Chapter 26: Race to Level 10 III

Teo’s eyes went to one of his remaining five level one zombies circling his level two. Even though it had become his minion, the level-two still had the instinct to surround itself with level ones. Although surprised, he left it alone.

After killing the level-two and some level ones, his EXP had shot up, and now he only needed one zombie worth of experience to upgrade to level seven. Instead of letting it happen in the middle of a battle, he’d rather have it now. He could use the upgrade.

The level-two jolted as Teo’s desire was transmitted through their shared link. Moments later, four of the five zombies pounced on their ‘pal,’ shredding it to ribbons in a matter of minutes.

You killed zombie level 1 x1

+10 EXP

+5 Tutorial coins

Congratulations! You’ve gained a level.

Level 6 ->7

+10 Attribute points.

+2 Skill upgrade points

+50 Bonus Tutorial coins.

Level seven at last.

These ten attribute points and ten from his previous level-up combined gave Teo twenty points to distribute. A bit of clever distribution could enhance his overall ability by another level.

“Sheesh! How cruel.” Gloria shook her head, condemning Teo for his acts of ‘tyranny.’

However, deep in his thought, the ‘tyrant’ didn’t hear his condemnation.

Where should I apply these points?

Teo scratched his chin as his eyes went through the available six attributes. They lingered over [WIL] for a few seconds before moving on to others. He would come back to it later. Of the twenty, five points were definitely reserved for this one.

The mass dumping into [WIL] had begun in hopes of resisting the wraith’s wails. But, the desired effect didn’t show until five level-ups worth of points were wasted. Teo would have despaired such a waste of valuable resources had it not for all the unexpected surprises he got along the way.

And now, WIL has become one of his most valued attributes.

Teo even skipped through strength and defense attributes. They grew along with WIL thanks to his passive [Accelerated Growth]. Even MAG could be ignored for the time being. This left him with two options to choose from; AGI or VIT.

Even VIT had seen some growth with each level up. Only AGI was left unattended until now. Didn’t sir Polo always say: he who has faster legs always survives?

Teo recalled the usual saying of a [Player] with whom he often went hunting. He was a knife user whose gimmicks revolved around agility, earning him the moniker Quick Knives.

When he moves, the observers would see only the afterimages. And while attacking, the target would feel it only after it was too late. Swift, agile and dangerous— such was the Quick Knives of the 3rd Block.

Teo had never seen anyone as fast as he… and strong. In the five years of knowing him, he had never seen that [Player] eating a defeat from anyone. He was that awesome.

It had left quite an impression on Teo

I’ve decided. System, add ten points to AGI.

[Affirmative]

[Adding points to AGI…]

AGI becomes 21

Out of nowhere, Teo was hit with a soul-wrenching pain spanning his entire body. As if someone was continuously plucking his nerves carelessly and filling his blood vessels with molten lava. Then, his legs gave away as hell down ass-first.

The jarring sensation lasted for a good few minutes before fading away. What left behind from the episode was an exhausted and sweating would-be-[Player] desperately gasping for breath.

Teo filled his burned-out lungs with much-needed oxygen as he complained.

Can it not do without the pain?

This would be his second time experiencing pain after applying points to an attribute. But, what he felt just now was but a mere tickle compared to the time when the [DanTian] was opened.

“You okay?” Gloria’s worried voice brought Teo’s attention back to the present. A soft cloth wiped the sweat from his face.

Teo took the cloth from Gloria’s hands, “thank you,” – and continued wiping his face. The soft material didn’t have a smell and wouldn’t let any linger, which intrigued him.

“I’m fine,” He said through heavy breathing.

“You should be careful when doing mass dumping,” Gloria said softly. “Each point to an attribute triggers an evolution. It should be done one at a time. Adding too many at once forces the body to its limit.”

Teo made an ‘o’ with his lips as he heard Gloria’s explanation. He finally knew the reason behind the pain. Ten points to agility mean ten different evolutions happened all at once, no wonder he felt like someone was pulling his spinal cord out.

“Is it a bad thing?” He asked, curious. Forcing the body to its limit seemed like a quick way to get stronger.

“Your DNA will be destroyed, then you will dissolve into a puddle of fleshy goo. Tell me, is that a bad thing?” Gloria wiggled her eyebrows, an evil smirk gracing her lips

A shiver went down Teo’s spine as a gruesome image formed on his head from her explanation. Scary! No more mass dumpings from now on. “Thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome.” Gloria nodded, then turned around, now her back facing Teo. The evil grin transformed into a peal of silent laughter as her face indicated a prank gone right.

Dissolve to a goo? It was nothing but some bullshit she spouted. There were consequences, but not to the level of what she said. Since Teo had never gone to school, she thought of playing a harmless prank on him by taking advantage of his ‘illiteracy.’

Teo was none the wiser of her ‘nefarious’ intention. He believed in her warning and kept it in mind while performing point allocation.

There were still ten points left in his arsenal.

Five at a time shouldn’t be too much, right?

Just to be sure, he divided them into three parts in a two-two-one ratio while distributing between WIL and VIT.

~XXX~

“Leader—”

“Don’t call me leader anymore. My name is Dan.” The scarred man interrupted, scanning the halls stretched ahead of him. The soul lamps were barely lighting up the road, which affected their overall progress. They couldn’t see in the dark, after all.

“Mi…ster Dan, it has been half an hour already, but we’ve yet to see anything.” The slight trembling in the voice gave away the uneasiness the speaker felt. “Didn’t sir Blanka say we would see zombies everywhere, then where are they?”

The others silently agreed with him as they nodded their heads. They were given a time limit which was making them feel unrest.

Dan clicked his tongue, then exhaled a deep breath. “How would I know? It’s my first time coming to a dungeon.”

The crowd went silent with his retort, prompting a repressed sigh from the scarred man.

He was also worried about this sudden zombie disappearance. It didn’t match what they had been told by those guys. They were roaming in these halls for half an hour without a single monster in sight when they should have already met at least five level one zombies.

What’s happening? How are they going to level up if there were no zombies to kill?

You guys have it easy since you can ask me. But, who am I going to ask? Why did I become their leader?

The life of a leader was so hard. Not even an hour had passed, and Dan was already regretting his decision to volunteer for the position.