"It's almost scary..."
All four of my physical related Stats entered the thousand realm, thus giving me the physical prowess of a D-Rank Warrior and with Bladework's new enhancements, as long as it's active, my Strength, Speed and Intelligence Stats increase significantly .
"Although, it kinda does makes sense why I gained so much this time around now that I think about it. Even though my life wasn't necessarily in eminent danger, it was still more challenging fighting the Warriors than it was fighting the monsters. It's not about the difference between fighting Warriors and fighting monsters specifically but about the level of difficultly, meaning I could still gain a lot more if I fight stronger monsters too. I don't wanna have to go around on a Warrior killing spree just 'cause it can make me stronger. That's some straight up Dark Warrior behaviour typa shit right there. I'd have to go incognito, completely off the grid, living my life on the run so to that, I say, no thank you."
Furthermore, with Bladework being an A-Rank Skill, my fighting prowess also becomes average A-Rank level.
An F-Rank with the Strength and Speed of a D-Rank and the fighting skill of an A-Rank.
"Isn't this a little broken...? Seriously, just what the heck is the Blacksmith Class??"
"Hoo, let's not dote on it any further. Now then, all that's left is for me to clear this Dungeon. Since Dungeon Bosses are always one Rank higher than the Dungeon itself, the Boss of this Dungeon should be D-Rank, right? I already fought a D-Rank Warrior and since the only monsters that tend to be stronger than Warriors of the same Rank are S-Rank, I'm not worried."
I teleported my blade in my Item Space which had also increased in Rank then quested on. My speed had increased significantly so I really wanted to test it out, in doing so, I started running. It felt amazing. My legs moved faster than anything I'd ever seen before. My body felt incredibly light, like it was being carried. I jumped a few times while running, the view from above was to die for, the cool breeze engrossing my hair and face made me feel peace unlike any other.
"This is nucking futs! Whoooo-hooo!"
I felt a childish smile form on my face. I was elated. I had deactivated my Bladework Skill but my Treasure Hunt Skill was still active. I could see multiple other mines from below, but none exuded the aura of where a Dungeon Boss might be. I kept running, passing by multiple other Werehyena packs, along with a few herds of those buffalo look-alike monsters here and there, as I kept jumping up and down, I was also frequently met with odd looking bird monsters that kind of resembled vultures. Ignoring all these creatures, I then activated my Bladework Skill simply for the purpose of moving faster. The difference was visible, an exponential increase in speed. I then noticed something odd. As I was running, it became incredibly quite, I couldn't hear anything, not even the sound of my own footsteps.
"No way! Did I just break the sound barrier!?"
Surpassing Mach-1 speed threw me off a little. I just couldn't believe it. Finally coming across a cave that felt a little more ominous than the others became the perfect excuse for me to try and ignore what had just happened.
[Report. Advancements in the Subject's overall Warrior info have been detected as a result of recent actions.]
"Seriously? What don't you get from 'excuse for me to try and ignore it'!?"
~Sigh~
"So a certain level of physical exertion counts as training too. Guess that makes sense. Fiiiine, let's see what you have for me..."
[Now calculating advancements...]
[Weapon Fanatic's Sub-Skill Bladework's effects on the Subject's Stats have increased. Effect on Strength has increased by 90. Effect on Speed has increased by 100. Effect on Health has increased by 60 and effect on Intelligence has increased by 70. Now redesigning the effects of the A-Rank Bladework Sub-Skill on the Subject...]
A-Rank Bladework Sub-Skill: Effects When Active
• Strength +790
• Speed +1000
• Health +560
• Intelligence +570
[Furthermore, Mana Capacity has increased by 100. Strength has increased by 50. Speed has increased by 100. Health has increased by 50 and Intelligence has increased by 90.]
[Now redesigning overall Warrior info...]
Name: Raid
Surname: ???
Affiliation: Awakened Warrior
Class: Blacksmith
Skills:
• Craft D-Rank : ....
• Repair D-Rank: ....
• Weapon Fanatic C-Rank: ....
•• Bladework A-Rank: ....
••• Sunset Slash: ....
• Treasure Hunt B-Rank: ....
• Mine D-Rank: ....
• Item Space B-Rank: ....
Rank: F
Level: Locked
Mana Capacity: 3901
Strength: 1085
Speed: 1300
Health: 1142
Intelligence: 1229
"It's not necessarily much but I'll take it!"
I stopped near the cave entrance then deactivated the Bladework Skill but kept Treasure Hunt on. As I was about to enter the cave, I was met with an immediate ambush. About twenty Werehyenas, all alphas, cornered me.
"Mhh, maybe I should try and see how well I'd do without my blade this time."
I took a boxing-like stance and uttered...
"Bring it."
They attacked immediately. I launched a punch to one of them on its face, it flew about ten metres sideways and did not get up afterwards.
"Ohhh!?"
I salivated. Killing an alpha Werehyena with my bare hands, now that's not something you can just take away from me. I felt inspired. By myself of course...
"Alrighty! One down, nineteen more to go!"
Two of them jumped at me from both sides, I moved back a bit then used both my hands to grab each of them by their necks then bashed their heads against one another. I heard the sound of their skulls cracking as a result, but I wasn't about to let them go. I used both of them to hit the others, each time I did that, their bodies were falling apart little by little, but the ones that were being hit just received minor injuries without dying so I finished thoseones off with kicks from every direction. After that I let the ones I held by the necks go and their bodies fell flat like sacks of potatoes. There were six of them left then. They started backing up, hesitating to attack. So I started stomping down multiple times while whistling, edging them to come at me. They all attacked in unison. I took them all out, each with a single punch.
"Now, then let's collect some crystals."
[Report. Hidden Quest: Werehyena Alpha Domination has been completed. Now calculating rewards...]
[Subject has gained a new Skill known as Brawler.]
[Mana Capacity has increased by 9. Strength has increased by 15. Speed has increased by 13. Health has increased by 12 and Intelligence has increased by 11. Now redesigning overall Warrior info...]
Name: Raid
Surname: ???
Affiliation: Awakened Warrior
Class: Blacksmith
Skills:
• Craft D-Rank : ....
• Repair D-Rank: ....
• Weapon Fanatic C-Rank: ....
•• Bladework A-Rank: ....
••• Sunset Slash: ....
• Treasure Hunt B-Rank: ....
• Mine D-Rank: ....
• Item Space B-Rank: ....
• Brawler E-Rank: Possesses a moderate level of mastery in hand-to-hand close-quarters combat.
Rank: F
Level: Locked
Mana Capacity: 3910
Strength: 1100
Speed: 1313
Health: 1154
Intelligence: 1240
[Final rewards are being allocated. Subject has received 20 E-Rank monster cores, otherwise known as Mana Crystals plus entry into the Cave of the Dungeon Boss with no disturbance.]
"Brawler huh? Sounds interesting. Sounds very interesting. It's E-Rank right now...so if I use it against a D-Rank monster andWIN then won't it increase significantly in Rank? Heh, alright then, now we have a plan."
I started heading inside the cave through the tunnel leading underground. It was a lot similar to the first one but differed in size, I'd estimate at least three times bigger. As I arrived at the edge, I saw the mine. At the far end of it, there were a bunch of large rocks grouped together, on top of them was a very large Werehyena, sleeping. I guessed that was the Boss.
"A throne made of rocks, we've got a cocky one over here."
This mine looked at least 5 times bigger than the previous one. And the number of Werehyenas aside from the Boss was annoyingly huge and their coordination looked somewhat scarily a lot more organised and orderly than that of the Werehyenas I've seen before. To be specific, I counted a hundred alphas and ten more Werehyenas that were slightly bigger than them but still smaller than the Boss, about five times smaller I'd say.
"I've never seen thoseones before. Just what are they? Looks like each one of them has a group of ten alphas that they command. So, what then? Commander Werehyenas? Captains? Squad leaders? Let's call 'em squad leaders for now. So that's a hundred alphas, ten squad leaders and one Boss. Now what about the normies....no way. Five hundred?"
Five hundred normies, a hundred alphas, ten squad leaders, and one Boss. That totalled 611 Werehyenas. That number alone scared me a bit.
"Starting to doubt if I can really do this. Facing off against one D-Rank monster plus six-hundred and ten E-Rank monsters really doesn't sound like some walk in a park. I was stupid to expect the Boss to be alone. I really wanna increase Brawler's Rank but ain't this a little too much? I mean won't there be other chances for leveling up? The moment I jump down this tunnel's edge, the Quest will start, which means I can still bail if I wanna....but! Do I really want that!? To just run with my tail tucked between my legs? Yeah no! That's not me! Not anymore! Now or never, it's time to be bold. Afterall, fortune favours the bold!"
After that declaration, I jumped down the edge, entering the mine and did an even grander superhero landing than before, totally reforming the surface I landed on. I was pumped.
I let out a long exhale. Then readied my self taking a boxing-like stance.
[Report. Subject has entered the Cold Iron Mine: The Werehyenas' Dungeon Boss, The Great Werehyena's Den. Subject will now recieve an Immediate Quest...]
[Immediate Quest contents.]
Immediate Quest: Subject must clear the E-Rank Dungeon. For that to happen, subject must exterminate the Dungeon Boss, The Great Werehyena, all ten of the omega Werehyenas, all one hundred of the alpha Werehyenas and all five hundred of the normal Werehyenas in the mine within the given time duration.
Duration: 5hours
Upon Success: The E-Rank Dungeon will be cleared.
Upon Failure: Subject will die.
Rewards will be calculated after the Quest is completed based on the Subject's efficiency.
"Wow, five hours. That duration alone screams danger-level difficulty"