Chapter 21: I Have a Sword!
In the dim light of the dungeon, successive flashes of pitch-black sword light, almost blending into the environment, flickered.
The blade continuously slashed across monsters, bringing up scalding beads of blood that splattered onto the cave walls.
His black coat merged into the darkness.
Luke swung his sword blade; the originally overt sharpness was now restrained to the extreme.
Only at the instant the sword fell would a sharp sword intent, seeming as if it would pierce the sky, pour out from his body.
The next moment, the longsword was retracted, and the sword intent returned to silence, as if nothing had happened before.
Wrapped in black clothes, Luke's presence was reduced to the extreme, but whenever he drew his sword, the sharpness blooming in that instant seemed enough to tear the atmosphere, making one's hair stand on end.
"Clang—!"
The dark longsword vibrated, the sound of metal clashing echoing in his ears.
Luke used his waist as a bow; after slashing out with one sword strike, he immediately pulled the sword back, instantly leaving a pitch-black sword track in mid-air.
The fierce slash tore through the air, the dark and hidden sword light like a swimming dragon, swiftly gliding across the body of a monster behind him.
Swish!
After a half-second pause, centered on the position where the slash landed, a large spray of filthy blood erupted, soaking the cave floor.
Retracting the blade, this monster was the last one remaining on the floor.
The monsters that had refreshed earlier had all perished under his sword.
Taking steps, the soles of his shoes made contact with the ground, emitting a viscous sound.
On this floor, the ground was already completely stained with blood.
As Luke walked, new monsters continuously spawned from the dungeon around him, but they were all slain by his single sword strike.
Having fought alone for an entire night, the Solo Player skill, now stacked to its peak, had enhanced all his stats by a full five times.
His basic stat values alone were over 60 points, and considering the cumulative boosts from other skills, he had barely entered the 70-point mark.
A value of 70 points in all stats was comparable to a Lv.2 adventurer with all stats at C-rank.
The labyrinth floor was very quiet, leaving only the sound of shoes stepping on sticky fresh blood and the mournful cries of monsters dying under his sword.
Then, within Luke's line of sight, two points of scarlet light lit up in the darkness ahead, followed by the heavy "thump thump" of giant footsteps.
As the footsteps gradually approached, a monster over two meters tall, with reddish-copper skin and covered in massive muscles, entered Luke's field of vision.
It exhaled heavy breaths, trod on rock-hard hooves, and a pair of boastfully thick and sharp long horns grew outwards from the top of its head.
This monster with a bull's head and human body was none other than the Minotaur, which Luke had encountered once before and then became the fodder for his advancement to Lv.2.
A month later, facing such a terrifying monster again, Luke no longer felt the nervousness he had back then.
He just tightened his grip on the longsword, his feet began to accelerate, and in the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a pitch-black swift shadow, rushing extremely fast towards the Minotaur walking over.
Sharpness flashed in mid-air.
"Zheng!"
A streak of cold light crossed paths with the Minotaur.
Stopping his steps, Luke lightly flicked his longsword, leaving a crescent-shaped bloodstain on the ground.
Behind him, the Minotaur stood dumbly in place, a thin bloodstain appearing on its neck.
"Pfft—"
The next moment, intense blood pressure sent its bull head flying high into the air, while the headless corpse crashed heavily to the ground.
Glancing faintly at the fallen corpse of the bull-headed monster, the expression on Luke's face didn't change in the slightest due to his successful killing of this Minotaur.
After a moment, he raised his head, casting his gaze towards a long, narrow corridor ahead.
Inside the corridor, dozens of adult Minotaurs were simultaneously focusing their ferocious gazes on Luke.
Facing such a massive group of monsters, let alone elite monsters like Minotaurs, even if they were just ordinary Lv.2 monsters like Hellhounds, probably no adventurer would dare to stand alone against them.
However, for Luke, things were much simpler.
Although his body was indeed quite tired, after fighting alone for a long time, the Solo Player skill buff was fully stacked, raising all his stats to nearly 70 points.
And having resolved to enter the middle floors, he had already prepared himself—to pay the necessary price to maximize his growth.
Since the sword was in his hand and the enemy was right before him, there was only one thing left to do—only killing.
Slightly narrowing his eyes, Luke rushed into the monster corridor without hesitation.
...
Before the vertical passage leading from the 16th floor to the 17th floor, Luke stopped.
Behind him, the monsters of the entire 16th floor had been slaughtered clean.
The bodies piled on the ground overlapped and crisscrossed, resembling an ancient battlefield after two armies clashed.
Remnants of various limbs and organs were visible everywhere, and the air was filled with a thick, lingering smell of blood.
Looking at the entrance to the vertical passage leading to the 17th floor before him, Luke hesitated slightly.
His purpose for entering the middle floors this time was to gain as much experience as possible to raise his adventurer level.
Although he didn't know exactly how much experience he had gained now, having killed so many Lv.2 monsters, his goal could actually be considered achieved.
So, should he go back?
The pitch-black sword blade was still dripping blood, just like last night when he fought his way down from the 13th floor to the 16th floor, but the hand Luke held the sword with was already trembling slightly.
Every breath brought a burning pain to his lungs, and every muscle in his body ached intensely—clearly, he was exhausted to the limit.
Staring at the pitch-black passage ahead, although Luke's reason told him that he should turn back the way he came at this time, he found it somewhat difficult to move his legs.
Do I really... just leave like this...
As someone familiar with the original work, Luke certainly knew the situation on the 17th floor—no ordinary or elite monsters would spawn there, thus no overwhelming monster hordes, only a single one, the monster known as the [Lone King of the Labyrinth], Goliath.
A single monster dominating an entire floor, Goliath's strength was absolutely unquestionable.
Even several adventurer parties that had reached the peak strength of Lv.2 joining forces might not necessarily gain any advantage against it.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, a Lv.2 adventurer would definitely not want to step into this monster's territory.
But as a "monster" who also possessed floor-clearing level strength, Luke couldn't help but feel incredibly tempted by this notoriously fierce [Lone King of the Labyrinth].
Unlike the system's inherited job skills that only valued the quantity of kills, the adventurer level progression placed more importance on the quality of the monsters killed rather than the quantity.
Sometimes, one elite monster could provide the experience of dozens, or even hundreds, of ordinary monsters of the same level.
And as the elite among elite monsters, the floor master reigning supreme over the entire 17th floor, hailed as the [King] that Lv.2 adventurers absolutely could not defeat... if he could successfully kill Goliath, just how much experience would he gain?
His body was already very tired.
Even if he killed Goliath, he would be in a state of exhaustion afterwards and couldn't possibly fight his way back up to Tower of Babel—but that didn't matter either.
The 18th floor, adjacent to the 17th, was a rare safe zone in the dungeon where no monsters would spawn.
Moreover, according to the timeline in the original work, the Loki Familia was currently resting on the 18th floor.
Being on the same floor as that Sword Princess, it was absolutely impossible for any accidents to happen.
Frowning in thought for a moment, Luke called out the system interface, looking at the remaining time of just over ten days hanging high at the top of the light screen.
He gritted his teeth and stepped into the vertical passage.
The vertical passage leading to the 17th floor was no different from before, dark and gloomy, with an uncomfortable dampness lingering in the air.
Luke tightly gripped the cold, hard hilt of his sword, his expression grave as he walked down the vertical passage.
The sound of his footsteps echoed around him, making his heart feel exceptionally heavy.
It was too quiet, truly too quiet.
Although the vertical passages of the previous sixteen floors were also this quiet, the two were fundamentally different.
As he continuously approached the 17th floor, Luke, whose combat intuition was greatly enhanced under the blessing of the [Black Swordsman] job skill, sensitively detected the source of the abnormality.
This wasn't quietness in the usual sense—rather than quiet, it was more like deathly silence.
The air was filled with a murderous aura, as if something ferocious was sleeping, causing even the dungeon itself to lower its volume, trying its best not to wake it.
"Gulp..."
Subconsciously swallowing, Luke's palm, gripping the sword, broke out in a cold sweat for the first time since he unlocked the [Black Swordsman] skill tree.
The vertical passage between two floors wasn't long.
Although Luke had slowed his pace considerably, after just a short while, he was already standing before the entrance to the 17th floor.
"..."
Wordlessly staring at the light projecting into the passage from behind the entrance, Luke suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
But since he had already come this far, he definitely wouldn't turn back.
Move... Don't be scared...
The rationality in his mind continuously issued commands to his body, finally overcoming the biological instinct to seek fortune and avoid disaster, allowing Luke to take a step forward.
"Tap—"
Inside the massive rectangular stone hall, over a hundred meters in both length and width, the sound of Luke's footsteps constantly echoed as he landed.
The next moment, his entire person entered the floor.
There were no decorations, no passages or corridors, just a vast stone hall occupying all the space on the 17th floor.
And within this empty stone hall, Luke's gaze was entirely drawn to the wall on the left side.
As if polished day and night by countless master craftsmen, although it was clearly rough stone, it unexpectedly emanated a crystal-clear and smooth feeling like pearls and jade.
The seams where the wall connected with the surroundings were also curved, without a single gap—a wall that could truly be called beautiful.
[Wall of Lamentation]
Adventurers traveling between the dungeon and Orario called it thus.
The "placenta" that would birth the sole master of the cavern, that [Lone King of the Labyrinth] Goliath, was precisely this Wall of Lamentation.
Staring at the smooth wall surface without a single indentation, the warning bells in Luke's mind were already ringing at their maximum.
Muscles subconsciously contracted, tensing up.
The hairs on his back stood on end, raising goosebumps all over.
An invisible sword pressure condensed around him, like steam rising from an asphalt road in summer, slightly distorting the air.
His combat instincts were roaring, wailing, urging him to leave this place quickly.
And just at this moment—something approached.
"Crack"
On the Wall of Lamentation, which presented a perfect concave semicircle, a cracking mark, like lightning flashing across, instantly pierced through the left side of the wall.
Within the crack that appeared on the Wall of Lamentation, a pair of giant eyes, each as large as a human head, instantly locked onto Luke, who was standing guard outside the wall.
Their eyes met; both read the intent to kill in the other's eyes.
"AIOOOOOO!"
The next moment, it opened its great mouth, suddenly letting out an eardrum-shattering roar, while simultaneously starting to violently ram the still-not-completely-crumbled wall from the inside out.
Instantly, muffled sounds resembling groans, gasps, and sighs shook the entire hall.
Strange and intense sound waves echoed like a tsunami in Luke's eardrums.
As Goliath continuously rammed, the mournful cries emitted by the overburdened [Wall of Lamentation] grew increasingly intense.
Several wide cracks covered the left wall, and the entire ground of the 17th floor trembled because of it.
"Boom—"
When the wall's burden approached its limit, an even stronger impact came from within again.
The next instant, amidst a huge shattering sound, the left side of the [Wall of Lamentation] violently exploded into a sky full of rock fragments and dust.
Immediately after, the rock fragments bounced away, collapsing and rolling onto the ground, emitting booming sounds.
But even so, Luke's attention remained focused on the gap broken open in the left [Wall of Lamentation].
Then, under his cautious gaze.
A [creature] resembling a human in shape, but reaching over seven meters in height, with greyish-black stiff hair and greyish-brown skin, leaped out violently from the damaged opening in the Wall of Lamentation.
This was the floor master.
Possessing absolutely overwhelming power for Lv.2 adventurers, the [Lone King of the Labyrinth]—Goliath.
"Hoo... Hoo..."
The dust kicked up by the fall of the [Wall of Lamentation] scattered.
Goliath turned its head, its scarlet eyes fixed tightly on Luke not far away.
Then, its lips split into a terrifyingly huge grin.
And just as Goliath revealed its grin, Luke's face was serious, his heart pounding violently like a drum, but he still raised the sword blade in his hand.
The next moment, the black sword light instantly tore apart the distance between Luke and Goliath...
...
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