Chapter 60: A Small Detour

After exiting the theory class, Max went directly to lunch. During the class, he had not received any calls from the Academy Head office regarding an investigation. Deciding to leave the Academy before they could delay him, he quickly finished his meal and walked to retrieve his Dungeon Pass. He could only hope he would not get entangled with those people again, and that his request would be approved.

Upon entering the Student Council Hall, Max moved straight towards the wall where the passes were pinned. Once a request was processed, the signed form would be posted on a separate wall. This system allowed students to easily check whether their requests were approved or rejected, instead of waiting for a Student Council committee member to check for them. Max easily located his form. Fortunately, it had been approved, but it was not the Dungeon he had asked for. Furthermore, the Dungeon Level was entirely different.

Level 4, Bare Teeth Bull Frog Dungeon. Rank E.

He had applied for the Level 5 Red Fire Wolf Dungeon. Although it was relatively dangerous, it was not much of a threat to him. He had chosen it because it was a big Dungeon with abundant Wolf packs; once he cleared it, he would level up by at least three. Yet now, these people had assigned him a Bull Frog Dungeon that merely matched his current level.

Max walked over to where a group of students sat. Today, the Head was missing once again, or perhaps he was sitting inside his designated room, but the Vice-Head was present at the hall reception.

"Greetings, Vice-Head. I think there is a mistake in my dungeon request," Max argued. "I asked for a Level 5 Dungeon, but it says Level 4 Dungeon here. I am already Level 4. If I enter a Dungeon of the same level, I will not get much EXP for a level up, and it is a waste of time."

"Don't make things any harder now. It was already a generous offer," the Vice-Head said with a grim face. "You either take it or leave it."

Max stared back at him for a while before turning and walking away from the Hall. He understood the responsibilities that fell on them when things went south. If something happened to Max when he entered a Dungeon alone, the blame would fall directly on the person who approved it, so Max did not press the issue. He could simply clear this Dungeon once to gain enough EXP so that it was not a complete waste of time. Afterward, he would just apply for a Level 5 Dungeon again.

His guess was that the Second Year students were entering Dungeons in the Level 35 to 40 range. Since the limitation for gaining EXP in a party was 25 levels, if he worked hard and leveled up to 15, he would have a chance to join them. After that, his level would soar to the sky, leaving the first years behind. Although he had to find a party that would carry him, he believed Adrien and his party would help with it.

Max left the Student Administrative building and walked towards the transport location. The Academy provided transport for first-year students if they wanted to raid a Dungeon. This was mostly for safety purposes. Once a student requested a Dungeon, they would designate a vehicle with a guard to travel with the student.

Upon reaching the location, he handed the approved form to the registration personnel. The person noted things down and called forth the vehicle, driver, and guard assigned to him. Soon, the vehicle arrived. Max entered it, and the vehicle sped up, exiting the Academy.

It took only 45 minutes to reach the eastern side of the Capital. They exited the Capital and traveled for 10 minutes outside to reach their destination. Once they arrived, Max stepped out and handed over his registered form to the Dungeon guard. After it was authorized, Max left the shack and entered the Dungeon.

Max brought both his sword and bow. Although he had the Mana String Bow, he had yet to learn how to use it or effectively control the Mana channeling on the arrow. Therefore, he would practice first before using it. As soon as the inner Dungeon came into his view, he felt the humidity; the Dungeon looked like a rainforest.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

This made sense, since frogs lived in rainforests. The primary standard monster in this Dungeon was the Bare Teeth Bull Frog. It was the size of a regular dog, and the Boss Bull Frog was double the size of the regular monster. Since these monsters were Level 4, Max was not too alert as he started to walk through the dense forest. The trees were moderately grown, and the plants also grew very little, making it possible to walk without struggling.

After walking for five minutes, Max encountered a big frog lying on the edge of a moderate-sized pond. In fact, after noticing it, he saw plenty of them around the edge, as well as in the pond water. His guess was that the Boss Bull Frog was residing in the pond. However, he did not care. Since they were the same level, his single attack could slice a regular Bull Frog, and two would finish the Boss.

Max decided not to use the Otherworld weapons because he wanted to improve his Skill proficiency and planned to beat every one of those Merit based guys in a duel. He also could not guarantee he would ever use those weapons in public places without exposing them. After realizing how powerful some of them were and what could have destroyed the Level 1 world, he was not going to take them out in public, though he might use them in Dungeon emergencies if the situation demanded it.

Max took out his custom-made bow and arrow, aimed at the nearest monster, and fired. The arrow went streaking through the air like a flash of lightning and landed directly on the head of the resting frog. The sudden attack startled the frog as it thrashed the ground and died from the single attack. Standing behind a tree, Max looked around at the other frogs nearby.

[Bare Teeth Bull Frog killed. Gained 70 EXP.]

'Okay, it is a relatively good EXP gain,' Max muttered. Currently, he needed to kill a ton of monsters to level up. However, with his improved Skill proficiency and Mana Channeling, he was capable of doing it.

…

Level: 4

EXP: 130/8500

Attributes: Strength 9, Agility 11, Endurance 8, Intelligence 6, Vitality 8.

Unallocated Attribute Points: 0

…

Noticing the commotion the dead frog made, the other frogs were alerted and moved in different directions, trying to find the enemy. Max, however, did not let those frogs move away. He quickly used his combined Skills and rapidly sent out a volley of arrows. The speed was incredible. With his improved Mana channeling with five threads, Max was capable of using the combined skills of [Celestial Arrow] and [Rapid Reload] for very long time.

Within a single minute, Max used up all fifty arrows his quiver held. Yet, he still retained almost half of his Mana in reserve. This was definitely a great improvement from his first Dungeon expedition. Most of the frogs in that pond were killed; he could not see the Boss, and the rest of them had scattered. These frogs did not actively attack him, or perhaps they simply could not locate their enemy. This was a good thing, as he could level up easily.

Within a short time, he had gained around 3,500 EXP, boosting a large chunk of his overall EXP. If he found another pond like this one, he could basically reach Level 5.

Max quickly collected the regular materials the frogs had dropped. They mostly dropped cores, frog hides, and other alchemical potion materials. It was a good amount. He could submit them to the Academy upon his return to exchange for some rare and regular potions, such as Mana potions. Although he did not lack wealth, leaving this loot in the Dungeon was a waste, so he collected it.

As Max walked along the edge, collecting every piece of loot and storing it in his iStorage, he suddenly picked up a paper-like item. Rather than blindly storing it, Max inspected its contents. It was a map directing to a special location, and at the end of the illustrated path, it displayed a treasure box.

[Bull Frog Fortune Map]

Description: The Bare Teeth Bull Frog Dungeon holds an enormous amount of wealth. Molten Gold, Special Bull Frog Essence Juice,Teeth of the Legendary Bull Frog, The Marlak.

"Wow, that is some real treasure," Max muttered.

The Molten Gold was straightforward; it was just gold. However, the other two treasures seemed interesting. Max wanted to find out what the Bull Frog Essence Juice could do. The last item was a Tooth of the Legendary Bull Frog, The Marlak. It seemed like a special treasure, but what could a tooth do?

"Well, let's find out."

Since he was a formidable force in this Level 4 Dungeon, he could easily attain this treasure. Max folded the map, placed it in his sleeve, and started walking towards a large clearing. That was the first area he needed to cross.