Warming up

"That's so weird... How come it healed already?" Mike asked.

"I recover fast... The wound is just a scar now but my Health Points are still not full."

"So you stop bleeding faster and your Health Points recover faster? That's so good! The fact that you stop bleeding means that you won't continually lose Health Points... Is it a Skill?" Mike was bewildered.

"Uh... Yeah." Luke answered, not wanting to tell Mike that it was actually a Unique Skill.

"Something like Regeneration or Self-Healing... They're rare Skills. Good for you!" Mike said before laughing out loud.

"Yeah." Luke turned towards the deeper part of the tunnel. "Let's continue then."

"Sure! I'll use you as a meat shield if it gets too dangerous though."

The two laughed as they walked forward.

The next enemies they found were two Black Wolf Alphas.

The two were facing each other, but they were not fighting yet.

"I'll take the one on the right." Mike whispered.

Both sprinted towards the monsters.

To Luke's surprise, Mike was by his side even though his Agility Stat was lacking.

'Mine is at 39, his is at 29 or something. How come?'

Once the two arrived at the monsters' side, Luke raised his weapon above his head with both hands while Mike's right fist was wrapped with purple Mana as he swung it towards one of the monsters.

Luke understood how Mike could be as fast as he was at that instant, but he focused on fighting.

He swung his weapon vertically, but the wolf's sense and Agility Stat were high enough to dodge closely.

The side of its neck was bleeding heavily.

It stared at the attacker and growled ferociously which made Luke take a step back subconsciously.

The monster attacked, but one more swing of his sword made him victorious.

[ You have defeated one Black Wolf Alpha.]

[ You have gained 40 Gold coins and 80 Experience Points.]

[ You have obtained one piece of Black Wolf Pelt.]

'He must be using that, right?' Luke thought as he turned towards Mike.

A screen appeared briefly in front of Mike.

[Your Mana Stat has risen by one Stat Point!]

'Nice!' Mike thought as he faced the wolf.

He had managed to give it a heavy punch to the right eye, but it was not close to enough damage to finish it.

"These agile types are the worst..." Mike whispered.

Of course, Luke stood to the side ready to help.

As the wolf jumped forward with great speed, Mike's feet were wrapped in a purple aura.

He quickly moved sideways, successfully dodging the attack, before kicking the monster's stomach with all his strength before it landed on the ground.

The combination of a 35 Point Strength Stat and Mana Manipulation gave birth to a kick that threw the wolf away towards the wall.

"Want to use this?" Luke asked, offering his sword.

"I'm fine. I have weapons of my own but I would rather fight like this against the weak ones." Mike explained as he stepped towards the monster.

"Weak ones? You seem to be struggling a bit." Luke said confidently.

Mike chuckled without answering.

The wolf stood back up.

Mike stopped walking and took a fighting stance.

'It looks like how boxers stand... But not really. His hands are further and higher than in boxing stances... His hands are open too...' Luke thought.

The instant the wolf jumped towards Mike, a devastating leg kick hit its head.

"I'm not struggling. You could say I'm warming up."

The wolf struggled to stand up, but it fell to the ground.

[ You have defeated one Black Wolf Alpha.]

[ You have gained 40 Gold coins and 80 Experience Points.]

"At least am not wounded." Mike said jokingly.

"Yeah. Okay." Luke started walking away and Mike followed him.

"No, really. I have to be more careful than you. Since your injuries heal fast, you can be more reckless. Also, your Vigor Stat is higher than mine, so..."

"I guess that's true. Stay behind me then." Luke said sarcastically.

Mike sat on the ground.

"Storage." He said out loud, completely ignoring Luke's comment.

A second later, a bottle of orange juice appeared in his hand.

Mike started drinking from it without a care in the world.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked, surprised and a bit annoyed.

"It would be better to have our Health, Endurance and Mana Points at full before continuing. Let's stop for two minutes."

"How low is your Endurance Stat?"

Mike stared at Luke before answering.

"It's not low at all. I still have plenty but I would rather wait a bit."

Luke sat down after sighing.

"Catch." Mike said as he threw the bottle towards Luke.

...

A couple of minutes later, they stood up and were on their way once more.

"We really should get more information from experienced Hunters."

"You would have to pay an extremely high price for good information. Plus, being a hunter is competitive. They usually don't like giving out information they risked their lives to get inside a Dungeon only so that a random person clears that same Dungeon super easily with a better Clear Rank than they did." Mike explained.

"I guess..."

Mike raised his arm towards Luke.

The two stopped walking.

"It's close-"

Mike's words were interrupted as a monster appeared from the darkness.

It jumped from the ceiling and towards Luke.

What looked like an extremely sharp scythe was swung down towards his head.

It was only thanks to his high Agility Stat that he managed to barely raise his sword defensively.

Even though Luke held his sword with both hands, he was brought down on one knee.

'So heavy!' He thought as he was pushed down.

The monster resembled a huge black spider.

"F#ck!!" Luke shouted.

Mike's legs were covered with a great amount of purple Mana as he launched himself forward.

He raised his hands above his head and the Mana that covered his hands took solid form.

It was a mace made up of purple Mana.

As the weapon was slammed on the monster's head with great force, the spider screeched loudly and was forced to step back.

Luke used all his strength to launch himself forward and swing his sword towards the enemy's head.

The spider's head was split in two.

[ You have defeated one Mutated Black Widow.]

[ You have gained 70 Gold coins and 140 Experience Points.]

"I think resting a bit was the right choice." Mike said sarcastically as the purple mace in his hand faded away.