An Old Man

The old man then quickly grabbed a lamp and ignited it. He then entered the dark cave.

"Huff huff."

Rei panted as he continuously mined. His arms bulged as he channelled all his strength to his arms.

[+1 strength point received.]

Rei's strength increased by 1 when he mined 10 mana stones.

After completing one task he proceeded for the next one. Soon enough, he realized that it wasn't a mission where you had to complete a task… rather, it was a looping mission in which, a set amount of work was rewarded.

Of course, he continued to mining as he didn't know when he could enjoy such a privilege again.

A few minutes after continuous mining, he stored the mana stones in his inventory. He then once again grabbed the handle of his tool. He lifted his arms and then motioned them downwards to which the head of the tool came crashing down with the wall.

The process of mining continued for the next two hours.

'Phew…', he was fatigued.

By now, he had mined about 1300 mana stones – part of which was thanks to his luck.

In every three to four strikes, a large chunk of rock would get smashed and he would get about 5-10 mana stones – of course, impure ones.

Needless to say, in total, he had struck the rocks about 720 times.

So, if calculated, Rei should have gotten 130 strength points by now for 1300 mana stones.

However, nothing of such thing happened.

Just after getting 50 mana stones, the first quest turned off.

Even after consequent strikes, he couldn't enjoy the benefit.

As for the second and third tasks of the mission, he was handsomely rewarded with 5 stat points and 7 strength points.

In total…

He gained 12 points for strength and 5 stat points. Along with this, he gained 6 stamina points, which wasn't due to the mission and self-hard work.

[HP: 20/20|| Max. HP: 25]

[Strength: 16]

[Agility: 4]

[Defense: 4]

[Stamina: 10]

[Stat Points: 10]

Rei then scratch his butt as he continued panting heavily.

He then wiped the sweat that accumulated on his forehead. He then grabbed the tool to continue mining. Even though he had long ago completed both his missions there were still many advantages of mining – basically, for the increase in stamina.

He mined a few more times, however, only rocks kept falling.

"Uh…"

-"I think you have completed exhausted the mine…"- Lucas commented.

Rei didn't complain about it as 1300 mana stones, to be precise, 1357 mana stones weren't easy to find.

Even a mana stone mine would at most have 500-700 mana stones. It was probably some luck that led Rei to find 1000+ mana stones.

"Let me try a bit more…", Rei said.

He once again lifted his arms but at that time he heard the sound of footsteps.

A confused look appeared on Rei's face as he turned around to see who or what it was.

He was able to clearly see in the cave even though it was dark. This was because goblins had a good sight during the night. But adding to that, the light source from the lantern made him spot the person clearly.

He then rubbed his eyes and then opened them again and at that moment, he saw an old man with a creepy smile. The old man had a lamp near his face.

"Kuku lucky!" The old man exclaimed as he looked at Rei with a hint of greediness reflecting in his eyes.

"I just needed a few more exps to level up. Fortunately, I found a goblin along with this mine…", He said.

He then slowly started to walk toward the goblin who was none other than Rei.

"My dear prey! Be ready to be hunted by me!", He said.

-"A human! Quickly run!"- Lucas shouted.

'Uh, where should I run?'

'My back is against the wall and in the front, the human is approaching me…', Rei said.

-"Then use your skill, one strike!"-

'Sorry, but I have already used that!'

'Then use Double strike!"-

'That's done too! While mining…'

-"…"-

"…"

-"Then run! Run towards the old man and dodge his attacks if he launches any! You can surely do that, right?"-

'Yes…'

-"Then what are you waiting for!? RUN!"- Lucas screamed

"Ok!", Rei said and then started to take some steps behind, to which the old man started to chuckle and walk forward leaving no space for Rei to escape.

In the end, Rei's back touched the cold wall sending chills down his spine.

Then the old man took out a dagger from his pocket, but just as he was about to thrust it forward, Rei swung his pickaxe – quite different from what Lucas had imagined.

Crack. The head of the pick axe fell on Rei's leg and its weight caused him to scream in pain. Fortunately, the flat side of the head struck Rei's leg.

-"I give you ten out of ten for smartest but zero out off ten for the choice of weapon that you used to attack!"-

-"Can't you tell just from seeing him that he is way stronger than you? Of course, he will have high defense points!"- Lucas lectured Rei.

-"So stop using your useless brain's ideas and follow mine!"-

Using his short height as an advantage Rei dashed and slipped through the gap that was widely left by the old man.

However, it was far from over.

Rei could make a run, the old man bashed the lamp on Rei's head, causing him to scream in pain.

But Rei didn't let the pain hinder him and ran as fast as he could towards the entrance of the cave.

At that time, the fire that spread on the little mosses and plants on the ground and the broken lantern that still had the ignited flames started to accumulate in the old man's hand.

It was as if he was controlling the fire like a puppet.

It didn't take even seconds for about half of the flames to accumulate in his palm.

"Flaming arrow!"

"…"