“What’s going on? Who opened the chest?”
Asked an angry-looking man while going through the empty goblin encampment. The adventurers, fresh from their skirmish with the goblins, had returned expecting to find loot and spoils of their battle. Instead, they were met with barren goblin huts and no chest that should have been there.
"Did someone beat us to it?"
Another adventurer, a young woman with a bow, speculated, looking around suspiciously.
"There were goblins here just moments ago, and now the place is empty."
“It’s obvious, some bastard must have snuck in here while we were luring out those goblins, they could even still be nearby…”
The adventurers gripped their weapons tightly at the thought of being attacked. While they were in monster-filled dungeons, they weren’t the only ones hunting for treasure and glory. Rivals and opportunistic thieves often lurked in the shadows, ready to pounce on any chance to steal hard-earned loot.
"Stay sharp, everyone."
“...”
“I don’t think anyone is coming…”
The adventurers looked around, but even after waiting for several moments, they were not attacked. They were greeted with nothing but silence and soon realized that whoever had looted everything here had already escaped. The one responsible was long gone and did not intend to test his luck. His goal here was completed and his inventory was filled with explosive potions.
Rusty, the one responsible for the adventurers' annoyance, was already moving towards the sixth floor. He had stayed close enough to hear their complaints but moved away almost immediately after. There was no reason to engage with a whole group of crafty adventurers. Even though his elemental darkness worked well on them, he would quickly run out of magical energy without the mana crystals in his possession. It was better to limit the use of high MP costing skills in the future and for that, he also needed to further his other skills.
Basic Swordsmanship L7
Passive Skills
A skill that makes it easier to wield a sword, is required to unlock more powerful sword skills.
Basic Archery L3
Passive Skills
A skill that makes it easier to wield a bow, is required to unlock more powerful archery skills.
Basic Shield Proficiency L4
Passive Skills
A skill that makes it easier to wield a shield along with other weapons. It is required to unlock more powerful shield skills.
Basic Polearm Proficiency L1
Passive Skills
A skill that makes it easier to wield polearms, is required to unlock more powerful polearm skills.
Basic Blunt Weapon Proficiency L2
Passive Skills
A skill that makes it easier to wield blunt weapons like clubs and maces, is required to unlock more powerful blunt weapon skills.
While moving, he reviewed his weapon proficiency skills. Basic Swordsmanship was his highest skill, while the others lagged behind. During his dungeon travels, he had tested a few theories, and after asking the hero for confirmation, he learned that certain laws governed skill leveling. This also meant that there was an optimal way of leveling up.
First, he knew that he needed to be holding a specific weapon to target the associated skills. Killing monsters with that weapon would eventually increase the skill level, but the process was still somewhat slow. It took him several monster encounters to gain a single level, and it also helped if the monsters were of a higher level for the skills to improve. However, he needed to get stronger faster, and his progress was too slow for his liking.
“There has to be a better way than this… I’ve regained all of my MP, I should ask Alexander for some advice.”
Rusty had the memories of both the demon king and the hero who defeated him. Though these memories were riddled with holes like Swiss cheese, they revealed that the hero had reached the epitome of this world's power. He had done it with the help of the soul forge and in record time. If anyone could shed light on this dilemma, it was probably the hero, who seemed to have extensive experience in leveling. The demon king, on the other hand, had been born into a powerful race and was naturally strong from birth.
“Rusty, is there something you need?”
After finding a secluded corner of the dungeon with no monsters and adventurers around, he activated his skill. Aleksander the hero appeared in his ball of light and his form illuminated the darkness around them.
“I need your advice on something.”
“Sure? What do you need?”
The late hero seemed a bit more chipper today as usually he seemed annoyed when asked for help. However, Rusty did not really notice the change of tone as his metallic mind was focused on getting stronger and saving Gleam.
“Is there a better way to level up my skills? Fighting monsters normally is too slow, I don’t think I’ll be able to get strong in a month like this.”
Alexander floated closer, his light pulsing as if to indicate that he was thinking.
"Leveling up skills efficiently? That's a tricky one. You're right; normal grinding can be tedious. But there are some strategies you can try to speed up the process."
Rusty's metal frame creaked slightly as he leaned in, eager to hear the hero's advice.
"Go on."
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“Alright, you probably know that your skills will level up naturally when used against monsters.”
‘Yes.”
He nodded with his helmet while Alexander continued.
“But did you know, that you don’t need to kill the monsters themselves for those skills to level up?”
“I don’t?”
Rusty was surprised, having assumed that to get stronger, one had to defeat more enemies. He always gained experience after an enemy was defeated, but there was no way to see his skills progressing until they actually leveled up. There were no bars for skills and they were a hidden stat.
“No,”
The fallen hero had explained.
“You just need to be in active combat with someone or something. Once you are in this state, it’s enough to keep using the skill on your enemy. Most skills will require you to hit a target, but others, like self-buffing skills, just need to be activated.”
“So, to level up swordsmanship I just need to hit something?”
“Indeed and actually, there are types of monsters in this dungeon that would be suited for skill leveling.”
“There are? Which ones.”
“The ones that look like you, Rusty.”
“Oh?”
Soon the hero started to explain a tactic he had used when he was at a lower level. In his opinion, leveling passive skills was one of the easiest things to do once you knew the right approach. Once it was explained to Rusty, he felt like the tactic was too good to be true. It made use of the living armor's slash-resistant body and turned into a leveling dummy.
“Are you sure it's going to work? I haven’t seen adventurers use such a strange method… wouldn’t they use it?”
“There are reasons for that, not everyone knows how this world system operates or what it truly is…”
“What it truly is? and that is?”
Rusty asked the question to Alexander who for some reason went quiet.
“What was it again… I don’t seem to remember, I’m sure there was something…what was I going to say? Give me a moment…”
This was not the first time the hero had said something strange. It seemed that he was missing parts of his memory, which would sometimes shine through when asked questions. Nevertheless, Rusty now had a battle tactic that he needed to try, and the sixth-level living armors would be his guinea pigs. He had descended the stairs to arrive at this lower level, which looked more spacious than the others.
The area was predominantly populated by bronze living armor, with fewer corridors being replaced by chambers housing many destroyed temples. It felt as though the wandering living armors were some sort of paladin order, attempting to defend their goddess. Among the ruins were numerous statues depicting the same winged woman, likely representing their deity.
“If what Alexander said was true, then I should lure one away first.”
Rusty was familiar with how dungeon monsters behaved, having been one himself in the past. They always followed predetermined routes, deviating only when confronted by an enemy. Though this was his first time on this floor, the dungeon's structure felt eerily familiar. Having dwelled here for so long already, he started noticing common patterns in the layouts. It didn’t take him long to find a secluded dead end to lure his next target into. Once they were there, he employed the tactic the hero had instructed him with.
He landed a powerful kick on the monster's torso, sending it flying against the wall. With swift precision, he then utilized his newly acquired mace to target and dismantle its limbs. With each powerful strike, he took out a limb, enduring minor damage from the other living armor's broadsword attacks in the process. Soon, the monster was reduced to nothing more than a torso, its body parts scattered and out of range of its limb control skill.
“Now…”
Rusty put away the bronze mace and retrieved the bardiche he had previously taken from another monster. With it now equipped, he aimed to test out a training method that, if used correctly, should rapidly level up his Basic Polearm Proficiency. With delicate precision, he connected his weapon with the monster's torso, exerting just enough effort and power to trigger the skill use. The idea was to deliver no more damage than necessary; if what the hero said was true, inflicting just one point of damage would suffice for this strategy to be effective.
Congratulations Basic Polearm Proficiency has reached level 2.
“This fast?”
The system notified him that his skill had gone up by a level. While he had used this polearm a few times before, this was the quickest he had seen any of his skills level up. To achieve this, he had continuously struck the monster with minimal effort, taking away only one point of damage each time. Simply by tapping the monster with the bladed end of his polearm, the system registered each contact as a full hit, granting him consistent skill experience.
This bronze armor was level five, with hit points comparable to what Rusty had when he was still a Corroded Twilight Bronze Armor. It had lost some HP during the disarming process, but he could still deliver close to fifty hits before it reached the lower threshold. After that, even if he continued to strike, the monster's health would not drop below one. This was due to its monster core, which needed to be destroyed to completely defeat it.
“So, this would happen if I get to one point of health?”
His common bronze counterpart no longer seemed able to move. Previously, it had continued to move its helmet and limb stumps, but now it lay motionless on the ground. There seemed to be some type of debuffing effect once all health but one was depleted. Unlike him, the other living armor monsters could not restore their bodies. This was an advantage he could exploit in unfavorable situations, as his enemies would assume he was the same as the others.
“Right, he said to target the core with an active skill once I got all HP down.”
Congratulations Basic Power Slash has reached level 5.
To his joy, the first active skill he had acquired also leveled up after he used it against the underside of the bronze armor’s helmet. The hero had informed him that there was a hidden bonus: once a monster was defeated, the skills used in the process would level up faster. The hero's advice was simple: reduce the monster's HP to one while leveling the passive weapon skills, and then use an active skill that consumed MP to deliver the final blow.
“Neat, then I should test the next one!”
He had gone through his attacking skills, but his task was not over. There were two defensive skills he needed to level up, which required a change of equipment and a willingness to put himself in some danger. After stowing the polearm, he retrieved his shield and also picked up the one the living armor had dropped. Armed with both shields, he headed back to lure another living armor into his secluded spot.
His next adversary charged straight at him, wielding a slashing weapon to which he was quite resistant. As the attacks began, Rusty received them with both shields, slowly retreating as he did so. The aim was not to attack but to endure as many hits as possible. The shields were much sturdier than the living armor’s sword, which began to take chip damage with each strike.
Leveling his Basic Shield Proficiency seemed quicker but also more dangerous. There was always the possibility that one of those rampant slashes could end up hitting his body or core. However, this was also part of his turtle tactic. Rusty wanted to be hit both on his body and on the shields he was holding. There was a second skill he wanted to increase, one that would make his whole body become sturdier.
Congratulations Basic Shield Proficiency has reached level 5.
Congratulations Lesser Metal Body has reached level 6.
His regular bronze monster counterpart was the perfect creature to help him level both of these skills. Just like Rusty, they would never tire and could keep swinging their weapons around constantly. He just needed to always keep facing them while holding both shields. This would protect his helmet from being hit, and even when the monster’s blade connected with his body, it wouldn’t be able to do much damage. If his health started dropping, he could always restore himself with the bronze he received from these armors.
“What did Alexander call this? A perfect leveling loop?”
This was not something humans and adventurers were capable of. They had to cherish their weapons and armor much more than Rusty did his metal body. He could keep doing this almost indefinitely. The only limiting factor was the amount of damage his enemies could inflict. He needed to receive at least one point of damage each time for his skills to register, and as his skills improved, the less damage he would take.
Thus started his skill-leveling drive, a meticulous process of systematically engaging with monsters, targeting specific skills for improvement while ensuring minimal risk to himself. Rusty found himself adopting a routine, luring monsters, engaging them in combat, and methodically leveling up his skills. Each encounter brought him closer to his goal of becoming strong enough to leave this place. He was like a leveling machine that never tired and that would never stop until a goal had been reached. Then just as he thought he had reached the apex, something strange transpired.
“Hm?”
Congratulations Basic Swordsmanship has reached the maximum level.
Congratulations the requirements to upgrade Basic Swordsmanship have been met.