Grind Begins

Whoosh! Boom!

The golem swung it's arm and Sassan ducked. The arm struck the ground, crushing it into a cobweb pattern. Debris flew as dust smoke rose.

"Fuuuuuck!" Sassan ran quickly while his eyes scanned the room. There were countless pillars supporting the ceiling of the room.

The place was brightly lit by ethereal candles on chandeliers.

It felt like a church of some sort.

"Damn it. And there's still a spider chomping on my neck." He grabbed the spider as he continued to ran.

He was surprised that it easily fell off and confused why only the head remains.

He was eventually shocked to find his right arm was functioning.

"This artifact..."

Whoosh! Boom!

A huge gust of wind blew over his head and he barely dodge the next attack.

"Fuck, I gotta find a way out of here."

Suddenly an idea came to mind.

"What if I stand over every pillars and let them be destroyed. The ceiling will fall, and surely that golem is done for!"

Whoosh! Boom!

"Aaaaah!" He jumped and rolled on the ground. A small debri flew on his head. It felt like his head was flicked by the hand of Odin himself.

"God dammit man."

He ran towards the first pillar.

The golem ran towards him. His iris dilated. The golem was fast.

"..as fuck!"

Whoosh! Boom!

Instead of striking, it went for a shoulder dash.

Boom! Boom!

It went through two pillars as if they were made of chopsticks.

"I-it works! Six more!"

...

"What do you mean I'm out of this party! I've devoted my life for this!" Rino angrily complained.

"You're actions were unacceptable and I will not go back on my word." Jay replied.

He got his arm back and it was all pink. It was still recovering from restoration magic.

"How dare you. I will report this to the association! This is not justified!"

"Oh you wanna talk about justice? How you left your team to die? Or how about the fact that a fellow member tried to scold you and you struck them unconscious? How about telling the association that!"

The corner of Rino's nose twitched. He gritted his teeth.

"You'll regret this."

He went out of the building they were in with his fists clutched in anger.

"How dare he treat me, a C-ranker like this. I've devoted everything to that party, to him! And he just tosses me away? I will make him regret."

A stranger clad in a dark cloak from afar saw Rino, a smile formed on his face. A diabolic scheme came to his mind. He began to approach Rino.

...

"One last pillar left! Ugh!" Sassan was covered in dust and dirt. There were specks of debris all over him.

He ran towards the last pillar and stood.

"One last time!"

The golem appeared before him, raising its arm.

"No! That strike wont reach the pi-"

Whoosh! Boom!

The golem smashed the ground with it's arm.

Sassan jumped and rolled.

"Fuck! One more time!" He was dedicated to his plan.

He ran and circled around, giving chase. Once he found the right positing, he stood again before the pillar.

"One more strike, and this will be your end!"

It raised its arm and began to swing towards the him.

Sassan ducked and out of frustration, struck the golem's arm with an uppercut. The golem's strike took the last stone pillar down.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You're done for! Wait..."

His eyes widened and an awkward smile formed on his face.

"If the ceiling falls, and I'm still here. I'm dead! I didn't think that one through!" He raised his head and stared at the ceiling as it shook.

Nothing happened.

"Well that was anti-climatic."

Turns out, the ceiling never needed the support.

"Oh fuck!" He ran again as the the golem struck the ground.

"How do I escape from this!!!" Suddenly the ground he stepped upon emitted a light.

"A trap!!!"

The next time he blink, he found himself in a different place.

It was a teleportation trap.

But by the looks of it, he was back on the third floor.

He decided to take a rest and plan his next move.

Half an hour later, he decided to find a source of nutrition. He felt hungrier that ever.

He walked for countless of minutes till he found a path that forked into two ways.

"Where will I go. Left or right? Hell nah. No more thinking, left it is!"

ROAAAAR!

A huge gust of wind exploded on the left tunnel as a defeaning roar echoed. Sassan pivoted and went towards the right.

He walked an hour and found himself in a massive room, equivalent to a football field. It was filled with grass and plants. Some even looked like they were trees.

"What a good way to hunt is to hunt in a forest. How lucky." He began searching for tools he could use. He gathered rocks and sticks.

Began grinding the rocks to make it sharp and made a stone knife.

"Time to hunt."

The first prey he saw was a devil rabit. It had three horns protruding from it's head and had large feet.

Sassan stealthily approached it. He neared a bush but then...

Snap! He stepped on a twig!

In a brink of a second, the rabit launched itself at Sassan head first. Sassan out of instict, raised his right hand.

Clang!

One of the horns got stuck in his gauntlet when it penetrated it.

Sassan immediately pinned the rabbit on the ground and stabbed it a countless of times.

Ding!

"You leveled up!"

Sassan immediately saw that his levels rose at 15. His stats skyrocketed.

His hunger suddenly turned to greed. As a creepy smile left his face.

"Hehehehe. Time to grind!"

He began hunting with a strategy. He'd hunt only devil rabbits. His plan was to let them lunge at him, pin them, and slay them.

He avoided strong monsters, specifically the sleeping Silver Fang Tiger.

He got another rabbit. But was surprised to find that his level only rose by three.

"Level eighteen? But that first rabbit made me rise to 14, levels."

He began to arrange his thoughts. And what came to mind was his recently acquired skill. Level Cultivation!

"How did that work the first time? All I remember is getting lost in thought trying to figure it out. Could it be meditation?"

He propped himself in a sitting position and began to think of the words Level Cultivation countless times. He opened his eyes and found that he was right. His level did fall but only once.

"This is going to take a while. It's time to grind."

He made a decision. He was going to stay here for a while.

To hunt and to cultivate. The same process repeated for days.

He made sure to avoid the silver fang tiger and the likes. Made a small shelter for himself above a tree-like plant where he would cultivate. His meals were solely devil rabbits. It tasted okay till he found some fragrant herbs while hunting.

He thought he could live like this here. But a creeping loneliness would enshroud him. And the thought of his sister and aging mother said otherwise.

A week had passed.

"Status Open."

Name: Sassan Higan

Title: None

Rank: E

Level: 1

Combat Status

Str: 120 Agi: 186 Dex: 98 Int: 43 Vit: 103

Magic Learned

None

Skills Learned

•Level Cultivation (EXP Gathering State, Twelve Step)

•Immunity Level 1

•Dagger Skills Level 4

-Throw

-Penetrating Slash

•Rush Blow

Sassan never felt like this before. He felt healthier and stronger despite his rank.

He wanted to continue longer but he tried to cultivate two more times and found that he couldn't. He simply wasted those levels in the process. Somehow, the stats he gained on those lost levels also were lost.

"I need to find a way to breakthrough but first it's time to get out of here."

He jumped down from his shelter and went towards the entrance. Only to find the Silver Fang Tiger blocking his path.

"Time to test my strength. I guess." He took on a battle stance.