Ok, so if I stick to the wall, I will find the entrance to the fourth floor eventually. I held my chin, thinking about it.

I had no idea where the entrance was, but each floor was a separate zone surrounded by a wall with the path leading to the next or out of the current floor through a passage inside the wall. I decided to stay close to it, and after a good while, I was at the entrance to the lower floor of the dungeon. I haven’t encountered any other adventurers on my way, but a few rotten trees decided to bother me on the way. I ended up receiving a few experience points and one wooden piece as a drop as a result.

Eh? That’s the fourth floor? Ok… I frowned to myself, finally stepping out of the tunnel that was connecting the third and the fourth floors.

The zone looked rather damp. It had enough trees, some bushes, with grass that was up to one foot tall and a lot of mold. And it was wet too. Not overly wet, but the ground was muddy and there were puddles of water here and there.

Is this zone a swamp? I grunted to myself, dropping my shoulders.

It almost looked that way. Interesting thing was, there was a footpath leading through the zone from the entrance I just came through. It was strange to see a footpath, because the first three floors didn’t have any visible paths. The entrances and exits to and from the other floors had seen their fair share of footsteps, but other than that, I hadn’t seen any inside the zones themselves.

I guess people don’t like exploring this floor too much. That much was obvious. Hmm… but if this footpath leads directly to the entrance to the fifth floor, it will save me the time looking for it.

Fifth floor aside, I was here to hunt Rhaki monsters. So, I dropped the footpath and turned left from where I was, trying not to step into any mudholes. Overall, the surroundings resembled the Lesser Trents zone but with the added wetness. I raised my eyes to see how far the treetops reached. Again, I couldn’t see the sky. It was a dungeon alright. But the good thing was, there were trees with branches big and wide enough for me to find one where I could hang my hammock up if I needed to spend the night here. I was planning to hunt Rhaki monsters for longer than a few hours. I needed at least six Rhaki skins and more than a few Rhaki meat pieces for my trip here to be worthwhile. I was almost broke now and needed to make some money.

Rhaki monsters were lizard type creatures. They were about three feet in length, had a tail and walked on all fours. I was trying to imagine an alligator type monster, but in all honesty, I didn’t know what to expect. The best way to find out how Rhakis looked was to encounter one. I pressed onward, jumping around the muddy puddles. Suddenly, I heard a weird hiss in the bushes nearby. The grass was taller around it and the ground was wet too.

Of course, hiding in the bushes and waiting to ambush someone. I wasn’t surprised about it.

“Just come out and show yourself,” I made more noise to lure the creature out. I was convinced there was a creature hiding in the bushes and I was right. “Eh, wha…”

It must’ve been the Rhaki monster, because I didn’t know what else it could be. I was partly right about the monster resembling an alligator. It had long body, about three feet in length, and a tail. The monster’s body was covered in scales, but they resembled fish’s scales and its mouth was nothing like an alligator’s snout. Instead, Rhaki’s head was about one foot in diameter, looked more like some dinosaur’s head with its mouth and teeth being rather wide. That was not to say, the teeth didn’t look threatening. With its narrow snout and long, curved teeth, with the teeth on the upper jaw being much longer than the teeth on the lower jaw, the monster looked very dangerous.

Ok, let’s see how dangerous you really are. I tried to make it sound the monster didn’t make that much of an impression on me, but that was just to calm my nerves. In reality, I was a little afraid of it.

I was strong enough to deal with the rotten tree monsters on my own, but Lesser Trents were slow walking trees and were easily predictable with how they attacked. Above all, Lesser Trents didn’t have teeth. The same couldn’t have been said about Rhaki. The monster looked like a mix of an alligator, a fish and a dinosaur. It made me think twice before rushing at it recklessly. I hunched down, lowering my shields and taking a defensive stance. The creature probably took it as a taunt. It released a growling hiss and rushed straight at me in an instant.

It's fast! I was taken aback by how fast and how effortlessly it moved through the muddy ground. The monster had short legs, but that didn’t hinder its movements at all.

“Hah!” I tried smacking the creature with my Piercing Shield as soon as it was in range. Unfortunately, Rhaki was quick to react and changed direction to avoid getting hit by it. The creature used its tail to shift its body and it almost looked like the monster slid on its belly to the side before my shield reached it. “Huh? Why you… woah… oops.”

After the sharp end of my shield hit the ground, I tried to shift myself to the side to where Rhaki darted off, but because the ground was wet and muddy, I almost slipped and fell down. Luckily, I used my shields to lean on the ground to regain my balance.

Ah, damn. This will be harder than I thought. I quickly stood up to face the lizard again. Fighting a fish-alligator-dinosaur monster on a wet, muddy ground was a bigger challenge than I thought it would be. After seeing me stumble, Rhaki immediately changed directions and rushed at me again. It was evident the monster was aiming for my legs.

“Tch… don’t think you can outsmart me again. Shield!” I used my Defense Skill: Shield.

Rhaki couldn’t have anticipated a magic shield appearing in front of its path. The lizard ran straight at it, hitting its head and bouncing off.

“Shield!” With its upper body being thrown up from the impact, I used my Attack Skill: Shield this time.

A magic shield shot forward, smashing itself at Rhaki’s chest and throwing the creature a few feet back. I was surprised my shield attack didn’t pierce it through, but since the monster wasn’t dead yet, I quickly rushed in to finish it off. I slipped on the muddy ground and almost tripped over, but managed to regain my balance at the last second. Rhaki was about to pick itself up, but I was in full swing already. I bashed it with both of my shields several times until its body was replaced by a glowing dust.

- “Well done. -‘clap, clap,’- Eight experience points gained.” – It was clear the monster was dead when I heard Lavita’s announcement about me gaining experience points.

“Meh, it didn’t drop anything,” I grunted after seeing nothing was left behind. “Oh, well… At least I know what to expect now.”

I couldn’t do anything about not getting any items from my first kill, but now that I knew what Rhaki monster was all about, I just had to find more of them and kill just enough to get what I wanted. And so, my hunt for Rhaki’s skin and Rhaki’s meat has begun.

“No, you don’t… aargh… for fucks… No, Shield!” I was struggling to fend of two Rhakis at once. “Die!”

It took some extra effort, but I’ve dealt with them in the end.

- “You are so cool, darling. Eight experience points gained.” – Lavita was happy to announce it.

“Finally, I think I should take a break. Oh, one of them dropped skin,” I was about to pick up the item when…

- “Hey, cutie pie. I have something to tell and you’re gonna love it.” – Apparently, Lavita wasn’t done with me just yet and I had a good idea what she was about to say. – “You’ve just reached maximum experience points and I am all ready to help you… level up…”

“Sigh…” I dropped my head when an option to level up appeared in front of me. I’ve been killing Rhakis for about two hours and I must’ve killed ten or more of them. Each kill gave me eight experience points and I had received some experience points before reaching the fourth floor of the dungeon. I was bound to reach my next level up soon enough anyway. I knew Lavita will make a big deal out of it like she always does, and here I was, covered in mud and sweat from fighting Rhakis. “Can you… make it quick and… quiet, please?”

- “Ooh… what a bad boy you are, declining a Level Up from me. Good thing I brought a toy with me this time… Mhm…” – Lavita sounded like she gave something a lick.

“What?! Nooo…” I dropped on all fours when she proceeded to do what I knew she will.

- “Aah… ooh… Wow… that was… incredible…. You know I was thinking of you this whole time, don’t you, babe? And just so you know, your stats have been increased at random.” – Lavita told me after she was done and then went quiet.

“Shiiit! No fair!” I yelled loudly. I was becoming more and more desperate with each level up offer. “Tch… where are those fucking Rhakis?” I was in a mood to kill something for real.

For the rest of the day, I was hunting and killing Rhakis left and right. It wasn’t very easy, but I managed thanks to my Shield skills. Rhakis were fast monsters and it was a challenge fighting them, especially in the muddy areas. I slipped and fell in the mud more than once, and I was bitten by the monsters more than a few times too. My Minor Regeneration Skill proved to be a real lifesaver there. I would take a break to have a drink and wait for the injury to heal. Sometimes it was a short break and other times I had to stay put longer. Fortunately, it was the Rhakis that paid the ultimate price in the end.

It didn’t take long for me to understand why other adventurers weren’t fond of fighting Rhakis. The zone was somewhere between a forest and a swamp. It wasn’t too bad when I got used to it, but the wetness and the mud made it difficult to move around, especially during the fights. It was slippery and the mud would stick to my clothes too. Not to mention, Rhakis were dangerous monsters. The mud didn’t bother them and the creatures could move around easily. I definitely needed to watch where and how I stepped or else I would’ve become food for Rhakis for sure.

Since I was killing Rhakis for the whole day, I was blessed with another option to level up again. Lavita didn’t bring any toys with her this time, but she made it no less exciting again. Fortunately, I was too tired and too dirty to throw a hissy fit over her enjoying herself so much. Thanks to me being calmer, I remembered to check my stats when Lavita reminded me of my stats being increased at random after she was done with her own fun.

“Ah, damn. I didn’t check my stats after the previous level up. Show Status.” I opened my Status Window to check it.

***

Rockin Starling. Class: Shielder.

Character Stats:

Stamina – 25 + 4

Strength – 28 + 10

Agility – 20 +3

Spell Power – 4

Magic Energy – 9

Growth – 2

***

“So, what was my status before? Was my Stamina at twenty four? And what was my Strength at? Wait, I gained two levels today. Baah… I should’ve checked after the first one. Dumbass, I need to track it better.” I was about to rub my head, but my hands were proper dirty. “Tch… I need to wash and… eat… probably. Humph… I need to find a place to spend the night too.”

It wasn’t getting dark yet, but from the looks of it, it wouldn’t take too long now. The problem was, it was wet and muddy in the whole forest. Starting a fire in a muddy puddle wouldn’t probably work. I had to find a suitable spot for it too.

I wondered around a little until I managed to find an area dry enough to sit on the ground and not get my ass wet, not that my clothes weren’t dirty already. I used my Campfire skill to start a fire, and after I put some Carnabbit meat to cook, I opened my Item Storage Box to check how well I did today. I had seven Rhaki’s skin pieces and nine Rhaki’s meat pieces. The first time it dropped, I noticed Rhaki’s meat piece was twice the size of Carnabbit’s meat piece. I now knew why Savirei suggested only half a portion of it that time.

“So, meat drops more often than the skin it seems,” I spoke out loud.

I had enough of each to go back now, but with how many skins and meat I had, it’d just pay itself for my trip. The Quest from the Guild paid two silvers for delivering six Rhaki’s skins. So, I assumed I would be able to sell three Rhaki’s skins for one silver to the merchants who needed them. Or maybe the person who posted the job was having a hard time getting it from the merchants and the pay for completing the Quest could’ve been higher than selling directly to someone. I couldn’t have known. Anyway, after I deliver six skin pieces to the Guild, I will have only one left to sell. The meat I got might earn me a few additional silver coins from Savirei, but that still wouldn’t be much.

“Let’s see, I could dump Carnabbit fur to make more space in my Item Storage Box and the Halluspider string… do I need any of it?” I was checking what items I really needed. My Item Storage Box was becoming overfilled. I had four containers with water, four tools I got from Alragus, one Lesser Trent’s wood piece, seven pieces of Carnabbit meat, eight pieces of Carnabbit fur, eight Halluspider strings, seven Rhaki’s skins and nine pieces of Rhaki’s meat in it. I put my money inside the Item Storage Box too and I was happy to learn it took only one space to store all of it. It left me with only eleven available spaces to put something else in it. “Good thing I bought a level three Item Storage Box. I think I’ll dump Carnabit fur first if I need more space.”

At first, I thought having sixty spaces storage box will be a lot, but now it looks like it is just barely enough. Alragus said he couldn’t make higher level Item Storage Boxes, but even if he did, I wouldn’t have enough money to buy it.

“I’ll have to think of something on how to make more money,” I leaned against a tree to think about it. “Finding some treasure to sell would probably help make more money faster, but…”

I was lucky to make a decent amount of money right after I arrived at Hirvant. I won the Test of Strength challenge against Larg and got five gold coins from him. Selling Webbed Robe and my Carnabbit fur clothes got me a nice sum of coins as well. But then I bought the Piercing Shield and the Item Storage Box which left me with very little money. I still had one gold coin and a few silvers to my name, but I didn’t want to waste them. You never know what could happen in the future.

“Right, the meat,” I remembered the meat might be done by now, if it wasn’t overcooked yet.

The meat was overcooked, but I treated it as a very well-done steak. Once my belly was filled up, I looked around to find a tree big enough for me to spend the night. It was getting dark and I certainly didn’t want to camp on the ground. I’ll be eaten in no time as soon as some Rhakis find me.

Damn, my clothes are becoming a mess. I found a place where to hang my hammock up and was about to crawl into it, but noticed my clothes were really dirty. They were lightly ripped in certain places too. That’s what I get for playing in a mud all day.

I tried to be funny, but from how it looked, I will need new garments soon enough. I checked my shoes after taking them off and it was obvious they wouldn’t hold for too long either. Surprisingly, my Carnabbit fur mantle was almost fine. It was dirty alright, but it wasn’t ripped anywhere.

“I guess I’m a better craftsman than I thought I was,” I chuckled to myself. Still, I knew I will have to get new clothes once I was back at the city and for that I needed more money. It was a given I will be farming those Rhakis tomorrow too.

Another day and another stack of drops went into my Item Storage Box. I ate two pieces of monster rabbit meat, so that freed some space, but I still had to dump Carnabbit fur to make more space. Two water containers were now empty, but I still kept them, so I wouldn’t need to buy new ones later. After eating my breakfast, I had thirteen free spaces in my storage in the morning. I got eight extra Rhaki’s skins and eleven more Rhaki’s meat, so after getting rid of eight Carnabit furs, they all fit inside my storage.

I got two more offers to level up from Lavita too which I obviously declined, giving me increase in random stats and leaving me sulking after Lavita was done with her own way of ‘leveling up’. I have received one Stamina and Strength increase each from my first level up refusal and one Strength and Spell Power increase each from my second level up refusal. My new stats looked like this:

***

Character Stats:

Stamina – 26 + 4

Strength – 30 + 10

Agility – 20 +3

Spell Power – 5

Magic Energy – 9

Growth – 2

***

I had to admit, it was becoming easier to defeat Rhakis, especially after my second increase in stats. I noticed my Attack Skill: Shield felt being more powerful. It said that it benefited from my Strength stat, but it could’ve been that the Spell Power stat boosted its effectiveness as well. In my mind, my shield skills were magic skills and Spell Power affected magic.

In any case, I was amazed I managed to gain, or refuse, four level ups in only two days. Of course, Rhakis were giving me eight experience points per kill and I must’ve killed over sixty in a day. Eight times sixty was four hundred eighty. So, I was guessing I needed about two hundred fifty experience points to reach a level up at this point.

But then I realized my calculations were wrong. I remembered I reached my first level up not long after I arrived to the fourth floor yesterday. I must’ve killed about ten Rhakis or maybe more before Lavita offered me a Level Up. But I had gained some experience points prior to getting to the fourth floor. I was killing Lesser Trents on the way, after all. Also, I have killed more Rhakis after my second level up offer yesterday, which gained me a bunch of experience as well. I gained two level up offers today, but the second one was offered not long before it was about to get dark, and I have killed a few more Rhakis after that.

“Right, it’d be interesting to know how much experience I need to reach a Level Up offer. I have a hunch it’s the same amount every time. I wondr how many times do I have to decline it until the Overgrowth skill will kick in and increase my level?” I was thinking out loud to help me process the information easier. “Hmm… my Item Storage Box is basically full. I guess I’ll dump Halluspider strings next. Oh, wait, I still have my self-made bag with me. I can place the strings in there instead.”

I thought about going back to the city tomorrow, but my curiosity to learn how many monsters I need to kill to reach a Level Up offer was more lucrative. I still had five Carnabbit meat pieces and about one and a half containers with water. I thought I’ll farm Rhakis for experience even if I don’t have free space in my storage. I had a hunch it wouldn’t take long now for me to reach level four for real.

- “Wow, you’re killing it, babe. Eight experience points gained.” – Lavita was as charming as ever. – “And you know what? You’ve just reached maximum experience points for another level up. That makes me so happy… and wet too…” -

“Right,” I wasn’t in a rush to decline the Level Up offer just yet. “I must’ve killed three or four Rhakis after my level up yesterday. And I killed thirty four Rhakis today, so let’s say it’s a total of thirty eight Rhakis. Thirty eight times eight is three hundred and four. Does that mean I need three hundred experience points to reach a level up offer?”

It could’ve been true, but I had no way to confirm it.

“I guess I need to start from zero and double check it. I still have enough water to last me a day, so let’s keep farming Rhakis. Oh, and sorry babe, but I will have to decline your again.” I chose the ‘No’ option, bracing myself for Lavita’s playful performance once again.

As usual, she made it sound as hot and as arousing as she always did, but I took it like a real man this time. I had a goal to reach another level up as soon as possible, so I kept my perverted thoughts in check. Oh, and my Stamina, Strength and Agility stats were increased by one point each.

I haven’t received another Level Up offer by the end of the day unfortunately, but I have killed twenty four Rhakis before I had to call it a day. I had to leave Rhaki’s meat behind in favor of Rhaki’s skin. Rhaki’s skin dropped less often and I already had more meat than skins in my storage anyway. I removed Halluspider strings from my Item Storage Box to put eight more Rhaki’s skins inside instead. By the end of day three, I had twenty two Rhaki’s skins and twenty pieces of Rhaki’s meat. I had two more free spaces left in my Item Storage Box, but I thought I’ll leave them just in case.

It’d be nice to have some company. I was swinging in my hammock, waiting until my sleepiness kicks in.

I remembered my encounter with Garret and his group. They seemed to be a fun bunch. I wanted to convince myself I was ok being by myself, but in all honestly, I craved to have someone with me. Lavita’s cheeky, seductive teasing was fun to listen to, but I needed more than her sweet words.

Maybe I should try looking to join a party again once I’m back? I thought I’ll take my chances again, but I had to overcome the hurdle of me being too low of a level for others to want to form a party with me. One way or the other, I thought I’ll leave it till I come back.