Chapter 110: Jurassic Dungeon 3

Mark summoned an Echo of Cassandra’s Warhammer just as he landed. The weapon materialized in his grip with a brief flash of light, its massive head catching the dim glow filtering down through the surrounding vegetation. The instant his feet touched ground, he tightened his hold and swung the Warhammer through a wide, sweeping arc, channeling the full force of his momentum straight into the oncoming pack of raptors.

Despite its intimidating bulk, the weapon felt remarkably light and controllable in his hands, thanks to its built in weightless enchantment. That massive head should have demanded serious raw strength just to swing properly, yet the enchantment let him maneuver it with genuinely surprising ease. He could pivot his wrists, shift his stance, redirect the weapon’s momentum, all without straining beneath its apparent weight.

The first Velociraptor had the misfortune of entering its range first.

The Warhammer connected with brutal force, launching the creature clean off its feet. Its limbs flailed wildly as it slammed down into the mud, rolling hard across the uneven ground, tearing a long gouge through the churned earth behind it. A fine mist of blood briefly hung in the air around the point of impact before the creature finally skidded to a stop, unmoving.

Mark didn’t pause to admire the result.

He pivoted instantly, swinging again, this time catching a second raptor squarely across its open jaws. The impact was absolutely devastating. The creature’s head simply burst apart in a violent spray of blood and bone, its lifeless body collapsing heavily to the ground, momentum still carrying it a short distance before it finally slumped against the rocks and muddy underbrush.

The remaining four raptors reacted almost in unison.

They lunged toward him from every direction at once, jaws stretching wide to reveal rows of gleaming, needle sharp fangs. Their claws tore deep into the soft earth as they accelerated, pure predatory instinct driving them to overwhelm the human who’d already cut down two members of their pack.

Mark’s eyes narrowed sharply.

He rotated his body, swinging the Warhammer in rapid, continuous succession, relying fully on its enchanted lightness to sustain an unbroken offensive. His movements carved out a wide, sweeping pattern, each strike flowing directly into the next with barely a flicker of hesitation. From a distance, the broad arcs traced by the weapon looked almost like the spinning blades of some massive fan, except every single rotation carried more than enough brutal force to turn the approaching predators into helpless, broken targets.

One raptor took a hit hard enough to send it tumbling through the air before crashing down against jagged rock. Another charged straight into the weapon’s path and met a fatal blow mid leap, its body crumpling instantly. The last two attempted a pincer approach from opposite sides, but Mark adjusted his footing fast, redirecting his swings to intercept both before they could close the gap.

The whole encounter ended almost as quickly as it had begun.

Once the final raptor dropped, Mark let the Warhammer settle against his side, scanning the surrounding area carefully. All six creatures now lay scattered across the muddy terrain, motionless among the scattered stones, torn shrubs, and shallow depressions marking the ravine floor, blood pooling slowly into the wet earth around them.

He took a moment to confirm none of them were still moving before dismissing the Echo weapon entirely.

Faint sparks of energy gathered around the Warhammer, spreading steadily across its massive head and handle until the entire weapon began dissolving, flickering apart into scattered particles of light that faded quietly into the air, leaving Mark with nothing but his bracers and the rest of his Amazon gear.

He let out a quiet breath.

Even though the fight itself had been relatively brief, he stayed acutely aware of exactly how much mana it took to maintain his active abilities. Summoning an Echo and running it through actual combat was genuinely useful, sure, but doing it carelessly could easily become a real problem once he faced stronger opponents down the line. He couldn’t afford to burn through his reserves this early just because the opening group had proven manageable enough.

That was precisely why he’d been working so hard lately on improving his mana control overall.

Meditation had become a genuinely essential part of his daily routine by now. Through repeated, consistent practice, he’d been working to understand the underlying principles governing how mana actually moved through his body, learning to recognize its flow and properly regulate his own expenditure. He wanted real familiarity with how that energy responded to his thoughts and intentions, rather than leaning entirely on raw instinct every time he activated some ability.

Physical conditioning mattered just as much.

By training his body regularly, he hoped to steadily improve his endurance, building himself up to withstand greater amounts of mana and strain without suffering unnecessary setbacks. Strengthening his muscles, sharpening his balance, building raw stamina, all of it fed into the exact same goal. He understood clearly enough that supernatural ability alone could hand him a real edge, but his physical foundation still mattered just as much underneath it.

It had become a disciplined routine he’d gradually built up as part of his overall journey toward greater strength. He’d grown comfortable with the discipline it required by now, and he had absolutely no intention of abandoning that progress just because he’d stumbled into a genuinely difficult situation.

Still, he understood well enough that repeating the exact same exercises could only carry him so far.

If he genuinely wanted to accelerate his growth, he needed to push himself hard, well past his usual comfort zone. Real combat offered something meditation and ordinary training simply couldn’t fully replicate. It forced him to make split second decisions under real pressure, read dangerous opponents’ movements in real time, and apply his abilities in situations where a single mistake could carry genuinely serious consequences.

The Lost Dungeon had unexpectedly handed him exactly that kind of opportunity.

Mark glanced briefly over the scattered bodies surrounding him before turning his attention deeper into the ravine. He couldn’t afford to linger in one spot indefinitely, especially with no real sense yet of how large this dungeon actually stretched, or what still waited further ahead.

After studying the surrounding terrain for a while, he finally identified a viable path forward.

It cut between two uneven ridges before dropping down into a lower section of the ravine. Dense shrubs partially obscured the route, several muddy depressions scattered across the ground, but it clearly pushed deeper into the dungeon rather than dead ending against solid rock.

Mark advanced carefully, watching exactly where he placed each footstep.

The terrain grew increasingly treacherous the further he went. Thick mud clung stubbornly to the soles of his shoes, deep potholes and sunken patches of ground interrupting the otherwise rocky surface at irregular intervals. In several spots, the ground sloped sharply toward narrow gullies, forcing him to slow considerably, choosing each step with real care. Damp vegetation brushed repeatedly against his protective gear whenever he squeezed through the narrower stretches, leaving streaks of moisture smeared across the surfaces.

The deeper he pushed, the more unsettling his surroundings became.

Scattered dungeon sounds seemed to grow noticeably louder whenever he passed between the rocky walls. Occasionally, he caught the distant splash of water, or the faint scrape of claws dragging against stone somewhere nearby. The air hung heavy with moisture throughout, the smell of wet earth mixing uncomfortably with the musty rot of decaying vegetation.

Then something unusual caught his eye.

Several dead Velociraptors lay sprawled across the ground ahead of him.

Mark slowed his pace, approaching carefully. Unlike the creatures he’d just killed himself, these particular raptors carried entirely different wounds. Some bore deep, jagged gashes, while others looked damaged badly enough that they’d clearly been unable to move any further before dying. Their bodies lay scattered across the path and surrounding brush, strong evidence that some violent confrontation had already played out here before he’d even arrived.

He crouched slightly, examining one of them closely.

The nature of the wounds raised an immediate question in his mind. Had another pack of predators passed through and clashed with these raptors, or had someone else already entered this dungeon ahead of him? The possibility that another person might be somewhere nearby crossed his thoughts, though the remains alone weren’t nearly enough to confirm anything concrete.

He straightened back up, continuing forward, attention shifting steadily between the dead creatures and the dense surrounding bushes.

Whatever had caused this particular scene, it felt worth remembering.

Before he could take another step, a sharp, rattling sound erupted from the nearby vegetation.

Mark froze instantly.

The noise came from multiple directions at once. Something shifted beneath the muddy ground itself, while more sounds rustled through the dense shrubs lining the passage. A moment later, additional Velociraptors began emerging from scattered potholes and hidden openings, lean bodies slipping out of the shadows, every one of them locking its full attention squarely on him.

There were considerably more than he’d originally expected.

Their heads swung toward Mark almost in perfect unison, sharp eyes tracking his every movement closely. Some stayed partially hidden behind the surrounding bushes, while others stepped boldly out into the open, fanning outward as though actively preparing to surround him entirely.

A low, restless rattle rippled steadily through the gathering pack.

Mark studied their positions carefully, trying to properly gauge exactly how many he’d actually need to deal with here. The steadily climbing number of creatures was already starting to complicate things considerably. He could absolutely fight them, sure, but letting himself get fully surrounded would be a genuine mistake, especially if even more predators kept answering the growing commotion.

One of the raptors suddenly broke rank, charging forward.

Its feet struck the ground in rapid succession as it closed the distance, clearly eager to claim first bite of what it viewed as an easy meal. Its head thrust forward hard, sleek snout slamming directly into Mark’s crossed bracers.

The impact rang out with a sharp, heavy thud.

Mark barely shifted an inch.

His bracers absorbed the full blow without so much as a visible scratch. The raptor, on the other hand, had clearly underestimated exactly what kind of resistance it was about to run into. Its own momentum snapped violently backward, the creature crashing hard to the ground with a heavy, bone jarring thump.

Mark glanced briefly down at his bracers.

Their durability was proving genuinely useful here, though he refused to let himself grow overconfident. Even if an ordinary strike couldn’t properly injure him, repeated hits from multiple opponents at once could still eventually find an opening somewhere.

The remaining raptors were already surging forward.

They came at him like a pack of feral dogs, claws tearing violently through the muddy ground as they closed the gap fast. Several snapped their jaws at him in rapid succession, sharp bursts of sound echoing painfully off the narrow ravine walls.

Mark wove between them with precise, deliberate footwork.

He shifted his weight to slip one attack, rotated his shoulder clear of another, sidestepped completely out of the path of a third raptor lunging for his arm. Every movement stayed calculated, letting him preserve his balance while avoiding unnecessary contact with their teeth and claws entirely.

Still, their sheer numbers were quickly becoming a genuine problem.

Every time he dodged one raptor cleanly, another immediately tried exploiting the resulting opening. He had to stay constantly moving, adjusting his position again and again to keep from getting fully boxed in. Their aggressive, erratic movements proved genuinely difficult to predict, and the uneven terrain underfoot made holding a stable stance even harder.

Mark eventually leapt backward, putting real distance between himself and the pack.

He landed with a short, heavy breath, eyes narrowing as he assessed the growing crowd of predators circling him. Too many to handle casually at this point, and the longer this dragged on, the greater the odds even more would show up in response to the noise.

He couldn’t afford to waste any more time here.

As one raptor lunged straight at him, Mark planted his feet firmly and drove a powerful punch directly into its jaw. He held back, restraining the blow to roughly half the force he genuinely believed he could manage at his current level, and yet the impact still landed with tremendous, bone cracking force.

The creature’s jaw shattered under the strike.

Its head snapped violently sideways, body sent tumbling away before it slammed down hard into the mud. Mark drew his fist back, watching the raptor collapse as he weighed his next move carefully.

The surrounding rattle grew louder still.

More creatures kept answering the escalating commotion, emerging steadily from potholes and dense shrubbery as though this entire stretch of ravine had somehow become a gathering point for every hungry predator in the vicinity. Mark could already spot fresh movement rippling through the vegetation, the number of visible raptors climbing steadily with each passing second.

If he kept fighting them off one at a time like this, sheer numbers would eventually overwhelm him regardless.

He needed to shift tactics, and fast.

Before he could settle on his next move, though, the ground beneath the gathered raptors suddenly erupted violently.

Massive, glittering shards of diamond like crystal burst upward straight through the earth. Their razor sharp points punched through the muddy terrain, impaling numerous raptors before they even had a chance to scatter clear. The sudden assault transformed the entire battlefield into a jagged forest of crystalline spikes, several raptors pinned helplessly in place, thrashing wildly against the crystal piercing clean through their bodies.