I was a lot more nervous this time as I made my way into the dungeon, even with the greater stats, mainly because instead of a shotgun or pistol, I had a sword drawn.
There was no way I was going to practice in areas I wasn't familiar with so it would be rats and zombies that I would be training against. I wasn't too worried about dying with my new abilities, it was the pain and thought of being bitten that had me questioning this idea.
But no matter how scared I got, I needed to learn how to use a blade, sooner rather than later. The blade I was wielding was a simple steel shortsword and unlike what I expected it was a lot heavier and it felt awkward in my hands, which wasn't a surprise since the only blade I had any experience with was a kitchen knife and not for combat.
I knew the basics of what to do from slashes to stabbing and a few things I learned from all of the fantasy novels and games I had played back before my life had become nothing but pleasing my parents.
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Steel Shortsword[Tier 1]
Weapon Type: Sword
Durability: 30/30
Quality: Average
Abilities: [None]
Traits: [None]
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The sword's durability was maxed and the quality was average so it was the perfect weapon for my first time. There had been others in the loot shed, but all had felt far out of my league. I had planned on taking a longsword after having found one, but after a couple of swings, I had realized just how bad of an idea that would be. Despite its shorter size, the shortsword was basically like a cleaver with a point and didn't require as much skill as a longsword would. If there had been a spear then maybe I might have picked that.
I had my flashlight out in my left hand with the shortsword in my right, and I came upon my first mob just as I was rounding a corner. After the incident with the rat, I was a lot more careful and wasn't jumped by the creature.
I felt apprehension as its beady eyes turned to me, but I calmed my breathing and waited for it to make the first move. It leaped at me, and with my enhanced stats, I was able to easily dodge. I raised the sword and brought it down on the rat's back, tearing through its skin and into its flesh.
It let out a pained sound and continued to move and squirm until I pulled my blade out and pushed the tip into its head.
I leaned against the wall as the mob vanished and a fang was left in its place. That had felt a lot more visceral than using the guns. I'd felt the skin and flesh parting; had a clear view as it was killed. Unlike the guns which ended things quickly and with not a lot of gore.
Blood dripped onto the floor from the blade, breaking the silence of the tunnels.
That encounter set the tone for the rest of my time in the tunnels as I butchered rat after rat, and that was what I was doing. There was nothing elegant about it, and I had no finesse. I slashed and swung, trying not to telegraph, but I was pretty sure an expert would be shaking his head if he saw me. After this trip, I would do some research online and look up a few guides and videos.
The XP I was getting from rats was still the same, but with the higher amount needed for the next level, I had to kill a lot more before I leveled up. When I did, I placed the points in the more physical attributes, those that would increase my survivability. Once I reached a point I was happy with, and where I could breeze through the first few parts of the dungeon then I would start putting points into the others, not that I would be ignoring them completely until then.
Rat after rat fell, but there was no real challenge until I came across a pack of them. So far I had only come across lone rats, but there were three in front of me, and I took a step back as they all turned to face me.
I contemplated running for only a moment before my resolve firmed. I had come down here to grind XP and explore, and I wasn't about to turn back now. I would never learn if I didn't face the problems that presented themselves to me.
The rat closest to me darted forwards and the other two followed not far behind. I waited and readied my sword, my feet in an open stance. I would need to end this quickly and make sure all my blows were lethal, and that none got behind me.
The first rat attempted to latch its fangs onto my right leg, but I sidestepped and slashed down diagonally, cutting deep into its head, before the blade exited the other side just in time to meet the fangs of the second who tried to bite down on the blade. I stepped forward and pushed, tearing the blade out the side of its mouth. It screeched, allowing me to extract my weapon just in time to bring it up, spin it and bring it point down into the third rat who had been very close to taking a bite from my ankle. The blade stopped it in its tracks.
I let out a breath as the rat went limp, and then quickly extracted my blade and ended the second rat who was flailing about, blood pouring from its mouth. I didn't know if it was because I was in a dungeon and it was gamelike, but these rats were really stupid. Any sort of pain would send them into a frenzy, which you would assume would be bad for me, but it wasn't a feral battle frenzy, more like a tantrum. It left them wide open for attack.
None of the three dropped any loot of significance, but the fight had shown I had grown in skill somewhat, though I had my enhanced stats to thank for my ability to fight so well. The old me would have had a lot of trouble, but now I had greater strength and speed. My swings held power behind them and I suspected it wouldn't be long before I reached the human limit and passed it. I had a feeling twenty was the human threshold and passed that, I would be considered superhuman. I had to admit, I liked the sound of that.
After wiping down the blade with some tissue, I sorted through the loot and headed toward the zombie caverns, a lot more sure of myself.