Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Although there is no distinction between day and night in the cave, I calculated the time. I entered the cave at noon when the sun was shining brightly, thinking that the intense sunlight at noon could slightly suppress the cold and evil aura in the cave (definitely from watching too many ghost movies). It has been about 10 hours now, so it should be around midnight outside.

In the evil cave, there are many secluded corners where ordinary monsters rarely go. They prefer to occupy larger caves to show their strength. Therefore, many adventurers have dug small caves in these secluded corners to make fires and sleep, saving the trouble of setting up tents. Over the years, these secluded resting places have accumulated quite a few thanks to the efforts of countless adventurers.

Following Akara's advice, I felt along the walls under the magic lamps and quickly found an inconspicuous, blurry mark, which was the identification mark Akara told me about. As long as I follow these marks, I can find the hiding places left by the predecessors. As the saying goes, "One generation plants the trees, the next generation enjoys the shade."

Before long, I discovered a hiding place in a small corner. The entrance was very small; if it were a barbarian, they would have to go through great trouble to crawl in. However, with my relatively slim body, it was very easy. After crawling in, I found that the inside was quite spacious, about the size of a 15 square meter room. It was very high and dry, and the air was much better than outside. It seemed that the creator of this hiding place was also a pleasure-seeker.

I happily set up traps at the entrance, lit a fire, and spread fur items on the ground. By the fire, I took out dried meat and clean water from my inventory—this clean water was all brought from outside, as I didn't find any water in the evil cave. Even if there were, considering the bones, rotten flesh, and corpse water all over the ground, I absolutely wouldn't dare to drink it.

The water container I brought was not large, and the possibility of returning to the cave entrance was almost zero. Therefore, before the clean water ran out, I had to try my best to level up and gain experience. I hoped to witness the Corpse Fire and test my own strength, then use the portal to return before dying of thirst.

The night passed without incident. When I woke up, I couldn't tell what time it was. There is no distinction between day and night in the cave, always dark and cold, with a heavy, lifeless atmosphere.

I don't know how long I wandered in the cave. I only remember that after I woke up for the fourth time, it didn't take long for me to finally accumulate enough experience to level up.

Hmph, in less than half a month, I have already reached level 4, absolutely unprecedented and unmatched. Thanks to the bug amulet, what do job changers rely on? Skills. A job changer without skills is even worse than a mercenary. The powerful skill levels provided by the amulet made my efficiency in killing monsters dozens of times faster than ordinary job changers. Without the amulet, I would probably still be struggling to gain experience for level 2.

At level 4, I can learn a new skill. Firmly adhering to the principle of prioritizing survival, I chose the Shapeshifting skill. This finally freed my werewolf transformation from being a useless feature.

Shapeshifting: Passive. When transformed, it increases health and duration.

Current level 8; health increased by 55%; duration increased by 180 seconds.

Learning this Shapeshifting skill means that my werewolf transformation now increases health by 100% and extends the duration from 40 seconds to 220 seconds. What a cool and powerful skill! Who says druids are weak? Slap yourself a hundred times.

At the same time, I still allocated all 5 attribute points to vitality, giving me 115 health points. With the werewolf transformation, my health reaches 230 points, not much different from a level 20 paladin.

With the werewolf transformation, my progress speed clearly increased. Now, unless I encounter a group of more than a hundred Fallen, I dare to take action.

When I quickened my pace, it didn't take long for me to feel the increasingly strong cold and dark aura as I delved deeper into the cave. The damp and cold feeling made me shiver frequently, even as a job changer. Fortunately, I had bought an extra fur coat for caution, which I now put on.

Uh... Seeing myself in two bulky fur coats and a traitor's hat, I could imagine how ridiculous I looked. If I used the portal to return now, I would probably be killed by the Rogue Camp soldiers as soon as I emerged from the portal...

When I woke up for the fifth time, I finally paid the price for my carelessness.

After learning the Shapeshifting skill, even though I repeatedly reminded myself not to be careless or overconfident, after easily clearing out the monsters in one nest after another, especially yesterday, when I used the advantage of a narrow passage to block and gradually eliminate a group of hundreds of Fallen, and the Fallen Mages were killed one by one by my Venom Thorns after losing the protection of the Fallen, I couldn't help but feel a bit arrogant—although my abilities are not great on the Dark Continent, in this evil cave, except for the Corpse Fire, I can now walk around freely.

Thus, with this mindset, I boldly wandered through the cave, and retribution came.

Suddenly, a huge figure appeared from the corner ahead. Before I could react, my loyal Venom Thorns had already rushed forward to tangle with the black shadow. Unexpectedly, the black shadow ignored the Venom Thorns, enduring the green, oily bites, and pounced at me.

In the dim light, I finally saw what the huge figure was—a monster resembling an enlarged gorilla, taller and more muscular than Doug and the others, with solid muscles like angular stones. The name "Giant Beast" flashed in my mind.

—This is a monster often encountered in the evil cave in the game.

—These powerful creatures generally do not live in groups. They usually live alone or in pairs in the depths of the evil cave, often feeding on the corpses of Fallen and Rogues. They are extremely fierce and brutal. When encountering them, one must be cautious. It's best to avoid them if possible. If avoidance is not possible, let melee job changers engage them first. Their weakness is their weak magic resistance, as I learned from Akara.

Damn it, even with such clear warnings, I still forgot about this most powerful monster in the evil cave. Indeed, arrogance invites disaster. This is the result of being overconfident. I was extremely frustrated and ashamed of my lack of awareness, but it's not too late. Let this be a lesson.

With a "bang," the Giant Beast gripped its hands and delivered a powerful blow from above, just like when I transformed into a werewolf to deal with the small Fallen a few days ago. The风水轮流转 (the tide has turned).

The powerful blow made me stagger, and my prepared attack was interrupted. Fortunately, the Venom Thorns, which had caught up from behind, turned around and bit the Giant Beast again.

Unable to tolerate the "persistent" Venom Thorns, the Giant Beast finally let me go and engaged in a left-right battle with the Venom Thorns.

However, the Giant Beast is still a minor monster compared to the Venom Thorns, which can easily defeat elite-level monsters. After about 6 seconds (the Venom Thorns had already bitten it once, reducing its health significantly), the Giant Beast let out a mournful cry and fell.

Good grief, I began to assess my losses. The Giant Beast's blow had taken 15 points of my health, and the Venom Thorns had been hit twice, losing 20 points of health.

Although it was a surprise attack and I didn't use the werewolf transformation, the fact that it could cause us so much damage shows that its strength is almost on par with elite-level Fallen Mages.

Perhaps to compensate for the shock I received, when I cleaned up the battlefield, the Giant Beast contributed another piece of equipment to me.

Leather Gloves: Defense 3, Durability 12-12

With the 6 points from my level, 2 points from the belt, and 4 points from the damaged hat, my defense is now 15 points. The Fallen's sharp blades can now only deal 2-4 points of damage to me. If I wear another piece of clothing, the damage would be less than 1 point.

Although my defense increased by 3 points, from then on, I no longer dared to be overconfident. Every time I approached a corner, I would first send the Venom Thorns to scout. Indeed, this helped me avoid several surprise attacks by Giant Beasts. It seems these beasts are not good creatures. Perhaps due to their gorilla-like appearance, they have higher intelligence and know how to ambush in corners. Fortunately, they are not social, or I would have been killed here.

As the saying goes, "If you walk by the river often, you will eventually get your feet wet." Even though I was so cautious, when I delved deeper into the cave, I was still ambushed, and even the Venom Thorns couldn't prevent it.

This was a monster I had never seen in the game, called a Ceiling Spider. As the name suggests, they live on the ceiling, so the Venom Thorns on the ground were helpless against them.

I don't know how you would feel if, when you are being extremely cautious and focused on the situation ahead, the enemy suddenly ambushes you from an unexpected place, knocking you to the ground. When you finally recover from the shock of the unexpected attack, you find a plate-sized spider with fluffy green and yellow fur on your chest, its two large fangs and a row of sharp teeth dripping with white saliva pointing at your eyes. I was so scared that I lay there motionless, completely dazed. Fortunately, the loyal Venom Thorns arrived in time and quickly killed the terrifying spider, or I would have become a ghost without knowing what hit me.

For several days after that,