Chapter 21: Newbie hunters

[You have gained 50EXP, 5SP]

I looked at the system for a moment and looked away. I was not sure what that SP that I gained constantly was for, but I pushed it to the back of my head and focused on the grind.

I noticed that the bodies of goblins did not vanish as fast as the golem, and we were forced to pull out their cores, and when we did, they turned to dust.

"I guess there are different rules for different beings here," I said casually.

Leah gathered everything and packed it into her bag, and when she was done, we headed deeper into the first floor, and the floor greeted us with the same eagerness. Kobolds found us fast. They rushed at us and attacked with viciousness, their razor-sharp teeth attempting to rip flesh out of our bodies, but we were prepared.

I charged in fast, blade in hand, as I unleashed a slash toward one. The blade went right through its head and came out the other side. I slid to a stop and turned around just in time to attack the next one that was coming at me.

I moved fast as I attacked. I got more accustomed to the blade in my hand. Snow was no slouch as well. She attacked vigorously and took down number after number of goblins and kobolds.

By the end of our fight, I managed to level up twice, which gave me more stat points to distribute, but I was yet to even get to that at all. I wanted to wait a bit and gather some more and finally dump all of it into my stats and see how much stronger I got.

We headed in deeper. I kept my eyes peeled to ensure we were not snuck up on, only for us to come in contact with another party that was walking the first floor.

I would have walked past easily, but I stopped to look for a moment because I noticed them beating up a young adventurer in the corner, landing vicious attacks that could easily kill the young boy.

Lia looked at me, wondering if I was going to save the kid at all.

"Don’t look at me. We have no business with them. We can’t reach out to everyone, especially not in a place like this," I explained to her.

She nodded and kept walking. Leah followed behind, and so did I. Sadly, the men that were beating the kid seemed to be in no want to have peace. They wanted a fight, and they spotted their next victims.

The leader, a bulky man with no shirt and a chest covered in scars that I found performative, yelled out,

"Hey, stop there," he barked, grinding his teeth hard to make some sort of enraged face.

"Sigh." I heaved a sigh, knowing that they were about to make my day extremely terrible for me. I decided to put to test the skill that I had gained and was yet to even use, persuasion.

The man walked over to Leah and me, his heavy footsteps echoing through the floor.

He stopped in front of us and looked us over.

"You two look like newbies," he said in a gruff tone. "Fresh blood."

He looked at me for a moment before turning his attention toward Leah.

"The first floor is dangerous. Really dangerous. You shouldn’t be walking around here on your own."

His eyes moved over Leah several times.

He licked his lips in a sadistic way.

I noticed it, but I did not say anything.

"We don’t mind," I replied casually. "We’ve been doing this on our own for a while now, and we’re sure we can manage."

I turned around and began to walk away.

I barely took a step before I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

I stopped.

The man pulled me back slightly.

Behind him, the other five men who had been beating the young adventurer stopped what they were doing and walked toward us.

They surrounded their leader, standing beside and behind him while staring directly at me.

I heaved a sigh.

"Of course."

The leader grinned.

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

I turned to face him.

"I don’t think I misunderstood anything."

"You don’t get to just walk away when I’m talking to you."

I looked at him for a moment.

Then I decided to finally put the skill I had gained to use.

Persuasion.

I activated it.

A subtle red glow appeared in my eyes.

I stared directly into his eyes.

"We really don’t want any trouble," I said calmly. "We’re just trying to explore the dungeon and get stronger. That’s all."

The man’s expression remained stern.

"We’re willing to do whatever you want," I continued. "As long as you’re willing to keep us alive."

I smiled slightly.

"Honestly, you seem like the kind of man who understands how this place works. You have your own party, you’ve clearly been here longer than us, and you’re strong enough to make people listen to you."

His expression slowly changed.

I continued.

"So why would we want to cause trouble with someone like you?"

I could see his guard beginning to drop.

"You’re right," I said. "We should probably be thanking you for even stopping us. If you wanted to hurt us, there wouldn’t be much we could do about it."

His lips slowly curled into a smile.

Then he laughed.

"Hahaha!"

His men looked at him.

Then they began laughing as well.

"Hahahaha!"

The leader walked toward me, his entire attitude having changed.

"Haha! Seems like you and I are going to have a lot of fun!"

He walked up to me and threw his arms around my shoulders.

I allowed him to.

He laughed again before looking toward Lia.

"Especially your..."

His eyes moved toward her.

"Partner here."

The persuasion had worked.

His guard was completely gone.

That was what I wanted.

I smiled.

Then I pulled my sword out.

The blade moved faster than he could react.

I drove it directly through his chest.

The blade pierced through his heart.

His laughter stopped instantly.