36 Routine

Though he could take as much time as he liked, Linnaeus knew he couldn't spend too much time within the Crucible of Souls. After all, unless she died, Saht would undoubtedly be waiting for him on the first Floor where people could congregate. Even if she had to wait for several years, Linnaeus was confident she would continue to wait, refusing to believe he had died.

Saht had trouble expressing herself but, even if she had never said it, Linnaeus liked to think that she loved him. They already made plans to stay together for the rest of their lives so, while it may not be the wisest decision, he was determined not to keep her waiting for too long.

Despite this sense of urgency, however, Linnaeus wasn't foolish enough to walk about the Seventh Floor with impunity.

After five days of venturing, he had learned that the Floor was divided into several territorial regions, each ruled by a 'king' or a small group of powerful monsters. Each of these was strong enough to kill him in an instant but, so long as he kept to the outskirts, it was possible to hunt weaker monsters without having to worry.

By exercising caution, Linnaeus had been able to identify a total of thirteen king-class monsters, each belonging to a completely different race. He also learned that, when monsters killed each other, their bodies would not break down into ash. When he tried to scavenge the corpse of another monster's prey, however, it immediately lost its color before fading away. It didn't even leave behind a single drop item, indicating that he couldn't just take advantage of another monster's prey.

Fortunately, by sticking to the outskirts of known territories, he had been able to hunt without any real difficulties. He had even managed to make a home for himself after killing a fox-like monster that had three small horns on its head. It had dug a den for itself between two large boulders and, though it was a little cramped in some areas, there were multiple entrances and exits that he could make use of in an emergency.

With food, water, and shelter secured, Linnaeus spent most of his day drawing a rough map of the area and approximating the territories of surrounding kings. Throughout this process, he had seen several other people hunting but, after following one relatively weak-looking individual to a small hovel, he figured they were just as new to the Seventh Floor as he was.

Since he had yet to establish himself and get a proper understanding of the surroundings, Linnaeus wasn't trying to Party up with anyone just yet. He didn't want to be responsible for another person and, after his experience with Ryuuna, he wasn't in a hurry to Party up with another woman.

After observing the girl for several hours, confirming that she was indeed new to the Floor, Linnaeus returned to his own territory to rest and make plans. She actually had a very useful Blessing, allowing her to create and manipulate water, but he had already found a small stream around two kilometers from his den. Thus, for the time being, he left her to his own devices while spending his days hunting and training his Skills, Abilities, and Magic.

Linnaeus quickly learned that killing monsters on the Seventh Floor awarded no experience toward his base Level but, as his attributes could be increased through training, he wasn't deterred. Instead, he was even more motivated than before since he could focus on strengthening his foundation. It was almost like the Crucible of Souls was made for this purpose, preventing people from arbitrarily increasing their Level and forcing them to instead put in more effort to refine what they already had.

In order to take advantage of this fact, Linnaeus woke up long before the veil of the night gave way to the dawn of a new day. During these few hours, he would stretch his body before performing an exercise routine consisting of ten sets of 100 pushups, 100 crunches, 100 flex kicks, and 100 squats. He would rest between each set, allowing his body to regenerate his damaged muscles and stamina before moving on to the next set. After this, he would spend an hour checking the surrounding area, documenting any changes that might have occurred since the previous day.

Until he had patrolled the area, Linnaeus would avoid combat with any monsters, even if they were much weaker than him. He didn't want to be caught off guard trying to procure food and resources when he already had ample supplies stocked up in his Inventory and den.

After investigating any anomalies within the surrounding area, Linnaeus would then hunt between the borders of three different Kings. This was an area dominated by an eight-meter tall silver ape, a 20m long snake, and a family of lion-like monsters with pale white fur and dark blue manes. They were all very violent creatures but, as their borders all overlapped with more powerful creatures, he could hunt within the boundaries of their territories without having to worry about them venturing inward.

This time around, Linnaeus was skulking through the forest without making a single sound as he crept up on a medium-sized monster that looked like a combination between a bear and a rabbit. It had light brown fur with a pock-marked pattern of dark brown spots on its back. What stood out the most was its large claws and, for the complete opposite reason, its rather docile-looing face.

Linnaeus had been stalking the bear-rabbit for nearly twenty minutes as, while it didn't give off the same feeling as more powerful monsters, he wanted to increase his proficiency in, [Assassination], [Stealth], and [Presence Concealment]. They were his core techniques and, though he wanted to become strong enough to fight people head-on, there was no reason to simply abandon his existing skillset.

After finding a relatively private area, the bear-rabbit sniffed around the area before hunching its body over and relieving itself. It was during this moment that Linnaeus decided to strike as, without waiting for it to fall asleep, this was the most exposed it would be...

Using a series of three platforms like steps, Linnaeus leaped high into the air with two Horned Rabbit daggers in hand. The monster was completely unsuspecting as, not only had he been downwind, but his solidified [Barrier Aura] concealed his scent.

Due to the difference in their size, Linnaeus landed on the back of the bear-rabbit, stabbing both of his daggers towards the sides of its neck. It felt like he was trying to stab through several durable pieces of leather but, with his surprise attacks dealing triple damage and causing Severe Bleeding, it was enough.

With two daggers sticking in its neck, the bear-rabbit released a loud howl of pain as it swept its arm backward to try and cut him to ribbons with its razor-sharp claws. Linnaeus had already expected this, however, so he placed a barrier in the path of its joint while using the leverage provided by his daggers to stay on its back.

After stopping its attack, Linnaeus pulled another dagger out of his Inventory and began stabbing it near the base of the monster's skull over and over. Without the benefit of a surprise attack, each stab only penetrated a few centimeters but, as he was doing persistent damage, it didn't matter.

Once it managed to recover, the bear-rabbit did something Linnaeus hadn't expected as he had yet to see how it fought. It had a thick layer of fur so he was unable to see the powerful muscles in its legs. As a result, he was considerably surprised when the bear-rabbit suddenly leaped more than ten meters into the air as it attempted to crush him with its body weight.

Though it likely wouldn't kill him, Linnaeus wasn't in the mood to see how well his [Barrier Aura] held up against the full-body slam of a monster. He quickly kicked away from its body before erecting a sloped barrier between them, diverting the monster's fall to the side as he dropped down.

Due to the desperate nature of its attack, the bear-rabbit took a significant amount of damage from its own fall. It crashed hard into the ground before rolling to the side, a pitiful grown escaping its throat as it stared hatefully back at Linnaeus.

For a brief moment, boy and monster glared at each other with murderous intent but, instead of colliding climactically, the former quickly spun on his heels before vanishing into the surrounding brush. He had already put the monster into a critical state so, with the Severe Bleeding status, it was only a matter of time until it fell.

In response to its hated enemy fleeing, the bear-rabbit released a groaning roar as it made one final attempt to give chase. Unfortunately, it only made it a few steps before its legs smashed into a thin blue membrane, effectively tripping it to the ground. When it tried to stand up, another membrane kept it held down, preventing it from lifting its weakened body as a pair of ruby-red eyes stared at it from the darkness of a distant tree.

After a few minutes of struggling, the bear-rabbit finally bled out, alerting Linnaeus to its identity via system notification. It ended up having the classification Lesser Ursiculus and, just like every other monster he killed, it awarded no experience towards his base Level. Instead, he got a few dozen in his [Assassination] Skill, bringing him ever closer to LV43 and the LV50 threshold.

Once the monster had dissolved into ash, Linnaeus quickly looted the large red gemstone, earning an additional 59 Soul Kindling. This brought his total to 1391, indicating he had earned a total of 853 over the last six days. Since the majority of monsters within his means to hunt awarded between 30 and 50 Soul Kindling, he was earning between 160 and 200 each day.

Linnaeus didn't know if he was making good progress but, until he had killed a total of one-hundred monsters and hunted down a King, he was determined to stay on the Seventh Floor. His reasoning told him that greater dangers were present on higher floors so, if he couldn't even take down one of the weaker Kings, proceeding further was the same as inviting death upon himself.

So long as it wasn't hunted by another person, Linnaeus had already decided on which King he was going to hunt. It was a dragon-type monster located about six-hours due east of his den. Though he couldn't be certain, it gave him a similar feeling to the first monster he had encountered. Thus, with the latter already having died to the blue-haired spearman, it was the next best alternative.

He would adjust his plans as needed but, for the time being, Linnaeus had given himself a month to hunt down one of the Kings. On average, he would kill around three monsters per day so he would be nearing his goal of 100 monsters around the same time. If the King ultimately proved too much for him, he would do his best to retreat to safety before trying to gain access to the Sixth Floor.

After looting a large pelt, easily big enough to create a mantle from, Linnaeus retreated back toward his den. Before entering inside, however, he patrolled the surrounding area for over an hour to make sure there weren't any people nearby eyeing his domicile. He would never return straight home as there was always a chance someone could track him back, just like he had followed the unsuspecting water-girl previously.

It was only after he was confident there were abnormalities that Linnaeus created a solidified [Barrier Aura] so that he could completely mask his scent. Then, while closely observing his surroundings, he very slowly backtracked until reaching one of his den's entrances. It was kept hidden by a large bush that could be moved aside to reveal a hole just barely large enough for his small frame.

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Despite entering his own home, Linnaeus was still very cautious as, while he was away, there was a chance someone else could have taken up residence inside. He made sure to check each entrance and exit for signs of entry. Since he had placed small stones near the mouth of the holes, he could be relatively certain no visitors had arrived.

Once he had confirmed his den was secure, Linnaeus breathed a sigh of relief before plopping down on a large pile of animal hide. He was slowly building up a stockpile of fur in order to produce a set of makeshift clothing. Though he lacked the [Tanner], [Crafting], and [Tailor] Blessings, he could still develop a weaker version of the Skill. Since there were no guarantees he would be able to purchase equipment and supplies in the future, he felt it wasn't a bad idea to learn how to make his own...