Noah flung himself at the cave’s wall to dodge the blade. But with a flick of its head, the fish’s blade sliced into his fleshy chest. Hot liquid trickled down his body, but he ignored it, and threw his mace over to Krall.

Spear in hand, Noah stabbed the thrashing monster to keep his distance. Spear tasting scales, it only made the monsters thrashing even more intense.

Feeling the battle becoming more exciting, Krall let out a bestial roar that was distinctly different to the ones previous. They were still draconic, but now it had an earthy tone to it. It was deep and guttural, like rocks grinding together.

He stomped forward on all fours. Approaching like a bull, the fish aimed its sword at his head, but at the last second, he stuttered his step. Faking out the monster, Krall slammed his enormous hands down onto the beast's head.

It flopped, each tail slap enough to crush rock, but Krall had pinned it to the floor. No amount of struggling could free it from Krall’s grasp.

Taking a relieved breath, Noah said, “Good boy. God damn, fishing is a dangerous hobby–ain’t it?” Approaching the fish with his spear firm in his grasp, he couldn’t help but lament. Who the hell said fishing was ever peaceful

Oh right, that’s for Earth. Noah shook his head.

He had no way of expecting what would come out of the water. And because he was forced to have both hands on the fishing rod made it even more dangerous. Well, thankfully he had Krall with him to tank the hit for him. Or else he would be a human kebab right about now.

Noah plunged the spear into the beast's head. The thrashing stopped.

Congratulations, you caught a Rare Grade Fish!

| Extra experience is rewarded for catching a fish above your current Fishing Level.

You defeated a - Level 25 Leaping Sword-fish

Your Fishing Profession has Levelled up!| Fishing Level 11 -> Fishing Level 14

Then, for the first time in a while, a sizzle emerged from the air in front of him. His brows rose in excitement. If it was forming in front of him, then that was from an action he had done. If it emerged from above the fish, then that meant it was a Skill Essence, or Pathstone from the fish. Just like how he had obtained [Shadowed Presence]

The air turned a verdant green. As the sizzling settled, it was a Skill Essence with a picture of a hand grabbing a fish with its mouth open wide. He grabbed it.

You have obtained the Uncommon Fishing Skill Essence - Fatal Attraction: You have a magic touch that fish love. Every bait you throw will attract more fish to your spot. With the fish that take the bait, you will receive a small boost in damage against them.

Noah thought about it for a second before realising there wasn’t much reason to refuse it. It was just a guess, but if he was able to evolve then it would grant him higher chances of attracting fish of a rarer quality. Obviously that was just speculation, but just the thought of it made him learn it.

You have gained the Uncommon Fishing Skill Essence - Fatal Attraction.

Nice. Noah decided not to think about the Skills he may or may not receive in the future. It was relying too much on chance, so he was better to accept the ones he received in the present. As long as they weren’t trash, that was.

Krall gazed at him as he stood over the Rare fish. His large eyes were like jewels that seemed to grow larger by the second. Was his kobold mole tank hybrid thing giving him puppy dog eyes?

Noah chuckled, then nodded with affirmation.

His companion wasted no time as he stuck right into the fish. Devouring it in seconds with his newly evolved mouth. Krall’s teeth were like sharpened bolts. With every chomp, he crunched through the bones like they were frail twigs.

Your tamed monster has consumed the Leaping Sword-fish .| Strength is increased by 10 for 24 hours.| [Monster’s Delight] has activated!| Granting buff based on the Snapping Cobbler.| Damage done with natural weapons is increased by 15%

Noah guessed natural weapons were things like teeth, arms, and claws. So essentially it was just a fifteen percent increase on all his damage.

He spent the rest of his time fishing with the other bait he had received from Krall, but in the end, he didn’t catch another big one like the sword-fish. The rest were just Uncommon. But he did receive two extra fishing Levels, and received more food to feed his insatiable companion to boot.

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All in all, his time in the dungeon proved fruitful. With how his eyes were currently drooping, a full day must have passed by now, and if it hadn’t, then it was damn close. It was time to leave.

Collecting his dropped back and securing all his supplies, he walked into the main room of the cave, then stopped. Where the hell was the way out?

He looked from tunnel-to-tunnel before scratching his head. He was baffled. Even if he entered the correct tunnel, there was no way he would manage to traverse the intricate tunnel system.

His vision turned from the tunnels, to the platforms up above. The stairs lined the cave and headed all the way up into the darkness.

Well, it’s better than nothing. Noah shook his head and began his climb. Surely if it was man-made, there would be an equal man-made exit. He hoped.

It was a long climb, and a scary one. But he reached the blessing of hard land that led into a wide cut out tunnel.

It was easy for him considering he wasn’t a monster that stood at around nine or ten feet standing on its hind legs. Noah gave a wary glance as Krall scooted forward on his tip-toes–he was going far too slow. The wooden planks of wood creaked in protest under his weight.

Krall looked at him. Worry was clearly visible within his lizard-like eyes.

“There’s nothing to worry about, if the floor was going to crack, it would have done so already.” Noah said, then jumped up, then landed down, striking the wooden planks.

Krall recoiled backwards. His eyes widened, then glared at him.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Noah smirked at Krall's trembling eyes. The revelation made him jump again.

It made Noah want to test something. If he did something his companion didn’t like, would he have a negative reaction to him? Would he sulk… or would he betray him if he got really angry? It was something Noah was hesitant to test. No one liked to be tested, but Noah had to.

There was so much about taming that he had to learn.

The thudding caused Krall to get down onto his belly and crawl forward. He slowly inched his way forward, and at the sight of hard land, he clawed the ground with fervour, and finally reached land. Krall practically kissed the earth. He looked up at Noah. His face was serious.

Despite Noah scaring him, Krall had the same smile on his face now that he was off the platform.

Guilt formed. It was difficult not to after inspecting Krall’s eyes, and his happy expression. He was truly like a dog. It was like Noah could do no wrong. He trusted him with every fibre in his being.

Noah wasn’t sure what the reason could be to have gained his trust so deeply. Was it because Noah fought by his side when the others had abandoned him? But that didn’t make sense considering the first moment they met, Noah beat him bloody, and senseless into submission.

He was certain there must be some hatred deep down. But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Noah patted Krall on the shoulder then took the lead into the large tunnel. Thankfully these ones were more professionally made by people who actually knew what they were doing. Carved wooden beams made from hardened jungle trees line the tunnel in accurate intervals.

Although he wasn’t a prospector, he could admire the work that was put into the mine. What they were mining for however, he had no idea. He didn’t find any metallic ore or precious stones, even the mined wall looked normal to him. Which led him to believe that the mine was entirely left bereft of any remaining materials long ago.

Once they had reached the top of the platforms, it didn’t take long for them to spot a shining light up ahead.

Approaching closer, the entrance was mostly covered in a thick rockfall that stopped any attempt at leaving. But he now had a tamed excavator.

Noah stood to the side as Krall got to work blasting the rock and gravel back with his enormous hands. It took him only a few minutes to completely clear away all the rocks from falling. It would have been quicker if he hadn’t had to stop the ceiling from continuing to fall.

It seemed Krall had also gained some mole trade secrets to stop their tunnels from closing in on them.

Supported by old-new beams, and rocks jammed into the fault points within the ceiling, they emerged from the entrance of the mine. It was covered in dense foliage. Mostly vines and thorny bushes, but if a mountain of rock didn’t pose a problem to Krall, some spiky leaves definitely couldn’t.

With Krall acting as a guard from the blood-seeking jungle foliage, they broke out onto the other side.

They were on a side of a hill that sloped down into a small plain area filled with long grass. In the distance was a pillar of shining blue that reached into the heavens.

Noah took in a deep breath of the nice, clean… humid jungle. Noah clicked his tongue. It should have felt great re-emerging from the earth after so long, but truth be told, it was more enjoyable down in the dark. Away from the sun.

He mustered up the courage to hike through the jungle once more, then set off into the distance.

Just as he was slowly getting used to the jungle once more, a small, skinny green man leapt at him with a toothy snarl, and a screeching shout accompanying it.

Krall grunted, and backhanded the green humanoid, smashing him into the dirt ground with a crunch.

Level 18 - Jungle Goblin

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Noah said to the still goblin. “My companion is rather heavy handed. Hello?” He realised the goblin wasn’t responding.

“One hit was all it took huh?” Sighing, the rustling of jungle leaves all around him caused his blood to boil.

Another fight. The jungle was a place with monsters all over. Noah reminded himself, then readied his spear.