Everything happened so fast that Alexander only had time to use the skill |Magical Body Strengthening| before a fireball hit the body of the goblin, which was still on the tip of the spear.
— BOOM!
The inert body of the goblin, which no longer had the energy to defend itself, exploded; the spear was shattered; and Alexander was thrown back, dazed by the force of the explosion.
After rolling on the ground a few times, he managed to stop and raise his head. And even though dazed, he saw a goblin holding what looked like a branch coming towards him.
Alexander's first reaction was to use |Appraise| on the goblin to understand what had happened. But upon getting the answer, he became completely desperate to get up and react.
[{Little Shaman} Lv. 9]
Even though still a bit dazed, he forced himself to get up and think of a solution. But amid all that mental confusion, the only thing he could think of to get out of this situation were the points he had gained upon leveling up.
Alexander then allocated his free attribute points in a way to recover some HP, some mana, and increase his magical damage. As for his growth point, he used it on the spell |Water Jet|, so he could defend against the fire spell.
[5 points added to Vitality]
[2 points added to Intelligence]
Ding!
[|Water Jet (Beginner)| leveled up to |Water Jet (Intermediate)|]
His gains from allocating his free attribute points were immediate. But as soon as the goblin noticed he was still alive and getting up, it raised its hand in his direction, which began to glow as a red brilliance coalesced.
As soon as Alexander saw this, all his instincts began to scream danger. He then raised his hand and responded by using |Water Jet| at its maximum.
Unexpectedly, |Water Jet| not only extinguished the fire accumulated in the goblin's hand, but also pierced it due to the pressure.
Surprised by the result, Alexander realized that listening to his instincts was the right choice, as he only strengthened the spell |Water Jet| because he felt it would be the most suitable to fight the fire spell. He never expected his spell to become so powerful.
Taking advantage of the fact that the {Little Shaman} was momentarily incapacitated due to its pierced hand, Alexander lunged at it, knocked it down, and killed it by driving the dagger into its throat.
[1 x {Little Shaman} Lv. 9 slain. – You received 175 XP points]
Ding!
[You leveled up. But due to the interference of the special skill |Attribute Control|, all your attribute increases upon leveling up were denied and converted into free attribute points.]
*[+7 free attribute points]*
*[+1 growth point]*
As soon as he killed the {Little Shaman}, he felt his body become weak and heavy due to the drop in adrenaline, but he didn't allow himself to stop.
Dragging himself to a corner that was in the opposite direction of the winding corridor from where the fireball had been launched, Alexander began to use |Invigorate|. He lost track of how much time passed healing and resting, but only got back up after he was completely recovered.
Back at his peak, Alexander decided to strengthen |Water Jet| even more and allocate his free attribute points into strength, intelligence, and vitality, as he believed a bit more HP would never be too much.
Ding!
[|Water Jet (Intermediate)| leveled up to |Water Jet (Advanced)|]
[3 points added to Strength]
[3 points added to Intelligence]
[1 point added to Vitality]
Once fully ready, Alexander walked carefully in the direction of the winding corridor from which the {Little Shaman} had emerged, but it was just a small space with a double door at the end.
"If I'm not mistaken, the BOSS must be behind those doors, right?"
"Considering there was a {Little Shaman} Lv. 9 here, the BOSS must be even more powerful," he analyzed. "Better not face it... at least not now."
With his decision made, Alexander began to ponder which cave he should go to next. And after much consideration, he decided to go to the slime cave, since, as written in the description of that race, they had a weakness against magical attacks.
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While making his way out of the dungeon, he passed by where the {Little Shaman} had died and found the branch it had been holding. "A drop?!"
Not sensing any danger coming from it, Alexander picked up the branch and fastened it where his spear, which had been broken, used to be.
Upon leaving the goblin dungeon, he was as alert as possible, as the smell of blood could have attracted/alerted other monsters, but everything was very calm, and that made him suspicious.
In fact, Alexander killed the 2 orcs so their companions would become even more ostentatious, but that ended up working almost too well.
Since the silence outside was almost suffocating, and it was already dark, he decided to sleep in the first area of the goblin dungeon, where, just as a precaution, the dungeon's absorption speed was slower.
While not sleeping, Alexander appraised the improvements to his spells and the {Little Shaman}'s drop.
*[|Minor Lightning (Intermediate)|: Channel and fire a small lightning bolt from your hand, or you can continue channeling electricity to fire a bolt stronger than the initial one. Cost: (3-4) mana and (1) MP.]*
[|Water Jet (Advanced)|: Fires a large water jet. The greater the volume, the lower the pressure, and vice versa. Cost: (3) mana and (1) MP.]
[Wooden Staff from the Mana Tree: A simple staff, but made from wood rich in natural mana due to its origin from a natural wonder. While holding/wielding it, any basic spell will be strengthened.]
If he were still the same person from Earth, he wouldn't be able to contain the urge to let out a long whistle. "As the saying goes: I struck gold. This drop is simply too good."
Happy with his gain, Alexander had a meal of meat with water, spread some rabbit hides on the ground, and lay down thinking about his future.
The next morning, he woke up more energetic than ever. Not because he finally slept well, but because it was the first night he managed to complete a full sleep cycle.
Since the day he arrived in this place, Alexander had gotten used to waking up with the first rays of sun out of fear. But since it's very difficult to feel external changes when inside a cave/dungeon, he managed to sleep a bit longer.
Invigorated, Alexander attended to his basic needs; had the best breakfast that water and dried meat could provide; and went to the slime cave, camouflaging himself among the vegetation.
Along the way, he even saw small orcs (Young) patrolling, but decided not to interact with them this time.
As soon as he entered the slime cave/dungeon, Alexander received almost the same messages and missions as when he entered the goblin cave/dungeon, but these were aimed at the slime dungeon.
[You entered a dungeon]
[You have a new mission]
Slime Dungeon (Beginner Dungeon – Small)
Mission Type: Dungeon Conquest.
Mission Description: Defeat the BOSS of the Slime Dungeon. Time limit: 5 days.
Rewards: (1000 XP points), (1 growth point) and (1 free attribute point)
Extra Task: Kill all monsters in the dungeon.
Reward for the extra task: (75 XP points for each monster slain)
Looking carefully around, Alexander noticed that the design and structure of this dungeon were similar to the previous dungeon, but, strangely, he didn't find any slimes near the dungeon entrance.
Venturing a bit deeper, he soon found some slimes and pulled out the {Little Shaman}'s staff. "Let me see how good this staff is."
After testing and confirming he didn't need to worry about being hit by the energy of the spell |Minor Lightning|, Alexander massacred all the slimes in the dungeon using the same tactic he had used in the goblin dungeon. But this time it was even easier, as his spells were stronger and slimes were naturally vulnerable to magical attacks.
Thus, Alexander just had to continue in a cycle of killing slimes and resting until they were all dead and he reached the doors guarding the entrance to where the BOSS was.
[4 x {Slime} Lv. 1 slain. – You received 100 XP points]
[5 x {Slime} Lv. 2 slain. – You received 150 XP points]
[2 x {Slime} Lv. 3 slain. – You received 80 XP points]
[3 x {Slime} Lv. 4 Slain. – You received 150 XP points]
[2 x {Slime} Lv. 5 slain. – You received 120 XP points]
[3 x {Slime} Lv. 6 slain. – You received 225 XP points]
[2 x {Slime} Lv. 7 slain. – You received 180 XP points]
[1 x {Slime} Lv. 8 slain. – You received 110 XP points]
[1 x {Slime} Lv. 9 slain. – You received 140 XP points]
Ding!
[You leveled up. But due to the interference of the special skill |Attribute Control|, all your attribute increases upon leveling up were denied and converted into free attribute points.]
*[+7 free attribute points]*
*[+1 growth point]*
"Despite being similar in size, the goblin dungeon had more monsters than this one," he noted. "Could the fact that goblins live in larger communities than slimes, as that survey said, have something to do with it?"
These and other doubts blossomed in Alexander's head, but since he had no way to answer them, he just set them aside and focused on the present.
Upon returning to the dungeon entrance, he realized it was already starting to get dark and decided to camp right there, as it was cleaner and without slime goo.
After placing some rabbit hides on the ground and sitting down to have a meal and drink some water, Alexander began to think once more about what to do next.
After much pondering, he decided to save the points he gained upon leveling up to use in an emergency, like the one that happened in the goblin dungeon, as he didn't know what he would do if he didn't have those points.
Alexander then spread out a few more rabbit hides and lay down, but since sleep didn't come easily, he spent some time looking at his status until he dozed off.
『 Status 』
Name: Alexander Ocean ♂
Race: Human
Age: 14
*Level: 9/10 (20 XP / 3000 XP)*
Class: Water Mage (Apprentice)
Talent: Evolutionary Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis Species: Goblin
Condition: Good
*HP: 42/42*
*Mana: 16/50*
*Stamina: 11/21*
*MP: 30/55*
Attributes:
Vitality: 21
Strength: 15
Agility: 10
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 25
*Charisma: -05*
Luck: 01
Free Attribute Points: 07
Equipment:
[Sturdy Iron Dagger] … [Wooden Staff from the Mana Tree]
Equipment Skill(s):
Proficiency Skill(s):
|Throw (Beginner)| … |Run (Beginner)| … |Mana Control (Intermediate)| … |Ambush (Intermediate)| … |Disassemble (Intermediate)| … |Magical Body Strengthening (Beginner)|
Scalable:
Passives:
Actives:
Spells: |Invigorate (Beginner)| … |Minor Lightning (Intermediate)| … |Water Jet (Advanced)|
Combat Techniques:
Growth Points: 1
Special:
Passives: |Attribute Control| … |Calm Mind| … |World Language|
Actives:
Proficiency: |Appraise (Intermediate)|
Enhancements:
Titles:
