Baam.
The stone cracked and caved in right where Dustin had been standing just a second ago. Dust and debris kicked up into the pale light of the dungeon as the giant monkey's fist hit the floor.
"What the hell? What is with his strength?" the words came out of Dustin's mouth in pure shock. He rolled to the side and looked at the crater the Level 11 monkey had just made.
The smaller monkeys he fought earlier were incredibly weak compared to him. This giant ape was only a couple of levels higher than those little ones, but the power gap was ridiculous. Even though Dustin and this monster were close in level right now, the monkey's raw physical strength was easily double his own, or maybe even more. Dustin had started out physically weak before the tutorial began, but this was still an absurd difference.
"I have to admit, you are really strong," Dustin said while finding his footing. "But..."
Swoosh.
Dustin dodged again as the giant ape swung a massive arm at his head while he was speaking. Thankfully, his Agility stat was high. That made him significantly faster than the towering beast. If he had been any slower, a few of his ribs would definitely be broken right now.
This dangerous game of attacking and dodging went on for another couple of minutes. The monkey kept throwing heavy, wild punches, while Dustin kept slipping out of reach.
'This will not do. I must finish this quickly,' Dustin muttered to himself. He only had half of his stamina left because of his earlier fight with the smaller monkeys.
Dustin changed his tactics. He charged directly at the huge ape. As the monster threw a wide hook, Dustin quickly ducked low. He thrust his right dagger forward and sliced a shallow wound across the monkey's thick waist. Before the beast could grab him, Dustin quickly retreated backward out of its reach.
After observing the beast during the fight, Dustin came to a solid conclusion. This giant ape had a huge boost to its physical strength compared to the smaller ones, but it was not very fast. It actually had around the same Agility stat as the lesser monkeys.
Roar.
The monkey bellowed in anger at the sting of the blade and charged at Dustin. Dustin quickly lunged to the right and easily avoided the clumsy attack.
"Just one small scratch and you are right back to your wild nature," Dustin chuckled. "A monkey will always be a monkey."
He quickly darted behind a large, thick stone pillar. The enraged beast did not stop. It charged right at the rock and smashed it into pieces with a single, brutal punch. But when the dust cleared, the ape found out there was nobody there.
Then, a sharp pain assaulted the monkey from behind.
Dustin had activated Silent Steps the moment he broke line of sight. He moved completely silently around the debris and approached from a different angle while the beast was distracted.
The sneak attack angered the monkey even more. It started howling wildly and rushed blindly toward where it thought Dustin was hiding. But Dustin just used the exact tactic another couple of times. He would vanish into absolute silence, flank the raging beast, and strike. Within two minutes, he drove his dagger deep into the base of the monkey's neck and finally killed it.
Using Silent Steps for even that short amount of time had completely drained his remaining stamina.
"I guess I am going to hate monkeys for the rest of my life," Dustin said between heavy breaths. "Huff..."
He sat down hard on the ground.
DING.
[ You have reached Level 12 ]
[ Physical Strength: 39 ]
[ Vitality: 34 ]
[ Agility: 53 ]
[ Stamina: 35 ]
[ Endurance: 26 ]
[ Perception: 48 ]
[ Wisdom: 14 ]
[ Intelligence: 26 ]
Dustin stared at the blue screen floating in the dim light.
"Just one single point increase in Intelligence and absolutely nothing for Wisdom," Dustin said to the text. "Do I look stupid to you? Is the system trying to send me a message?"
He let out a tired groan and rubbed his sore shoulders.
"And now the stats do not even jump up like they used to. I had to kill ten small monkeys and one giant, steroid-infused ape just to gain a single level. I guess the free ride is officially over. Leveling up is going to be a lot harder from here on out."
He closed the stat screen.
DING.
[ Requirements: 7 / 15 ]
"Yeah, I know how to count," Dustin muttered and swiped that screen away as well.
DING.
[ Killed an Evolved Species ]
[ Reward: 67 points ]
'An evolved species?' Dustin thought. 'And I got sixty-seven points for it. So there are actually more ways to get these points without fighting things a hundred levels above me.'
He closed the final screen and stood up slowly. His legs felt like sticks.
'First, I need to take some rest and regain my stamina. If I encounter another one of those giant apes or anything similar right now, I am completely done for.'
Dustin turned away from the dead beast and started looking for a secure hiding spot deeper in the cavern so he could rest for a while without being ambushed.
Around the same time, at The Survivors Place.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The sound of hammers hitting red-hot iron rang out through the camp. The blacksmiths were working hard to forge new weapons for the dungeon explorations. But behind the blacksmiths' tent, near a thick tree, a young boy was standing entirely alone.
He was holding a flawed, heavily chipped sword. He was using that damaged blade for training. The reason he had such a terrible weapon was simple. The system had assigned him the Civilian class. Because of the severe lack of resources in the camp, the blacksmiths refused to give him a real weapon no matter how many times he asked them. He had eventually tried to steal this flawed one from the scrap pile. He got caught immediately, but since the blade was practically useless, they just let him take it.
He desperately wanted a fighting class, but the system had labeled him a civilian. He refused to accept that fate. So, he just decided to train himself.
Even though he was covered in sweat and his muscles burned with exhaustion, he kept striking the thick tree trunk with the heavy sword.
Thwack. Thwack.
He swung it over and over again, even as the skin on his hands tore open and turned bloody red from the rough grip. He did not stop.
DING.
The boy froze in place. He became shocked and a little afraid. The last time he heard that sound, the system announced the extension of the tutorial and the dangerous special event. He did not know what terrible news was going to happen now.
A small blue screen popped up in front of his tired eyes.
[ Requirements met for a Sub-Class ]
The boy could not believe it. He swiped the screen with a look of pure disbelief on his face.
DING.
[ Class: Civilian ]
[ Sub-Class: Swordsman (Level 1) ]
[ Level: 6 ]
[ Physical Strength: 16 ]
[ Vitality: 12 ]
[ Agility: 14 ]
[ Stamina: 16 ]
[ Endurance: 9 ]
The boy just stood there. His eyes quickly filled with tears of joy. His relentless, painful hard work had actually paid off. The system had finally recognized him. He rubbed his eyes with his bloody hands to make sure he was not hallucinating, took one more long look at the screen, and then wiped his face with his dirty shirt.
He dropped the flawed sword and ran off toward the camp as fast as his legs could carry him. He was going to tell all of his friends who had called him an idiot for hitting a tree all day. Everything had just changed.