BXBX NOVEL Chapter 56: Am I Overpowered?
She seemed fixated on sniffing his neck, a behaviour he couldn\'t quite understand. \'Is it a beastkin thing?\' he wondered, \'or maybe Yumiko is just weird.\'
[Tattoo Slots Increased by 1]
1/1 (Locked) - Shadow Fox
1/2 (Free) - Kobold (Berserker)
Because the Shadow Fox tattoo was permanent, it never showed in the slots—Ryuji closed his eyes and wondered which of his many tattoos would help him the most; after the last two battles, his lizardmen tattoos improved quite a lot.
\'It would probably be smart in this dungeon to take one of the lizardmen tattoos and the Kobold Tattoo since I don\'t want to lose my bonus rage.\'
In the end, he equipped the normal lizardman type, which increased his Grit by three and reduced damage taken because of the turtle\'s damage. Ryuji felt this might be more effective in this dungeon, while in the lower-rank dungeons, he could try different mixtures.
Status
Name: Ryuji Vincenzo
Title: Deathbringer (Kobold), Murderer (Human)
Class: Berserker: Lv.10 /?????????: Lv.1
Rage: 0/20 (100 Reserved) [80% damage resist + 50% increase health regeneration]
Rank: C
Attributes
Strength: 35->37 (+4)
Agility: 20 (+2)
Stamina: 21
Grit: 44->49 (+3)
Intellect: 15->16
[Dark Vision -> Perfect Dark Vision]
Perfect Dark Vision - Able to see perfectly in the dark—without light, the world still seems light, and you will struggle to miss any details.
***
The moment he chose the tattoo, a sudden burning sensation spread from his lower back and along his spine while the lizardman tattoo spread. He couldn\'t see the exact style, but the image on his system seemed to imitate the grey scales on their bodies.
Ryuji bit his lower lip as he endured the third tattoo etched into his body. The pain seemed greater with each bonus tattoo he added.
"Ryuji, your body is feverish! Are you okay?"
"Ah, just dealing with a troublesome talent."
Erika glanced over, Ryuji catching her gaze as she turned away. However, he noticed her consideration and didn\'t push it further.
"I wonder how long it will take them to enter. Didn\'t we clear the way?" Ryuji said. He chuckled under his breath while the burning continued like fire ants biting him.
"I don\'t know." Yumiko seemed to have noticed the tattoo being etched into his skin as she wrapped around his body, checking him for injuries. "Eh!? Something is drawing scales along your spine!"
"That\'s a tattoo." Ryuji said as he peeked at Yumiko, "Don\'t worry too much about it. It\'s just a minor skill that I got. Ah, but we need to head in deeper for the rewards."
He glanced at the clear path he had made and smiled at the sight of the silver chest. This boss was only a mini-boss, which made him feel unsettled about how difficult the next floor would be.
"Oh? How the heck are you already here and... Is that the first-floor boss dead!?" Simon\'s voice echoed, his hand holding a torch while gawping at the turtle missing a lot of its flesh because Erika dismantled it for food.
"Haha, Ryuji, you\'re too much. We meant for you to wait here, and we\'d tackle the boss together..." Paul gave a wry smile while rushing to Ryuji\'s side with a potion in his hand. "Your body is full of light scars. Are you alright?"
"I underestimated the boss. This one is impossible for me to solo."
"You are damn right it is!" Sheila\'s voice echoed through the room, her body glowing golden as she chanted a healing spell.
Paul couldn\'t help but frown as he checked Ryuji\'s injuries. The healing from Sheila helped ease the worst of it, but the light scars on his body showed how much damage he suffered in that last fight.
"An attack like this would have killed me—it shouldn\'t have been possible to survive it before hitting level twenty, at least!"
"Thanks, Sheila and Paul."
Ryuji felt much better after the pillar of light enveloped him. Not only did it ease his wounds, but the tattoo on his back stopped burning. Instead, the sensation became pleasant because of his numb flesh.
"Well, this place seems safe," Paul said. He eyed the chest and the doorway to the stairs. "How about we rest here a while and get started in two hours?"
Because of his reaction, both Simon and Sheila followed Paul\'s choice, which made Ryuji smile.
"That sounds good. I\'d rather not head towards the second floor with these injuries," Ryuji said.
They headed toward the corner of the room, where Erika had placed a cooking pot and utensils with a flame boiling under the pot. She was making a turtle soup with various other ingredients.
\'The smell is quite delicious. I never expected her to cook.\'
However, while he was thinking, Sheila came closer and started examining his body. Her hands were slightly cold to the touch, yet her eyes filled with concern.
"What are you doing!?" Yumiko snarled at first, before she realised Sheila wasn\'t doing anything wrong, instead acting like a healer should.
"I will adjust your bones by applying some pressure; it might be painful, so please bite down on something!" Sheila said while casting a spell on Ryuji.
She pressed down on the brakes and fractures in his body. Then Ryuji felt something snap into place, causing him to grit his teeth. There was a moment of pain, followed by immense pleasure as if his blood could flow normally again.
"You should be feeling much better now." Sheila nodded in satisfaction when she finished healing Ryuji\'s body.
"Thanks a lot, Sheila."
"It\'s my pleasure, but really... This dungeon\'s minimum level is twenty, you know? Don\'t be thinking about rushing ahead again, though you can take blows. Without the proper healing magic, what would you do if we lost you now!?"
\'Why does her voice and tone sound so hysteric, like the loss of my life would be the end of the world? We don\'t know each other \'that\' well yet... something doesn\'t seem right. But level twenty, does this mean I am actually overpowered?\'
"Don\'t worry so much. I\'m not doing anything rash, and I will take all the time needed to recover my full strength."
After saying so, he knew Yumiko would put in the effort to ensure he didn\'t die. He settled back and rested against the stone pillar, waiting for the mouthwatering turtle soup.
****
Two hours later, the entire party finally grouped and stepped towards the second floor. Ryuji noticed there were many drawings on the walls, like old Aztec and Egyptian ruins in his world. It showed various scenes, including the destruction of what seemed to be a world and a dark being wrapped in a strange mist.
\'This dungeon, no the dungeons aren\'t just about helping humans to grow stronger. There must be a bigger reason: are they like bunkers to hide from that existence? The dungeon has many hidden mysteries in it!\'
****
While they walked down the spiral staircase, Ryuji couldn\'t help but ponder the situation. The last floor was easy until reaching the final rooms, but how would that compare to the next one? He realised this after seeing the boss.
\'I should be on my guard, though I cannot control my desire to fight and want to crush those monsters...\'
Ryuji felt a sort of instinct to fight those powerful monsters, to crush and devour the weaklings while stepping on the stronger ones and making them submit to him. Yet the rage inside became too great, and he always ended up killing them.
The second floor transformed the atmosphere, with hot geysers of water spraying around it and the walls almost burning with a molten amber colour.
"It\'s so hot and humid..." Simon complained, opening his leather armour\'s collar.
"Ah... makes me want to fight naked," Ryuji added that the feeling of his armour sticking to his skin felt disgusting, so he removed the bronze armour and remained in his shirt and pants, the heat coming from the small pools of lava immense.
The temperature affected the entire party, with only Alicia and Sheila looking pristine as their bodies seemed impervious to heat.
\'I wonder why those two look fine...\' Ryuji felt bitter, not because of his skin oozing with sweat and feeling disgusting or wanting to see them unfasten their tunic and robe. He just felt these two women knew something in advance and didn\'t share it!
Poor Yumiko\'s tail looked horrid as the heat hit her the worst.