They continued deeper into the dungeon, and as they went deeper, more Saltwater Creepers appeared. Each time, Yamamoto would easily discard of the monster, leaving Kenneth in utter shock and disbelieve.
One time, the Creeper lunged with its tail, whipping around in the crushing strike, which was its primary attack. Yamamoto sidestepped with ease, and his sword came down in a precise strike, once again piercing through its head.
Kenneth stared yet again, wide eyes. "That was… incredibly fast."
Once again, Yamamoto shrugged. "It telegraphs its attacks, making it easy to read and dodge.
What he said was indeed true, the creepers always coiled before striking, giving a fraction of a second warning to anyone who knew to look… But even then!
"No level 4's reacting to that speed at all, certainly not a swordsman." Kenneth said to himself, analyzing everything.
Yamamoto continued to display unremarkable skill as they went further in, finishing the monsters in one strike, three at most.
Kenneth contributed where he could, using his shield to block attacks and occasionally getting in strikes with his sword, but mostly, he watched Yamamoto work with growing amazement.
"You're just incredible with the sword," Kenneth said after Yamamoto impaled three Creepers in one strike by applying his skill, Piercing Strike. "I've never seen anyone move like that. Are you sure you're not from one of the major guild training programs? Maybe even a protégé from a sword school…"
"Of course not, then I'd be in better dungeons with even more juicy rewards. This is just the results of lots of practice," Yamamoto replied, deflecting the compliment. "I'm sure even you can achieve perhaps better results with a lot of practice and discipline."
"R-really?" Kenneth asked, wholeheartedly believing what he heard without question.
"Of course."
Well, this result wasn't out of place. Before entering the dungeon properly, Yamamoto had allocated some of his free stat points, putting 6 points into strength, bringing it to 16. That gave him the damage output he needed to one-shot these creatures with some technique.
The dungeon's layout was a series of interconnected chambers—standard for most dungeons, especially lower level ones, each chamber requiring them to clear out the Creepers before proceeding, at least that was what they did.
The monsters averaged level 10, with the occasional level 11 mixed in. For Kenneth, at level 12, they were manageable but dangerous. For Yamamoto, however, they were barely a challenge.
Soon enough, the boss room came after about 40 minutes of steady progress. Kenneth himself couldn't believe that it took so short a time.
The boss room had no particular distinction—no large door or veil, nothing. As soon as they walked in, they found a deep pool in the centre, and rising from that pool was a massive Saltwater Creeper that was easily 15 ft long, and as thick as a hippo.
[Alpha Saltwater Creeper – Level 14]
"Be careful," Kenneth warned. "The boss is significantly stronger. Its tail can destroy bones, and if it gets a constriction hold on you, you're done."
"Mmm…" Yamamoto responded, already making some calculations in his head.
Seeing how Yamamoto had responded, Kenneth couldn't help but think that this guy was already up to something. "You're not planning to go solo again, are you?" He asked, just out of curiosity.
"Not at all."
In the game, this boss, wherever it appeared, had three phases. It had the aggressive tail strikes attack which mixed with attempts at random times to constrict the opponent, then a final desperate flurry when its health dropped below 25%. This was an an attack pattern that was most predictable and of course, exploitable.
Nevertheless, Yamamoto wasn't going to take the chance to risk his life. If this boss really got him, he would really die.
Quickly, while the boss was still booting, he gave a few instructions to Kenneth, who listened closely without missing anything.
Once they were ready, they went into a fierce confrontation, with Kenneth playing his role perfectly, using his shield to draw some agro, while Yamamoto circled behind the creature unnoticed, giving him enough room to strike precisely at vital points. Whenever the boss tried to constrict Yamamoto, he would skillfully move out of the way, not daring to take a chance.
Under only ten minutes, they managed to bring down the creature, clearing the dungeon.
Kenneth let out a whoop of triumph as the creature fell, he almost couldn't believe it.
"We did it! The two of us really did it!... Well you did mostly everything, but…"
Before Yamamoto could even think of a reply, a notification appeared in his vision:
[DUNGEON CLEARED: Whispering Caves]
Rewards:
+1500 EXP
[LEVEL UP!] You are now Level 8
+Mystery Chest (Small)
+20 Gold
…
He had leveled up while clearing the dungeon, and now together with the exp from the boss monster and the reward, he had risen to level 8.
Yamamoto was ready to leave when he noticed Kenneth readily approaching the boss's corpse and pulling out a curved knife. "Help me with this. We need to harvest quickly so we can leave early." He said.
"Harvest?" Yamamoto asked, confused, though he moved close to take a look at what Kenneth was doing.
"Of course. Don't tell me you don't know? You're such a weird guy, you know?" He said, not even looking up and with no deep meaning to his words.
"The eyes of Saltwater Creepers, specifically, are valuable—used for making certain potions I hear. The Alpha's eyes especially, they can easily fetch up to 5 silver each at the right market." He said, as he made a precise cut and extracted one of the creature's eyes—a cloudy, marble-like sphere. "We should go back and get the others too. Even the regular Creeper eyes are worth a few silver each."
This was completely new information. In the game, monsters just dropped loot—maybe some gold, maybe an item, entirely random. There was no corpse to harvest from, no organs to extract and sell.
But of course, this world was real. The monsters had actual bodies that could be valuable.
They spent the next hour backtracking through the dungeon, with Kenneth methodically harvesting eyes from every Creeper corpse they'd left behind. Yamamoto helped, learning the technique—where to cut, how to extract the organ without damaging it. Well, that was easier said than done, since Kenneth had to take over the entire process to stop Yamamoto from bursting anymore eye.
As they worked, Yamamoto asked carefully, "So this is how adventurers make most of their money? Harvesting monster parts?"
"That and selling information about dungeons, finding relics and artifacts, taking contracts." Kenneth sealed another eye into his spatial pouch—a leather bag at his waist that was clearly larger on the inside than the outside. "The dungeon itself usually provides some coin, but the real profit is in the harvest."
That answered one question, but it raised another. "Kenneth, about the dungeon rewards... do you receive anything when you clear a dungeon? Besides what we harvest?"