Chapter 09 Grinding XP Is Boring, but at Least I'm Not Dying

The second goblin charged at me. Bigger than the first. Meaner. Steel sword raised high. It roared and swung down with all its strength. But I didn't flinch. My body moved on its own. Step to the side. Twist. Swing.

My wooden sword met its steel blade, shattering it. The goblin didn't even have time to react. My sword kept going. Through the sword. Through the side. Two pieces. Clean cut. Just like the first.

I can't believe it, that was even easier than the first one.

I waited for the level-up window. Nothing.

Wait. Where's the—

I checked my status.

LEVEL: 3
XP: 45%

Hey! I just killed a level 5 monster. And I got less than half a level?

"You're kidding me. I didn't level up!"

"Of course not, silly."

"Of course not?! I killed a monster in one hit and I got nothing!"

"Not nothing." She pointed at my XP bar, "Forty-five percent. That's decent for a level 5 monster."

"While I was level 2, I killed one goblin and got one level. And now I'm level 3 and I got half of that?! This doesn't make any sense!"

"Kuzu-kun. The XP gain drops off as you level up. Fighting monsters close to your level gives you less XP. Fighting monsters above your level gives you more."

"So... to level up fast, I need to fight higher level monsters?"

"Much higher. The higher the level difference, the more XP you get."

So, killing goblins won't get me anywhere fast. I need bigger monsters. Stronger monsters. Monsters that can actually hurt me... Well crap, this is turning out just like the crappy RPG games I used to love playing. Some insane grinding incoming. But this is fine. This is completely fine. I'm not scared. I'm not scared at all. I can do this!

"Don't worry." Fiona patted my shoulder, "We're going to floor five. Monsters there are level 15-20. They'll give you plenty of XP."

I felt my blood run cold.

"F-f-f-fifteen to t-t-t-twenty?!"

"Mmhmm. Perfect for grinding."

"I'm level three! Are you out of your mind?! How am I supposed to fight level twenty monsters?!"

"Skillfully? Come on, Kuzu-kun. The next floor is just ahead."

Level twenty monsters. She wants me to fight level twenty monsters! I'm going to die. I'm going to die!

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We descended the stairs to floor two, and the air changed immediately. Cooler. Damp. Carrying a faint scent that clung to the back of my throat. Walls were different too, darker stone, veined with something that pulsed with a faint, eerie glow. Not enough to light the way, but enough to make the shadows feel deeper. More alive. Otherwise, the floor looked much like the first. Rough stone underfoot. Dampness seeping through the cracks.

But something was not right. I noticed it right away. The absence of movement. No blue slimes crawling along the walls. No goblins shuffling in the darkness. Nothing but silence, heavy and oppressive, pressing down on me from all sides.

Huh? Where are all the monsters? Not even a noise. Floor one was full of sounds all the monsters were making. And here, nothing. Did someone clear it before us?

I gripped my wooden sword tighter. My eyes darted to every shadow, every corner, every dark space where something could be hiding.

Where are they? Why aren't there any—

A creature exploded from hiding, silent and lethal. Claws extended, mouth gaping wide to reveal rows of needle-sharp fangs. It was a lizard-like thing, scaled and sinuous, built for ambush and death.

I didn't think. There wasn't time to think. My body moved on its own, driven by the instinct that the Sword Master skill had planted deep in my bones.

I swung.

The wooden sword carved through the air in a perfect arc, meeting the creature mid-lunge. It cleaved through its clawed arm, through its shoulder, through its neck in a single swing. The severed head tumbled across the stone floor, trailing a thin line of dark blood. 

I stood there, chest heaving, heart slamming against my ribs like a caged animal.

What the hell was that! That was close! That was too close!

I stared down at the corpse. This wasn't a goblin or a slime; this was a predator. The kind of thing that hunted adventurers who weren't paying attention.

A window flickered into existence at the edge of my vision.

LEVEL: 3
XP: 50%

What? Only five percent? A level seven monster, and I got five percent?

I barely had time to process my disappointment before Fiona appeared at my side. 

"Good reflexes, but Kuzu-kun. You need to be careful from now on. Floor two isn't like floor one. Monsters here are smarter. They hide. They hunt. They wait. This one called Lurker, he was lying in ambush by the stairs, waiting for someone to come down so it could strike. It is a weaker monster than a goblin but do not think that just because it's only floor two, you're safe. Monsters here plan. They watch. They learn from their prey. Every mistake you make, they'll remember. Still, you reacted quickly. That was good. You did well."

Yeah right! Only thanks to my skill I reacted this quickly and killed it. I barely survived. But if I hadn't, if my skill hadn't kicked in, if my body hadn't moved on its own—

I looked at the corpse again, at the claws that could have torn me apart, the fangs that could have ripped out my throat.

I almost died. I almost—

"I'm fine. I am fine."

"Kuzu-kun. We should keep moving. Floor five is still a long way down, and monsters only get more dangerous from here."

I looked past her, into the darkness ahead. Into the unknown. The path stretched out before me, winding deeper into the ground. More dangerous. I gripped my wooden sword and forced my legs to move.

I can do this. I have the skill. I have... I have her. I hate that I have her. But at least I'm not alone.

--------------

Floor two stretched on longer than I expected. The air grew heavier too, thick with the smell of damp stone and something old and musty, like a tomb that hadn't been opened in centuries.

I walked carefully, my wooden sword held at the ready, my eyes scanning every corner, every crevice, every pool of darkness that could conceal a predator. The Sword Master skill kept me alert.

Monsters came at irregular intervals. Another lizard-thing lunged from a crack in the wall. I cut it down before it could reach me. A pair of goblins emerged from a side tunnel, crude clubs raised. They fell in seconds. A purple slime oozed from a ceiling crack. I didn't wait to see what it could do. I struck it before it could drop, and it burst like a rotten fruit.

Each fight was over in moments. And still, the XP came slowly.

I checked my status after the fifth kill. Level three, sixty-two percent. After the eighth, seventy-eight percent. After the tenth, a window finally flickered into existence.

You have reached Level 4!

HP: 166 > 224
ATTACK: 52 > 70
DEFENSE: 4 > 5
SPEED: 20 > 27
ENDURANCE: 4 > 5
MAGIC: 0 > 0
SKILL POINTS AVAILABLE: 3

I let out a breath, "Finally, that took longer than I expected."

 "Ten kills. Not bad for your first real floor."

"Ten kills for one level? That's ridiculous. It's not some video game; this should be faster."

"The higher you go, the more it takes. You'll reach level five by the end of floor two. Probably higher if you find something challenging."

"Challenging? I don't want challenging. I want safe. I want easy. I want—"

The ground erupted.

Skeletal hands burst through the stone floor, clawing at the air. They were followed by arms. Shoulders. Skulls. A dozen skeletons hauled themselves out of the dirt, their bones clattering and scraping against each other. Empty eye sockets stared at me from hollow skulls. Yellowed teeth chattered in a silent mockery of a roar.

They rose in a circle around me.

I spun, my sword raised, heart hammering as the skeletons closed in. Their numbers swelling as more hands clawed up through the stone. They moved with a jerky, unnatural gait, their bones groaning with every step.

They surrounded me! Doesn't matter. I can't think. I have to move. I have to—

I lunged forward, sword swinging in a wide arc. The wooden blade caught the nearest skeleton across the ribs, shattering them like dry twigs. The creature collapsed into a pile of bones. Another swung a bony fist at my head. I ducked, spun, and drove my sword through its spine. It crumbled.

A skeleton lunged. I sidestepped, brought my sword down on its skull, and it exploded into fragments. Two more came at once. I pivoted, cut through one, then the other, sending them crashing to the ground in a cascade of bones.

They kept coming. More and more of them, climbing out of the dirt like the ground itself was rejecting me. But I kept moving, kept cutting, kept destroying them. I shattered ribs. I split skulls. I severed spines. Each strike was perfect, each movement effortless, each kill cleaner than the last.

And then I stood in the center of the cave surrounded by a sea of broken bones. Fragments of skeletons lay scattered across the floor. The last skeleton collapsed behind me, its skull rolling to a stop at my feet. I stared down at it. At the empty eye sockets that stared back at me.

I did that. I did all of that. They ambushed me. They surrounded me. And I... I destroyed them.

I checked my status.

LEVEL: 4

XP: 47%

Almost halfway to level five. From one encounter.

I turned to look at Fiona. She was standing where she'd been the whole time, arms crossed, calm. 

"Good. Fast reactions. Good awareness. You didn't freeze. They came out of nowhere and you recovered quickly. That's very good."

"This floor is insane."

Fiona laughed, soft and light.

"Floor two is just the beginning, Kuzu-kun. It only gets harder from here. Come on. We have more ground to cover."

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I didn't know how long we'd been down here. Hours? Ten? Twelve? The dungeon had no windows, no sun, no way to tell if it was day or night or even the same week. Time had blurred into an endless loop of monsters, swinging, and the faint flicker of light Fiona was casting.

I slumped against the cold stone wall, my legs threatening to give out beneath me. My body was in pain. My arms felt like lead weights. Every muscle ached with a deep, bone-tired exhaustion that I'd never experienced before in my life.

But I was alive. I was level ten. At fifth floor.