"These are all from mutants... every last one of them. This break is completely out of control!"

Ember replies in a cheerful, satisfied tone.

"Indeed, it is."

At the moment of his reply, I can feel the ground tremble and sense 10 monsters all over level 470 running our way.

Without thinking much of it, I shovel the hundreds of shards off the rocky ground into my item storage, then air-step up onto Ember's back.

Without my perception skills right now, I'd be as good as blind in this environment. All I can sense are fuzzy mana outlines of the creatures that are coming our way.

If I concentrate harder, their inner bodies are easy to picture.

Although it wouldn't affect me in battle much at all, especially in a dungeon. It's still a little unnerving not being able to see properly. I have to rely solely on my mana senses.

Either a being is there, or not there. That is the only reading I can pick up. White blobs of varying mana intensities begin to fill my vision as Ember flies up in the air.

He speaks through the link.

"Is this not what you wanted? I can absorb the mana in the surrounding area if you'd like."

I take a deep breath in.

Even if the air is this dense with energy, the oxygen that fills my lungs is not affected in the slightest.

It just feels like there's a slight pressure on my temples.

However, I'm not sure if that is a natural mana density property or just a side effect from the incredibly loud headache-inducing buzz that fills my ears.

I reply through our link while clenching my jaw and both fists.

"No, this is exactly what I wanted. You did well."

A powerful flap of the black-scaled dragon's wings sends us gliding off towards the back of the dungeon now, headed straight towards the boss room.

The charging Ogre's earth-shaking footsteps are left behind in the blue fog.

I take out extra food and water to replenish my body after a long sleep as we glide through the ominous buzzing dungeon's open air.

Ember replies once we stop rising in altitude.

"That's good to hear master. While you rested, I had my fun, but the real challenge is still ahead. You're about to face your first Rank 3 Boss Fight."

I stare forward into the never-ending blue fog.

"I know. I'm ready."

Ember knows more about monsters and mana control than I do by a long shot. The hint of concern in his voice turns to my concern as well... I just still can't wrap my head around a monster being that much stronger than the mobs we've been facing in the dungeon.

A ranked-up Mutant Dungeon Boss... I guess time will reveal its true strength.

Eventually, we soar into uncharted territory, the last 500 meters of open dungeon before the break that I haven't ventured through just yet.

The boss room portal comes into my perception skills radar, and it feels much more powerful than it did before.

Almost, unimaginably more powerful actually.

More and more mutants show up on my radar below as we fly closer.

At first, it's just under a dozen, like the group that started to attack us at the top of the last peak. Then, it turns into much more as groups begin to merge together.

By the time we get within 200 meters of the portal, I can sense almost 40 mutants in total waiting around the energy-dense portal below.

I speak up, while taking in an accurate reading of our surroundings.

"What... is this...?"

Ember responds.

"Shall we head straight for the Boss?"

I nod, pulling out my sword and imbuing my armor with enough mana to keep it fully charged. This dungeon is so rich with mana, that it feels like it's about to burst.

"Yes, let's head straight for the portal. It's time to clear this break."

I begin to power up, activating my stat boosting skills, and making the blue fog around me reflect crimson-gold light as we make our descent.

Instead of just sensing the masses of mana below, I begin to hear the grunts and roars of Mutant Blue Ogres all fighting amongst themselves in the valley down below us.

We're less than 50 meters away, and the sensation of enemies nearby puts me on high alert but also excites me beyond belief.

We soar deeper in, closer to the ground, now hearing constant cracks in the rocky ground on both sides as Ogres run our way. At the same time, the blue fog in front of my vision quickly begins to get much darker.

"It's turning black..."

The dense dungeon mana in front of us starts to twist and swirl, making a whirlpool-like effect in front of us as we soar forward.

Instead of seeing all blue, streaks of dark black lines start to form in the air. They twist together in a massive circular pattern with the dark blue fog. It looks like an ocean Maelstrom, sucking everything up in sight.

The closer we get, the faster it spins, pulling in the air and energy around it. The swirling blue lines of magic in the air fade away and everything turns to black.

The sound of Ogres nearby fades away.

There's an ear-piercing buzz, making it impossible to think of anything but staring straight ahead and baring it.

The reality here is, the Boss Room portal has grown to over 3 times its normal size. The once 3-meter tall light grey slowly swirling mass of magic has now turned into a towering 10-meter wide violently vibrating black hole engulfing any and all dungeon mass that gets near it.

The closer we get, the harder it seems to turn away. Luckily, our goal is to fly straight through.

I point my sword forward, activate my mana manipulation skill to create a thin layer of shielding around my body, and then Ember flies us through.

My vision turns from black for a few seconds, then shifts to bright white...

We're transferred into the boss room moments later.

I was expecting to fight blind, having to rely on my perception skills to fight a massive mutant Ogre or something of that nature.

To my surprise, that's not exactly the case.

Once I enter the room, a crystal clear mountain sits in front of me with flowing waterfalls, green shrubbery, and beautiful white rock walls.

It looks just like the dungeon did when we first entered, but a more majestic version.

The mountain is tall, about a kilometer high. There's nearly 500 meters of flat ground before it with very little dirt or plant life in sight. Just a wide-open plain of flat stone. It's a clear shot, straight to the mountain at the Boss Room's back side.

This is one of the biggest Boss Rooms I've ever been in.

Other than the 20-Floor Boss, nothing compares.

I could have easily mistaken this for an entire dungeon itself. The only difference is the long stream of dense blue magic that trails from behind me, right where I entered.

Constantly being transported from the outer dungeon, I watch a trail of blue cloudy mana float up towards the top of the mountain.

It materializes out of thin air, coming through the Boss Room's transfer magic and slowly rising in a thick cylinder of blue magical fog up toward the top of the beautiful peak above.

I take in my surroundings in awe for over 10 seconds before finally being interrupted.

The ground rumbles and my moment of peace ceases. Dozens of Mutant Blue Ogres wielding heavy silver axes start charging down the mountainside. Clouds of dust and magic residue trail behind them as they lock onto us from over half a kilometer away...

This is the first wave before the boss fight. I open up my link with Ember.

"Let's climb the mountain, and face the Boss."

We soar forward without a hint of hesitation, staying low to the ground. We leave trails of red, black, and golden magic residue behind in our wake while heading straight for the Bright Blue Ogre's stampede

I scan them all as they cross over from the mountain onto the flat plain area, registering the mutants are all between levels 470 and 480.

As I expand my range further up the mountain. Then, sense where all the mana from the outside dungeon is consolidating into what seems to be a massive ball. There's a single reading in the center of it.

"The Boss."

________________________________________

[1200m]

[Lv. 559]

Active Items:

Heavy Armor Set of The Blue Ogre King [+95% Defense]

Dual Axes of The Blue Ogre King [+95% Strength]

Platinum Ring of The Blue Ogre King [+100% Mental Strength]

Active Skills:

Extreme Strength [Legendary Grade]

Body Hardening [Special Grade]

Buffs:

Ultimate Defense of The Blue Ogre King [Hidden Ability]

King's Summoning Call

________________________________________