There were scorch marks and broken parts on the golem and it looked at me angrily as it immediately attacked me with brute force. I dodged its first wild swing and I activated another fire-based skill [Rain of Hellfire] as a storm of black flames fell from the sky and pummeled the golem. The golem roared in anger as more of its body began to break out.
The golem rose its hand and I felt the ground under me give way. it was trying to bury me underground, but I was able to jump out from the trench before it could close because I already knew what the golem was doing.
I activated [Shadow Web] and caught the golems' one hand in thousands of tiny webs, but the golem wasted no time as it simply tore the webs to shreds and charged for me again. The golem was an earth-based monster and so it relied more on brute strength. I won't be able to hold it in place like I held the [Flaming Serpent].
Or that would have been the case if I didn't have enough mana.
I activated [Shadow Web] five more times and five times the number of webs as before wrapped around the golem's hand and held it in place. The golem tried its best to break out from the grip, but it was only n E ranked monster and there was a limit to its strength. I activated [Rain of Hellfire] and a storm of black flames poured down and finally destroyed the golem.
[You have killed the dungeon boss of the [Underground Mines], the [Earth Golem]]
[Strength +4]
I looked at the stat rewards for killing the boss and I huffed. It was already getting o the point where I would no longer receive any rewards at all for killing F and E ranked monsters. I was getting too strong and the system does not reward you for killing a monster that is far weaker than you. It will be like expecting to get an increase in stats just because you squashed an ant.
The monster started to disperse into gold dust and I saw two skill books on the floor. One of them was [Stone Skin – E: Temporarily enhances the user's defenses by transforming their skin into solid rock, reducing incoming damage and increasing resilience. Reduces Agility and Stamina]. Once I read this one I immediately didn't like it. My fighting style depends greatly on my ability to move around and confuse the enemy and transforming into a giant rock is not going to help me with that. I decided that I was going to sell the skill book.
The second skill was [Dust Storm - E: Conjures a swirling cyclone of dust and debris, impairing visibility and choking enemies caught within it. It can disorient foes and create an advantageous situation for the user]
I was going to use this skill a lot in case I ever go into a situation where I needed to retreat from a dangerous battle. I could definitely use this, so I learn the skill.
[The Heart of Darkness is attempting to corrupt the skill [Dust Storm]. The skill is fighting against the corruption]
[The skill failed to stop the corruption. The corruption was successful.]
[[Dust Storm - E] has evolved into [Shadow Veil – D-]]
[Shadow Veil: Releases a cloud of dark, swirling dust that engulfs the area, shrouding it in darkness and hindering visibility for enemies. It provides cover and grants the user enhanced stealth capabilities.]
I decided that I would use the dungeon two or three more times today before finally leaving. I left the boss's room and went outside so that I could come back in.
----------+----------
[You have killed the dungeon boss [Earth Golem].]
[Strength +1]
[Magic Control (Current Progress – 4.3%)]
[Congratulations, you have ranked up twice to D-]
[The user's power level is too high and the system suggests advancing to a higher-ranked dungeon for higher rewards.]
[The Heart of Darkness agrees with the system and wishes for stronger prey to Devour]
[Magic Power +20]
After going through the dungeon five times, the rewards were so low that I knew I was now too strong to gain anything from these F ranked Dungeons. Even if I ran through this dungeon fifty times, I would no longer get enough stats for it to be rewarding. I made my way out of the dungeon while checking my bag to make sure I had all the crystals that I got from the monsters.
I could feel that the number of crystals was getting too much for me to be carrying around like this, so I decided that it was time for me to invest in a spatial ring. Spatial rings were very expensive and it would cost more than half my net worth just to get a good one, but it was worth it since I won't have to worry about my crystals anymore. I can just put them inside the ring and bring them out whenever I wanted.
I made a quick detour on my way to the guild house and stopped at Rano's smithy to get my ring. The girl at the receptionist's desk smiled once she saw me. She was no longer as distant as before, and now she would wave at me whenever she saw me going to or coming back from a dungeon.
"Hey, Jason," she said enthusiastically, "Did you come to see me?"
"Where's Rano?" I asked and she frowned before calling out for Rano and smiling at me again, "What is it?" I frowned at her.
"You've gotten stronger again, haven't you?" she said as she leaned forward, "And it looks like you took my advice and finally started eating properly. You look… very nice."
I hummed in response and she pouted at me before leaning forward even more. It looked like she was trying to get me to notice something but for the life of me, I couldn't guess what it was. She didn't look any different from how she usually does.
"Did you notice anything different today?" she asked.
"It's getting colder," I said, "Winter is coming."
"Something different about me!" she shouted in annoyance, and when I didn't say anything for awhile she pouted and touched her hair, "I cut my hair two inches shorter today. It's almost the same as yours."
"How the fuck did you expect me to notice something like that?" I asked with a frown. That was the most pointless conversation I've ever had.
"Mary, go back to work and stop disturbing the customer!" Rano shouted as he walked out from behind the store with a frown. Mary quickly went back to her post and left us alone to talk. Rano looked at me curiously, "Did you grow taller?"
"Something like that," I responded before I started looking around, "I'm looking for a ring, something large that I won't have to change out of for at least the next ten years. Do you have anything like that"
Rano hummed, "I do, but it's a little on the expensive side," he said, "I was going to send it to the fourth floor to sell it there, but if you think you have the money for something like that then ill gladly sell it to you instead."
"Let's see it then,"
Rano went to the back of the store again and Mary immediately came back and started trying to talk to me. She was talking so much that I wasn't even allowed to put a few words in before she went on to another topic. By the time Rano came out, I knew her birthday, age, address, and that she has never had any boyfriends in her life.
Rano dropped a very intricately designed box on the table and opened it to show me a silver ring sitting on a velvet pillow. "Two thousand five hundred square feet," Rano said as he raised the ring off the pillow and showed it to me. I took it and appraised it using my system.
[Spatial Ring – A: A storage ring with two thousand five hundred square feet of storage space within. The user can only store non-living things inside the ring.]
"How much," I asked as I looked at Rano and he rose two fingers. Two silver coins then. That was a lot of money. Two silver coins are worth two thousand bronze coins, and even after all the monsters that I've killed, I only had two thousand three hundred bronze coins. "Do I get a discount?" I asked.
"If you're getting any discount then it's going to be the box itself. I'll give it to you for free if you get the ring," Rano responded and I scoffed.
"What the hell am doing with a velvet box?"
Rano shrugged, "Hey, I only said you could take it, I never said you were going to use it. It's a good-looking box made from a lot of precious materials, maybe you can use it to propose in the future when you find a good missus."
Once Rano said this, Mary perked up and she cleared her throat in a manner that she thought was discreet. I just sighed and told Rano to keep his box.