Wolf's Den
I woke up, went to the bathroom to freshen up, and put on a pair of pants and a hoodie—just a casual outfit since today I was heading to a dungeon to begin my journey to become the strongest.
I headed to a beginner dungeon located about 3 km from my house. Since the apocalypse, cities have been divided into ranks from E to S, based on their proximity to monsters. The closer a city is to a high concentration of monsters, the higher its rank. Take a city of rank A, for example—it's crawling with more monsters near its borders compared to the City of rank B.
Since higher-ranked cities have more monsters, there's always a significant number of high-rank hunters residing there to battle and control the population of rifts and monsters.
So, S-rank cities have the highest number of top-ranking hunters. Some reside there to level up, while others stay to help control the monster population, ultimately working to exterminate them.
There are many S-rank cities, each more like an empire given their size. Currently, I live in a City of rank C,Cobalt City, which is relatively normal. City E, also known as the City of Beginners, is the safest. However, as awakeners level up, they typically move on to higher-ranked cities.
I finally reached my destination and stood in front of the beginner dungeon, "Wolf's Den." The guards asked for my hunter license. After inspecting it, they allowed me to enter.
"Is this newbie hunter trying to enter alone? Even if it's an F-rank dungeon, he's still a beginner," said Hunter 1.
"Let him go. Nowadays, newbie hunters are too full of themselves. He's responsible for himself," said Hunter 2.
"Oh, good lord! They don't realize that it's more advantageous for me to enter alone to fully reap benefits of my unique skill," I thought, approaching the gate-shaped rift that glowed with a blue color.If hunters constantly fail to clear the gate, the normal blue color changes to red, indicating an imminent dungeon break. The rank of the gate is determined by the amount of mana it leaks.
When I entered the dungeon, I saw a pair of black wolves with iron-covered claws heading toward me.I tried to dodge their incoming attack, but a small cut appeared on my face as I failed to evade it completely. The cut healed automatically.
[Ding! You have acquired minor cut resistance]
A smile spread across my face as I saw my unique skill working to its fullest.
"AWOO," both wolves howled.
"No, you don't," I said as I hurriedly punched one of them, interrupting its call. However, the other wolf successfully summoned its horde.
Suddenly, the two wolves attacked me. I tried to dodge, but they still managed to hit me. I retaliated by punching them—one was knocked away, while the other staggered back. The other wolves waited their turn. I ran toward the nearest wolf to kill it and level up, but the remaining wolves jumped at me.
I lifted a nearby stone with telekinesis and hurled it with all my might toward the farthest wolf. The stone struck its head, instantly killing it.
[Ding! Your level has risen by 2]
[Unallocated stat points:10]
"Invest all the points into strength and agility evenly," I commanded desperately.
[Ding!Your strength and agility has risen by 5]
I felt my power rising as adrenaline coursed through my body. I ran toward the nearest wolf and rained down punches on it. The other wolves slashed my back and bit my legs, but I didn't feel any pain. Notifications popped up, but I paid them no attention, continuing to punch the wolf until it finally died.
[Your level has risen by 1]
I continued to hunt them one by one until only the last wolf remained, which I also killed.
[Ding! Your level has risen by 1]
[Additional stat points:15]
My level has increased to 5 now.My endurance also increased by 2, thanks to Infinite Adaptation.
It took me three hours to hunt the wolves and collect the mana stones.The average price of an F-rank mana stone is around $100. I had about 15 mana stones in my bag.
This dungeon consisted of three floors. The first floor was occupied by Black Steel Wolves, the second floor was ruled by Elite Steel Wolves, and the last floor housed the boss monster.
Thanks to my "Infinite Adaptation," I was always in perfect condition.So, I headed straight to the second floor.
On the second floor, all the wolves were waiting for me. When I arrived, they lunged at me, but I was prepared. I unsheathed my sword and pierced the leading wolf through its mouth.
[Your level has risen by 1]
I hunted all the elite wolves, and my level is now 7. It took me roughly 2 hours to complete the hunt. Just as I was thinking about it, a notification appeared.
[Ding! minor cut resistance has evolved to medium cut resistance]
[Due to Infinite Adaptation, Bite and cut Resistance have been upgraded to the Iron skin skill for improved effectiveness.]
[Note: Certain skills acquired through Infinite Adaptation can be further evolved.]
"Hell yeah! Wait, don't be hasty; this is just the beginning." I then entered the boss room.
When I entered the boss room, I was greeted by a semi-werewolf whose size was a towering 2 meters. 'Is this really a beginner's rank dungeon?' I swallowed hard. 'No pain, no gain,' I told myself to stay motivated.
We both lunged at each other. He slashed my back with his claws, while I swung my sword at him, but his attacks had no effect on me. We both staggered back. He then swiftly tried to bite me, but my Hardened Body skill, being a passive ability, was always active.
After an hour of fighting,I finally killed that fucking monster by levitating my sword and hurling it at him, burying it in his head.
[Ding! Your level has risen by 2]
"'Status window,' I said as I looked at myself. I was mostly covered in blood, with only a few scraps of clothing left on my body."
______
[Name: Zephyr Aetheris (Harry Hudson)]
[Level:9]
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[Strength:15] [Intelligence:5]
[Agility:14] [Endurance:12]
[Senses:5]. [Focus:1]
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[Health:120] [Mana:50]
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[Additional stats:35]
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[Unique skill:]
«Infinite Adaptation(SSS)»
«Telekinetic control»
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[Normal skills: Iron skin-19%(E-Passive)]
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[Resistances:]
-perfect pain immunity-
______
I noticed that as my stats or level increased, it became slightly more difficult to adapt. So, I decided that after taking full advantage of my unique skill, I would allocate additional stat points.
I quickly collected all the mana stones and exited the dungeon, as the monsters respawn after 24 hours.
When I came out of the dungeon, all eyes were on me. Hunters and other people moved away, as I was drenched in blood with an overpowering stench emanating from me.
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Well..Enjoy.