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~ I'm planning to increase the number of advanced chapters to +18 this weekend!
~ I've edited some of the previous chapters to remove anything you might consider "cringe" or "unnecessary." I'll continue reviewing them from time to time!
~ Very soon, we'll return to releasing two chapters daily, including bonus privileges for Power Stone contributions!
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It shrieked in fury as it spotted him and charged forwards with its weapon raised to strike.
"Crap!" Issei dodged to the side to avoid the strike of the club, then struck out with his own weapon, the blade severing the demi-human's tail in a spurt of blood, eliciting yet another shriek, this time of pain, from the ratman.
It whirled at him, a mix of pain, fear and rage in its eyes as it attacked him once again. Issei smacked the club away and ran the ratman through its chest with his sword. The thing choked, shuddered, then died.
You have defeated a [Ratman Slave]! You earn 50 EXP!
Do you wish to loot the body? Y/N
Hitting 'Y', Issei watched as a list was made on a blue screen in front of him.
Filthy Robe X1
Filthy Loincloth X1
Splintered Club X1
¥200
All of it completely useless barring the money. Looks like he couldn't depend on getting useful drops from the slaves. This prompted yet another screen to pop up.
Do you wish to sell these items for 50? Y/N
"Hell yeah!" Issei muttered and pressed the appropriate button.
Ratman Minions Dispatched: 1/30
He wondered, as he continued on in, if it was his [Gamer's Mind] that was stopping him from freaking out over the fact that he had just taken his first life. Very likely, it was.
Issei discovered, on his little sojourn through the rat nest, that the slave he had killed had been one of the better equipped members of the slaves. The majority of the rest were clad in loincloths and wielded flint knives, for crying out loud. Those he kept, mostly because he liked the look of them.
"Keeeee!" a slave shrieked as it charged him, knife bared, only to have its head separated from its shoulders by a well-placed strike of Issei's blade.
"Shut up, damn it." Issei spat.
You have slain a Ratman Slave! You Receive 50 EXP!
Ratman Minions Dispatched: 17/30
You have levelled up! LV4-LV5!
You have 5 Attribute points to spend!
You have sold your drops for 500
"Nice." Issei grinned. He opened his menu and spent the points. Usually, he would save them, but he was a bit too weak to hoard points like that. Choosing to up his STR and DEX by three and two respectively, he immediately felt stronger once he closed the window.
He spotted a lever ahead of him, a crude one made of wood and wrapped in rags. Very gingerly, he pulled it down until it clicked into place and retracted into the wall.
"That's one down." the Sekiryūtei muttered as he turned and walked back the way he had come. The nest would be better described as a warren, one with numerous corridors leading to sub-chambers dug through stone and rock. He had been scratching an 'X' next to the tunnels he had gone down because there were so damn many of them.
Moving up the main passage, he made a mark on one side of another side junction before entering it. Eventually, he came to a room which had an altogether different breed of enemies for him. Unlike the Ratman slaves, these were not weedy specimens, but healthy and muscled. They wore armour, albeit not a lot of it, over their smocks; copper spaulders, vambraces, leather brigandines and the occasional open helm. They carried copper swords as well.
Clanrat LV4
[Cheesethief]
This…would be harder than the seventeen slaves he had killed.
With a shriek of anger, one Clanrat spotted him, drawing the attention of the other four present. They rushed him en-masse, brandishing their swords threateningly.
Issei backed up into the passage, limiting the Clanrats to come at him two at a time. It wasn't easy, as he had to parry and block more than attack, but he cut through them nonetheless. In about ten minutes, five ratman corpses lay at his feet as he stood panting above them.
You have slain X5 Clanrats! You earn 300 EXP!
Ratman Minions Defeated: 22/30
Do you wish to loot the bodies? Y/N
Hitting the 'Y' button, Issei grinned as the list grew.
Dirty Hemp Smock X5
Copper Short Sword X5
Copper Spaulders X5
Copper Vambraces X5
Leather Brigandine X5
2000
Skill Book (Unknown Skill)
Marking everything but the smocks to be kept, he sold the hemp clothing for ¥60. Then he wondered where the items he'd chosen to keep had gone, prompting a window popping up informing him of his inventory. Opening it, he pulled out the skill book, which opened yet another window.
[You have acquired the [Basic Swordsmanship] Skill Book!]
Do you wish to learn this Skill?
Y/N
"Looks like a good skill." Issei commented, "Meh. Why not?"
After hitting the 'Y' button, Issei was shocked when the book dissolved into shards of blue light. He was even more shocked to see them fly and disappear into his chest.
You have learned the skill [Basic Swordsmanship]!
[Basic Swordsmanship] (Passive) [LV1, 00.00]
Throughout the entirety of the world, the one weapon that is used the most often, barring the human body itself, is the sword. No matter what kind of sword it is, from Rapiers to Broadswords, from Dao to Katana, the sword has rightly earned its name as the Queen of Weapons throughout humanity's long and bloody history. Basic Swordsmanship is, as the title suggests, very basic thrusts and cuts.
- Grants the user the ability to carry a sword with ease.
- Passively grants the user +1 to [Slashing] Attacks.
- Passively grants the user +1 to [Piercing] Attacks.
"OK…this is cool." Issei said and hefted his bronze sword in his hand. It had felt somewhat awkward up until a moment ago, but it now felt…right…in his hand, for lack of a better term.
Shrugging, the Sekiryūtei wandered out of the room after searching it for anything useful. Seriously, he was beginning to think he'd get nothing out of this place. The ratmen were the epitome of low-level trash mobs, with sub-par drops to top it off. Yeah, he needed the experience points, but he also needed better equipment.
The next couple of rooms he searched were empty of both enemies and anything useful, which actually wasn't much of a surprise to him. There were only eight enemies left, not counting the boss. They'd be near the other lever, if he guessed correctly. The only problem was finding it.
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