Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Dungeon Settlement

After a thorough check, Jon finally let out a sigh of relief.

Reya wasn’t actually injured. She had fainted purely from exhaustion.

That’s right, exhaustion.

Just like in his first battle with the Great Snow Fox after arriving in this world, Reya had also exhausted all her strength fighting the Rock Scorpion, which caused her to pass out.

As he turned to look at the Rock Scorpion corpse, which had been hacked to pieces, and the potion residue splattered on the surrounding rock walls, he could roughly piece together what had happened.

A Rock Scorpion, drawn by the corpse of its own kind, had stumbled into their hiding spot and encountered a panicked Reya.

With nowhere left to run, the cornered girl had thrown the Acid Burst Potion he gave her, which exploded right in the Rock Scorpion’s face. Then, she drew her shortsword and charged, hacking at it wildly.

’Reya can’t tell if a monster is dead by checking for Experience Points. She was probably terrified she wouldn’t be able to kill it, so she just kept hacking away. She must have continued until she was completely exhausted, then retreated to a corner and passed out from the fatigue and fright. Although the whole process sounded a bit ridiculous and even cute, it was a remarkable feat for a noble girl who had never seen combat before. Admittedly, a low-level monster with slow reactions like a Rock Scorpion could be handled by any untrained person, as long as they were brave enough. But not everyone possessed that kind of courage in a fight. Countless well-trained warriors have frozen up on the battlefield, only to be killed by enemies far weaker than themselves! They were worse than the girl right in front of him! After all, before today, Reya was just a young noble lady who had been well-cared for by her parents. Her daily companions were all well-bred, ”civilized people.” Even their schemes and plots were relatively tame. An experience like today—first being ambushed by ”bandits,” then being cornered by a Rock Scorpion—was probably something she’d only ever encountered in her nightmares.’

”Still unpolished, in the end—”

Jon gazed at the girl’s pale, sleeping face, re-wrapped her cloak snugly around her, and sighed softly.

”But with a will and courage like that, what couldn’t she accomplish...”

”As expected of the Flame-haired Princess... Her future is full of promise...”

...

After Reya’s close call, Jon was in no mood to waste time. While the effects of the Blood Exhaustion Potion were still active, he moved with lightning speed to slaughter every last Rock Scorpion in the mine. He then dragged the Scorpion Mother’s corpse back to the shallow area where he and Reya had first been to rest and regroup.

Once the potion wore off, the weakness from the loss of ”temporary Power” and the pain from the Poison damage washed over him all at once, making Jon unwilling to even lift a finger.

Fortunately, thanks to the combined healing effects of the Earth’s Blood and Chu Blood Grass Essence, his condition wasn’t poor enough to leave him completely listless. He still had enough strength to butcher the Scorpion Mother’s corpse.

On this trip to the Abandoned Mine, aside from the unique accessory, Earth’s Blood, his greatest prize was this astonishingly large Scorpion Mother.

Its carapace, as hard as Fine Steel yet incredibly light, was an excellent material for making armor.

Its massive pincers, capable of shattering rock, and the hard shell on its tail that served as a hammerhead, were outstanding base materials for crafting weapons.

Even the strange mineral crystals on its back, used for incubating its young, were items that countless Artisans dreamed of obtaining!

You could say every part of this creature was a treasure!

Jon’s main reason for coming to this Dungeon was to obtain the mineral crystals on the Scorpion Mother’s back. These crystals, having been eaten, digested, and secreted by the beast, had acquired strange properties. He planned to take them back to Old Sutton for his research, farming some experience along the way.

And now, because this Scorpion Mother had consumed the Earth’s Blood and transformed from a Silver Scorpion into a Golden Scorpion, the value of the materials it yielded had reached a whole new level!

A single glance at the materials stripped from its body was proof enough!

——

[Sturdy Crystallized Carapace (Excellent · Material): Equipment crafted with this material will gain the ”Crystallization” affix, increasing its Defense Value by an extra 30% and granting a small chance for a special effect.]

[Flexible Crystallized Plastron (Excellent · Material)]

[Intact Crystallized Pincer (Excellent · Material)]

[Intact Crystallized Leg (Excellent · Material)]

...

——

Everything, from head to toe, was Excellent-grade!

This was a whole tier higher than the Ordinary-grade materials dropped by a regular Silver Scorpion!

One had to remember that in *Yino*, the final grade of a crafted piece of equipment was often one level higher than its base materials.

This meant that as long as Jon found a sufficiently skilled Artisan and spent some money on the other necessary components, he could use these Golden Scorpion Mother materials to craft a full set of Rare Level Battle Armor!

This serendipitous turn of events made Jon sigh at the fickleness of Destiny, even as he continued to strip the scorpion’s carapace.

’After this beast ate the Earth’s Blood, it caused me so much trouble... But if it hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have obtained materials of this quality...’

’Is this what they mean when they say that good luck can come from bad, and bad luck can hide in good?’

He then turned his gaze to the sparkling crystals piled by the fire, which were the first things he had removed from the Scorpion Mother’s back.

There were quite a few of them, all in different colors, but their displayed name was the same: [Unknown Mineral Crystal].

It was a typical ”blind box” type of material. Until they were identified with a professional Skill, there was no way of knowing whether they were good or bad.

Similar items included things like [Unknown Mutated Herb] and [Unknown Mutated Flesh]—materials that only appeared under special circumstances.

But Jon felt that, having been enhanced by the Earth’s Blood, the quality of these mineral crystals must have improved, just like the rest of the Scorpion Mother’s materials. As for how much, he wasn’t a Forging specialist, so he couldn’t say for sure.

He’d just have to take them back for Old Sutton to examine.

They were meant for him anyway.

After inspecting the loot from the Scorpion Mother, it was time to conclude his trip to the Abandoned Mine.

The young Warrior’s hands kept busy, but his gaze fell upon his game panel.

[Final Boss of the Abandoned Mine—Scorpion Mother—has been slain. Proceed to the results screen?]

He confirmed with a thought, and the settlement process began.

And once again, a stream of data flooded his vision.

[Calculating results...]

[Dungeon ”Abandoned Mine” cleared.]

[You have slain the unexpectedly mutated Scorpion Mother and cleared this place of all Rock Scorpions. Perhaps, in several years, new monsters will make their nests here, but for now, you have returned peace to this forgotten land...]

[Dungeon Completion: S, reward multiplier 6.0x]

[Obtained 3,000 general Experience Points (500 base x 6.0 reward multiplier).]

’A perfect clear for 3,000 experience... Nice...’

The moment he saw that final line, Jon felt the fatigue and pain coursing through his body simply melt away.

He had worked himself to the bone to clear the entire Abandoned Mine for a mere 7,800 Experience Points, and this final settlement instantly added another 3,000. Combined with the experience left over from his last level-up, his total reserves shot up to 7,848!

Even after subtracting the 3,200 points he’d soon need to reach level 5 Warrior Apprentice, he would still have 4,648 points left over—more than enough to get a few things done.

Leveling up his Mage Apprentice class or upgrading some of his Skills—both were excellent options!