As Orion ventured deeper into the dungeon, he encountered many other wolf-type monsters, which he swiftly dispatched. This reinforced his belief that the dungeon was exclusively popted by wolf-type creatures, as he hadn''t encountered any other monsters.


    Along the way, he continued to absorb the Stormleafs one by one. Each time he absorbed one, he would take out another and repeat the process. He continued this cycle of absorbing Stormleafs, fighting wolves, and progressing through the dungeon.


    After some time, as he moved forward, he suddenly heard the sounds of battle nearby.


    Curious, he immediately changed direction and headed towards the source of themotion.


    ***


    Not long after, Orion arrived at the edge of a gorge where the sounds of battle grew even more intense.


    He immediately activated the curse of Dimensional Dissonance, slipping into his own dimension and disappearing from sight.


    Orion suspected that the intense battle below involved tinum rank experts, given the ferocity of the sounds. The number of such experts could be counted on one hand, with most belonging to the Dungeon Management Association.


    He wanted to be as cautious as possible, fearing that even from a distance, they might sense his presence.


    ''They shouldn''t be able to find me now,'' Orion thought as he moved closer to the edge of the gorge and looked down.


    ''Who are they fighting?!'' He eximed in surprise at the scene unfolding below.


    In the gorge below, the rocky terrain was dotted with four individuals: Carl Rollins and his three friends. This didn''t surprise Orion, but what did was that they were brandishing their weapons at seemingly empty air. However, he could hear the sound of their weapons colliding with something unseen, indicating they weren''t just swinging blindly.


    ''What are they fighting against?'' Orion wondered as he descended into the gorge and approached them.


    Upon arriving, he focused on their surroundings but still couldn''t see what they were battling. However, he noticed blood sttering whenever they swung their weapons.


    ''I see,'' he thought, realizing the nature of their opponent. ''An invisible enemy or a wolf with the ability to be invisible.''


    Orion nodded at his conclusion and watched with patience.


    Since they couldn''t see the wolf or wolves—Orion couldn''t tell if it was just one or many—they were having a hard time. These wolves must be at the peak gold rank, and Carl''s team, despite approaching tinum rank, struggled against them.


    ''This should be a pack of wolves,'' Orion thought. Wolves typically roam in packs, so he spected that Carl''s team was attacked by a group of invisible wolves. Even a single invisible wolf should be no match for Carl''s team given their strength, but a pack would be a different matter altogether.


    As he observed their fight—more urately, their weapon swings at seemingly empty air—he got a general idea of the strength of someone at the tinum rank. With his current strength, Orion believed he could only barely match someone in the early stages of tinum rank, or mid-stages if he used three or four curses in Curse Transformation mode.


    tinum rank was a universal divide between general fighters and experts; the difference between peak gold rank experts and early tinum rank experts was immense. An early tinum rank expert could easily handle 100 peak gold rank experts and still have energy to spare.


    Orion spected that there must be a reason beyond talent mastery for why Astral, Elyn, Erick, and other geniuses at the peak of gold rank hadn''t broken through to tinum rank. It seemed too coincidental that all these geniuses were stuck at the same rank for so long.


    He also believed that whatever was preventing these experts from leveling up could be the reason behind the huge power gap between peak gold rank experts and early tinum experts.


    As Orion pondered this, he noticed Carl''s group''s battle was nearing its end. Three of the four had ceased attacking, leaving only Carl still swinging his sword.


    A momentter, Carl unleashed a powerful strike, and the gorge fell silent.


    Orion narrowed his eyes at the scene, sensing the strength of Carl''s final attack. He could tell it was significantly stronger than any of his own.


    However, one thing puzzled him throughout the fight: the wolves hadn''t roared, not even when they died. This made him wonder if they were truly fighting wolves or some other creatures in the dungeon.


    Just then, he heard them talking.


    "These shadow wolves are really a headache when they attack in packs," Carlined, shaking his head as he wiped blood from his sword.


    "What can we do?" Damianughed helplessly, ncing at the red particles of the wolves that were now barely visible. "They''re just like that."


    "So, Carl, you still haven''t told us why you brought us to the Magus Kingdom," one of the other two asked, his carefree demeanor evident as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded.


    "I''ll exin when we leave this dungeon," Carl replied, his voice carrying an unusual tone of respect, which he rarely showed to others.


    The carefree guy shrugged. "I''m getting bored here. I might just leave if you keep me in suspense."


    "No, no. I''ll tell you right now, Ethan," Carl said, suddenly flustered at the thought of Ethan leaving.


    "Haha, only Ethan can make you look like that,"ughed thest member of the group. He was a heavyset man with dark red hair so dark it might be mistaken for ck.


    "Ogos, you''re right about that," Damian agreed, chuckling along with him.


    "Tsk," Carl clicked his tongue in annoyance, then turned his attention back to Ethan. "Do you know what our family''s strength is?"


    Ethan nodded. "Devil mes."


    Carl''s expression turned serious. "But what you don''t know is that my family is cursed."


    "What do you mean?" Ethan asked, puzzled. Damian and Ogos also looked at Carl with curiosity.


    Carl took a deep breath before speaking. "My family recently informed me that there''s a dark me burning deep underground in our mansion. If that me were ever to be extinguished, our family would be destroyed, one way or another. That''s the true nature of the Devil mes."


    "Are you serious?" Damianughed lightly, treating Carl''s words as a joke. "Does your family really believe in such things?"


    Carl shook his head, his expression serious. "At first, I didn''t believe it either. But when my father told me about another family in the same situation, I had no choice but to believe."


    "Which family are you talking about?" Damian asked, now intrigued.


    Carl nced at each of his three friends before answering slowly, "The Elven Family."


    "..."


    A heavy silence fell over the group when Carl mentioned the Elven Family. No one spoke for a moment until Damian''s trembling voice broke the silence.


    "A—are you serious?"


    Carl nodded, his expression dark.


    "Then why are we here?" Ethan, who had been silent until now, asked.


    Carl replied, "My father told me there are three cursed families: the Elven Family, my family, and thest one is called the Darkwood Family."


    ---


    Also, I was hoping you could leave somements or reviews to let me know your thoughts!


    *Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *