"So, Master, since you hid this cave with illusion magic, there must be something special about this place, correct?" Asked Alexander while using the skill [Heroes Gaze] to view the poorly lit cave, seemingly without end.
"Yes, although the correct term wouldn't be a cave, but a dungeon instead." Replied Lavender while walking down the long passageway while Alexander followed closely behind.
When Master said dungeon, I was slightly taken aback as I couldn't help but think back to my video game knowledge, which wasn't much, to begin with; however, anyone who has played a few video games should know that the term dungeon and monsters go hand-in-hand.
'But even if this dungeon happened to be a nest full of monsters, would they actually be monsters or just abnormally powerful beasts?' Pondered Alexander with a thoughtful expression.
"Master, is this dungeon, and possibly other dungeons present in the world, filled with powerful beasts, or maybe something similar?" Asked Alexander with furrowed brows as he and Lavender stopped walking since they had reached a split in the path.
"Which way do you want to go?" Said Lavender, completely ignoring Alexander's question.
"Neither direction really matters, but my heart is leaning more toward the left passageway." Stated Alexander while pointing toward the left passageway, which looked nearly identical to the right one.
With my response, Master nodded her head and, without an ounce of hesitation, began walking down the left passageway; of course, I swiftly followed behind Master as well; if this is anything like the dungeon I imagine it to be, I definitely don't wish to separate from Master.
While walking down the pathway, at first, it seemed to be the same as before, but the deeper we went, the wider the cave became, and it continued to expand until, eventually, it reminded me of a man-made cave from how wide it was. Just when I was about to ask Master about my suspicion about whether this cave, or dungeon, was formed naturally, I noticed numerous, various-sized holes on the side of the dungeon walls, along with the occasional pitter-patter, which seemed to emerge from the holes in the wall.
'This place, I take back my suspicion of it being man-made; Master said this forest is in a remote region anyway, so it's highly unlikely I was correct.' Thought Alexander as he intently eyed a hole, only for numerous small glowing orbs to suddenly appear.
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Species: Stone-Centipede(Common)
Age: 2 years
Tier: 0
Level: 37
Experience: [32%]
Class: Monster
Lifeforce: [98%]
Mana: 143/150
Vigor: 167
Endurance: 157
Agility: 44
Dexterity: 23
Intelligence: 15
Perception: 38
Traits: Soul Sense(Common), Stone Skin(Common), Dig(Common)
Condition:
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As I inspected the insect's stats, which caused me to frown since it seemed to have abnormal stats given that it's only a common species; however, without any sudden warning, it released a loud screech and exited the tunnel while charging directly at me with its pincers.
While I was startled by such a sudden action, since the creature wasn't that fast and there was a reasonable distance between each other, I had plenty of time to summon a fireball and launch it at the incoming insect. I don't know whether it was because the insect was blinded by anger or if it didn't know fear, but it didn't even attempt to avoid my fireball; the moment they collided, a small explosion erupted, causing nearly the entire cave to brighten for a second before it darkened once more.
Although there was a decent amount of smoke and debris floating in the air, with my eyes, It was of no concern to me; when I saw the insect's stone skin glowing red, I figured I had done a decent amount of damage, yet a look at the creatures lifeforce gave me an accurate representation of how much damage I actually did, which was much less than I bargained for.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
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Lifeforce: [72%]
Condition: Burning
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'Well, I suppose it's not that bad considering I'm still level zero; however, for me to only take 26% of his total life force, I'm quite weak.' Thought Alexander with a frown as he once again materialized his fire mana, though this time he used a more powerful skill, [Fire Blast].
With how long it took me to cast this spell, I had no intention of using it, but thanks to my earlier fireball, it seemed to have disoriented the insect, which gave me an opportunity to use a much more potent spell. Once I was finished preparing the spell, the insect seemed to have regained its bearings as it let out another loud screech and charged toward me, yet the creature was in for a rude awakening.
Throwing a dense ball of fire at the incoming stone-centipede, it, just like before, didn't bother avoiding my attack, which did cause me to frown at its weird behavior, though since it was in my favor, I didn't dwell on it for long. When my fireblast collided with the centipede, an explosion of an even greater magnitude happened, and this time, I didn't just cause his stone skin to glow red; I managed to melt it, causing the insect to let out a screech of pain, or what I could only assume was a pain as for some reason I wasn't able to comprehend it's words.
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Lifeforce:[43%]
Condition: Intense Burning
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Seeing how much damage I did slightly improved my mood; I cast one more fireblast and one last fireball, effectively neutralizing the threat.
The moment the creature died, I had expected to suddenly feel myself get a significant boost in overall power, whether physical or spiritual; however, after waiting for a while and feeling no changes, I checked my status page in confusion.
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Name: Alexander
Species: High-Human
Age: 7 years
Tier: 0
Level: 0→12 (Available Status Points: 576)
Experience: [07%]
Class: Hero(Genesis)
Sub-Class:
Sub-Class:
Sub-Class:
Title(s): True Hero(Genesis), Reincarnator(Epic), Member of the Gypsies(Rare)+
Lifeforce: 100%
Mana: 1,007/1,890
Vigor: 27
Endurance: 30
Agility: 22
Dexterity: 22
Intelligence: 172(189)
Perception: 45(50)
Traits: Heroes Aura(Mythical), Heroes Will(Mythical), Heroes Physique(Mythical), Heart of a Hero(Legendary), Enhanced Perception(Rare), Enhanced Intelligence(Rare)
Skills: ?????(???), Heroes Gaze–lvl2(Mythical), Omnilingual–lvl2(Mythical), Rebirth–lvl1(Mythical), Mana Manipulation–lvl5(Uncommon), Shrink–lvl2(Rare), Expand–lvl2(Rare), Fire Blast–lvl3↑(Uncommon), Fire Breath–lvl2(Uncommon), Fire Ball–lvl4↑(Common), Fire Shot–lvl2(Common), Wind Blade–lvl2(Common), Wind Shot–lvl2(Common), Wind Step-lvl4(common)
Condition: N/A
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'5-576 Status Points!' Thought Alexander with widened eyes while looking at his status panel.
"Congratulations, and now that you've finally achieved in increasing your level, will you stop worrying about that failure from three years ago?" Remarked Lavender with a slight smirk while eyeing the shocked Alexander.
"Haa yes, I'll stop concerning myself over my failure, though this was all achieved with no help from you, Master." Stated Alexander while glancing at Lavender with a bland expression.
"Don't give me that look, Alexander; the whole reason I brought you here was so you may kill a monster and level-up; I never had any intention of helping you. Besides, it's not like you needed help in the first place; you had everything under control." Said Lavender with a cheeky smile, while Alexander just sighed in defeat.
As I was about to ask Master something, she suddenly placed her hand atop my arm, and the next thing I knew, we were outside, standing just in front of the entrance to the dungeon.
"W-What just happened? Did we just teleport?" Questioned Alexander in astonishment as he looked at Lavender.
"Yes, although what I had used wasn't the skill,[Teleport], but instead the skill, [Mass Teleport]. Teleport only allows the caster, which would've been me, to teleport; Mass Teleport allows me to bring along multiple people." Replied Lavender lightly as she turned around and began walking back into the forest.
'Since I have the space element, I'll be able to do that in the future as well!' Thought Alexander with an excited smile as he ran after Lavender.
"So, what level are you now, Alexander?" Asked Lavender curiously while heading toward her house.
"I'm level 12 now, which is a massive jump from my previous level 0, but given that I had killed a level 37 centipede, it's not as much as I expected." Replied Alexander calmly, though he wasn't complaining.
"It's because you're still in my party, The Gypsies; because of that, all the experience you and everyone else affiliated with the party acquire is evenly shared between all its members. So although you, yourself, killed that monster, you only got 20% of its experience, while I and everyone else also got 20%." Stated Lavender, only to chuckle when she noticed Alexander's annoyed expression.
"That's annoying; I did all the work, but other people get to benefit from it? I don't mind that you took some of my experience, but I don't like that three people I've never met have stolen my experience." Declared Alexander with a frown as he huffed in annoyance.
"Fufu, no need to get so worked up; next time, if you so desire, just leave the party; you can do that after all." Said Lavender with an amused smirk.
"Haa, whatever, what's done is done; speaking of levels, I apparently have 576 status points from leveling up, and I assume I just mentally command where I wish for them to go?" Asked Alexander, though his words caused Lavender to nearly trip and fall on the ground.
"5-576 status points!" Said Lavender with widened eyes while intently eyeing Alexander.
"Y-Yeah, 576; I know it seems to be a lot, but isn't your reaction a bit much?" Replied Alexander, taken aback by Lavender's response.
"Oh my goodness, what kind of ridiculous disciple do I have?" Muttered Lavender while taking a minute to calm her rampaging heart.
Seeing Master state, I figured it was best to stay quiet and hold my question until she regained her composure, which was relatively quick, though she beat me to it before I could ask her a question.
"Alexander, I'm sure you don't realize it; but the amount of status points you have from merely leveling up 12 times is utterly insane, to say the least. To give you an idea, someone with a Common Class would only acquire three status points when leveling up, for a total of 36 status points for 12 levels; yet you have roughly 14 times the amount of status points." Stated Lavender as she rubbed her head while sighing.
(Note: I've changed the skill [Fire Bomb] to be called [Fire Blast])