Eventually, it swung its fist at me, but I moved to the side calmly and avoided the hit before chopping its arm… I didn't feel any resistance. The fire enchantments turned the defenses of the beast to almost nothing.
The arm began to regenerate, and then the beast tried to hit me with its other fist, I lowered my stance and made the attack pass over me. In the next instant, I swung both swords and chopped the legs of the beast, making it tumble backward.
I frowned a bit… that was too easy, even though I didn't have the strength parameter. Perhaps it was because of my high dexterity and thanks to my training at home. In any case, I soon stabbed the chest and the head of the creature. The snow around began to melt and soon I found the core of the monster. When it fell from the snow after it melted, it was over.
You received 10 experience points.
“I guess it makes sense, this dungeon is a lot easier than the previous one… having the elemental advantage sure is handy.”
I checked the core of the monster and confirmed that it had become useless. When I passed to Nimir, he confirmed that he couldn't sense any magic in it. It was just a regular stone… It was very different from the other golems I faced. Come to think of it, the wood golems didn't have cores either.
“Your turn now, Nimir. We can't skate here, so we should hurry up.”
Nimir nodded and then took the lead. When the next snow golem showed up, he charged without hesitation and used his speed to slash at the monster from all directions and then chop its limbs. When the creature fell, he readily stabbed its stomach and the creature stopped moving and melted. Soon afterward, I found the core with a stab in it.
“You sensed that as well?”
“Yes.”
If he could throw my short swords, perhaps he could defeat them instantly… then again, the monster might block long-ranged attacks after assuming a defensive stance. I wondered if I could do the same as him by training… finding the weaknesses of an opponent instantly. It seemed like the ability of a protagonist of an anime I watched a long time ago.
Putting that aside, we defeated the monsters pretty fast and got some mana cores. Still, at that rate, it was hard to say when we would reach the next rank. I heard that we are supposed to get some benefits in the gold rank… seventy-five thousand mana core points were necessary for the upgrade now and we have fifteen thousand points.
In any case, while the first floor had some dead ends, they were pretty short, so we quickly reached the end of the first floor. It was time to reap the rewards of our efforts. I truly enjoyed these moments, so I was already looking forward to the next.
You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Cartographer, Painter, and Smith.
You obtained the Smith class.
You unlocked the Strength parameter.
You unlocked the Aptitude: Master of Forging
You unlocked the skill: Artisan's Touch.
You unlocked the skill: Smith’s Embrace.
Master of Forging: Gain additional bonus experience when repairing or enhancing gear.
Active Skills: Artisan's Touch - Use your smithing expertise to repair and enhance weapons and armor. This skill allows you to fully repair damaged items and improve their quality, adding temporary bonuses such as increased durability or minor enhancements to the item's stats. The improvements last for a significant period or until the item undergoes further use. Cost: 50 Mana
Smith’s Embrace: Instantly boosts the performance of an equipped item for a short duration, enhancing its damage, defense, or special abilities. This skill allows you to channel your expertise into a specific item, making it significantly more effective in combat. The effects last for a limited number of strikes or a short period. Cost: 60 Mana
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“Which class should I pick?”
“That is up to you… I will tell the class that you will need to pick the last one to get the necessary skills. I can tell what kind of skills the classes will grant though.”
At that point in time, Nimir realized what I was up to… still, instead of complaining, he decided to ask for information about the classes. In the end, that was more than most people could ask for. It wasn't like he had to be a genius to decide which class would be the better option for him, but he was still a kid, and they tend to be hard to predict. Still, they can learn from their mistakes.
While he was making his choice, I checked my new skills and thought of ways to use them. I could repair my items and make them last longer. However, that could only work a few times… the enchantments would eventually make them lose durability faster. Still, that much was fine with me. Repairing was just the first half of the skill, after all.
Eventually, Nimir made his choice and then we headed to the next floor. His choice was also Smith. I didn’t have to ask the reason since he saw me constantly checking my gear and sharpening my knives. He wanted to be able to do that himself and decrease the workload. Since he already had dexterity and strength, he could soon begin to make gear as well and that would make him invaluable to most parties.
The only problem was that he already had the Herbalist class… maybe he chose the Smith one to gain a multiplier for his strength. He also found a few herbs during the trip to Arlian, but until now, he couldn’t do much with them. He needed a set of tools to use them.
In the end, I didn't notice many differences in the next floor… only one enemy kept showing up at the same time, and their parameters were only a bit slightly above the previous floor. Still, I noticed that the snow golems were a bit bigger and tougher on the third floor. The parameters were also higher than on the previous floor, around twenty percent.
“I guess I understand how it is… let's head to the next floor and confirm my theory.”
Nimir was curious, but he didn't say anything and just waited patiently. Still, it looked like he realized what had happened as well… the monsters on the fourth floor had parameters that were twenty percent better than the previous floor.
The strength of the snow golems increases progressively as one ascends through the floors, starting with a power level of ten in all parameters on the first floor. From the first to the second floor, the power level rises by fifteen percent, resulting in a new level of approximately eleven and a half. This same fifteen percent increase is applied again from the second to the third floor, bringing the power level to around thirteen and a quarter.
As one continues to the higher floors, each subsequent power level reflects a fifteen percent increase from the previous floor's level. By the time one reaches the ninth floor, the cumulative effect of these increases results in a power level of approximately thirty and a half, demonstrating how consistent percentage increases can lead to significant growth over multiple iterations.
“This is a very troublesome section… the rewards in terms of experience don't increase by the same margin and we can't make much money here either.”
I felt like sighing… still, I was getting some good melee fighting experience, and the monsters didn't attack from a long range, so perhaps it makes sense that things are like that. In any case, the snow golems would be three times more annoying and that would make things difficult since facing a single snow golem of that strength was harder than face three of the same strength of the first level.
“Let's return.”
“All right. The next run we will map completely the first section, right?”
“That is probably the best option. In any case, you should get some extra clothes, I can enchant them for you, but they won't last for long unless they are made of monster leather.”
Nimir nodded… things got colder with each floor as well, so he truly needed better protection against the cold. Perhaps using Emberstep would make things warmer, but I had another idea in mind and so did Nimir, to my surprise.
The sun was setting when we returned to the town… we kept our guild cards in our hands to avoid being stopped. That wouldn't be enough to confirm that we weren't possible troublemakers, but it was better than nothing. Besides, if we had a bounty on our heads, we wouldn't be walking around like that.
“Can we stop there for a moment?”
Nimir pointed to a shop that had a lot of potions in it with a lot of colorful liquids… the smell of the place of medicine was quite strong, even for me, so I wondered how Nimir could endure it.
“Excuse me, do you perhaps sell some tools for beginners here?”
“My… do you intend to become an alchemist too? It is quite rare to find kids your age interested in it. Since you are so cute, I can sell you my old tools at a discount.”
The owner of the shop was a lady who was probably over eighty years old. She seemed like a warm person, so Nimir blushed and lowered his head when he heard that. Poor thing, he was never called cute in his life. I wasn’t either, in my both lives, and I was fine with it. There was no emotional damage inside me.
In any case, Nimir got a basic herbalist kit and then paid the old laid a couple of Terra coins. Still, if he wanted to pursue that path, he would need to move to some warm lands, where herbs would be easier to cultivate or find.
After returning to the inn and waiting for dinner, Nimir began to mess with the kit that he bought and the herbs that he found. As for me, I worked on transferring the enchantment of the items I bought to others while I studied them. They were pretty simple, so it wasn’t that hard.
“Enchanting an item three times with Swiftstep would be pretty handy. The higher the quality of the effect, the more times I will be able to use it and the greater distances as well. That would be great while running away from an enemy or to surprise them. Now that I could improve my strength, surprise attacks with my swords aren’t out of the question.
However, I began to work on the blueprint of the vehicle I had in mind… at first, I thought that something big was necessary since I considered working with Nimir for a while longer, but something for myself only would be easier to produce. Besides, by this point in time, I already knew that he could fend for himself, and with the last class in the dungeon, he wouldn’t have a hard time traveling. I just had to make him a ring with high enough quality and with several lesser effects of misinformation to grant him the same effect as mine. I already found such rings in the town and they had other effects that would help me as well, so I just had to exchange the enchantments.
I put those thoughts aside and then began to draw the blueprint of the vehicle I wanted… I didn’t need something big, like a combustion engine, I needed something light and powerful enough that could last for a while. The idea of making skates with a propulsion system seemed interesting, but I didn’t want to risk exploding my legs…
In the end, I drew a bunch of ideas that came to mind… but they all had some sort of flaw. That kind of work sure was as hard as I remember.