-Vol 5: A New Life-

-Fall of a 100 years old family(8.2)-

Walking on a warpath, Kenshin entered the thickest part of the marsh while laying corpses of monsters in his wake. There were corpses of Slithering Lizards, that ostrich lookalike, and the newest addition, a frog variant that looks like it was suffering from tumors. This frog was especially annoying to deal with, not only it looks ugly to the eye, but it’s also smelly. By any chance, if it's touched directly or indirectly, it would emit a strange odor that could even make a healthy person go bald in an instant.

There was also a slimy coating above the frog’s bumpy skin that help it to shrug off most of the physical damage. That slimy substance was ten times more smelly than the gas it produced when touched. The whole marsh was filled with this kind of smelly and ugly creatures, influenced by this gloomy atmosphere, even the creatures here were depressing to watch.

To such a frog that’s even weaker than those fishes, he only took a stone and smashed it to death, unwilling to touch it with his hands. Thank god these frogs were not that many, or else he would have ended this trip then and there. The marsh was a weird place, and it wasn’t like a dungeon where the higher one goes, the more powerful they become. Here, the monstery didn’t become strong, but their numbers increased dramatically.

Thanks to all these monster hoards, Kenshin was gradually getting used to his elevated strength and speed. Although these monsters were weak, their numbers and usage of surroundings made them a worthy training material for him. their disgusting bodies as well as repulsive skills, made Kenshin’s dodging ability soar to new heights. Although his overall level didn’t increase, Kenshin felt now he packed more punch in his fists than before, despite having the same stats both time.

If before Kenshin could only crack a wall while punching it, now he could puncture a hole in it, despite having same strength the whole time.

“I am getting there!” he mused while looking at his bare fist coated in dirty blood of the monsters he had just killed. Until now he had yet to see a level 40 monster, but the masses of lower level monster might be the reason why the fatality rate of this dungeon was so high. Not everyone could handle that many monsters at the same time, and not many hunters would come back after increasing their strengths to deal with these monsters.

Others didn’t have a system to instantly increase a large amount of force, they have to do it step by step. As such they don’t need the irritating process Kenshin as now going through to get used to their full strength. Right now, if an average hunter of equal stats as Kenshin has to fight with him without using their respective skills, Kenshin would no doubt lose. That’s because unlike those average hunters who climb the strength ladder step by step, Kenshin was like taking an elevator to the top. Not only he couldn’t exert his hundred per-cent, but also he couldn’t use the dynamic movements that comes from mastering one’s strength.

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And he realized this problem after his near brush in, and embarrassingly at that, with death. Had he not fought with that man that day, he wouldn’t have noticed this flaw of him which would have cost him hugely at a later date. He might have even lost his life due to this negligence in his part.

But he also realized that he had just grown too strong to gain anything else in these low leveled dungeons. Right now, his level was above eighty, and his stats were that of a level hundred and fifty, especially his ATK. With this type of strength, it was impossible for him to gain anything in these low-level dungeons. His only hope was these dungeon bosses that were claimed to be undefeatable. Because in most of the cases, the bosses were very different from the average monsters. They have a stat that didn’t match the dungeon they were in, skills that could make someone at a higher level to cry blood and endurance that could take forever to kill.

Often a boss raid was a battle of attrition, with humans taking turns to tire it out and ultimately kill it. Even that takes more than ten hours to finish. Kenshin was hopeful that he would encounter such a monster and force his physical stats to another level, or, at least get used to it. Though it's all a wishful thinking if he does not encounter one, the whole trip would be for naught if that happens.

There was another thing in this marsh that was even more famous than the delicacy fish. It’s a type of pearl called Blood Tear. It's red, like a ruby, and would often shine a gorgeous shade of red under the moonlight. Those rubies, except for glittering beautifully, had another use. It can store magic. That’s right these rubies can store magic and can be used as trinkets. Most magic skill users would often use it to craft a ring or some other jewelry and would store their magic into it.

It’s only a one-time use type equipment, used as grenades in high-level dungeons or by those with money. The market price of this pearl was around 50G, not something a low leveled hunters could use at their discretion.

He heard that this pearl was usually a drop from those level 40 monsters and the rate was so low that even killing a hundred monsters wouldn't get you one. Kenshin was looking forward to the drops of these stones, not only to sell them but also to keep a few for himself. He wanted to store a few of his exploding skills in it and gave them to Yuki. She was the one who needs them the most.

But he still couldn’t see head or tail of a level 40 monster. Forget level 40; he couldn’t even see a monster beyond level 35.

“What’s happening here?” he frowned while inspecting his surrounding. The monsters couldn’t possible went into a strike, did they? This funny idea suddenly surfaced in his head, chuckling he scrapped the idea instantly.

Then an idea came to his head. His experience until now told him that it wasn’t normal. As a level 4 dungeon, he should have already seen one or two by now, but even while he was closest to the deepest part of the dungeon, he still couldn’t see one.

“Is something happening with the boss? What is this protagonist like scenario?” Kenshin felt irritated. Although he admitted, that being a protagonist wasn’t bad, it was still something he didn’t like to happen to himself. He didn’t want to handle all the trouble the world has to throw at him at its leisure.

He just wanted to be a rich and lazy man, living his everyday life with his family and enough strength to preserve his happiness from peoples’ cruel intentions.