Can you give me your power stones?
####
POV: Zane
When my knife struck the man's arm, leaving only a shallow cut, I saw a smile appear on his face. However, this time he didn't look so confident in his victory.
He knows he has to try harder if he wants to kill me.
But now it's too late. I stared at the man who was about to swing his sword. My heart started racing, and I began to feel extremely nervous. At any moment, the poison would take effect.
In the middle of his movement, the man's body suddenly locked up.
"Urgh… Urghhh… What is this?"
He spoke before collapsing to the ground.
"Philip!" The man holding the spear rushed forward. He didn't try to push me away—he knelt down and tried to help the man named Philip. "Philip, talk to me!" Philip's eyes were filled with tears.
His tongue began to slur, and he couldn't form any words.
"What did you do to him?" the spearman demanded. "Hey, we don't have any healing potions left!? Quick, give me one!"
The archer took a few steps back, and the man with the axe searched his bag for a potion, but—
"I don't have any."
"Damn it! Do you have a potion? Can you help him? What did you do?" He looked at me.
Their audacity was almost admirable. Weren't these guys just trying to kill me?
"I don't have one," I answered honestly.
I have no way to counter the poison, and I can't even buy potions since I don't have enough points.
"Damn it! His fingers!" I looked at Philip's fingers, and they were beginning to turn black, as if the blood circulation had stopped.
I'll admit—even after killing many monsters, this made me feel sick.
I averted my gaze and turned away.
The moment I did—
[ EXP +2,000 ]
He had finally died.
Two thousand EXP for killing him. Not bad.
But I couldn't feel good about it. My stomach was on the verge of giving up… My heart was pounding too.
Huff…
Huff…
I took a deep breath and looked at the spearman. He was crying now, having realized his friend was dead.
Philip's body was almost completely black… yet strangely, it didn't smell.
I looked at his corpse and tried to act as coldly as possible, even though my hand was trembling slightly.
'It was necessary. It was necessary. It was necessary.'
I looked at the men again. They were all devastated. None of them were paying attention to me anymore.
I could act like a maniac and kill all of them to "farm EXP," but instead, I chose to leave. I ran out of the dungeon as fast as I could.
I just want to go home and rest.
In the end, I never found out which Familia those guys belonged to.
####
As soon as I left the dungeon, I pulled my hood down further to hide my face and headed home. When I arrived, I sat down on my humble sofa and removed my hood.
"That was insane." I rubbed my face with both hands.
My hands were still trembling slightly.
I went to the bathroom and washed my face before heading to the kitchen to quickly prepare some tea. As I brewed the dark-colored tea, I couldn't help remembering that man's rotting body.
How disgusting.
After finishing the tea, I noticed that EXP notifications were still coming in. My clones were still hunting. One of them was deeper in the dungeon, since each monster killed was now giving me 40 experience points.
It's probably clone number two—the one who said he would go to the eighth floor.
"I wonder which clone caused all that trouble. What did he do to anger them so much?"
Honestly, the main problem seemed to be the group's leader. Even though the archer tried to kill me, he looked scared and worried. He seemed like he was just following orders. That guy was the real issue.
Well, if he tried to kill me, he has probably done it before.
It's good that he died.
'Yes, his death was deserved. Now he won't cause any more trouble.'
I drank my tea slowly, and eventually my heart settled.
After that, I took a shower and lay down to rest.
But as soon as I did, I received a new system notification.
[ You have acquired the skill "Strength Increase LV1" ]
"Strength increase?"
[ Strength increases by 10% per level ]
"That's impressive. Thank you, system."
I still haven't figured out how to gain skills. I thought it would be similar to a novel I read called Kumo desu ga, where the protagonist gains skills very easily… but that's not the case.
Since I came to this world, even though I explore the dungeon every day for hours, I've only received three skills, including this one.
After receiving the "Knife Combat" skill so easily, I thought it would be easy to receive other skills as well.
"Should I try this with other weapons?"
Maybe it's easier to gain weapon-related skills.
####
When my eyes opened again, it was dark outside. I hadn't slept that long. I got up and went to the bathroom to wash my face. After that, I put on my hood and left my house.
As soon as I stepped outside, I remembered what had happened inside the dungeon.
I don't know which Familia those guys belonged to, but I feel like that idiot's death might cause me a lot of problems in the near future.
I shook my head to get the image of his dead body out of my mind and headed to a nearby bar.
It's been a long time since I drank. I think I'll drink a little today.
Two hours passed.
When I left the bar, it was nearly empty, and I felt terrible. I wasn't very dizzy, but I felt like I could throw up at any moment.
On my way home, I once again started thinking about the man I had killed that afternoon.
And while I was thinking—and muttering unnecessary things out loud—I ran into someone I didn't expect.
'Isn't that Hestia?'
There weren't many people on the street, so it was surprising.
She was carrying a package and seemed to be in a hurry.
I even thought about approaching her, but instead I staggered home and collapsed onto the sofa.
####
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/Zhangye
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Next Chapters: Chapter 11 - Handsome Twins? / Chapter 12 - Loki Familia / Chapter 13 - Does Clone 2 hate humans? / Chapter 14 - Explore deeper floors. / Chapter 15 - Clone 1 was destroyed. / Chapter 16 - Maniac?