Free Web NovelChapter 13: Ch 13: Rapid Levelling
True to its name, the Frosted Well was an underground ice cavern.
It had exactly ten floors that went straight downward.
Following behind Nia, Raidan observed his surroundings clearly. There was no path of escape except going back up to retreat manually.
Either he had to defeat the monsters inside or retreat.
All of a sudden, a creature greeted them at the narrow tunnel.
"Squeak!"
It was a small white rabbit, its fur seemingly made of soft frost. It was very cute, and its eyes were adorable.
"Don’t fall for its tricks, Apollo. They might seem harmless, but they aren’t. Watch me!"
After warning him, Nia stepped forward.
Raidan at least had a wooden sword as a weapon, but she had nothing in her hands.
Not that she needed anything.
Because from her fingers extended ten lethal claws, like sharp blades of silver.
When she got close to the rabbit, the cute creature suddenly turned demonic. Its adorable, glassy eyes turned crimson.
Then it jumped.
Woosh!
Its ferocity and speed were enough to take newbies by surprise.
But Nia was no rookie. She jumped up like a cat, then dove down using her claws as weapons.
Slash!
For a moment, it looked as though the rabbit would manage to sink its deadly teeth into Nia’s neck.
But Nia’s agility was completely inhuman.
She dodged midair, then slashed at the rabbit right across its adorable, fluffy face.
Slash! Thud!
The Snow Rabbit was cut down from the middle into five pieces, then fell lifeless onto the cold floor.
[ Exp +20 ]
The notification flashed in Raidan’s eyes. Since they were in a team, obviously he would get his share of experience points.
Not only that, he received another 100 EXP for surviving the first monster in the dungeon.
The next two quests he created were:
#1. [ Take Down A Snow Monster ]
[ Rewards: 150 Exp, +2 DEF ]
#2. [ Assist Nia in taking down a level 7 Snow Monster ]
[ Rewards: 300 Exp, +3 ATK ]
Since he had to kill a Snow Rabbit, Raidan immediately stepped in front of her.
The second one came from behind a snow-covered rock.
Squeak!
This time, it wasn’t a cute squeak; instead, it sounded very sharp and terrifying.
It bolted toward his chest like a ball of cotton energy.
If he was hit by it, he would surely get an internal injury.
And Nia wouldn’t step in, since he had decided to live up to the challenge.
Raidan swung his wooden sword in a strong vertical arc.
But he missed.
Bam!
He was hit squarely in the stomach, making him nearly vomit whatever he had eaten a while ago.
Blurgh!
Still, he didn’t let it hit him a second time. He dodged by rolling to the left.
Then he stood up, wiped the blood off his lips, and charged with his sword raised high.
Thawk!
Once again, the rabbit was more agile than him. He couldn’t even keep track of it.
It naturally gave birth to a quest regarding what level the Snow Rabbit was.
The answer was 4.
It might seem overwhelming right from the beginning, but people who come here are generally well-trained.
For them, taking down a few snow rabbits was easy.
But since Raidan had no formal training or experience, he was finding it hard to hit. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Still, his Defense was higher than that of an ordinary beginner.
So, the rabbit wasn’t able to do much damage, except for bruising his skin.
Seeing him in a clueless position, Nia kindly suggested, "Try to focus on its legs, Apollo. Their legs always bend early toward whichever direction they’ll jump next."
Hearing her, Raidan had a small epiphany. She was right.
The legs moved before the rest of its body.
Raidan smiled like a predator.
But first, he distributed his 5 unassigned attribute points: +3 into AGI and +2 into ATK.
Feeling his senses sharpen, he swung his wooden sword early in the direction it was about to leap.
The result:
Bam!
The rabbit was hit by the rough edge with full force.
Its soft body curled around the sword for a moment, then it was flung away like a rag doll.
As Raidan looked, the red health bar of the monster had nearly hit its lowest point.
He didn’t waste a single second.
Bam! Splash!
While it was feeling disoriented, he hit its head, bursting it open like a watermelon.
[ Exp +30 ]
[ Quest Complete: Snow Monster Hunter ]
[ Exp +150, +2 DEF ]
Ignoring the notification about the power-up, he went over to Nia.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Nia. You really know your stuff."
His praise came across as sincere, which Nia didn’t fail to notice.
Nia shrugged it off. "Ha, it’s nothing special. I have already cleared it several times."
"Really? Then why did you come here?" he asked.
She looked at him.
"Because of you, of course. You wouldn’t be able to handle higher dungeons than this. But hey, it wasnt completely because of you; I can also earn some monster cores and sell them off."
Raidan smiled, seeing through her thoughts.
"Well, thank you anyway. I don’t think I have met anyone as kind as you."
Nia blushed furiously. "Ah, what are you saying? I am not kind at all. It was just you... because, because... my friend... yes, that’s it."
Raidan decided not to push her any further.
They continued hunting together from then on.
On the first floor, they encountered ten Snow Rabbits. On the second floor, fifteen Snow Rabbits, and on the third floor, twenty.
The fourth and fifth floors were cleared naturally.
And with each fight, their coordination increased.
She would injure them severely, while he dealt the killing blows.
Raidan’s level rose rapidly.
This was not solely because of the shared EXP, but because of his generated quests as well.
Level 6.
Level 7.
Level 8.
Besides the 15 unassigned attribute points, he also gained an increase in stats from the quests.
He was also able to complete the quest about killing a level 5 monster together.
But it was also true that repeated quests gave fewer rewards each time.
So, he had no choice but to delve into deeper floors.
Before that, he took one last glance at his stats panel:
Player Name: Apollo
Level: 8 | Exp: 200 / 2000
Species: Human
Titles: None
Class: None
Origins: [Sun God’s Shrine]
Physical Attributes (↑35%):
ATK (Attack): 33
DEF (Defense): 35
AGI (Agility): 30
Mana: 8
Skills:
Fear Immunity (F-5)
