Unexpected Ascension Chapter 30

Adrian made his way through the darkness of the third floor of the Silk Mines. He could barely see. At most, he could make out figures that were a dozen feet ahead. Which was incredibly poor visibly, especially considering that a sapphire spider could cross that distance in an instant, before he could even react.

Fortunately for Adrian, he was high-leveled enough that he was certain he could survive at least a handful of strikes from a sapphire spider now. So even if he was caught off-guard, he wouldn’t be instantly killed.

And while ruby spiders were still dangerous, they were much slower. Even if Adrian saw them from a dozen feet away, he knew he could dodge their sluggish attacks.

But a question lingered in his mind. The worry about what else could be lurking in the darkness. Because there could be gold spiders or platinum spiders here, and Adrian didn’t know what they were capable of.

Well, he knew to some extent what gold spiders could do. He had seen them in action before. There were the occasional gold spiders wandering the second floor of the Silk Mines. But they were significantly in the minority. That was why Adrian had been able to avoid them so far.

He did have a brief encounter with one of them while he was running down to the second floor— at the entrance leading below. But he didn’t see it in action, beyond narrowly dodging one of its attacks, before it was distracted by Madam Chanda’s hitman.

At the very least, Adrian could assume that a gold spider wasn’t that fast, since he had been able to dodge it once. That meant there was the only worry of what a platinum spider could do.

It was a completely unknown threat. But as far as Adrian knew, they were over Level 70. Which meant that they would most definitely kill him in an instant if he ran into them. So he had to hope he didn’t run into them.

Will I even be able to hurt them? he wondered as he raised his dagger. My platinum fangdagger is made from them. I feel like that means I should at least be able to deal some damage…

Shaking his head, Adrian dismissed any thought of combatting those monsters. He would die. So there was no point. It was best to try to find out how to avoid them first and foremost. And considering that that dwarven [Rogue]— Sath or whatever his name was called— had been able to make it all the way down to the bottommost floor of the Silk Mines, it was very likely that as long as Adrian moved fast, he could avoid all battles too.

Or so he hoped.

That was why Adrian practically dashed through the shadowed corridors, quickly turning the corners as he tried to get as far away from the second floor as possible. He only slowed when he caught a glimpse of a small glint up ahead. 

[Ruby Spider - Level 57]

[Ruby Spider - Level 54]

Ruby spiders, Adrian realized as he spotted the two monsters standing before him. He could have fought them both. But he didn’t want to spend too much time in one place which could draw more attention to him.

So Adrian quickly used a [Stealth Step] and a [Savage Ambush] in tandem, attacking the Level 54 ruby spider. The attack badly hurt the monster, but it wasn’t enough to kill it. However, Adrian finished it off with a [Hammer Punch] to shatter its shell, before killing it with a [A Dozen Strikes].

The Level 57 ruby spider hissed and tried to swing for Adrian as he leapt off its companion’s corpse. But he easily dodged the attack and dashed off into the darkness.

Ding!

You have killed a [Ruby Spider - Level 54] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

Your Class [Savage Hermit] has reached Level 49! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!

Adrian continued running through the maze of darkness that was the third floor of the Silk Mines. An hour passed, and he managed to avoid any battles with most of the other ruby spiders he encountered, since they were typically in large groups. However, he eventually ran into another trio of ruby spiders, which he engaged in a quick skirmish, before breaking off and running away again.

From these battles, he learned that the jewel spiders did not have dark vision or any kind of ability to see in the darkness, as they were more often than not just as lost as Adrian.

So this resumed for a few more hours until exhaustion completely overwhelmed Adrian. But despite being surrounded by death and hunted down by a high-leveled enemy, he carried himself forward, driven purely by the thrill and exhilaration of the battles he threw himself into. 

Ding!

You have killed a [Ruby Spider - Level 52] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

You have killed a [Ruby Spider - Level 57] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

You have killed a [Ruby Spider - Level 53] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

…

Ding!

Your Class [Savage Hermit] has reached Level 50! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!

Ding!

Your Class [Savage Hermit] has reached Level 51! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!

Eventually, even with the boost that came from his levels, Adrian found himself too exhausted to continue at the pace he was going. So he slowed down, hoping to find an alcove somewhere here on the third floor.

It proved to be difficult since Adrian could barely see. He stuck close to the walls of the tunnels, moving slowly and hoping that he could find any crack there that would insulate him from the rest of the Dungeon.

And that was when pieces of the wall crumbled against his fingertips. Adrian blinked as he saw a faint light coming from inside a room on the other side of the wall— a room that had been blockaded by a buildup of dirt and some rocks.

Stepping inside, Adrian found himself standing in the middle of a relatively large room. But it wasn’t an empty room. Aside from the chunks of glowstone that were poking out of the walls, there were also over a dozen faces staring right at him.

The familiar faces of crystal rats.

[Crystal Rat - Level 32]

[Crystal Rat - Level 36]

[Crystal Rat - Level 33]

[Crystal Rat - Level 37]

…

“You can’t be serious, right?” Adrian stared at them, realizing he had stumbled into a den of monsters.

He wanted to back away— to get out of the way. But he caught himself. These crystal rats, despite their numbers, weren’t high-leveled enough to be a threat to him any longer… right?

Before he could even consider what to do, the first of the crystal rats leapt out at him and hissed. Adrian reacted immediately, striking it down with his platinum fangdagger. The attack wasn’t enough to instantly kill the monster, but he injured it badly, shattering a chunk off its back as he took on a defensive stance.

I remember when it took me forever to kill these monsters, Adrian thought as a grin spread across his face. Guess I’m the monster to them now.

And Adrian lashed out at the crystal rats. A single [Hammer Punch] was able to destroy one with ease. [A Dozen Strikes] could cull a large number of them in an instant. All he had to do was continuously evade their attacks, which was relatively easy considering how much slower they were to a sapphire spider.

By the time five minutes had elapsed, Adrian emerged victorious, standing over a pile of dead crystal rats. 

Ding!

You have killed a [Crystal Rat - Level 32] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

You have killed a [Crystal Rat - Level 36] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

You have killed a [Crystal Rat - Level 33] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

Ding!

You have killed a [Crystal Rat - Level 37] — You have earned experience for killing an enemy!

…

Ding!

Your Class [Savage Hermit] has reached Level 52! — You have gained +1 to all Essences, and you have gained 1 Essence Points!

When Adrian was finished, he settled down against the side of the wall, panting. He was still exhausted from earlier, so he needed to rest. He had already covered the broken wall back up so that he was safe from the ruby spiders that were roaming out there.

And as he rested, he looked over his Status.

Status:

Adrian Zenith

Rank: D

Class: [Savage Hermit - Level 52]

Titles: [Outworlder Champion]

Skills: [Passive - Agile Body], [Active - A Dozen Strikes], [Active - Double Jump], [Active - Savage Ambush], [Active - Stealth Step], [Passive - Spatial Inventory], [Active - Basic Identification], [Passive - Basic Weapon Mastery], [Passive - Critical Precision], [Passive - Inferior Sneak], [Passive - Poison Resistance], [Passive - Venom Resistance], [Passive - Savage Instincts], [Active - Hammer Punch], [Passive - Hardened Skin], [Passive - Lesser Acid Resistance], [Active - Powerful Throw], [Passive - Accurate Aim]

Essences:

Strength: 75

Agility: 147

Dexterity: 68

Magic: 59

Vitality: 69

Essence Points: 0

It felt like not just that long ago, Adrian had been around Level 20, running away from crystal rats that were over Level 30. Back then, he had been so much weaker compared to now. His only strength had been his speed. And he had to utilize a myriad of tools to overcome his opponents.

And certainly, it wasn’t even that long ago. Just like it hadn’t even been long since Adrian found himself in this world. But he found the growth he had experienced more gratifying than anything else he experienced back on Earth.

I’m Level 52 now, Adrian thought as he flexed a hand. Soon, I will be able to deal with that hitman. And maybe deal with Madam Chanda for good. But…

A dark shadow was cast over Adrian’s face as he closed his eyes. Sleep began to capture him as he nodded off.

I am still too weak to deal with the Flower Hunters…

That was why Adrian knew he still had a long way to go— that he still needed to get stronger.

***

The next day, or whenever Adrian woke up, he emerged from the cave and took mental notes on how to get back here. It was going to be difficult, considering that he could hardly navigate the darkness. But he collected much of the dim glowstone that had been within the room and decided to use them as checkpoint marks every ten or so feet, leaving them intentionally on the side of the wall like an arrow. And since he had his [Spatial Inventory], he could bring plenty of them with him.

Hopefully this will work, Adrian thought as he began making his way through the dark tunnels.

It didn’t take him long until he found a jewel spider lurking nearby. But Adrian paused when he saw what it was that was standing there. No— it wasn’t a ruby spider, nor was it even a group of them gathered together.

It was a lone jewel spider. But one that could have potentially killed him on its own. And it was a—

[Gold Spider - Level 61]

Level 61, Adrian observed as he saw the monster seemingly threading a web to block off one of the tunnels. There was no way else into this tunnel other than through the direction which Adrian just came from. There’s a 9 level difference between us, and it is not prepared for a fight.

By the looks of it, Adrian was certain that it was no different than the other jewel spiders he had seen— without any capacity for any kind of dark vision. And seeing just how unaware the gold spider was of his presence… Adrian had a thought.

If I can kill it now, the rewards will be immense. However, the risk is dangerous. Because even if there was only seemingly a 9 level difference between them, the gold spider was of a different rank. And that could have made a significant impact on a battle between them.

Adrian paused as he thought about the crystal rats. But I have fought monsters that were above my rank before, and I have emerged victorious. 

Whether it be when Adrian was Level 20 facing down Level 30 crystal rats, or Adrian was under Level 10, fighting monsters which were above Level 10. It was the same thing to him.

I stand a chance at winning, Adrian convinced himself as he stepped forward. I will not run. I will win.

And he moved.