9 Venturing
Authors note: I changed my format and style a bit from what I've see other novels do, feedback is appreciated! Now Enjoy the chapter :)
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1 week later...
Ding..[Congratulations on Leveling up]
Laying in a field of fresh blood dying a certain skeletons black bones a crimson red, you could just make out a hill of sunken corpses in the distance.
"Phew, these horned rabbits can really overwhelm you if they get the jump on you with their numbers."
For the past couple of days I've been heading out to consistently hunt the horned rabbits which are quite prevalent in the tunnels. I don't know if it was the death of the snake or if it's just breeding season but the number of the little critters has exploded!
At first I would be lucky to find a handful of rabbits strolling through the aged halls of the labyrinth, but once the second day passed all hell broke loose. The hallways became littered with rabbits as if it had just become visiting season with every rabbit and their grandma deciding to come over.
Following this spike in numbers the rabbits seemingly had also decided to ditch their passive nature and convert into battle maniacs, ambushing any unfortunate victim that crossed their path. As shameful as it is, even I would've long been dead from the hordes of horned rabbits if It wasn't for my undead vitality skill. Though over the last few days I've manged to trim out the rabbit population with my skills.
Thinking back Its also been a while since I last checked my status screen. I've received plenty of level ups this past week from exterminating a good chunk of the horned rabbit population.
Pulling up my status for the first time in a week I was greeted by the familiar blue translucent screen displaying my progress over these past few days.
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HP: 152/152 -> 217/217
LEVEL: 1/20 -> 13/20
NAME: No-name
RACE: Death Lich
RANK: C+
STRENGTH: 32 -> 84
DEXTERITY:65 -> 115
AGILITY: 40 -> 66
SP: --
MP: 2350 -> 3000
SKILLS: [Undead Endurance] [Undead Vitality] [Swordsmanship G-] [Magic manipulation D] [Necromancy E-] [Death Magic] [Life Steal] [Undead Commander E-] [Darkness Magic] [Curses F+]
TITLE: {Ruler of Death} {Candidate} {Bearer of Revenge}
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Killing numerous rabbits for a entire week, and gaining 13 levels isn't to shabby if I do say so myself. Though It may not seem like much considering the sheer number of rabbits I killed the only reason I can confidently accept this is because In this past week I've also gotten more familiar with the system, and Its confirmed my suspicion of it being very reminiscent of a game. Just as I had suspected it being from the start.
Although I can't confirm it entirely it seems the system hands out Exp based on the threat of the monster rather then the number of monsters. For example despite killing innumerable rabbits I only gained 13 levels, but if I was to kill 2 or 3 more giant snakes I'd have received a similar result.
There's no real point staying here any longer as the rabbit population isn't as high as it used to be and not nearly as effecting considering my level, so with 12 more levels I think it's about time I head out and explore the door the humans exited from.
.........
Once I reached the portion of the dome where the humans last entered through I only managed to find the footprints left by the trio when I last saw them. After searching the area around the wall I found out that other then the footprints nothing else seemed to have changed.
"How did the humans make the wall slide up like they did? There has to be a lever hidden here somewhere."
Despite thoroughly searching the vicinity for a good part of an hour there doesn't seem to be anything to activate the sliding door.
"(NSFW)"
First I lost the snake corpse and now I can't even follow through with my list and explore outside. This sucks, but I'll have to try and make do. Let's see, this is a fantasy world right? So there has to be something magical involved with the mechanism.
Although I could try infusing my mana into the door and see if that'll help, but for some reason there's this thick foreboding feeling when ever I try to find a way though. It's a hard feeling to explain almost like a un climbable cliff that if you climb you'll be punished for it. I could just ignore it but I'd rather not risk it.
From what I've observed over the past few days this place is clearly a labyrinth or abandoned building of some sort, and if my observation turn out to be true then there should be another exit deeper inside. I've never really strayed to far unless you count the journey here, so the threat of stronger unknown foes deeper inside is a possibility.
All things considered heading deeper inside would be the most efficient way to escape and possibly even level up. If I manage to evolve I should be able to defeat most of my opponents, which could ensure I can survive the stronger monsters and not have to always hide.
Thinking through the odds of me perishing with my undead vitality skill I swiftly turned around launching some dust into the air from the sudden movement, and started to head deeper inside.
