The second chance of the uncrowned king - (Isekai)

On the way, I was attacked by several flying monsters — some designed for speed and others for coordinated assaults. I managed to defend myself easily with a few ice constructs; the hard part was reaching them to kill them. My constructions have a range within which I can control them as extensions of my own body, but beyond that, I can only give them directions and hope for the best.

Some ground monsters took the opportunity to try to pierce me with their weapons, fangs, or claws. I barely escaped each ambush. The most dangerous one was a frog-like monster nearly a meter tall — its leap was unbelievably fast, and I could only dodge it using my new movement ability.

I finally reach the mountain and climb to the top while trying to stay unnoticed. Every step has to be calculated; the path is steep, and one sudden attack could make me lose balance and fall. I'm not too worried thanks to Dimensional Step — I can survive a fall now.

"How do higher-ranked people manage to fly?" Many Ruby ranks can do it. I'm almost sure my mother and grandmother can — both have exquisite control over Imra and mana, and I can't imagine another way to achieve flight. One thing's for sure: all Diamond and Obsidian ranks are capable of flying.

For now, I can only levitate, playing a bit with gravity to lift myself off the ground. Moving takes a lot of mana and concentration — one wrong move, and I'll fall like a sack of vegetables to the ground. I add another box to my mental list: Learn to levitate or fly. I have no idea when I'll have the time to practice.

After several hours, I finally reach a point on the mountain where I can see almost half the sphere. The edge is almost invisible from here, and daylight is fading. Susan warned me to be careful at night — the monsters become more hostile and sensitive.

"Those two zones look promising." From my position, I can see two places where a boss monster could be located.
One is an area of tall trees near a lake, perfect for camouflage. On the other side of the lake, there's a rocky zone where it would be hard to get attacked — there's only one visible entrance or exit.

On the way, I find a huge tree with roots protruding slightly from the ground. I quickly move the soil using my body and Imra to create a double entrance. I hide in the small space and close it up again to spend the night there.

I don't want to get overconfident and have a bad time on my first night — it's better to watch the surroundings from a hard-to-find spot. I suppress my Imra and mana as much as possible; it should be nearly impossible for a monster to track or sense me like this. I'm basically a tree.

The information from the exploration teams was correct. The monsters are much more active at night — I can feel multiple fights happening in different areas; they fight more fiercely.
Most of them only eat the core of the defeated beast, leaving the body completely intact. A few minutes later, the corpses vanish, as if the dungeon itself were absorbing them. Why? Is it really absorbing them that fast?

Before dawn, the ferocious battles calm down. Are they going to sleep? I can sense three of them looking for a particular spot — when they find it, they take shelter and… rest?

I leave my hiding place and head toward the lake. I should take advantage of the monsters' rest to improve my movement speed.

I gain a few hours while they sleep, moving as fast and quietly as I can. After a little more than three hours, I start sensing movement around me. I slow down a bit to be more cautious — none of the monsters here can kill me, I'm sure of that, but if they start coming endlessly in groups, it'll be a problem.

On the way, I couldn't avoid fighting several kinds of territorial and highly perceptive monsters. I collect the cores from a group of giant mantises — their arms were as sharp as blades, and they moved much faster than average. One wrong move, and I could've lost a limb, but luckily their defenses weren't great.

Two bird-type monsters, about sixty centimeters tall, have been following me for hours. They don't attack and I don't feel any hostility from them. I turn to see them enjoying the leftovers of my hunts — they just eat the remains of the monsters I kill, and when they see me moving away, they follow.

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At first, they flew higher, but now they seem a bit more confident, flying less than fifteen meters above me. I haven't killed them because they mean no harm — I'll let them follow me for a while; they'll get bored or hide eventually.

"Do you want to come out and play for a bit?" I ask Glia, who's half asleep and half awake.

"I don't know. What if this dungeon affects me somehow? We don't know how it works with foreign monsters. I'd rather avoid any kind of trouble for both of us. I'll come out only if it's absolutely necessary." She spent all of yesterday and today just feeding on my mana to sate her hunger. Without enough energy, she prefers to sleep to maintain her strength.

"Let's hope that won't be necessary. If you feel anything strange, let me know." Glia nods, closes her eyes, and tries to conserve energy for an emergency.

Night falls again. This time, I'll take a bit of a risk and fight some monsters — I want to test how much stronger I've gotten. I don't know if I'll have to fight the boss during the day or night, so I'd better start gathering information now.

The two bird-type monsters hide in a tall tree as soon as night falls. They're not the only ones trying to camouflage themselves. I hadn't noticed before — maybe only some of them go crazy and fight to the death?

While I'm trying to answer some of these questions, I have to dodge a concentrated orb of green mana. "Hey, don't be reckless! I'm in the middle of an epiphany." Obviously, that's a lie — I can't figure out this dungeon's mysteries just by guessing.

Seven equally concentrated spheres head straight toward me. I take a sidestep, dodging them by a hair's breadth. I move an arm to graze one with my finger — a powerful acid law runs through it, almost melting my finger completely if I hadn't reinforced it in time.

I look into the distance and see those monsters moving on all fours like monkeys. They look utterly disgusting — hairless, with green skin and deformed faces.

I try to approach while dodging several rounds of attacks. At some point, six more appear and join the fight. Now they're not only aiming at me but also predicting the spots where I might dodge.

Unfortunately for them, I can perfectly time their shots. I keep dodging until I cut the distance in half. What's going on? The number of attacks drops from fourteen to seven in an instant. For a second, I think they've given up — but no.

The other group is concentrating their disgusting acid orbs even more, making them larger and deadlier. I dodge the first ones, forcing my body to move faster and twist unnaturally. The barrage continues — enormous spheres of acid trying to melt me.

I feel something odd in the next round — a chill down my spine as I dodge again. Are their attacks a bit slower now? That disgusting venomous mana mixed with certain Laws… their Imra feels slightly different.

When their attacks pass beside me, that same chill runs through my body again. Their orbs explode, almost catching me off guard. Only a few drops hit my clothes — I erase them quickly with Imra before they can damage the fabric.

Dimensional Step works wonders — I reposition myself behind them without raising any suspicion. The monsters crawl forward on all fours, cautiously approaching where my body should be. I can see confusion on some of their faces. I build miniature Joyeuse constructs, one for each of them, and send them flying — piercing through their skulls at full speed.

Their bodies hit the ground with a dull thud. I take their cores, collecting as many as I can — they're more concentrated than normal grade 3 monster cores, and Susan needs them for research.

The noise from our fight attracts more monsters of all kinds. Why are most of them animal-like? Is it the geography? I push those pointless thoughts aside and focus on defending myself from more monkey-like creatures — these are bigger and fight in close range.

Their greenish-violet fur is just as disgusting. I notice their claws and fangs are infused with mana — I recognize that affinity; I've seen it plenty of times these past weeks at the academy. All of these monsters have a strong poison affinity.

I draw my Thundersnow Fangs and shoot forward like an arrow toward where they stand.

The sun is already rising. Most monsters must be heading back to their shelters to sleep. I do the same — I'd already spotted a large tree with massive roots similar to my last hiding spot. I make a base and lie down.

"Can you keep watch for a bit?" I ask Glia, who slept through the entire night like a baby.

"No problem. If I sense anyone nearby, I'll wake you." I thank her for her goodwill. In the end, nothing interrupted my rest, and I woke up feeling fully refreshed.

The new storage bracelet Susan gave me has much more capacity — I've already filled a significant portion of it with last night's kills. The monsters never stopped coming; some were smart, others mere beasts.

After a few more hours of walking, I finally reach the lake and quickly hide when I see two other people. What should I do now? They don't seem to belong to the groups with that horrible bloodlust.
I hide atop a tree, and the rest of their companions arrive minutes later — there are twelve in total. Should I follow them? Go the other way? I'll decide once they start moving.