There was a certain alienation when your eyes didn''t match what your body felt. As Niki saw the iing attack of the monster, he was prepared for the mind-breaking pain. Yet, it never came.


    The monster threw its body at Niki, and the resulting current was what sent him flying. There was no pain, and his golden shield brightly glowed as it absorbed insane amounts of damage.


    Niki crashed into the mossy rocks beside the cave, and there was no damage again. The sea serpent must have thought that its attack would crush the weak bug, but it would have never thought that underestimating Niki would be its biggest mistake.


    Without hesitation, Niki kicked the rocks to dive toward the entrance. The serpent gave another roar as it tried to attack again because it didn''t have the time to dive underwater.


    Niki slipped in before the serpent''s body mmed into him again, and it mmed into the entrance instead. The cave shook, and the pressure pushed Niki further inside.


    His chest was feeling tighter, and he knew he was low on time. However, as if a lightbulb lit up in his head, Niki remembered a particr setting he ced on his pocket dimension.


    ''There is air stored inside my pocket dimension,'' Niki remembered how he made his pocket dimension habitable. His darkness swirled into his mouth as it began providing air like a diving tube.


    Niki''s vision cleared as he began swimming deeper into the cave. However, his time was limited, as the sea serpent was bound to dive back into the water.


    True enough, Niki felt the currents change behind him. He slipped into his stealth and waited. Finally, the serpent''s eyes appeared, eerily blue and full of rage. However, it couldn''t spot Niki, making it confused.


    The serpent entered the cave head first. Its scales glimmered in the low lighting from the outside. Then, as it slithered its way into the deeper parts of the cave, Niki hid in a crack as he held his breath.


    The serpent was infinitely close to him, and it seems that it gave up on the battle above water. Niki kept still instead of trying to swim now, as he knew the monster was fully alert by his earlier presence.


    Luckily for him, there were no powerful currents in the cave that would drag him out of his stealth. Instead, the serpent''s nostrils red, and they released bubbles into the cave. Niki watched as its eerie eyes passed by him and went deeper into the cave.


    The serpent''s scaly body blocked his way, and Niki had to wait for it to move. Then, gentle voices came deeper from the cave, and Niki knew that the serpent was talking to its offspring.


    As he thought that his air might run out, the serpent began to retreat from the cave to resume its battle against the army above.


    As the bridge was quite long, it took a while for the unit to cross. Finally, depriving the army of their moment of happiness, the sea serpent screeched and jumped above the surface to fight against the intruders.


    Niki sighed as he swam out, looking both ways before he went deeper into the cave. The giant cave shook because of the battle above, but Niki wasn''t worried about being buried alive.


    Within the dark dimension, Niki swam toward the deeper parts of the cave. The water began getting shallower until he could see lights twinkling above him. Finally, Niki left the water and realized there was air in here, and breathing it in was a great sce for his lungs.


    The cave was lined with all kinds of gemstones, and they shone brightly to defeat the darkness. As Niki looked around, he fell in awe of the myriad of colors. Then, he began swimming toward the shore and enjoyed the feeling of the hard ground after he set foot on it.


    The mana in the cave was vibrant, and it made anyone feel reenergized the moment he entered it. Niki walked straight to one of the walls to pluck out a gem.


    As the gem came off after a bit of effort, Niki realized that these treasures could be used for enchantment. These gems were like lottery tickets that granted items different properties and substituted for skills most of the time.


    "This cave alone is worth thousands of golds," Niki knew as he looked around, but he knew that mining out these gems would be easier said than done. Moreover, Niki didn''t have the time to stand around.


    Niki began walking deeper into the cave to look for the offspring. Soon enough, he realized that this ce was too gigantic. It seems this was the permanent den of the serpent, as Niki could see deep tracks of slithering on the ground.


    "Where are you, young serpent?" Niki squinted his eyes as he looked around. Then, he began following the freshest tracks of the giant serpent while holding back on snatching the gems in the walls.


    There were priorities.


    Soon enough, Niki found arge bedrock at the end of the tracks. It was surrounded by walls from all sides and looked like a chamber dug inside the cave''s walls.


    The bedrock was dark, and there were no gems within to light it up. But, as Niki began feeling at home, he climbed the rocks to enter the chamber. There was a presence within.


    Although he couldn''t be seen, Niki''s instincts screamed at him that whatever here was dangerous. A sea serpent was a powerful monster whose offspring would be no less than an E-rank monster at birth.


    Of course, its growth would be quick to arrive to push it toward the B-rank. Those who lived in inds or beside the ocean would tame such monsters and breed them into national treasures.


    Niki sneaked in as he listened to the quiet breathing of the monster. As told by mana, the life force was weak, and Niki realized that this monster might not be in the best of health.


    As his eyes scanned the dark interior of the chamber, they fell on a single object in the middle. There was a giant cracked egg and a creature pping beside it.


    "Here you are," Niki looked at the monster, who looked like a more miniature replica than its parent. There was a mucus surrounding the sea serpent, who was as big as Niki himself. However, such a size suggests that the egg has just hatched.


    "Grrr," the monster growled as it looked around, and Niki saw that its eyes were still closed.


    As the previous soldier, ruthless killer, and tortured prisoner stood there, he began pondering what to do with this creature now that he found him.


    The giant parent will be returning soon, so Niki needed to decide. However, there were no options but three:


    The first was to kill this monster and take the stat crystals if they dropped. The second was to capture this monster and sell it somewhere else. The third was to take the gems and leave this monster alive.


    The first came from his habits, the second came from his needs, and the third came from his conscience. There was something about taking away a child from its parent, even if they were monsters, that uneased him.


    Niki fell into a dilemma before heughed and took out his weapons. This monster might be an E-rank, but the loot it would drop would be pretty bountiful given its potential to grow. There was no need to think, only a need to kill. As Niki took the first step, a voice called out for him.


    "Bossman!"


    Niki snapped his head back with surprise as the voice belonged to Sergio. However, there was no one inside the cave. Niki was confused as he turned around toward the monster and realized this was its doing.


    "A natural ability to affect those who wish you harm?" The antics of this sea serpent amused Niki. It seems that the natural ability came as a natural reaction to his killing intent, although the monster couldn''t see him.


    What bugged Niki is that this method worked, as his mind shifted ever so slightly when he remembered the alchemist. His friend would prevent him if he were here.


    The alchemist''s past was simr to this one, being separated from his parent at an early age. It left him scarred and broken for life, seeking self-harm to shut down his insecurities. However, Niki has decided to cut ties with the alchemist.


    ''But,'' Niki stared at his hand that was holding one of his weapons. ''I can''t bring myself to do it,'' he sighed as he turned back toward the monster. ''You bastard,'' he red at the young sea serpent. ''Your n worked.''


    As he lost the desire to kill the serpent''s offspring, Niki ced his weapons away and resumed thinking about his options. However, Sergio''s shadow was behind him, preventing him from doing what he thought was natural.