Once again, Eren was overtaken by the beast instinct and succumbed to the joy of hunting.
His tail wagged wildly as he continued forward.
"tik… tik… ssshhh…" "krrr-rr-rr…"
The cries of monsters echoed everywhere as they died.
A flood of messages popped up in his mind.
The lowest multiplier triggered was 27, while the highest reached 69,960.
But Eren completely ignored them and focused instead on controlling his instinct, refusing to be overtaken by it.
Another four and a half hours passed in the blink of an eye.
The entire time, Eren remained in his beast form and didn't even take a Spirit-replenishing potion from his bag.
His Spirit Points had dropped to 7.1, but he could still hold on for a while longer.
Still, Eren decided to stop hunting for the day.
His total Life Essence reserve had risen from over four million to over nine million.
9,000,872 exactly.
It was a massive amount of Life Essence.
According to Eren's calculations, reaching the pinnacle of Tier 2 would be no problem with this much Life Essence.
As for Lesser Spirit Stones, the count had increased from 171,856 to 967,002.
Since the monsters in the Inner Region were much higher leveled than those in the outer areas, the drop rate of Spirit Stones had increased significantly.
Eren reverted to his human form as he roamed inside the Inner Region of the dungeon.
Even without his transformation, his current raw strength was more than enough to defeat the enemies around him. Especially now that he had grown accustomed to the enemies' attack patterns and movements.
"Eight hours are about to end…"
Beginner Dungeons were only open for eight hours per day, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
Once the time limit was reached, the Beginner Dungeons would enter a maintenance period.
This was exactly why Lucien had hurriedly sent every student from his school into the dungeon so eagerly and urged them to not waste time.
Each student entering a good academy meant an increase in the school's prestige.
More students would enroll the following year.
If they awakened a strong profession, Lucien would receive bonuses and additional resources for the school.
That was how high schools worked in this world.
"I wonder what levels everyone reached…"
Unlike Eren, the other students in the dungeon were having a very hard time.
Monsters kept appearing out of nowhere, forcing them to stay constantly vigilant.
All of them were mentally exhausted, including Cassian's party.
"Most of them probably reached Level 2, while some may have even reached Level 3…"
Eren calculated briefly before choosing to level himself up to Level 2.
A dim light surrounded him for a second as warm energy flowed into his body before fading away.
All his attributes increased by 1 point.
"Compared to skill upgrades, this level-up feels so underwhelming…"
If anyone heard him right now, they would tie him up and beat him to death.
He was complaining about how underwhelming leveling up felt compared to skill upgrades, while others were struggling just to reach Level 2.
Most monsters in the outer region only granted 1 to 3 Life Essence at most.
Killing monsters that attacked them might give some additional gains, but actively searching for monsters consumed a huge amount of time.
So Eren concluded that the majority of students would likely be at Level 2, while only a very small number might have managed to reach Level 3.
"Mm?!"
As Eren was roaming around, a huge bright light fell upon him. His perception of the surrounding dungeon twisted in an unrealistic way before he was directly transported outside the Abyssal Beginner Dungeon.
"Dammit, I was so close to leveling up!"
"Sigh… It was really exhausting…"
"Yes! I'm Level 2 now!"
One by one, many people arrived around Eren. They were also transported by the dungeon mechanism, just like him.
He blinked in amusement and thrill.
'So this is how transportation out of the dungeon works?'
"Hey, look! Cassian and his party… Most of them reached Level 2!"
Eren looked in the same direction as everyone else.
Cassian and Seraphina, along with the three other members of their party, had all reached Level 2.
[Holy Knight Lv.2] and [Divine Hymnist Lv.2] were displayed clearly above their heads.
'Those two really leveled up!'
That was a little surprising for Eren.
Life Essence rewarded through teamwork would be split automatically according to contribution.
Eren had thought Cassian would simply order everyone to hunt monsters for him, but it was clear that he had actually put in some work.
Looking around, Eren noticed that about 70% of the students were still Level 1, while only 30% had reached Level 2.
No one had reached Level 3.
Eren smiled wearily as he observed them.
'It seems I still underestimated how difficult leveling up is for normal people.'
"Hey! Look, Eren also leveled up!"
"Wow! I didn't know he was that diligent…"
"Tsk, as expected of a rare-grade combat class…"
The sudden attention startled Eren.
Not only the surrounding students, but Cassian and his party also turned to look at him.
All of them instantly wore expressions mixed with disbelief and unwilling acceptance as soon as they saw his level.
Headmaster Lucien walked toward him with a broad smile and patted his shoulder proudly.
"Eren! You also leveled up in a single day! Now six people in our school have reached Level 2 in just one day… You really did great! Keep it up, and you will definitely get into a good academy…"
Eren awkwardly smiled at the compliment.
'Why did so few people reach Level 2? It's just 100 Life Essence… Tsk, I need to be more careful from now on…'
He reminded himself silently.
Everyone returned to their buses to head home.
Eren followed them, but midway, his steps halted when he saw a group of students standing in a line.
"Why is everyone standing in this line?"
Eren asked a nearby student.
"We're here to sell our Lesser Spirit Stones."
Interested, he asked for further details.
According to the student, the Awakener Association allowed some of its associates to set up private booths near dungeon entrances and wilderness zones where monsters frequently appeared.
They purchased Lesser Spirit Stones at slightly lower than market price, deducting commission and taxes on the spot.
When Eren looked ahead, he saw a young man in a coat suit setting up a bench and collecting Spirit Stones one by one, transferring money directly into the sellers' bank accounts.
Eren also stood in line.
When his turn arrived, he placed 30 Lesser Spirit Stones on the table.
The man in the suit took out an appraisal device, examined the stones, and said,
"30 Lesser Spirit Stones. Market value is 47 Alliance Coins each. My commission and tax total 4 Alliance Coins per stone. Are you okay with that?"
"Yes."
"The total amount is 1,290 Alliance Coins. Give me your account number."
Within five minutes, Eren received a notification. His bank balance increased from 700 to 1,990 Alliance Coins.
Obviously, this amount was nothing to the current Eren. Still, he let out a relieved sigh as the transaction went smoothly.
"Even the Association's appraisal device didn't detect any issues with the Spirit Stones. My talent really multiplies the rewards exactly the same as the originals…"
Eren had wanted to make sure there were no problems with the rewards multiplied by his talent.
Even though he knew they were real and flawless, only after the appraisal device approved them did he feel truly reassured.
Eren boarded the bus and soon arrived back at the school gate.
"You leveled up to Level 2 within a single day?"