Returning to the dungeon, Jay noticed that it had not refreshed and was as he left it, seven Horned Joey short. There weren't any Horned Joey near the safe zone, which meant he had no choice but to venture further into the dungeon. But with the help of the map, he can avoid groups and head to the lone monsters. For now, his priority was to level up and then collect drinkable water.
Jay stealthy left the safe zone and headed to a lone Horned Joey that fell en route to the pond. He did not near it, squatting a few feet behind it, he locked the purple alignment markers on the monster and used the 'Astral Hack' skill on it. Once the hack was complete, taking out the kitchen knife he got during the death match, he aimed at the back of the monster and threw it with all his might.
'Swoosh!' 'Slapt!'
[You killed a Lv2 Horned Joey and gained +50 Exp]
After killing the monster Jay crawled and collected the random resource card and his knife. He was experimenting with various methods to eliminate monsters to ensure he could handle run-ins with two or more Horned Joeys swiftly, without attracting attention from other nearby monsters.
Soon Jay will be out of lone monsters to kill then, he will have to deal with groups. So he had to be prepared. He could try attracting the mod to the safe zone and kill them from within the safety of the safe zone, but he wanted to see how long he could keep killing the monsters without being noticed.
Not to forget, he needed to fetch drinkable water from the pond within the dungeon. This would be almost impossible if monsters in the dungeon became aware of him. If not for the tall grass and the Horned Joeys being near-sighted, it would have been hard for him to travel in the dungeon without being noticed.
Heading towards the dungeon pond, Jay killed any lone monsters he could find on his way. He was swift and made as little noise as possible.
[You killed a Lv2 Horned Joey and gained +50 Exp]
.
.
[You killed a Lv3 Horned Joey and gained +70 Exp]
.
.
[You killed a Lv2 Horned Joey and gained +50 Exp]
[You leveled up to Lv1 and gained:
i) +2 physical points
ii) +2 spiritual points
iii) +20 Mana points
Note:
i) Kindly gain a class to gain better stats points after leveling up.]
After killing four Lv2 and three Lv3 monsters, Jay finally leveled up. He felt a burst of energy within his body washing away all his fatigue and refreshing his heart and mind. It was a profound feeling that he had never experienced until today. It was addictive. He wanted to experience it more.
When he summed the experience points he gained based on his memories, he learned that it took him about 1000Exp to level up to Lv1. That was a lot of experience points, but the increase in these stats was worth it.
Soon Jay neared the dungeon pond but he continued to hide in the grass, as two Horned Joey were grazing by the pond facing each other. Making it difficult for him to sneak up on them. Fortunately, there were no other monsters in the vicinity of the pond. So, he would not be easily discovered by other monsters unless he fails to kill both the Horned Joey swiftly.
Thinking of a game plan, Jay slowly crawled, positioning himself behind one of the Horned Joey but not so close that he would be noticed by the one in front of it. First, he used the Astral Hack skill on both of them. Then, threw his kitchen knife at the monster facing his direction while he dashed toward the monster with its back toward him. The kitchen knife landed on its target precisely killing the monster facing his way while he sneaked attacked and killed the monster with its back his way with the Horn Knife.
[You killed a Lv3 Horned Joey and gained +70 Exp]
[You killed a Lv2 Horned Joey and gained +50 Exp]
Jay smiled ear to ear reading the system prompt. The experience he gained for killing the monster after he leveled up hadn't decreased. He was worried it would but it did not, he guessed it was because he used the astral hack skill on them. Then, pocketing the random resource and item cards, he picked up his kitchen knife. Nearing the pond he checked the pond and its surroundings to make sure there weren't any surprises.
However, when Jay stood by the pond and gazed at the clear water pond. The purple alignment marker appeared on the pond, showing that he could use Astral Hack skill on it. Surprised, Jay activated the skill. When the purple digital distortion and the glitch settled, he received a system prompt:
[System notification:
> Hack successful! You have used Astral Hack to hack into the 0-grade dungeon pond.
> You have triggered the maximum crit rate on the unit.
> You can now access the unit's entire information.
< Unit name: Dungeon pond
Unit grade: 0-grade
Unit effect: A shallow pond containing drinkable water for dungeon monsters.
Unit insider: It has water mana stones at its bottom>]
After reading the prompt, Jay grew excited upon learning that there were water mana stones at the bottom of the pond. He had come here to stock up on water, but he had no idea that he would find the solution to his water problems in this unexpected location. With this discovery, Jay became even more appreciative of his innate skill, 'Astral Hack.' Without it, he would not have known that the fountain could provide drinkable water with the help of water mana stones or that there were water mana stones at the bottom of the pond.
Removing his fur shoes and placing all his reward cards and the two empty pouches in them, Jay prepared to enter the pond and fetch water mana stones from its bottom to solve his domain's drinkable water problem.
...
Reader's Quest Board:
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Reward: 1ch for every 100 power stones amassed
Time limit: End of April
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Time limit: End of April