Knowing I only had a month left and seeing that I had finally reached the point where I could truly gain the XP I required, I began pushing myself to the absolute limit.
By this, I mean I would literally fight until my body began falling apart. The deeper into the caverns I went, the stronger my opponents became; as such, there was a definitive point where I found my stats lacking, and tactics began taking over along with the active use of my Talent.
Yet, with my abundance of Health and Particle Potions, I pushed on, only stopping every 16 or so hours to sleep, bathe, and eat. Every time I found myself in a precarious situation, I would find a way out, be it with distractions such as tossing corpses or piled dirty rags to throw the beasts off my trail as I made a speedy escape.
Level 2.
Level 3.
Level 4.
Day by day, I pushed forward, and the results were evident as my time dwindled to only a week remaining before I’d have to return to Earth. To make matters worse, if I wanted to get back to my home, I would first have to return to the Bronze Gate I came through in the beginning, meaning I’d have to backtrack through all the progress I’d made over the last month.
And, in my rush to level up…that’s how I found myself in a situation I dreaded. Having determined that if I ran at my full speed while utilizing my Augmentation Skill, I could make it back to the gate in under a week so long as I didn’t stop, I made an idiotic decision due to only needing 5% XP until I maxed my level in the No-Rank.
ROOOARRRRRRRRRRRRR
Standing a hundred meters away from my position, curled around itself, was a monster I absolutely had ZERO intention of fighting if push came to shove; unfortunately, as luck would have it, I would have to do exactly that.
"Subterranean TerraWyrm, aka a Lower Racial Classification of Earth Dragon, approximately 2C…sigh, am I really about to do this…" Wearing a stony expression, I entered the Cavern as the draconic monster let loose another fierce warning roar.
It had long since known of my arrival, and although it was some distance away and lying down, I knew the colossal 30-meter-long monster had no intention of allowing me to leave.
Based on the sharp glint in its eyes and the steam jetting from its nostrils, I knew it viewed me as any human did an ant, and if anything to it, I was nothing more than an annoyance it could eviscerate with a swipe of its tail.
And then there were the abundant Mid-Beta-Rank particles radiating off its body. This fight, since I had chosen to take it, was by no means going to be easy, but there was one thing I had going for me.
Unlike every monster I had obliterated to date, all draconic species had a higher level of intelligence passed on through their bloodlines, and with intelligence came an inherent weakness to my Talent.
THAT’S RIGHT, YOU HEARD ME; I CAN FINALLY USE MY TALENT ON SOMETHING OTHER THAN SELF-STRENGTHENING!
The only issue I would face is that I had no clue how high the Wyrm’s Intellect Stat was. It was times like these that I wished I had access to some of my old techniques from the Origin Timeline, such as my Inspection Technique, which was something you could earn from Gamma-Rank Instances. Depending on how skilled you were, you could link it up to your Display Pannel and effectively learn a lot of information about, well…anything really.
I had even seen the technique book being sold off for astronomical amounts of money, but I digress; in my current situation, the only answer I could obtain was one earned through trial and error.
’Mid-Beta-Rank Draconic Races of the Earth Variety, things to look out for massive sharp teeth, greatsword-sized claws, big, bulky bodies, wingless, thick armor-plated scales, and access to Elemental Magic.’ Standing rooted in place at the entrance of the wide-open Cavern, I ran through all the general information about my opponent that was stored in my head.
’2C Wyrms only have access to at most four elemental spells, namely, some form of a bullet, spike, wall, and, lastly, a breath attack. Then there are the physical attacks; thankfully, all that bulk makes Earth Draconoids extremely slow.’
Stepping forward, I willed my particles into action, filling my legs and arms with PC, and drew both my weapons.
’High physical defensive stats and medium to low physical offensive, along with high Meta-Physical Offense and Defensive stats, without enough PC pumped into Augmenting my weapons, I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to break through those thick scales. Meaning I have to aim for the fleshy bits and in-between joints.’
"SIGH…why do I always have to take the hard route?" Making a tough decision, I couldn’t help but ruefully grumble to myself softly and decisively distributed the bulk of my saved Stat points I had been accumulating all this time.
First was my Offensive and Defensive Meta-Physical stats; if I were going to even remotely stand a chance at tanking any stray attacks or cutting through the shell-like exterior of my enemy, I’d need the added help, so I quickly maxed out both stats at their Cap of 10 points causing an electric shiver to run its course through my entire body.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
By the time I felt back to normal, I found myself staring at my remaining 4.86 Stat points and felt at a loss.
’Ideally, I should be adding them to my Intellect since every 10-point interval is a boosting point, and I’d be breaking through 30 points, however…I don’t know if it’s worth it.’
’Then again, there’s no telling how high that big lizard’s Intellect stat is when compared to mine…if by some off chance, it IS higher than 30, then it really won’t matter if I use the points there.’ Bouncing the idea around in my head, I began calmly walking toward the giant beast, and its low rumbling shook the cavern floor below my feet.
’I suppose I could always just ask, right?’
"OI, You big stupid fucking Lizard, do you have a working brain, or are you a moron like the rest of your Brethern?"
ROARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!