Chapter 13: Only losers fight fair
To be honest, it was also creepy, finding strange knowledge in your head out of the blue. But hey, he transmigrated to a different world, what else couldn't happen?
More importantly, he had to assess his current situation. He pulled on the corpse of the dead Troglodyte and dumped it in one of the empty cells.
He was afraid that blood would alert other monsters here, in any case moving it wouldn't stop the smell but it will give him some time to get somewhere else.
Since this was pretty much the entrance he could only go deeper. He grabbed one of the torches on the wall and slowly advanced. The cells he passed by were all empty.
Some of them had their bars broken from the inside as if whatever was imprisoned there broke out with brute force.
But others were in semi-good condition while the cell looked like it was opened normally with a key. Esdras was paying attention so he wouldn't be surprised by the classic jump-scare.
Unfortunately, he realized that being permanently in that situation was different from watching actors on a movie set. The tense atmosphere and the heat started affecting him, making him frustrated.
Esdras decided to stop, he entered one of the decent cells and locked the door by inserting one of the fallen iron bars through the lock. This was a good idea as he could think of relative safety.
First of all, he had to clear the first floor of the dungeon to get out, and he need to get out sooner rather than later.
He opened his supplies bag by his waist, he had a full waterskin, a slice of hard bread, and dried jerky.
Now if he just needed to survive then the food was not a problem as he could go without it for fifty days or so. Some might think that his only concern was the water, but that was not the case.
It was both food and water, his task was to clear the dungeon and not survive till a certain time frame, which means he needed the energy to fight.
So, in conclusion, unless he found a water source here, he had to clear this floor in two days or three at most.
Right now he had 22 EXP and he needed 60 EXP to advance to become a Vigor knight. If one Troglodyte gave him 16 EXP then he needed to kill three more at least.
He could collect 30 EXP and advance to level 2 as an apprentice mage but that would just be a waste of EXP.
This is because level 2 apprentices could only suppress others with pure spiritual energy, and no other combat abilities.
Level 3 apprentices could conjure and manipulate elements like water, fire, and so on, depending on the sigil which was definitely a powerful upgrade.
But… he needed to practice all that and he simply did not have the time or energy in this dungeon.
Esdras made up his mind and decided to get moving. He followed the obvious path and did not venture to any of the prison sections.
While evading fallen debris and all sorts of things he found a stone staircase leading downwards and he took a few steps downstairs and froze in place.
Right under the bend of the staircase, he saw a glistening reflection of torchlight. He couldn't make out the shape completely but he knew what it was.
A Troglodyte.
Seeing the monster keeping watch like this made him think that these Troglodytes were acting as if they were prison wardens or something.
After being still for a moment he was sure the Troglodyte didn't notice him. He thought for a moment and slowly, very slowly he retreated.
He went back to the end of the upper section where he disposed of that Troglodyte corpse and dragged it out all the way to the staircase, then he threw it off.
*Crash!*
The Troglodyte, who was surprised by the noise immediately moved to Investigate. Only to find the mutilated corpse of one of its kind broken horribly.
Esdras jumped brandishing his sword in both hands and plunged the sword through the exposed back of the monster plastering it to the ground with the impact of his jump.
[+ 16 EXP]
Esdras felt his legs quiver slightly, he overestimated his physical ability slightly but it was worth it to take down one of these monsters.
Fighting fair and square? Kekek, why the fuck would he do that? That's for losers.
As long as there was a chance to do it safely then that's the way, he didn't care about being called a coward or anything like that.
He didn't forget to cut open the chest of the newly deceased Troglodyte but he didn't find anything there. Maybe next time. One down two more to go.
Speaking of which, he heard rapidly approaching footsteps so he retreated into the shadows and crouched down.
'Damn it, maybe I should be an assassin instead of a mage.' Esdras joked to himself. There was no one to talk to so the joke was wasted.
In this lower section of the prison, there were two hallways in two different directions, and the ones approaching were coming from the left.
A Troglodyte wielding a bone spear appeared, it was probably attracted by the smell of blood and the noise from his plunge attack.
It sniffed the bodies and looked around vigilantly, Esdras picked up a pebble from the nearby rubble, and while he was hidden under the shadow of the staircase he threw it in the opposite direction.
But.
The monster didn't fall for it and instead looked right back at him. Well, not every plan worked as well intended.
The monster leaked out a beastly roar and lunged at him, Esdras shot back to his feet and blocked with the sword.
He was about to push it off but he didn't notice the long tail sweeping under him and he fell on his back.
The Troglodyte stabbed downward to end his life.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone