I took the arrow out of my side, and it was bleeding a little. I wrapped a small bandage on it, which I had gotten as a drop from one of the weakened goblins below during my long battle streak. It was supposed to stop the bleeding for two hours before disappearing. I could also buy it in the store after I found it, for $50 BTP. I currently had an extra in case I needed it. Checking my status, I saw that my HP, while it decreased initially, was not steadily decreasing. I guess my level seven poison resistance was higher than the poison used on the arrows.

I blindly shot a 30MP fireball towards where the arrow sailed from. Following that, I turned on > and >. I ran up to the lesser hobgoblin, Blackmail in one hand and my demon claw the other. Quickly, I slashed it with my sword before decomposing it with my demon claw. As soon as the claw touched the arm of the lesser hobgoblin, its arm started to disappear, showing black smoke. A small black patch opened up nearby, with the telltale fog of the void surrounding it. I kept fighting the lesser hobgoblin, using Blackmail to slash, pierce, and stab and the demon claw/decompose combo to remove whatever came in contact with it. In the end, I won; however, I earned the glances of the two goblin knights.

The two goblin knights drew their swords and charged. I used > to back away and > at the same time. I did not hit either of them, but I received no damage. The one knight slashed towards my waist while the second tried to stab my head. I used my sword to > the slash and the demon claw to cut the second sword in half. The goblin with the sword cut in half was momentarily taken aback by having his sword halved. I used the opportunity to punch with the demon claw, decomposing its stomach. Soon, it disappeared completely. It left behind an EXP shard, but the void claimed it first. The second goblin knight and I found for a while. If it also dropped an EXP shard, I did not want the void to steal it from me. My strategy soon failed, though. Two lesser hobgoblins and one goblin in a black robe, appraised to be a goblin mage, had noticed me. I succeeded in finishing off the goblin knight as soon as they charged.

Towards the lesser hobgoblin, I shot a 60MP >, which was enough to burn it severely. The second one came at me while the mage began chanting. While I was fighting the knight with Blackmail, I saw the previously-burned hobgoblin become enveloped in a green light before the burns started healing. I used > to freeze all three of the enemies facing me. Quickly, I used my boots to run towards the mage in the back, since the goblin knight and hobgoblin pair could no longer protect it. Not taking any chances, I used the claw, cutting off its head. The drop, the MP recovery potion, was not taken by the void; however, a strange stone was collected before I could appraise it. The remaining three used this chance to attack together.

I used a combo of > and > to stop their attacks a second time. The first I took care of was the goblin knight, > off its head. I turned to the recently-healed hobgoblin, which was still missing an arm. I turned off the decomposition and used the demon claw to defeat it, gaining my an EXP shard. The final hobgoblin tried to run away. I knew, if I let it, it would tell the remaining four enemies of my presence. I > in front of it, slashing with Blackmail. It didn't go all the way through its waist, so I used my demon claw to end it finally. It dropped the pale blue MP recovery potion when it vanished.

I was beginning to get exhausted by this fight, but I knew it was possible for my other enemies to have noticed me by now. While I was thinking such, three arrows pierced my side. My remaining HP, after that, was 20. If I didn't level up, I would have been dead by now. I > in the direction of the shots. Finally, I saw a hobgoblin with a bow. It was on the top of the other side of the cliff, next to a goblin mage. I imbued Blackmail with the electricity element, shooting an arc towards the goblin mage. It seemed stunned, at least, by the blow. The archer, however, kept shooting. I climbed the nearby latter, with > and the speed of my boots, trying to avoid the arrows. I got hit a few more times, and I was losing more blood. With impeccable timing, exsanguination resistance increased in level.

I used > on both of them when I reached the top. I caught up to the archer first. In close range, it didn't stand a chance. One swing from my claw and it was gone. It left its bow.

Old bow

Arrows: 0

When the system asked me, I chose to sell it, earning $13 BTP. The mage attacked me with fireball, but it did little damage to me—I used decomposition to decompose the magic itself! Using Blackmail, I cut down the mage, earning me one MP recovery potion and, even though I didn't use decomposition, as it was active, it took the stone that dropped.

Looking down from my new vantage point, I could see a remaining goblin knight and lesser hobgoblin. The walls were covered in mana, and, eventually, I saw multiple different spawners for goblin knights and lesser hobgoblins. I quickly descended by walking on air, hid my presence, and > the lesser hobgoblin. I then used > for the remaining knight. With it frozen, it was easy for my demon claw to finish it.

Because of the spawners, I wanted to earn more EXP in this room. In so doing, I spent the next two weeks coming here every night. It was continuously a tough fight, but I was able to get up a lot of EXP. I only needed three more shards for my level to increase. I also sold many swords, earning $145 BTP more. I never saw another goblin archer, but there were a few more mages. They each dropped a stone, but I only got to look at it once. On it was a rune. The day after I saw that, I wrote it on a piece of paper at home. I could tell the rune had something to do with mana purification, but I couldn't read it all.

The week after, when I was ready to advance to the next room, was finals week in school. As such, I had to take a small break to study and take my exams. At least it let my MP recover by 250. Combined with the potions, it was at 425.

I passed all of my exams!

Normally, my family goes to the beach for the summer. My grandparents own a townhouse, and we stay there together with them. Since Emily has been to college, she hasn't been coming with us. She says that it's not cool to be seen with your family. This year, I told my parents that I wouldn't be going as well. I told them I was going to go to a camp for the entire summer where they drilled us to prepare for the SATs. I was going to take it in the fall, so I was able to convince them I needed to prepare.

With my wisdom almost three times that of an average person, I did not think the test would be challenging at all. Needless to say, there was no camp. I was able to convince my parents, though. They gave me money, and I packed my bags. I told them my friend from tae kwon do would pick me up and we'd carpool. I began walking towards his house, but I disappeared along the way.

With my luggage, I was going to stay in my dungeon mansion for the summer. This way, I could continuously challenge the rooms I came across. I packed some snacks and changes of clothes, but I didn't pack too much else. All I would need are the ring on my finger and Blackmail.

Lately, the ring has been asking me about what summer is. It seems like she doesn't know too much about it. I explained it to her, and she seemed content.

Finally, I went through the door in the large room on the second floor of the dungeon. There was a brick hallway following the room, and slimes came out constantly. It was easy to defeat them, but there were just so much. The walls here were laden with mana strings, so I could tell, unlike the earlier room that I keep passing, that the slimes here are spawned—they don't migrate from elsewhere.

After a brief repose from the fighting, I looked at the mana on the wall. Doing this, my mana manipulation skill had its level increased.

[Skill mana manipulation level up! Level 6]

As soon as I heard the announcement, I was able to see how the mana flowed through the wall and understood what it all meant. At the same time, I saw the mana flowing through my body. It went everywhere, but it stayed away from both my heart and the ring on my finger.

"Why isn't there any mana around you?" I asked the ring.

"It's Simple. There is a shield on the ring so that the dungeon doesn't notice it. In order to do so, we had to create a mana shield."

"A mana shield? What's that?"

"If you can see the mana flowing around your body, you may be able to create a small one as well. It is a simple exercise in mana control. Picture the mana coming out of your body and surrounding yourself."

I defeated another slime and began trying. As I thought about the mana coming out of my body, the mana inside lit up. It started coming out as a thin foam around my body. My MP was drastically decreasing as I did this.

"You’re a fast learner! It usually takes about a week to reach this stage. You are now in the first stage of creating a mana shield. Do you see that foam around you? Think of it condensing into a hard shell."

My mana was no longer decreasing so fast, so I did as instructed. It was difficult to do here, so I went back to my mansion and practiced there. When I pictured the mana around me coming back inside me, my MP rose.

"When you get better at mana manipulation, you will be able to see the ambient mana and use that to your advantage. You can also store it in your own body, but you must first choose an element to process it. You aren't at that point yet, and I'm not the best teacher."

I was disappointed I needed to wait, but I went to the recharged magic training field and sat down. I proceeded to take the mana out of my body. It kept coming, though. It did not stop like before. The foam around me increased and started to break off into two distinct layers.

"The runes here are amazing! They're at least legendary class if not higher!"

"Runes? What runes? What are you talking about?" I inquired.

"Where do you think the mana is coming from when it reenters your body? There are highly advanced runes here which are collecting and condensing mana before filtering it into your body. This technique is genius. It takes some of your mana and processes the stored mana to match your before giving it back! Be careful, though. You are still far away from congealing the second layer of your mana shield."

Hearing this, I went back to focusing on my technique. Soon, the mana surrounding me began to harden. After it hardened, it expanded slowly from my skin until it was a few centimeters away. It then began to shine.

[Skill: mana shield learned. As this skill was learned outside of the system's parameters, level increase must occur manually]

I then began working towards the second layer of the shield. I again concentrated on the mana, urging it to come out from inside me. On top of my first shield, a fuzzy layer of mana appeared. It began slowly congealing itself, but it didn't finish. I tried again and again, but it did not work. Soon, I felt completely exhausted. I recalled the mana shield and stopped to take a rest. Asking the system the time, I found it had taken a whole day! I didn't even think it took an hour, let alone a day!

Looking at my MP, I saw it increased by thirty. I was so close to the five hundred I needed for absolute frost! I also noticed the energy in the arena was down to zero. As such, I couldn't practice further. I ate some food and took a quick rest before adventuring back.

Looking at the spawners in the slime-infested tunnel, I had a thought.

"Do you know if I can reduce the spawn rate of these slimes?" I asked the ring

"It shouldn't be too hard with your current level. Just find the fastest mana line feeding the inside circuit."

"The what?"

"You can see the mana going inwards towards the center of the spawner. The one with the fastest mana speed is the one you are looking for. Cut it in half and redirect one of the halves away from the wall."

I wasn't sure of myself, but I could see the ones with the fastest mana flowing through. Using >, I grabbed it and tried to inject my mana through the circuitry. It worked, and the string split in two.

I grabbed the two ends, and, for the first, I did the same; however, this time, I got it to work vertically. Taking one half of the string and the other fourth, I tried to will them together with my mana, finally completing the rewiring. I had to do this at least twenty more times in the tunnel. Each time took 15 MP to do so, but the slimes I defeated along the way dropped four MP recovery potions and one EXP shard.

I stayed to fight the slimes present to verify what I did worked. Satisfied with myself, I was ready for the next room.

I arrived in front of a small door, which I would have to crawl through. Putting away Blackmail, I began my crawl. It must have taken ten minutes of crawling on the ground for me to finally emerge. In front of me stood a large rock with a warning: "Do not continue if you value your life." I wasn't sure how to continue, though.

Finally, I found a hollow spot. I tried punching it, and it caved in, revealing a handle. Using the handle, I slid the rock to open the door. On the other side, there was a narrow ravine. The ground, made of sleek black material, was covered in a thin layer of water. On both sides of the ravine, there were normal rocks. Atop these rocks stood many goblins armed with bows and arrows. It looked like this room was outside, as there was no visible ceiling. Not walls, but a giant fence stood behind the goblins.

I retreated back to the doorway before they noticed me. For long-range attacks, I could try to aim with fireball. Other than that, my attacks are close range. I could try climbing the rock wall, but I would surely be noticed once I attempted it. I couldn't summon Typhon, as the dungeon wouldn't allow it. In short, I had no strategy to defeat these archers.

I remembered the shield I recently congealed, thinking it may be able to help protect me, however, it wouldn't help in beating any of them. Like my shield, I thought that I could maybe attack with my mana. I already could sense the archers, so I thought that attacking wouldn't have been too difficult. That also didn't work; the mana didn't listen.

My best bet was to run through the archers, rather than try to defeat them. That's what I did. I readied my shield and began running. I did not make it very far, though. After about thirty arrows, my shield started to waiver. I began retreating, but it wasn't enough for my shield. It broke, and the first two arrows struck my breastplate. Almost through the door, a third struck, destroying the breastplate.

I sat down, trying to reform my shield. It took some more MP, but I succeeded in reforming it quickly. It was time to ask the ring if it had any good ideas.

"Is there anything available in your skill shop?"

"No, there's nothing, and, even if there was, I don't have any SP."

"How about the shop?"

"The BTP one? Nothing there either."

"We can try to find your element now, but I would suggest not to. I'm not great at it, and, if you mess up, you can't go back."

"I don't want to mess up. It seems this method can greatly increase my power."

"Good idea. I know you also have the skill lord title in addition to your other title. Are there any skills you could practice for long-ranged attacks?"

"Maybe if I had a spear, but I only have this sword. It's not like I can throw a sword at them."

"Why can't you?"

"What do you mean? Even if I manage to hit one of them, there goes my precious sword. And it's a very low chance that it even will hit."

"You know the sword is bound to your soul, right?"

"What about it?"

"Like this ring, we are both a part of your soul. As such, we can be recalled from anywhere into your hand. If you throw the sword, you can immediately recall it."

"Thanks for the tip."

"No problem. I need you to retrieve my comrades, so I can't have you dying."

I slowly walked into the room and threw my sword at the first archer I saw.

[Elementary sword technique level up! Level 7! New skill learned: sword throw]

Perfect timing. I just threw my sword, and, now the system tells me I learned the skill of throwing it. How ironic.

I thought of Blackmail returning to my hand. It did as instructed. I then aimed again and rethrew the sword. This time, it hit the goblin's eye, causing it to disappear. More goblins noticed me, so I had to retreat again. I continued this war of attrition for many hours, throwing my sword a few times to kill the goblin, retreating, then coming back again.

My shield saved me many times. If it weren't for this, I would have never survived. After defeating a good number of archers, I began to scale the rocks. The archers further in shot their arrows towards me. Some landed at my shield before I arrived above the cliff. I could clearly see that there were about ten remaining goblins on each side of the cliff. At the end of the cliff, I could see a goblin I've never seen before. It had purple ears instead of green, held a sword, and had on a breastplate. I immediately appraised the new goblin.

type: monster (goblin noble)

vitality: 210/210

magic and skills: fire ignition Lv 3, goblin control Lv 8, elementary sword techniques Lv 5, elementary spear techniques Lv 5, elementary bow techniques Lv 5

So many skills. I may be able to win, but I first have to beat these archers aiming at me.

I began by throwing my sword at the first archer in front of me and using > to get in front of the next one as soon as it disappeared. I > the next one with a hit to its stomach from the demon claw. I repeated the throwing of my sword before jumping back down the ravine with my boots. Halfway down, I began ascending to the other side.

[skill: climbing learned]

I was already climbing, so it didn't do much. Actually, I was surprised how long it took to learn. My shield, again, was close to breaking as I neared the top. I threw Blackmail first, and, by the time I arrived back at the top, > recovered. I used it to get to the next one. Continuing my strategy, I finally defeated all of the archers. I retreated back towards the beginning so that the nobles wouldn't see me. I needed to rest after that fight, and I was exhausted. In total, I got three MP recovery potions, two EXP shards, and four old bows.

As soon as I consumed the EXP shards, I knew my HP would increase, and I could fight the nobles.