"Completely insane! Hahaha—!!"
"Holy crap, Brother Jin Shan, don't steal my kills!"
"Please let me have the experience all to myself!!!"
Wild laughter mingled with the Wild Bulls' deep, muffled bellows, echoing through the dungeon.
Xu Feng looked nothing like the shy, gentle young man he'd been that afternoon. His face was twisted with excitement, his lips curled into a nearly bloodthirsty grin.
He lifted with one hand the two-meter-tall, heavy Steel Shield that usually took both hands to hold steady.
The enormous shield, perfectly proportioned to his build, seemed weightless in his grip.
Then, with earth-shaking force, he smashed it down on a D-Rank Wild Bull charging toward him with its head lowered!
"Moo—!"
A heavy thud and the crack of breaking bone rang out almost simultaneously.
The Wild Bull let out a shriek. The terrifying blow caved in its skull and left it dazed, its massive body staggering and lurching sideways.
But that wasn't the end!
A large hand, its veins bulging and its skin flushed dark red from surging blood, followed like an iron pincer.
With ruthless precision, it clamped around the Wild Bull's thick neck!
"Rip—!"
Amid the teeth-grating sound of tearing flesh, a strip of deathly pale windpipe came away in a gush of scalding blood!
The D-Rank Wild Bull, over three meters long and weighing a ton, had been brutally slaughtered by Xu Feng in less than a minute!
Blood sprayed everywhere, and Xu Feng kept grinning savagely.
The vicious aura born of his blood and sheer strength surged around him once more, faintly overpowering even the combined, raging presence of the herd ahead.
"Look at me, you piece of trash!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, the muscles in his legs swelled like iron, and dark red patterns of blood flashed beneath his skin.
The grass beneath his feet exploded into flying clumps. Driven by his terrifying strength, he turned into a blood-red blur and charged straight into the formation of more Wild Bulls!
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill—!"
His frenzied roars mingled with the Wild Bulls' angry bellows, the heavy impacts, and the crack of breaking bones.
"Xiao Feng! Leave some for me! I'm not done yet!"
Seeing this, Jin Shan roared as well.
He swept the enormous, door-sized greatsword in his hand, knocking down the last Wild Bull in front of him. Then he strode forward and followed Xu Feng into the chaotic herd.
His greatsword whistled through the air with every swing!
"Sister Na... you call this 'shy and introverted'?"
Behind them, Mai Xiao Wen waved her gleaming white staff. Glowing orbs of gentle yet vibrant light continuously flew toward Xu Feng and Jin Shan.
They landed precisely on the occasional scrapes and bruises that appeared on the two men, quickly stopping the bleeding and promoting healing.
As she maintained the healing, the corner of her eye twitched. She looked toward the figure fighting wildly among the herd like a blood-soaked god of war, then turned to Luna beside her, her voice full of disbelief.
"I... I have no idea?"
Luna looked just as bewildered, and her movements as she nocked an arrow slowed for a moment.
She stared at Xu Feng's powerful physique, his clearly defined muscles still bulging beneath the bloodstains, and his handsome face, now made grotesque by the gore.
She felt as if everything she knew had been shaken to its core.
But she quickly recovered. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she sent a rapid series of vibrations through the string of her compound bow.
Arrows with faintly glowing fletching streaked through the air, aimed at the edges of the battlefield and the blind spots.
The brief "Vision Eye" attached to each arrow relayed a clear view of the surrounding area to her mind.
It was one of her magic skills.
She could create Vision Eyes and attach them to objects to see the surrounding area, but they only lasted ten seconds.
For an archer, this skill was an incredible scouting tool.
At the front, Xu Feng and Jin Shan stood like two ferocious humanoid beasts, holding off the Wild Bulls and tearing apart their formation. The other team members' support was efficient and precise as well.
Li Ze Yuan focused intently as he rhythmically tapped the ground with his ochre staff.
The ground rumbled, and sturdy earthen walls over two meters tall burst up from the earth, cutting through the tightly packed herd and splitting it apart, preventing the Bulls from forming an effective charge.
This created the perfect conditions for their allies up front to take them down one by one.
Kuang Lei's expression was icy as he murmured short incantations, the fire elements around him surging violently.
Scorching red fireballs formed beside him, then shot forward with piercing whistles.
Each fireball that landed in the herd triggered a violent explosion. In the firelight and shock waves, chunks of flesh and sprays of blood flew everywhere, quickly clearing out the clustered enemies.
Their captain, Piao Zhi Yong, looked the most composed of all.
The staff in his hand, set with blue-green gems, glowed with a soft green light.
On the battlefield ahead, thick, sturdy green vines burst out of the ground as if alive, quickly winding around each Wild Bull that tried to charge or turn.
They bound the Bulls tightly in place, leaving them unable to move.
As a C-class Lower Rank Wood Element Mage,
Piao Zhi Yong might not have much raw destructive power, but his formidable ability to restrain enemies was enough to give even higher-ranked foes a headache.
Against these Wild Bulls, which ranked no higher than D-class Lower Rank, he was more than a match for them.
The Wild Bulls had thick hides and tough bodies, with defenses that barely met the D-class Lower Rank threshold.
Their strength was E-class Higher Rank, making their charges fairly dangerous.
But their speed—and especially their ability to turn—was a fatal weakness.
That was why Xu Feng dared to weave freely through the herd after channeling only a trace of his blood to boost his explosive power.
Even when a Wild Bull occasionally used its momentum to charge and force him back, its attack couldn't leave so much as a white mark on his First Refinement physique.
"The dungeon... really is a wonderful place!"
During a lull in the fierce battle, Xu Feng glanced at the system panel only he could see. The number beside [Breakthrough Points] was climbing rapidly.
As he looked at all the Breakthrough Points walking around him, he felt more excited than he would have at the sight of Jin Shan himself.
Killing a Wild Bull gave him anywhere from five to ten Breakthrough Points, depending on its strength.
After fighting his way through the herd, and gaining a small share of the points his teammates earned from their kills simply by being present, his total had already climbed to [120 points]!
"If I spend them all on improving my 'strength' realm, I might be able to break through several times in a row..."
The thought only made him more eager to fight.
"Die!"
"MOo—!"
As the last Wild Bull let out a desperate wail and Xu Feng savagely tore it in half with his bare hands, the familiar notification rang in his mind.
[Breakthrough Points +7]
The battle came to an abrupt end.
Xu Feng let out a long breath of foul air tinged with the smell of blood, then casually wiped his face, clearing away some of the blood that had obscured his eyes.
He looked down at the Steel Shield he'd used throughout the fight, and an awkward smile appeared on his face.
The shield's once-flat, heavy surface was now covered in irregular dents and fine cracks.
It wasn't from blocking the Wild Bulls' charges.
Most of the damage had come from using the shield like an enormous "brick" to smash and batter his enemies.
Calling him the "Shield Warrior"... didn't seem wrong, after all.
Wasn't the best way to protect your teammates to physically obliterate every enemy?
"Little Brother Xiao Feng, Brother Jin Shan, here, wipe yourselves off."
Mai Xiao Wen approached the two men who had just finished fighting, holding out a pair of warm towels that had been dampened and wrung almost dry.
There was something else in her gaze as she looked at Xu Feng, something more complicated than the gentleness she'd shown before.
After all, the blood-soaked figure who'd laughed wildly while slaughtering the herd was so utterly different from the young man now quietly and carefully wiping away the blood that the contrast was startling.
Xu Feng thanked her, took the towel, and began cleaning the sticky blood and grass from himself.
Jin Shan, on the other hand, slung an arm around his neck without a care, his booming voice filled with unrestrained excitement:
"Hey! I knew it! Hunters in the physical combat class have battle lust running through their bones. How could you really be introverted?"
He sighed dramatically, waving his other hand. "Just look at our team. I won't mention Sister Na and Xiao Wen—they're girls, after all.
"But everyone else—the captain, Ze Yuan, Kuang Lei—one's a gentleman, one's as cool as ice, and one's as quiet as a gourd. I was going stir-crazy!
"But now, we've finally got someone like me, who likes to face enemies head-on and fight with his fists! The good old Western style!
"Brother! That was great! Great!!!"
"Ahem," Xu Feng said. He had wiped most of the blood from his face and was looking fresh and clean again.
He took small bites from a High-Energy Nutrition Bar to replenish his strength. At Jin Shan's words, he flashed his signature, slightly bashful smile.
"Brother Jin Shan, you might really have gotten the wrong idea.
"I'm actually very introverted. At school... I was especially afraid of school bullying."
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