Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 73

I wake up after a good night of rest and crawl out of bed. There are birds chirping outside to the rising sun.

I get dressed and open my door to be immediately greeted by a familiar face.

"You ready Jay??"

Maria is sitting on the upper ledge of the apartment building stairs, resting the new High Orc sword across her shoulders. She's smiling and staring at me with her piercing blue eyes.

"Well, yeah I am. Good morning to you too I guess..."

She laughs.

We walk down the apartment building steps and into town. After grabbing a quick breakfast we head off to the forest near the south side of town.

I strike up some conversation on the way.

"So, how was that class last night? Any promising new recruits?"

Maria thinks to herself.

"I can't tell, they were all under level 30. It's pretty hard to gauge their potential, but it was fun."

"Hmmm. So they were all just average."

She looks at me with a curious look.

"Average?"

"Yeah. Average. So many hunters in the world just seem to be average... and no one talks about it. It almost demotivates me to progress sometimes. Don't you think it's a bit crazy for Jack or Rei to just sit around in their positions? To not get stronger? So many people just stop getting stronger..."

Maria grins.

"So you want to be the strongest too?"

We lock eyes.

"The strongest?? Hey, I never said that! We aren't superheroes ya know, it's not like we have to save the world. I just want to become the strongest version of myself... and face off against the strongest monsters. So sure, in a roundabout way. Maybe I do want to become the strongest."

"Hmmph."

"What?"

"Whoever kills the most High Orcs today is the strongest okay?"

Maria blushes but has a serious look on her face. I grin.

"Sure, I'll take you on. Loser has to buy dinner, how about that?"

She nods.

"You're on."

We make our way up the heavily wooded mountain and jump through the portal in the dungeon run shack.

While staying within 2km or so of the dungeon entrance we each farmed High Orcs for the next 6 hours. Every 2 hours we reported back to the dungeon entrance to check up on each other.

Maria faced off against 14 opponents and gained 37 levels in total. 9 MP potions had to be used, but by the end of the day, she could one-shot kill the High Orcs with a solid magic attack. They dropped 14 mana crystals, 1 mace, and 1 sword.

I faced 18 High Orcs, gaining 6 levels in total. They dropped 16 mana crystals, 1 mace, and 2 swords. I used 0 potions.

Maria is level 248, and I'm level 254 now. We meet back at the dungeon start point for the third time.

"Hey Jay! I think we should face the boss room together, these regular monsters are getting boring."

I smirk.

"You think you're ready for it?"

She looks at me with an annoyed stare.

"Do you think YOU'RE ready for it?"