“Good idea, Clive! You came well-prepared!”
Jalal smacked my back… that hurt a bit since my endurance hasn’t been unlocked yet and he increased his strength a few times. In any case, they soon did the same test. Rebecca hit the monsters and stunned four of them with her Frostbolt and the other had the chance to attack the remaining ones just fine and take their time finishing off the others when they had the chance.
You received 20 experience points.
You received 20 experience points.
You received 20 experience points.
You received 20 experience points.
Rebecca looked glad that she could use her magic freely now, but she felt a bit bothered by borrowing my mana. Regardless, I just want that doesn’t make this into something awkward. I was gaining experience, so I was benefiting from it. Experience without doing anything! I couldn’t ask for more.
It was time to look for a place to set up our camp, and we quickly found a dead end near the entrance to the next floor. Few people were moving around in this area, so we would have to fight a lot. Still, that was fine, since it would grant us more experience.
‘I didn’t hear anything about the dungeon that appeared close to the coast, but it has been two years… it probably has been cleared already. At this point in time, more and more parties of the whole empire should be arriving here.’
While that was only more competition for the top and that meant nothing to us, I still had to be mindful of it since it was hard to say if they wouldn’t bring trouble too. We also had an elf in the group, so trouble was bound to find us soon.
While I was thinking about that, we finished setting up our camp. The tents that we had were mainly made with the fire wolves’ materials. So, they should protect us from the heat… the only problem was the stuffy and hot air around. We couldn’t fight that.
I wondered if I could enchant the tents… I used identification on them, but they were of common rank, so there was nothing that I could do. I could use my bone bow and keep it around to make things fresher, but that would make them ask why I wasn’t using that one, since it was clearly better.
In any case, the heat was finally bothering me as well, so I considered making a fan or even an AC for the next run… the second option was probably impossible, but I had to do something about it, otherwise, we wouldn’t last in the second section of the dungeon. No one mentioned that in the books that I have read, but dungeons like this also become harder to fight as deep as you go. That would explain why no one had conquered the third section of the labyrinth yet.
“We should start the watch already. We won’t be able to sleep that much for a while, so it is better if we get as much rest without bother as possible.”
We finished our dinner, but it looked like Clarice still had some energy left. Based on what she had said about her, we expected that she wouldn’t be that tough, even more so when she didn’t have much muscle, but it looked like she had some proper training for all kinds of situations.
We moved away from the camp and soon got ready to receive the monsters while the other three got ready to sleep a bit earlier. At first, I waited for the first group of enemies to show up and then both of us used Rapid Fire. The beasts were stopped as soon as they showed up, and then we approached the bodies to skin them.
“We make a great team, right, Clive?”
“You think so?”
“You seem a bit young for your skill, but I can tell that you have experienced some things. Someone so young usually wouldn’t think of all kinds of ways to fight without that kind of experience.”
“You think so?”
“Here we go again…”
“You think so?”
Clarice let out a sigh… we didn’t have time to talk since we had to skin the monsters and also rest as much as possible before the next fight. Five minutes later, we were done and then I began to work on some scrolls to keep myself busy. Perhaps I should have focused on the tattoos instead. She would probably show less interest in something that I had already shown.
“I think we have a lot in common, Clive. Let’s be friends.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I am cool.”
“Even in this hot dungeon?”
“Very funny.”
“Let’s play a game, then. I say something about myself, and then you tell me something about you.”
“I would rather not. I am a boring guy. There isn’t much to say. I just came from a normal family of farmers, but I wanted to live a life of adventure and riches. Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, I am busy here.”
You received 20 experience points.
I finished a scroll and then used it, making a magic smoke bomb fly in the distance in an arc. I used the skill myself and the same thing happened, the same distance was traveled too and the same amount of smoke was created. Now I just had to make the skill level up and confirm that those effects will be passed down to the scroll.
“A magic smoke bomb, huh? I didn’t think that you had picked the Assassin class on the first floor.”
Speaking of which, Clarice didn’t take her time making her choice on the first floor, even though we didn’t hurry her up. She just held her chin for a moment and then made her choice. She looked thoughtful, but I had guessed that she picked without any real thinking.
Before long, more monsters came to attack, but we disposed of them without any trouble. While we skinned the monsters, I could tell that while Clarice had a good and enchanted knife for that kind of job, she was also pretty skilled at doing so. Maybe while the elves were friends of nature, the tree-hugging type, they still hunted to make a living. Maybe there was a point, or many points, in living for hundreds of years without tasting good meat, but having some wouldn’t make them live less… probably.
While I resumed my scroll-making, Clarice focused on cleaning her arrows. She grimaced in discomfort when she smelled blood on them, after all. Speaking of which, I recalled a game where people could make special types of arrows using elven arrows and vampire blood… I was a half-vampire, but perhaps my blood still had some use.
There was that thing that Rayner said and made me recall this possibility: “Those who are half-humans aren’t treated that well anywhere aside from Talimor. As if that isn’t enough, you are a half-vampire. Some people will try to target you for many reasons, and being killed will be just one of your lesser worries. With your appearance, you can’t hide who you are...”
Those were his words… it made sense. Alchemy in that world used all kinds of ingredients, the rare, the better they would be. So, I was a walking pack of extremely rare ingredients. Better not to think too much about this.
The skill Scroll Crafting leveled up. You received 400 experience points.
The skill reached level four in no time, it made sense that it was happening pretty fast since I used this whenever I had free time in order to make good use of my mana regeneration. The downside was the fact that I had to spend money on the materials too. Perhaps it was time to try some harder scrolls.-
Still, what kind of skills that I have that I could turn into scrolls aside from Camouflage and Magic Smoke Bomb? I selected my classes one by one and checked the skills that I had. They had a lot of potential for some uses, perhaps I could even combine scrolls or use them at the same time to obtain all kinds of useful effects. That needed some studying.
Ink of Power: Temporarily boost the magical strength of a scroll you’re creating, enhancing its effects for one-time use. Cost: 20 Mana
Active Skills: Pathfinding- Enhances your ability to find the best routes through unfamiliar or difficult terrain. This skill enables you to avoid natural hazards, reduce travel time, and discover shortcuts. It helps you when reading natural signs, understanding animal trails, and using environmental clues to determine the right direction toward your destination in mind. Cost: 50 mana.
Those were the options that I had… Ink of Power would power up other scrolls, and Pathfinding probably could help me reach the end of a dungeon faster. We could rely on Clarice’s skills for now, but it would be better to have some of them in store for when she leaves the party or when I begin to fly solo again.
“What? Is there something on my face?”
I looked at Clarice, wondering when she would leave the party… She seemed like the whimsical type, so she might leave at any moment for no particular reason or when she finds herself bored. It was better not to ask that.
“It is nothing. I just recalled something.”
Perhaps I should buy some scrolls and copy them… few people had the knowledge of how to do that, and the effectiveness also depends on the skills involved, so it wasn’t a popular method to make money. Still, with some adjustments, I could use that to give me a vast array of options. Still, it was always a better option to actually know the skill. Camouflage leveled up once when I was using a scroll, after all.
In any case, Clarice didn’t bother me that much until midnight and then the others came to take our spots on the guard duty. They didn’t look particularly rested, but they rested as much as possible once we reached the boss’ chamber and waited for our turn to clear it.
In any case, when I woke up the next day, I couldn’t help but smile… I had earned five thousand experience points while sleeping. That was probably the first method of cheating the system that I came up with. It was only annoying because I had to rely on others. Nothing is perfect, so I could only accept that downside.
‘I guess for now, I should focus on improving stamina conservation. I don’t know when I will have the chance to upgrade the parameter, but even at this first level, it will help me save time and energy to level up some skills. At a decent enough level, I could even solo the dungeon while only using Rapid Fire.’
Rapid Fire consumed twenty stamina points… and for now, the monsters were coming every ten minutes. So, I was lacking some levels in that parameter. In that regard, improving stamina regeneration seemed a more efficient option, though. If it reaches the 4.0 mark, then I will have what I need… it would cost thirty-five thousand experience points, though.
I spent the whole day thinking about that and trying to make up my mind, but I failed. I had the chance, since Clarice decided to ignore me and talk more with the others instead. In any case, we reached the end of the ninth floor in the middle of the afternoon. All thanks to Clarice’s skills. She was more than a little useful, so I felt bad for trying to keep her from a distance.
Regardless, we found some parties there waiting for their turn to challenge the boss, and some of them were ready to reach the next section. There were two guards as well, making sure that only the parties registered in the right order would challenge the boss. Only three of them were on the waiting list… I considered ourselves lucky for a moment, but then I recognized one of the guards and I flinched.