Chapter 104: Unknown Cave
“This cave is quite narrow.” Leo said shortly after they entered the cave.
“It will get wider as we travel deeper.” Nina said.
“I hope so. It’s going to be difficult fighting in such a tight space, after all.”
“Leo, I’m going to scout ahead.” Lilith suddenly said to him.
“Alright.” He nodded slightly.
The moment Lilith left his side and disappeared into the darkness ahead, Leo immediately felt a little less safe for some reason.
A few minutes later, they encountered their first monster, and it was a rat the size of an adult hippopotamus.
“That’s a Cave Rat, an E-Rank monster.” Nina said to him.
“I will handle these small—”
“I got it.” Leo suddenly dashed forward before swinging his sword at the giant rat, slicing it in half.
“You can leave the small fries to me and save yourself some energy and effort for the harder monsters later.” Nina said to him afterward.
“Actually, can you let me kill all of the monsters we encounter? I have a reason for killing them.” Leo said with a stiff smile.
After all, he needed the kills to complete his quest. If Nina killed the monsters, it wouldn’t count towards the progression.
“If that’s what you want…” Nina nodded with a weird look on her face, as she couldn’t fathom why he was so eager to kill these weak monsters.
A minute later, a dozen Cave Rats could be seen running towards their direction, clogging up the entire path.
Leo’s eyes flickered with excitement as he waited for them to get closer.
Once they were close enough, Leo swung his sword at them, killing one rat with each swing, finishing off the last one in less than a minute.
He looked at his progress afterward.
[Progress: 312/500]
‘I’m so glad that even low-ranking monsters count towards the progression.’ He sighed inwardly.
Over the next 30 minutes, Leo would continue killing Cave Rats as they delved deeper into the cave without stopping.
However, they were eventually forced to stop when they encountered a small problem.
“The path is split into two… Which path should we take?” Leo asked Nina, who had been here before.
“I took the right path the last time I was here,” she said.
“Then let’s take the left path this time and see if there’s any difference. If it’s a dead end, we can just walk back.” He suggested.
“Okay.” Nina had no complaints.
Thus, they started walking the left path.
The path continued to be narrow for a few more minutes, then it suddenly expanded by several meters, and resting at the end of the path was a skeleton wielding a rusty sword.
“A dead end with a skeleton, huh?” Leo mumbled when he couldn’t see any path past the skeleton.
“Shall we turn back now?” Nina asked him.
“Let me kill that skeleton real quick.” He said before rushing at the skeleton, killing it with ease.
After killing the skeleton and harvesting its mana core from its skull, Leo made sure there weren’t any hidden paths at the dead end before returning to Nina and going back the way they just came from.
Once they arrived back at the split, they took the right path this time and continued moving deeper into the cave.
After walking for a few minutes, the narrow cave expanded again, but there wasn’t a dead end this time.
A few more minutes later, they encountered a bunch of skeletons with shields and swords.
“D-Rank Skeletons Soldiers.” Nina said.
Leo wasted no time killing these skeletons.
After killing the skeletons, he would stomp their skull to reveal its mana core.
Over the next several hours, they would continue walking the path, encountering mostly D-Rank monsters.
The next time they came to a full stop was when they arrived at another split. This time, there were three paths to choose from.
“The middle path.” Nina said.
“Alright, let’s go.” Leo didn’t even bother to check the other two and went straight for the middle path.
Shortly after they began walking the middle path, Lilith came back.
“Where have you been this whole time? I thought something had happened to you.” Leo said to her.
“I had no reason to come back, so I decided to stay a few steps ahead of you to make sure there were no traps.” She said.
“Since you’ve come back… Is there a trap ahead?” He then asked.
“No, I just felt like returning because I was bored of being alone. I doubt there are any traps in here, and the monsters are quite ordinary as well.” She shrugged.
“I see… Thanks for your effort, anyway.”
“Anything for my best friend!” She gave him a thumbs up.
Sometime later, they encountered a new kind of monster.
“C-Rank monster, Cave Trolls. They’re just like goblins but with a bigger size and more strength.” Nina said.
When the Cave Trolls noticed Leo and Nina’s presence, they immediately tightened their grip on their weapons that were pickaxes and charged forward.
Naturally, they didn’t stand a chance before Leo and were quickly killed.
Ding!
<You have completed a Quest>
[+1,000 Magic Points]
‘Finally! Now that I have completed this quest three times, it should upgrade to the next tier.’
Leo opened up the Quest Shop as he walked.
[Kill 5,000 Monsters: 500MP]
[Reward: 15,000 Magic Points]
‘15,000 Magic Points!’ Leo was ecstatic when he saw the upgrades. However, he had to kill 5,000 monsters, which was 10 times as much as the previous quest.
Of course, that didn’t deter him away from purchasing the quest instantly.
‘5,000 monsters… The training course will probably end before this quest is finished, unless we find a few more monster nests, hopefully…’
Several more hours later.
“Wow…” Leo muttered in a voice full of awe when they arrived at the end of the path that led to a massive underground cavern.
“This is where the B-Rank monsters are.” Nina said to him.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this place turned out to be a Labyrinth,” he said with a smile on his face.