Chapter 155 – A Great View

Level: 20

Experience: BLOCKED

Healing: 502/510

Stamina: 531/600

Mana: 820/820

Class: Tier 1, Adult Human (Blue)

Effect: Increased Skill Acquisition (+10%), Increased Learning Speed (+10%), Increased Stat Gain (+10%), Increased Physical Gain (+10%), Increased Mental Gain (+10%)

Vitality: 51 (+1)

Endurance: 60 (+2)

Strength: 41+20 (+1)

Agility: 48+20 (+1)

Perception: 38 (+1)

Mind: 161 (+1)

Magic: 62+20 (+2)

Focus: 59+20 (+1)

Free Points: 200

Tier 1 (17) (31+): Light Armor (100), Medium Armor (100), Dwarven Etiquette (100), Eldarin Etiquette (100), Elven Etiquette (100), Dancing Skills (99+4), Pulse Strike (97), Wrestling Skills (95+5), Speech (95+4), Drawing Skills (90), Dagger Skills (90), Heavy Armor (87+25), Pugilist Skills (84+4), Bow Skills (75), Whip Skills (57), Driving (39), Stillness (37+12)

Tier 2 (60) (15+): Mana Sense (100), Danger Sense (100), System Sense (100), Soul Sense (100

Tier 3 (117) (5+): Empowered Will (100), Mana Manipulation (100), Fear Resistance (80), Empowered Gestures (80+3), Light Orb (75), Eldarin Runes (76+2), Empowered Meditation (64+2), Silent Casting (63+2), Skill Control (63+2), Lightning Resistance (61+3), Hidden Status (60+1), Clean (52+8), Fireball (47+4), Flame Blade (45+5), Cold Resistance (45+3), Ward (45+5), Sleep (40), Empowered Breathing (40+2), Empowered Writing (40+2), System Control (36+3), Empowered Running (33+2), Arcane Resistance (32+1), Physical Resistance (32+3), Lightning Beam (32+4), Cure (28+1), Status Analysis (28+3), Dwarven Runes (24+2), Elven Runes (24+2), Demonic Runes (20), Soul Strike (20), Calculus (20), Advanced Geometry (20), High Vostner Runes (19+1), Low Vostner Runes (17+1), Empowered Stealth (14+6), Social Resistance (12+2), Sonic Resistance (10+10), Alchemy (9+1), Empowered Sword Skills (6+5), Empowered Toughness (5+1)

Tier 4 (36): Experience Siphon (C), Soul Link (69+3), Poison Immunity (35), Multi-Casting (23+2), Vibration Blade (16+1), Pain Immunity (12), Soul Immunity (11+4), Healing Immunity (6), Fire Immunity (5), Ritualism (4+4)

Equipment

Gloves: Gloves of Magic (T3) (+20 Magic)

Boots: Boots of Agility (T3) (+20 Agility)

Head: Helmet of Clarity (T3) (+20 Focus)

Body: Heavy Armor of Stability (T3) (+20 Strength)

Ring 1: Ring of Alarm (T3) (Gem turns red if other Mana interferes)

Ring 2: Ring of Force Deflection (T3) (Reduces impact force by a quarter)

Amulet/Bracelet: Experience Blocker (T4) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level)

Weapon 1: Reforged Beginner's Blade (T3) (Sharpness-T4, Durability-T3, Self-Repair-T2)

Equipment 1: Runic Writing Set (T3) (Write Runes T3 and Below)

Equipment 2: Monster Processing Set (T3) (Processes Level 150 and Below)

Equipment 3:

Winged Serpent

Level: 45/462

Experience: 1,875/13,253

Healing: 1,107/1,260

Stamina: 489/560

Mana: 1,380/1,380

Class: Tier 2, Winged Serpent (Yellow)

Effect: Alchemy Skill Growth (+25%), Alchemic Skill Power (+200%)

Vitality: 126 (+6)

Endurance: 56 (+6)

Strength: 73 (+6)

Agility: 105 (+6)

Perception: 59 (+6)

Mind: 117 (+6)

Magic: 138 (+18)

Focus: 66 (+6)

Free Points: 0

T2: Alchemic Vision (100), Focused Bite (100), Toxic Breath (100+3), Danger Sense (75+17), Health Sense (24+1), Stamina Sense (22+1)

T3: Cure (100), Purify (100), Refresh (100), Alchemy (79+3), Poison Insight (71+2), Fire Insight (45+1), Cold Insight (42+1), Arcane Insight (40), Spatial Insight (34), Soul Insight (24), Healing Insight (16+1), Anatomy Insight (12+1), Atmospheric Insight (9+1)

T4:

Looking over my skill list, I couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. I didn't want the Ritualism skill. That put me exactly at Meldor's Threshold.

I would have preferred a soul skill or something more practical for this inhospitable environment.

But it was what it was.

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I had gained only 526 skill levels since the last time I had checked. It made sense, since I wasn't under the threat of death so much. A strategic sense of pressure didn't help as much for leveling as an immediate threat to help increase one's skill levels.

The next three months would probably see improvement in Cold Resistance and limited improvement in other areas. It was frustrating leaving the dungeon to this wasteland and being forced to the beastkin continent, but there was nothing I could do but endure and try my best to survive.

Even if my skill level growth decreased from now on, that was fine as long as I survived. My skill level gain was already insanely high. I just had too many skills and skills I had to learn. I would need to focus on studying when I could since my Mind stat needed to be raised. Unfortunately, studying in the bitter cold was not appealing and would make it much harder.

But if I could do it, then I would probably gain more skill levels. The College of Advancement discouraged insane studying methods. The risk of accidents or people going too far had occurred in the past. They preferred creating new challenges rather than altering the environment for most skills to encourage improvement.

As for Ozy, he was leveling up. I noticed when his class had changed, and his Alchemically Bounded Field skill had become stronger. He could use a lot of new skills, but I had no way of Alchemically extracting skills. The process was complex and required a skilled Alchemist.

That was the nice part of being a monster; Ozy could just depend on his insight skills that automatically leveled up as he consumed Mana. One could consider it a cheat if they lacked the higher intelligence of a human being. That was what made demons so dangerous — thinking monsters.

I had so many things to do and accomplish, but I wouldn't let anything stop me. Even this frozen wasteland.

I should be able to find some kind of food in the next month.

The chilly wind chilled me to the bone as I exited my igloo early in the morning. My Cold Resistance skill would level up quite a bit if I didn't freeze to death first.

This was better than any kind of capsule filled with Alchemical products to level up resistance.

"Let's go, Ozy," I muttered behind my shirt that was covering my face.

I started ascending the mountain's icy, rocky slope. To fend off the cold, I put on my monster-processing gloves. Grabbing my sword or fighting with my weapon would be difficult with the gloves on.

That wasn't a problem. This wasn't the dungeon, and I had my spell skills if there was a surprise attack from beastkin hiding nearby.

But there was no reason for any of them to hide out here. My Danger Sense was incredibly quiet now as well.

It took most of the day, but I finally made it to the top of the mountain. The wind was much worse, and it was a struggle to keep my footing. Thankfully, there was a break in the cloud cover, allowing me to scan the surrounding landscape.

Icy mountains were in the direction I had been heading, with the vast white wasteland behind me. I could barely make out the icy pillars that marked the location of the dungeon entrance. There were no colors or any signs of civilization.

No sign of the coast either or flowing water. I kept slowly looking around, hoping to spot something, anything.

There!

I saw black smoke rising in the distance in the mountains.

It would probably be beastkin though. With how rough everything was on this continent, it was doubtful they would share with me.

Checking my surroundings again, there weren't any other landmarks I could see. I could keep heading into the mountains toward the black smoke, or head back and try to cross the wasteland.

It couldn't be a large settlement; the smoke looked quite small, but I had no way of knowing.

Food was something I needed to find. I couldn't just backtrack and retrace my steps. Since I had chosen the mountains, I would stay with my decision.

I analyzed the smoke's source, terrain, and all other elements to pinpoint the location for descent. Ozy started constructing an ice pyramid three times my height. This would help me identify the mountain and relate it back to my starting point.

I arranged some rocks to form a line of three pointing to the dungeon's entrance. While I didn't think I would go back, I wanted to ensure I could go back if I needed to. A small effort now can prevent major issues later.

With the ice pyramid made and the rocks moved, I checked the surrounding terrain again before the clouds moved in. It was too cold for me to draw a map on a piece of paper. I wasn't taking my hands out of my gloves for any reason.

Once the clouds came in, I quickly began descending the mountain.

I would maneuver through the mountains towards the black smoke in the distance. Hopefully, it wasn't too far away. Also, if problems arose, I could scale another mountain. I wanted to skip it to conserve energy and escape the harsh peak wind.

Ozy built another igloo that night, and I heated it with my blade before sleeping. Rock and snow defined the terrain for the next three days. There were no plants and no animals whatsoever.

At least I had the Clean spell skill. Trying to deal with having to use the bathroom properly in this cold would have been miserable. It also removed any tracks I left that a beastkin could follow.

Though flying methods existed, I didn't possess any. Since they were tier 5, flight amulets weren't cheap and were hard to find. The Mana and complexity of the flight enchantment were hard to replicate. Even then, they seldom used it on the surface, because the lower ambient Mana increased its cost.

I just wanted to fly from peak to peak. Ozy wasn't big or strong enough yet to carry me. That would have been nice.

But he would need to be at level 100 or 150 for that to even be a possibility.

At least with my spatial pouch, I only had to carry that and my sword. I wasn't about to put my sword away like my armor. While the risk of being on the surface was low, I would never put my main weapon into my spatial storage. That was something my mother had taught me.

The days lasted longer than I was used to. I haven't studied astronomy at all. Though I knew it was math-heavy, most people ignored the heavens. Most research efforts concentrated on the dungeon. The deal the College made could suggest higher powers.

At least the longer days let me travel for longer. The danger of falling or slipping in the dark was too great. The temperature dropped too low at night. It's best to rest now and leave tomorrow. Though I didn't change my rations, I felt hungrier.

My previous check indicated that this harsh setting was depleting my Health and Stamina. It meant I had to eat more to keep my reserves full. But I couldn't risk doing that. It's best to keep the amount consistent for the rest of the month.

If I tried eating more, I would run out sooner. If I ate less, then I risked compromising my ability to fight. Neither of them was acceptable, so the only option was to keep doing what I was currently doing in terms of food consumption.

Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to locate where the black smoke had come from and would have to climb another mountain to the peak, I saw a trail of black smoke heading up to the sky in the distance.

There was something over there.

Even if it was some kind of volcanic vent, it would likely have creatures or food nearby.

At least, that was my hope.

If I just keep seeing rocks, snow, ice, and clouds, then I will be in huge trouble.

I didn't know what I would do if there weren't any signs of civilization. My only idea was to keep traveling in the same direction, going up mountains and hoping I would find something.

I didn't realize how barren a landscape could truly be until seeing this place. It was the opposite of where I had grown up. A fertile area filled with farms, forests, and people.

This place was completely incompatible with life.

If there were beastkin, I would try to talk to them first, rather than fighting. At least, that was my hope. But I would be on guard no matter what. A fight carried too many risks. If I weren't up against a legend, I wouldn't be too worried. If my opponent was a legend, then the odds of a fight would be strongly against me.

Climbing up a rocky ridge, I had to be careful with my footing. The rocks were all angled, making it hard to walk across. But the ice and snow were slippery, which wasn't much better. All the extra clothing didn't unbalance me that much, but it made things a bit more difficult. I couldn't run or jog across the landscape, just walked quickly, almost like hopping.