Everybody Levels Up, Except Me (2)
Rastol Dungeon was an ant-den-like Dungeon that had all types of insect monsters.
Ryu Han-bin and Artis had a reason for coming to the same Dungeon again.
In many ways, the Rastol Dungeon was suitable for regular level boosting.
First and foremost, it wasn’t as popular with other hunters because insect-type monsters’ vitality was leagues higher than their levels.
Bringing down insect-type monsters required twice as much effort as bringing down other monsters in the same level, yet they dropped the same tier of Devil’s Spirit Stones.
That resulted in a lower amount of profits.
To put it bluntly, it was annoying to deal with insect-types.
There were a lot more Dungeons in Crete Valley that could make Hunters more money, leaving Rastol Dungeon in a half-abandoned state.
“It’s a suitable dungeon for us.”
Waiting inside one of the Dungeon’s caves, Artis giggled.
The less popular the Dungeon was, the easier it was for two people to sneak around.
The chance for them to get caught was lower.
Of course, most dungeons were already enormous enough that there was a low chance of encountering other Hunters inside.
However, that wasn’t all.
The fact that the monsters’ vitality in Rastol was high was advantageous for them.
‘Han-bin leaves them on the brink of death, but if they die before I can kill them, it’ll all be in vain.’
Artis kept waiting.
Before long, the sound of an explosion echoed all the way from the other side of the dark passage.
Rumble! Bang bang!
“It’s started.”
He took off his robe.
After getting completely naked, he listened intently again.
A few moments passed before he heard the phrase he was waiting for.
“The table is all set, Artis!”
Walking towards the other end of the passageway, he returned to his original form.
A red Dragon breathed flames over hundreds of monsters that had been left scattered all over the place.
Gaaaarrrrrggh!
Ryu Han-bin laughed.
“Congratulations, level 55 Dragon.”
In human form, he was a level 42 Mage.
He leveled up twice again in a single day.
“I’m already full. Thanks. I need to digest energy first.”
Artis put on a robe again, then looked over at the remains of the burnt monsters.
“But Han-bin, have all of the monsters to myself?”
Since Artis had grown stronger, they could go deeper into the Dungeon, which meant the monsters’ levels also rose.
“I think there are some insects in here that you can kill for the experience.”
Ryu Han-bin shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Actually, among the monsters they hunted, some were already level 45 or higher.
If he had killed them himself, he could have gained experience.
“If I did kill them, then what?”
It would’ve given him hundreds of thousands of experience points to enjoy, but it wouldn’t have amounted to much since the remaining experience he needed to level up was 54.58 billion.
“It’s better if I let you level up as fast as possible so we’d be able to advance to the center of the continent.”
He’d be able to fight stronger monsters at the center of the continent, and that meant the experience he’d be able to get was also going to be significantly higher.
Ryu Han-bin jogged across the passage.
“Let’s go back.”
* * *
Artis’ Mage level increased by 2.
His Dragon level also rose by 1.
As a bonus, they also managed to loot a lot of high-quality Devil’s Spirit Stones.
Upon selling it to the Magic Tools Guild, they earned more than 10,000 X in cash.
Their day was productive and rewarding.
Delighted with themselves, the two returned home.
Effir, who was still training her swordsmanship in the yard, bowed at them when she saw them.
“Welcome back.”
“Thanks…”
Artis was surprised, but not by the way she greeted them.
Effir’s entire body was soaked with sweat.
“Looks like you’ve been busy.”
Taking a closer look at her, Ryu Han-bin stuck his tongue out.
“Hey, you’re Level 14?”
“Eek! Really?”
She was only level 10 when they left, yet she already reached level 14 in such a short amount of time?
Even Artis, who was boosted by Han-bin, only rose by two levels.
“Aren’t you getting an error?”
However, when he saw Effir’s swordsmanship, he immediately took his words back.
She swung the twin blades through the air with elegance and excellence.
She moved and rotated around gracefully, almost as if she was dancing to a soothing melody, as she cut through her imaginary enemies.
Her breathing, timing, and flow were all flawless.
Artis and Han-bin could only watch in admiration.
“I knew she was going to reach level 20 easily, but four levels in half a day…”
“Is she really a genius?”
* * *
As Artis digested the energy in him, Ryu Han-bin examined the book he got from Alejandro.
Maxbrid Martial Arts, one of the three major swordsmanship styles on the Continent.
He read the preface of the book.
The sword will remain a sword as the body changes.
Maxbrid Martial Arts was a school that put more emphasis on the ‘swordsman’ than the ‘swords.’
It taught not to change oneself to fit the sword but rather to pick up a sword that suits them.
A sword is just a tool.
The one who kills the enemy is not the sword. It is the human holding the sword.
Upon realizing the correct nature of what one held in their hand, and upon moving their body according to a set reason, then they would be able to cut the sky using a branch. That was the technique pursued by Maxbrid Martial Arts.
It spoke more about the abilities of the one who was holding the sword rather than the act of using the sword itself.
Ryu Han-bin clicked his tongue while looking through the book.
Each page was filled with techniques that were extremely practical yet profound.
“My swordsmanship can’t be called a martial art when compared to this one.”
Making up for his shortcomings, he steadily studied Maxbrid’s tactics, starting from the basics.
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Artis focused on digesting the energy he had absorbed and learned the three new level 42 spell scrolls he had purchased.
Five days had passed since then.
They spent all that time improving their skills.
However, compared to Effir’s growth, their development was way too slow.
* * *
Ryu Han-bin also showed Effir the Maxbrid Tactic Book.
There was no reason to hide it, after all. From Han-bin’s point of view, practicing with her was a lot more beneficial for everyone.
It resulted in Effir growing even more rapidly.
“You’re already level 20?”
Looking at the Guidelines, Han-bin was speechless.
Artis had a similar reaction.
“Her leveling rate is ridiculously fast.”
“Yeah. If other people knew, they would vomit blood out of pure envy.”
But that was all.
Effir looked at her swords, then tilted her head.
“Why does it feel like I’m stuck?”
Artis patted her.
“No matter how talented you are, your body can’t grow overnight.”
Effir was Level 27 as a Wyvern. Even if she didn’t have tremendous talent, she could’ve reached the minimum Level 20 after a month or two since her actual combat level and experience was far higher than that.
“Your talent definitely isn’t ordinary, considering how fast you leveled up. Still, it would be best if you gave your body proper time to grow.
Effir wasn’t particularly disappointed.
“This is enough. I can open the cold storage and turn on the oven now.”
She felt like it would’ve been better if she could reach level 30 so she’d be able to use the washing machine as well, but she remained silent.
“Isn’t your reason for leveling up wrong in the first place? People usually raise their level to become stronger, you know.”
Han-bin was dumbfounded, but Effir didn’t care.
She was having so much fun using human tools.
“Human hands are so versatile! They make it easy to handle everything!”
It didn’t matter what she was doing. She did it with excitement in her heart, even if it was just dull sewing work.
“You can even do this with your hands. That’s why you’ve been able to build so many different tools.”
She shook, balancing the needle at the tip of her finger.
She kept doing that as she admired humanity, but the problem was there wasn’t just one needle on her fingertip.
She put a needle on top of the needle and another needle on top of that.
She perfectly balanced all three on top of each other!
Ryu Han-bin and Artis’ jaws dropped.
“N-no…”
“Not even normal humans can do that!”
“How the hell is she doing that?”
Even as a Wyvern, she already had terrifying flexibility and agility. With human hands, she became even more powerful.
Effir managed to perfectly reproduce the Dragon Knights’ delicate swordsmanship using average-tier weapons.
At that point, Ryu Han-bin found a different use for her.
She was too talented just to be a simple servant.
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If she developed her skills properly, she could become a reliable companion.
“Hey, Artis.”
“What?”
“Wyverns are also part of Latna’s Dragon Race, right?”
“Yeah, even though they’re a sub-species.”
“Then can Effir also increase her level by absorbing the energy of monsters?”
Artis contemplated about it.
“Once she gets regular absorption, she’ll be able to improve her basic physical abilities. However, creating a Dragon Core and making it inhabited by energy is a different matter. In this case, it would be called a Wyvern Core.”
There would have been a limit to her progress if she absorbed energy without a core since she’d easily reach the Wyverns’ ethnic level.
“How do you make that core?”
“The core is formed by grinding and refining the absorbed spirit and turning it into the four major powers of Latna. This was said to be the indwelling of the Dragon Power. As her level rises, the increased energy of the core should theoretically increase her strength.”
For reference, Artis’s Dragon Core had Mana properties because his talent was magic-oriented.
“But this is a feat that can only be achieved through a fairly high intelligence level, something lower-species of the Dragon Race like Wyverns doesn’t have.”
Yes, it was normally impossible.
Wyverns weren’t as smart as Dragons.
But Effir was different.
“Doesn’t she have high enough intelligence?”
The two glared at Effir.
“Will level boosting work on her?”
“In theory.”
“Should we try?”
“There’s nothing to lose by trying, right?”
Effir, who was sewing Ryu Han-bin’s spare fur shorts, tilted her head.
“Why are you both looking at me like that?”
With a meaningful smile, the muscular giant spoke to the little girl.
“Effir, why don’t we go somewhere nice?”
“Hey, that line is dangerous, Han-bin.”
* * *
The place Ryu Han-bin chose for Effir’s growth was also the Rastol Dungeon.
They were already familiar with it, and it was easy to fight in.
“Its minimum level is 30, so it should fit well with Effir’s level.”
Aliens’ experience point system didn’t give a lot of experience points just because they killed a powerful monster.
A level 10 Hunter killing a dying level 80 monster didn’t mean the Hunter would go up gain large amounts of experience points.
It was the same for Latna’s Dragon Race.
Even if she was to kill a monster that was a lot stronger than her, she wasn’t going to be able to absorb the energy since if the monster’s energy were stronger than the Dragon’s absorption ability, it would just dissipate instead.
“Monsters only give an adequate amount of experience points if their level is only five levels away from yours, right?”
“Yeah. Effir’s level is 20, so it’s a little off, but…”
As a Wyvern, Effir’s level was 27, which put her inside the effective range.
The trio entered the Dungeon and looked for a suitable place to hunt.
It was Effir’s turn to experience boosting.
“The first-timer is so weak she can’t even use her swords.”
Instead of pulling out his black sword, Ryu Han-bin laughed heartily as he clenched his fists.
“Then take off your clothes and wait, Effir.”
Artis shook his head.
“… The way you say things is getting more and more dangerous, Han-bin.”