The next day, Aryan woke up early and went to the whale shop after taking a bath.
"Is it done?" Aryan asked with curiosity, looking towards the whales, who were half asleep and wearing Santa Claus night dresses.
Whales, without saying anything, went to his crafting area, picked up a piece of equipment rolled in between red clothes, and forwarded it to Aryan.
"That will be 1 silver 500 coins, and this time... no bargain." Whales yawned in a sleepy voice.
Aryan took the equipment from his hands and looked at it with sparkling eyes. "It's even better than I expected," he said in excitement before taking out his purse and paying two silvers to the dwarf.
The dwarf looked at the two silver coins in his hand with a complex expression. I knew I was getting old. Sigh! Is this what they called hallucination?- The dwarf thought before closing the door.
Aryan moved towards the enchantment shop in the city and brought a specific necklace there. The necklace was made of a thin silver chain with a purple crystal, the size of a nail, hanging from it.
[Enchanted Silver Perl :
special ability: conceal If the user pours magic into it, this necklace will conceal his presence, i.e., the sound of breathing and walking, body temperature, and smell.
[Caution: this ability doesn't work on opponents who can use magic flow for sight.]
Aryan sighed as he looked at the screen in front of him. "Not bad for something worth 4 silver," he muttered, and he went towards the canteen to eat his breakfast.
After breakfast, he changed into his fighting form. He put chain mill armour on his t-shirt, which was covered by brown leather armour covering his chest, and the same can be said for his legs and part of his hands.
"Alright then. Time to level up," Aryan said as he left the room and headed towards the dungeon.
It was yesterday when Aryan noticed something unusual and important about the dungeon. While he was on the 1st floor, the long grasses and brown soil were the perfect living conditions for rats, but one thing not favourable for them was the green grass on the hunting grounds, which produced sounds even from the lightest movement in it.
Then on the second floor, even though thick fog and a lack of light made a perfect environment for wolves to live again, a lack of trees and bushes kind of stopped them from making any sneak attacks. Not to mention, these were still small wolves, and their senses weren't as strong as big wolves would have been.
The third thing he noticed was increasing gravity as the floor increased. From the above things and some more research, Aryan was safe to conclude that the first 5 floors of the dungeon weren't a test of strength; instead, they were a test of the senses.
While thinking about all of this, Aryan was already in the middle of the hunting ground on the 2nd floor; he also noticed an enemy presence near him a while ago. So he decided to stop in his tracks and wait for the enemy to attack.
'Swishhhh!!"
Sensing the sound of something coming from his back, Aryan jumped to his right. But before he could make any move, a claw hit his back, tearing his leather armour and throwing him 5 feet above the ground. As if waiting for an opportunity, a wolf jumped from his back, making a bite on his shoulder. Although the bite wasn't deep, it was enough to make a strong grip on him.
Wolf kept his grip tight while rotating his body in mid-air. As his back legs connected to the ground, he used all his strength to throw Aryan towards a dead tree.
"Bangg!!"
[HP: 78%]
As soon as Aryan hit the tree, a few cracks appeared on it, and blood gushed out of his shoulder. Before he could even get a second of rest, another wolf came towards him, making a horizontal slash using its claw.
"Ding!!"
The sound of metals clashing reverberated, and sparks flew in the air as the wolf claw hit Aryan's new weapon. Aryan hands up to his forearm were covered with a metallic weapon, silver in colour, which extended to his palms like a glove except for its finger, which extended 2 more centimetres until it got sharp and pointy. The whole structure resembled a vulture's claws with five figures.
[A/N: You can imagine black panther claws from Avengers, just a little more stylish, dangerous, and silver in colour.]
"Crackkkk!!"
Although he was able to defend against the slash, the force of the attack was enough to break the dead tree, sending him into the bush behind.
[HP: 70%]
The other two wolves didn't miss the opportunity as they jumped into the bush to tear their prey apart, but to their surprise, there was nothing in the bush. All the wolves stayed on guard, trying to smell or hear their enemy, but to their surprise, there wasn't anything in the forest except for silence. But suddenly a sound of something falling was heard near the third wolf.
The wolf instantly ran towards the sound, only to find a stone on the ground.
"Boom! BOOM! Boom!!" The sound of three fireballs blasting was followed by a wolf cry as they turned into black smoke, leaving a crystal behind.
[PROGRESS: 25%]
Another wolf, without caring for what happened to its comrade, ran towards the direction where the fireball came from and took a big leap to bite its target, only to find nothing at that place. The wolf tried to smell the ground to detect his enemy, only to notice its shadow getting more and more visible.
In a place with barely enough light to see, the sight of a shadow only meant one thing:
'Slash'
Before the wolf could even fully turn around to see its enemy, a burning, red hot metallic claw hit its neck. "Boom," the wolf was sent flying across trees as blood gushed out of its neck and fire continued to burn its grey fur.
With Aryan's new weapon, more strength, and enough time to cast a sneak attack, every one of his attacks was a fatal hit for wolves.
Sensing its partner's injury, the third wolf let out a howl to summon its allies before being hit by fireballs and turning into smoke without giving a fight.
[PROGRESS: 38%]
Small wolves from all directions started to run towards the howl. As soon as Aryan sensed the mistake he had made, his senses screamed, and he launched another horizontal slash with his red hot claws, which once used to be silver.
Aryan especially asked the dwarves to make weapons that could sustain massive heat without damaging themselves.
As soon as both claws hit, the metal-chopping sound was heard, and the wolf's forearm was cut off cleanly from its body. Aryan turned around to cast a fireball, trying to end the wolf's life, but suddenly another small wolf appeared from nowhere, pounding into him, causing him to miss his target.
Aryan was still in the air, trying to gain his balance, as he felt a strong pain on the side of his chest.
"BanGg!!"
With that sound, Aryan was sent skating across the ground while massive amounts of blood flew out of his cut.
[HP: 45% MP: 62%]
"Damn, you!!" Aryan cursed as a green light started to cover his wounds.
A wolf tried to bite him, pinning him to the ground, but Aryan grabbed its head, and his claw dug deep into the wolf's neck before a yellow aura left his hands, blasting the wolf's head and turning it into black smoke.
[PROGRESS: 55%]
Aryan jumped from his position and let a wolf attack his back while he cast three fireballs, killing the wolf without its forearm in an instant.
[PROGRESS: 69%]
Wolf claw scratched at his back only to be stopped by chain mill armor inside leather armor. Aryan took a small jump back and cast a fireball at close range, making the wolf fly and crash into a tree that finally turned into smoke after three more fireballs.
[PROGRESS: 81%]
Aryan didn't take any rest as he let out a war roar, "AAAGHHHH!"
The last wolf started to run towards Aryan, and Aryan did the same towards the wolf. His right arm started to blaze, and his right claw turned golden from red due to heat.
When the distance between the Aryan and the wolf was close enough, the wolf jumped into the air, aiming for a slash at the Aryan's head. Although the wolf was fast, Aryan already guessed its pattern thanks to his fighting experience just now. He slightly bent on his knees, skating on the ground, to dodge the claw. At the same time, he dug the claw in his right hand and slashed the wolf's belly, pulling its blood and guts out. The golden claw passed through the wolf as if it were a piece of butter against a hot knife.
As soon as the wolf's body touched the ground, it turned into black smoke.
[PROGRESS: 96%]
Aryan, who was covered in blood and sweat, stood up and breathed heavily. He then moved towards the wolf, attacking the neck first.
Aryan pointed his palm towards the wolf who was still lying on the ground. " I told you, I'm going to level up today," he said in a rough, broken voice, casting a fireball.
[PROGRESS: 100%]
[LEVELLING UP....]