Dangerous situation (1)

"The number of beasts required for a point gain increased again."

Elliot killed the last beast of a massive wave he had fought through in the dungeon's long corridor. He stood at a fork in the path, catching his breath.

So far, he has killed more than 60 beasts. After killing the first 25 beasts, the number of kills required to earn a single stat point increased—7 beasts for each point. Thankfully, this stopped when he reached 60 beasts killed.

In just a few hours, he had collected 10 stat points. Yet, the dungeon wasn't fully cleared. In fact, he was barely past the halfway mark.

'Although it is getting more difficult to receive points, I am still faster than the rest of the awakened. Even if I don't know the exact number of kills they require to go up one point, I am certain that none of them could rack up 10 stat points just by killing 60 little goblins.'

Even John Clark—someone who was hailed as a prodigy in the city for awakening at 14—barely had 25 to 30 points in his two main stats. And for him to achieve that mark, it had taken him four years.

Elliot was progressing far better than he expected. Still, he knew that he couldn't get full of himself since there was still a long way before him. His goal wasn't just survival—it was to destroy the Clark family.

A family that had been rooted in Loen City for years. A family who had a man who seemed to have some beef with Elliot and the one who wanted to kill him with his very own hands.

Tyler Clark.

The man who was known as the most powerful person in Loen City, even though he no longer lived there.

Elliot stared into the distance along one of the two paths before him.

"Tyler Clark is ready to participate in the Regional Tournaments," he muttered. "If I met him now, he could kill me with a single hit. He might even be a Professional Player."

His gaze hardened, sharp with purpose—and highly vengeful. Then, he began to walk.

Professional Players, also known as 'Rank Lords,' were the next tier beyond Master Rank. In order to achieve that level, one needed to accumulate 100 stat points. But it wasn't just about numbers or was it as simple as the previous three ranks—it was about mastery; they're called 'Professional' for a reason. At that level, one gets an excessive increase in the ability to utilize whatever skill, talent, or class they have acquired with terrifying efficiency.

That rank was too far out of his reach at the moment for Elliot. He couldn't even see the path clearly where he stood, and that was why he needed to strengthen himself as much as he could. Because if Tyler returned to Loen City before he was ready…

It would be dangerous for him… and there was also a possibility that he wouldn't survive.

As he walked through the new corridor of the dungeon, he realized that it was getting narrower and narrower with every step he took.

Eventually, the sound of footsteps echoed his ears, he was forced to stop when he saw that they were heading towards him and were drawing closer.

'I hope there are only a few of them… I can't call my summon right now. It's unfortunate, but I haven't obtained a shred of Sense in this time, so I still can't raise it.'

He quickly ducked and hid into nearby shadows, waiting for them to arrive. His plan was simple: if he could take them by surprise and kill a few, the odds would be turned in his favor.

And so, he waited patiently.

It didn't take him long before the creatures came into view—and what he saw left him stunned.

'There are too many of them.'

Looking at their numbers, he realized that fighting them all would be reckless and dangerous. He didn't want to use his stat points just yet—he had discovered a helpful side effect: allocating the points would help in restoring his mental strength a little, something he would need when facing the dungeon boss.

"I have to let them pass. I'll strike them when their backs are turned."

Elliot pressed himself deeper into the cave's shadow, hiding himself as best he could in this dark, mossy, damp cave, trying to avoid being seen.

Somehow, his concealment worked to a certain extent.

But he seemed to have overlooked one thing.

The spiders.

They could climb the ceiling, and although most stayed on the ground, one of them happened to climb up at the last moment and made eye contact with Elliot.

"KYA!"

It's shriek pierce through the silence.

Before Elliot could even get the time to react, a goblin landed a heavy blow on him.

It hurt. Even with his high resistance, these creatures, despite being small, packed a dangerous punch.

In the end, he was dragged by an enormous sword and slammed into the wall on the other side. The impact came quickly—the narrow part of the cave left him with barely any room to breathe, let alone dodge.

"Shit."

Elliot threw himself to the side and rolled across the dirt, narrowly dodging four consecutive attacks. Any one of them could have broken his bones had they hit him.

His arm ached from the earlier impact, but his anger burned hotter than the pain. His eyes locked onto the spider that had betrayed him.

"I'm going to kill you first."

Without hesitation, he immediately started running straight towards it. A goblin leapt in his path, wanting to intercept him, but it was too small—and too dumb—to expect what would come next. Elliot jumped over the goblin, planted a foot on its shoulders, and launched himself toward the spider clinging to the cave's ceiling.

"It's a good thing that you got closer; now I can kill you even quicker."

Drawing his knife in midair, he stabbed it greedily into the spider's eye and at the same time grabbed hold of its legs and yanked it down with him.

While they fell, he was on top of the spider. The moment they hit the ground, the spider was already dead—his knife had gone all the way through to the other side of its skull.

But this wasn't a time to rejoice.

Elliot sprang back just as quickly to avoid a web thrown by another spider, and just where he fell, a poisonous spatter struck the ground where he had just landed, sizzling on contact.

This stone began to dissolve quickly.

'It's dangerous.'

Gripping his knife tighter, Elliot jumped forward. Another goblin jumped out to meet him. Unlike others, this one didn't use a large sword, instead, it wielded two small daggers, much like Elliot's own knife.

Their blades clashed, resulting in the daggers getting locked with Elliot's knife. But Elliot's strength gave him a slightly superior edge; he broke through the daggers and drove his blade into the goblin's neck. Blood gushed out as the creature dropped lifeless to the ground.

But the odds were stacked against him. Elliot was fighting too many beasts.

A giant sword smashed into his side again, slamming him against a nearby wall. Agony flared through his body. His arm screamed in protest—something might have broken.

'I'm lucky these bastards don't know how to maintain their weapons,' he thought grimly. 'Otherwise, I wouldn't have an arm anymore.'

Although he complained, he was able to get up without too much trouble.

He forced himself up and crouched down just in time to dodge an attack.

Then, he struck, jamming his knife into the goblin's gut mid-lunge. 

The goblin winced and recoiled, trying to flee—but the knife had already torn through several organs before piercing its heart. In the end, it died miserably while still trying to escape.

At that moment, something changed. A surge of energy. He had somehow gained a stat point.

That was when Elliot realized something.

"That's right… I can raise the rat's stats to make it more powerful. With the two of us, we could finish this battle without too much trouble."

A glimmer of hope lit his face. He looked up, ready to resume the fight with a renewed confidence, but as he did—

—he realized he had made a mistake.

Two poison shots slammed into him, striking his right leg and left arm.

Fortunately, it was only corrosive poison, so he wouldn't be poisoned.

Unfortunately, it was a corrosive poison.

Blinding pain tore through him as he watched his flesh begin to melt. His movements slowed, and his muscles screamed.

Seeing their chance, two goblins rushed at him. Their strike hurled him into the cave wall once more, the force kicking up clouds of dust and rock. A deep tremor rattled through the cavern, echoing in every direction.

Even so, that didn't stop the spiders from continuing to attack.

Spiders fired both web and poisonous attacks, while some goblins even threw their weapons with great force, which increased the impact and tremor even further.

A deadly wave of attacks was closing in on Elliot.