32 Overgrinding

After Shesmu found out about the wolves' hideout, he issued the command for telepathic communication.

'Ryan, Leo, I found it.'

'Oh, nice. Where are you?' Leo asked.

Ryan's put-down came swift and quick. 'Just look at the map, you dummy.'

Shesmu shook his head at his friends' antics before saying with a serious voice. 'Leo, you're five minutes away from my location. Ryan, you're eight. Come here quick.'

'Roger.'

Even though Ryan was located the farthest, he reached Shesmu's location first.

"Ehm, soo, what was that thing about eight minutes and five minutes?"

Ryan's sly remark made Shesmu furrow his eyebrows in annoyance. He took a quick glance at the minimap only to see that Leo was pretty close. Soon enough, he appeared from within the shrubs and made his way towards Shesmu and Ryan.

"Great, since everyone is here. Let's go to the cave." Without even waiting for a response, Shesmu made his way towards the dungeon.

Leo was surprised at the abruptness of Shesmu. He felt that there was some tension in the air. He looked at Ryan for answers, but the latter only giggled and followed after Shesmu.

[Congratulations on finding the level 10 dungeon: Silver Wolves' Cave!]

The cave was dark, even darker than the forest. Even the moonlight that was their guide abandoned them in this dungeon.

"Leo, please light up the torch," asked Shesmu.

"Sure, give me a second."

Leo took out the torch from his inventory and lighted it up. The fire was a savior—a guide to the trio who just a few moments ago couldn't see two feet past their nose.

The party explored the cave and after two minutes, they found their first foes.

Two wolves, both of them had black fur and red eyes. Their fangs were sharp and their claws deadly. Shesmu inspected them. Both were at level 11.

Wolf

HP: 730/730

Wolf

HP: 750/750

Shesmu had the urge to just use Demon Slash and be done with it. However, remembering the Energy cost and cooldown of the skill, Shesmu stopped himself.

Both Leo and Ryan dashed towards the monsters without waiting for Shesmu's orders. At that point, they had already developed enough of team coordination to not need Shesmu to give even the most basics of instructions.

With dexterous movements, Ryan dodged the wolf's attacks and countered with his own. He slashed at the beast's neck. However, just as the dagger grazed the wolf's neck, shadows cloaked Ryan's dagger. Two damages appeared above the monster's head, killing it instantly.

Looking at this display of skill, Shesmu couldn't help but pause and smile.

Huh, so he was able to copy it.

Leo took a much simpler approach. He first blocked the wolf's strike with his shield before countering with his own attacks. With a couple of rotations, Leo was able to kill the wolf easily.

Shesmu didn't take part in the fight and just stood behind the duo, watching their every movement.

"Good job, the both of you. It seems that you no longer need me now, maybe you should try and duo the dungeon for a change."

"You're joking, right? Of course, we can, just sit back and relax."

Shesmu was just trying to tease both of them a little, but who would have thought that Ryan would be even more quick-witted.

"Ehh, you guys are joking, right?" Leo said with a quivering voice.

Looking at Leo's worried face, both Shesmu and Ryan had the same grin on their face.

"I don't know about that," replied Ryan. "Were you joking, Shesmu?"

"Huh, why would I joke about something like that? You guys are plenty strong. You can do the work, while I just sit outside and enjoy the moonlight."

Looking at Shesmu's deadpan face, Leo was getting worried for real.

"Ehh, I'm really not sure about that Shes. Ryan is really good, I know, but I don't think we can do it alone."

Both of Ryan stayed silent for a few seconds, making Leo's worries grow even bigger.

"Hey guys-" Just as Leo was about to talk, Shesmu and Ryan cut him off with their laughter.

"Hahaha! Dude, you should see the look in your face. It's too good! Haha!"

Seeing Ryan laugh like a maniac, Leo heaved a sigh of relief.

"You guys really went too far with the joke, you know?"

"Sorry sorry, Leo," Shesmu apologized. "It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up."

"Ehm, ehm," Shesmu coughed twice to set up a serious tone. "Okay guys, let's continue on with the exploration. It's getting late."

"Yeah, let's do that," Leo curtly responded to the dismay of Ryan. The latter just clicked his tongue and followed after them.

The party kept exploring the cave, killing wolves left and right. The monsters posed no challenge, making them bored out of their mind. The situation kept repeating itself multiple times until the first elite appeared.

Silver Fang Wolf(Elite)

HP: 2300/2300

"Well, I guess this is the first monster that won't be one-shot," declared Shesmu.

He then dashed and appeared in front of the Silver Fang Wolf. He then executed his Empowered Slash Thrust Combo, dealing more than 2000 damage. The beast dropped dead with one hit.

"Nah, just kidding. It was still one-shot," said Shesmu dejectedly.

"You really like bragging about, Shesmu. But I like that, a strong person has the right to brag, that's my motto!" declared Ryan with hands on his hips.

"Oh, I don't think he is bragging. I too didn't think that it would be one-shot, it's an elite after all."

"You know, Leo. Sometimes, I really don't know if you're trolling or not."

Ryan looked at Leo with tired eyes, already used to his friend's antics. Leo, on the other hand, had a confused look on his face.

"Well, let's just continue guys. I'm getting bored of this dungeon already, I just wanna blitz it," said Shesmu.

With those words, the party continued their exploration. The trio blitzed through the dungeon-like there was no tomorrow, wasting no more than 20 seconds on every pack of wolves. Even elite wolves couldn't survive one combo from Shesmu, so the whole ordeal was a breeze.

After much exploration, the trio found themselves in front of a big door. All of them assumed that it was the boss's room. By the time they reached this far into the dungeon, Shesmu and Ryan reached level 13 while Leo was 12.

"It really sucks that none of the wolves dropped any weapon, but at least the elites dropped good quality pelt and wolf armors, so I guess that's not too bad," Ryan commented.

"Well, yeah. We were in need of new armors anyway. It would be really weird if we had insane weapons but all the other equipment was trash," responded Shesmu.

"Anyway, the exp was good, so I'm fine with that. Plus, isn't the boss going to drop some cool weapons and items? That's the custom, right?"

"Well, yeah Leo. Plus, things are finally going to be fun. I hope."

Shesmu had an excited smile on his face as he opened the doors to the boss' room. In the middle of it, a beast three meters tall with ripped muscles stood. Its silver fur shined through the moonlight that came from the rooftop.

Shesmu used Inspect on the wolf and his excited smile became even more deranged.

Silver Wolf King(Boss)

HP: 30000/30000