I decimated the ice slimes along the way, and then set up magic traps with the extra mana that I had. That should slow down the progression of the giant worm. If my guess was right, it was using mana to regenerate that fast instead of having such an insane amount of health regeneration.

‘All of a sudden, the idea of using everything in my reach instead of just focusing on just using my strength and dexterity to reach my goals is a lot less bothersome… I am really influenced by the environment.’

Glacien looked a bit less bothered as we moved away from the beast. I felt bad for her since thanks to me taming her, she ended up in this kind of situation. She could still be in that dark forest instead of being here with me, almost becoming a snack from a giant worm who left the weirdest hole in the world.

I decided to use my legs to move instead of anything else. I might need the mana cores at the last moment and I would regret using them just to move a bit faster on my bike. Perhaps it was about time to expand my vehicle and turn it into a tank that can endure even the attacks of that grotesque monster. I was probably skipping some steps, but I definitely needed something like that in the future.

‘Well, making a tank should be a lot more feasible than making a rail gun in this world.’

I decided to put those plans aside and then focus on the ones ahead… I wasn’t sure yet if the monsters in the labyrinth still could spawn while that freak was inside. If that is possible, the monster will get a lot of manas and expand once every day, when it crushes the bosses to death.

Even if it had to cover the whole boss chamber, the creature won’t give them the chance to escape and use them as fuel. With that in mind, I began to wonder what would happen if they were to summon something like that in any country… unless the beast was stopped soon, it would eventually reach a certain size and become essentially impossible to kill.

‘I guess that I jinxed myself when I considered looking for the vampires in order to unlock an epic quest line… I learned my lesson.’

Eventually, we reached the fourth floor of the second section and then, after increasing her strength a bunch of times, Glacien was able to hold one of my short swords in her mouth. She used that to slice one of the ice slimes after every battle. It looked like she wanted to give me a hand, even though I was perfectly fine disposing of monsters of that level, even if they came in droves.

If my guess was right, the monster’s expansion would increase a lot once it reaches the final parts of each section since it would absorb more mana from the monsters. So, I had to put quite the distance between us… I wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon.

‘Another grinding session where I don’t have a choice but to do my best to survive against all the odds, huh? Great…’

Name: Regulus Dawnshield

Race: Dhampir

Health: 310/310 (0/3200)

Regen: 1.1 per hour (0/1000) (1.1)

Mana: 330/330 (0/3100) (1.1)

Regen: 12.0 per minute (0/7600) (1.6)

Stamina: 380/380 (0/3500) (1.1)

Regen: 9.8 per minute (0/7600) (1.3)

Strength: 100 + 180 (0/5100) (2.0)

Magic: 25 (0/2600)

Dexterity: 253 (0/5600) (4.6x)

Spirit: 21 (0/2200)

Endurance: 30 (0/3100) (1.1)

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Attack Speed: + 84% (0/7700) (1.1)

Movement Speed: 13.1 (0/6100) (1.3)

Stamina Conservation: 1.1 (0/10.000) (1.1)

Fire Affinity: 20 (0/2100)

Traits: Minor Weakness to Sunlight, Minor Sensitivity to Holy Magic, Minor Aversion to Silver

Classes: Ranger, Pathfinder, Dark Scrollmaker, Mystic Tattoist, Demon Hunter, Dreadful Enchanter, Ninja, Merchant, Poison Crafter, Smith, Weaponsmith, Sharpshooter, Pyromancer, Dark Paladin, Arcane Archer, Shadow Archer, Barbarian, Lord of War, Bowman, Warblade, Beastmaster, Pirate,

Aptitudes: Wilderness Survival, Never Lost, Magical Scroll Creator,, Arcane Artist, Hunter’s Resolve, Malevolent Artifice, Master of Trade, Venomous Engineer, Master of Forging, Master of Blades, Shadow Mastery, Master of Precision, Heat Master, Silent Observation, Dark Retribution, Mystic Marksman, Shadow Archery, Rage Unleashed, Battlefield Presence, Ranged Skill, Relentless Assault, Animal Empathy, Captain of the High Seas

Experience: 4599

I decided to check my parameters to make my choices with more caution… every single parameter increased now could decide my fate. Considering the insane ability to regenerate the monster that was only going to increase as it goes deeper into the dungeon, attack speed seemed the best option, but even with that amount I couldn’t do much before, it will become even more useless at the end of the labyrinth.

‘I don’t have to worry about mana thanks to the effects of the bow… mana drain will work until the bow breaks, and I can repair it two more times, restoring half of its durability. Still, even with that much, I can’t imagine myself destroying the monster. I need more than this.’

I needed extra damage… Perhaps burning or poison damage would do the trick. Now and then, I pierce my hands with a bolt and then use a Poison Tipped Bolt to create decay bolts. Still, they will be better used against the core of the beast, which was beyond my reach. Perhaps if the monster could digest a lot of my blood… but that would be a massive gambit since I would get weaker afterwards.

It was hard to imagine that anything that isn’t a vampire would be good against the decay bolts… if they were useful even against them, then I would be able to tell that my mother in this world shouldn’t be a low level vampire. Considering the other wives that Rayner had, I would imagine that he would choose a high class gothic vampire.

‘Well, my image of him is rather skewed.’

After thinking for a while… I couldn’t find any easy solution to that kind of problem. The best solution seemed to be to keep increasing my attack power, both physical and magical, and hope that I would be able to spam arrows that would burn everything within the reach of a corridor. At least a couple of meters… It was feasible, but quite hard to achieve.

Magic Trap Set Lv 09: Lay a hidden magic trap on the ground that snares or damages the first enemy that steps on it. The trap's effectiveness increases with your dexterity.

Cost: 50 mana.

It was almost reaching level ten… should I keep using it for a while in order to get a new skill or should I focus already on my new strategy? I didn’t know the answer yet, but I had to make it as soon as possible.

‘I can’t leave my survival to fate, so I will focus on the new plan.’

Without hesitation, I used the experience points I had to increase my magic and my fire affinity. At the same time, when the monsters arrived, I exploded them with explosive arrows, after enchanting the summoned ones with Arcane Arrow. The skill was already at level twelve, so it wouldn’t grant me a new skill, but at least it would make the explosive arrows stronger. Alongside my magic and fire affinity, perhaps I could reach my goal of exploding the monster like that.

It was going to be a very long process, but I didn’t care… I would exterminate an abyssal monster and gain a shit ton of experience. That was what it matters.

“Things will get pretty hot, Glacien. So, hang in there.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

For a kitten, she sure was understanding. Or at least I wanted to believe that she understood my reasoning. My Arcane Arrows had the power to burn everything in a five meters radius as they were right now. The corridors around were four times larger than that and as we go deeper into the dungeon, they will become even larger.

I still had my scorching bow, but the power barely increased when compared to my new one… it also couldn’t help me recover mana, so it was another reason not to use it.

I didn’t have any more materials for that fire labyrinth, so I couldn’t use the right materials for it, but I was still planning to use the materials of the bosses to make items to increase my fire affinity. Perhaps Ice's affinity with my frozen arrows could freeze the monster, but it would take another attack to deal enough damage to destroy a single area… I didn’t have time for that.

I just had this amazing idea… frost bombs. Filling my magic bags with enough water and then throwing them inside the monster and hitting the magic bags with a frost arrow. It would make the beast get stuck with an ice block inside it. Still, it probably wouldn’t work since the monster had a body big enough to crush it… it didn’t even have a nose necessary to breathe, so it couldn’t suffocate either.

‘Finally, I don’t have time to fill a magic bag with water here. Let’s focus on this plan like there is no other option. If it works and I survive, I will have attained a power level that will make conquering labyrinths a lot easier and even disposing of multiple enemies at the same time.’

It was also the best option for my future… Still, knowing my luck, after this labyrinth, I should vanish from the area, otherwise the enemies will keep coming with no end in sight.

Before long, I came to a stop when I found the entrance to the boss chamber… It was time to face another challenge and get a power up. I wasn’t even thinking of the possibility of losing. My target was a much bigger fish, after all. Still, I sure hoped that I would get the chance to upgrade my magic or fire affinity. I couldn’t help but regret a bit not picking some more magic classes along the way… then again, that was only being missed now and my plans worked until now. I can complain if I die in the end and If I have the chance to do so.