The environment inside the passage was starkly different from the cavernous paths they had traversed earlier.
The rock walls here were smoother and flatter, as if polished by some immense force, forming a regular, slightly curved arched structure that stretched into the depths.
Sparse but steady glowing crystals were embedded in the walls, emitting a soft, milky-white light that illuminated the passage enough to see without being overbearing.
The air was dry and clean, almost entirely devoid of the musty or stagnant scent common in dungeons, and the temperature remained at a comfortable, slightly cool level.
These special passages connecting different layers of a dungeon were extremely rare safe zones within the entire dungeon system.
This was because most monsters felt a strong sense of discomfort, repulsion, or even fear toward these areas. Consequently, they usually wouldn't cross such passages, let alone stay in them for long.
This provided a rare breathing room and a buffer zone for adventurers venturing into the deep area to rest and regroup.
Stepping into this safe zone, Greg's tightly wound nerves finally relaxed slightly.
This gave him the mental space to check the system notifications that had been flashing in the corner of his vision during the battle.
With a slight thought, the translucent system interface expanded before his eyes.
A series of messages were clearly listed:
【Acquired Skill: Sowing LV1】
...【Acquired Skill: Sowing LV1】
...【Acquired Skill: Sowing LV1】
【Sowing level increased to LV2】
【Acquired 880 EXP】
【Acquired 88 bonus EXP】
【Level increased to LV21】
"The experience gain is decent, and I've finally broken past Level 20..."
Greg's gaze swept over the experience and level-up info, feeling a bit of relief.
Leveling up four times in a row and breaking the Level 20 threshold—which had a significant impact on skill proficiency—meant he now had the chance to raise the proficiency of the skills he already possessed to a higher level.
That was good news.
However, when his eyes fell on the new skill that had appeared three times and successfully reached LV2, his expression gradually froze.
"Sowing...? What the hell kind of skill is that?"
With a lingering sense of foreboding, he tapped on the detailed description of the skill.
【Sowing LV2 Effect: Increases the chance of impregnating a female by sixty percent. (This effect ignores racial boundaries.)】
Greg: "..."
He stared at that line of description for a full five seconds before silently and forcefully closing his eyes.
Motherfucker... are you trying to turn me into a Goblin?!
A mixture of absurdity, irritation, and a powerful urge to rant churned in his chest. He felt like his sanity was about to snap because of this ridiculous skill.
I killed over a dozen Goblins, including an elite Shaman, and this is what drops?
Couldn't you have dropped one of the Goblin Shaman's signature attack spells?
Like Shadow Bolt, Corruption, Bloodlust... even a low-level Piercing Screech would have been fine!
What kind of cursed skill is Sowing?!
Is this a hint that I should follow the Infinite Offspring path and spread my seeds across the dungeon like a farming sim?
Am I supposed to take the 'anything with a pulse' approach?!
Greg took several deep breaths before he managed to suppress the urge to scream at the air.
He kept comforting himself: Forget it, forget it. At least the level went up. That's a tangible benefit.
As for this trash skill... I'll just act like it doesn't exist. It's not like there's any need or scenario where I'd use it actively anyway.
Forcibly driving the agonizing description of Sowing LV2 from his mind, Greg closed the system panel.
But after walking for a while longer, he suddenly felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange.
He glanced quietly at Silvia, who was following behind him with her head down in a daze, and then felt the unusual silence within his own shadow.
The passage was far too quiet.
Especially after the intense battle earlier, this silence felt... awkward.
Silvia hadn't spoken a word since entering the passage, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. It was understandable, considering she had just faced such a crisis.
But what Greg wasn't used to was that even Nightmare—who usually popped up with a comment in his mind or mocked him just to see his reaction—was remaining uncharacteristically silent.
From the moment he started checking the system until now, the black cat hadn't made a sound.
This double silence made Greg feel a bit restless.
After hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to ask in his mind:
"Hey, Hajimi, why are you suddenly quiet too? Playing the brooding type?"
A few seconds later, Nightmare's ethereal voice finally rang out slowly, tinged with a feigned innocence.
"Didst thou not previously request that I remain silent and refrain from unnecessary disturbances?"
"Don't give me that."
Greg exposed her without hesitation.
"When has a bad cat like you ever actually listened to me? Remember when I wanted to handle some 'personal business' by the underground river and asked you to wait elsewhere? You said, 'I have no interest in thy glowing, ugly thing,' but then you stubbornly stayed in my shadow anyway! I ended up standing by the river like an idiot for half an hour!"
"Heh..." Nightmare seemed to let out a low chuckle, not denying it. "It seems thou art truly becoming more acquainted with my ways."
Greg was right.
Nightmare's current unusual silence had nothing to do with any of Greg's previous requests.
But the true reason was indeed closely related to Greg himself, even causing this well-traveled ancient deity to feel a rare bit of confusion and... curiosity.
She had noticed the power Greg used during the battle.
The Bracers of Darkness, and... Dark Pulse.
In Nightmare's vast memory and knowledge, as a user's proficiency increased, every magic's form and power would undergo corresponding changes.
And Supreme-tier magic was not just far superior to ordinary magic in initial power; the proficiency cap it could reach was also far beyond that of other tiers.
In this world, the proficiency cap for Basic magic was usually LV5, Low-tier magic was LV6, Mid-tier magic was LV7, and High-tier magic was LV8.
Only Supreme-tier magic could reach the staggering proficiency cap of LV9.
This meant that mastering a Supreme-tier magic and cultivating it to a profound level often required the lifelong energy and blood of a brilliant talent.
Therefore, an unspoken, implicit rule was: no living being, no matter how extraordinary their talent, could truly master more than one Supreme-tier magic in their lifetime.
This was an invisible restriction of the world's laws on the capacity of an individual.
Rate on N.U.
