15 Chapter 15: Formicidae (1/2)

With a new goal in mind, Wilhelm decided to explore the dungeon a bit more. Although it was extremely dark, he was still capable of tracing the walls with his hands. The main issue was his impaired sight, however, the more he strained his eyes, the greater his sight became.

Like nearly everything else in this world, his sight and body became stronger the more he used them. Even without placing stat points into stamina or strength, he could feel his physique progress through repeated use.

Furthermore, after drinking enough flame-water, he started to feel something form inside of his abdomen. It a very minor feeling, however, as someone who was very meticulous when it came to his own body, he was certain that something abnormal was present. It wasn't a bad feeling, per se, but it certainly worried him.

Thus, Wilhelm paid close attention to his body as he cautiously explored the inner-workings of the dungeon. He moved slowly and made sure not to run into any powerful creatures; he didn't even want to run into any grottenburgs' at the moment.

His slightly long hair rested on his shoulders as he moved, one step at a time. He trailed the right side of the cave with his slender right hand—marking a few places with his sharp finger-nails every now and then.

The dungeon was relatively quiet in comparison to when he had first entered, not a single sound could be heard besides the occasional drop of water. The cave felt rather luke-warm, however, the humidity in the air resulted in the smell of sweat to waft into the air.

Under normal circumstances, his strong scent would surely alert a few of the beasts, nevertheless, nothing blocked Wilhelm's way. No mishaps occurred along the way and he managed to inwardly map out a few parts of the cave.

First of all, the cavern that led to the lake was very small in comparison to the others. In fact, the other entrances stemmed off into a plethora of different domains. Each opening led into another, almost like an intricate maze.

A few of the wider caves showed signs of life and were warmer than the others. In contrast, the narrower caverns led upward, where even Wilhelm didn't dare to walk. The sense of danger intensified the higher he went, similar to a dungeon in a game. He presumed that the weaker creatures lived on the bottom floor, whereas the boss creatures roamed at the top.

Such knowledge was very important for the current Wilhelm, as such, his current goal was changed to eradicate the weak monsters on the bottom floor. If his hypothesis was correct, then only creatures similar in strength to the grottenburgs' were present.

Similar to games in his past life, Wilhelm would begin ”grinding” the weaker monsters. Since he would be stuck in the dungeon for an unknown amount of time, he would, at the very least, get the most out of it. Thus, Wilhelm began to sharpen his dagger on a nearby stone.

The sound of a blade grinding against a rock resounded throughout the small cave as he worked. Small beads of sweat trailed down from his forehead and dripped from his pointy chin, falling onto the ground. Wilhelm was persistent and didn't care much about sleep, he was used to pulling all-nighters.

Once the blade was sharp enough to meet his standards, he stashed it inside of his loincloth. He then proceeded to retie his messy hair into a fashionable pony-tail that swayed left and right with each step.

Wilhelm was not yet tired, nor was it safe to sleep just yet. As such, he decided to once again go hunting. This time, however, he would attempt to procure more results. His experience gain was stagnating and he feared that his fellow humans were starting to catch up to him.

Going by what he had learned from his gaming-esque system, there was a multitude of secret classes that could potentially be much more powerful than his. After all, the only ability he had acquired thus far was ”night-eye” which happened to be rather lackluster.

With a click of Wilhelm's tongue, he decided to put the unnecessary thoughts about his secret class which left much to be desired at the back of his head. His focus was redirected to the wide grottoes which he had investigated prior. A loud clattering and other insect-like sounds irked him.

They didn't sound like the grottenburgs' in the slightest, which piqued Wilhelm's curiosity. He had long grown tired of killing those grotesque creatures, so this was a pleasant surprise. His pace quickened as he stealthily peeked inside the wide cave.

His night-eye ability which was progressively becoming more and more useful could barely make out an outline of a few dozen ant-like creatures. He couldn't perceive their body color, but he could make out their thick mandibles.

They were roughly three feet long and two feet tall, fitting the description of a monstrous ant. Thankfully, Wilhelm wasn't in possession of entomophobia, thus, he didn't hesitate to slowly approach the ants.