Chapter 269 - 171: He Couldn’t Have Figured It Out on His Own, Could He?
Before him appeared a sparkling, bright silver door!
Just as Lin Mo had expected, the level of the secret room at the end of the paths was related to the number of paths available.
Two paths meant Black Iron Level, three paths meant Bronze Level, and four paths meant Silver Level.
’Come to think of it, I wonder if this door is valuable too?’
The clone’s gaze was drawn to the sparkling door before him. He reached out and touched it; it was cool to the touch, with the distinct feel of a precious metal. However, when the clone tried attacking it, the door seemed to be just like the surrounding walls—an indestructible part of the environment.
’Alright, time to see what kind of Demon is behind this door.’
The clone slowly pushed open the great door. Since it was just a clone, there was no need for caution, so he stepped right in.
The room inside was brightly lit with an abundance of light.
What appeared before him was an enormous... monkey?
To be precise, it was an ape, its body covered in hard Ice Armor. Following behind it were many smaller, weaker-looking apes—its underlings, apparently.
The Demons in the previous Bronze Level secret rooms had mostly been Level 1. Since the door had been silver, this had to be a Silver Level secret room—one rank higher than the Bronze ones.
’In that case, the strength of this Ice Armor Ape should be higher than Level One.’
’In any case, I’ll test it out first. It’s just one of my clones here, so it doesn’t matter if something goes wrong.’
The clone immediately advanced. He didn’t target the Ice Armor Ape, but instead charged at one of the ordinary apes behind it. He raised his Black Sword and brought it slashing down.
With a single, clean strike, the ape was sliced in two.
[Shadow Splitting] Skill Level +1
’An ordinary ape actually gave one point of Skill Level. Shadow Splitting is an Epic skill, so its leveling progress is subject to heavy decay. Gaining a full point means these ordinary apes are already on par with Mutated Goblins. That’s a little surprising, though they’re still easy for me to kill in one hit.’
After all, Lin Mo’s Warrior and Assassin levels had both reached Level 4, and his Knight level was at Level Three. Plus, he had the massive Attribute Amplification from holding multiple Professions.
Even with only 60% of his stats, the clone was already ridiculously strong. While not quite at Level 3, it was far beyond the capabilities of a typical Level 2 Professional. It was a well-rounded fighter, strong in Strength, Agility, and Constitution. Although it lacked some of Lin Mo’s more potent offensive Skills, it was still far stronger than your average Level 2 Warrior or Level 2 Assassin.
"ROAR—"
Seeing its underling killed, the Ice Armor Ape let out a furious roar and charged the clone. The clone raised his Black Sword to block the attack, his body remaining perfectly still. He clearly had the upper hand in a direct confrontation.
This exchange also allowed Lin Mo to roughly gauge the Ice Armor Ape’s strength. Just as he’d guessed, it was around Level 2.
’In that case, the difficulty of this Underground Dungeon isn’t actually that high. This is already a Silver Level room, yet its strongest monster is only Level 2. It seems the dungeon’s creator didn’t want to make things too hard on future generations who might enter.’
’But it’s obvious why. The dungeon is located in Loran Forest, a place frequented by newcomers, so very few Adventurers are capable of challenging it. Furthermore, even powerful Adventurers who stumble upon it might not choose to enter rashly. As for the majority who entered out of greed or by accident, they’ve all been reduced to the scattered bones within these rooms.’
The clone put a little force into his block, shoving the Ice Armor Ape away. Then he struck out again with his sword, thrusting at the creature’s chest.
The Ice Armor Ape reacted quickly, raising an arm to defend itself. The thick Ice Armor on its arm actually managed to block the sharp edge of the sword. Under the clone’s immense strength, however, the ice armor shattered.
The Ice Armor Ape let out a pained cry and stumbled backward, a clear look of fear in its eyes.
The clone pressed forward in hot pursuit, thrusting at its chest once more.
This time, the Ice Armor Ape had nothing left to block with. The sharp blade pierced clean through its heart.
[Shadow Splitting] Skill Level +12
’The Skill Level gain for Shadow Splitting doesn’t decay as much against a Level Two Demon.’ Without pause, the clone killed the remaining apes one by one. Then, with time still left on the skill’s duration, he hurriedly began to explore the secret room.
There were still many bones scattered on the ground, but none of them appeared to be human. They seemed to belong to Demons like Goblins. It looked like the apes’ primary food source was the other Demons within the same Underground Dungeon.
But that wasn’t the important part. The main prize was the Treasure Chest glowing with a silver light.
The walls of the secret room were lined with torches, so the lighting was excellent. The clone easily found the Treasure Chest.
’I have to hurry, Shadow Splitting only has less than ten seconds left.’ The clone quickly opened the Treasure Chest, finding a One-Handed Sword and some Gold Coins inside.
’The quality of this One-Handed Sword is clearly much better than the Short Knife from before, probably on par with the Black Sword I’m holding.’