"Sword Aura?" Max frowned, his brows furrowing. He hadn't heard anything about Sword Aura in the academy. "So the blue light in my sword was this Sword Aura," he mused, gripping his sword tightly with both hands.

He wanted to see if he could use this Sword Aura again now that he had comprehended it.

Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind completely and focused entirely on the sword. He recalled the earlier battle—the raw intensity, the crazy momentum of their swords—and, in the end, he recalled the feeling inside of him when he fought the goblin.

As Max recalled those feelings, sparks of light blue began to pop up around his sword in different parts before spreading across its surface, causing the entire blade to glow with a light blue hue.

"So, this is Sword Aura…" Max muttered, opening his eyes. From what he could tell after using it a second time, Sword Aura acted very differently from skills. Unlike skills, which activated with just a thought, Max had to bring the Sword Aura to the surface from deep inside his body.

It was like calling for a skill and having it come on its own, but for Sword Aura, one had to go and bring it out oneself; otherwise, it wouldn't work.

'Let's see its status,' Max mused, opening his status screen.

---

[Max]

–Rank: [Novice]

–Level: 3

–Class: [Dimensional Keeper]

–Physique: 5.5

–Soul: 6.6

–Energy: 8

–Skills:

—»Class Skills: [Three Dimensional Body, Dimension of Time]

—»Acquired Skills: [Magic Bullets (Lvl-13), Basic Sword Arts (Lvl-23), Swift Dash (Lvl-1)]

—»Comprehensions: [Sword Aura (Lvl-1)]

---

"A new column for comprehensions appeared… sweet." Max smiled and checked the status of Sword Aura.

---

[Sword Aura]

–Level: 1

–Description: Sword Aura is the most basic and rudimentary manifestation of the Concept of Sword, representing the wielder's first step toward understanding the deeper essence of swordsmanship. By channeling their will and intent, the user imbues their blade with a faint, ethereal glow that enhances its sharpness and cutting power.

---

"Concept of Sword?" Max frowned, seeing another term he didn't understand. While he understood that Sword Aura seemed to be the preliminary stage for comprehending the Concept of Sword, he had no idea whatsoever about what the Concept of Sword was.

"What is 'Concept' here?" he muttered, contemplating, before closing his status screen. "It seems I need to join a guild fast," he considered, knowing that only guilds would have knowledge surpassing that of an academy.

After that, Max looked around at the boss monster's drops, his gaze catching sight of the very thing he had been hoping to find.

It was a skill scroll.

He picked it up and read the name on it.

"Flurry Strike (Rare)."

"It's a rare-rank skill!" Max was astounded. Throughout the entire dungeon, he had only encountered common-level items and skills, but the boss monster had dropped a rare-rank skill.

"Hehe." Max smiled giddily but didn't immediately learn the skill. He first went to the door of the boss room and touched it.

The door swung open, revealing the anxious faces of William, Zixi, and Henry.

"Max, what took you so long?" William asked as soon as Max emerged from the boss chamber.

Max smiled wryly. How could he explain that he had been having a fun battle with the dungeon's boss monster? They would probably think he'd gone mad.

"Max, you have an explanation to give," Zixi said, her expression solemn. "You told us you'd one-shot it and be done in a moment, but it took you half an hour to come out of the boss room."

Max sighed and shrugged. "I don't know if I overestimated my ability or underestimated the level 5 Goblin Swordmaster, but in the end, I managed to kill it. So, no worries, folks. Everything's just fine."

"Goblin Swordmaster? You encountered a Goblin Swordmaster?" Zixi lost her composure upon hearing Max. "They're said to be one of the strongest monsters in awakening or no-rank dungeons across the world."

Max smiled at her stunned reaction and played along. "That's why it took me so long to kill it. My bullets were all deflected by its swords, so I had to fight in both close combat and at range before I managed to kill it. But even that took a lot of planning and scheming."

His expression turned serious as he added, "It's a good thing you guys didn't join; otherwise, I might not have been able to protect you all."

Zixi nodded and sighed. She hadn't expected a no-rank dungeon to be so dangerous for them.

"Alright, let me show you what the boss monster dropped," Max smiled as he led them into the boss chamber.

"So many items!" William's eyes shone brilliantly as he stared unblinkingly at the scattered loot.

"A Goblin Swordmaster is bound to leave such drops," Zixi commented.

Max smiled, pulling out the skill scroll. "This is mine as promised."

Zixi glanced at the scroll and waved her hand dismissively. "Go ahead and take it."

"Good." Max chuckled, opening the scroll and touching it with his hand. The scroll glowed with a blue light before vanishing.

[Congratulations to Max Voidwalker for obtaining the skill — Flurry Strike.]

---

[Flurry Strike]

–Rank: [Rare]

–Level: 0

–Description: Flurry Strike unleashes a barrage of rapid, consecutive attacks in a dazzling display of speed and precision. The user channels their energy to accelerate their movements, allowing them to deliver multiple strikes in the blink of an eye.

---

"Sweet." Max smiled excitedly as he checked the skill's description. 'If I'm not wrong, this is the same skill the Goblin Swordmaster used on me,' he mused.

"We should leave now," Zixi suggested. "We have only about an hour before the portal closes."

Max nodded and sighed. "If only no-rank dungeons had mana crystals…"

"Mana crystals can only be found in ranked dungeons, so stop dreaming," Zixi said as she headed for the door.

"Hey, wait!" Max called. "I have something I want you three to promise."

William, Zixi, and Henry stopped at Max's words.

"I know you want us to stay silent about your strength, so don't worry. We're not going to snitch," Zixi said with a smile.

"Haha, good." Max smiled and hugged them all. "Now, let's leave this dungeon."