Experiencing this scene for the second time, even the final boss was instantly annihilated.
Sophia was completely and utterly numb.
She even wondered if the Goblin King was Morintis's godson, just handing him experience for free.
Seeing the level-up glow surrounding Morintis, she exclaimed, "You leveled up again?
Level 15?"
Morintis gave an affirmative hum.
He was indeed level 15.
Sophia made a bitter face.
She was still 30% away from level 13.
The gap between her and Morintis had widened again.
It was so frustrating.
[Killed Goblin King.Experience +25000]
[Obtained Bronze-tier weapon: Goblin King's Longsword.]
[Obtained Low-grade Monster Crystal Core.]
Seeing the prompts, Sophia sighed.
"Pity it's not a staff."
"You want a staff?"
Morintis asked.
Sophia hummed in agreement.
"Yes, the Goblin King's Staff is the best weapon for Mages before level 20."
"Although I could buy one from the Exchange, I'd have to ask my dad for money.
I don't want to do that."
Suddenly, a dark shape flew towards her.
Sophia caught it instinctively.
[Goblin King's Staff]
It was exactly the staff she wanted.
"It's yours," Morintis said flatly.
Just a staff, nothing major.
Sophia stood there stunned for a long moment before saying, "Thank you."
Then, with a puzzled expression, she asked, "Why don't you use it yourself?"
Morintis took out the Goblin King's Spellbook.
"I use this."
Both spellbooks and staves were Mage-type weapons, but most Mages chose staves.
After all, staves were not only imposing but could also sometimes be used for blocking or simple physical attacks.
Spellbooks didn't have that functionality.
Relatively speaking, staves were more practical.
This was the consensus based on collective experience.
Sophia didn't understand.
"But the staff is more practical than the spellbook."
Morintis shook his head.
"I don't like staves."
...
This reason left Sophia with no rebuttal.
So that was why.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
And from start to finish, she had never seen Morintis take out the spellbook.
"Maybe he doesn't even care about the minor boost the spellbook provides," she thought.
Unaware of Sophia's internal thoughts, Morintis was checking his attribute changes upon leveling up.
[Name: Morintis]
[Class: Necromancer (Unique)]
[Level: 15 (8.00%)]
[Strength: 200]
[Agility: 200]
[Spirit: 800 (+20)]
[Constitution: 200 (+20)]
[Equipment: Goblin King's Spellbook, Robe of Knowledge]
[Summoning Space: 84/150, Skeleton Warrior (Quantity: 84)]
[Talent: Comprehensive Amplification (Level 2, Unique)]
[Passive Skill: Damage Transfer]
[Active Skills: Soul Flame (Level 15), Summon Skeleton Warrior (Level 15), Corpse Explosion (Level 1)]
[Comprehensive Amplification (Level 2): Increases the effects of all skills by 20 times.]
[Damage Transfer: All damage received by the Necromancer is borne by their summons.]
[Soul Flame (Level 15): Burns the target's soul, causing fire damage.Its power scales with the user's Spirit and skill level.]
[Summon Skeleton Warrior (Level 15): Summons one Bronze-tier Skeleton Warrior.]
[Corpse Explosion (Level 1): Detonates a corpse, dealing damage equal to 10% of the corpse's maximum health to enemies within a 1-meter radius.]
He had finally reached level 15.
His chances of entering Xiajing Academy were much more secure.
Reaching level 16 would be best, but if he couldn't, it probably wouldn't be a major issue.
After reaching level 15, the experience gain slowed down significantly.
Morintis had originally estimated he would gain about 12% experience, but it was only 8%.
Although partying with Sophia meant she took a portion of the experience, it was indeed much slower.
Morintis calculated mentally.
Sophia's Low-Grade Cooling Charm would allow them to run three more consecutive dungeon runs.
At his speed, three runs would take about half an hour.
Then, there would be two more natural cooldown resets.
So, they could run the dungeon five more times.
Of course, he would definitely take Sophia for the last two runs as well.
Since he started by bringing her along, ditching her later was something Morintis wouldn't do.
"Partying as two for five more runs should be enough for me to reach level 16."
Looking at the fallen Goblin King, Morintis said softly, "Sorry about this.
I might have to kill you five more times."
Seeing Morintis actually talk to the Goblin King, Sophia found it very strange.
"Why are you talking to the boss?
It can't understand you."
Morintis replied quietly, "I felt like saying it.
Whether it understands or not isn't important."
Sophia found this even odder.
"Then why did you say it?"
Morintis didn't answer her question.
For some reason, thinking about the scene where Morintis seriously apologized to the boss moments ago, Sophia suddenly found him somewhat cute.
Who else would so earnestly say sorry to a boss?
Weren't dungeons meant to be farmed?
Weren't bosses meant to be killed?
Even though high-level dungeon bosses were killed countless times, they had also killed countless professionals themselves.
What was there to apologize for?
"He's such a weirdo.
...
but also kind of cute."
Sophia suddenly laughed.
Morintis gave her a strange look.
"Let's go out and continue."
"Okay, let's go."