David hummed as he went over the information that Melissa gave him again.

He was a bit worried. [Mana Springs] and [Incursions] were meant to be a rare thing, only cropping up as the Mana levels in an area went unused for too long, or if there was just an abundance at any given moment.

And next week there were going to be two of them, practically back to back.

David could feel his [Mana Weaver] class writhing at the information, trying to tell him something, but as usual, any feelings it was giving him were vague and unhelpful. While it was nice to know that something was different than usual, not being able to identify what was annoying.

And not only that, but Melissa had also reported on another [Mana Spring] within line of sight when they travelled to the second one she scanned. Which meant that they not only had to deal with the two next week, but they had to prepare for a third soon after.

It was… troubling. The mana in the area around a dungeon as old as the UA Dungeon shouldn't have the opportunity to coalesce like this. Dungeons were meant to cycle the natural mana of the world into themselves to sort of… cleanse it from the intent of the things that used it.

The fact that there were 3 [Mana Springs] near the edge of the Dungeons reach meant that the ambient mana in the world was growing higher, for some reason. And while that could be a good thing, it brought its own set of risks.

[Incursions] would become more common, and the natural monsters of the surface world would be empowered as well. It would make all of the humanoid races stronger, but it would also make anything they fought more dangerous as well.

He finished writing his thoughts into a few letters, and moved to the top of his manor, reaching the mailroom. He smiled softly as the squawking of the carrier pigeons filled his ears, now that he was inside the soundproofing enchantment.

He moved to the cages of his most used birds, Cher and Ami, and placed the letters into the carry tubes on their back. He picked up Cher and whispered "Yagi's Castle" into its ear, letting mana flow from him to the pigeon so that it understood its destination.

Moving onto Ami, he adjusted the carry tube and smiled as Ami flapped their wing, more comfortable now. He brought Ami up to his face and whispered "Elven Capital". With a flutter of their wings, Ami shot out of the open window, angling right to fly towards the elven kingdom.

He sat and watched until both of the pigeons were out of his line of sight, before putting his gear on and heading out into the town. He had a few theories why the mana of the world might be increasing, but most of them weren't good.

He dragged his hand down his face, sighing deeply as worry dug into his chest. He looked around the streets as he walked towards his post outside the dungeon, and he couldn't help but find himself searching for a rat hood amongst the crowds of adventurers.

It was time that they all started to prepare for the upcoming [Incursions].

Izuku's vision blurred as he activated [Lunge], as usual.

He stooped right above the [Goblin Archer], swinging [Steelbringer] down and watching the double of the sword follow the movement, cleaving the weak goblin in two almost instantly. The second it passed through it, however, Izuku was hit in the chest by the Hobgoblins fist, and knocked to the ground.

Critical Hit!

[32] Damage taken!

Izuku yelled out as pain shot out from his chest, and he thudded against the floor. He jumped to his feet and gave himself a once over. He wasn't bleeding, but the Hobgoblin might have bruised a rib.

He looked over to the damage menu and paled as he saw that the Hobgoblin had done so much damage to him. Add that to the damage that the dungeon had done to him so far, and Izuku was down to… 41 HP. Damn, even less than when he fought the Dire Wolf!

"Shield!"

He saw that the Hobgoblin was currently trying to grab one of the goblins running around it to replace the [Goblin Archer] on his shoulder, and took the moment to reach into his pack.

He didn't have any proper health potions yet (he had actually planned on buying some this afternoon), so he grabbed out some of the mushrooms he had gathered from Floor 1 Warp Room.

He popped around 12 of the smaller ones into his mouth and chewed them, washing them down with water. They tasted bitter and disgusting, but he could feel his entire body relax a bit as he regained some HP.

[18 HP Gained!]

From eating untreated [HP Mushrooms], you have gained the debuff:

[Healing Fatigue 1]

All healing items for the next 2 hours will heal you for [25%] less.

Izuku huffed, not liking that, but he was grateful that it had worked in the first place. Thank the lord for books filled with tips and tricks written by poor adventurers! Shaking out his arms, Izuku looked back over to the enemies.

By now, the Hobgoblin had wrangled one of the little ones onto his shoulder, but Izuku noticed that it had no clue how to hold the bow it had been given and was instead holding it like a club.

He nodded to himself, happy to at least know that everything else was a melee fighter for this room. Putting a smile on his face, to both hype himself up and to ignore the throbbing of his chest, Izuku bent his knees slightly, getting into a fighting position.

"Lunge! Double Strike!"

Izuku dashed towards the group of smaller goblins first, and [Steelbringer] passed through 3 of them by the time Izuku's [Lunge] ended. He kept going forward, getting out of the group of goblins and heard a small banging noise, similar to the noise Mei's hammer made on the forge.

[Mei's Wish] Activated!

He turned and saw a small chunk of [Enhanced Steel] appear in the air, about the size of a mouse, glowing with a pink aura, before dropping to the ground. Izuku's grin widened as he saw [Steelbringers] innate effect at work.

Izuku locked eyes with the Hobgoblin and smiled at it, and Izuku was fairly certain it flipped him off as it reached from one of the goblins at its side, but he didn't have the best view of their hands.

With a roar, the Hobgoblin grabbed one of the goblins, and before Izuku could figure out what it was doing, threw the goblin at him. Izuku yelled and swung at the incoming goblin, sending it to the floor next to him, and only just dove to the side to avoid the Hobgoblins attack, having rushed him right after throwing the goblin at him.

He felt the wind rush past the Hobgoblins fist, ruffling his hair. Izuku gulped as he rolled to his feet.

'Holy Woah, this thing is fast! Way faster than it should be!'

He's read about Hobgoblins before, but they were meant to be hulking brutes, faster than a goblin, yes, but this was crazy! If he wanted to win without losing more HP, he'd have to immobilise it somehow.

Ideas rushed through his head as he ducked and weaved his way around the Hobgoblin's attacks, using [Lunge] liberally in the smaller big line to do so.

Dashing to the side, Izuku grabbed his [Ratbone Dagger] and ducked under a wild swipe from the Hobgoblin, which seemed to be getting more and more enraged as time passed, and stabbed it in the calf, dragging it through as much muscle as he could.

[27] Damage Dealt!

The roar the Hobgoblin released vibrated the air around him, and Izuku had to dive to the side again to avoid the Hobgoblins fist, which was now moving fast enough that blew Izuku's hood off his head. It was almost feral now, the basic strategies it had shown disappearing and being replaced by what he could tell was growing physical strength.

What kind of Hobgoblin was this?!

Izuku pulled his hood back up as the Hobgoblin fell to the ground, and he smiled as he saw that he had essentially made the Hobgoblin's left leg dead weight.

And finally, as it was distracted, savagely trying to claw its way up the wall to get upright again, Izuku swung [Steelbringer] at its back. The screeching stopped after a few seconds, and the weirdly powerful Hobgoblin was finally dead.

Congratulations!

You have defeated [7] Goblins and [1] ?&#

Izuku stared at the menu. What the hell was going on with that second name? He was about to reach out to touch it when the menu glitched out a little bit, and when it settled, the name issue seemed to have been fixed.

Congratulations!

You have defeated [7] Goblins and [1] Hobgoblin!

Reward: 400XP | 10 Copper 5 Silver

Congratulations!

You have reached Level [12]

+1 [Strength] | +1 [Agility] | +2 [Luck] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana

Izuku couldn't help but smile to himself, letting out a cheer and throwing his arms into the aim, before wincing as his ribs ached. 'Might have to take it easy for a little bit… wait what is that?'

He had glanced to his side as another, a much smaller menu appeared in the air, with 2 small sentences written on it in bold.

[Congratulations. Rest before fighting the Great Mole.]

Izuku felt a burst of something from beneath his feet, similar to that initial feeling he had gotten when he had first become an [Earth Quaker]. Was this… was this the earth itself actually giving him advice?

He had never heard of the earth itself actually sending out a message through the system. It didn't make sense to him. While he appreciated the advice, this whole situation was kinda stressing him out.

He kneeled down and placed his palm on the floor. The feeling was similar to when he had gotten his elemental attunement, but now that he was focusing on it, Izuku could tell that it wasn't the earth.

So what was it then? Was there a divination wizard watching him? Or… or was it the dungeon, maybe? And if it was the dungeon, then…

Why was it speaking to him, of all people?