Morintis saw the owner of the branch clearly now: a tree about three meters tall.
A faint light glowed at his fingertip as he cast Detection.
Detection was a skill everyone knew, used to obtain basic information.
[Whipwood]
[Level: 8]
[Description: Usually remains dormant. Attacks passing lifeforms.]
Why didn't it attack when the Skeleton Warriors ran past earlier?
Skeleton Warriors weren't lifeforms; they had no life aura.
Therefore, they didn't trigger the Whipwood's attack.
But when he entered, the Whipwood attacked him.
The Whipwood continued its assault on Morintis.
Although it couldn't harm him, Morintis wasn't foolish enough to just stand there and take it.
He quickly retreated several dozen meters, leaving the Whipwood's attack range.
The Whipwood couldn't move.
Once Morintis retreated, it stopped attacking, its long branches waving incessantly as if on alert.
"Really thoughtful," Morintis understood the dungeon designer's careful intentions.
From the significantly weakened low-level monsters to the Level 8 monsters matching the wild's strength.
Furthermore, the Level 8 monsters were specifically chosen—a plant-type monster that ambushes but doesn't move.
The Whipwood possessed the trait of ambushing, allowing new class holders to experience the dangers of the wild early.
Since the Whipwood couldn't move, there was no risk of it chasing down class holders. If in danger, new class holders could calmly retreat out of its range.
Moreover, the Whipwood's attack range happened to be the same as the attack range of several ranged classes. This eliminated any chance for ranged classes to exploit tricks.
This design allowed newcomers to battle genuine Level 8 monsters in relative safety.
The entire starter dungeon exuded an atmosphere of protecting and nurturing newcomers, helping them adapt to real combat and grow while minimizing casualties.
Amidst the grating clatter of bones, the Skeleton Warriors ran back.
A full sixteen Skeleton Warriors surrounded Morintis like an army.
With a single thought from Morintis, one Skeleton Warrior charged at the Whipwood.
The Whipwood showed no reaction to the non-living Skeleton Warrior.
Only when the Skeleton Warrior struck first, its large blade hacking into the tree's trunk, did the Whipwood begin to retaliate.
A massive branch, like a whip, struck the Skeleton Warrior with a metallic clang.
The Whipwood's attack speed was very fast; the branch thrashed wildly, landing three or four hits on the Skeleton Warrior every second.
But the Skeleton Warrior's attributes were simply too high.
With 550 Constitution, it had massive health and defense.
Small cracks appeared on the bone where it was hit, but they quickly healed.
"Huh? It wasn't instantly killed!" Morintis was slightly surprised.
Monsters from Level 1 to 7 had all been killed in one slash. But with the Level 8 monster, the situation changed. It was the first time a Skeleton Warrior failed to instantly kill its target.
"So this is the strength of wild monsters? Let's see how many slashes you can take."
One slash, two slashes, three slashes.
After the fourth slash, the Whipwood stopped all movement.
[Killed Level 8 Whipwood. Experience +160]
He saw the notification; the experience was much higher than from the Level 7 Brown Bear.
Morintis calculated: in terms of cost-effectiveness, killing Level 7 monsters was better. It was, after all, 70 EXP per slash.
The Level 8 Whipwood required four slashes for 160 EXP. While the number seemed higher, the EXP per slash actually decreased.
However, the time spent finding monsters also needed consideration. If all the time was wasted searching for monsters, targeting lower-level ones might become inefficient.
Looking at the forest ahead, filled with dense trees, a large portion were Level 8 Whipwoods. With a careful eye, Whipwoods could be distinguished from ordinary trees. Here, there was no need to search for monsters. Just from what he could see, there were hundreds of them.
This drastically improved efficiency. This place was practically a leveling treasure trove made for him. Even Morintis felt a stir of excitement now.
With a single thought, the Skeleton Warriors immediately split up, charging into various parts of the forest. Their blades continuously fell upon the Whipwoods. Four slashes per tree, clean and efficient.
His experience began soaring once again. While others saw their leveling speed drop significantly after Level 5, Morintis's speed instead increased. He originally estimated needing over an hour to level up. Yet, merely 50 minutes later, Morintis reached Level 6.
Outside the dungeon, the sky gradually darkened. The time was now 7 PM. They had entered the dungeon at 9 AM, meaning ten full hours had passed.
Victor Stone, the other principals, and Xia Donovan remained seated.
They had been drinking tea all day, with food brought to them when needed.
The principals did this every year, staying put on the first day the students entered the starter dungeon.
Although accidents were rare, they couldn't guarantee none would happen.
Because it was real combat, injuries were unavoidable, and there had been instances of students dying in the starter dungeon before.
Xia Donovan hadn't left either. With Sophia inside the dungeon, her father was similarly worried. Having missed his daughter's class change ceremony, he didn't want to miss her first dungeon run.
Suddenly, brilliant light erupted from the dungeon entrance. Everyone looked towards it simultaneously.
"Someone's coming out!"
"The time isn't up yet. Could there have been an accident?"
The dungeon had two exit points. One was at the deepest part, visible after passing through the forest guarded by Level 8 monsters. The other was the entrance itself, which could also be used to exit the dungeon.
Morintis walked out of the light.
Victor Stone hurried over. "Morintis, why are you out?"
Morintis said softly, "Killed them all, so I came out."
Killed them all, so I came out.
The words left Stone momentarily unable to comprehend. Morintis had said it too calmly, his face even lacking any expression.
The next second, Stone saw Morintis's level.
[Morintis, Necromancer, Level 7]