Chapter 7

I called for a ride as soon as I was done and I was driven to the [Frozen Wasteland] dungeon in 20 minutes. I still had that same backpack with me as it should be more than enough to carry [Core]s that drop even if I dive multiple times

I placed my hand on one of the squares of the monolith, and I was back onto the cold floor with rushing wolves once more. Rank E dungeon, 20 floors, just how fast would it take for me to clear you now that I have Rank D skills?

I quickly activated [Arctic Armor] and [Safeguard], as I wanted to ascertain just how useful the skills were going to be. I immediately felt like my entire body was rooted to the ground as I couldn't move a single muscle

A transparent layer of energy quickly formed on top of the [Arctic Armor], and the rushing wolves arrived. The nearest one took a swipe with its huge claws, but I didn't even feel an impact as the wolf was bounced back

The rank D [Safeguard] provided almost absolute defense against lower-ranking monsters and skills, this held true. With both defense skills on, I watched as the wolves rushed at me and tried clawing, biting, and anything else they could think of, but they didn't even touch my clothes

With my confidence slowly coming back, I then cast a skill I was very much looking forward to, [Flames of Torment]

A blinding ray of flames quickly sprouted in front of me, piercing two of the wolves that were standing opposite me. The flames literally incinerated the area where they touched the monsters, leaving holes in their bodies

The 2 remaining wolves beside me let out frightened yelps, but I didn't give them any time and had two condensed fireballs quickly explode on their heads. I deactivated [Flames of Torment] & [Safeguard] and could move again, and I went to check out the wolves pierced by the pillar of flames upfront

A burnt smell was in the air, as the wolves had almost half of their bodies burnt away. The blood remaining on the other half of their bodies was even bubbling and sizzling

Damn. I kept my amazement inside as I rushed forward, wanting to see more of just how this deadly new skill was. I only kept [Arctic Armor] active and continued indiscriminately throwing fireballs in front of me so that I could increase its proficiency

Now that I was becoming more familiar with skills, it seems that the closer the proficiency nears 100, the closer the skill becomes able to deal just as much damage as a skill of the next rank. As the F rank [Fireball] neared 100 in proficiency, its speed and damage was almost the same as an E rank offensive skill

I didn't want to completely abandon [Fireball] now that I had the rank D skill, [Flames of Torment], as it was still very effective when used well.

On the next floor, as soon as the wolves began appearing I initiated [Flames of Torment]. I made the pillar of fire move horizontally instead of just shooting straight, causing it to literally melt the beasts in half. All 5 rushing wolves. Dead from one attack. Haha! I was already falling in love with this skill!

Feeling the rush of easily overpowering these monsters, I rushed down the floors even faster. No matter if it was the wolves, the foxes, or the Musk Ox, [Flames of Torment] did not discriminate and easily burned holes through the beasts with its extremely high heat

The feeling of adrenaline slowly faded as I stood by the stairs to the BOSS once more. I was decent enough to leave in one piece yesterday, but I was gonna be sure to take it out even more thoroughly today

I went down the stairs and watched the slumbering mass of a beast get up once more, Its bright red eyes trying to pierce through me.

Without wasting a beat, a pillar of flames sprouted in front of me like a blooming red flower. The rising bear raised its huge paws to protect its body once more, but this time there was no rest from the flames

GRAAAA!!!

A mournful howl was released as the beast's limbs did not last even a second, blasting them apart in an explosion of flesh and bones, continuing onto the body of the bear!

A sizzling hole was quickly apparent at the center of the beast's chest, stopping its howls short, and causing it to plummet back down to the cold hard ground

BOOM!

Controlling my breath, I looked down at the huge mass that was now burning in front of me. Something that gave me fear the day before, did not even manage to come a few meters near me now

I closed my eyes as I relished this feeling, and then went forward to grab the [Core]s and...oh?

It wasn't a skill book this time around, but...an [Item]. I was quickly able to identify the equipment beside the huge bear, [Swift Boots: Increase the speed of the wearer]. The item brought a smile to my face, as they rarely dropped and could fetch a high price. The best thing about items is that you can use, reuse, and then sell them without them ever losing their value

I put the boots on, feeling my body get noticeably lighter. I dashed around and confirmed that I could more easily move around.

Swiftly clearing the Rank E dungeon [Frozen Wasteland], a sense of accomplishment rose as I went towards the green crystal. Before going out though, I took out a few of the [Vitality] and [Strength] cores that I had collected in this run and began absorbing them

Rank F [Core]s allowed a hunter to be strengthened up to 50 attribute points, Rank E [Core]s up to 100, Rank D up to 150, and on and on. The hunters standing atop the world currently had their attribute points nearing 300. It didn't matter how many F ranked [Core]s you consumed, if you wanted to go past 50 on your attribute, you had to absorb rank E cores, with the process repeating for higher ranks. Absorbing rank E [Core]s while my stats were still under 50 only made them rise a bit faster

I stopped absorbing once [Vitality] and [Strength] both reached 50, and as usual, [Focus] was blank so all those cores were saved up in the bag. I wrapped everything up and approached the crystal to leave the dungeon.

As I touched the crystal and I was transported outside the monolith, I debated whether I should repeat this dungeon, or go towards one of the few Rank D dungeons in Outer Bank X

I currently held 2 rank D skills, one of which was shredding the monsters in this Rank E dungeon as if they were paper, the other, once activated anyways, would make me almost impermeable to any damage below Rank D, and provide huge defense when facing monsters of equivalent rank

For time efficiency, it makes a lot more sense to head to a higher-ranked dungeon, which will mean more floors, more monsters, and better drops. This time around though, I couldn't be reckless.

Since I was already at [Frozen Wasteland] though, and it took me less than 20 minutes to clear everything, it shouldn't be an issue to repeat this dungeon once or twice. There will be no surprises and my safety is guaranteed...as well as the fact that there are so few people here

I made up my mind and approached one of the squares of the monolith again, placing my hand and disappearing right after.

The 2nd run of [Frozen Wasteland] today brought me more [Core]s, with the addition of [Blade Strike: With a swing of your sword, unleash a deadly strike upon your enemies]. This skill wasn't that useful for me, so I threw in the backpack and went in again for the third time today

The 3rd run of [Frozen Wasteland] gave me a similar amount of [Core]s, this time with a fairly rare skill, [Summon Golem: Summons a single partner to fight on your behalf]. Many hunters would buy this skill as soon as it hits the shelf, as it allows casters to effectively have another tank, or the Knights and Berserkers to have a partner to take the damage for a few seconds. It doesn't really go with my style though, as it will be a slow-moving golem, and I rush through these monsters fairly fast. All that it meant for me was being able to receive more money for a skill

Fourth run, only [Core]s, not a single skill book or item. This run bummed me out.

Fifth run, more cores, and 1 item: [Kenshin's Sword]. As simple as that, it was a sword. I wasn't planning on getting near any monsters, so this would be getting sold too. My backpack was nearly overflowing though, so I will be heading to an Awakened Center to sell the things I've collected so far. I was looking forward to this, as my profits now would easily pass half a million, meaning I can finally grab myself a Rank C skill…