Thoroughly revitalized after sleeping another complete cycle, Alexander ate his meal and headed to the kobold cave. Along the way, he noticed it was still very early, which meant he had also gone to sleep very early the previous day.
Unsurprisingly, the kobold cave also turned out to be a dungeon and there was a mission like the others. The big difference, or rather, the average difference, was that the Kobold Dungeon ended up being a (Beginner Dungeon – Medium), and this directly influenced the rewards and difficulty.
Kobold Dungeon (Beginner Dungeon – Medium)
Mission Type: Dungeon Conquest.
Mission Description: Defeat the BOSS of the Kobold Dungeon. Time limit: 5 days.
Rewards: (2000 XP points), (1 growth point) and (2 free attribute points)
Extra Task: Kill all monsters in the dungeon.
Reward for the extra task: (75 XP points for each monster slain)
When he started fighting to try to clear the dungeon, Alexander realized that that simple difference in tier really made a difference. The fights in this dungeon were harder and longer than in the others, as the kobolds always moved in packs.
Even with the increased difficulty, the 1st floor of the dungeon went relatively well. The problem arose when he reached the lower floor, as the {Kobold} Lv.5, or higher, were very agile and fast.
Their speed was such that he could no longer kill all members of a group in one spell combo, even with the boost provided by the staff, and had to start fighting with the dagger.
As soon as the {Kobold} Lv.6 appeared, Alexander was forced to use the skill |Magical Body Strengthening| just to be able to use his spell combo and dodge.
When a {Kobold} Lv.8 appeared, he could no longer dodge, even with the skill |Magical Body Strengthening|, and began to suffer several scratches and cuts all over his body.
Fortunately for him, the {Kobold} Lv.9 only appeared when all the others were already dead, but still managed to make a horrible cut on his arm before being killed with a |Minor Lightning| point-blank to the head.
[5 x {Kobold} Lv. 1 slain. – You received 150 XP points]
[4 x {Kobold} Lv. 2 slain. – You received 160 XP points]
[3 x {Kobold} Lv. 3 slain. – You received 150 XP points]
[1 x {Kobold} Lv. 4 slain. – You received 60 XP points]
[2 x {Kobold} Lv. 5 slain. – You received 150 XP points]
[1 x {Kobold} Lv. 6 slain. – You received 90 XP points]
[2 x {Kobold} Lv. 7 slain. – You received 220 XP points]
[1 x {Kobold} Lv. 8 slain. – You received 140 XP points]
[1 x {Kobold} Lv. 9 slain. – You received 175 XP points]
When he slew the {Kobold} Lv.9, Alexander was literally with his back against the wall. So, upon confirming there were no more enemies, he slid down the wall, half-paralyzed due to the electricity, and began to heal himself using |Invigorate|, like a solitary dog licking its own wounds.
"It might be better to stop," he thought, too tired to even verbalize his thoughts while healing. "This dungeon had even fewer monsters than the previous one, and I still ended up in this state."
After healing from the cuts, he went to rest, as he had used almost everything he had from HP to MP.
After resting well and returning to the dungeon entrance, Alexander discovered it had already gotten dark again. "It would be easier, and safer, to give up on clearing these dungeons for now and just wait for the survival mission to finish. The problem is I don't know what's out there."
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Not maximizing my opportunities to get stronger could demand its price in the future," he analyzed.
Not wanting to prolong this any further, giving himself time to change his mind, Alexander did what he had to do, ate a "fortified" meal, and went to the orc cave, ambushing all those who were patrolling.
[1 x {Orc (Young)} Lv. 1 slain. – You received 40 XP points]
[1 x {Orc (Young)} Lv. 2 slain. – You received 50 XP points]
[1 x {Orc (Young)} Lv. 3 slain. – You received 60 XP points]
[1 x {Orc (Young)} Lv. 4 slain. – You received 75 XP points]
Exactly as expected, the orc cave was also a dungeon and there was a new mission. But this time the difficulty tier was even higher, as it was a (Beginner Dungeon – Large).
Orc Dungeon (Beginner Dungeon – Large)
Mission Type: Dungeon Conquest.
Mission Description: Defeat the BOSS of the Orc Dungeon. Time limit: 5 days.
Rewards: (3000 XP points), (1 growth point) and (3 free attribute points)
Extra Task: Kill all monsters in the dungeon.
Reward for the extra task: (75 XP points for each monster slain)
Just like the Kobold Dungeon, this dungeon also forced Alexander to keep |Magical Body Strengthening| constantly active. For starters, the orcs (Young) were physically superior to the kobolds in everything except agility and speed, and the dungeon had one more floor than the others.
Another problem was that the high-level orcs (Young) began to resist the push of the spell |Water Jet| in its voluminous version with just the strength of their powerful physique.
Shaken by not even being able to maintain a safe distance to cast the spell |Minor Lightning|, Alexander was forced to spend his growth point to strengthen the spell |Water Jet| even further. And even then, the plan only started working again because of the [Wooden Staff from the Mana Tree] that strengthened his spells.
Ding!
[|Water Jet (Advanced)| leveled up to |Water Jet (Peak)|]
With the increase in power of |Water Jet|, he was able to manage the situation until a {Orc (Young)} Lv.9 appeared charging like an out-of-control backhoe.
Alexander even used his combo hoping to stop it, but discovered that his spell |Minor Lightning| did not cause paralysis on the {Orc (Young)} Lv.9, only some damage and a lot of anger.
Fortunately for him, his spell |Water Jet (Peak)| managed to push the orc back a bit, or he would have been seriously injured by that charge.
Unable to face the monstrosity of muscles that was the {Orc (Young)} Lv.9, Alexander launched spell combo after spell combo while keeping himself fleeing with the extra speed from |Magical Body Strengthening|.
After receiving the third spell combo, the {Orc (Young)} Lv.9 finally died while still moving trying to reach him.
When the orc fell, Alexander didn't speak or think, he just made sure there were no more monsters in the dungeon. And upon confirming this, he also fell to the cold dungeon floor.
[2 x {Orc (Young)} Lv. 1 slain. – You received 80 XP points]
[1 x {Orc (Young)} Lv. 2 slain. – You received 50 XP points]
[2 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 3 slain. – You received 60 XP points]
[1 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 4 slain. – You received 75 XP points]
[2 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 5 slain. – You received 180 XP points]
[1 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 6 slain. – You received 110 XP points]
[2 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 7 slain. – You received 280 XP points]
[1 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 8 slain. – You received 175 XP points]
[1 x {Orc(Young)} Lv. 9 slain. – You received 220 XP points]
When he woke up and went to see how much time had passed, the sun was already shining high in the sky. "I must have slept at least sixteen hours…"
"But it's also possible that I spent a whole day sleeping to recover from the exhaustion," Alexander pondered, exasperated. "There's no way to know until the 10-day survival mission ends."
After eating, he checked the entire perimeter of the grove to confirm there were no more monsters. And upon confirming he no longer needed to worry about monsters, he spent the rest of the day relaxing, hunting wild animals, and practicing his skill |Magical Body Strengthening| until it leveled up.
[15 x {Little Boar} Slain – You received 150 XP points]
[10 x {Wild Rabbit} Slain – You received 50 XP points]
Ding!
[|Magical Body Strengthening (Beginner)| leveled up to |Magical Body Strengthening (Intermediate)|]
[|Magical Body Strengthening (Intermediate)|: Uses mana to strengthen the body, thus increasing strength, agility, dexterity, and the body's natural defense. Cost: (10) mana and (5) MP. Duration: 5min.]
When he finished hunting all the wild animals in the grove, Alexander settled by the river, lit a bonfire, and bathed for the first time since he arrived. "It's frustrating not being able to level up even after hunting all the animals in this grove… I'm so close."
Having spent so much time in this place with his actions limited, he was ecstatic to experience this small "luxury" that was bathing in the river. His bath was so refreshing it felt like his soul was being washed.
After the bath, Alexander put on his clothes, or what was left of them, ate some roasted meat, and asked himself which door he should open first. But after thinking a bit, one seemed much more logical than the others.
After a good rest after finishing eating, Alexander was very excited and completely revitalized. He then gathered everything, put out the fire, and headed to the boss dungeon he would face.
Arriving there, Alexander took a deep breath, to calm himself a bit, and opened the doors, revealing a flat room about 100m x 100m x 20m.
Near the end of the room, there was a large red and translucent mass with disturbing characteristics. It was the 1st BOSS of Alexander's life.
