Elliot's happiness was soon slightly dampened when he realized the harsh reality—he needed to kill an average of ten beasts just to gain a single stat point.
That was a steep number, especially considering the number of beasts in the dungeon wasn't infinite. At this point, he was only left with a few to hunt.
In dungeons populated by these weaker types of beasts, the total number of these beasts usually determines the dungeon's rank. On average, a place like this might have about 120 beasts, not counting the boss. Maybe a bit more.
And he had already eliminated nearly half of them. So, starting to receive just 1 point for every 10 beast kills was far from ideal.
"I guess I can't expect to get big rewards forever. I've been getting pretty strong already, so I can't complain," he sighed, shaking off the disappointment before returning to hunt.
And so, the hours passed.
A good while later, Elliot breathed heavily as he slumped against a concrete wall carved with rustic, arcane-like decorations.
He was exhausted, he needed water, but he couldn't get out.
'Only I would think of coming to hunt without bringing any supplies,' he muttered to himself with a dry chuckle.
Maybe it was because of his experience or that he wasn't used to it, but he had completely overlooked the need to bring water or food—despite now having an inventory to store them. Maybe he had been simply too anxious to begin.
He glanced to his right, where a heavy, closed door stood.
'I already had a look at the boss… and he's alone. He's a magician—and a powerful one. It's a good thing I didn't spend points on my statistics earlier. I will certainly need a tank to deal with him.'
That was why he was resting at the moment—preparing himself to perform a new summoning.
His statistics hadn't improved since the last time he had allocated them. Even those 2 points he had earned from killing that Misfit were still sitting there, unused. But now, he had enough to make a real difference.
Although he was in a dilemma due to the lack of water, after realizing that he could not do anything and nor could he rely on rest, he was forced to try to recover with the statistics.
So he looked at his system.
The first thing he did upon opening his interface was to increase his Strength. It had been at 16 before—he decided to raise it directly to 20 in one go.
Strength: 20 (Points remaining: 4).
After nodding to himself in satisfaction, he turned to agility. It had been at 11 before—he added 4 points.
Agility: 15 (Points remaining: 1).
As for the Resistance, despite having 4 points available, he wasn't going to add any for now; he needed those points to create the tank summon.
He hadn't earned any points in Sense in this dungeon, so he couldn't level it up, and it remained unchanged.
When he raised his stats, a wave of vitality surged through him, and he felt slightly refreshed. A smile tugged at his lips.
'So this is what it means to be on the threshold of the Awakened Rank, eh… I can feel the energy slightly overflowing from my body.'
More than feeling it, he could see it. His body seemed to be enveloped in an almost imperceptible energy, which rose gently, like an exclusive and powerful aura. That felt powerful. It felt good.
After one last glance at his stats, he nodded. He had 4 points reserved—some in Strength and Resistance—and 1 left in agility.
But that would be enough for now.
'Judging from the boss's strength, I'm sure he's a magic warrior. He possesses a high Sense as well as considerable Strength and Agility. Where would that kind of mage even fit in?' His mind quickly shifted into strategy mode, analyzing his next steps—the most important ones yet.
If he thought about it carefully, there shouldn't be a magician like that.
In this world, there are many types of magicians—six main types, to be exact.
First are the Physical Magicians, known for having high Strength and Sense, which are their two core attributes. They tend to have magic that drastically enhances their physical prowess and are incredibly effective in a frontal battle.
Elliot remembered them vividly—especially because at the last World Championship, the most notable figure was awarded the title of 'Dragon Slayer,' and he was a Physical Mage with fire transformations from the 'High Earth' continent, formerly known as the Great Continent of Pangea.
Then there are also the Resistance Magicians, who evidently have a high Sense and Resistance. Goliath, a great man from Ancient Land and one of the rulers of the Island of Atlantis, was a notable member of this group.
Agility mages are renowned for producing the best assassins in their ranks. Some of them awaken the remarkable magic of 'Stealth' magic, which also possesses a corresponding skill.
Finally, there are the 'Variators'—a catch-all category of diverse Mages. A group in which Elliot suspected he belonged.
But among these four types of mage, none should possess three such dominant stats. And if we look at the group of mages called 'Imaginers,' it's even more unlikely to happen.
'In fact,' he thought, 'there shouldn't be any Awakened who can have three main stats at all. The Just Law prevents it.'
Whether they were Variators, Imaginers, or Fighters, each of them has primary statistics and secondary statistics. Well, the Imaginers are the most limited—they only have one main statistic, and the rest aren't even considered secondary; they simply do not exist because they cannot raise anything other than Sense, but that was a really special group of magicians.
The thing was that standing in front of him now was a Fighting Mage, and from the looks of it, it possibly possessed three relatively high stats.
"The same rules govern beasts as the Awakened," Elliot reasoned, "so one of those stats has to be secondary. He can't use his full potential. His Sense is out since he's a mage. Could he be a Physical Mage-type beast? Because if he were an Agility-type, they wouldn't have allowed me to enter so easily—it would be too dangerous to face a Boss Assassin."
Seeing the limited number of possibilities, Elliot began to rule out several things in his mind.
For example, it couldn't be a Soul Mage, which meant it likely couldn't attack from a distance. Still, he had to be careful. Beasts were already intelligent, and although this one had died many times, its consciousness did not disappear. That was because its mind was tied to the Core of the Dungeon, allowing it to preserve its memories from every moment it appeared, which meant that it had extensive combat experience.
'If it's about strength, then the tank is indispensable. If it were agility-based, it would be pointless to rely on brute force. But I'll stick to the main idea. Now, the bigger question is, does it possess some kind of fire magic, one that is capable of burning up oxygen?' he thought.
Technically, it shouldn't. But the beasts were cunning and unpredictable, and this one had the fire attribute. That alone made it more dangerous, something he had to be careful about.
'I'll have to create a tank strong enough to match the boss in strength, perhaps.'
While weighing his options, Elliot's thoughts drifted toward his materials. Should he use the goblin? Or…
He took out another body from his inventory—the corpse of the leader of the collectors who had recently tried to attack him but miserably died instead.
Elliot had hidden it to avoid suspicion, not expecting that it would come in handy so soon.
'I wonder if I can do it with a human body,' he wondered. The thought lingered for a moment… then a smile crossed his face.
'Although it might not be moral—but right now, my life is more important.'
He immediately infused his hands with attribute energy. Since he wanted to create a tank, he allocated the stat points accordingly: 4 points to Resistance, 3 for Strength, and 1 for Agility.
Then he began to 'draw' on a non-existent plane, but under the copy of that bastard's body.
The process was quite complicated, but he noticed that he could do it without much trouble this time, and thanks to it, he was a little faster than the last time. Perhaps it was because he knew the shape of the human body so well.
After a while, he finished and stepped back, wiping the sweat running down his forehead.
"It was harder for me since it's bigger, but… did it come out right?"
He waited patiently, holding his breath in anticipation for his invocation to rise—that was until suddenly…
Messages popped up in series.
[Error]
[Insufficient strength. You are not qualified to create a summon of the body of a Type 1 Race.]
[All the points will return to you…]
[Please select a different form. The body will be consumed, and you will receive no reward.]
As these messages flashed before him, the body he had worked on began to break apart, turning into strange particles of energy of attributes, until it disappeared without a trace.
Elliot frowned, not out of frustration, but from surprise. The error startled him, and his heart almost leapt out of his chest for a moment. Luckily, the points were refunded.
He let out a breath of relief.
'A goblin as a tank… Tsk. I don't think this will work out how I hoped, but it's better than nothing.'
With a quiet groan, he retrieved the corpse of one of the goblins he had kept specifically for this and began the process all over again.
'This is going to tire me out a lot…' he thought grimly, but he had no choice but to keep going.
And so, 25 minutes passed until he was finally done with it.
'That quick? I'm sure not even half an hour has passed…'
Glancing down at his hands, he realized something unexpected—he had become far more adept at manipulating attribute energy. His control over it was smoother, more precise and almost instinctive. So much so that he even ignored the creation of his summon—until the system's notifications popped up in his mind.
[You have created your second summon.]
[By becoming so good at your skill of creating summons, you have blessed your creation.]
[You have received a Special Summons.]
[High Goblin Warrior has been created.]
Elliot's attention was drawn to the system's messages. And then his gaze immediately shifted to his newly created summon.
"High Goblin Warrior?"
When he saw it, he blinked, confusion and shock filling his mind.
He found it hard to believe that this thing before him was really his summon.
"It grew?!"
The body he had created the summon from had been barely 1.2 meters. Now, however, the figure before him towered over 2 meters. It looked incredibly muscular and tough. It looked like a real tank with well-developed muscles.
Although it was partially intangible—due to being made of energy—it looked tough enough to take a hit from him head-on and barely flinch.
Its stats were immediately displayed in front of Elliot.
[Energy Summoning: High Goblin Warrior]
| Strength: 15
| Resistance: 20
| Agility: 5
| Sense: 0
[This summon is incredibly durable. Due to flaws during its creation, one of its arms is shorter than the other. It is recommended that a shield be equipped on the shorter arm. He has good hearing, despite the fact that one of his ears is smaller than the other.]
Elliot inspected the goblin's arms and ears and realized that they were just as the system had mentioned. He had done a bit badly yet again, but at least he wasn't missing anything.
'I guess the shield part must mean I'll be able to arm him one later, right? It looks like he'll only be relying on his hands and energy for now,' Elliot considered.
Tools crafted by the Awakened were expensive—yet effective. If he could equip his summons with them, they could become very strong and become real assets in combat.
"Even if they're expensive, the investment would certainly be worth it," he muttered with a satisfied grin and turned toward the door behind him.
"Time to begin."
He didn't want to waste another second. The lack of water was starting to make him a little anxious, and he was eager to move forward.
And so, he stood up.
Just as he did, his updated statistics came into view.
[ Statistics]
| Strength: 20
| Resistance: 12
| Agility: 15
| Sense: 7
[Remaining: 1 point in strength]