Chapter 10: 010
Alex first began walking towards the Wolf Den dungeon while also recalling the information he knew about it. Currently, most players were at level 10, with the elites being at level 12. Although the Wolf Den was farther than other dungeons, it was closer to the average player's level. Dungeons were special instances where space was folded and expanded, essentially being pocket dimensions that teleported people to a different created dimension. While most dungeons formed naturally, some could be artificially created. The Wolf Den dungeon was set in a forest during a full moon, teeming with wolves led by a Sky Wolf. The forest covered a vast area of 50 acres, with numerous large trees and moonlight serving as the sole source of illumination. In the middle of the forest, a small hill stood with a lake to its immediate right, about 5km away. Within the hill, the wolves used a cave as their den.
Having finally arrived at the dungeon, Alex noticed the crowd gathered there. On his way, he had changed his stored title from "Rare Slayer" to "Blessed by Mana." He also used the Crystalized Mana item to create a Mana pearl, as he had forgotten to do so earlier. While dungeons had a limit on how many people could enter together at once, there was no limit on how many people could raid it simultaneously. Each dungeon had different difficulties that increased the rewards. The available difficulties were Normal, Hard, and Hell. Although some dungeons had higher difficulties, they were usually limited to a select few, often referred to as Region Dungeons. Since most people hadn't completed the Normal difficulty yet, they were primarily focused on challenging it, making attempting a higher difficulty pointless. Alex confidently walked up to the blue portal representing the dungeon. As his hand made contact with the portal, multiple system messages appeared.
[Dungeon Wolf Den, recommended level 15-20]
[Difficulties: Normal, Hard, Hell]
[Solo or Party]
Alex smiled slightly and chose Solo on Hell difficulty. Clearing a Solo dungeon on Hell difficulty near the game's launch seemed like the perfect way to gain recognition. The blue portal rapidly changed to black with white outlines. Alex walked through the portal with confidence, disappearing from the area. While most players ignored this occurrence, when they noticed the portal he entered, one player couldn't help but shout.
"What the hell! Someone just went into a Hell portal, Solo!"
"What!?"
"Is he out of his mind!?"
"Maybe he has a death wish!?"
While most players criticized the person, the guild representatives had a different reaction.
"I want someone to watch the area and notify me if he comes out! The Golden Suns must have him!"
"If he comes out, report to me immediately! The Fire Heaven must have him!"
This conversation echoed among all the guild representatives. If Alex emerged alive and completed the dungeon, he would likely face numerous challenges.
Inside the dark forest of the dungeon, Alex appeared under the empty, dark sky, with only the full moon shining. He could hear the distant howling of wolves. Quickly, he climbed up the nearest tree to gain a high vantage point and search for isolated monsters. For the next three hours, he maneuvered through the forest, finding his position relative to the center. He discovered that he was in the East region of the forest and realized that all the monsters bore the Rare tag. Considering that the boss usually possessed a Rare tag, he concluded that the boss most likely had an Elite tag. Aware that he wouldn't be able to defeat an Elite Tier 1 Sky Wolf and its pack, he decided to thin out their numbers.
Finally, he found his prey: a lone wolf that had strayed from the pack. Alex looked at it with cold eyes, using Accelerate on himself to gain extra speed. Through his understanding of Chronos, he knew that the spell Stop would halt the mana in the air, effectively preventing the wolf from utilizing escape skills or retaliating. However, using Stop put a significant burden on the mind and should be used sparingly. Alex swiftly approached the wolf from above, with the wolf having only a split second to react. Within that moment, Alex struck the wolf's neck with a long blade. Despite the monster having a Rare tag and a higher level than him, Alex did not level up. Common sense dictated that the higher one's level, the harder it became to level up. This was indeed the case, as the difficulty of leveling up increased the higher someone level was. This increase in experience points dramatically increase every 10 levels. For example, while it might have taken 1000 experience points to level up from 9 to 10, leveling up from 10 to 11 required 2500 points. Players referred to every ten levels as a "wall," and most never reached level 100 due to the excessive amount of EXP required, along with additional conditions for leveling up from 99 to 100. However, this discussion was best left for another time. For now, Alex focused on dismantling the wolf's corpse. His storage ring couldn't hold the entire corpse unless it was a Shimmering Silver ring or higher. Even with such a ring, he could only store a few types of corpses at a time. Nevertheless, he skinned the wolf, stored its major organs, and collected vials of its blood. Although it was a normal grey wolf, the Rare tag on its body made its parts valuable. Once he finished dismantling the valuable parts, he quickly hid in the trees again. A few minutes later, some wolves discovered the destroyed and incomplete body of their fallen comrade. The wolves looked at the moon and howled in pain and sorrow before rushing to inform their leader of what had occurred. This scene repeated itself hundreds of times over the next 16 hours. The once proud and mighty wolf pack had been reduced to a hollow shell of its former glory. The wolves began to cower in fear of the mysterious hunter that wouldn't even leave their bodies intact. With each report of a dead pack member and the state of their bodies, the Sky Wolf grew increasingly furious at this hunter. It vowed to kill whatever was hunting and destroy its body just like it does to them.
Alex had killed 200 wolves in the past 16 hours, leaving only the Sky Wolf remaining.
During this time, Alex had also leveled up five times and earned the title "Assassin."
[Assassin
Rank: Bronze
Requirement: Kill 200 enemies through surprise attacks and during the night.
Effects: 5% increased damage from a surprise attack.]
While it wasn't the best title, it might prove useful later. Now, Alex had arrived at the Wolves Den, where the Sky Wolf awaited him. He used the skill he unlocked upon reaching level 15, Inspect.
[Elite Sky Wolf
Tier: 1
Level: 21]
Inspect provided basic information about the target but might fail if the gap in power was too significant. Stronger beings might also notice when the skill was being used.
The Sky Wolf, a large wolf with a light blue coat, had white eyes filled with anger. When it spotted Alex entering its home—no, their home—it howled with fury and excitement at the prospect of tearing him limb from limb!
As Alex read the system messages and updated information from the inspection, he couldn't help but shout,
"What the hell!?"
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A/N
I hope everybody reading enjoyed the chapter. Unfortunately I won't be able to upload tomorrow as I have work. That's all I wanted to talk about, have a good day or night.
If you like this book so far you should check out my other work, A Last Wish!
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