There were four Professionals in uniform standing around the cave entrance. Even without using Appraisal, Su Ce could sense their strength.
In front of the cave entrance, a Professional with a several-centimeter scar on his face suddenly asked, "Excuse me, are you planning to enter the low-level mining area?"
Su Ce nodded, and the two people beside him immediately spoke.
"Only cowards stay in the safe zone. We're going to farm monsters, so of course we're going to the low-level mining area."
"Why are you asking so many questions? If we Professionals don't kill monsters, are we going to dig out ores that no one wants like those failures?"
When the scar-faced Professional saw the impatient expressions of the few people in front of him, his expression immediately turned cold. "I'm just reminding you that most of the monsters inside are above Level 5. If you don't have the confidence to deal with them, don't go in and die."
The other two Professionals didn't care about what the scar-faced man said. After seeing him move aside, they immediately walked in.
"Thanks for the warning," Su Ce said with a smile and followed them into the low-level mining area.
The scar-faced man didn't say anything. He just looked at the disappearing backs of the three of them in a daze.
…
Looking around at the scenery that was different from the outside world, Su Ce immediately became vigilant.
There were traces of monster activity everywhere.
Footprints, feces, hair, and a rotten smell floated in the air. It was obvious that danger was everywhere.
"Let's go to the east district. There are more lantern monsters there."
The two people who had entered the low-level mining area with him immediately walked toward the east.
Su Ce walked alone in the empty cave, always vigilant of the danger around him.
In the complex mine tunnels, after walking for a while, he found an ore glowing faintly on a wall.
[Prompt: Discovered Silver Essence Stone x4.]
Hearing the system prompt, Su Ce immediately walked over with his pickaxe.
The pickaxe used for mining was very sharp. He only chiseled at the surrounding wall of a piece of ore a few times before digging out a sunken pit.
After taking out the fist-sized ore, Su Ce realized that, just as the system had reported, there were three more mottled stones inside the wall.
After five minutes, he dug out all four silver essence stones and put them in the system inventory.
[Prompt: Obtained Silver Essence Stone x4.]
[Silver Essence Stone]
Type: Ore
Usage: Can be melted to extract silver essence. Silver essence is a good material for making armor and weapons.
Reference Value: 2,500 dollars per 500 grams
After doing this, he didn't continue to search for other ores. Instead, he continued to walk toward the high-level mining area.
After all, Su Ce had boarded the bus to the western suburbs mine before dawn not to find ores but to find the dragon-type creature discovered by the Eye of the Dragon God talent!
As Su Ce went deeper, he quickly discovered that his surroundings had changed again.
Not only was there a pungent stench in the air, but it even carried a fresh smell of blood. It seemed that someone had been injured in this area.
The light in the mine gradually dimmed. It seemed that mining lamps could no longer be installed in such a place.
It was possible that monsters had damaged them soon after installation, and the garrison had given up on providing lighting.
Fortunately, with the light emitted by the surrounding ores, Su Ce could basically see everything around him clearly.
Just as he was about to head deeper into the high-level mining area…
A sudden sound of rushing wind immediately interrupted his thoughts!
Subconsciously, Su Ce stepped back.
At the same time, a huge rock slammed into the spot where he had been standing.
Stone chips flew everywhere, stirring up dust all over the place.
Looking at where the stone came from, Su Ce saw the appearance of the monster that attacked him with the help of the faint light.
It was a strange creature that walked on four limbs and was covered in gray fur.
The animal's facial features were ferocious, and most of its face was covered in fur. But he could still tell that it had the face of an ape.
But unlike the body structure of apes, monkeys, and other primates, not only were the monster's limbs extremely thick, but even its eyes were blood-red.
Other than the strange structure of its head, the monster's neck was also pitifully short. From afar, it looked like a face embedded in a mountain of flesh!
[Prompt: You have been treated as prey by a Gray Howl. Automatically entering combat.]
[Gray Howl (Elite Monster)]
Type: Cave-Dwelling Beast
Level: 10
Attack: 18
Health Points: 450
Defense: Physical Resistance 10, Magic Resistance 6
Attributes: Strength 18, Agility 5, Spirit 2, Constitution 20
Active Skills: Level 2 Throw (Raises a heavy object and throws it at the target. Inflicts 1.6x physical damage and stuns the target for 1 second. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Mana Cost: 20)
Level 2 Heavy Hammer (Swing your fist at the target and deal 1.7x physical damage. Cooldown: 2 seconds. Mana Cost: 10)
Passive Skill: Level 3 Beast Bloodline (Resistance +3, HP +150)
Strength Evaluation: A rare Level 10 monster in the low-level mining area. The only way to defeat it is to crush it with strength. Kiting is recommended. After all, its fists are very strong.
Looking at the system window that appeared in front of him, Su Ce was quite surprised.
Unexpectedly, he encountered such a troublesome fellow as soon as he entered the low-level area.
If the monster attacking him was around Level 5, he could still rely on the advantage of his attributes to defeat it.
But in the system window, the attributes of the monster in front of him were stronger than his.
His only advantages were flexibility and wisdom.
Without a weapon in hand or related combat skills, kiting was impossible.
In that case, the only way to win was to fight head-on.
After all, this monster was near the entrance of the high-level danger zone.
Even if he escaped, he would have to face it later.
"Sneak attack? I want to see what an elite monster like you is capable of!"
Carrying the pickaxe, Su Ce immediately rushed toward the gray howl.
The gorilla-like monster roared angrily and pounced over.
The gray howl's attack and defense were not low, and because Su Ce didn't have a suitable weapon, it wasn't easy for him to fight it.
Relying on his agility, he immediately dodged the enemy's pounce. Then he swung his pickaxe, aiming at the gray howl's spine.
-7
A red damage number floated up, and a small piece of the HP bar above the enemy's head was missing.
After being hurt, the gray howl roared in pain.
It turned around and threw a punch at Su Ce.
Luckily, although its attack power was high, its attack speed was not.
Su Ce had plenty of opportunities to dodge, and at the same time, he seized the gaps in the gray howl's attacks to attack its weakness.
Fortunately, when Su Ce was in the academy, he had often practiced actual combat.
He also had ample experience in muscle exertion, attack angles, and so on.
Although there was a huge difference in level between him and the gray howl, relying on the combat experience he learned in the academy and his relatively strong physical fitness, he gradually gained the upper hand in the battle with the gray howl.
But even so, the gray howl still struck him several times during the battle.
He was completely relying on his cloth armor to block a large amount of damage.
After a long battle, his muscles were sore, and his stamina was almost depleted.
The HP bar above the gray howl's head had been reduced to less than a quarter by Su Ce's pickaxe.
"Roar!!"
Su Ce lowered his body to dodge the gray howl's swinging arm attack and then immediately dashed to its side. Taking advantage of the moment when the gray howl's attack missed, he raised the pickaxe and smashed it down on the back of its head.