"Oh thank you Lord for this torch, I was feeling blind as a bat-" Leo said as he luckily came across some flint and a wall mounted torch while he was walking down the mine-shaft.
It was technically the third torch that he had come across, however, it was the first one that had a flint next to it, giving him the ability to actually light the torch and create some fire, but more importantly some light!
*Swoop*
*Crackle*
*Crackle*
The torch burned brightly with typical crackling sounds as the sudden light momentarily blinded Leo and forced his eyes to re-adjust.
Once his vision returned, he could see that he was indeed inside a miners shaft that was extremely narrow and had very little space for movement.
Since he had been moving all this while by hugging a wall, he had not noticed that the size of the entire shaft was only about an arm length wide.
Although he could walk inside it upright, the ceiling was barely 5-6 inches above him and there were plenty of pointy rocks hanging from the ceiling.
Leo could conclude after a quick scan that the shaft was hastily made and that safety inside this shaft could be considered questionable at best, however, despite how it looked, Leo was happy to at least be able to see again as he made his way down the shaft away.
According to the dungeon mini map, Leo was inside a pretty unique shaft.
It was called 'Air duct' and apparently its primary job was to ensure that oxygen rich air moved from the outside to the inner parts of the mine.
It was not a particularly big shaft as it was never used for actual mining operations, however, it was the best lit shaft when mining operations were in progress as there were torches at every 5 metre interval inside the shaft.
If for any reason the torches stopped burning, the miners working inside the inner parts were immediately evacuated as a lack of oxygen was detected early.
If the oxygen was enough, the torches kept burning and the operations went on smoothly.
[ System Notification :- The young wolf you stabbed has suffered internal bleeding and has slowly bled to its death!
You have successfully killed a (Level 2) 'Young wolf', You gain +50 EXP ]
[ System Notification :- You have gained a level! Player 'The Boss' is now level1 ]
Leo got two new notifications as he got enveloped in a golden light when his level increased.
He gained a level! However contrary to his expectations, the increase in level did not magically heal his injuries or increase his stats.
He got 10 unassigned stat points for levelling up but that was pretty much it. There were no other advantages for levelling up.
"Agh, Bummer-" he cursed as he clicked his tongue.
He was hoping for a full refill of the HP bar but it seemed like it was not meant to be.
Since groaning was of no use either, he just shook his head and kept moving down the shaft as very soon he reached the other end of it and saw something that absolutely blew his mind.
[ Adult Dire Wolf ] ( Level 15 ) ( HP : 700/700 )
[ Adult Dire Wolf ] ( Level 14 ) ( HP : 600/600 )
[ Adult Dire Wolf ] ( Level 16 ) ( HP : 840/840 )
[ Adult Dire Wolf ] ( Level 20 ) ( HP : 1200/1200 )
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[ Adult Dire Wolf ] ( Level 14 ) ( HP : 575/575 )
About 20 wolves ranging between level 10-20 were hibernating inside the main mining room.
Perched atop the oxygen shaft, Leo was a safe distance away from them and as he observed how the sleeping wolves had no reaction to the light coming from his torch, he could not help but feel like he had just hit the jackpot!
He was easily twenty feet above the floor level where the wolves were sleeping and even if he did nothing himself but just relay this information to the adventurer group outside, then using this information they could easily use archers and slaughter the wolves below as with the right planning this vantage point could change the whole tide of the battle.
However, Leo did not want to leave this mission upto the adventurers, not when he felt like he could complete it himself!
According to the mini-map, the oxygen shaft was critical to mining operations and without it there was a real chance to suffer asphyxiation inside the main room.
While humans or even awake animals could probably sense the drop in oxygen levels by feeling dizzy, Leo doubted that hibernating wolves would be conscious enough to feel the difference as he felt like this was his chance!
If he somehow blocked the oxygen shaft and the game engine was as realistic as Leo was hoping that it was, then it would mean that he could single handedly kill all those high level wolves below and hog all their kill EXP for himself!
"Hahahaha….hohoho…. Hehehe" Leo laughed maniacally as he felt like this was a god sent opportunity!
Being a repairman, he knew a lot about structural integrity and how to break rocks, and he was confident that in about 20-24 hours of hard work he could break and gather enough small rocks from the mining shaft to be able to block the other end completely, effectively starving the wolves below of fresh air!
Getting to work immediately, he put all the 10 unassigned points into the strength stat and began looking for rocks hanging off the ceiling that looked brittle and easy to break.