Chapitre 32: Devouring Gemstones

Cedric remembered the first time he read about the dungeons created in the world of Elaris. At the time, the concept was confusing. He questioned why summoners created dungeons and why they wouldn't send their strongest monsters as soon as a challenger entered.

The reason would later be explained when the protagonist was locked in prison alongside a summoner. There were three reasons that dungeons were designed this way and why summoners considered them the ultimate weapon:

First, dungeons were the summoners' turf. They didn't need to expend mana to summon more monsters; they could simply summon them over time. This made dungeons the summoners' weaponry.

Second, dungeons were designed to wear out challengers through their elaborate mazes, chambers, and weaker monsters. Dungeons were created to divide and conquer. This was why everyone who entered was scattered into different Starting Chambers.

As for the third reason, it was a secret known only to summoners: humans had the ability to evolve faster than monsters. If a challenger entered a dungeon and grew stronger through its challenges, he would offer a greater reward when killed later.

Cedric believed that dungeons were just fun to create. Even as someone who hated the Veilborn Order, he had to admit he understood their desire to create dungeons.

"I'll distract them while you attack!" shouted Cedric to his Djinn Cat before circling around the group of monsters. They were the monsters of the next chamber, but tricky to handle since their reach spanned the entire room.

[Vine Man (Level 20)]

The three creatures were literally just bundles of vines that looked like humanoid monsters. Their eerie jaws and sharp teeth made them a horrific sight. As soon as Cedric entered with his Djinn Cat, their attacks began.

The vines shot from their arms and almost coiled around his leg before he bolted away. Knowing the cat didn't have any defense, he had to run around and act as bait while it directed its attacks at the monsters.

Cedric used his sword and Observe Skill to maneuver through the shooting vines, cutting what he couldn't avoid. The monsters shrieked as he circled them, getting closer.

A vine shot toward him like a spear, and Cedric had to block with his sword. As sparks flew from the collision, lightning rained down behind him. His summoned monster was reliable, as its bolts of lightning burned the vines off.

The vine man who got hit the most seemed to shed his vines as he staggered away. Cedric saw the burning vines fall to the floor while the monster stood exposed. He rushed forward, avoiding the vines, and slashed at the monster's neck, which looked like tree bark.

The neck cracked and tilted as the monster fell to the ground, green blood leaking from its teeth. At the same time, Cedric felt something jump on his back. Another vine monster had wrapped his arms and legs before biting into his shoulder.

"Dammit, that hurts!" shouted Cedric as he tried to resist. However, the vines prevented him from moving a muscle. In his mind, he was about to command the cat to help him when lightning destroyed the vine man's head, splattering green blood on Cedric's face.

The vines fell to the ground as Cedric regained his freedom, but the last monster was already charging toward him. Cedric had no choice but to raise his sword and rush forward, parrying the vines and slashing the monster down.

Although the Djinn Cat tried to help again, Cedric was too close to the monster. The two of them were locked in a bitter fight, each aiming for the other's neck.

Cedric allowed the vines to coil around his left arm, pulling him toward the monster. As it prepared to pierce his chest, a bolt of lightning destroyed the vines. Cedric then slashed the monster's neck, killing it on the spot.

[You have slain Vine Man (Level 20)]

[You have leveled up!]

As soon as the monster fell, Cedric collapsed to the ground. He was covered in both green blood and his own. The wound on his shoulder was still bleeding as Cedric tore his robes to tie them around his shoulder. Then, he used some of the thinner vines to secure the makeshift bandage.

After the bitter fight that almost cost him his life, Cedric sat down to rest on the ground. His summoned monster came next to him, its tiny paws cleverly avoiding the ashen vines. Then, under his curious gaze, it began to eat the monster.

"A summoned creature eating a living monster?" muttered Cedric in confusion. "I don't think this is the norm. I've never heard of it, at least."

The cat didn't care for his reaction and continued tearing apart the corpse's flesh. After a few moments of struggling, Cedric saw it extract a mana gem from the monster. Then, the cat began biting the gem, letting out crackling sounds throughout the chamber.

Cedric watched in amazement, almost forgetting his wounds. The summoned monster enjoyed its meal, gulping down the gem, and looked rather satisfied. After a minute, it began doing the same with the rest of the corpses.

The cat ate the three gemstones in front of Cedric, who watched her as if she were a bizarre painting. Even after consuming three mana gems, it didn't seem satisfied. Cedric remembered the pile he had in his dimensional ring and took out three more.

As soon as the mana gems appeared, the cat perked up and looked at them, its eyes dilating as she coyly approached Cedric, making him almost snicker. Then, he picked up a gem and handed it to the cat. After sniffing it a little, the cat began munching on the gemstone.

In seconds, it devoured the first. The other two were no different. Cedric took out more from his dimensional ring out of sheer curiosity, but the cat devoured them all. Even after finishing his gems, nothing happened, and it looked rather... unsatisfied.

"I have nothing more!" Cedric laughed as he stared at the little beast. "I invested my wealth into a summoned monster and nothing happened. What kind of luck is this?"

The cat looked away from him as if Cedric were being rather cheap. It began strolling toward the next chamber, leaving its master behind. Cedric stared at the cat with a twitching brow as his wounds still bled.

Instead of moving forward, Cedric decided to open his status menu. His current level was 19, giving him one more stat point in each category. Furthermore, he increased his mana pool again. As for the class stats, he invested this point into Duration.

[Status Menu]

[Name: Cedric Everhart.]

[Age: 18]

[Level: 19]

[Health: 145/220]

[Mana: 11/39]

[Reputation: -371]

[Class: Summoner]

[Affinity: None]

[Physique: None]

[Titles: Vain Prince, Deadbeat Son, Masochist of Elaris]

[Physical Stats - Allocation Points: 0]

[Vitality: 22]

[Strength: 24]

[Agility: 30]

[Endurance: 27]

[Dexterity: 24]

[Willpower: 18]

[Intelligence: 39]

[Charisma: 20]

[Class Stats – Allocation Points: 0]

[Attraction: 8]

[Duration: 3]

[Projection: 3]

[Link: 6]

[Harmony: 3]

Cedric was overjoyed to see that his agility had reached 30. It had been a wise decision to invest his earlier points into agility since it allowed him to fight monsters above his level using his Observe Skill and agility.

As for his Class Stats, Cedric still found them unbalanced. But it was progress nonetheless from the horrific state the previous prince had left them in. At the very least, he now had a moody cat eating his precious mana gems!

Jokes aside, he felt stronger, faster, and smarter than before. Every level-up brought a subtle increase that accumulated into real change. Cedric was excited to level up again and obtain another class skill.

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