Chapter 34: Leveling Up Resumes
After stunning all the kidnappers, I unleashed a Thunder Lance towards the ceiling. The Thunder Lance collided with the ceiling, blowing off the roof with a deafening roar. Such a loud noise should attract the guards or adventurers searching for the children.
In the meantime, I used my sharp claws to cut the cords of the bags containing the children. All three children inside emerged crying. It was understandable; being kidnapped and stuffed into a bag would make even adults cry.
However, the crying children, upon seeing their kidnappers all sprawled out on the floor, seemed surprised and stopped crying.
Then, one of the girls, upon spotting me, rushed towards me with a beaming smile.
“Kitty-san!”
With a lisp typical of a four-year-old, she desperately tried to pick me up with her small hands.
Seeing this, the other boy and girl seemed to forget their kidnapping ordeal and joined in, trying to lift me up.
This went on for a few minutes before Eric and the guards arrived, having heard the commotion.
Before Eric and the others could see me, I slipped through the children’s hands and hid in the shadows. There was no real need to hide, but I just didn’t want to stand out, so I acted that way.
Eric and the others confirmed the children’s safety and then left towards the orphanage, while the guards tied up the unconscious kidnappers and carried them away.
Watching them leave from the shadows of the building, I decided to return to my shack.
The next morning, I headed to the Adventurer Guild to confirm what had happened.
The guild was bustling in the morning. Quests were basically first-come, first-served. Serious adventurers had to be early to get the good quests.
I slipped into the guild amidst the hustle and bustle and sat in the shadows behind the reception counter. It had become my usual spot lately. Soon, I could hear the staff talking from inside the counter. According to their conversation, the children had been picked up by their families who came to the guild and had safely returned home. That was good to hear.
After confirming that, I decided to visit the orphanage.
When I arrived at the orphanage, the girl who had been kidnapped yesterday was praying with the sister. On the altar, next to the statue of the goddess, was a cat statue for some reason. There hadn’t been anything like that before. I wondered what had happened.
The girl, called Amy, finished her prayer and then smiled as she stroked the head of the cat statue. She probably understood that I was the one who had saved her.
In any case, I was glad the girl was safe.
After that, I left my usual donation when no one was around and returned to my shack to think about what to do next.
I had thoroughly enjoyed my carefree cat life in the Royal Capital, so I thought it was about time to resume leveling up for my next evolution. To do that, the best place would be to dive into the Heaven’s Door again. With that decided, I headed to the Underground Labyrinth located west of the Royal Capital.
I left the Royal Capital before noon, and by midnight, I had already arrived at the Heaven’s Door. The agility of an Assassin Cat was truly terrifying.
It was the middle of the night, and with my black body and the Presence Concealment and Magic Concealment skills activated, I was able to enter the Underground Labyrinth surprisingly easily.
Now that I was C-rank, I wasn’t sure what level I needed to evolve, but I guessed it would be around 60-70. Last time, I had returned after defeating the Phantom Tiger on the 30th floor, so this time I would aim to go even deeper.
The internal structure of the Underground Labyrinth hadn’t changed, so I was able to proceed to the 30th floor without getting lost. The journey that had taken me about 16 days last time only took 10 days this time. Knowing the way was a big factor, but more importantly, I had become stronger, which greatly reduced the time spent in combat.
Since I was constantly using Presence Concealment and Magic Concealment, almost all of my initial attacks were surprise attacks. My attack power was already over 400, and I also had the “Assassin” title. This title, which provided a bonus to attack power and accuracy on surprise attacks, was perfect for me right now. Thanks to my increased level, I was able to defeat almost every enemy up to the 30th floor with a single blow.
However, from here on out, A-rank and higher Monsters would appear. There would also be enemies that my Presence Concealment wouldn’t work on. I cautiously stepped onto the 30th floor.
The first thing that greeted me on the 30th floor was the Phantom Tiger, the same one that had given me a hard time when I was still a golden Beetle.
As expected of an A+ rank Monster, it seemed to notice my presence immediately. Even without detection skills, strong opponents probably had the ability to sense presence. Especially them, I felt like they would find me if I got within a certain distance of their territory.
But, this wasn’t the time for such musings. The Phantom Tiger slowly began to disappear. It was using its Invisibility skill. Last time, I was inferior in agility and attack power, so I fought it to prevent it from becoming invisible, but I had leveled up to 38 by the time I got here, and all of my stats were higher. I would let the Phantom Tiger go all out, and then surpass it.
The Phantom Tiger was not only using Invisibility but also Stealth, moving without a sound. But no matter how much it hid its form, my high-level Life Detection, Magic Detection, and even Enemy Detection clearly pinpointed its location.
The Phantom Tiger, circling around, raised its massive claws behind my right side. How many adventurers had these claws taken down? Oh, right, only one party had ever made it this far. So, had this Phantom Tiger defeated other Monsters? No, no, the two major rules of the Underground Labyrinth were that Monsters don’t fight each other.
While thinking such unnecessary things, I stepped to the left to dodge the Phantom Tiger’s claws. I could sense the Phantom Tiger’s shock at having its deadly blow dodged, probably because my Enemy Detection level was high.
Faster than the Phantom Tiger could turn around after landing on the floor, I had circled behind it. Now, I could sense the Phantom Tiger’s confusion and fear at having lost sight of me.
On one side was a giant tiger over 5 meters tall. On the other was a black cat about 30 cm long. From an outsider’s perspective, it would be an unbelievable sight to see a small cat overwhelming a giant tiger… Oh, right, the tiger was invisible. So, there was no unbelievable sight to see.
I pounced on the Phantom Tiger from behind, who had lost sight of me, and accurately sank my claws into its neck.
“Gyaoooowww!”
The Phantom Tiger’s roar of pain echoed through the Underground Labyrinth. My sharp claws had torn through the Phantom Tiger’s tough skin, and blood was gushing from its neck. The shock seemed to have canceled its Invisibility.
The Phantom Tiger, bleeding from its neck, glared at me, but its weight was shifting backward.
(So, it’s planning to run away.)
Just because it was a strong A+ rank Monster didn’t mean it would face any enemy. Rather, because it was strong, it was sensitive to the strength of its opponents and would readily run away to survive. If it died, it couldn’t get any stronger.
I thought that was a good lesson to learn, but I had no intention of letting the Phantom Tiger escape. After all, it was the one who had attacked first.
I summoned dozens of Thunder Lances behind the Phantom Tiger.
The Phantom Tiger’s face was filled with despair as it turned to flee… or so it seemed.
(Go!)
Dozens of lightning spears rushed towards the Phantom Tiger, who was frozen in shock. Even one of those spears would be enough to kill it. The Phantom Tiger, struck by dozens of such lightning spears, was completely charred, leaving behind only a pile of ashes that had once been a Phantom Tiger.
(Well, only a magic stone is left…)
It seemed like a complete overkill.