After we left the lair of the medium sized Graf, the passageway widened again. I pushed Yeonhee sideways and grabbed the “chin” of a head that had popped up out of the ground. Gripping the chin tight was the best way to avoid the two poisonous fangs. While the Graf resisted, it did not last long. I pulled the head out so Yeonhee could slice off its antennae with her dagger and then pulled down hard to expose the “nape of its neck” and stabbed the nerve center.
[You have been distributed two points.]
[Accumulated Points: 2]
“It seemed that the Grafs that swarmed us when we were poisoned, were those living at the lair of the medium-sized Graf. I think we took care of half of the total now.”
“I will see to it that no Graf runs away again.”
“That was not your fault.”
Yeonhee told me to wait to replace her broken dagger with a new one. However, her hand came empty out of the backpack.
“I should have brought more.”
With impeccable timing, several Grafs popped their ugly roach heads out from holes that suddenly appeared on the ground. Yeonhee had no time to aim and shoot as they were right at our feet. She grabbed an arrow and held it like a dagger, breaking off about half the length to a convenient, useful tool for stabbing. Despite the surprise, we had been hardened after surviving the Hell that was our first dungeon, and soon it was their corpses that littered the ground, not ours.
Yeonhee’s Agility class was about to increase, and she would need time to process the change after doing so. It might take days and weeks. Therefore, I had kept her from opening boxes but now we had no choice. We had to spin the roulette wheel, as she needed a good weapon. I spoke as we arrived at a new waterhole.
“You need a weapon, let’s open some boxes.”
She nodded without complaint. Yeonhee washed up the reminders of the battle and came back. She has 2082 points now.
“Use them all to open Bronze Boxes.”
“What’s the goal?”
I told her, although it was really just a hope, as the odds were against us.
“A weapon you can use. It’s best if it is a dagger.”
She got 3 Strength points, 1 Perception point, and 6 Agility points on her first three tries. She opened her eyes wide at remembering what having an E class Agility would entail.
“I can only gain six points more in Agility. Shall I go on?”
“Yes.”
Yeonhee looked around as she was still wary of Grafs. Therefore, she shortened the ritual to washing her face and hands. It had worked up to now quite well.
[Yeonhee Woo has given you a ‘Reinforcement Insignia.’]
It was an F Class Reinforcement Insignia, and she would know its value without my explanation. Her ritual had worked again, and her smile told me this would be something she would keep doing in the future. I assumed she opened another Bronze Box, because I saw her watching the empty air in front of her, which meant a System message.
Her eyes did not move as she stayed still. She probably got a skill, and I did not want to say that I had known something like this would happen.
“…I got a first place completion award.”
The Achievement for having eight skills for the first time was ‘Jack of All Trades,’ and the usual reward that every Awakened got for maxing out their skill slots had been worthless. All easy achievements were like that, but first and second place rewards were different. They were better.
“You have achieved ‘Jack of All Trades.’ You have gained the Fulfilment Trait as your first time completion reward…”
Yeonhee’s explanation follows below.
[Fulfilment (Trait)
Effect: The cooldown time for all skills decreases by 10% at a very low probability if you inflict serious damage on an opponent.]
[Class: F(0)]
[Cooldown Time: 1 Day]
It was something that would be given as a first-time completion reward.
“What’s the skill?”
Yeonhee looked confused as she had been when getting the Hate skill.
“Confusion.”
The name told me it was an attack skill, and having two attack skills out of the eight was quite meaningful. We were definitely stepping out of the box.
“Remove Bravery.”
Bravery was useless for me, actually harmful, and the possibility of points going there was an unnecessary risk.
“I did. Now, the last box.”
Yeonhee fisted her hands, and who knew what would come out? Her gaze turned down to see a sharp dagger in her right hand. She blinked, and I whistled in my mind.
She covered her mouth with a hand and jumped up and down. Her face turned red from stifling a shout. She showed the item to me with a shaking hand.
[The Dagger of Erosion (Item)
[Effect: Increases the inflicted damage by little.]
[Class: F(0)]
Boxes gave out many weapons, and who knew what she could have gotten. I gave her back the dagger as she spoke in excitement.
“I’ll give this back to you once we get out.”
“No, just don’t lose it. I will get you a sheath as a present once we get out.”
Yeonhee liked the dagger as she said it suited her movements better than the ones she had used. As this was the first time she used a dungeon item, that was to be expected.
**
It was confirmed that choosing right at the crossroad had been a mistake. While there had been a dungeon box at the end, Yeonhee had to go through hell once more. She suffered a fever for three days, after I brought her back to the wateringhole, and my heart sank as I knew that she would be feeling as if her flesh was being nibbled on by Grafs as she moaned.
Fortunately, there were not a hundred this time. Yeonhee could not even drink water for three days, as her Revival attribute worked on her severe wounds.
“The dagger?”
Yeonhee asked for it once she could think straight.
“I have it. How do you feel?”
“I’m better. How many days have passed?”
“Three.”
“… I’m a burden to you, right?”
“I would have thrown you out by now if that were true. Eat and drink. Stop thinking like that. That’s an order.”
I hoped at that time that we had passed the only crossroad then, and the left would lead straight to the boss fight. We were both nearing the end of our endurance, physical and mental.
[You have gained 6 Stamina points.]
I got that out of the dungeon box.
**
We saw Graf corpses as we walked back to the crossroad. Yeonhee was as quiet as I was, as we were now more careful than ever. During the three days, there had not been one scout. That was unthinkable for Grafs, and I believed the scouts had gone back after seeing the dead. If we had not been swarmed, it meant that they were lying in ambush. We did not know where, and it may happen at any time. They may be waiting to drop on us from the ceiling or waiting deep in the ground, and the question was how many. I had already activated Odin’s Wrath. While walking forward, blue sparks crackled from my feet into the ground. While the attack may be ineffective, it was better than nothing. I was hoping it would drive them out of their hidden burrows…
“Get ready.”
I spoke as we neared the crossroad. If there were no Grafs by now, we planned to rest there. I had been focusing on the ground as I walked with light steps when a Graf shot up right in front of me. Others followed suit, and the ground shook. Grafs jumped out from everywhere in front of us, but not from the rear. I saw their antennas in the ceiling, and the number was quite large. I saw nothing else but the monsters once the dust settled.
Thankfully, we were not surrounded like the Graf’s original plan.
[You used Gaia’s Will.]
As the antennas twitched, I ran into them while using the Ruler’s Ring and shooting the Devi’s Knife at them.