10 Going All Out
Sure enough, the drops did not disappoint him.
"What did I do to earn such luck?"
This time, the boss had not only dropped stat crystals and a skill shard but also a piece of equipment as well. A pair of black leather boots was lying right beside the lizardman's corpse.
Upon inspection, the boots turned out to be [Booming Boots].
[Booming Boots]:
1-Star Rank
Active: Dash in a target direction while creating an explosion in your current location. The explosion power and cooldown scale with your [Magic] stat.
[Agility] + 10
The boots were great. Alex did not waste any time and put them on immediately. They felt comfortable, as if tailor-made for him. The only thing about them was that they exuded warmth, which was good for keeping your feet warm on a rainy day, but was not that good within a fiery dungeon like this one.
The active ability, on the other hand, was nothing but great. The perfect match for someone like Alex, who relied on ranged magic skills as his main battle power.
Alex opened his stat screen to check how did the agility increase stack with his [Attribute Consolidation] talent but was disappointed to see +3 next to his vitality, instead of +10.
"Well, at least I've kept my expectations low."
He already had anticipated such a thing, but some part of him just hoped.
Next was to check the skill shard the boss dropped. It was an inferior 1-Star skill named [Fiery Cloak]. It could create a high-temperature aura with you at the center. The skill was incredibly useful in melee fights since it caused your opponent to fight you in scorching heat, great for keeping your enemies at bay.
"Not what I hoped for, but better than nothing I guess. Could be useful in future."
There were quite a lot of dungeons with frigid environments, so Alex was already thinking about which one he could visit. The challenges of these dungeons were pretty similar in nature to this one, despite their diametrically opposing conditions. In the end, no one liked fighting in extreme heat or cold, so Alex just learned it right away.
He quickly grabbed the crystals and stuffed all of them aside from one magic crystal into his backpack. He held it in hand as he began to contemplate.
Now was to decide what to do next. Clearing out a 1-Star dungeon in less than forty minutes is not something a 1-Star rookie could do. So there were two options for Alex now. The first was to wait for four-ish hours and then come out. This would look way more believable from an outsider's viewpoint. As if he slowly turtled his way through the dungeon, using every single opportunity to rest and recover. He also could raise the proficiency of his [Resistance] skill, since just by him being here it rose bit by bit. Or, he could go all in and exit now and jump right back in. If he was lucky, he could even go unnoticed.
After thinking for some time, Alex decided to go with the second option. He was already on the clock and under the watchful eye of the government. Maybe he could show off his potential, so he could be considered a valuable talent in the eyes of the Union.
Alex took a deep breath and approached the crack that appeared after defeating the lizardman. Just as he touched it, he was transported right outside of the dungeon, this time with 82% less nausea.
"Hahahaha! Look! I told ya he's gonna survive!"
"Marv, this is the first time you won. Remind me how many times did you bet on yet another guy going solo into the crack?"
"I don't care! The guy proved my point! Hey buddy, let me treat you to a... Where did he go?"
"I think... I think he went inside again."
"Again? Inside? Right away?"
***
Alex was gradually getting accustomed to the spatial transfers. It still was somewhat uncomfortable, but the third time was a far cry from how nauseating it was the first time, so he figured he'd soon be able to do this with zero discomfort.
This time, the first thing he did was to start a stopwatch, he wanted to know how long exactly it would take him to finish the dungeon this time.
The second attempt was much easier. Already having experienced the behavior of the bosses, Alex was able to breeze through the dungeon with what should be possibly a record time of 29 minutes and 44 seconds. Moreover, the drops were even more bountiful this time.
Lady Fortune seemed to be smiling upon him today because this second delve net him a skill shard and three pieces of equipment on top of all the stat crystals he got.
The skill was a defensive one, 1-Star intermediate grade [Guardian Barrier]. It created a protective shell around you and was able to block damage as long as you had mana available. In Alex's case, it was probably like getting another health bar probably ten times bigger than your actual one on demand.
He learned it right away and immediately activated it. A thin, barely perceptible film appeared roughly two centimeters away from his skin. It was a pity it dropped from the last boss, or Alex would have probably used the lizardman to raise its proficiency.
Now to the equipment.
The first item was [Blazing Dagger] it looked like a high quality, but otherwise pretty plain dagger, its blade around fifteen to twenty centimeters long. However, the active property was pretty great.
[Blazing Dagger]:
1-Star Rank
Active: Rapidly heat up the blade. Increases damage and armor penetration.
[Agility] + 5
[Strength] + 5
The second item he got had no active property, but still was a great find.
1-Star Rank
Passive: Increases defense and fire resistance.
[Scale Cloak:]
[Endurance] + 10
[Magic] + 2
And the third was arguably the best find.
[Ifrit's Earring]:
[Magic] + 15
[Spirit] + 5
Passive: Partially camouflages user's manawaves.
The effects were very much plain, but the sheer amount of attributes it gave, and the fact that it boosted magic so much was incredible. And the passive was neat.
Suddenly, Alex felt as if he was completely naked before. If other awakened strut around with this kind of gear...
He shook his head, chasing away the thoughts. Right now he needed to continue pushing forward.
With his new gear, he was capable of clearing out the dungeon even faster than this time.
Without hesitation, he used a magic crystal to refill his mana and then exited and entered the dungeon once again.
***
"He did it again! Marv, I admit it, you were right."
"Nah Tony, this is clearly something else."
"Do you think we should call the captain?"
"...I'll go get him."
***
The third delve was somewhat less crazy, resulting in two superior-grade skill shards gained, [Fire Whip] and [Sanctuary Sphere].
The names were self-explanatory, and the skills did exactly what you expected of them. [Fire Whip] created a rope of fire that could attack your enemies. What was great about it, was that it could be both a single target and a semi-AoE kind of a skill. As for [Sanctuary Sphere], it created a spherical barrier that protected one from harm, as well as provided a weak restorative effect on the caster. Both were great to have.
After topping off his mana, Alex decided it was time for another run.
***
"See captain? I told you it was not a joke!"
"Why didn't you try to apprehend him?"
"Sir, he's awakened."
"Right."
"Do you think it is a high-level awakened in disguise? Manawave intensity levels still keep dropping after all."
"Soon we will enter the 'No Break' zone if it continues like that."
"Isn't it a good thing?"
"It is."
"So we actually have nothing to complain about, captain?"
"Yeah. The guy is suspicious, but with his level of power, he could have already killed everyone here, so I think he's not here to cause trouble."
***
Run number four was the least profitable so far. Only one piece of gear and no skills. Still, the ring he got was pretty kickass.
[Arcane Ember Ring]
[Magic] +10
Passive: Strengthens fire-type skills.
"Is my luck running out? Or is it because of the overconsumption of the mana? I did kill quite a lot of monsters already and mana has thinned noticeably. I guess I can do another run to confirm."
***
Aside from guards and the captain, now there also were two awakened stationed here. Together, they waited for Alex to appear again.
"Do you think he may be a higher rank awakened?"
"Probably."
"Mind you, 1-Star rookies usually gather in groups of ten. Clearing a dungeon solo is reserved for higher-ranking awakened. Knowing the environment, probably at least peak 2 -Star?"
"Well, why is he doing that? Can't he go to a more profitable dungeon?"
"What do you think, Conrad?" Captain asked one of the awakened.
"I think I might have a theory."
