Chapter 21- Committing To The Grind

After a rather lengthy debate, Ivar and I made a plan for the short term. 

We would continue challenging Orgnar.

The only time we would travel above ground would be to reset the Orgnar dungeon.

"But for how long?" Ivar asked as we decided on a course of action.

"Until it's not worth it anymore," I said with a smirk as I thought of how much essence and enchanted items that might drop after killing the beast in a systematic way.

That was two weeks ago.

We fought Orgnar twice a day for two entire weeks earning myself just about three million essence. After the first week, it got to the point where it wasn't worth it to fight the boss together as for some reason the lower-level person received a larger share of the essence. Thus we had to reset the dungeon four times a day after the first week.

It was a grueling experience but we always watched each other's backs and called out a warning when needed, so it wasn't like we were risking a lot as the other person was always ready to intervene, just in case.

But on our last run after killing Orgnar we both received barely twenty thousand essence. It seemed that the higher your level rose the less essence you would receive, there was a limit. 

-

{Essence: 55,000}

Lvl:81

Name: Ace Lothbrook

Mana: 500/500

Class: N/A

Rank: Human

Strength:8

Agility:22

Endurance:30

Dexterity:26

Intelligence:50

Faith:9

[Statistical Upgrade Cost: 78,000]

-

As I looked into the fire I lamented my first month in the dungeon tower. A lot had changed and my level and appearance were likely the most radical. My leather armor was in rough shape, chunks missing that matched a few bright red scars that marred my arms and torso. My blood stained dark blonde hair reached past my shoulders while my facial hair grew full.

I looked down at the beautiful fire and let out a content sigh.

"I still can't believe that bastard" Ivar said with an angered huff, as I turned to him I noticed he looked rougher than I did. Almost what you would expect a homeless man to look like if they were a few inches shy of seven feet and built like a brick house. 

His former armor was long abandoned as it was destroyed after the fifth fight with Orgnar. Now he fit the look of a seasoned Norse warrior, he was shirtless and the only piece of armor he seemed to wear was the pauldron strung over his right shoulder. 

"What are you talking about Ivar?" I asked, beginning to stretch while enjoying the warmth of the fire gave.

"We've killed that giant so many times I've lost count and not once did we receive any loot" It seemed that it was true that Vikings loved loot but I could understand his frustration.

"I agree, either it's luck based and we both somehow got extremely lucky on our first try or we can only receive a reward from the same enemy once….." I replied as I already racked my mind over the issue. It was most likely the latter option as the first time I killed him I received an award. Just like when Ivar killed it for the first time there was also a drop.

I had no idea if this would be a rule for all creatures or just mini-bosses that could be re-challenged. It was even possible that Orgnar was a special case and there might not be another boss that could respawn. I still only had a small amount of information but I felt it was a decent amount for being here for a month.

"So what was the point of us wasting time down here, we should be long gone trying to hunt for better items" Ivar said and I was proud to hear him talking like a gamer. It seemed all the information and sayings I told him left a mark that caused me to chuckle.

"I agree, partially anyway. This was still our best bet to acquire essence and level up. Running around hunting those frogs was more risky " I replied as I again looked over my stat screen with a satisfied smile. Now I could use my gauntlet ten times, I felt more dexterous and limber. Even my constitution felt stronger and I felt more sturdy. 'Hm, I wonder if I've caught up with Ivar yet?'

"What level have you reached?" I asked my barbarian-like companion.

"Eighty-three. You?" Ivar answered and inquired.

"Just reached eighty-one, catching up slowly but surely. Did you start leveling up endurance as well?" I asked curiously as I advised him a week ago how valuable that specific stat was to their survivability. 

He simply nodded that he took my advice and started to level it up as well. 

On an even more frustrating matter, I still have found no information on how to acquire a class nor what type of class system it would be. Surely the both of us would find out soon, it was odd though. 

This tower seemed to have a lot of game elements and that was a fact. Leveling up, monsters, drops and even bosses. It was almost unheard of to reach level eighty without having a class, it was more common to start with a class or for there to be no class at all. 

While the boss fights would usually take us half an hour at most we had a lot of time on our hands after we fought it twice in day. It was then that Ivar offered a suggestion. He trained me and I was rather grateful for it.

A few spars a day where he would coach me in the spear as well as marksmanship. I was no where near a master but he helped me get a base to work with and improve upon. Now I could hit a target from a hundred yards with near perfect accuracy and my spear attacks grew more fluent with the intent being to stack small attacks. The bleed enchantment would have a chance to activate no matter the power of the blow. So Ivar trained me in quick stabs and combination slashes. Weight and power distribution were just a few of the things I quickly learned in the pursuit of that.

I sighed as I got up from the coliseum seats. 'Back to the amphibian-infested swamp then'

"Here I managed to make these" I said to Ivar as I threw him two small wooden pieces. 

I managed to make us both a pair of rather primitive earplugs. I carved an arrow into small pieces then I melted pieces of leather over them. I was proud to say they fit rather well and were decently comfortable.

"The hell is this?" Ivar asked as he held the earplugs with the grace of a gorilla. 'Ughhhh' I groaned in my mind as I was beginning to feel like a school teacher. But it's what you would expect from a man who lived a millennia ago. Well at least to me.

"They're earplugs." I said as I put them in my ears. "They limit or completely stop hearing" Waiting to listen I barely heard Ivar respond with a muffled sound.

"Well, they work well enough….. Still, we should try to avoid getting surrounded" I concluded as I removed the plugs and continued to converse with Ivar.