36 The First Dungeon!
Roy’s senses were telling him that he was being targeted, but he couldn’t see if there was anyone close by as his vision was compromised by the overgrown grasses.
Rustling noises were heard.
They were barely audible, but Roy heard them.
He closed his eyes since they were useless for now and pushed his hearing senses to the limits.
The rustling noises were becoming clearer to him.
Something was moving through the field, approaching him, he determined.
The grip he had on the hilt of his sword tightened, and his eyes snapped open. They were blazing with murderous intent. Come what may, they will face the same fate!
Moments later, the grasses behind him parted ways and a green figure shot out. It was holding a harpoon the length of a fully grown man.
“Swoosh!”
Sharpness barreled through the air. The harpoon could be seen stabbing its way towards Roy’s back. The first attack it made was enough to reap a person’s life.
Just as it was about to reach its mark, Roy turned around, putting the thick surface of his sword between him and the sharp end of the harpoons.
Clang!
The unpleasant sound of metal hitting another metallic object rang out. The green figure’s harpoon was forced to come to a sudden halt by Roy’s sword.
It was startled to see Roy coming out of its assassination unharmed. Before it could push down its troubling thoughts, Rot swatted its harpoon away with his sword, causing it to stumble backward.
Only after taking three steps did It balance itself.
Right there and then, a furious wind slapped its hairless head.
Looking up, it saw a giant sword coming down.
And that was the last thing it saw before the sword’s shadow engulfed it as if it was a devil that had opened its mouth to devour its soul!
“Swish!”
The next moment, it passed through its body, drawing a line that started from the top of its head and went all the way down.
The green figure stood still in its place as the line became brighter and brighter.
Along with that, the pain it was feeling increased in intensity until it could no longer feel a thing.
When that happened, its body split apart from the middle.
Two equal parts of the green figure’s body fell to the ground as blood spurted out, splashing on the green grasses and black boots, coloring them red.
『Ding! Congratulations. You’ve killed a Level 9 Dungeon Monster. You gained 90 EXP.』
This notification rang in his head. Ignoring it, he looked down, only to see a creature that didn’t fit the human aesthetic in any way or form. The creature he had just killed was a monster, about a head shorter than him. It had a frog-like facial and body structure and was green in color.
“… A Troglodyte?” Roy recognized it as a monster he had seen back on Earth. “Since I took it down with one hit, it must be a normal monster. This dungeon isn’t hard, just like I thought.”
Roy inspected its corpse and the thing besides that.
『Troglodyte Warrior’s Corpse』
『You may dissect its body to find items worthy of attention.』
『Troglodyte Warrior’s Harpoon』
『Increase STR by +3』
Roy’s subspace opened up. He picked up the harpoon, throwing it inside of his subspace. As for the corpse, he started to dissect it with his sword. The monsters in the Far West’s continent were called Magic Beasts. The monsters in the dungeons of Far West were known as ferocious beasts. They were better known as chickens that lay the golden egg. Ferocious beasts of all grades have a chance of containing a beast core that was immensely helpful to mages and Weapon Master.
After digging around for some time, Roy found a pee-sized beast core deep within its brain. It was red in color and oval-shaped and radiated warmness. He knew what it was.
『You’ve dissected a Troglodyte Warrior’s Corpse. As a result, you gained the Dissection Skill and a Core of Strength.』
『Dissection (Type: Passive) (Level: 1) (1/10 EXP):
You’ve familiarized yourself with the process of skinning, deboning, and cutting the flesh of monsters. The next time you dissect a monster, it will be smooth and effortless.』
“It’s a helpful skill….”
Roy said as another notification rang in his mind.
『Core of Strength.』
『If a person with a Strength Stat below or at 49 consumes it, their strength would increase by 1 point. It’s effective only for trainees!』
That wasn’t its only use. But because his Perception Skill was at the first level, it failed to fully list out its uses. He, who had read the novel, knew it could be ground down into a healing powder.
So he joyfully stowed the core of strength into his subspace and walked ahead.
He walked around aimlessly for three minutes before coming across two monsters, catching their attention. One was yellow; the other was green. Both were holding harpoons. So Roy took them as warriors.
“Kichiek” “Kichiek”
They roared loudly, and one of them hurled its harpoon at him. The harpoon missed its target as Roy took a leap, jumping above it. Gently tapping his foot at the edge of the harpoon, he pounced on the weaponless troglodyte, bringing his sword down at it.
It was killed instantly.
Right at that very instant, Roy caught the sight of the other troglodyte’s cheeks puffing up from the corner of his eyes.
Sensing extreme danger, he immediately jumped back.
Whoosh!
Right then, a yellowish ball the size of two fingers shot out its mouth like a bullet leaving its barrel. It missed Roy by some inches, but the poor tree behind him wasn’t as lucky. It splashed on it and exploded, covering it in yellow. Under Roy’s watchful eyes, the tree melted and was reduced to nothing.
“Holy… fuck! I better watch out for this poisonous spit.”
He will die miserable otherwise.
The yellow troglodyte’s cheeks puffed up again. Roy knew what was coming.
“Kichiek!’
A single poisonous yellow ball, and then the second one, and then a third one shot out of its mouth.
They came down on Roy like torrential rain.
Instead of moving backwards, he tried to move past them to close the distance between him and the monster. Although his body was bigger than average, he slipped past all three. But it shot out another one. This one was impossible to go around. He had to halt and whip out his sword to slap it away.
In that short moment, It made Roy’s effort went down the drain by jumping back by six meters.
“This bastard is a bit tricky… It knows how to pull tricks….”
Roy’s taunt was met by another round of attack.
“Whoosh!” Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
It released a volley of poisonous shots. There were twelve in danger. Roy moved passed six of them, shortening the distance between them by three meters. It thought that he would be forced back by the last six. But Roy surpassed its expectation. He summoned the Mana Shield, and like a barbarian, he half dodged and half brute-forced his way through them, reaching it.
He greeted it with a smile and then a sword.