The damage he received on his shoulder and stomach is slowly healing, the pain is slowly disappearing from his body.
His mind isn't being stabbed by countless needles anymore. Also, the burn he got from the goblin mage previously is being healed.
"Hah…! Am I getting old? How did I not immediately use those potions?"
Nash smirks. The lad grabs the hunter's bow and 5 arrows from his inventory. He lifts it upwards and pulls the bowstring farther than its usual pull, then within a single second, his fingertips let go of the string. The arrow passes through the wind, defying wind resistance to go even faster.
"Focused Shot!"
𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙠! 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙠! 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨!?
The arrow hits the burning tree monster, destroying the tough layer of its body and lets the flames destroy the core instead. Just like its ally, it died the same way. It fell apart, crumbling down into ashes until it shattered into crystals.
Nash didn't only use 1 arrow, he used two arrows. One for the dying enemy, and one for the final treario who dealt the most damage to him. The arrow reached Treario's mouth, penetrating through the front and back of the head.
"You laugh when you don't have a voice! You don't need a mouth, you fuck!"
A sailor's mouth, just like the days when he was gaming. Just yesterday or earlier. He chuckles, his excitement off the roof. Now this is peak gaming.
Then, he ran towards the torch that had been burning on the ground since earlier. Nash quickly grabbed it and equipped it.
[ Torch's Durability: 40% ]
Most of its durability has been used during the time it had on the ground, but that'll be more useful now than ever. The archer ran towards the last Treario left with his left hand holding the torch, as soon as he got closer, the Treario swung its stick horizontally out of fear and panic. Which made it easier to dodge by sliding on the ground and immediately standing up in front of the tree monster with the torch up on its face.
"Take this, you annoying twig!"
With a single thrust using his torch, he shoved it up inside of the mouth and left it inside. It started burning the insides of the Treario, it knelt to the ground with tons of smoke coming out of its orifices before finally falling to the ground and burning to pieces.
"FINALLY!! ALL DEAD!"
[ You have leveled up! Level 7 > Level 10 ]
[ You have obtained 9 status points. ]
[ 2 hours and 20 minutes remaining until the mission reaches the deadline. ]
Nash huffs and puffs, he sits down beside a wall and starts catching his breath. After fighting for so long, he finally got a chance to rest even if it was just a few minutes.
"HA…! HUHH….!"
His entire body covered in sweat, he unequips the torch which is near its broken state and puts it inside of his inventory. Surprisingly, the durability doesn't degrade every 3 seconds inside of the inventory. This means that every item that can degrade is suspended in time inside of his inventory.
"That's… neat. Should be expected from a game, I'm glad…"
[ Exhaustion %: 47 ]
His exhaustion meter is finally going down the moment he sits down and rests. Do I also have a hunger meter? Nah, the moment I think about food, I'll get hungry. Let's not think about that… For now, rest. No sudden movements, no noise.
Despite saying that, he went ahead and grabbed all of the loot that the treario's dropped.
[ Trearios dropped: 9x Branches, 6x Herbs, 3x Broken Tree Core ]
"Herbs, used for creating health potions. Branches are used for crafting items like low-tier weapons. Broken cores… Proof of killing Treario's and could be sold for 5 copper coins."
Despite the monsters being buffed by the crimson moon, drops and exp being doubled, the items you receive aren't that special but useful for money and crafting. By having 6 herbs, he'd be able to create 3 minor health potions. For the branches, upgrade materials and craftable weapons like a Tree sword or Tree Dagger set could be made with it. Alright, enough with the technical stuff. That can be explained later…
After 20 minutes of resting, his exhaustion meter has returned to 0%. Going up fast won't be possible, that only happens after you exceed 60%. For now, slow and steady wins the race… is something he'd like to say but there are only 2 hours left for the time limit he was given.
"Inventory."
[ 1x Club, 34x Silver Arrows, 1x Book of Fire, 1x Hunter's Bow(Equipped), Goblin's Footwear(Equipped), 2x Dirty Loincloth, 47 Copper Coins, 50 Gold Coins ]
No good. The fact that his ammo supply is almost depleted isn't good. The next floors are close-combat oriented which is a good thing for a long-ranged combatant like me, but with my arrows running out? This isn't an ideal situation to be in, especially when the monsters are buffed by the Crimson Moon effect. He could use the last Club he has, but it has low durability. Could break at any moment and I don't want it to happen during combat.
After all, the enemy on the second floor is Dire Rats. A rat with larger than normal, teeth can bite through low-tier metals. Their speed isn't what's annoying, especially now that his Agility is doubled by the Goblin's Footwear. It's their small body, my arrows aren't fast enough to hit their bodies which is why a massive supply of ammo is a necessity. Dire rats were already a pain but…
Buffed Dire Rats are worse.
So, first… Let's deal with the status points management first.
Investing points in CON is needed after what just happened. I don't wanna feel that way again, ever.
"4 points on CON."
[ -4 Status Points spent on CON status. ]
"Next… Of course, Luck status. It hasn't failed me so far despite being in a rough situation. God, how many points does my LUCK status have?"
[ -2 Status Points spent on LUCK status. ]
Nash puts his fingers below his chin, thinking about where he should put the remaining three points he has left.
"If only I could use that Book of Fire to learn Fire, It'd make things easier. Unfortunately, I'd have to reach the requirement for it which is having 15 on INT."
He deeply sighed, disappointed and saddened by the fact that he couldn't even use a simple magic spell due to his INT being lower than usual.
Wait, has INT ever been that low to a randomly customized character? I am pretty sure that INT is one of the neutral statuses that is set around to have 10 points alongside STR if the Archer class has been chosen. This isn't usual, did my INT status get decreased by points and get put onto another status instead? That would explain his LUCK status always being active, even up against normal enemies. It always hits a critical. That's… huh.
"Agh! I have no time to get distracted like that! Ponder later, escape now! Alright, put the remaining points on WIS instead! That will increase accuracy and foresight against Dire Rats!"
[ -3 Status Points spent on WIS ]
After spending all of his remaining points, he has continued moving forward. After 10 minutes, he found the staircase that leads towards the upper floor, the second floor. Which contains Dire Rats as the main monsters. With arrows being scarce, the difficulty has been increased again. Just in case it wasn't already difficult due to the Crimson Moon Buff, item managing is going to be a pain in the ass.
[ 1 Hour and 50 Minutes remaining on the timer, escape the Infinite Dungeon within the given time limit. ]
[ Reward: Character Profile, Quiver, 64x Silver Arrows. ]
...…
"Once again, he has surpassed my expectations! Dearest Sister, aren't you happy?"
"I am but… I think it's a bit too easy."
"He almost died."
"That's because he forgot that he had those health potions, it's his reckless mistake."
"Then, what do you suggest that we should do?"
"Start a unique event! If he is the one who'll be progressing our world, then he must defy fate itself! Dearest brother, go do your magic!"
"On the second floor? That's… alright." The tiny floating figure sighs, before creating a magical circle and entering it.
"I hope you survive this, Nash-kun. Do not disappoint us."