Chapter 30: Adorable Lolita, Clearing the Dark Cave

"Old man?" John was speechless. He touched his face, even though he had adjusted his appearance downwards, he didn't think he looked old enough to be called "old man." Did he really look that old?

Seeing Tracy about to be overwhelmed by the skeleton warriors, he finally took action.

Casting Rain of Fire, he enveloped the surrounding skeleton monsters in a blazing inferno. Terrifying damage numbers flashed:

-2278

-2274

-2269 ...

The level 30 skeleton warriors and skeleton archers had just over a thousand health points, and they were instantly annihilated.

[Killed level 30 skeleton warrior, gained 30 experience points]

[Plunder talent activated, strength +1]

...

Messages kept popping up.

Tracy watched in amazement, exclaiming, "So strong! So fast!"

"Strong" referred to John's terrifying magic damage.

"Fast" referred to her rapidly increasing experience points.

Only then did Tracy take a closer look at John's information, exclaiming again, "You're Godslayer? Oh my god, how are your health and mana so high?"

When players team up, they can see each other's basic information and status, which helps with coordination.

"Just average," John replied casually, picking up two pieces of equipment from the ground. The level 30 monsters only dropped tier 2 equipment.

Tracy was speechless. This guy was too humble.

Then she noticed the equipment on the ground. "Hey, uncle, aren't normal monsters not supposed to drop equipment?"

Tracy was sure that there hadn't been a boss among the monsters they just killed.

John examined the two pieces of equipment. Both were of ordinary attributes. He casually tossed them into his storage ring and said, "Can't help it, being handsome means even heaven is kind to me."

Tracy rolled her eyes. This guy was way too narcissistic.

She scrutinized Godslayer. He gave off a cold and aloof vibe. His looks were passable, but he definitely wasn't what she'd call "handsome."

Tracy continued, "Old man, can you help me complete my class advancement task? I need to kill a level 30 elite boss."

John glanced at the adorable Tracy and said, "Since you asked, it would be ungentlemanly of me to refuse."

"You'll help me?" Tracy was overjoyed. With Godslayer's terrifying strength, she could definitely complete her advancement task easily with his help.

John nodded but then changed his tone, saying, "But first, you need to answer a few questions. What's your name? Where do you live? Who else is in your family?"

"What do you want?" Tracy's eyebrows furrowed. She stepped back, eyeing John warily.

John smiled slightly. He had a feeling this girl wasn't too bright, so he continued to bluff, "Don't misunderstand. It's just that you remind me of someone I once knew. Her name was Louise, and she was as beautiful as you are when she was young."

Hearing John's words, Tracy's eyes widened in surprise. "Uncle, do you know my mother?"

"Your mother?" John looked at Tracy, pretending to be puzzled.

Tracy nodded repeatedly, her face showing surprise and joy without a trace of wariness. "Old man, my name is Tracy. You should have heard of me. Unfortunately, my mother passed away when I was very young, so I haven't heard about you from her."

Tracy looked sorrowful.

Deceiving such an innocent girl made John feel a bit guilty.

Fortunately, he wasn't a creepy guy.

In fact, he wasn't an old man at all.

John looked at Tracy, pretending to suddenly remember. "So you're Tracy. I didn't realize you've grown up so much."

Tracy nodded eagerly, really taking John for an elder. "Uncle, can you help me complete my task now?"

"No problem," John agreed readily.

Tracy's advancement task was to kill a level 30 or higher elite boss. The second floor of the Dark Cave certainly had such a boss.

John continued to cast his skills, enveloping the cave in Rain of Fire, clearing out the skeleton warriors and skeleton archers.

[Killed level 30 skeleton archer, gained 30 experience points]

[Plunder talent activated, agility +1]

...

[Your level has increased to 30, spirit +4, strength +3, agility +2, free attribute points +8, skill points +2]

[Unlock second job advancement task]

[Wrath of the Gods Mage second advancement task: Kill a level 30 or higher epic boss]

[Phantom Assassin second advancement task: Kill a level 30 or higher epic boss]

The notification flashed, and John finally reached level 30, unlocking his job advancement tasks.

He needed to kill a level 30 or higher epic boss. Since both jobs had the same advancement task, he only needed to kill one epic boss to advance both.

John continued to sweep through the surrounding skeleton warriors and skeleton archers, searching for the boss.

Finally, after nearly wiping out all the monsters on the second floor, the boss appeared.

It was a skeleton warrior and a skeleton archer, both level 30 elite bosses.

"Old man, be careful. Don't kill them outright," Tracy quickly reminded John.

The job advancement task could be completed in a team, but the final blow had to be dealt by Tracy.

With John's terrifying damage, she was really worried he might accidentally one-shot these boneheads.

"Got it," John replied. He cast a big Fireball and Wind Blade Slash in quick succession, instantly killing the skeleton archer.

[Killed level 30 elite boss skeleton archer, gained 120 experience points]

[Plunder talent activated, strength +2, skill points +1, attack speed +1]

The notification flashed, and the Plunder talent granted him 2 strength points, 1 skill point, and 1 hidden attribute, attack speed.

"Old man, slow down!" Tracy exclaimed, heartbroken as she watched the skeleton archer get one-shotted. She reminded John again.

John continued to attack the skeleton warrior, this time keeping a close eye on its health to avoid accidentally killing it too soon.

Soon, the skeleton warrior's health dropped to just over a hundred points. John stopped attacking and cast Rock Armor on himself, standing in front of Tracy. "Your turn," he said.

"Got it!" Tracy nodded and quickly cast her Priest attack skill, Holy Strike.

A beam of light descended onto the skeleton warrior's head.

-12

The pitiful damage was almost too embarrassing to watch.

Tracy looked at John, who was taking the hits without retaliating, and apologized. "Sorry, old man, my damage is a bit low. Please bear with me."

John frowned. "A bit low?" he thought.

Watching Tracy's pitiful damage output, sometimes even in single digits, he resisted the urge to step in and finish the job himself.

Finally, after three minutes, the boss's health was fully depleted, and it slowly fell.

John could almost hear the skeleton warrior sigh in relief, its empty eye sockets reflecting a sense of release.

It was finally free from the torment of this busty but brainless Priest...

"Old man, I leveled up!" Tracy was overjoyed. The accumulated experience from this short period, combined with completing her job advancement task, boosted her to level 31.

She had a feeling that if she continued to follow John, she could surpass the person currently at the top of the leaderboard.

Tracy looked at John, hopeful. "Old man, can you continue to help me level up?"

"Let's go," John nodded, picking up the gear dropped by the two bosses: a pair of high-quality bracers and a high-quality magic hat, both tier 2.

Since Tracy didn't want them, he casually stored them in his Storage Ring and headed towards the entrance to the third level of the cave.

The second level of the cave had been cleared of monsters, and they wouldn't respawn for a while.

John's advancement task required him to hunt a level 30 or higher epic boss, so it seemed he would have to delve deeper into the cave to find one.

Tracy followed closely behind John as they entered the third level of the cave.

The monsters here were even stronger, all level 35 skeleton knights, skeleton assassins, and skeleton mages.

Whoosh, whoosh...

Magic surged towards them as soon as they entered, with dozens of spells flying their way.

John stood in front of Tracy, about to cast Rock Armor when a holy light descended on him, forming a shield.

Holy Shield.

It was Tracy's skill.

Bang, bang...

The spells hit the shield, causing ripples. The shield, unable to withstand the onslaught, shattered.

Tracy pouted, disappointed. "Uncle, be careful. My shield is too weak to withstand attacks from level 35 monsters."

John wasn't concerned. He cast Rock Armor and then Rain of Fire.

Flames enveloped the area.

The level 35 skeleton monsters still couldn't withstand his attacks and were instantly killed.

The strongest skeleton knight had only about 2000 health points, which couldn't withstand John's magic attacks. 

Let alone the low-health, low-defense skeleton assassins and mages.

"Wow, old man, you're really OP!" Tracy exclaimed, watching her experience points soar rapidly while she stood idly by.

John's face darkened.

"OP? I'm clearly just strong," he thought.

[Killed level 35 skeleton mage, gained 43 experience points]

[Plunder talent activated, spirit +1]

[Plunder talent activated, constitution +1]

 ...

The notifications kept flashing, and John's four main attributes kept increasing.

Soon, they had swept through the third level of the cave, and three powerful skeleton bosses appeared.

However, they were not epic bosses. 

Just level 35 rare bosses: a skeleton knight, a skeleton assassin, and a skeleton mage.