Danmachi: Scavenger

Rex spun his halberd in a wide arc, the axe head glinting as it deflected a downward slash from a sword wielded by a Minotaurs with a loud *KANG,* sending sparks flying. Using the momentum from the attack, Rex pivoted on his heel, leaning back from a wild swing from another sword-wielding Minotaur. 

A Lamia Mormos immediately lunged at him from the left, claws slashing at Rex's ribs. But he twisted sideways, her talons almost grazing his armor, and snapped the butt of his halberd upward into her jaw. The impact was brutal, the sound of shattering bone echoing through the air as she reeled back, her serpentine tail lashing wildly in pain and fury.

Without pause, a second Lamia struck from his blind spot, her orange tail whipping toward his legs, but he vaulted over the tail strike, flipping and landing behind her. Before she could react, he shifted his grip and stance, following through with a quick horizontal sweep of the axe blade that cleanly cleaved through her neck. The severed head tumbled through the air, a fountain of blood spraying out from her neck.

Rex continued through with his horizontal slash, his momentum carrying him into a spinning motion, the arc of his blade meeting the descending cleaver of the first Minotaur. Sparks flew as the weapons scraped past each other, the force of the impact sending the Minotaur stumbling backward, its footing momentarily unsteady.

Before Rex could press the advantage, another Minotaur came charging in, its horns lowered, aimed directly at his midsection. Still moving with the momentum of his spin, Rex twisted his body further, angling his halberd's shaft low. He planted the butt of the shaft into the ground and vaulted over the charging beast, letting its horns sweep harmlessly beneath him.

Soaring above the Minotaur, he wrenched the halberd's butt free from the ground, spinning mid-air with the weapon. Then, with a ferocious arc, he brought the axe down as the Minotaur passed beneath him. The blade cleaved through its waist, splitting the beast cleanly in two. 

A thunderous boom echoed as the axe slammed into the ground, the force of the impact sending a wave of dust and debris into the air, mingling with the blood and innards of the bisected Minotaur. Landing, Rex immediately dashed at the nearest Lamia Mormos shielding its face from the flying debris with its slender arm. 

His halberd arced in an horizontal swipe, the axe blade cutting through the monster's raised arms and neck in a single motion. A spray of blood splattered across Rex's face as the Lamia's head and limbs separated from its body, its face frozen in confusion.

He turned away as the creature crumpled to the earth, its body writhing in its final moments. His nictitating membrane slid away from his red ringed eyes as he surveyed the remaining monsters: two Minotaurs with swords and one Lamia Mormos.

One Minotaur raised its sword high, roaring as it charged straight at Rex, its powerful hooves kicking up dirt. The second Minotaur flanked its partner slightly to the right, its sword poised for a diagonal strike.

As the first Minotaur's blade descended, Rex swiftly twisted his torso, allowing the weapon to crash harmlessly into the ground beside him. Using the opening, he thrusted his halberd forward, the lance-head digging through the creature's abdomen, coming out from its back with intestines warped around it.

The second Minotaur was already upon him with a horizontal slash, its cleaver aimed for Rex's ribs. Anticipating the strike, Rex ripped his halberd free from the first minotaur and flicked it upward, intercepting the attack with the shaft. Then, with a shift in stance, he countered with a downward chop—his halberd's axe head burying itself deep into the Minotaur's shoulder, bones splintering under the force, killing it with a roar.

At that moment, the Lamia struck from behind him, her snake tail coiling tightly around Rex's leg, anchoring him in place as she lunged. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as it lunged towards him, its claws extended toward his throat. 

But with a powerful wrench, Rex broke free of her hold then he pivoted on his heel—while pulling his halberd from the Minotaur's shoulder—and delivered a horizontal slash. His halberd's axe split her head in half at the mouth, her upper jaw and skull flying into the air, landing meters away with a wet thud.

Rex dodged the monster's body as it continued its forward momentum, the body falling onto the ground, writhing before going lifeless. "Huuuuh," he released a breath, his ears twitching as he listened for any more monsters nearby. None.

"Fuckers really jumped me the moment I stepped into this floor." he mumbled, massaging his left shoulder as he looked at the six dead monsters.

Rex was currently on the 15th floor of the middle floor, having just descended after returning from his break after his first five-hour shift in the dungeon's 13th and 14th floors. They had become practically useless to him since the level-one monsters there no longer provided any stat gains. 

After reaching G in all stats, even the strongest level-one monsters, like the Almiraj, gave him nothing. Before that, even, he had been scraping by with minimal gains from, with only the hellhounds and dungeon worms offering any meaningful improvement. The reason he hadn't ventured deeper earlier was simple: doubt. 

In the middle floor, the high spawn rate meant every fight risked drawing in more enemies until the adventure were overwhelmed. That's why teams were essential. With extra fighters, they could divide the horde, kill faster, and finish battles before the noise attracted more monsters. 

On the upper floors, Rex had been able to handle things solo. He could dispatch monsters quickly, rarely causing a monster party, and his passive stamina and health regeneration from Predator allowed him to fight longer. If things got too dicey, he could always rely on his fire breath or simply retreat.

But the 15th floor was a different beast. Here and below, every monster was level two, so the fight lasted longer especially since he's solo. If he had come down here before getting an average of E in his stats and more than ten monsters ganged up on him—or worse, a monster party—he'd be in deep trouble. 

This skirmish had confirmed his fears.

'How did I get caught off guard by that snake's tail?' He thought, looking down at the Lamia Mormos, whose head he had severed in half. 'I had five Predator stacks and Kaioken…'

As a variant of the Lamia on the Lower Floors, the Lamia Mormos is quite similar to her. It is a humanoid female monster whose upper part looks like a woman while its lower half looks like that of a snake, consisting of a long tail, and it has long, sharp claws. Its skin was pale blue, hair dark blue, and its tail was orange.

'I could have ended this in seconds with Fire Breath so I guess I was never in any real danger,' he thought, crouching beside the Lamia Mormos and placing his palm on her abdomen to absorb its magic stone. "I know some people from earth who will say 'hear me out' on this shit."

And if you're curious, no, you can't fuck it. It has no snake-ussy nor nipples. The minotaurs also don't have a 13 incher so no girls can ride them.

'People are wired.' He shook his head. 'Scavenge.'

[+2 Strength, +1 Endurance, +3 Dexterity, +2 Agility, +0 Magic]

'At least the hounds still give me magic…' He thought, turning to touch the Minotaur behind him.

[+3 Strength, +2 Endurance, +0 Dexterity, +2 Agility, +0 Magic]

Picking up the Minotaur Horn drop, Rex stood and walked over to the next monster. This time, he didn't squat but placed his foot on its head and activated Scavenger.

[+1 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Dexterity, +3 Agility, +0 Magic]

He had recently discovered that Scavenger worked through any body part, not just his palm. 'And it took me a week to figure that out,' he muttered, shaking his head. 'If I missed something that simple, what else am I overlooking?'

He paused as he absorbed another monster's core, his thoughts drifting. "..." Rex called up his status screen, his eyes scanning the familiar details.

— — — — — — — — — —

Rex Magnus

Level 2

[Strength] E442 | [Endurance] F398 | [Dexterity] E423 | [Agility] E418 | [Magic] G236

[Predator] I

[Skill]

"Scavenger"

— Harvest stats, skills, magic, properties, or treasure from corpses and evaluate quality.

(Skill: Powerful Body, Body Furnace)

(Magic: Blue Papilio Powder, Fire Breath)

(Physical Property: Sharp Retractable Claw, Nictitating Membrane)

"Indomitable Will"

— Grants immunity to mind-based attacks, enhances physical and magical growth through trials, enables multitasking and rapid skill mastery, and in dire moments, suppresses pain, boosts mental fortitude, and significantly increases all stats.

"Dragon's Bane"

— Massively increases all abilities when fighting any dragon-type monsters. Grants anti-dragon properties to self and allies.

— — — — — — — — — —

"I don't think there's much left to figure out with these." His eyes lingered on his skills.

Dragon's Bane, his claws, Powerful Body, and even his nictitating membrane—straightforward. Scavenger had confirmed that much.

But then Indomitable Will, Body Furnace, and Fire Breath. Scavenger had confirmed that he didn't know everything about them. Even his main ability, Scavenger itself, had things hadn't fully understood.

'I know I'm missing the second requirement for the scavenging pity system,' he walked to another monster.. 'But what don't I know about Body Furnace and Fire Breath? One just boosts firepower, and Fire Breath is, well, breathing fire… what am I missing?'

Then it hit him.

"Oh, wait," he muttered. "I've never actually activated Body Furnace before, have I?"

'Now that I'm thinking about that, can't I use it to superheat my fire?' With that thought, Rex focused, mentally activating Body Furnace with a simple command—increase heat.

There was no sudden surge of fire, no dramatic ignition, just a subtle shift. His core temperature began to climb steadily, the warmth spreading outward from his chest, flowing through his limbs, and tingling faintly at his fingertips.

'Hmm...' He clenched his gauntleted fists, feeling his body adjust to the rising heat.

His heat resistance nullified the discomfort, leaving the process eerily seamless. If not for the faint awareness of energy building within him, he wouldn't even know anything was happening. Holding the skill active, he formed a fire breath in his throat, and due to his already high internal temperature, the breath began to take shape with its heat already matching his core. 

'Interesting.' He released the short burst of fire breath from his mouth, the flames flickering briefly before dissipating. 'So, if my internal temperature is at the melting point of steel, a basic fire breath would already have enough heat to melt steel?'

And since this skill didn't rely on mind, but more on a 'conscious effort,' he'd be saving a lot of mental energy. He doubted his internal temperature could reach that high, 'But, let's see.' Rex closed his eyes, pushing the effect further. 

'Increase.'

The heat continued to build, concentrating equally across every part of his body, a steady, controlled inferno. His muscles felt more alive, as if every fiber was awake and buzzing with energy, and the breath that left his lips was warmer. 

'Let's keep going,' he thought as he held his breath and closed his eyes to concentrate. 'Increase!'

The heat within grow hotter and hotter, by the second. It wasn't painful, thanks to his heat resistance, but it was undeniably intense, his skin prickling with the sheer energy radiating from within.

After a few seconds, he opened eyes. '!!!'

The air shimmered like desert mirages, the heat radiating from his body warping the light around him. Looking down at his infant dragon gauntlet and chestplate, he found them growing hot but not degrading, allowing heat to radiate outward. While his salamander wool wasn't getting hot, it allowed his heat to pass through like breathable fabric. Thankfully this was the case or else he would have been cooked alive by the trapped heat.

'This… is incredible!' he grinned like a madman as he flexed his fingers, watching as the heat radiating from his gauntlet blurring air around his hand. 

Maintaining the skill at this intensity demanded inhuman focus. Only Indomitable Will's ability to split his mind—one part channeling heat, the other controlling his body—kept him moving. It's like he was doing both things separately but at the same time, something he couldn't fully explain. 

And he could increase the heat further.

"GHAHAH!" He laughed as he pushed Body Furnace to its limits. "Super—" The heat within him surged, climbing faster than before, the air around him distorting more intensely, the shimmering haze thickening like a mirage. 

"SAAAAIYAN!!!" he roared. His hair began to rise slightly, lifted by the waves of heat radiating from his body, the distortion expanding rapidly, the air rippling like water struck by a stone. 

Then something shifted. The heat climbed too fast, too high, causing his vision to blur, the world around him warping into a kaleidoscope of shimmering air and flickering light.

'Shit—' The thermal energy erupted from his body. 

His hair whipped upward as superheated air exploded outward in a visible shockwave, a rippling orb of distortion that expanded 15 meters in all directions. The bedrock beneath him cracked like dry clay, spiderwebbing outward in jagged lines. 

As the air passed a dead minotaur he hadn't absorbed, its fur ignited instantly, its corpse blackening to charcoal. The distortion around him warped the light, turning the scene into a shimmering mirage. The distant landscape bent and twisted in the haze, reality itself seeming to liquefy.

And then, as quickly as it began, it stopped. The orb of heat collapsed inward with a thunderclap, leaving behind a scorched circle of glass-like bedrock, steam hissed from the cracks and curling upward. The minotaur's body smoldered, its magic stone now exposed and glowing faintly.

Rex stood at the center, unharmed but wide-eyed, his hair settling slowly. His gauntlets still pulsed with residual heat, the air around them blurring like a heathen's mirage. He stared at his hands, then at the devastation around him.

"Holy shit," he whispered, a manic grin spreading across his face. "That… that was insane."

"How the fuck did I just discover this elite finisher!?" He asked, a bit mad at himself. Someone else would've figured this out weeks ago. 'I am growing too fast.' He realized as he looked ahead where he heard a group of Ligerfangs approaching, drawn by the commotion.

Scavenger's relentless progression left no room for stagnation. He was already planning his next acquisitions: the Minotaur's stun roar and the Crystal Mantis's magic immunity. Once those were his, he would have hit the stat cap of 999. Then he will be off to the Large Tree Labyrinth to find a level 3 monster to farm for SSS-tier stats and new abilities. Scavenge. Scavenge. Scavenge. No time to master...

Soon, he would turn into one of those japanese Isekai protagonists with thousands of skills that they even forgot about. Characters that he would be reading about and cursing out because they weren't using their skills to their fullest potential. Like, he wouldn't have figured this AOE NUKE till much later. 

"Welp, I guess I am taking a few days off hunting to just spend time testing what I can really do with my skills." he mumbled. 'That won't slow my progress at all.'

After all, in only five hours, he had reached mid-ranked Level 2. By tomorrow's end, all his stats except maybe magic will be at 999. An astonishing growth speed—one that far surpassed even the protagonist's—that would make gods and adventurers spit out blood if they somehow found out. Taking a single day off will not slow his growth at all.

"I will not become a black haired, black eyed OP Isekai protagonist." He vowed, "Over my DEAD BODY!" He roared, bending backwards as red rings appeared around his amber eyes. 

Then he leaned forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet before he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, speeding toward the three Ligerfangs.

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Author's Note: A quick training arc, won't take more than one or two chapter. I doubt it will even take an entire chapter. Doing this because there are a few ability I want him to scavenge that will synergize will with his current ability set, but if he don't get in the habit of practicing and learning more about his abilities he wouldn't find them out. If you have ideas how his current skills can be utilized uniquely, you can tell me.

Then the problem with Goliath. After watching the episode again, I realized how 'weak' it is. Don't get me wrong, it is strong but not as strong as I remembered it being. With the way our protagonist is going, by the time the goliath spawns it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Not one bit. I will read the manga and novel to see if the anime just made it seem weaker, but if not, I will have to buff the Black Goliath.

And webnovel really need to fix their syncing between the mobile app and the web page. Shit made me look like a fool.

Anyway, thank you for reading. Don't die :)

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