Around noon, the girls left, and Jake had the chance to focus on the hunt. That was why Jake didn't want to join guilds, they had to consider many things, and they had to move as a group. While they can work well and help those who need help, they also crush the freedom of many of their members. It would be a massive pain in the ass...
Regardless, around the time the sun was setting, Jake finally managed to kill all the undead trents around the dungeon. Still, he worked for some more hours outside to get the materials from the undead trents. During that whole time, Jake saw many of those creatures decaying and becoming dust quite fast.
"I guess things would be different outside the dungeon…" Jake said.
After that, Jake checked the dungeon shop. He needed a new armor urgently, so he looked for the new ones there. As usual, he found some that were good against poison, earth magic, and curses. Jake thought that he was forced to grow up quite fast, but it seemed that he still had some edginess from his teenage years. Since he got his eyes on a full plate of dark steel armor and a similar one-handed sword.
Dark Steel Armor (0%)
Endurance + 20, Mentality + 20, Curse Resistance, master this item to obtain these effects permanently.
Durability: 60/60
Curse Resistance: decreases the power and effects of curses by one point per level.
Price: 150.000 coins.
Umbra Sword
Strength + 20, Willpower + 20, Dark Blade, master this item to obtain these effects.
Durability: 40/40
Price: 100.000
Dark Blade: when using this skill, you can fire a small dark beam of energy that will cause damage to curse the target for a short while, decreasing their endurance, mentality, and recovery according to the level of the skill for fifteen seconds, this effect can stack.
Cost: 30 mana
Jake knew that he would find skills better than Mana Blade eventually, but he didn't think it would be so soon. Dark Blade would certainly help him against enemies much stronger than him. So, he bought the armor and the sword without thinking twice.
"As expected, this makes me look a lot edgier…" Jake thought. "I shouldn't let Lana see this, or she will be annoying while trying to make fun of me."
After finishing his shopping, Jake considered his options. He had been in that world only for a day and a half, so he didn't have to hurry and defeat the boss. He could train the new skills he got, Cursed Resistance will certainly come in handy, but Dark Blade probably won't work on the boss for obvious reasons.
"Thanks to the improved version of my shield and after using Boomerang Shield for so long, a single skill is enough to kill them," Jake thought. "That being said, my goal should he level up Curse Resistance."
Jake waited for the trents to show up at the dungeon's entrance and let them attack him. He wasn't confident in fighting them inside because it had too many vines, and he could mistake them for the vines of the enemy. Besides, he was there to train, and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes at the current level of that skill.
After doing some tests, Jake confirmed that letting three of the putrid fruits was the maximum that he could let them hit him with. After the third one, he started to feel really, really bad… to the point that he felt even unmotivated to fight and use Boomerang Shield. His mentality wasn't that high to begin with, so a single shot was enough to make it decrease by forty points.
Even after he mastered the armor and Curse Resistance began to level up, it would take a long while before it reached a level where he could counter those fruits. It had to reach level forty… their effects could stack as well, and they lasted for fifty seconds, so it wasn't exactly time-consuming, but it was unlikely that Jake would waste for three or four days to reach that level.
"The boss will be even more powerful, so I really can't afford to let the boss hit me often… it would be the same as losing all the will to fight," Jake thought. "I never expected that curses would be like this."
It would be useful if Jake could achieve the same using Dark Blade, but it would take a while for the skill to reach that level, and it would also cost tons of mana. Regardless, Jake was used to the grinding, so he kept doing that until the next morning. He was hoping to clear the dungeon that day and then go to that city after completing the mission, hoping not to see anyone from Frederick's guild. Still, it seemed that they would stay there for a while. The girls mentioned that he wasn't working on rebuilding things after all.
"I still have some free magic boxes, but I should work on unloading them as soon as possible," Jake thought. "I can't let those materials with me all the time… Also, I should find a better use for the magic boxes."
Jake recalled that even those who didn't complete the tutorial had magic boxes… did they cheat the system and obtained them as a reward, or did their allies give them those? Jake didn't find those items to be sold in the shop, so it was hard to tell if he was right or not. It would be useful if those clowns keep getting on his way while they have those. The more magic boxes, the merrier for Jake, after all.
"I still have to check what they left inside… I guess I have some time to kill," Jake thought.
Unfortunately, Jake didn't find any decent equipment in the new magic boxes. However, he found a set of equipment and weapons that were made o gold, and they all had the same effect… Golden.