They fell from their superior position on top of the ceiling and landed a few meters in front of Wilhelm. Using his hearing abilities, he suspected that there was around three or so. Their numbers were a tad bit too dangerous for Wilhelm to just simply rush in like a mad man.
Therefore, he took a few steps back, not neglecting to continuously tap the wall as he retreated back from whence he had come. His movements were rather sluggish, letting the group of grottenburgs' slowly encroach upon him. He could hear their mandibles clasp against each other as they closed the distance.
Their acidic saliva dripped from their grotesque mouths and slightly corroded the ground, creating a quiet sizzling sound. They continued like this until Wilhelm finally led them back to where the lake was located, where he could finally see.
The faint moonlight that penetrated into the cave was bright enough to illuminate the disgusting grottenburgs'. Their expressions were full of ferociousness as their strange, pointed ears constantly perked up. They growled in a disgusting fashion, spraying their saliva all over the place.
"My goodness, I didn't think that it was possible… but you things are uglier up close than from afar," Wilhelm commented with a frown. Their fetid odor molested his nose from where he stood, causing him to nearly throw up the water he had just consumed.
His knife played in his hands as he squatted down, entering into a fighting position. The water behind him seemed to sparkle in delight at the turn of events. The grottenburgs' too, got into position. They flailed their absurd number of limbs in Wilhelm's direction. However, their speed could be considered lackluster at best.
Wilhelm easily maneuvered his body side-to-side, evading their onslaught of strikes. Since they were no longer in the dark, Wilhelm could dodge their crude attack patterns with ease. This exchange lasted a total of five minutes before the three infants grew tired; their movements started to become lazy.
Their anger and frustration seemed to blast through the roof. But, no matter how hard they tried, they simply could not land a blow on Wilhelm. His long, tied up hair swayed within the wind as he evaded, a few strands of hair being struck every now and then.
He waited until they were extremely tired to strike, piercing one of them in the forehead. Their green blood spurted onto his body, masking his face in a foul liquid. The other two grew even more enraged at their brethren falling. But, nonetheless, they soon suffered the same fate.
Wilhelm easily struck both of them in the foreheads as well, staining his entire body in their blood. A smile didn't appear on his face until he could hear the melodious notifications. It was the only voice that he was looking forward to as of late.
[Grottenburg (infant) x3 has been slain]
[750 experience has been acquired]
[Level: 6, [900/2000 EXP]
Wilhelm nodded his head in satisfaction. He knew what had to be done when he glanced at the filthy Grottenburgs'. His affable mood was destroyed at the mere thought of ingesting the disgusting creatures. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice.
He stabbed at the coarse ground and created a few sparks, lighting a small piece of cloth on fire. He then transported the fire into one of the beasts, lighting it up. Its body and flesh suddenly caught on fire, creating a rather hectic inferno.
Its fur and burnt skin emanated a disgusting stench. Wilhelm concluded that burning it into a crisp would probably taste better than eating it tender. Once the meat was crispy enough, he doused it in a bit of firewater and took a bite with tears falling from his eyes.
The unpalatable and foul meat immediately stabbed into his taste-buds, causing his mouth to nearly go numb. Even his starving stomach growled in hatred as the meat traveled down his throat. He could feel the 'food' come right back up every time that he swallowed. It was with much effort that he reluctantly kept it down, in his stomach.
Food was a necessity, no matter how disgusting it was. He continued to eat the burnt meat for a few minutes, cleaning his mouth with firewater every now and then. He preferred the burning sensation over the taste.
This strange form of self-torture lasted until his stomach finally stopped growling. Wilhelm felt as though his soul escaped from his body as he fell on to his back, gazing at the moonlight infiltrating into the dungeon.
He sighed. "Ah, why am I so unfathomably unlucky…?" a whisper escaped from his lips as he slowly crawled to his feet. His mouth was still agonizing over the residue taste, and his stomach was miraculously rumbling in a different kind of agitation, even more than before.
Another sigh escaped from his mouth as he began to dig a few holes for the three grottenburgs'. His regret for choosing the undertaker class had reached an all-time high as sweat trickled down his body. Not only was he compelled to bury the remains, but he was forced to smell them as he dug as well.
This continued for a couple of hours. The moonlight drifted away and was replaced by the morning glow. Wilhelm’s figure that had finally finished digging the three holes was faintly illuminated. Perspiration flowed down his body as he finished burying the three corpses. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with the palms of his hands once he was done.
He admired the sight of his three perfect burials with both hands placed on his hips, a small smile creeping onto his lips.
[Grottenburg infant successfully buried, 150 experience has been acquired]
[Grottenburg infant successfully buried, 150 experience has been acquired]
[Grottenburg infant successfully buried, 150 experience has been acquired]
[3 burial points acquired]
[1350/2000 exp]
Wilhelm nodded his head in content whilst narcissistically admiring his reflection within the water. His appearance was becoming more and more streamlined, like a royal European in the past. He possessed sharper eyes, a pointy chin, sword-like eyebrows, and an aquiline nose.
The only issues remaining were his beard and still slightly aged skin, which could only be solved with time. Wilhelm was too lazy to shave at the moment, as no one he wanted to impress was currently present. As for his aged skin, it could only be solved by upgrading his vitality
As he thought to here, a rumbling could be heard from the cave behind him. It was ominously similar to the shaking that he heard had earlier today. Accordingly, he quickly dived into the lake and hid. The quaking grew louder and more frequent as time passed, until it abruptly stopped.
Wilhelm couldn't perceive anything from below the water, but he didn't dare rise to the top just yet. Unlike a dungeon, the entire area felt more surreal than that. Like it was a living organism, many different creatures, sources, and other things were present. It was completely different from the dungeons that existed in videogames.
Another minute passed and Wilhelm couldn't hold his breath any longer. As such, he slowly swam to the top. He barely breached the surface of the water with his mouth and inhaled a small gasp of breath.
At the corner of his eye, he could see an entirely different life-form in comparison to the things he had seen thus far. It was a group of minotaur-esque monsters. Their muscles were dense, and their tusks were easily two feet long. Large stone weapons were strapped onto their backs, and they were busy guzzling water, not at all worried about the human in the water.
Some guts and blood could be seen on a few of the minotaur’s. It was green of color and Wilhelm presumed it to be the remains from a few arrogant grottenburgs'. Fortunately, he and the group of minotaur’s shared a similar trait; hatred for horrendous monsters, he thought to himself.
However, the more intriguing matter was as to why the minotaur’s drank the water so greedily. Their thirst was surely already quenched, yet they remained to drink the water. Perhaps, there was something to be gained? Or was it a coincidence?
A handful of questions were immediately asked by Wilhelm as he once again descended into the lake, an attempt not to be spotted. He once again remained in the depths of the water until the minotaur’s finally departed from the lake.
R
ight as they left, he swam up to the surface and gasped for breath. A stream of curses escaped from his mouth as he dried himself on the ground. His body was once again dripping with water, a common occurrence as of late.
"I need to gain some more strength if I want to leave this dungeon anytime soon…" a self-deprecating smile formed on Wilhelm's face. It was going to be a rough ride if he wanted to get out of here alive.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
With a new goal in mind, Wilhelm decided to explore the dungeon a bit more. Although it was extremely dark, he was still capable of tracing the walls with his hands. The main concern was his impaired sight. However, the more he strained his eye, the greater his sight became.
Like nearly everything else in the world, his sight and body became stronger the more he used them. Even without placing stat points into stamina or strength, he could feel his physique progress through repeated use.
Furthermore, after drinking enough flame-water, he started to feel something from inside of his abdomen. It was a very minor feeling, but, as someone who was very attentive when it came to his own body, he was certain that something abnormal was present. It wasn't a bad feeling, per se, but it certainly worried him.
Thus, Wilhelm paid close attention to his body as he cautiously explored the inner workings of the dungeon. He moved slowly and made sure not to run into any powerful creatures; he didn't even want to run into any grottenburgs' at the moment.
His slightly long hair rested on his shoulders as he moved, one step at a time. He trailed the right side of the cave with his slender right hand—marking a few places with his sharp fingernails every now and then.
The dungeon was relatively quiet in comparison to when he had first entered, not a single sound could be heard, besides the occasional drop of water. The cave felt rather luke-warm, nonetheless, the humidity in the air resulted in the smell of sweat to waft into the air.
Under normal circumstances, his strong scent would surely alert a few of the beasts. Yet, nothing blocked Wilhelm's way. Miraculously, no mishaps occurred along the way, and he managed to inwardly map out a few parts of the cave.
First of all, the cavern that led to the lake was very small in comparison to the others. In fact, the other entrances stemmed off into a plethora of different domains. Each opening led into another, almost like an intricate maze.
A few of the wider caves showed signs of life and were warmer than the others. In contrast, the narrower caverns led upward, where even Wilhelm didn't dare to walk. The sense of danger intensified the higher he went, similar to a dungeon in a game. He presumed that the weaker creatures lived on the bottom floor, whereas the boss creatures roamed at the top.
Such knowledge was very significant for the current Wilhelm. As such, his current goal had shifted to eradicate the weak monsters on the bottom floor. If his hypothesis was correct, then only creatures similar in strength to the grottenburgs' were present. Of course, this excluded the random squadron of minotaur’s.
Similar to the games in his past life, Wilhelm would begin "grinding" the weaker monsters. Since he would be stuck in the dungeon for an unknown amount of time. He would, at the very least, get the most out of it. Thus, Wilhelm began to sharpen his dagger on a nearby stone.
The sound of a blade grinding against a rock resounded throughout the small cave as he worked. Small beads of sweat trailed down from his forehead and dripped from his pointy chin, falling onto the ground. Wilhelm was persistent and didn't care much about sleep, he was used to pulling all-nighters.
Once the blade was sharp enough to meet his standards, he stashed it inside his loincloth. He then proceeded to retie his messy hair into a fashionable ponytail that swayed left and right with each step.
Wilhelm was not yet tired, nor was it safe to sleep just yet. As such, he decided to once again go hunting. This time, however, he would attempt to procure more results. His experience gain was stagnating, and he feared that his fellow humans were starting to catch up to him.
Going by what he had learned from his gaming-esque system, there was a multitude of secret classes that could potentially be much more powerful than his. After all, the only ability he had acquired thus far was the "night-eye" ability, which happened to be rather lackluster.
With a click of Wilhelm's tongue, he decided to place all of the unnecessary thoughts about his secret class at the back of his head. His focus was redirected to the wide grottoes which he had investigated prior. A loud clattering and other insect-like sounds irked him.
They didn't sound like the grottenburgs' in the slightest, which piqued Wilhelm's curiosity. He had long grown tired of killing those grotesque creatures, so this was a pleasant surprise. His pace quickened as he stealthily peeked inside the wide cave.
His night-eye ability which was progressively becoming more and more useful could barely make out an outline of a few dozen ant-like creatures. He couldn't perceive their body color, but he could make out their thick mandibles.
They were roughly three feet long and two feet tall, fitting the description of a monstrous ant. Thankfully, Wilhelm wasn't in possession of entomophobia. Therefore, he didn't hesitate to slowly approach the ants.
If they were anything like the ants in his past life, they would be capable of sensing the vibrations of his steps. However, there were far too many ants present for them to find any significant difference in his movements compared to their own kin.
Seeing that he was unnoticed, Wilhelm smiled with glee as he approached one of the smaller ants. His knife was brandished, and he stepped ever so slowly; his movements were meticulous and precise.
The unsuspecting ant was simply standing there with its back to Wilhelm, busily digging a few distinct tunnels. As Wilhelm reached the ant's hind legs, he thrust his blade forward and gouged out the poor insect's head. The wretched creature did not even get a chance to squeal before it died and fell to the ground, alerting the others in the colony.
Their antennae were wildly flailing through the air, trying to pinpoint Wilhelm's location. Alas, he, who was doused in the ant's blood, was practically invisible. He used this advantage to slowly trod through the small colony, practically invisible.
Ants were very weak creatures if you knew of their weaknesses. They could sense vibrations and smell odors. But they could not see very well, if at all. Using this very basic knowledge of ants, Wilhelm easily started to massacre the confused insects.
One, three, five, slowly, more and more ants started to fall from his hands. The smarter ants retaliated at the last second, however, their strength was insufficient. They were the perfect the monsters to grind, incredibly stupid and weak for their physical power.
Like this, Wilhelm who was stained by a few liters of blood roamed through the small colony, massacring them. There didn't appear to be a queen of any sort, so he assumed this to be some sort of scouting regiment.
Thinking to here, he finally murdered the last unintelligent and fearless insect. He wiped the filth from the corners of his mouth and smiled slightly. His chest was heaving up and down as he admired the dozen or so corpses that littered the ground.
A crazy light suddenly flashed within his eyes as he suddenly remembered his class requirement. A loud, self-deprecating laugh escaped from his lips as a small tear fell from his eye.
"F*ck you, androgynous fairy… how dare you glorify the secret classes!"
[Young Formicidae has been slain, 150 experience acquired]
[Young Formicidae has been slain, 150 experience acquired]
[Young Formicidae has been slain, 150 experience acquired]
…
[1800 experience acquired; you have leveled up!]
[Level 7, (1150/3000]
[1 allocatable stat point has been acquired]
[Night-eye has upgraded]
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Wilhelm incredulously stared at the string of notifications. He momentarily forgot the dread of having to bury all of the ants remains and checked out his status, instead.
He wanted to, at the very least, discern just how is class-skill had improved.
---------------
[Character Information]
Name: Wilhelm Siegfried
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Level: 7, [1150/3000 EXP]
Class: Undertaker (1) [8/100]
Strength: 11
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 15
Stamina: 11
Magic Power: 0
HP: 100/100
MP: 0/0
Skills: Krav Maga (level 10), indomitable will (level 1), superior intellect (level 2), Gun proficiency (level 10), Night-eye 1/2 (class-skill)
The Holy Land Page 9
