11 Imposible dungeon

The flow of time seemed to be stopped inside the dungeon. The sky was always as bright as you would expect it to be at noon, so knowing exactly how long I had been inside was difficult. It could have been just a few hours, just as easily as it could have been a day or two, I had no way of knowing for sure. I just kept wandering around the place, while I tried to avoid facing monsters as much as possible. It hadn’t taken long for me to realize how dangerous this place actually was.

Contrary to what you would expect of a typical dungeon, this one had its own ecosystem. In addition, even though this was just the starting floor, it was immense, and thus it allowed its inhabitants to live as they pleased, just as if they were living in their natural habitat. Was this on purpose? Who knows.

Insects, mammals, birds, reptiles… everything one would expect to find in a jungle existed on this floor. This wasn’t limited to animals, there was a wide variety of monsters as well as vegetation.. What’s more, the concept of food chain seemed to work the same way it did back on Earth, as I could see how the stronger monsters were hunting the weaker ones… Sadly for them, most of the smaller animals seemed to be nothing but monster food. Well, I suppose that monsters also needed to eat, and it wouldn’t be good for the dungeon if they spent all their time killing each other. Although for me that definitely would have been the best possible scenario.

After my battle with the spider I assumed that the monsters in the dungeon did not hesitate to attack stones, but that turned out not to be the case. The fact that I was a living stone definitely made surviving easier. Being stealthy and remaining unnoticed was not as difficult as I feared it would, although there were two big problems.

On the one hand, these monsters didn’t seem to be able to tell an animal and a stone apart. As long as they mistook me for a regular piece of rock they couldn't care less about me, but if they realized that I was a living object they would attack me at once. On the other hand…

[Giant sundew: A monstrous carnivorous plant. Despite not being able to move, its enormous size and long sticky tendrils give it great reach. Like most plant monsters, unless its core is destroyed or its roots damaged, its HP will never reach 0.]

Status:

Name: -

Kind: Sundew| Race: Giant sundew

Level: 34

HP: 567/567 | MP: 783/783

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‘How am I supposed to deal with that?’

Each and every one of the monsters I had encountered had levels between 20 and 35… That made me wonder about the structure of the dungeon. Perhaps it was one of those dungeons where monsters left the lower floors after their level had increased enough.

‘If this really is the typical dungeon, and the monsters of the nexts floors are even stronger, I better start planning for my third life…’

There was also the possibility that the dungeon had a single floor, separated by different independent zones, divided by level. Personally, I preferred the alternative, but it wouldn't be a disaster either way. However, in the end I realized something that made me change my mind. A dungeon is a place where monsters are generated artificially. It wouldn’t be strange for them to be “born” directly with such high levels, and it was entirely possible that monsters were stuck with the same level they had at the moment of their birth until they eventually died .

‘Helpy, is it possible that these monsters have their level predetermined and can’t level up?’

[Insufficient information.]

‘Figures. Well at least I had to give that a try…’

Unfortunately, Helpy hadn't been able to provide me with useful information lately. Each dungeon seemed to be different, so it would be unreasonable to expect Helpy to have specific information about each one. Anyway, no matter how this dungeon in particular worked, the end result remained the same: I was stuck at a lowly level 7, and I was utterly defenseless against an army of monsters that could be twenty levels higher than me.

‘I need to get stronger, but… how? It’s not like I can go around killing monsters to level up.’

Last time I managed to kill that spider… or pig… or whatever… but it was a fluke. I may not get so lucky a second time, let alone a third, fourth or however many times it took me to reach at least level 25.

‘I need power… I need weapons…’

That was the obvious thing to be thinking about. If your own power is in short supply, use a good weapon to make up for it… but how the fuck can a fucking stone wield a fucking weapon?! Also, it is not like I had one in the first place. Relying on poison to fight was out of the question for exactly the same reason: I was a fucking stone!

‘I miss having arms… or at least hands… I want my voluptuous biceps back!’

I started rolling back and forth, just like a spoiled kid that’s throwing a tantrum. I had no real reason to do it, I was just so frustrated that I couldn’t think of anything better to do.

[Ability “Roll” is now at level 4.]

‘Seriously, because of this bullshit?! Although… it’s really not all that weird. I’ve been rolling day and night. It had to happen sooner rather than later, I guess this was just a coincidence…’

[Title “Wandering stone” is now at level 2.]

‘Or maybe it was no coincidence after all…! Certainly, this is the only title that can be leveled up. I wonder if increasing its level will have any kind of effect.’

I opened the status window and checked my skills. Everything looked exactly the same, with the exception of having leveled up a couple of them. I hadn’t received any new titles either… Although considering how shady the ones I had were, that was probably a good thing.

‘Right, I won’t be able to use actual weapons, but I guess skills can also be considered a weapon of sorts. If I cannot trust my strength I will trust my intelligence… Which apparently is the only thing I have going for me…’

While I was reviewing my stats, which were wonderful and overwhelming and had the ability to terrify anyone who saw them… yes, those stats with a wonderful 0 next to them, I caught on to something extremely important. Leveling up… didn’t exactly seem to be a solution for my stat problem.

‘No matter how much my level goes up, my stats haven’t increased even a single point. The only ones that have actually increased are my HP and MP, nothing else. So it’s clear that even if I reach level 20 to be on par with the monsters, I will still be just as weak as I am now. I will be able to take more damage and the increased mana will allow me to last longer in a fight, but that’s it!’

I fell deep in thought. It was undeniable that I needed to raise my level at any cost, otherwise I would die almost instantly if I took a hit of two. Also, I wouldn’t have enough mana to withstand a fight that lasted too long. However, that was not the priority right now. It would be useless for me to have a higher level if I still wasn’t able to damage my enemies. The mana cannon and mana bomb alone wouldn’t be enough to bring down a tough opponent.

‘I need to learn new skills. Not necessarily offensive skills, but ingenious skills that allow me to fight enemies much stronger than me.’

Setting traps, immobilizing enemies, reducing their attack, inflicting them with ailments that deal damage over time and constantly weaken them, and skills that would allow me to to avoid being hit. Even abilities capable of buffing myself would be fine.

‘But I suppose I should focus on something that meets the minimum requirements rather than looking through too many different options.’

I resumed moving as I kept thinking about it. I immediately noticed that the ‘Roll’ ability had improved exponentially. The mana consumption had been reduced so much that I hardly noticed the loss of MP. The difference was much more noticeable than when the skill went from level 2 to level 3. I figured that had something to do with the ‘Wandering stone’ title increasing its level as well.

‘Seems that these fucking stupid titles will really be usefull after all… or at least, some of them will. Anyway, this solves one of my most pressing concerns.’

The mobility issue, even though it still left something to be desired, was partially resolved. The next order of business was improving my offensive and defensive capabilities. I had no doubt where I should start.

‘I am a magic stone, so magic should be my strength… probably? It’s settled, I will become a mage! Although… I already am one, aren't I?… Better not think too hard about it or I will get depressed…’

I slipped through trees and bushes, looking for someplace far away from any monster. It would be unpleasant and dangerous if an enemy appeared while I was training. I would probably lack mana and focus to be able to evade a sudden attack.

‘I wonder if I will learn stealth.’

‘Thank you for that. I was hoping a message would pop up!’

Finally, I arrived at a place where the noises of nearby monsters could no longer be heard. There probably wouldn’t be many quiet places in this dungeon, so this would be a good spot for training.

‘This looks like a good place. Time to train!’

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