Chapter 122: Leveling Up (2)

’Considering that we need to perform this ritual with wolf blood and that they’ll be coming here—if they all come out of those caves, there might be about 100 of them. If I can kill enough to level up twice, that would be amazing,’ Zaid thought.

Two levels meant 30 beasts. And each would increase his total stats by 10 points, bringing him closer and closer to the coveted strength of a C-Rank, even though he was currently only an E-Rank.

He got excited.

Bzzzt!

They stepped onto the altar, and it began to emit a faint light, as if calling for blood.

Some symbols lit up.

"They’re coming," John whispered, clenching his fists.

Erick gripped his sword.

"Give it your all," said Zaid.

Immediately afterward, wolves began pouring out of all the caves in huge groups.

"Fight smart. We have the high ground," Zaid said as a reminder.

Erick and John understood and attacked.

This time, Zaid didn’t start killing right away. He watched from behind and let Erick and John do most of the work.

He only stepped in strategically to weaken the wolves, allowing those two to be more effective in leveling up.

John blew a wolf’s head off.

The body fell sprawled on the ground, causing other wolves to trip over it. He took advantage of the opening and struck down several more wolves, marveling at the strength he had gained.

Their fists danced in impressive sync with Erick’s sword. Even though it was the first time they’d fought together and there was a noticeable difference in strength between them, they managed to coordinate very well, demonstrating that both of them were highly adaptable.

When they were exhausted and the beasts were still pouring out, that was the moment Zaid and Valia decided to make their move.

"..."

"..."

Erick and John were dumbfounded by the spectacular dance Zaid was performing right in front of them.

"Did you know he was that strong?" Erick asked John.

He shook his head. "I knew he was strong, but not that strong."

"So he was hiding it really well..."

"I’m afraid only that girl, Alice, might know," John replied.

"True, they’re very close," Erick nodded. He looked at several corpses falling around Zaid and Valia.

He frowned. "Don’t you think there’s something strange about this?"

"You mean the fact that the corpses turn to dust after he kills them, right?"

"Exactly. What kind of terrifying ability could do that?"

"..."

John remained silent.

"I don’t think it’s an ability," he said after thinking it over.

"No?"

John shook his head. "Don’t you think it’s too powerful for his rank? I think it might be... multiple soul talents."

Erick frowned. "Multiple soul talents..." He shuddered.

All hunters longed to have multiple Soul Talents, but very few ever get the chance. It’s highly unlikely for anyone to be born with two Soul Talents, let alone three. But having three gives them an overwhelming advantage over their opponents.

Especially when farming Monster Essence (ME). Getting two or three times as much ME for each beast you kill gives you a natural advantage over everyone else. Too much ME means too many stat points available to allocate.

Erick swallowed hard...

Zaid didn’t witness the brief conversation between the two of them. He was completely focused on his fight and bought enough time for those two to recover.

The battle continued until the wolves began to dwindle in number.

Even Zaid was wounded and deeply exhausted.

"Damn it, weren’t there more than 200? How come more keep coming out?" Erick complained as he looked at the mountains of corpses around him.

Blood was dripping from John’s wounds. His face was stained with the dried blood of the beasts, and his hand was injured.

Even so, he stood his ground.

"I leveled up," John murmured, staring straight ahead.

The mountain of corpses told him that he alone had killed 120 beasts.

Zaid smiled. ’Good. Level 12 already,’ he thought.

"I’m already at level 15," said Erick.

’All right. Two levels for one of them, and a level and a half for the other.’ He was more excited about those two’s level-ups than his own.

Although he, too, had leveled up significantly.

Even though he’d avoided killing many beasts to leave them for the other two, his level was astonishing. He opened his interface to check his progress.

[Level 15: 140/600 XP.]

Four levels on a single floor.

Although perhaps the most astonishing thing this time was the amount of ME he’d farmed.

[ME: 16,800.]

’I could add enough stat points to have the strength of a C-Rank,’ he thought.

That was impressive. However, now that he was fighting increasingly stronger opponents—people with such extraordinary talents that they possessed astonishing Concepts—focusing on raising his stats wasn’t the right thing to do.

’I need better talents. With Bloody Lance, I think I’ll be fine in head-on battles, but what if someone comes along with a talent as good as Zayn’s? If I don’t have the ability to fight against that, I’ll just be a pawn in his chess game,’ he thought.

Besides, at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he reached Rank D. His strength would increase significantly then.

’Maybe I can even reach it in this dungeon,’ he thought.

He made up his mind. He was going to hold onto ME for now and would only add it to his stats in case of an emergency.

The last remaining beasts were killed and devoured by Valia. She stood momentarily frozen, processing everything she had just eaten.

Zaid looked at John and Erik. "Let’s sprinkle the blood on the altar."

They nodded.

They gathered many corpses that had been set aside specifically for that purpose and sprinkled their blood on the altar.

The altar glowed, but the glow was faint. They searched the crowd for more corpses.

Those consumed by Zaid were useless. Those devoured by Valia were even less so—there wasn’t even anything left of them. Only those killed by Erick and John could be used for this, and there were many of them.

The red light from the altar grew more intense. The symbols began to move.

The room shook, and the altar shattered from below.

BOOM!

The back wall seemed to break open, revealing a seemingly endless path that stretched from the altar deep into the earth. Stone stairs leading into the darkness slowly came into view.

"It’s ready," Zaid looked back to inform Valia.

She was already flying toward them.

"A breakthrough?"

"Stage-level," Valia nodded. "I’m in the Advanced Stage, but these creatures aren’t very compatible with me."

Zaid nodded happily that she had finally leveled up. He could tell because her spirit had a powerful surge, but hearing it firsthand sounded even better.

"I’ve never seen a cat hunt wolves, so it’s normal. I’ll find you some birds or something like that soon," Zaid said.

John approached from behind. "Thanks, Zaid," he said.

Erick did the same.

Zaid shook his head. "It’s only natural to help my teammates. This is just the beginning. I hope you’re ready to face golems."

"We’re more than ready!"

Zaid looked toward the stairs.

The first floor had nothing more to offer them. The wolves were enough to keep the group moving forward.

He hoped the second floor would be just as good—or better.

’This is just the beginning,’ he thought, and took a step toward the stairs.

"Let’s go."

Erick and John followed him.

The darkness of the second floor awaited them.