Brett peered into the first chamber that he came across. Two more suits of armor had attacked him while he was in the straight hallway, but this was the first change he came across. Inspecting the wood and metal monstrosity in front of him, a small window appeared over its head, simply reading Guardian. This surprised Brett as it was the first time that window had shown him anything other than a level. And the first time a dungeon creature had the window at all.

He couldn't tell what the thing was despite looking at it for a bit. Seeing no other options, he stepped into the room with his swords held ready. Instantly the thing reacted. Uncurling from the pile was what looked to be a mech suit of wood and armor. He couldn't tell if it was piloted or not, but it stood nearly twice his height. Its feet and spear were metal, while the rest were wooden and creaking noisily. 

How the hell is this a level-seven dungeon? I don't think even a dozen Shilia's would have survived this far, let alone been able to beat this thing. Brett shrugged. I guess this is why people avoid the Dwarven Dungeons. 

Before the thing could get fully into position, he sprinted at it. At the last moment, he leaped. His dexterity and strength boosted him just a bit higher than he could have jumped a week ago. At the apex of his leap, he collided with the guardian and hacked at its wooden frame, with both blades biting deep. 

Holding on to the handles, he planted his feet on the torso and started hurriedly searching it for weak spots. Right as he saw something, the empty claw slammed into his side, throwing him clear of the monster. He managed to keep hold of one of his blades, but the other had stayed behind, now wedged even deeper into the wood. 

Winded as he got up, Brett was forced to dive out of the way of the thrown spear that followed him close behind. He was pretty sure he hadn't broken ribs, but there would at least be some nasty bruises in the morning. Getting to his feet, Brett charged at the side of the machine as it went to retrieve its spear. He had seen its weakness. 

On the side of the wooden frame, a mess of what looked like ropes and pulleys controlled the limbs. He just had to figure out how to get at them. Instead of jumping at the thing this time, he aimed for a gap in the wood and slid his sword in. 

The mech didn't react to him, as it was intent on retrieving its weapon. Finally getting the sword in, he started to work it like a butter churner, just hoping to damage some of the internal control ropes. Man, this feels stupid. Brett thought, considering how his actions must look. Finally meeting some resistance, one of the arms of the mech went limp. 

At the same time, it finished retrieving its spear. Not wanting to have to dodge a thrown weapon again, Brett stayed close as he ran around the mech. Jumping up, he grabbed his already embedded sword and yanked at it. The mech had trouble reaching him to strike again without a free hand as the spear kept getting in the way. From his perch, he stuck his blade in again, now able to see the tip inside through the slats. He was able to cut a few more cords before he heard it drop the spear. 

He jumped back, not wanting to assume that he had disabled that arm as well. He was right. The mech had intentionally dropped the spear to strike at him. Avoiding the blow, they entered a pattern. It would pick up the spear, and he would cut ropes, then it would drop the spear, forcing him to back off. 

It wasn't smart enough to just leave the spear and try to punch him to death, fortunately. It was only a matter of time before enough of the ropes were cut that it couldn't move anymore. 

As Brett pulled his second sword from the beam that it was lodged in, the guardian counter ticked up to 1/5. This fight wasn't too bad; besides the first hit, it was pretty easy, actually. I hope the rest of them are going to be the same.

Congratulations, you have reached level four! One free stat point is available to allocate.

Brett smiled slightly. Where should I put this? If I put it in strength, I would have one in each physical stat. But then it's already my highest. My boost is greater for it, too, so it will have more of an impact there. Does that mean I should put more into strength to get the most of my points, or do I need to put less into it? He scratched his chin thoughtfully. I suppose that depends on how strong I want to be. 

Not wanting to overthink it, he put it in strength. All of his physical stats seemed pretty important; he would just keep them all up together until it became clear what he needed to focus on more. 

"Ah! I should have used my skill." Brett admonished himself. No other enemies bothered him after the fight, and the boosted speed would have been really helpful and made the end a lot easier. Also, he really needed to level it up a bit. One minute wasn't a lot in a fight sometimes. If he could get the skill up to even level 5, it would be a lot more useful.