When Alexander arrived at the shop, Jayce was already waiting for him at the counter and presented him with 3 boxes of different sizes: "Here they are. And even though they are the most basic following your specifications, they are all of (Unique) grade."

  Alexander could feel Jayce wasn't lying, but as it wouldn't cost him anything, and would still help him increase his proficiency in |Appraise|, he appraised the items to see their information.

  [Gold-Plated Enchanted Magical Scepter (Unique): A magical scepter, with a core of wood from the Mana Tree, plated with enchanted gold. The enchantment on the gold helps channel the surrounding mana to strengthen the spell.]

  *+5% power when casting Tier II spells. (The effect is doubled for each Tier below).*

  [Conductive Silver Dagger Plated with Gold (Unique): A dagger made with highly conductive silver and plated with a special gold alloy to increase its cutting power and abrasion resistance. It is capable of conducting energy and mana, making it possible to cast spells and skills.]

  *+10% damage on slashing strikes.*

  *+5% damage on piercing strikes.*

  [Reinforced Combat Needle (Unique): A throwing weapon properly reinforced. Its tip was forged and reinforced with a unique type of metal to increase penetration.]

  *+25% penetration.*

  "Thank you for the quick service, Jayce," said a satisfied Alexander. "I hope I can count on you in the future."

  "Likewise," replied Jayce. "You can always come back if you need to order more items or perform maintenance on the ones you already have."

  With his new items in hand, Alexander went to the Guild reception to speak with Mary and obtain important information. "Good morning, Mary. Would you know where the closest {Intermediate Dungeon – Normal} to the city is, and if it has any cleaning mission?"

  "Good morning, Alexander," Mary replied friendly. "The closest one of this type isn't far. But as it is located so close to the city and is relatively easy to clean, we don't have cleaning missions for it."

  "It's fine. Anyway, thank you for the information," he said before she pointed out the direction of the dungeon on his map.

  Alexander had no problems finding the dungeon entrance by following the path indicated by Mary. And as it was an {Intermediate Dungeon}, the mission he triggered when entering it had a very generous reward in the amount of XP and 7 free attribute points. But despite this increase, the amount of growth points remained the same.

  As soon as he was sure no one was looking, he changed to his goblin form, as he would need to go all out if he wanted to survive and clear an {Intermediate Dungeon}.

  What surprised him was that even with his various advantages, like the extra attributes from his [Ring of the Thief God], his skill |Magical Body Strengthening| and the title ||Dungeon Conqueror||, clearing the dungeon was not easy at all.

  The first problem was that the number of 1st evolution creatures was not low. Not to mention they sometimes came in pairs and even in trios.

  The second problem was that there were 2 rooms in this dungeon. One for the sub-boss, which was in the final stages of the 1st evolution, and another for the dungeon BOSS, which was in the 2nd evolution.

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  As soon as Alexander passed the sub-boss, the number and strength of the monsters increased considerably.

  After a certain point, the pressure increased so much that he was forced to have Ocean attack from afar so he could use his |Poisonous Mist|, because if he didn't, he would be suffocated by the quantity of enemies.

  The last and worst problem was that when he entered the sub-boss room and the dungeon BOSS room, his escape route was cut off, as the doors, which remained open in {Beginner Dungeons}, closed by themselves.

  "(@#%)... The book didn't warn that the door would close and leave me locked in," complained Alexander. "Damn that writer (@#%) for forgetting to put that in."

  As much as he had these and other problems, he didn't run many life risks while clearing most of the dungeon. But this, obviously, did not apply to the BOSS at the end of the dungeon, which was a fierce {Werewolf} over 2 m tall.

  With no room for any hesitation, Alexander left Ocean behind and attacked the BOSS to poison it with his paralyzing poison, which was odorless and hard to detect, using |Poisonous Mist|.

  Obviously, he didn't think he could face the BOSS of an {Intermediate Dungeon} with just his poison. His confidence was because he was sure that, now that he had the scepter, he could keep the BOSS at bay with the spell |Water Cannon (MAX)| and poison it gradually.

  Unfortunately for Alexander, his plan was only perfect in theory, and theory and reality are very, very far apart without proper practice.

  Just when he thought he had the advantage, the {Werewolf} went on all fours. And having a rigid combat plan in his head, Alexander couldn't adapt well to the new circumstances that arose during the fight and ended up receiving several claw cuts.

  He only managed to overcome the BOSS and complete his missions when the poison really began to take effect. But this cost him several anguishing minutes with a frenzied 2nd evolution monster.

  As soon as the dungeon was completely cleared, Alexander saw that Ocean and he had leveled up, though at very different times, with one leveling up right at the beginning and the other only upon killing the dungeon BOSS.

  Ding!

  [Your familiar (Ocean) leveled up.]

  Ding!

  [You leveled up. But due to the interference of the special skill |Attribute Control|, all your attribute increases upon leveling up were denied and converted into free attribute points.]

  *[+30 free attribute points]*

  *[+1 growth point]*

  Even while leaving the dungeon thinking about some things, Alexander felt the gaze of other adventurers, who arrived after him and found the dungeon empty.

  "Complicated. The creatures generated by the dungeon aren't the only ones I have to worry about," he thought. "The 'monsters' from outside must be even more brutal and dangerous, especially because the dungeon will absorb any evidence."

  After making a mental note to be careful, Alexander returned to the city and sold his spoils. Killing such a large number of 1st and 2nd evolution creatures earned him a lot of XP and some money, mainly because of the core he obtained.

  Alexander received nearly 10 small gold coins in total from his sale, which was a large sum, as he didn't need to share it. Satisfied with the achievement, he returned to his room and ordered two special meals for him and Ocean to celebrate before going to sleep.

  The next morning, Alexander woke up and prepared early. But as he couldn't leave without first making a deal with Ocean, he used a lot of (bribery) affection to convince her to wait for him in the room while he took the exam.

  As soon as he stepped onto the street, Alexander saw a huge flow of people heading towards the combat academy. This flow ranged from apprehensive potential candidates to opportunistic vendors and pickpockets.

  Upon getting close to the Twin Combats Academy, he found that the line leading up to it wasn't much shorter than the large flow of people, just less dense.

  After confirming this was indeed the right line, Alexander went to the end of it and waited for his turn. But while waiting his turn, he saw a group of people led by a young man in very luxurious clothes pass by the line with a proud look.

  Not long after, the group returned with their heads down and the young man in luxurious clothes seemed very sullen. But he still left someone from his group at the end of the line, possibly to hold a spot for him.

  "It seems this academy really isn't simple," thought Alexander, who began to analyze the other members of the line while waiting. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the line advanced quickly and soon it was his turn.

  Upon reaching the gate, he was sure this academy shouldn't be underestimated, as the woman handling the entrance had a beautiful smile on her face and a gold identification around her neck.

  "A gold-rank adventurer guarding the entrance?" Alexander asked himself without understanding what someone of that caliber was doing there. "There's no way a gold-rank adventurer is willing to do that just for the money."

  "Your registration plate, please," the adventurer said to him, who presented his plate.

  "Very well. The exam will consist of three elimination tests," the adventurer explained upon returning his plate. "The first will measure your conditioning, the second your accuracy, and the last your combat capacity."