A-rank Dungeon IV

[Due to Infinite Adaptation, you have acquired the E-rank skill "Shout"]

"That's convenient," I muttered, glancing at the notification. "Though it's a bit disappointing that it's E-rank, I guess it makes sense since the skill is pretty simple after all."

Still, having a skill like Shout could come in handy in certain situations, even if it wasn't that powerful.

"First, I should absorb the mutated harpy's mana stone," I thought, eyeing the glowing stone in my hand. Without hesitation, I ingested it.

The surge of power was immediate, but this time it was different than just getting stronger something like intense. I could feel each stat rising as steam rolled off my body.

It felt like the overall quality of my abilities had been enhanced.I felt not only stronger but also sharper and more precise as if I could perfectly control all the power my body had.

"This one's definitely more potent than the others," I thought, a grin spreading across my face as I saw my stats.

[Strength: 107]

[Agility: 105]

[Senses: 100]

[Congratulations! You have acquired A-rank skill "Internal Recoil"]

"Holy shit! His stats were that high?" I muttered in disbelief. "Was he B-rank, maybe a B+? On second thought, I should've taken more damage to increase my adaptations,...nah, I'm good otherwise people might start thinking I'm a masochist or something," I chuckled at the thought, excitement budding inside me to test out my newfound strength.

"Internal Recoil, huh?" I mused, already planning how to use it in the next fight.

As I looked at my stats, now that they were above the hundreds, I felt that their quality had improved quite significantly. It wasn't just the numbers, it was like the overall potency of my abilities had improved. I felt as if I had crossed a threshold, and now had a greater control over it.

"Is it because my stats are triple digits now," I wondered if this was the reason.

"So this is what it feels like to hit triple digits," I thought, a smirk forming on my face.

After checking my stats, my eyes landed on the newly acquired skill. "An A-rank skill...I thought only A-rank monsters had it. Well, that's a new discovery...for me at least." I was engrossed in my thoughts. Suddenly, I picked waves of killing intent, noticing the horde of harpies launching their attack.

They were about to attack me but I didn't gave them a chance to.I flew forward, towards their direction with all the speed I could muster. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The harpies appeared to be frozen in their places.

With my increased agility, I swiftly flew to each of them, piercing their abdomen with each strike. I stopped after making holes in all of the harpies, and in the next second, all of them fell simultaneously, dropping like rain from the sky.

"Too easy," I muttered.

[Ding! Your level has risen by 4]

"That's been taken care of," I thought, looking at the pile of corpses. Finally, an item appeared. After raiding two whole dungeons, nothing had shown up until now. It reminded me of the ape monster I killed earlier, no skill book was dropped back then either.

"I've been obtaining skills through my own efforts, not because of lucky drops," I muttered. "I wish there was a 'Luck' stat, but alas, I have to do things with this luck as is."

I quickly collected all the mana stones with a flick of my finger. Then, I picked up the boots dropped by one of three hundreds harpies and checked the description.

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Item: Echowind shoes

Description: Ultra-lightweight shoes that boost the wearer's speed by 30%, featuring a sleek design and advanced material for enhanced agility and minimal friction.

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"Hey, that's not half bad," I exclaimed seeing it's description.

"If they're worn by a low-ranking hunter, their potential won't shine, but for someone with triple-digit stats, it'll be a whole new game," I thought as I quickly equipped the shoes. The moment they were on, I could feel the immediate boost, as if my body became even more in tone, ready for faster movement.

I soared high into the sky to navigate the next colony of monsters, I quickly assessed the surroundings with my enhanced vision. Far in the distance, I spotted what appeared to be ruins.They were shrouded in a thick fog. Without hesitation, I flew toward them, the Echowind Shoes making my body almost frictionless.

"Let's see what secrets do those ruins hold for me," I thought, as I flew near them.

Floating above, I observed the ancient structures covered in thick fog, obscuring their visibility. Trusting in my heightened senses, I dove into the ruins, feeling the mist in the atmosphere rush past me like sand slipping through fingers.

The dense fog all around made navigation tricky, but my senses guided me deeper into the ruins. "Let's see what kind of monsters live here," I thought as I prepared to attack anything that was lurking in the mist.

I sensed a large number of monsters closing in. The monsters moved through the fog like ghosts, their forms were barely visible. I couldn't senses their physical body.

I felt as if the fog itself was watching me, allowing the God knows what kind of monsters to track my every movement. Although, I sensed many of them closing in on me, but I couldn't pinpoint there exact number. Their presence was light but ominous.

"They're using the fog to their advantage," I muttered, realizing this was going to be a different fight unlike before. I braced myself to counter even the slightest change in the environment as I didn't know what type of skill these monsters had.

!!!!!!!!

Suddenly my senses went crazy, alerting me to something that was even more dangerous than the mutated harpy.

Something moved towards me as I sensed a movement in the mist. I felt the air around me suddenly grow heavier, like a weight of 1000 kg was dropped on me. Before I could react, the weight increased even more, amplifying the pressure. In moments, the weight increased thousand fold, no it was more than that.

THUD!!! I fell down with a thud.My body buckled under the immense force as if the World Serpent was lying on me.ARGHH!!! Blood spilled from my mouth. Even breathing became a struggle, my vision blurred from the intensity of the pressure.

"Damn it... I need to break free."

[Warning!!!..]

[Warning!!!...]

[Due to Infinite Adaptation, health is increasing..]

[Warning!!! Health is decreasing...]

The sound of notification rang through my head as they continued to appear but I didn't have neither time nor focus to check on them.

With the combined force of the monsters' suppression, it felt like my body was on the verge of being crushed. The pressure was overwhelming, as if gravity had increased beyond reason.

My insides churned, and the cracking of my bones echoed in my ears.

"Damn it! Why is it taking so long," I growled through clenched teeth.

I forced my mind to focus despite the blurriness in my vision.I was barely holding onto my consciousness. "[Telekinetic Control]!" I shouted inwardly, trying to push the crushing force away, but the suppression was too overwhelming for my current strength alone.

"They've got me good," I thought bitterly. But then I remembered the new skill I had just acquired [Internal Recoil]. "Let's see if this will do something!"

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Enjoy