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[ NOTICE]
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[YOU'VE DEFEATED A REPTOID]
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Kuro yanked his dagger free from the chest of the humanoid lizard creature, it's dark blood coating the blade as it slid out with a wet squelch. The creature's lifeless yellow eyes stared up at nothing, before its scaly green skin started to turn pale green. Around its waist hung a simple fur wrapping, and a necklace made of small bones rattled against its chest as its body dropped into the swampy ground, just floating atop of the water.
A thick mist swirled around him, making it hard to see more than a few feet in any direction. Towering trees loomed overhead, with the branches all twisted and gnarled, creating a dark atmosphere that blocked out most of the light. The air was heavy and humid, filled with the smell of rotting flesh and something else he couldn't quite place.
All around Kuro, were bodies upon bodies of reptilian-like creatures that lay scattered across the muddy terrain, some in small groups, others literally piled on top of each other. There had to be at least thirty of them, maybe more. Each one wore the same basic fur wrapping and bone necklace, like they belonged to some kind of primitive tribe or something.
He wiped the blood from his dagger on his pants and took a deep breath, trying to control his breathing.
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[ OBJECTIVES]
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➤ KILL ALL REPTOIDS
[86/ 86]
➤ KILL THE LORD OF SNAKES
[0/ 1]
Clear all objectives to move to the next floor...
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Kuro groaned as he surveyed the swamp area. "Finally... I got 86 of them," he sighed, reaching down to his side where he felt a sharp pain. His fingers found a razor-sharp tooth lodged deep in his rib cage, one of those lizard abominations must've gotten a lucky hit in. He gritted his teeth and yanked it out, wincing as he tossed the bloody tooth aside.
It had been a couple of weeks since he first started this dungeon, and in that time, he'd managed to reach floor 9. Throughout this entire grinding session, he'd only leveled up three times, which was annoying to say the least. He was so close to getting that job change quest, but his progress had basically crawled to a halt.
His leveling growth had plummeted to absolutely nothing, but he figured it was because the past nine floors had all maintained the same B-rank difficulty level. So he'd been getting the same amount of EXP for each floor, and every time he leveled up, it took even more experience to reach the next level. It was like running on a treadmill that kept getting faster while he stayed the same speed.
Opening up his status screen, he clicked on his level stat to check his progress.
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[ OBJECTIVES]
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LEVEL 39
738,000/1,000,000
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"I still have quite a bit to go before I reach level 40," he muttered, studying the numbers. "Hopefully the boss gives me enough exp to level up." As he closed the screen, he suddenly felt a heavy, murderous intent coming from somewhere deeper in the swamp.
He turned toward the source of the murderous intent, and his hand instinctively moving to his inventory. He quickly equipped his [CURVED BONE DAGGER] and swapped out his regular gear for all his stat-boosting equipment.
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( UNCOMMON ) – [ITEM: CURVED BONE DAGGER]
[TYPE: DAGGER ]
[LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: D+ ]
[ATTACK: 25+ ]
[-CURVED BONE DAGGER INFO-]
- (EFFECT), "BLEED": Each attack causes bleed, which result in your opponent losing more HP per second.
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The weapon wasn't much to look at, hell, it was objectively worse than his Reduvia Dagger in almost every way. But the raw damage wasn't what he was looking for. The curved bone dagger had the bleed effect that would play beautifully with his Reduvia's own bleeding effect. So when both of them are stacked together, it makes for an even deadlier combo.
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[STAT BOOSTS]
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[STRENGTH] ➤ 94 (+14)
[AGILITY] ➤ 105 (+11)
[SENSE] ➤ 62.5 (+4)
[HEALTH] ➤ 82.5 (+12)
[INTELLIGENCE] ➤ 77 (6+)
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Kuro flexed his fingers, getting used to the feel of his gauntlets wrapped around the dagger grips. The metal felt clunky and awkward against his weapons, like trying to thread a needle while wearing oven mitts, but they were manageable enough for combat. He'd fought in worse conditions.
He tried not to think about what a walking Christmas tree of death he probably looked like right now, decked out in every piece of gear he owned. Fashion had never been his strong suit anyway, and looking ridiculous was a small price to pay for stat boosts. With a quick stretch to loosen a bit, he launched himself toward the source of the murderous intent.
- - - -
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- - - -
BOOM!
The impact hit him like a freight train, launching Kuro through the air like a human cannonball. The trees exploded into splinters as his body burst through them carving a destructive path through the swamp, with each collision sending shockwaves of pain through his bones. He flew through the air for what felt like forever before gravity remembered its job and started dragging him down.
Kuro quickly managed to channel chakra into his feet just before hitting the water's surface so he wouldn't fall under, and skidded across the water like a stone with his arms windmilling for balance until he finally managed to come to a stop.
His arms felt like they'd been put through a blender as they trembled from the sheer force of the attack that had just launched him into orbit. But self-pity was a luxury he couldn't afford. The water beneath him suddenly bulged upward like a liquid mountain, and a massive serpent lunged with its jaws wide open that could swallow a small building.
[LORD OF SNAKES, KING OF THE SWAMP]
Its scales were dark black that acted like armor plating, each one about the size of his palm and just as thick as a roof tile. Water cascaded off its coils as it rose up, towering above the trees around them by a good margin.
Kuro's survival instincts kicked into overdrive. Standing still meant becoming snake food, so he did what any sane person would do when faced with a creature that could eat a whole building, a small one, but still a building nonetheless... so he ran like his life depended on it.
Because it absolutely did.
His fingers moved in a blur, weaving through the familiar pattern of hand signs. "Vacuum Blade Jutsu!" he called out, slashing his dagger through the air as razor-thin crescents of compressed air shot toward the serpent's armored scales.
[ACTIVATING VACUUM BLADE JUTSU] Lv.10
The compressed air struck the creature's scales with metallic rings, each impact sending tiny chips of armor flying. They weren't deep cuts, more like scratches on a tank, but that was exactly what Kuro was going for. He wasn't trying to kill this thing in one shot; he was playing the long game, looking for any weak spots that he could exploit.
The serpent lunged forward, as its massive body cut through the swamp like a living battering ram. Tree's exploded into splinters as the creature barreled through them, each impact sending shockwaves through the water that Kuro could feel in his bones.
Kuro dashed between the trees, using every piece of cover he could find while launching more vacuum blades at the snake. Each strike chipped away another piece of the creature's armor, creating a growing network of hairline cracks and exposed flesh beneath. It was painstaking work, but slowly, methodically, he was making progress.
The serpent's hiss of frustration shook the entire swamp, sending birds flying from their roosts and causing the water to ripple with heavy waves. It was getting angry, and angry monsters made mistakes. Which was exactly what Kuro was counting on.
His hands flew through another series of handsigns. "Clone Jutsu!" Three perfect copies of himself materialized from wisps of smoke, each one identical down to the last detail.
[ACTIVATING BASIC CLONE JUTSU] Lv.19
The clones immediately scattered in different directions, their movements perfectly synchronized with his own.
The effect was immediate and exactly what he'd hoped for. The serpent's massive head swiveled back and forth, its predatory focus suddenly split between four identical targets. Its snake brain, evolved to track single prey, struggled to process the sudden multiplication of threats.
Kuro used that split second of confusion to vault over a fallen log and circle around to the creature's blind spot. The vacuum blades had done their job perfectly as a section of scales along the serpent's lower flank hung loose, revealing the pink, vulnerable flesh beneath. It was exactly the opening he'd been working toward.
He gripped both daggers tightly, feeling their familiar weight as he rushed in for the strike. With a burst of speed, Kuro launched himself forward, both blades leading the charge. The daggers punched through the exposed flesh with satisfying ease, sinking deep into the creature's vulnerable underbelly. Dark blood immediately began welling up around the wounds, he knew it wouldn't be enough to take down the serpent, but he hoped it would be enough to build up a good amount of bleed damage.
The serpent's head snapped around with terrifying speed, its sharp golden eyes blazing with pain and fury as it spotted him hanging from its flank like a persistent parasite. Before Kuro could even think about dodging, the creature's tail whipped around in a devastating arc.
The impact was like being hit by a heavy truck. Its massive tail caught him square in the chest, launching him through the air with enough force to make its last attack that sent him flying, look like nothing. He crashed through tree after tree, each collision driving the air from his lungs and sending stars exploding across his vision.
But Kuro had learned something important about himself during these past weeks in the dungeon, he was a lot stronger than he was before at the start. Even as pain wracked his body, he managed to channel chakra into his feet and catch himself against a particularly sturdy tree trunk. The impact still hurt like a bitch, but it was controlled, and at the very least manageable.
He pushed off from the tree and hit the ground running, moving like a blur. The serpent was wounded now, bleeding from two deep punctures that showed no signs of stopping.
His hands moved through another set of complex series of hand signs, drawing on chakra reserves that were starting to run low. Kuro launched himself skyward, using his momentum to vault high above the serpent's striking range. At the apex of his jump, with the creature's massive head turned up toward him in confusion, he took a deep breath in.
"Fire Style...Great Fireball Jutsu!" The words came out as a roar, matching the intensity of the jutsu itself. A sphere of orange flame erupted from his mouth, about the size of a large boulder and hot enough to make the air shimmer with heat. The fireball screamed through the air like a burning comet, painting the misty swamp in bright orange light as it rained down on the giant snake.
The fireball struck the snake square in the face with a devastating explosive force. "KSSSHKSSHKK!" The creature's agonized shriek echoed across the swamp as flames engulfed its head, turning its armored scales into blackened, crackling husks. Large chunks of its scales began peeling away and falling into the water below with heavy splashes, revealing the raw, burning flesh underneath.
The snake quickly dove backward into the murky water, desperate to escape the searing pain and extinguish the flames that were still licking at its wounded face.
Kuro kissed his teeth in frustration as steam rose from his mouth, the aftereffects of his jutsu still warming his throat. "You're not going anywhere!" Without a second thought, he dropped down through the air and dove headfirst into the swamp after the snake.
The water hit him like a cold slap, but he powered through the shock and looked around to find the snake. There, thrashing and squirming in obvious pain, was the giant snake trying desperately to swim away.
He grunted and forced his hands through another series of complex handsigns. As he finished, chakra began to swell around his hands, causing bubbles to appear, then brought both palms behind him and released everything in one explosive burst.
[ACTIVATING GALE PALM JUTSU] Lv.12
The wind jutsu propelled him through the water like a human torpedo, cutting through the murky water at incredible speeds. The gap between him and the snake closed rapidly as he rocketed forward, his body perfectly streamlined for maximum velocity.
Kuro unequipped his curved bone dagger and gripped his Reduvia blood dagger with both hands. As he caught up with the massive snake, he drove the weapon deep into the back of its skull, the blade punching through bone and flesh with surprising ease, since there was no scales to stop it.
"KSSSHKSSHKK!"
The snake thrashed wildly, trying to dislodge the painful intrusion, but Kuro gritted his teeth and held on for dear life. The water current created by the creature's desperate movements threatened to rip him away, but he wasn't about to let go now.
[ACTIVATING BLOOD BURST - MAX]
The snake's head began to swell like a grotesque balloon, expanding rapidly as the liquid pressure started to build up inside its skull.
Then, with a sound like thunder underwater, the creature's head exploded in a shower of brain matter and blood..a lot of it. The blast was so powerful that it sent Kuro flying backward through the water, tumbling end over end as chunks of the snake's destroyed head drifted past him like macabre confetti.
The headless body of the giant snake went limp immediately, its massive coils slowly sinking toward the bottom of the swamp as the last of its life ebbed away.
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[ NOTICE]
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[YOU'VE DEFEATED THE LORD OF SNAKES, KING OF THE SWAMP]
[ALL OBJECTIVES MET]
Gathering rewards...
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Kuro broke through the surface with a splash, gasping for air as he used his chakra to pull himself up from below, by using his hands. Then he let it travel down to his feet, and brought his foot on top of the water and pushed himself up onto his feet.
Kuro wiped water from his face and caught his breath. His heart was still doing its best impression of a jackhammer, but it was starting to settle down. That's when he noticed the shimmer in the air—words forming right in front of him, glowing softly against the evening light.
His mouth curved into a grin. Now this was more like it.
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[ NOTICE]
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[YOU LEVELED UP!]
[THE "PLAYER" HAS REACHED THE REQUIRED LEVEL]
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Kuro eye's widened, "FUCK YESS!" he pumped his fist into the air.
[YOU'VE RECEIVED A "JOB CHANGE" QUEST.]
. . . . .
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