[You have killed level 6 beast +45 KP]
[You have killed level 3 beast +5 KP]
[You have killed level 4 beast +15 KP]
Four to five blasts was what it took for Cloud to kill a beast with his flames, but with his recent level up and the level of the victims, that number fluctuated as he cut through the dungeon.
[Devil pig Level 8]
Catching a glimpse of this notification, a smile cracked on Cloud's lips and he immediately went to make quick work of the victim.
The pig came with all intentions of brutality, moving faster than the others around it, stomping the ground with rage.
It reached Cloud's position, intending to turn him to paste, but instead it met the heel of his boots slamming down on its head.
When it came to physicality, beasts were much stronger than humans, but Cloud had paid his dues.
Offering only slight resistance, the pig's legs gave way and its head was brutally slammed into the ground.
Taking his left hand back, Cloud threw it forward, a blazing flame shooting from his palm and consuming the beast.
"Won't be enough," he thought, spinning around and with his katana cutting the beast in two.
[You have killed level 5 beast +37 KP]
Cloud had imagined himself quickly earning kill points and upgrading his fire skill before he cleared the level, but he had noticed that as he levelled up, the kill points he earned from beasts, especially those on the same level as him drastically reduced.
Getting to its feet, the level 8 pig pushed forward, looking to impale Cloud with its tusk, but he kicked it aside, throwing fire at it.
[You have killed level 6 beast +40 KP]
[You have killed level 4 beast +30 KP]
Without much effort, Cloud massacred the wave of beasts coming at him, every building in the vicinity spitting them out in waves.
The level 1 floor wasn't too big, something around three kilometres, and Cloud had almost reached the end.
[You have levelled up]
Urghh!!
The feeling of his body getting stronger, his mana increasing, was pleasurable, but it also meant Cloud would have to grind harder.
[You have killed a level 8 beast +70 KP]
"Finally," he thought, looking at the pig which had finally succumbed to the flames burning on it, particularly excited because it gave him what he had been waiting for.
[KP: 540]
[Fire throw (level 9): 512 KP to level up]
'Level up'
[Fire throw (level 10): Evolve?]
"Evolve."
[Fire throw has evolved to uncommon grade fireball]
Cloud didn't have to do anything. The knowledge came pouring into his head, and raising his left hand, he grinned as a swirling ball of fire appeared in his palm, the heat and intensity coming off it leagues apart from the flame he had been conjuring before.
Unlike before, Cloud didn't have to move his arm. The fireball, round and burning, shot out from atop his palm, cutting through the air and slamming into an approaching beast, a blast immediately erupting.
[You have killed a level 6 beast +40 KP]
Grinning, Cloud turned toward two approaching pigs in the distance. A fireball roared to life in his palm and then he let it go.
[You have killed a level 5 beast +26 KP]
[You have killed a level 5 beast +32 KP]
[You have levelled up]
"All in one shot," Cloud thought, but just as he moved to create another fire, he paused.
"My mana reserves took a hit."
It had been nearly twenty minutes since Cloud stepped into the dungeon, and he had been ending the pigs with a mix of his katana and fire, mostly his katana though, for efficiency.
The fires he had been throwing around hadn't been much of a bother, especially with the level-ups, which rejuvenated him, but the fireball spell clearly was the real deal, and his reserves had felt the dig.
At this point, the waves of pigs had begun tapering out, and killing the last of them with his blade, Cloud called up the system screen as he headed for a tall wall that stretched into the sky, seeming to have no end.
[Name: Cloud Outsborne
Class: Traveler
Level: Level 7 (79%)
Order: First
Mana Grade: Green
Kill Points: 126
Attribute Points: 12
Talent: Universal Comprehension (+5%)
Stats: Constitution: 37 | Speed: 33 | Strength: 28 | Mana: 9
Skills: {Uncommon: Fireball (Level 1)
Primordial: Realm Walker, Kill Points}
Servant (1/1)]
Without a second thought, Cloud poured all his attribute points into his mana.
[Mana: 21]
"I still need more," he thought as the mana in him surged, his body trembling at the influx.
When Cloud reached the wall, a screen popped up.
[Ascend to level two of Black Madness]
If Cloud declined, he would be sent out of the dungeon.
"Ascend."
For a second, darkness claimed Cloud once more, and when it cleared, he found himself standing in front of a forest, one with fires burning on its treetops, thick smoke filling the air and blocking out the sun.
From the forest, roars echoed, telling Cloud of the more powerful presences within. But ignoring his new surroundings for a moment, Cloud focused on the feeling which had popped back up, the same one he got when he first stepped into the dungeon.
His fingers wriggled as the familiar sensation gnawed on his mind, its presence this time stronger.
Curious, Cloud focused on the feeling, latching onto it as hard as he could, and then his eyes widened.
"The next floor."
His hands tightened into fists, mana surging from his body to somewhere unknown.
A blur of frequencies rippled through the air as the red screen tried to come into existence, phasing out within seconds. Darkness then claimed him once more.
[Level 3 of Black Madness]