The consumption of mental energy did not immediately show; instead, as the Optimization skill was used, Keare entered his peak state.
The effect of comprehensively increasing his ability values even made his body cells joyous.
He did not rashly attack but continuously adapted to his enhanced body, avoiding situations where his body might be uncoordinated with his strength during combat.
"It's about time."
The Optimization skill has a time limit.
When the amplification effect disappears, the body will temporarily enter a weakened state.
What Keare needed to do was clear: use the 3-minute buff from Optimization to eliminate all the War Shadows in front of him!
Combat was not like a turn-based Galgame.
He continuously analyzed the battlefield situation, avoided being surrounded by numerous War Shadow monsters, and once he found a suitable path, he decisively launched a surprise attack.
The comprehensively increased ability values allowed Keare to burst forth with extreme speed.
He covered a distance of nearly 10 meters, instantly dashing in front of the monster, gripping his short sword with both hands, and slashing towards its waist.
Just as the War Shadow's sharp claw was about to land on his shoulder,
the sharp blade cleanly severed the War Shadow, and the monster in front of him turned into black dust, completely disappearing before Keare.
The chain reaction caused by his surprise attack was the monsters swarming over, their various intertwined attacks blocking all escape routes.
There was no score for visual presentation in combat.
Keare did not care about such things; facing the monster's encirclement, surviving and leaving the Dungeon was the most crucial thing, so he stepped back while simultaneously
lowering his center of gravity and dodging the encirclement with a rolling motion.
He quickly widened the distance between himself and the monsters.
"This is really tough."
He quickly got to his feet, ignoring the dust on his clothes; if he had been hit by the War Shadow's sharp claw, he would probably have met his end here.
But it wasn't entirely bad news.
Keare looked ahead at the continuously approaching monsters; at least their formation had been broken, which was good news for him.
"Two more rounds of assault should be enough to end the battle!"
He didn't have much time left.
Without any hesitation, Keare once again launched an attack on the rookie killer, the adrenaline rush making his mind exceptionally clear.
Facing the monster's attacks, he quickly came up with solutions.
While flexibly dodging the War Shadow's attacks, he precisely seized its weak points, his excellent sword sense allowing him to maximize every attack.
High-intensity combat
made Keare feel as if time was passing very slowly. When he used his short sword to block the War Shadow's sharp claw, he stomped forward suddenly.
Raising his arm and touching the War Shadow's cold body,
Deterioration.
A skill that required no chanting or charging but could deliver an attack effect in the shortest time.
The monster's limp torso was completely unable to command its arms to attack again, and what awaited it was Keare's sword attack.
"Finally..."
"The battle is over!"
He was panting heavily; the severe headache from overdrawing his mental energy did not make Keare collapse. His eyes, filled with resolve, scanned his surroundings.
After confirming there was no danger,
he leaned against the cave wall. The effect of the Optimization ability disappeared, and the most intuitive feeling was a sense of weakness that seemed to swallow him whole.
But Keare thoroughly enjoyed this exhilarating battle.
He tried to regulate his breathing, took out his water bottle from his backpack, and took several big gulps while remaining vigilant for any dangers that might appear around him at any moment.
If a few more War Shadows appeared,
then Keare would have to consider how to use his body's remaining energy to safely retreat to the safe passage between the Dungeon floors!
"The skill effect is not bad."
"My overall ability values, however, have become a weakness."
Rapidly increasing his ability values.
Through high-intensity exploration of the Dungeon, his current speed of progress was probably faster than most Adventurers in Orario.
But compared to the cheating white-haired, red-eyed rabbit,
Keare suddenly felt that this progress was still not enough. There wasn't much time left until the Black Dragon's destruction of the world, and improving his strength was an urgent matter.
Although the original story had not yet concluded,
at the end of the story, the protagonist, the white-haired, red-eyed rabbit, would, as per the trope, certainly turn the tide and save the world from impending collapse.
Keare had considered this idea.
But entrusting his fate to others sounded completely ridiculous. Compared to that, he wanted to be able to control his own destiny!
"So..."
"Is the Plunder skill something I must master?"
It wasn't that Keare was averse to this ability; Plundering other Adventurers' ability values would be extremely rare in Orario.
The situation awaiting him could very well be becoming a public enemy.
This situation was akin to the goddess Freya seducing all of Orario; she could do this because she had established the strongest Familia.
Without the Adventurer Alliance, other Adventurers wouldn't dare to say a word.
But if the Plunder ability were to be exposed, Keare couldn't even imagine the difficult predicament he would face.
However, relying solely on talent and effort, could he truly control his own destiny?
He held a certain degree of doubt about this conclusion.
"Don't think too much about it for now."
"Time is still ample; I'll find a way eventually."
Keare shook his head slightly, dispelling the jumbled thoughts in his mind. After collecting the magic stones and War Shadow finger blades from the numerous War Shadow monsters he had killed,
these were all products that would alleviate his dire financial situation.
Confirming that his stamina was still sufficient for exploration, he did not choose to leave immediately but continued to explore deeper, maximizing his time.
However, his obscure mental energy could not recover in a short time.
Next—
the goal of combat was to hone his practical combat skills, gain experience, and improve his ability values!
"..."
The overall exploration process went smoothly; he did not encounter any more clustered War Shadows. As for scattered Ugly Goblins, Underground Lizards, and other monsters,
they posed no threat to Keare whatsoever.
Simply by relying on his practical combat skills, he could easily kill the monsters. In the dim cave environment, there was no concept of time.
How many monsters did he kill exactly?
Keare had no idea; he just kept swinging his sword, imprinting all his combat techniques into his muscle memory.
When his stamina was completely exhausted,
he arrived at the safe passage connecting the Dungeon floors, ate to replenish himself, and rested briefly to be in a better state to continue improving himself.
"Today's harvest was pretty good."
"Once Hestia updates my ability values tonight, I can start preparing for exploring deeper floors!"
Treating each Dungeon exploration seriously was Keare's philosophy, as staying alive was the most important thing when it came to improving his strength.
Feeling his mental energy and stamina gradually recovering,
he left the safe passage. Just as he was about to continue exploring the Dungeon, a commotion from a distance drew Keare's attention.
He looked over and saw a young girl hiding in the corner of the wall.
She was carrying a large supporter's backpack and wearing a gray cloak, surrounded by Adventurers. Behind these Adventurers,
the Familia emblem symbolizing "Dionysus" Soma was particularly conspicuous.
"Hmm?"
"What's going on here?"