The "Dungeon Registry" was a massive holographic board in the lobby of the Adventurer's Guild. Hunters crowded around it, looking for high-paying raids, gold-rank gates, and parties seeking healers.
Kael stood at the back, wearing a hooded cloak over his new suit.
He scanned the bottom of the list. The "Trash Tier."
[Gate 402: Goblin Forest (Rank D)] - Crowded.
[Gate 115: Slime Sewers (Rank F)] - Too messy.
[Gate 009: The Skeletal Catacombs (Rank E)] - Status: Depleted / Abandoned.
"Depleted," Kael muttered.
In Hunter terms, "Depleted" meant the dungeon boss had been farmed so many times that the mana density had dropped. The monsters spawned slowly, dropped no loot, and gave almost no XP. It was a waste of time for any respectable hunter.
"Perfect."
Kael walked to the automated kiosk. He scanned his ID (which now identified him as an E-Rank Scavenger).
[Gate 009 Selected.]
[Warning: Low yield area. Recommended for training only.]
[Entry Fee: 500 Credits.]
He paid the fee. The teleporter hummed.
Inside Gate 009: The Catacombs
The air was dry and stale, smelling of old dust. The only light came from glowing moss on the stone walls.
Kael stepped out of the safe zone. Before him stretched an endless corridor of crypts.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
From the shadows, five skeletons emerged. They wore rusted iron armor and carried chipped swords. Their eye sockets glowed with a faint, pathetic yellow light.
Typical F-Rank fodder. A normal hunter would smash them and move on, annoyed by the lack of rewards.
Kael smiled.
"System, activate Auto-Recycle Mode."
[Mode Active: Touch-Range.]
[Filter: Bone, Rust, Necrotic Mana.]
Kael didn't draw his weapon. He simply walked forward.
The first skeleton swung its sword.
Kael sidestepped (Agility 45 made this look like slow motion) and slapped the skeleton's ribcage with his open palm.
[Recycling...]
It wasn't a fight. It was a magic trick.
The moment his hand connected, the skeleton didn't break—it vanished.
The calcium in the bones, the iron in the armor, and the mana holding it together were instantly deconstructed by the System.
[+10 System Points]
[Obtained: Bone Dust x1]
The skeleton was erased from existence.
Kael spun around, tapping the second skeleton on the skull. Pop. Gone.
He kicked the third one. Pop. Gone.
[+10 SP]
[+10 SP]
[+10 SP]
Within ten seconds, the corridor was empty. No debris. No bodies. Just Kael and a notification screen scrolling upward.
"It's efficient," Kael noted, checking his mana. "But 10 points per kill is too slow. I need thousands."
He looked deeper into the darkness.
"I need to pull the whole dungeon."
30 Minutes Later
If another hunter had entered the catacombs at that moment, they would have seen a nightmare.
Kael was running.
Behind him, a tidal wave of white bone was chasing him. He had run through four zones without attacking, aggroing every single mob in the area. There were at least two hundred skeletons sprinting, clattering, and shrieking behind him.
"This should be enough," Kael panted.
He reached a dead-end chamber—a large burial hall. He spun around to face the horde.
The sea of skeletons flooded into the room, blocking the exit. Hundreds of rusty weapons raised to kill him.
"Weapon Deploy."
Schwing.
The Venomous Shadow-Weave shot out from his gauntlet. The violet blade gleamed.
But Kael didn't attack the monsters.
He aimed at the ceiling.
Thwack.
The blade embedded itself in a massive, cracked stalactite hanging directly above the center of the horde.
"Gravity check," Kael grinned.
He yanked the chain with all his Strength (52).
CRACK!
The stalactite, weighing easily two tons, snapped off.
It fell into the middle of the skeleton army.
BOOOOOOOM!
The impact shook the entire dungeon. Bones shattered. Dust filled the room. Dozens of skeletons were crushed instantly.
But Kael wasn't done. He wasn't looking for kills. He was looking for materials.
He shadow-stepped directly onto the fallen rock in the center of the chaos. He placed both hands on the massive stone debris, which was now covered in crushed bone and struggling undead.
"System," Kael roared over the noise. "Area Recycle! Radius: 10 meters!"
[Warning: Massive Mana Consumption.]
[Executing...]
A dome of violet light expanded from Kael's body.
Everything inside that dome—the rocks, the crushed skeletons, the ones still trying to stand up, the rusted weapons—was consumed.
It was like a black hole opening up in the room.
[Recycling Batch #1...]
[Recycling Batch #2...]
The skeletons didn't even have time to scream. They were disassembled at an atomic level.
When the light faded, Kael stood in a perfectly smooth, circular crater. The room was clean. Spotless.
[Results:]
[Targets Processed: 184]
[Total SP Gained: 2,400]
[Obtained: Low-Grade Necrotic Crystal x4]
Kael fell to his knees, sweat pouring down his face. His mana bar was flashing red.
"Note to self," he wheezed. "Area Recycle... hurts."
He grabbed a mana potion (one of the few he had bought) and downed it.
He checked his total. 4,850 SP.
"Almost enough for the next upgrade," he muttered.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
It wasn't an earthquake. It was a footstep.
From the shadow of the boss door at the far end of the hall, something walked out.
It wasn't the usual Skeleton King. In a "Depleted" dungeon, the boss should be weak.
But this thing was huge. It stood four meters tall, made not of bone, but of rusted armor plates fused together. Green fire burned in its helmet. A Dungeon Variant.
[Boss Alert: Iron-Grave Golem]
[Rank: D+ (Rare Spawn)]
Kael stood up, wiping the sweat from his eyes.
Usually, a Rare Spawn was a blessing. They dropped epic loot.
But Kael looked at the boss and frowned.
"You're made of iron," Kael observed.
The Golem roared, the sound like grinding metal. It charged, raising a fist the size of a car.
Kael didn't dodge. He stood his ground, watching the fist come down.
He activated his [Abyssal Frost Suit]. The nanotechnology hardened, turning his skin into a dark blue armor.
[Passive: Cold Snap]
Just before the fist hit him, Kael released a burst of freezing air.
The Golem's joints—rusted and old—froze instantly. The charge lost momentum. The massive iron fist slowed down, creaking loudly.
Kael jumped, planting his foot on the Golem's frozen knee, and vaulted up to its chest.
"You're big," Kael whispered, placing his hand on the Golem's helmet. "That means you're worth a lot of points."
[Target: High-Density Iron Construct]
[Recycle?]
The Golem tried to shake him off, but its frozen joints wouldn't move fast enough.
"Goodbye, tin man."
ZZZZZTTT!
[Critical Recycle!]
[Target Mass too large for instant deletion.]
[Initiating: Structural Collapse.]
Kael drained the mana holding the iron together.
The Golem didn't vanish. It fell apart.
Bolts popped. Plates slid off. The magic animating it was sucked into Kael's palm. The giant monster crumbled into a pile of scrap metal in seconds, burying Kael in the process.
Kael burst out of the pile of scrap a moment later, holding the Boss Core—a pulsating green orb.
[+800 SP]
[Level Up!]
[Current Rank: E+]
Kael sat on the pile of scrap, breathing hard.
He had cleared the dungeon in 45 minutes. A record.
"System," Kael said, looking at the Boss Core. "Don't convert this one into points. Keep it."
He had a new idea.
If the Cult wanted to create a bomb... maybe he needed to build a bomb of his own.
And a Necrotic Golem Core seemed like a pretty good detonator.
[Total SP: 5,650]
"Time to go home," Kael said, standing up. "I have a date with a dragon."