Opening his eyes, Lorian frowned as he looked around. He was in the snowy forest again, but with a scarcer amount of trees.
The sunlight shone down upon him and the snow, but it brought no warmth.
The cold eyes of two snow wolves were gazing at him from a distance.
They both simultaneously ran down from hills to his left and right, surrounding him.
[ Defeat 2 snow wolves to clear the floor
Easy mode (Enemies have 70% of original attributes) ]
Reading the system notice, it only served as a small consolation for Lorian.
Lorian scrambled his hand on his waist and was glad to find the familiar scabbard there. Left with nothing but his sword, Lorian unsheathed it and squinted his eyes. The two wolves were slowly nearing him, testing the waters.
* Hoo~
The gust of wind blew as the snow wolves suddenly dashed at his direction. Their steps were soft and left almost no traces on the snow blanket. They were slower than the snow wolf Lorian killed for the first time, but they had the advantage in numbers.
Unknowingly, Lorian started hating the feeling of his life being under threat. As a result, he started feeling less fear and more hate towards his enemies.
While he stood like a statue, the beasts neared at an alarming speed.
As soon as they neared, Lorian hacked down decisively.
This time there was no hesitation. The Sword drew blood. A deep gash appeared near snow wolf's neck. It didn't manage to halt its charge in time. Meanwhile, the other one lunged at Lorian.
Sharp teeth pierced in his ribs, but strangely, there was no pain to be felt. Lorian didn't dawdle and hacked down with his sword. The snow wolf pushed on him with its paws and retreated.
'No pain? Could it be that this isn't my real body?'
Thinking this, Lorian grinned. If there would be no repercussions, what did he have to fear? He could fight savagely. No matter the price, he would have to clear the floor.
Unfortunately, it wasn't clear whether the damage taken would follow him in real life, so he didn't dare to risk too much.
As for the fact, that this place was either an illusion or another dimension was without doubt.
The bleeding wolf wasn't finished off and ruthlessly pounced at him. Lorian answered with a kick to its face, but he underestimated beast's savageness. The snow wolf grabbed his foot with teeth and pressed down.
- Scram!
Lorian roared and mercilessly tore its neck with a slash. An unpleasant sound of flesh tearing was transmitted to him.
[ +5 battle Exp ]
Lorian ignored the unpleasant feeling while accurately grabbing the neck of the pouncing snow wolf and slammed it down, raising the snow dust in the process.
The following was easy to predict.
[ +5 battle Exp ]
[ 1st floor, easy mode cleared
Reward: Wolf mask
Today's attempt 0/1 ]
[ Inventory unlocked ]
Lorian was shocked awake.
Upon opening his eyes, he realized he was still in the cave.
- As I thought
Lorian muttered as he checked his body. There was no wound to his ribs and feet.
Only the previous wound was pulsating a little, transmitting low waves of pain to his brain.
- That's great! I don't need to care about being wounded in the instances realm.
Feeling no pain was weird, especially while retaining the sense of touch. While it might have downsides, it was for the most part beneficial in the instances realm.
'The system is getting more and more generous and...useful' Lorian thought
Inventory held space of 1 cubic meters. Suave looking wolf mask, the reward was resting in there.
Lorian took it out, excited
- So cool!
The mask had clearly distinctive features of a wolf - furry ears, elongated nose, and artificial fur. It was white in color and cold to the touch. The eyes were left hollow for the wearer to see from.
After appraising it, Lorian was dumbfounded.
[ Wolf mask (Middle-grade artifact)
+ 5 Perception ]
'Artifact! It's actually an artifact and middle-grade one at that!'
Having been in this world for a while, Lorian interacted with others in the inn and knew some inns and outs.
The artifacts were extremely rare and could boost one's abilities to some extent.
While this item wouldn't directly increase his battle prowess, it would help him in another way.
Equipping the mask, Lorian had a special type of feeling.
His vision got clearer, enabling him to see further and better. The sounds of howling wind became much more distinct. His nose also became more sensitive, enabling him to distinguish between different smells and allowing him to feel where they were coming from.
This was a whole 50% boost to his senses.
To some extent, it would make up for his lack of battling experience, increasing his reaction speed...
- Amazing!
It was a waste that today's attempt was used and he could only wait until tomorrow to enter the instances once again.
Lorian felt more confident and prepared to go out to hunt. He went out to progress in his task and only returned before dawn, empty-handed.
The snowstorm had gotten much worse. Even walking was a problem. The snow reached up to his waist too.
He could only return dejectedly.
Now his bag was kept in the inventory, making it more convenient for him to move about.
The next morning Lorian was curious whether he could farm the same floors and once again entered the easy mode. The attempt was successful, and he returned victoriously, but there was no loot this time. He only received 10 battle exp. That was it...
He could take out items from inventory to aid him in battle, which was good news that he found about that day.
- If I meet a bottleneck and can't proceed further, I can just go back and farm the floors I'm confident to clear.
This was another valuable information he managed to deduce after seemingly wasting a day. The only question, that bothered him was whether he would die for real if he died in the instances realm. If possible, he wouldn't like to personally experience.
Due to horrible weather, he had to waste away another day idly.
The following day Lorian firmly decided to enter the normal mode of the first floor.