Bound By Fury:The Forced Path

At the entrance of the dungeon, the air was fresh but felt serious.

The group came out, tired and hurt, their steps slow as tiredness filled their bodies.

Akira since he leveled up again he was into top condition he held Victor's arm for a moment to help him before letting go.

They could hear the low hum of cars, and their weary eyes turned to see a line of gleaming Terra Agency vans parked nearby. Some agents, clad in their distinctive black-and-gray uniforms, hurried over to them.

The Terra agents reacted fast, gazing at the scene.

One of them stepped forward—a middle-aged man with sharp eyes and an imposing presence.

"Are you all okay?"

"Let us help you,"

He said, gesturing toward his team, which began to unpack supplies and first-aid kits immediately.

"We're fine,"

Grido said firmly.

He dusted himself off, his demeanor more composed despite his deplended mana and stamina

"I'll explain everything."

"Start helping them first they're in worse shape." He Said pointed at Anna and Victor

The agents nodded and rushed to assist Victor, who could barely stand, and Anna, who was swaying with exhaustion. Akira leaned back against a boulder, his expression distant and silent as ever.

Grido approached the lead Terra agent, his voice steady though his eyes betrayed lingering exhaustion.

"The dungeon is clear,"

He started.

"We defeated the mutant Thermos, a water-type boss with slimy attributes."

The monster was different from anything we've seen before—its power was much greater than a normal C-rank dungeon Thermos."

The agent looked displeased and pulled out a tablet to jot down notes.

"More mutants huh"

"What about the magical stones"

Grido shook his head.

"It was a water-type territory dungeon."

"The place makes it really hard to get them."

"Any magical stone was pointless to search or find even at their bodies since the ocean devoured them in seconds after we killed them"

The Terra agent sighed deeply.

"This isn't the first time we've seen this."

"Reports of mutated monsters and evolved bosses have been coming in from all over Korea."

"Since the great invetor Shiro Shoto's passing, predicting dungeon levels has been… unreliable."

"The technology we've borrowed from other companies isn't as advanced as his, and it's showing."

 Grido shocked "So you're saying this is not just a single happining event?"

"Not at all,"

The agent replied grimly.

"We've had cases where a predicted D-rank dungeon turned out to house B-rank threats."

"Without Shiro's changing updating devices we where getting, our readings are often inaccurate, leaving hunters unprepared."

He glanced at the weary group.

"We're thankful for your efforts here."

"If not for you, the situation could've been much worse."

Grido nodded.

The agent hastily saluted. "Thanks for the assist."

After that, the Terra agents began to organize their equipment , Grido looked back at his team.

Anna and Victor were receiving aid beside the ambulance.

Grido ambled over, making cautious, steady steps in spite of his exhaustion.

"Anna,"

He said, his voice strong but gentle.

"Take Victor and go with the medics. He's too hurt to stand by himself, and you're not doing well either."

"Let them help you both."

"I'll call you later."

Anna stopped, gazing at Akira, then back at Grido.

"But—"

"No arguments,"

Grido said, stopping her.

"You need to get better too."

"I'll take care of things here."

Anna nodded, though she didn't want to.

The she headed toward the ambulance, she looked at Akira.

Her voice was quiet and shaky.

"Akira...thanks."

"I'll catch you later."

Akira nodded, looking far away as if he didn't hear her at all. He remained silent as he watched her enter the ambulance and disappear behind the closing doors.

Grido stepped closer to Akira.

"That's enough for today."

"Go to our guild healers or a hospital."

"Rest up."

"For the money and the dungeon distribution report, come to the guild in two days."

"We'll sort it all out then."

Akira looked at Grido for a moment but did not say anything.

Just a nod and he set off, his eyes seemingly heavy with exhaustion even tho his body was returned to peak condition after the level up his mental strength was not.

"Akira,"

Grido yelled after him as he turned.

Akira paused, cocking his head slightly but not turning fully around.

"Thanks,"

Grido said, sincere in his gruffness, even after all these years.

"I have a lot of questions for you—ones I know Anna and Victor want to ask you."

"What you did back there…"

He trailed off a moment before continuing.

"I know you didn't do it for us, but we were in the mix."

"Because of that, we're alive and kicking."

'So… i wanted to say thanks."

Akira smiled slightly, looking away from Grido.

"See you later, Beast Tamer,"

He said, his voice as calm and soft as possible, and then walked into the distance.

Grido stood there, watching him leave, a small, knowing smile on his lips.

"That kid…is a strange one." he said quietly to himself before turning back to watch his team." 

The sun had begun to set by the time Akira reached Cha-Jong's house.His clothes were holey, with some dried blood stuck to them; still, he was very strong and looked very calm.

The raid in the dungeon had tested him; however, gaining levels made him more stronger once more—very different from what his clothes looked like.

The door opened, showing Cha-Jong's surprised face. Akira blinked; he had thought that like always, Cha-Jong's wife would welcome him.

"Akira?"

Cha-Jong said, surprised.

"Weren't you in a dungeon raid?"

"How are you here already?"

Akira's lips curved upward slightly.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Didn't you have a raid today?"

Cha-Jong opened the door a little wider and gestured inside.

"Come in."

"We need to talk."

Akira walked through the doorway, feeling the usual warmth of the house. Then, upon entering the living room, a small shape rushed towards him.

"Big brother!" Yuna exclaimed cheerfully as she leapt into his arms.

"I missed you!"

A rare softness settled upon Akira's features, as he enfolded her in a gentle embrace; his arms cradled her closely for a heartbeat.

"I missed you, too, Yuna,"

He murmured softly. She smiled at him and then ran off to her toys, while Cha-Jong pointed to the dining table.

They both sat down, and the mood changed as Cha-Jong's face became serious.

"Good,"

Akira said, smiling a little as hefollowed Cha-Jong to the living room; it was already set for tea, and the fragrant atmosphere was nice from within. He motioned for Akira to be seated and they sat opposite each other in chairs facing inward.

"So,"

Akira said, articulating each word,

"What about today's raid?" Cha-Jong leaned back a little and sighed.

"We didn't even get to begin one."

Akira looked confused.

"Why?"

"The dungeon was not stable,"

Cha-Jong said, picking up his cup of tea but not drinking from it.

"There was too much mana coming out of it—far more than there should have been."

"Sylvara, our guild leader, thought that it could be an evolved gate."

"She didn't want to risk anything and canceled it to have it checked again."

Akira was calm, but his eyes narrowed a bit.

"An evolved dungeon?"

Cha-Jong said.

"It's confusing everyone."

"Even our guild has been having a hard time with these problems."

Akira leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.

"We cleared our dungeon today," - He said.

Cha-Jong's face brightened for a moment.

"Oh, nice!"

"Good job." But his smile vanished when he heard the sharp tone in Akira's voice.

"Wait… was it an evolved one too?"

Akira nodded. "Yes."

The smile fell off of Cha-Jong's face.

"What—wait, a new kind of dungeon?"

"And you still cleared it?"

Akira nodded.

"It was bad."

"The team I was with… they weren't prepared for something like tha we weren't."

"Tell me everything,"

Cha-Jong leaned forward.

"What happened inside?"

"At the beginning, I thought there were enough people on the team," Akira said.

Akira his expression unreadable.

"But more mutants werehyena kept coming and the mana they had it was bound to be consumed."

"Mutants?"

Cha-Jong said again, scowling.

"They were more numerous than us,"

Akira said, his voice level.

"They kept coming, wave after wave."

"At first, the team handled them well—impressive, even."

"But that was all."

Cha-Jong's brows knitted together.

"What do you mean?"

Akira looked serious, and his voice was heavy.

"They couldn't keep up."

The werehyenas were more than us, and every time we thought we killed all of them, more showed up."

Cha-Jong leaned forward, frowning as he thought about what Akira said.

"Their attacks were tougher than normal for werehyenas, and...they could hit targets from far away,"

Akira said, his voice even, though firm.

"That's not something they should've been able to do."

He paused for a moment before asking, and his voice turned cautious.

"Akira, how did you clear that dungeon?"

"Did… something weird happen to you?"

Akira's eyes opened a little further at the question and now was truly taken aback.

"Weird?"

"What kind of weird thing could happen to me?"

He asked, sounding quite doubtful.

Cha-Jong didn't mean to ask that to Akira. The words had slipped from his mouth before he could even think because the curiosity got the better of him. For a moment, he froze but his thoughts raced.
He couldn't stop thinking about it—the only thing that could possibly survive such a terrible place wasn't Akira he was strong but not that strong to clear an evolved C-rank Dungeon alone and Cha-Jong knew that.
"That monster."

"The only thing that would make sense on how they cleared that evolved dungeon."

That monster the one that was inside the boy, the one who lured outside when the Vampire almost killed Akira. And it scared him. 

Akira asked Cha-Jong again

"I asked you what kind of weird thing could happen to me !?"

Cha-Jong swallowed hard.