2 Undead Dungeon, Race Upgrade and a New Race

Instantly, I found myself in a new place. It was dark, damp and smelt like shit. Looking around, my enhanced eyes easily saw through the blanket of darkness around me and I quickly made out what my surroundings looked like:

A graveyard.

'Makes sense. This is an undead dungeon, ain't it?' I made the obvious observation before I heard clattering in front of me. Turning my gaze toward the noise, I smiled, 'I should've guessed it'd be this mob,' I let out a chuckle before blasting forth at the mobs that were appearing in front of me. With more speed than even an Olympic sprinter, I quickly made it to the mob and I jumped and slammed my closed fist down on it's head.

If there's one thing I have because of my {Ogre Lv1} and {Troll Lv1} races, it's brute strength. Loads and loads of brute strengths.

The mob in front of me was a skeleton. About the size for an average adult male. So, the bone strength would've been about the same as well. Which is why when my fist collided with the top of the white skull, the skull instantly cracked open and gave way as it practically exploded apart.

Ducking, I went under a sword that was swiped at me and sent out a casual kick that completely shattered the spine of another skeleton. I didn't know the limit to my durability or rather, I did know it and I just didn't want to go through the pain of something hitting me. Just because it doesn't damage my body doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

Plus, it's good practice to dodge instead of just being overconfident in your defense. You can avoid getting caught off guard if you dodge regularly. If you just tank every hit, one day you're gonna take a hit you can't tank and you'll be put on your ass.

'So, again, it's good practice,' I told myself for the umpteenth time as more skeletons started dragging themselves out of the ground.

Each of the skeletons I took out gave me 10 EXP. Each of my races, as they were now, required 30 EXP to level up. Three skeletons, basically. And I had to get 90 EXP to level them all up to Lv 2 because I couldn't leave any of them behind, apparently. I needed to get all my races to Lv10 before I could get a new one. It was kinda annoying but I saw the reasoning - it was so I didn't just keep stacking up races until I became invincible, I guess.

So, I kept killing the skeletons as they spawned. More and more of them until the graveyard are around me was littered with broken bones and shattered swords, 'Even when I tried my hardest, I still got hit by a few of them...Well, I better hope my next race gives enhanced speed or reflexes. I'm getting tired of working with the innate reflexes I have now.

With enhanced senses from {Troll Lv1} I can slow my perception of time a little but even that doesn't help too much. Not when my body is a bit too slow to react to it.

'I'm just lucky that when it says enhanced senses it means ALL the senses. Not just the main five. My sense of my body and how to move it and my balance are also enhanced to beyond human levels...pretty much means I can move flawlessly and however I want as long as my body itself can handle it - it saves me a lot of trouble when I have to dodge or at least want to dodge,' musing to myself about this, I stretched my arms a little before taking a few steps forward. While I did this, I opened up my status to check out my EXP and how much I'd gained from that fight.

[EXP: 210]

'...I could upgrade now but I don't really need to. I'd rather save EXP now so I can upgrade as much as possible all in one go. Who knows if I have higher leveled races, I might stop getting EXP from this dungeons first floor,' I scratched the side of my head before seeing another group of skeletons in front of me, 'Well, I'll grind up a decent amount of skeletons and EXP, then I'll try and find the entrance to the next floor. After that I can upgrade my races.'

So, I went forth and began to take out the skeletons in front of me. I found an ominous-looking door at point but chose not to enter it and instead went to the rest of the dungeon, looking for more skeletons to grind out for more EXP. I didn't know whether or not I'd be able to come back to the first floor after I went through that door - it was obviously the entrance to the next floor - so getting it all done while I was here was my main goal right now. Well, actually, getting the most EXP so I could gain more strength was my main goal. Finishing the first floor was just a part of that main goal.

Once I'd gone through the whole graveyard and killed everything that could move, I was greeted by a ding and some fanfare and confetti going off in my ears along with a screen appearing in front of me.

[Congratulations! You've fully cleared the First Floor of the Undead Dungeon! As a reward, you get 1000 EXP! Remember, fully clearing floors can give brilliant rewards that aren't just bonus EXP, so keep on clearing them and we'll keep on rewarding you!]

The screen disappeared and I opened up my status to look at my EXP again.

[EXP: 4320]

'...Damn, that's a lot of EXP,' I laughed to myself before opening up the race tab that had '+' next to each of their levels. It was a lot of EXP but it made senses, 'On average, the skeletons were in groups of 22 and there were about 15 groups of skeletons in total. Plus the bonus EXP for clearing the first floor and it checks out...but it does seem like they're giving me too much EXP. I only need 30 EXP for each of my races to level up and even if that increases per level, I've still got enough EXP to cover it. I can only guess that there are certain races I can get that require a fucking ton of EXP to level up. That's the only reason for this inflated EXP gain,' coming to that conclusion, I exited the dungeon and pulled out a watch I'd brought with me.

I'd been in the dungeon for a few hours but only a few dozen minutes had passed according to this watch, 'Time dilation. The dungeon has time dilation. Well, that's interesting,' I raised my eyebrows in surprise before putting the watch away in my pocket again.

Turning back to the race tab, I pressed the '+' behind {Human Lv1} and it's level went up to {Human Lv2} with a box at the bottom that said 'Confirm EXP Allocation?'. The price to take it to Lv3 was still 30 EXP, so I did it again. Once it hit Lv3, the price doubled.

Narrowing my eyes, I did the same for my other races and just like for my human level, once ogre and troll hit Lv3, their prices doubled from 30 EXP to 60 EXP.

Doing some quick thinking in my head, I figured that if it doubled in price once every two levels, I should still have enough EXP to cover all of them becoming Lv10. So, I kept pressing the plus button and soon, all my races were Lv10. Taking a deep breath, I felt a little nervous about what was about to happen but I still confirmed the allocation.

Instantly, I felt the same heat that came into my body all those years ago when I gained {Ogre Lv1} and {Troll Lv1}. But this time it was so intense that I fell to my knees as I felt my body actually rippling like jello.

But I care little for it. It wasn't painful, just an uncomfortable feeling.

'Though, I'll make a note to only upgrade races in small increments from now on,' I mentally joked about it and closed my eyes as I brought focus to my mind, to try and take away from the itchy feeling spreading throughout my body. It was immensely distracting.

But what was even more distracting was that when it was done...I felt like a new person.

My mind flowed so perfectly. Like water going through pipes without any obstructions. My ideas flowed without obstruction and my knowledge was easily brought to the forefront of my mind when I thought about it. Before, I had Enhanced Intelligence that made me quite clever. I understood concepts and could apply them quite easily and quickly. But it always felt like the rest of my mind was lagging behind. My mental stamina, my memory, my wisdom--all of it.

'But now...everything feels like it's on the same level...Good,' I stood up, smiling wide as I brought up my races and what they give me.

[Human Lv10 - Enhanced Mind, Enhanced Body, Enhanced Crafting, Enhanced Inventing.]

[Troll Lv10 - Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Senses, Immense Stamina, Regenerative Healing Factor, Super Eating.]

[Ogre Lv10 - Immense Strength, Immense Durability, Superhuman Stamina, Predator Instincts, Enhanced Tracking, Enhanced Biting.]

'An overall upgrade on the stats each of them focus on...Decent. They're not the strongest races I could've gained but they're not the worst either,' I said, clenching and unclenching my fist before smiling wryly, 'I'm gonna have to get used to this new level of strength. Annoying. I'd just gotten used to my old strength as well,' scoffing at my own useless complaints, I spoke up to the system, "How do I get a new race? All my previous races are level ten now."

[Do you wish for a new race? Y/N]

"Huh...so it's as simple as asking," I mused before mentally pressing the 'Y'. Without wasting any time, as soon as I pressed the 'Y', another screen appeared.

[Congratulations, you've gained the new race {Griffin Lv1}!]

Raising my eyebrow in surprise, I felt another wave of heat flood my body, mainly focusing on my back/shoulders and on my eyes. It was significantly less uncomfortable than what I'd just been through, so it didn't even phase me and before I knew it, it was over. Curious, I brought up the screen that told me about the abilities my races give me and zeroed in on the newest one.

[Griffin Lv1 - Superhuman Speed, Superhuman Reflexes, Enhanced Flexibility, Enhanced Balance Enhanced Lung Capacity, Flight.]

'Flight? Well, that'd explain the heat focusing around my back. Now, if I try and flex back there...' as I thought along these lines, I pulled my shirt up and out of the way before flexing all the muscles I could. Along the way, I found a new pair of muscles and while at first it was hard, I finally flexed them after a bit of practice.

The result was...weird, to say the least. A pair of dark brown wings, the color matching my hair, sprouted from my shoulders. They were massive. Both of the wings were easily 6 feet in length and I could feel the strength radiating in them.

It was even weirder when they felt like an extra pair of arms. I tried moving them about a bit and they were just as responsive as my original arms. It was just weird.

'...But it's also pretty cool, right?! I can fly now!' I gave an excited smile before trying to take off with my new wings.

My muscle strength was enough - more than enough, actually - but I couldn't get the technique right. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't get it to work. But I didn't let that discourage me. I just pulled the wings back into my body, storing them wherever they went, 'Magic, I guess,' I shrugged before putting my shirt back on. At least I had something new to train alongside gaining control over my new strength.

Thinking about my new strength, I brought up my full status to see my limits now.

[Name: Taylor Jackson]

[Age: 8-years-old]

[Races: {Human Lv10}, {Troll Lv10}, {Ogre Lv10} and {Griffin Lv1}]

[EXP: 180]

[Strength Level: Class K (144 tonnes]

[Speed Level: Subsonic (38 m/s or 85 MPH)]

[Durability Level: Large Building-level]

[Stamina Level: Very High]

'...Bloody hell. An 8-year-old that could life a Tank above their head without breaking a sweat? I'm probably already stronger than Clark,' I admitted to myself before rolling my eyes, 'Well, if he were to stop growing anyway. He's a goddamn solar battery and every day he gets a little stronger. But, to be fair, that's the same case for me as well. Now that I have access to the dungeon, every day I'm gonna get a little stronger as well,' letting out a breath of relief I didn't know I was holding in, I shook my head before rushing off toward Clark's house.

This had taken way less than I thought it would, so I might as well go and hang out with the future boy scout. It'd give my alibi some substance in case mom called up Clark's mom to see if I was there.

With that figured out, I was on my way.