Level 1 Player (MT Novel) - Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – The Three-headed Leopard

– Now I’m done here,” I said, picking up the rocks, and looked around.

Even though I rubbed my eyes, I couldn’t see any red-haired wolves anywhere. I don’t dispute that the dungeons are wide enough, but they’re not endless! Besides, I need to avoid security officers and other Players. And, of course, there wasn’t much room to hunt to my heart’s content, out of anyone’s sight.

– Well, let’s move on,” I went cautiously deeper into the dungeon.

But another place to hunt wasn’t so easy to find.

– Hmm, looks like there’s a group here, too.

In this corner of the dungeon, five members of the group knocked down one red-haired wolf.

– Okay, then let’s move on…

But all of a sudden I heard someone scream and turned around to where the sound was coming from.

At first I could not believe what I saw.

A three-headed leopard was mercilessly killing a group of five people. It was over quickly. The disfigured bodies were scattered on the ground, and the three-headed leopard, who had brutally massacred a bunch of Players, was licking his eyes and looking at me.

– Damn it!

I was all twisted up, for at that very moment the red-headed three-headed monster was headed straight for me. I sprinted as fast as I could, it seemed, as fast as I ever could. But behind me I could smell the strong smell of blood.

“He’s getting very close.”

Even though I was running without looking back, I could smell the disgusting smell coming from the cannibal monster more and more strongly. And then the three-headed monster’s breath could be heard right behind me.

“Stealth!”

I engaged the active skill, pressing my whole body against the wall at the crossroads. But this was of no use-the leopard, without a moment’s hesitation, turned in the direction where I stood and swung its paw. I pushed against the wall with all my might, but the monster’s paw caught my rib cage.

The armor that covered the affected area was cut like a piece of paper. Fortunately, it didn’t hit me. But that wasn’t the good news. One of the monster’s heads approached my face and bared its sharp teeth.

“Stone Shield.”

This time I activated the active skill again and hit the monster in the nose with the shield with all my might, which, to my great regret, had no effect. One of the monster’s heads shrank for a moment, but the other two took no notice and gritted their teeth.

“Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!”

And three flaming cannonballs flew consecutively at the monster. As a result, each fireball hit each of the leopard’s heads. The monster closed its eyes and retreated slightly. I took this opportunity to increase the distance between us again.

“There’s almost no damage.”

The leopard’s muzzle was perfectly fine, except for some burnt hair and minor burns.

“Damn, he’s got a pretty high resistance to that spell.”

My magic level was 98. Even though I used a low-level fireball, it wasn’t enough. In the case of the red-haired wolf, it would have killed it on the spot. But the leopard didn’t care, just a little bit of hair burned, and a couple of faint burns appeared!

“No result!”

I noticed the monster shivered a little when I looked at it, though.

“Where did this monster come from?”

After all, this is a 15-20 level dungeon. Creatures of this kind of power shouldn’t appear here!

“Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!”

I moved my legs diligently and kept applying the active skill. It was the only spell that left a trace of impact on the monster, which meant it did at least some damage. But magic had its limits, too. Eventually it would catch me and kill me.

With an angry roar, the leopard touched my back with its sharp teeth. It was hot. But luckily, it turned out to be not because of torn flesh. It was just the mantle of vampire bats.

“I’m saved.”

And then I remembered its description: “A dense and stiff cloak that doesn’t tear.” I realized that the cloak had a higher level of protection than the normal armor I had rented.

Unlike me, the leopard moved much faster. Even if I pelted it all the way with fireballs, it would catch up with me in a moment. I need to get away from him first.

“Window of commerce.”

Yes, all I could think of at that moment was a trading window. As I opened it, the familiar icons appeared in front of me. I had no time to think about skills and items, so I chose what could help me in this situation.

[Dexterity Potion (weak)]

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mangabaz.net

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Increase Dexterity by 1

[Does not affect Players with a strenght greater than or equal to 100]

Method of Use: Drink [Seller: ReCommerce] [Price: 4,999,999 points]

– Here, I’ll take it!

[Do you want to buy Dexterity Potion (weak)?

You can always exchange or make a refund for the item you bought.

[Yes] [No].

Of course I chose Yes!

[You bought a Dexterity Potion (weak)]

As soon as the potion appeared, I drank it immediately. After that, I bought another one. And so several times. I bought and drank potions until my agility reached 100. Most importantly, the distance between me and the monster stopped shrinking! I was now far enough away from the three-headed leopard.

– Now I could take up stamina.

[Do you want to buy an Endurance Potion (weak)?

You can always exchange your purchased item or make a refund.

[Yes] [No].

Of course I chose “Yes” again.

[You purchased Stamina Potion (weak)]

I continued until stamina also reached the 100 mark. After which I moved on to magic.

[Do you want to buy a Magic Potion (weak)?

You can always exchange your purchased item or make a refund.

[Yes] [No].

– Isn’t there an automatic “yes” button? – Tired of pressing one button, I asked myself.

[You bought a Magic Potion (weak)

I bought potions nonstop. And since my magic score was quite low, I drank a total of about 70 magic enhancing potions. I did the same with my willpower.

After assimilating all sorts of potions, all my characteristics increased before my eyes. Their total sum was now 849. That is, I corresponded to Level 160 Players. The result was obvious.

The three-headed monster’s face was engulfed in fire and black smoke. There was even flesh visible in places.

– It was perfect.

I got him.

– Now see if you can catch me.

I was much stronger now than before. But the three-headed “friend” hadn’t changed a bit.

– Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!

One by one, three flaming cannonballs appeared. The three-headed leopard turned around, apparently to dodge the attack or to swing his paw away from the fireball coming at him. But now the attack couldn’t have failed to do more damage. The fur on my paw burned away, exposing my skin.

– If I continued, I could kill it.

I spent quite a few points on performance upgrades.

– О?

Throwing a fireball blindly and attacking the three-headed leopard, the following picture unfolded before my eyes:

The monster’s muzzle, which had previously sported burns from my magic, looked as good as new! The burned fur hadn’t recovered, but the skin had healed and no flesh was visible. It was the same with the other parts of my body. The burned areas healed rather quickly, and it was as if the monster had grown new skin.

– What was that now? Wasn’t his regeneration too good?

I seemed to have lost my mind.

– And apparently I wasn’t going to get an answer with fireballs.

So I opened a window on the Skill Books. I needed a strong ability to make that three-headed leopard go to the other side of the world!

– Damn it! – I cursed as I looked at my score.

I thought I was going to cry, because I had just used up most of my points to buy potions! And in order to buy a skill, I would have to sacrifice my life expectancy. But what would be the point if I died? It wouldn’t hurt me to survive, for starters.

– I seem to have very poor fire skills. What could I find here?

I took a quick look at the options offered and found something that might come in handy. Then an icon appeared before my eyes.

[Fire Spear (Rare)

Active skill.

Creates a fire spear with powerful penetration power

[Seller: BKurako ]

[Price: 399,999,999 points ]

This skill is considerably cheaper than the Wizard’s Book. But needless to say, even that one was expensive.

[Do you want to buy the rare Book of the Flaming Spear?]

You can always exchange or make a refund on a purchased item.

[Yes] [No]

I clicked “Yes,” and then pulled out the ornate Blue Covered Book of Skills from the trade window.

[Do you want to use the rare Fire Spear book?]

[Yes] [No]

– Of course I do!

And the cherished book appeared in my hands. I looked back at the three-headed leopard still chasing me. I took aim and…

– Fire Spear! – I said and activated the skill. – Please don’t let me miss…

With a bizarre sound the spear pierced one of the monster’s heads.

– Got it!

For the first time, I struck a fatal blow. But the leopard roared ferociously and headed in my direction. One of the monster’s heads went silent, but the other two were like a cucumber.

– I’ll try again.

So I activated the flaming spear again. But this time I missed. The three-headed monster cleverly avoided a direct hit.

– Let’s see who’s who,” I said, and pointed the fire spears at the monster in a row. – Shit, magic is at its limit!

I randomly threw fireballs, and then used the flaming spear several times in a row. Of course magic was at its limit. If I hadn’t increased my characteristics, I would have been dead for sure.

I was starting to break out in a cold sweat.

– I was glad that I had boosted my stamina.

Thanks to the dexterity and stamina potions I’d bought, I could still hold my own. On the other hand, the red-haired leopard had lost two heads and had slowed noticeably due to blood loss.

– If I can hold out until the magic recovers, I’ve won,” I said, and I ran with all my remaining strength.