43 043 Advancement!

Labyrinth of Caves – Second Floor.

At this moment, Team 8911 was in utter despair.

The log-out function was the only reason they had felt brave enough to even think about stealing the treasure chest deep in Kobold territory.

Now that it was failing them again, their outlook was bleak.

Leopard Boy had been caught within the claws of a Kobold Leader.

This Kobold Leader had the unique title of ‘Bloodthirsty’ attached to its name. Befitting its title, the Kobold Leader brutally ripped Leopard Boy in half.

Soon to follow was another male teammate: a Runic Warrior – the team’s main tank.

After Leopard Boy was killed, the Runic Warrior soon faltered, drowning amidst the swarm of Kobolds.

In a matter of seconds, Team 8911 was reduced to its two female members – and at this moment, the Kobolds had already caught up to them.

“Quick, take me to safety!” Zhou Hong frantically shouted to her sole remaining teammate.

However, when she turned around, Zhou Hong discovered that her teammate who had just been by her side had abandoned her to run away alone.

The girl was smart. She understood well that in the current situation, her chances of survival were higher without a Runic Mage as baggage.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t escape very far before a dozen arrows skewered her, pinning her corpse to the ground.

Zhou Hong did not even have time to relish her teammate’s quick retribution because she knew she would soon face a similar fate.

Surrounded by Kobolds, Zhou Hong’s hair stood on end when she saw the look in their eyes.

She was suddenly reminded of the description of the Kobolds on the map.

[Kobolds – a race of brutal Humanoid Runic Monsters that enjoy killing. If you encounter them, you’d best not fall into their hands. Otherwise… be prepared to experience hell!]

Recalling the chilling description caused Zhou Hong to freeze up in fear.

She couldn’t help but recollect how Wu Wei had used to nag in their ears incessantly.

Back then, none of them ever took his advice to heart.

Faced with impending doom, Zhou Hong felt regret over not listening to Wu Wei.

She shouldn’t have courted death like this!

If it wasn’t for them expelling Wu Wei, the team might not have ended up in such a tragic end today!

In this critical moment, Zhou Hong finally felt remorse.

But it was too late.

The surrounding Kobolds drooled like hungry beasts as they approached.

Zhou Hong could already foresee what was going to happen to her.

She gritted her teeth and contemplated suicide to avoid her impending fate, but her hands trembled at the thought. Ultimately, she could not bring herself to end her own life.

How could a person such as her possess the courage to commit suicide?

At this moment, the surrounding Kobolds were approaching closer and closer, their claws reaching out towards her body.

Suddenly, just as the curtains were about to close on her grim end, a shout filled with heroism echoed through the cave.

“Scram!”

The formidable cry stopped the Kobolds in their tracks.

Suddenly, a tremendously powerful burst of lightning flashed through the air, blasting all the Kobolds into smithereens.

Almost simultaneously, a figure suddenly appeared before Zhou Hong and quickly drew a circle around her with a massive war hammer.

“Stay in the circle. I’ll notify the rescuers to come for you!”

Without another word or a moment of tarry, Zhou Hong’s mysterious savior swiftly turned around and left. Zhou Hong could not even get a good look at their face. She could only tell from her short glimpse that it was a woman.

..

At the same time, on the other side of the second floor – where Wu Wei was hiding.

The Book of Runes in Wu Wei’s hands was glowing brightly as Yellow’s rune inscription underwent changes.

Suddenly, a mysterious power surged out from the Book of Runes and rushed into Wu Wei’s body, causing him to be enveloped in yellow light. Wu Wei’s whole body began to tremble.

After ten minutes or so, the strange phenomenon ended, and Wu Wei opened his eyes, gasping.

Though he had successfully advanced, Wu Wei was shaken because he had not expected the process to be so terrifying.

Initially, he thought advancement was a matter of pressing a button after accumulating enough experience.

Who knew that advancement did not require only experience points but also a large amount of spiritual energy?

If not for the bottle of [High-Quality Spiritual Pills] he had forked out a hundred Runic Stones for in advance, he might have withered there and then!

“That was too reckless of me. I’d better do more research before doing things next time!”

After making a mental note, Wu Wei summoned the newly advanced Yellow to examine him.

Yellow did not seem to have undergone any outward changes, but his attributes had been raised.

..

1st Core Rune

<Inferior Yellow Turban Strongman>

Rare (2 Conditions)

Level 11

– Attributes –

STR: 2 (+1)

PHY: 2.2

AGI: 1.1

– Learnt Skills –

<Boar Slaughtering Slash>

<Yellow Turban Power>

– Runic Equipment –

<Tusk Blade> (Rare) – Lv10

<Spider Armor> (Uncommon) – Lv10

<Spider Boots> (Uncommon) – Lv10

..

Looking at Yellow’s attribute window, Wu Wei discovered that there were no new skills, and all that had increased was his level and three stats: STR, PHY, and AGI. Other than that, the rest was unchanged.

Nonetheless, it was a significant improvement to combat strength.

With the Tusk Blade and Yellow Turban Power, Yellow maximum achievable STR was now 4.5.

What came as a surprise to Wu Wei was that Yellow’s two leveling conditions had not reset!

Seeing this made Wu Wei sigh a breath of relief.

Wu Wei then opened his own attribute window. It wasn’t just the summon who would receive a raise in stats after an advancement, but the summoner too!

A summoner received 30% of the stat gains of their summon!

Based on this, Wu Wei estimated his STR and SPT (Spirit) to have increased by 0.3.

..

PHY: 1,

SPT: 1.3

..

PHY (Physique) was a new line in Wu Wei’s attribute window. Since STR was not listed, it was still at less than 1 point.

In terms of raw stats, Wu Wei was still lower than a [Common] Runic Warrior, but it was more than satisfactory for a Runic Summoner.

Wu Wei was still giddy with joy when his Book of Runes suddenly lit up. At the same time, a clear and dignified voice was transmitted.

“All students in the Labyrinth of Caves, please pay attention. I am Zhong Shengnan from the Inner School. The following mission is issued in the name of the Academy.”

“All students below the First Stage on the first and second floor, find a suitable place to hide and defend yourselves. All First Stage students, your mission is to commence search and rescue and bring them to safety!”

“Execute your mission without failure!”