone Lord suddenly swung wildly to its right, swiping at an enemy that wasn't there. Its timing faltered by a fraction of a second.
Lucas's smirk widened.
THWACK!
This strike landed cleaner and harder. The greatsword smashed into the boss's side, sending shards of bone and armor flying. The Bone Lord stumbled backward.
Lucas pressed the advantage without mercy.
Shadow Step.
He blinked directly in front of the staggered giant. His mana-saturated greatsword thrust forward like a spear, piercing straight through the glowing necromantic core in the Bone Lord's chest.
CRACK—BOOM!
The core shattered with an explosion. A green shockwave of necrotic energy burst outward. The Bone Lord released one final, hollow roar before its entire body exploded into thousands of bone fragments.
Every summoned undead in the chamber crumbled to dust simultaneously.
The chamber fell into sudden, eerie silence. Only the fading echo of the explosion and the soft clatter of settling bones remained.
A system notification flashed across every team member's bracelet:
[Boss Defeated: Bone Lord Thalor]
[Contribution Rewards Calculated]
Lucas Vanderbilt – 58% (Major Bonus)
Yuna – 22%
Vivienne Laurent – 12%
Kira – 5%
Owen – 3%
[Raid Clear Reward: 2,500 Merits per Member + Bonus Loot]
Lucas slowly lowered his greatsword, breathing steady, a dark, satisfied glint in his eyes as the last traces of green light faded from the chamber.
The first real test was complete.