I continued hunting for several hours straight and finally reached Level 6. In addition to leveling up, the skill "Movement Acceleration" also increased again, further boosting my agility and dexterity.
Name: Zane
Level: 6 ( EXP: 2,205 / 32,000 )
Clones: 2/2
Strength: 49
Endurance: 35
Agility: 55
Dexterity: 27
Magic: 25
Points: 10
Skills:
Clones EX
Knife Combat LV7
Movement Acceleration LV6
Strength Enhancement LV4
Smiling in satisfaction, I closed my status screen before distributing the 10 available points. I'll do that later. I'll do it when I reach Level 10 and have a large number of points saved up. I'll probably gain new skills when I reach Level 10.
If the number of clones I can summon increased at Level 5, the same will probably happen at Level 10.
The problem is the difficulty of leveling up. The amount of EXP required really is doubling with each level. Right now I need 32,000 EXP, and at the next level I'll need 64,000.
That's a lot.
Continuing to explore the upper floors isn't very effective anymore. I think I'll have my clones descend a few floors and explore the 10th to the 12th floors. They're a bit more dangerous, but I think it'll be fine.
They're clones, after all. If they die, I'll just summon them again.
But honestly, my status isn't that high, and I'm already very strong. My clones' status is identical to mine. I think we have enough strength to explore those floors without problems.
I think we're about as strong as a Level 2 adventurer. But a very strong Level 2 adventurer.
I'll go down a few floors to explore a bit. After that, I'll contact them and tell them to explore the deeper floors.
I took some water and food out of my inventory and filled my stomach.
After that, I moved forward.
'How long have I been here? I have no idea.'
####
I passed the seventh floor and went straight to the eighth. When I arrived, I dismissed my clones and summoned them again. When Clone 2 appeared, he looked annoyed.
"What happened?"
"I was in the middle of something important."
"More important than my orders?"
"No, of course not. Nothing is more important than you, Master."
"Right, right. I called you here to give you a new order." After taking a deep breath, I continued. "I want you to stop exploring these floors and go a little deeper. You have information up to the 30th floor, right?"
After all, that's as far as my own knowledge goes.
"Yes, that's correct." Clone 1 agreed, and Clone 2 nodded.
"I want you to go down to the 12th floor. Actually, you can go even deeper if you feel you can handle the monsters."
Hearing that, Clone 1 gave a wide grin. "Are you sure about that, Master?"
"Yes. I need more EXP to reach Level 10. Since I don't want to risk my physical safety, you'll go first to test your strength and the monsters' strength. If it's safe, I'll start exploring the lower floors as well."
Clones are perfect cannon fodder. If they die, it doesn't matter.
The clones understood that. They thought the same way.
"You're doing the right thing, Master. I don't mind dying for you," Clone 1 said, his voice loud and excited. It's strange hearing someone say something so morbid so cheerfully.
"Don't worry, Master. I won't die even if the monsters down there are stronger than me."
Unlike Clone 1, Clone 2 was extremely confident he wouldn't die at all.
Didn't I tell him that the overly confident ones are the first to die in situations like this?
Excessive confidence can become poison.
Well, who cares?
"All right, you can go now. I'll continue hunting monsters around here."
After the clones disappeared, I didn't see them again for the next few days.
####
Many days passed since I last saw my clones. After I gave the order, they began descending quickly, and my EXP gain started increasing exponentially.
It reached the point where I was gaining 105 EXP per monster—sometimes even more. The number of monsters also increases the deeper you go, so not only did the EXP per kill rise significantly, but the frequency at which I gained EXP increased as well.
Speaking of which, I've accumulated a huge number of magic stones—both low and mid-tier.
I haven't converted them into points yet, but since my knife is close to breaking, I'll have to do that to buy a new one. Or maybe I'll buy a different type of weapon.
Maybe if I buy a sword, I'll gain a skill called "Sword Mastery LV1."
Speaking of skills, I haven't received any new ones in the past few days. However, the skills I already have have leveled up.
Name: Zane
Level: 9 ( EXP: 146,205 / 150,000 )
Clones: 2/2
Strength: 64
Endurance: 38
Agility: 72
Dexterity: 47
Magic: 28
Points: 40
Skills:
Clones EX
Knife Combat LV8
Movement Acceleration LV6
Strength Enhancement LV5
The number of monsters required to reach 140,000 EXP was terrifying.
Making some rough calculations, we probably killed more than 1,300 monsters.
But looking at it that way, it doesn't seem like that many monsters—especially considering our fighting style.
The clones usually run around slaughtering monsters quickly.
"All right, it's time to go back to hunting and reach Level 10."
By the way, the EXP required to level up didn't double after I reached Level 9.
Thankfully.
"I see you." I smiled, pointing my cracked-blade knife at the Orc approaching through the mist.
Hunting on the 12th floor is fun.
####
Read advanced chapters on my Patreon!
/Zhangye
Next Chapters: Chapter 15 - Clone 1 was destroyed. / Chapter 16 - Maniac? / Chapter 17 - Finn? / Chapter 18 - Loki wants to meet you. New abilities. / Chapter 19 - Encounter with Loki. / Chapter 20 - Why don't you join our Familia? / Chapter 21 - I want to take Freya to my bed.