It had been an hour since Jake's first kill in the dungeon.
Killing various players had been quite fruitful, as Jake picked up valuable experience and could see more of the players' skills and knowledge about the game world's mechanics.
He learned that all classes had some sort of movement skill.
While tanks and swordsmen's movement techniques didn't breach the thin line between realism and fantasy, classes like mages and thieves could close distances with teleportation.
It must have been surreal and extraordinary to achieve something like that. It should have boiled the blood of even the most dreary players.
'It's really an advanced skill that teaches people about fantasy's difficulties,' Jake's thoughts could be summarized in this one sentence.
Despite teleportation seeming like an easy skill to use, the difference between a newbie and a skilled one was as clear as day.
Jake had learned about it from Mary, but experiencing those differences first-hand was much more valuable. It steeled his resolve to practice his future skills more.
A few mages had been too easy to kill, while some could have used their mana step in such a good way that Jake couldn't have repeated his second shot and was forced to switch an angle.
This new experience caused Jake to mismatch his strength against the humanoid monsters.
[Condemned Wolf Scion Lv. 16 HP: 2125/2125 MP: 540/540]
A monster casually appeared in one of the corridors occupied by Jake's team.
It was the same humanoid little wolf Jake had seen numerous times already. He hasn't had a chance to fight them because the invisible zone conjured by Sin Blackberry was such a cheat that monsters couldn't have threatened them.
It had a low cooldown, with the only flaw that bumping into others was enough to break it.
Sin's subclass—healer—naturally raised her mana. With the plethora of expensive items, she could keep this invisible zone for weeks.
Jake stepped out of the zone.
He decided to level up and broaden his horizons.
Like in numerous other games, small existences often showcased high agility. The same mechanic applied to the humanoid wolf scion.
His size also made it difficult to hit him, but that mainly concerned range classes like mages or archers.
His trump card was that he could get onto his four and increase his speed even thrice! This always caught the new dungeon players off guard, including those prepared to face it.
None of it mattered to Jake.
His dexterity and strength stats exceeded the level sixteen monster, and his combination of The Perception Skill, Death's Lock, and Archer's Death Eye put the first monster onto a silver platter for him.
It took only one arrow for Jake to defeat the monster.
The poor wolf didn't even have a chance to get onto his four paws and show his higher speed!
Meanwhile, Jake surprised Prince.
"What are you doing, my dark horse?" Prince deeply looked into Jake's hands.
He hadn't taken out a pickax but a hammer and chisel first.
Of course, Jake's mask had been replaced by a miner's helmet! A gentle light blew away the darkness around the vein.
Jake smiled, "I'll make a few cracks to increase my mining's efficiency and speed. Want it too?"
"Ye," Prince curtly nodded. He also sounded less formal, which made Jake chuckle.
Jake turned around, "Want to help me, Wukong?"
Wukong nodded and smiled.
Jake had prepared a small hammer and chisel for him, too.
In this way, these two went around the vein and made a few cracks. Wukong may be a little monkey, but his strength was on par with Jake's, and he could really work well!
Prince was amazed by these two.
His admiration for Jake's preparation soared when his mining efficiency upped. He even saw his miner's proficiency bar going up as though it was on a race!
His pickax was, of course, expensive.
It had blessings to make him more productive and save him time.
That said, Jake's knowledge truly made this expensive pickax a good choice!
Prince grinned beneath his helmet as he swung the pickax.
He shouted, "It's a race, my dark horse! You should expect my pickax to be better quality, but you're not alone in this race! Let's see who cooks up more ores!"
"Fine!" Jake shouted roughly. He made a few signals to his summon and told him to make a few more cracks around their side at convenient intervals. Those helped Jake a lot!
Prince noticed it and narrowed his eyes.
He unleashed one of the strengthening skills!
He roared then, "Ora! Ora! Ora!"
Jake somewhat mimicked him as he picked up his pace, "Ora! Ora! Ora!"
Wukong and Sin stared at them with squinted eyes.
"You know we're hiding from others?" she asked.