Jacob's eyes sparkled as he finished killing the third Merciless Minotaur. On the ground he saw that a pair of earrings was left behind when the dead Minotaur turned into a stream of particles.
[Experience gained: 12]
[Bonus experience gained: 6]
With extreme speed, Jacob attacked and killed the last Minotaur, and in its place 4 silver coins were dropped. Jacob took the silver coins,a total of 6 coins, as well as a single gold coin, then took the pair of earrings and evaluated them.
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[Pair of Earrings made from a Grim Wolf's Tooth (Low Quality)]
Intelligence +2
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Unfortunately, they were of low quality, however, Jacob still felt lucky, as accessories were rarer to come by. Equipping the pair of earrings, not caring if they would look good on him or not, Jacob opened his status.
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Name: Achilles
Title: First Player
Class: N/A
Level 9 – Exp (2,381/2,560)
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Strength: 30 (+8)
Intelligence: 31 (+3)
Endurance: 32 (+4)
Attack: 152
Agility: 38
Magic: 136
Resistance: 34
Health: 720 (+10)
Defense: 36
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'I still have a long way to go before I can level up...' Jacob thought. But taking into account the strides he already had made, by Floor 10, he would have already risen to Level 10 as well.
Jacob glanced at the portal and entered. In the next instant, he was on the seventh floor. The monsters were the same Minotaurs as before; they even held the same spiked clubs.
[Cold Breath]
[- 151]
[- 148]
4x [Experience gained: 12]
4x [Bonus experience: gained 6]
At the same time that the Merciless Minotaurs froze, Jacob attacked without giving them a chance to unfreeze. His attacks were fast and heavy, dealing great damage to the four, killing them all in a split second.
"What?"
Jacob found it hard to believe what he was seeing. The instant the four Merciless Minotaur turned into particles, 8 silver coins, a skill book, and a ring were dropped...
'Since when am I so lucky?' Jacob mused to himself.
Picking up the skill book first, he assessed it.
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Skill: <
[<
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Without thinking twice, Jacob learned this passive skill and it automatically increased his defense by 7.2.
After that, Jacob took the ring in his hand and appraised it.
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[Ring made from the horn of the Merciless Minotaur (Low Quality)]
Strength +1
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Jacob wore the ring without much deliberation. The skill itself already made him very happy, and one point of strength was good too.
Jacob went through the portal. On the eighth floor, the Minotaurs were at level 13. They were a bit stronger than the previous Minotaurs. In addition, they all held two clubs, one in each hand.
Jacob knew he had to be even more careful, as these Minotaurs' damage was greatly increased by being equipped with two clubs. Despite that, Jacob wasn't too worried. His increased status gave him some confidence.
Moving towards the Minotaurs, Jacob dodged their attacks.
[Cold Breath]
At the same time as he dodged, Jacob used icy breath, and seeing that one of the four wasn't frozen, he concentrated on attacking it.
[- 141]
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
[- 145]
[Experience gained: 13]
[Bonus experience gained: 6.5]
Without looking at what was about to appear, Jacob attacked the frozen Minotaur to the side.
[- 148]
[- 147]
[Experience gained: 13]
[Bonus experience gained: 6.5]
[<
[Moonwalker]
After retreating, Jacob continued retreating upon realizing that the Minotaurs were unfrozen.
'Okay, I managed to level up...' Meanwhile, he saw that out of the two Angry Minotaurs he had killed, only 10 silver coins were dropped.
Feeling the ground vibrate as the two Angry Minotaurs ran towards him, Jacob braced himself.
[- 155]
[- 151]
2x [Experience gained 13]
2x [Bonus experience gained: 6.5]
Jacob froze the two Minotaurs again and attacked with speed and precision. Soon, the pair of Minotaurs dropped a total of 1 gold and 5 silver coins.
Grabbing everything, Jacob prepared to go to the next floor.
'After killing these four Minotaurs, I'll face the boss on the tenth floor...'
The boss on the tenth floor was a Minotaur almost twice the size of these Minotaurs. Apart from being level 22, they were each using a two-handed 300-kilogram sledgehammer to attack.
-
-
After going through the 4 Furious Minotaurs, Jacob only got 13 silver coins and 1 gold. No items or skills this time, unfortunately.
[Congratulations, a unique quest has been triggered: (Labyrinth Pioneer). Would you like to accept it?]
Even without knowing how good this mission was, Jacob accepted.
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[Unique Quest: Labyrinth Pioneer]
Quest Objective: Be the First to kill the Boss of the 10th Floor of the Labyrinth.
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Rewards:
5,000 Experience
Labyrinth Armor (High Quality)
Brass Knuckles (Low Quality)
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"..."
It was a very good amount of Exp, enough for him to advance to the next level, while the armor must have been much better than what he was wearing, besides he didn't have any weapons at the moment. Even if it's a low quality one, it was better than not having one...
'Damn! No wonder the players who were the Pioneers always had advantages!'
Jacob has even begun to fear that someone was somehow already in the Labyrinth and was close to killing the boss. Jacob closed the mission window, bracing himself, and he entered stealth mode.
-
-
Knowing that it was no use trying to freeze the boss, Jacob went into stealth mode and moved like a chameleon, attacking when he got close enough but not enough to be noticed.
[- 141]
[- 145]
[- 143]
[Moonwalker]
Stepping back, Jacob saw a big 300 kg sledgehammer slam towards the ground where he had been before.
*Bang!*
A heavy sound echoed as the ground shook.
Jacob sighed heavily. Even he wouldn't have come out unscathed if he had gotten hit.
At the same time he retreated, Jacob used [Encourage]. In the next instant his stat increased by 10%. He moved faster than before when he had reached the boss who was lifting the big and heavy sledgehammer.
[- 147]
[- 152]
[- 155]
[Moonwalker]
Backing away again, Jacob took some distance and realized that the boss's life was very low now. It was the same situation as before, with the boss swinging the big sledgehammer where he was before, but when the minotaur realized that he had missed the target, he roared furiously, giving himself a 100% attack increase.
Jacob saw that the Furious Minotaur was running towards him, but with no way to enter stealth mode, he kept backing up until he was against the wall. However, he didn't panic. Everything was under control since the moment he was against the wall.
The boss attacked but missed the target.
*Bang!*
The sledgehammer hit the wall just as Jacob dodged and managed to get to the other side, thus cornering the boss. With quick attacks, Jacob landed punches and kicks on the boss four times.
[- 154]
[- 158]
[- 147]
[- 141]
[Experience gained: 44]
[Bonus experience gained: 22]
Once the boss was turned into particles and left some sort of artifact behind, the mission end message appeared.
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< Pioneer of the Labyrinth (Completed)>
Congratulations, you have obtained the following rewards: 5,000 Experience – Labyrinth Armor (High Quality) – Brass Knuckles (Low Quality)]
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[<
A smile formed on Jacob's lips. Eagerly, Jacob picked up the armor and appraised it.
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[Labyrinth Armor (High Quality)]
Life +550
Defense +40
Stamina +35
[Additional stats available if more parts from the Labyrinth set were equipped]
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'Good, very good!'
As one would expect from high-grade armor, although it didn't have a level, it was the best he could get for now.
Afterward, he rated the Brass Knuckles. It was simple and golden.
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[Brass Knuckles (Low Grade Quality)]
Attack +50
Agility +10
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'Pretty good for now...' Jacob smiled as he put on the Brass Knuckles. Afterward, he took off his vest, stored it in his inventory, and wore the armor.
His status had undergone major changes. "Oh yes, there is also that."
Jacob walked over and took the fist-sized emerald-colored artifact in his hand and considered it.
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[Random Common Bloodline] – A power that conceals the power to awaken a Common Bloodline. Depending on who uses it, it may randomly awaken a common bloodline.
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"Wow, it's my first time getting something like this..." Although it was only a common bloodline, he still thought he was lucky, however, Jacob didn't intend to use it.
Common bloodlines we're even inferior to the bloodline of that cannibal bastard he had recently killed, as he was a rare bloodline.
But that doesn't mean it wasn't not useful...
It was then that Jacob thought of Aurora and Yuki. The two little monkeys were in his Contract Space. He didn't bring them to the Labyrinth because of the level difference, but if it was to awaken a common bloodline, it might be a good idea to give it to one of his pets. Jacob thought it was a good idea, and as Aurora was the first to be tamed, Jacob summoned her.
The instant Aurora appeared, she was eating an apple. Although initially confused, when she saw Jacob, she was instantly happy and went to him, climbing his body until she reached his shoulder.
*whistle~*
"Here, let's switch. Eat this." Jacob gave Aurora the artifact that would awaken a bloodline.
Aurora hissed but didn't think long before taking it and swallowing. In the next instant, Aurora blinked, forcing Jacob to close his eyes against the bright light.
In the next instant, a message appeared before Jacob.
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[Congratulations, your pet [Aurora] has awakened the bloodline (Metamorphosis – Common) – Aurora received 5 points in all attributes permanently]
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Jacob opened his eyes and saw that message on his retina. By clicking on Aurora's name, he was able to see her status.
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Name: Aurora
Race: White-faced Capuchin Monkey
Level 1
Bloodline: Metamorphosis
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Strength: 7
Intelligence: 6
Physical: 9
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As expected, even if it was a common bloodline, it was still very useful. Aurora had effectively gained 5 levels at once. Plus if the bloodline was used well, Aurora would eventually have endless possibilities.
Smiling, Jacob closed the status screen and went over to the chest.
[Congratulations, you've obtained 100,000 gold from the Labyrinth chest!]
"Holy crap!" Jacob swore loudly until he scared Aurora, who promptly turned into a white crow.
Jacob didn't even have time to process that Aurora had transformed into a different form, but it was impossible for him not to be in disbelief when he saw what was before his eyes. Without Jacob realizing it, Aurora had already returned to her normal form, making strange noises of shock, as she was startled by Jacob's scream when she had turned into a bird...
It took a few minutes for Jacob to calm down...
Managing to calm down, he moved on to the next floor after saving all 100,000 gold coins.
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It didn't take long for the set of messages to show up globally as well.
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[Congratulations to the player [Achilles] for being the first Player to clear Floor 10 of the Labyrinth. This achievement is engraved for all eternity on the Labyrinth leaderboards!]
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Edited by: Azurtha