Chapter 25

At night, the entire island fell into a deep silence.

However, it did not become any safer than during the day; on the contrary, it became even more dangerous.

Especially those candidates who had already found their targets were quietly approaching their prey under the cover of night, then launching sudden attacks when their opponents were distracted.

In just a few short hours, many unfortunate souls were eliminated, and some even lost their lives.

Hunting and being hunted—this was the essence of the fourth exam.

Just as in nature, where hunters and prey often switch roles, the candidates also had to be wary of the arrows from behind while hunting for the target number plates.

However, for Allen, the exam ended the moment he defeated Zissou.

At this moment, he was lying comfortably on a rock, fiddling with the "Alliance Emblem" he had just obtained, and muttering to himself, "Interesting! So fighting a Nen user is considered PVP? In that case, can't I boost my honor by actively seeking out battles and then directly exchange it for the Grand Marshal set? And there are even talent points as a reward..."

Clearly, after the battle with Zissou, Allen was surprised to find that his rank had changed from the lowest "Private" to "Sergeant," and his remaining talent points had increased from 0 to 1.

In other words, as long as he continued to fight powerful Nen users, he could not only purchase honor equipment from the mysterious shop but also gain additional talent points to max out the Beast King, Shooting, and Survival talent trees.

"This is a significant discovery. Perhaps after the Hunter Exam, I can first visit the Sky Arena and test it out with the Nen users on the 200th floor, while also plundering more aura. What do you think?"

As he spoke, Allen turned his gaze to the Nen beast sitting beside him—the Red Dragon of Life.

The latter, as if endowed with intelligence, immediately showed an excited and joyful expression, nodding vigorously.

Seeing this highly human-like behavior, he even began to doubt whether he had created the Red Dragon with Nen or if the soul inside the egg had been reborn through life energy.

Of course, there was no need to dwell on these questions now.

Because their lives were already bound together in a mutually dependent and mutually beneficial relationship.

The only thing worth noting was that after consuming a large amount of Zissou's aura, the Red Dragon was no longer a mere Nen beast but could materialize by consuming aura, transforming into a real red dragon.

This was a point that even Allen, its creator, found astonishing and incredible.

However, considering the enormous consumption of aura during materialization, it could only be used as a trump card in critical moments to turn the tide of battle.

Moreover, the Red Dragon was still too small and needed to consume more aura to grow, whether it was his own or his enemies'.

After understanding this, Allen directly used his teleportation ability, instantly appearing in an underground world with an extremely high temperature, surrounded by boiling lava and giant fire elementals.

The Heart of Molten Fire!

This was the first large-scale team dungeon he was allowed to enter after clearing all the five-man and ten-man dungeons, and it was also the first dungeon where even killing the minor enemies was extremely challenging.

"Phew—Rufus, let's start."

Allen took a deep breath, quickly made his armor and weapons appear, and then gave his pet an order without turning back.

"Roar!!!!!!"

Rufus immediately let out a piercing howl, and his entire body was once again enveloped in shadow energy, creating over a dozen energy clones in just a few seconds.

Under his control and command, these shadow wolves charged at the two Molten Core Giants guarding the entrance like hungry tigers.

At the same time, Allen was not idle. He took out his most powerful Serpent Silver Arrow.

[Nen Ability—Enhancement]

[Grant Arrow Attribute—Piercing]

[Nen Ability—Transformation]

[Grant Arrow Attribute—Liquefied Air]

[Aimed Shot]

[Multishot]

[Viper Sting]

Thanks to the dual enhancement of Nen on the arrow, the first aimed shot alone created a large hole in the Molten Core Giant.

The transformation Nen was rapidly liquefying the surrounding air, and as the liquefied air evaporated, it absorbed a large amount of heat, quickly cooling the molten lava body and forming brittle black rocks that fell off.

"Right now! Kill it!"

"Roar!!"

With Rufus's piercing howl, the shadow wolves charged at the most injured Molten Core Giant, opening their mouths wide and biting into the cooled and solidified areas.

The next second...

Boom!

All the shadow wolves exploded!

The dark purple shadow energy surged like a tide, instantly engulfing the entire Molten Core Giant.

When the energy gradually dissipated, it left behind only a pile of smoking rubble, dead as could be.

The other Molten Core Giant was also affected, half of its body solidified by the shadow energy, making its movements and attack speed abnormally slow, ultimately falling to Allen's continuous barrage of enhanced arrows.

After both "gatekeepers" were defeated, he approached with great anticipation, bending down to check if there were any valuable drops.

The result was quite disappointing—only a Lava Core and some useless trash.

"Ah—just like last time. Well, let's continue. We'll see how far we can go. After all, with my current strength, I can only fight the minor enemies." Allen sighed in frustration.

There was no other way!

The difficulty of team dungeons was completely different from that of five-man and ten-man dungeons.

With the enhancement of Nen, the latter was not too difficult to clear, and the bosses' health pools were not exaggerated, often being defeated in one burst.

But the monsters in the Heart of Molten Fire?

Just the Molten Core Giants guarding the entrance had over 100,000 health, and the bosses had hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Not to mention, they possessed various powerful spells and skills, making it impossible to defend against them with Nen. With only 3,000 health points, he couldn't withstand more than two hits.

So, before finding a solution, Allen dared not easily provoke the bosses, as he might be killed instantly without a chance to escape.

Especially the first boss, Lucifron, with his area-of-effect spell—Pain. Once affected, with his current health and physical attributes, he could only withstand two to three hits at most. Any more, and he would die no matter where he ran.

So, for now, he could only set his sights on the real world outside, strengthening his Nen abilities by hunting valuable targets until he had enough power to challenge the bosses and obtain better, stronger equipment.

After all, Nen was versatile.

As long as he put his mind to it, he could find the two abilities he most needed: healing and removing negative status effects.

With these, Allen would have the courage to take on the first few relatively easier bosses.

Even if he couldn't defeat them, he could always run away. With enough attempts, he would eventually succeed.

PS: New book, please follow and recommend, thank you very much.