Connor noticed that the corpse of the beast, already starting to decay, was a wasted opportunity.
The system had informed him that there were chances his attributes could increase if he consumed the meat of monsters that were higher level than him.
He could only sigh at the spilled milk as he had no means to get the corpse out with him or cook it right now as he had no ingrdients.
He started eating the packed food that he brought with him, and viewed his new skill.
[
Skill name: Rejuvenating Physique
Rank: 3rd order
Passive function: makes the body parts have high regenerative traits to recover from any damage. Also makes your physique toughen up in thickness and shape.
passive effect: + 20 Endurance +50 stamina + 20 strength
]
He was shocked to receive such a boost in stats, he no longer cared about the wasted corpse and called his record.
[
Name: Connor Lennox
Race: Human
Class: None
Subclass: None
Rank: Unranked
Level: 6 (2/60)
AP: 4
Attributes:
->Strength: 45(+3)
->Endurance: 37
->Stamina: 19/76(+5)
->Agility:18
->M.P: 3
->Mana: 9/15
Weapons(1) Equipment(0) Skills(2) Weapon Arts(0)
]
He realized the reason he felt so good: his stamina had increased dramatically. Now, he could easily run 100 km a day without tiring. Although his agility was still low, limiting his speed, his new physique allowed him to fight tirelessly.
He knew he could increase his Agility with AP, but that would be unwise. Until his core recovered—a distant goal—he needed to invest all his AP in MP.
Besides, he had just found a way to combat creatures like the tigra-squirrel. The only reason he had survived was his second perk, granted by Uriel.
He decided to convert all his saved SP into MP, allowing him to use his skills and attacks longer than others, giving him a significant advantage.
Using all 4 AP, he increased his MP. He planned to cultivate and use all his SP to raise his mana to the maximum. With 7 MP, he could achieve up to 7000 Mana.
Though this load could cause intense pain, potentially even crippling him, he wasn't afraid as his endurance was now at 37—more than three times what it had been when he fought the Tigra-squirl.
He understood that this was a reckless or even masochistic tactic, but he had no other option.
His plan was to kill the remaining monsters on the first floor and convert all the SP to Mana. Since they wouldn't respawn for a month, he would then leave the floor.
With all the Mana coursing through his body, he would challenge the second floor, slay the monsters there, and repeat the cycle until he defeated the banshee.
To obtain the Necromancer subclass, he had to kill a creature with that class. In the undead dungeon, only two beings had it: the banshee and the lich.
The lich was out of the question, as it had surpassed level 100 and was confined to its floor.
However, if he didn't kill the banshee within the next 24 hours, it would continue to grow rapidly. Now was the time to hunt it and end the threat.
A person could only have one subclass for life. To obtain it, his core needed to absorb the class of a monster slain in a dungeon—a process unique to dungeons.
Connor got up after finishing his meal, improvising his plan to kill the banshee.
Moving with more caution, he knew he couldn't be careless anymore.
He began slaying the bats more easily with his strikes, even facing groups that rushed at him and timing his skills to evade them.
With practice, he improved at wielding the sword. He wasn't just swinging it anymore, He was slashing with precision, aiming to kill each bat in a single strike.
Utilizing his increased strength, he used the bats as training dummies for strength control, not even needing mana infusion.
After killing the tigra-squirl, the bats no longer provided any stat increases through excess SP.
The system explained that this was because he had become stronger than them in both level and stats. While the bats were levels 6 or 7, his third-order passive skill put him far above them in terms of stats.
Till now by killing them all he got 90 SP out of which he used 10 SP to increase his by Mana by 1000, he felt an uncomfortable feeling inside him as if his whole body had swallowed fire.
He went on to add 3000 more Mana with 30SP and which made the feeling more instense, his breathing roughed up, he felt like if he went any more than this, he would collapse.
'Why is it happening My body should be able to take up to 7000 Mana essence but i am not able to take half the worth? My endurance and stamina are also quite high now'
[ Your body can certainly take it, but your mind cannot endure the intense Mana raging inside.
Your willpower is weak, causing you to collapse.
It is advised not to push further, or you may lose your ability to reason and succumb to a berserk state, or to hunger or sloth based on your personality. You are more likely to be induced by Wrath. ]
He was reminded of his weakness but didn't let this distract him from his goal. He accepted that among the sinful personas, Wrath defined him most. However, it was just one aspect of him. Among the virtues, he believed he embodied Diligence. His personality was more than that. As he believed a single trait or emotion could never define him.
"It's alright. I only require a few hundred Mana to maintain Night Blend and Mana Infusion. I can manage by not exceeding 2500 Mana."
Back to the fight with the bats, Connor didn't stop at improving his sword techniques. He focused on exploring Night Blend further.
He realized a weakness of Night Blend: after more than one step, the skill would automatically deactivate.
"Or is it not a weakness, but just poor control of Mana and weak willpower?"
Connor knew his will wasn't low, as he hadn't turned into a Fallen upon coming into contact with Mana, but it wasn't high either.
He asked the system to evaluate his willpower, a hidden stat that couldn't be improved like reflex or perception.
[ Willpower is defined as the power to act upon the mind's orders and signifies the strength and capacity of a mind. Your willpower is in the 96th percentile among humans, which is rare for your age.
To improve willpower, you need a clear self-image and to eliminate unwanted thoughts. High willpower helps you fight against Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, and Pride. It can also be improved by meditation and overcoming sinful attacks targeted at you. ]
"So I can improve my willpower by going berserk and fighting back for my sanity? No thanks, I'm not that much of a risk-taker," he scoffed.
Connor had wiped out all the bat monsters and proceeded toward the other sides of the large corridor that led to the boss room where he faced the tigra-squirrel.
His first opponent was someone he did not expect: a creature resembling a mummy like those found in Egyptian pyramids, wielding a scimitar in its hand.
"Is this undead dungeon a pyramid?" he asked the system as he approached the mummy with his mana-infused sword. He wasn't going to make the mistake of underestimating his enemy ever again.
Since this was a new type, he went ahead and used 2000 mana on his dull blade, making it heavier and sharper than ever.
He did this because he was on the verge of leveling up again after wiping all the bats.
So he needed to use up some SP in order not to lose all the SP he had stacked for just a 1 AP increase with a level.
[The Undead Dungeon is a portion of a pyramid. The pyramid connects all the undead dungeons across the universe and is structured similarly]
Connor didn't react much to the message as he already expected the undead to be associated with tombs and pyramids alike.
His focus was fully on the mummy that was rushing at him with bare hands attempting to either scratch or eat him. He raised his blade upward in a vertical slash.
Connor's first slash was enough to kill the mummy. It seemed too weak, or maybe he had just gotten too strong after killing their boss.
[You have slain a Lv. 7 Accursed Walker]
[You have gained 18 SP]
[You have gained +2 Agility from the excess SP gained]
He smirked after getting the kill message.
Within another hour, he had almost cleaned the entire first floor. Now it would be safe for him to get out in case he was injured when he left the dungeon.
He also leveled up twice as he killed more than 20 accursed walkers.
Connor was already familiar with battling humanoid adversaries. Throughout his life, from high school to university, he had been fighting against bullies who constantly troubled him.
So, he found it much easier to deal with the mummies, whose scimitars only scratched him. He dodged their attacks effortlessly and dispatched them with relative ease.
After he dealt with the last accursed walker, Connor asked the system something that had been bugging him since he started fighting the accursed walkers:
"System, what do these Weapon Arts do to my combat techniques? I know they are some kind of martial art like my Karate that deals mainly with weapons, but how powerful are they? And how do I acquire them?"
[Weapon Arts are not simply a form of martial art. They are Mystic Arts that teach you various ways of handling all the mana inside your body, concentrating the flow, synchronizing mana with the weapon, and many other things that define a Weapon Art.
They are graded based on tiers ranging from I to V.
The tier specifies the difficulty of learning them and their high standard.
To acquire a Weapon Art, you can either invent them after years of research or obtain a tome from a dungeon. After acquiring the said tome, you will be able to synchronize it with your core, which can then decrypt the information from it.
However, depending on the tier, your core may not be able to extract the information from it.
Currently, there is only one Weapon Art tome in this dungeon. It's called 'Tahtib Star Arts,' a tier III polearm art that is located on Floor 4.]
'Wait, if a person can imbue their mana in their blades, does it mean the skill my Dull Blade offers is useless? Or could it be that the automatic infusion of mana once I release it into the blade is what's special about the skill? Maybe that is the case since it is a learner's weapon. It would make me familiar with imbuing mana later as I learn my first Weapon Art' Connor deduced.
Then he remembered another thing that had been on his mind. He asked the system for clarification on why the enemies were so weak that even after 12 hours of sleeping, they should at least be similar to the tigra-squirrel in strength now.
[With the boss of the floor dead, they weren't able to grow to their peak and stagnated at the current level. Otherwise, you wouldn't have won so easily]
He went ahead to the boss's room, where he found the tigra-squirrel's corpse missing. He shrugged and moved to the rune-engraved platform at the end of the room.
He expected to be teleported to the next floor, but when the rune was activated, the platform elevated and rushed to the sky.
After it stopped, he received a message from the system.
[Welcome to the second floor, challenger. Warning: Challenger's level is very low. A minimum level of 360 is required to clear this floor]
The new room had a single passage at the front, while the back featured a sloped ceiling, reminiscent of an attic roof.
It finally clicked for him that he had ascended a floor in a pyramid, where the slanted edges naturally formed downward-sloping ceilings.