Odds against the boy (part 2)

With additional and time-limited equipment, the black-haired boy was actually feeling the urge to seek opponents that he could use it on, so his hesitation and cautiousness suddenly got shoved out of his head, and he began to follow any trails of blood that all ended up in one spot.

"..."

Zorey gulped down his saliva, gripping his dark red staff wrapped in vicious ivy, finding himself at the entrance of an inconspicuous cave or maybe a burrow at the edge of the stream.

If not for the bloody trail, Zorey would not have even thought about checking the place, as the entrance was covered with roots and blended in with the surroundings.

The time remaining before both gemstones would disappear was a bit over five minutes...

...which made the young priest of death decide that there was no time to waste and enter the monster's layer...

Such recklessness would surely make Kaipo spin around in anger while stomping his feet – most likely also while crying – and Zorey would have reconsidered his decision – but the young necromancer wasn't by the black-haired boy's side but rather within the walls of Grand Herbal.

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 2

HP: 66 MP: 2

ATK: 29 MAT: 2

DEF: 5 MDF: 4

SPD: 21 LUC: 9

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

Two steps from the entrance, the cave turned sharply – which added to the difficulty of recognizing it from the outside at first glance – and Zorey instantly met face-to-face with a monster that was on its way out.

"Arf...?!"

"Bullet punch." *WHAM* x22

The boy was prepared, and unlike the shocked canine-type creature, the words that left his mouth were the Skill activation command and not a yelp of shock.

[You defeated Stone Fang dog]

[EXP points granted]

Monster didn't have the time to let out another yelp as guided by the moton. Zorey's staff dropped its HP to 0 in a blink of an eye.

"..."

Zorey breathed out slowly and checked his weapon – just as he expected, the vicious ivy was fone, so he could stick the gemstone in the metal ring on one end of the staff instead.

He could use the lesser spark gem, but he felt that the uncommon item should be used in more of a clutch during a fight with the strong enemy and not on some random rank F creature that just walked into him.

The black-haired boy walked deeper into the tunnel and basked in a glow of fluorescent mold that was quite a common sight in damp, dark spaces like this one, so Zorey didn't even question its presence.

"..."

The tunnel was taking a sharp turn again and then split into two paths, making the young priest of death frown.

...this should be the spot where Zorey should have realized that the monster layer was too dangerous to explore alone and turn back...

...but of course, he didn't do that and instead picked the left path that was sloping down.

Two or maybe three minutes later, the boy had to take yet another sharp turn, making him finally begin to wonder about the complexity of the place, but just as that thought appeared in his mind, he turned the corner and...

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 5

HP: 70 MP: 4

ATK: 31 MAT: 5

DEF: 9 MDF: 7

SPD: 24 LUC: 12

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 8

HP: 77 MP: 5

ATK: 32 MAT: 4

DEF: 9 MDF: 8

SPD: 24 LUC: 12

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 7

HP: 78 MP: 2

ATK: 34 MAT: 1

DEF: 9 MDF: 6

SPD: 29 LUC: 15

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 5

HP: 71 MP: 4

ATK: 31 MAT: 4

DEF: 9 MDF: 7

SPD: 24 LUC: 11

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 3

HP: 69 MP: 6

ATK: 28 MAT: 5

DEF: 6 MDF: 9

SPD: 21 LUC: 9

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 1

HP: 60 MP: 2

ATK: 27 MAT: 1

DEF: 5 MDF: 4

SPD: 19 LUC: 4

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Iron Fang wolf

Rank: D

Level: 21

Stats: (High-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)

Skills: (High-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 5

HP: 72 MP: 4

ATK: 33 MAT: 4

DEF: 8 MDF: 7

SPD: 22 LUC: 12

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 8

HP: 79 MP: 5

ATK: 33 MAT: 4

DEF: 12 MDF: 7

SPD: 20 LUC: 10

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 9

HP: 80 MP: 5

ATK: 35 MAT: 5

DEF: 10 MDF: 9

SPD: 27 LUC: 13

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 6

HP: 70 MP: 4

ATK: 32 MAT: 4

DEF: 9 MDF: 8

SPD: 24 LUC: 11

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 8

HP: 76 MP: 5

ATK: 33 MAT: 4

DEF: 9 MDF: 8

SPD: 25 LUC: 12

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

[Race: Stone Fang dog

Rank: F

Level: 4

HP: 70 MP: 3

ATK: 31 MAT: 4

DEF: 7 MDF: 8

SPD: 22 LUC: 11

Skills: (Low-level Appraisal skill necessary for viewing)]

The tunnel opened up into a large cave where a dozen of dog monsters were gathered in front of a wounded wolf with torn face and missing an eye, feasting on a bunch of dead lesser giant rats.

"!!!"

All of their status windows popped up in Zorey's face making him freeze at the memory of a hallway of rats.

The difference was that a great deal of the ras wasn't able to even cause him any damage because of the difference between their ATK and his DEF.

This time though...