He rested for the night.
Early the next morning, Li Xiuman put on all his gear.
The innermost layer was soft cloth clothing, followed by fire-resistant leather armor made of fire crocodile hide, with Bound Flames worn over his chest.
On his right arm, he wore the Fire Lizardman King Armguard.
Fully equipped, he looked much more imposing and majestic.
However, aside from his wand, his gear really didn't make him look like a magic-class Elementalist at all.
Furthermore, the straight metal wand looked more like a club than a wand, even with a magic stone set into its tip.
In actual combat, it really was used as a club.
Standing before the Landmark Tower among the crowd of adventurers entering the dungeon, Li Xiuman was extremely eye-catching.
But aside from Li Xiuman, there was another party of adventurers whose gear was even more conspicuous.
It was a massive sixteen-person team.
Every member was high-level and well-equipped. Judging by their formation, however, it seemed to be two teams merged into one.
They appeared to be the adventurer parties of two major merchant associations.
Given this setup, along with the fact that half of them were Elementalists equipped with water-attribute wands, the goal of this joint adventurer party went without saying.
They were going to subjugate the Floor Boss of the dungeon's thirtieth floor.
A Floor Boss was naturally a treasure trove from head to toe.
Its magic stone was a top-tier magical material, and its horns could be used to craft high-grade magical items.
Moreover, there was a high probability that a Floor Boss of this caliber would carry a magical item.
If they were lucky after defeat, they might even acquire a dungeon-exclusive magical item.
Dungeon-produced magical items were often far superior in effectiveness compared to man-made ones.
“In that case, maybe I'll have a chance to slip into the thirty-first floor,” Li Xiuman thought to himself.
Once the Floor Boss on the thirtieth floor was slain, it would take at least a month for it to respawn.
"Respawn" was Li Xiuman's terminology.
The people of this world called it "the birth of a new Floor Boss."
When the time came, he might have an opportunity to explore deeper floors ahead of time without needing to defeat the Floor Boss himself.
The team over there seemed to notice Li Xiuman's gaze.
One of them, who appeared to be the leader and was an Elementalist, gave Li Xiuman a friendly wave.
Li Xiuman nodded in response and then walked into the dungeon without looking back.
It took him two days to travel down to the fourteenth floor.
After disposing of the miscellaneous materials he had gathered from the first thirteen floors and leaving Rachel with a promise of “definitely next time,” he continued to plunge deeper.
Spending another two days, he finally re-entered the lava world of the twenty-first floor.
Li Xiuman did not rush to dive deeper.
Since his main objective for this exploration was to collect materials and grind his level until he reached the thirtieth floor, he decided to thoroughly explore this floor first. Along the way, he would update his map and mark resource points.
The signature material of this floor was the fire crystal.
The Octagonal Fire Crystals he had harvested previously were considered high-grade among fire crystals.
However, there were even higher-quality Nonagonal Fire Crystals and top-grade Decagonal Fire Crystals.
Li Xiuman planned to harvest some Octagonal ones to see if they could be used as materials for Golems.
Just like that, he killed fire crocodiles while gathering fire crystals.
He harvested several fire crystal ores in a row, and with great luck, he even discovered two top-grade Nonagonal Fire Crystals.
Although fire crystals were not considered incredibly precious materials, Nonagonal Fire Crystals were definitely rare and hard to come by.
It was precisely because of his [Appraisal] skill that Li Xiuman was able to locate them so easily.
Normal adventurers wouldn't take a magnifying glass and count the facets one by one, so they often missed them.
He spent three days hanging around the twenty-first floor.
Li Xiuman's experience bar was more than half full.
After leveling up to Level 20, his experience bar required 10,000 experience points. The cap increased by 5,000 with each level, which slowed down his leveling speed.
He truly missed the days when he could jump multiple levels at once.
He placed the Octagonal Fire Crystals meant for crafting materials into his bag, while hiding the two Nonagonal Fire Crystals inside his storage space.
He followed the lava waterfall down to the twenty-second floor.
He continued to hunt monsters and gather fire crystals.
This time, he searched the entire twenty-second floor but only found a single Nonagonal Fire Crystal.
When he pulled his skeleton sword out of a fire crocodile's head once again, he finally saw a pleasing pop-up window.
[Ding! Slain Fire Crocodile Lv.20. Exp +500]
[Your experience is full. Level increased to Lv.21]
[Constitution +1, Spirit +2]
[Dragon-Blooded Skeleton racial Strength Modifier triggered. Strength +1 (extra)]
[Free Stat Point +1]
His left and right arms heated up simultaneously once more. A vast, scorching energy, like thick liquid, violently poured into both sides.
Pain surged through him once again.
His bones began to creak and crack.
If it were only energy on one side, with Li Xiuman's current Constitution, he could easily withstand it.
But with both streams of energy entering simultaneously, he could not help but feel intense pain.
Gripping his skeleton sword, he stood rigidly on the spot, silently enduring the wave of pain assaulting him from both sides.
Only when the pain subsided and a system notification popped up did Li Xiuman breathe a sigh of relief.
[Strength +1, Constitution +1]
After composing himself for a moment, Li Xiuman opened his status panel.
Excluding the stat modifiers from his two arms and his Dragon-Blooded Skeleton racial modifier, the stats he gained solely from leveling up were 1 point in Constitution, 2 points in Spirit, and 1 Free Stat Point.
He had been given an extra point in Spirit.
Was it because he had advanced to a Tier 2 Elementalist?
If he wasn't mistaken, a Swordsman would probably gain 2 points in Strength, 1 point in Constitution, and 1 Free Stat Point.
As for a Heavy Warrior, it would probably be 2 points in Constitution, 1 point in Strength, and 1 Free Stat Point.
Starting from Tier 2, the attribute gap between various classes began to widen significantly.
Warrior classes focused on Strength, heavy armor classes focused on Constitution, and Mage classes focused on Spirit.
Fortunately, Li Xiuman had all sorts of miscellaneous stat modifiers.
Unfortunately, these modifiers probably wouldn't last much longer.
Li Xiuman looked at his two arms. The residual energy in his right arm was still going strong.
He estimated it could still support him through quite a few more level-ups.
As expected of the former owner of the Glacial Seal Sword, a legendary sword that only appeared in fairy tales.
Even after who knew how many years, a mere section of his right arm bone remained so resilient.
But on his left arm, the red color of the bone had faded once again.
At this rate, it would only take a few more levels before its energy was completely depleted and it returned to its normal color.
“To keep from falling behind, should I go looking for some famous bones to use in the future?”
“Maybe I should try grave-robbing some hero's tomb?”
“I hear royal families are always strong. Should I go dig up a royal mausoleum?”
Li Xiuman couldn't help but start planning.
A skeleton going to a graveyard—could there be anything more logical than that?
Grave-robbing was a crude way to put it.
Only despicable humans would use such a term.
For a noble skeleton like him, it was called "visiting friends and family."
Taking a few things before leaving was simply accepting a souvenir.
As for why he would still be clutching the tomb owner's bony arm as he departed...
well, that was just called "being reluctant to part." The tomb owner simply couldn't bear to let go of him, finding him utterly irreplaceable.
Rate on N.U.
