Chapter 37 Dungeons Are Warm-Ups For Me

System: Congratulations! You have slain a Level 7 Fang Hound.

I stared at the notification for a moment, waiting for the reward section to appear. However, even after several seconds, nothing came.

I scratched my head.

No rewards for killing monsters? What a shame.

Just then, another notification appeared.

System: Player stats are already maxed out. The only way to increase your stats is through completing taboos.

I stared at it for a moment before shrugging.

Well, I suppose that made sense. If my stats were already maxed out, there wasn’t much reason for the system to reward me with something I couldn’t use.

I shifted my attention towards the mountain behind me. Now that I had finished massacring the Fang Hounds, I finally had some time to appreciate my surroundings.

Several hilly structures stretched across the landscape, but the mountain I stood beside was undoubtedly the largest.

Which meant it was the Pinnacle.

From what I could remember about the story, Pinnacles were where the keys were kept. And those keys were supposedly the only way to return to the original world.

Not only that, but the summit where each key was located was protected by some sort of barrier that prevented magical beasts from approaching.

In other words, getting home was pretty straightforward. All I had to do was climb the mountain, retrieve the key, and leave.

Easy enough.

Unfortunately, that sounded rather boring.

I hadn’t come all this way just to pick up a key and go home. I had come here looking for a fight, and it would be a waste not to enjoy myself a little.

Besides, I was curious about my abilities.

How strong was I, exactly? How much could my body take? And more importantly, just how many of these monsters could I kill before things became remotely challenging?

My lips curled into a smile as I turned towards the forest.

I could already sense several energies moving around in there. It seemed the commotion I’d caused had attracted a few more visitors.

Perfect.

Today was going to be a training day.

I could hardly think of a better way to test my abilities. And to make things a little more interesting, I decided to impose a restriction on myself.

No hands.

I’d use nothing but my legs.

With both hands tucked comfortably into my pockets, I began walking towards the trees.

It didn’t take long before several Fang Hounds emerged from the forest.

Twelve.

A dozen.

Actually, there were probably more than twenty.

I stopped counting after a while. There wasn’t much point in keeping track when they were practically lining up to get themselves killed.

A smile remained on my face as I raised my voice.

"Come on! Come at me!"

The beasts didn’t need to be told twice.

They charged.

I lowered myself into a slight squat before pushing off the ground, launching myself straight into the approaching pack.

Claws came swinging at me from every direction, but I weaved between them with ease. Their movements were so slow that I could practically see every attack coming.

Honestly, was this the best they could do?

Every time I avoided a strike, I returned the favour with a kick.

A backward heel kick shattered one beast’s jaw. Another sent a second hound’s skull crashing apart.

Bash!

Bash!

I moved from one target to another, barely giving them time to react.

Within moments, the entire pack lay lifeless beneath my feet, their blood staining the ground.

System notifications continued appearing beside me, congratulating me on each kill. However, I couldn’t be bothered to look at them.

There was no need to keep reading the same message over and over again.

I simply continued walking, disappearing deeper into the forest.

The more monsters I encountered, the more opportunities I’d have to test myself.

Although, I had to admit, this was starting to get a little boring.

The Fang Hounds weren’t exactly impressive opponents.

I glanced ahead, where I could sense several more approaching.

This time, I decided to do things differently.

Why wait for them to come to me when I could pay them a visit instead?

I bent my knees slightly, gathering strength before thrusting myself forward.

Boom!

My body shot ahead with incredible speed.

To me, the movement felt perfectly natural. It was almost as though I were taking an ordinary step. However, the landscape around me told a completely different story.

Trees blurred past my vision, and the ground caved in beneath my feet with every step.

In a matter of seconds, I had covered an enormous distance.

By the time I reached the approaching group, several Fang Hounds were already charging towards me.

Unfortunately for them, I had no intention of slowing down.

I accelerated straight through their formation, swinging my legs with enough force to slice through their bodies.

At that speed, my kicks were practically blades.

One moment, the beasts were charging towards me. The next, their bodies were being torn apart by the sheer force of my attacks.

And so, the slaughter began.

This time, there were considerably more of them.

No matter which direction I turned, Fang Hounds kept appearing. Some charged from the front, while others emerged from the sides, attempting to surround me.

But I wasn’t particularly bothered.

I continued tearing through them with my legs, making sure not to use my hands.

After all, I had made a promise to myself.

And I intended to keep it.

However, as more beasts joined the fray, their attacks gradually began coming from every direction. Claws swept towards me from the left, the right, and even behind me.

Soon, there was barely any room left to dodge.

They were everywhere.

The forest was filled with the roars of bloodthirsty hounds, and more monstrous beasts continued emerging from the trees.

Yet, rather than feeling threatened, I found myself becoming increasingly excited.

Now, this was more like it.

I want more.

My grin widened as I launched another series of kicks, sending several beasts flying.

Then, spotting a group of three ahead, I decided to try something different.

I pushed off the ground with incredible force and launched myself towards them, bringing both legs forward in a devastating dropkick.

BOOM!

The impact was so tremendous that I practically tore through the first beast, carrying the momentum straight into the two behind it.

Their bodies were sent flying as I crashed through their formation.

By the time I landed, I was completely drenched in blood.

I glanced down at myself for a moment.

Well, that was messy.

Still, the grin on my face didn’t disappear.

One after another, the beasts continued falling, their lifeless bodies piling up across the forest floor.

[System: Congratulations! You have slain a Fang Hound.]

[System: Congratulations! You have slain a Level 7 Fang Hound.]

The notifications kept appearing, one after another, accompanying every kill.

I didn’t bother reading any of them.

At this point, I was practically getting used to the messages.

A few moments later, the forest finally grew quiet.

Hundreds of Fang Hounds now lay lifeless beneath my feet, joining the countless others I had slaughtered along the way.

I looked around at the carnage, my smile still firmly in place.

Well...

That was certainly a good warm-up.