(First person from now on)
As the last of the ogres collapsed to the ground, a wave of exhilaration surged through me, unlike anything I had ever felt.
It was as if every fiber of my being was singing, resonating with a newfound power. The sensation was intoxicating, a heady mix of pleasure and strength that coursed through my veins.
For a moment, I forgot the chaos around me, lost in the euphoria.
[Level Up!]
Those words filled my vision along with new stat points to allocate.
After the intoxicating feeling passed, I used the stat points to where I believed would let me live.
[Intelligence 15]
[Stamina 10]
My mana capacity increased to 15/15.
It also seemed that leveling up had a rejuvenating effect on my mana.
After making eye contact with Lucius and nodding, we silently agreed to continue hunting the monsters behind the busy Salamander party.
Lucius pulled a small bottle filled with blue liquid out of his robe and drank it.
"Take one boy, these are mana potions. They'll restore your mana. Although the effects are meager."
"Thanks, I'll hold onto it." I replied
I don't need it right now, but it could come in handy later.
After our exchange was over, we noticed another group of monsters near us.
I tried using the Inspect skill, but the results were the same as before.
Meaning the monsters before us were above my current level of strength.
This group of monsters was diverse.
Since none of them seem to be stronger than the Ogre going off of their presences, they're probably C or D tiers…
As I think of how to fight these monsters, a red wolf monster lunges at me.
I instinctually thunderstepped out of the way.
The wolf monster kept chasing after me until it froze in place.
Lucius used his paralysis on the wolf, leaving an opening for me.
I stabbed the wolf through the eye with the shortsword before a large worm-shaped monster came for me.
[C-class Monster Defeated: 50 exp awarded!]
[Level Up!]
As I jumped back, I resisted the euphoria and allocated the 3 new stat points into Intelligence.
[Intelligence 18]
With my higher mana capacity, I shot three Thunderbolts at the worm.
It was alive but seemed to be paralyzed.
I didn't know my Thunderbolt could do that!
But if I need to use three of them to paralyze a monster, it isn't close to Lucius's paralysis in efficiency.
I stabbed the worm monster all over the head since I didn't exactly know where its weak spot would be.
[C-class Monster Defeated: 50 exp awarded!]
Suddenly, a growl was coming from behind Lucius and me.
The Huge A-tier bear monster was in its death throes as Ray had his large sword stabbed into its neck.
"HAHHH"
I could hear Ray scream as he released his aura through his sword, creating a large version of his sword through magic.
The extended magic blade came out the other side of the bear's neck, and after one swift movement from Ray, it was decapitated.
He really is on another level.
I'm filled with admiration.
Feeling a sudden sense of dread, I turned around and saw a jaw wide enough to swallow my head, close enough to feel its breath.
As my life flashed before my eyes, the monster's head was blown off.
Its decapitated body was in front of me.
Coincidentally, the monster's core was exposed.
If we're going to harvest the monster corpses after the battle, I don't see why I can't do it right now.
Right?
After taking the monster core, I waved at the wall toward Cassie, who saved my life.
I know she could see the monster from here, but I hope she didn't see me stealing that core.
"Alright! Let's wipe out the rest of the weaklings!"
Ray sure is enthusiastic for someone who fought a monster so strong…
But since he's the leader, we gotta follow him.
We turned around, and with Ray at the front, the Salamander party destroyed the rest of the monsters below B-tier.
After avoiding the higher-tier monsters and running around for around an hour, the C-tier and below monsters are finally done with.
I only managed to get the last hit on three of them.
I got two level-ups off of it, though, so I can't complain too much.
It seems that the feeling of leveling up was so strong the first time because it was five at once.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't feel amazing every time.
Seeing my stats increase leaves an intoxicating feeling too.
This Astraphobia system is probably the best thing to ever happen to me.
I allocated the 6 stat points from the two level-ups into Intelligence.
It seems to be the best use of my stats since it lets me use my two skills more.
While distracted by the system and my hopeful future, I suddenly felt a familiar sense of dread, but on a much larger scale.
*SCREEEECH*
Looking around, everyone in the salamander party had shock or fear on their faces.
I don't know what kind of monster released a roar strong enough to evoke fear in this team of elites, but I don't wanna meet it.
"RETREAT TO THE WALLS!"
Seeing Ray screaming his orders with an anxious expression tells me everything I need to know.
We can't handle this.