With nothing left to do in that godforsaken floor, the Trickster headed back to the exit which led to the upper floors, then he climbed the stairs after final one glance at the bloody and dark hallway.

He didn't remain here for too long, but it was a good beginning. The only issue was the lack of strong monsters. There were only weaklings, which ranged from the stupid soldiers to the stupider goblins.

As he climbed to the upper floors, the man noticed a lot of blood traces all over the stairs.

'How come there's blood? Did some people escape before that Darkness Beast arrive? Ah! That woman, I guess.'

The Trickster carefully inspected the blood and discovered that it was rather fresh. He could guess whose blood it was after pondering for a bit. There was only one missing person who might have escaped this floor. It was the scarred woman, whom he had briefly met and decided to spare.

She was heavily sedated and on the brink of death, and although he had 'helped her' by getting rid of both the monsters and the soldiers, he didn't think she would escape this fast. Nevertheless, having such a strong-willed person leave from this hellhole made him rather excited about their next encounter, which was bound to be chaotic and full of thrill.

He was almost certain that she would give him a pleasant surprise next time.

Very soon, he arrived on the upper floor. Its state was even worse and the entrance was completely blocked. The Trickster did want to leave this underground facility, but he wasn't particularly in a rush. There were several floors left to explore and potentially strong monsters to be slain.

Amongst the fights he had been through so far, he only enjoyed the one against the Hobgoblin. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to properly kill it and had to resort to trickery... then again, it was a bit fitting since he was the Trickster. Still, he wanted to fight such a powerful monster again and engage in a brutal brawl.

As he continued climbing the stairs, the man noticed a few strange spots which seemed to be frozen.

'Ice? In this place? The temperature is rather high so it has got to be either a monster or someone special like the Commander.'

A huge grin plastered itself on his unusually pale skin. He climbed the rest of the stairs until he arrived at the next floor. Fortunately, it wasn't blocked, so, with a dagger in his hand, he soundlessly stepped inside.

The place was as eerie as any other and it lacked any signs of blood, contrasting the condition of the stairs. There was a lot of rubble and debris, however, the total absence of any blood made it seem quite strange.

'Curiouser and curiouser...'

Rather than recklessly advancing, he studied the area without missing a single inch. He remained quiet and tried to listen to any strange sounds but he heard naught but the deafening silence.

'Did no monsters appear on this floor? Maybe… maybe not. Either there are no monsters or there's a strong predator that chased all the rest. Let's investigate for now.'

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

With a slow and steady pace, the man walked forward. There was enough illumination to see the hallway but there was a sense of foreboding swelling inside of him.

'This sensation is disgusting. It's like being in the sewers except there's no awful smell.'

He spat on the ground as his heartbeat was accelerating. This foreign and uncomfortable feeling wasn't something he welcomed. It wasn't fear but something else, something different and ominous.

The Trickster put down his knife and retrieved his loaded rifle, raised it to the front and readied himself. His pace greatly decreased but he felt safer like this.

Ten or so minutes later, he arrived at an intersection, just like the one on the floor he had been in in the beginning. There was an unscathed vending machine, a sofa and a couple of chairs.

'Ah! Fuck it.'

Without a care in the world, he put down his gun down and used some of his past experience to build traps that would alert him if someone or something approached this place.

When everything was set, he laid on the sofa and closed his eyes, falling asleep thereafter. Whatever was on this floor, it wasn't a monster, or so he liked to assume.

The man had a few guesses but he needed to confirm them with his own eyes. It just so happened that this floor was utterly devoid of corpses and any 'dangerous' and tangible signs of battle. The uncomfortable sensation notwithstanding, he used this opportunity to rest and mentally recover. After all, he had not been able to get some sleep ever since he had woken up.

Only a few hours later did he wake up, energetic and in a good mood. The 'thing' he was feeling earlier was gone, which made him grin from ear to the other. He gulped a whole water bottle and ate a few protein bars to quench his thirst and hunger.

As he sat on the sofa and looked around in boredom, the Trickster lit up a cigarette and started thinking about all that happened.

'I remember an earthquake… but the timing was almost perfect. I blacked out right after and woke up to find the place filled with corpses and monsters. Goblins and Hobgoblins and…'

He retrieved the black card which showed his status and examined it

'And this 'Card System. Apparently, it was different from what the soldiers got. They also levelled up quite fast, which means they had to kill only a couple of monsters to level up. As for me, I killed a whole bunch yet I'm still Lv1. Skills are earned or unlocked by performing some unknown but predictable pre-requisites. There are ones that are easily obtained if you've got previous experience in them. But do I get a skill for every action I do or is it specific?'

He got up and started doing push-ups. His physique was enhanced so he was able to complete a hundred push-ups in no time.

Just as he suspected, a red card appeared in front of his eye.

*[Push-Ups] Lv1 acquired! +0.1 Card Points.

*[Push-ups]: Push-ups will consume less Stamina.*

*[Trickster Auxiliary]: Complete 1,000 Push-ups in one hour : +0.5 Card Points.*

The man smiled, pleased with the result. He then switched to squats and then sit-ups.

*[Squats] Lv1 Acquired! +0.09 Card Points.*

*[Trickster Auxiliary]: Complete 500 Squats in one hour : +0.3 Card Points.*

*[Sit-ups] Lv1 Acquired! +0.1 Card Points.*

*[Trickster Auxiliary]: Complete 1,000 Sit-ups in one hour : +0.4 Card Points.*

As he was in no rush whatsoever, Wolfram spent the next four hours completing these tasks. He had to rest for half an hour as doing a thousand push-ups was exhausting despite his strong physique. Nevertheless, he was able to finish them and eventually bountiful rewards.

In total, he obtained 1.49 Card Points, a big amount which could greatly increase one of his stats. For now, the Trickster didn't use them but stored them and experimented a bit more, wanting to acquire more skills.

Unfortunately, these seemed the only exercise-related skills he could get for now. Simple actions such as breathing or walking obviously were pointless.

Due to the low ceiling, he couldn't attempt jumping but there were many feasible alternatives.

In the end, he only obtained one more skill and also levelled up [Run].

His new skill was called [Training], which was like a whole category that had the three newly-acquired skills. Unlike the others, it didn't give him any CP, it functioned more like a Skill Tree.