8 Experience Points

The Shield Guard took the chance to let go of his shield. His strength had surged in his berserk state, but his defensive awareness had dropped, and he threw himself at the tiger.

His fists, as large as sand bowls and wreathed in berserk blood qi, rained down on the tiger's head and spine!

The tiger let out a desperate, unwilling howl and struggled wildly, but the berserk Shield Guard pinned it down at close quarters while the two Spearmen delivered precise, ruthless finishing blows. Its injuries rapidly worsened, and its movements grew weaker and weaker.

Su Ran did not cast another spell. He calmly kept watch from the side, guarding against other tigers drawn by the smell of blood while observing the effects of [Berserk] and his teammates' coordination.

In less than a minute, the ferocious Lv.2 tiger finally gave a whimper and collapsed completely to the ground, never to move again.

The battle was over.

The Shield Guard panted heavily as the blood-red color rapidly faded from his eyes, followed by a pronounced feeling of weakness. His face, however, was full of excitement. "That felt great! So damn great! Mage Su Ran, your spell and scroll were amazing!"

The two Spearmen were exhausted as well, but their eyes shone as they looked at the tiger's corpse. These were tangible resources!

Tiger skin, tiger bones, tiger meat... it was all money!

Su Ran walked over and checked the tiger's corpse, then looked at himself, having used about a sixth of his mana, mainly on that precise Energy Missile, and at his teammates, who were still in decent shape.

Uninjured, and they had worn it to death.

Their efficiency was even higher than expected. Energy Missile's precise strike had disrupted the tiger's rhythm.

Berserk had strengthened a crucial point, and combined with his teammates' solid damage output, had formed a perfect control... burst chain.

"Gather the spoils, stay alert, and keep moving," Su Ran ordered curtly.

The Shield Guard and the two Spearmen immediately answered and began skillfully cutting the most valuable parts from the tiger's corpse.

Su Ran remained where he was, his gaze sweeping toward the depths of the slope.

According to the guide, this was only the beginning. The resources of [Crouching Tiger Slope] amounted to more than just this one tiger.

And he needed more real combat to familiarize himself with and improve his fighting style as a Mage.

Over the next few hours, the party advanced steadily through the outer area of [Crouching Tiger Slope] according to their established tactics.

They encountered two more Lv.2 Crouching Slope Tigers.

Their battle pattern essentially repeated their first success: the Shield Guard met the attacks head-on and drew aggro, while Su Ran looked for an opening to use [Energy Missile].

He struck vital points—the eyes, mouth, nose, and joints—with precision to disrupt and control the tigers, while the two Spearmen waited for chances to deal lethal damage.

Having built up an understanding during their first fight, they fought even more smoothly in the next two.

Su Ran gained a more direct understanding of [Energy Missile]'s casting speed, energy consumption, and accuracy, and began trying to cast while moving,

as well as making slight adjustments to the missile's energy structure in pursuit of greater speed or a little more impact,

at the cost of increased consumption or reduced stability. Though he was not yet proficient, real combat was the best teacher.

By the second fight, the effect of the Shield Guard's [Berserk] scroll had ended, and he had entered the period of weakness.

He struggled noticeably more against the tiger's pounces and could only rely on pure defense and the two Spearmen's efforts to keep it occupied.

Su Ran had to increase the frequency of his spell support and even used a [Lesser Healing Spell Scroll] on the Shield Guard, whose ribs ached after being struck by the tiger's tail.

By the third fight, the party's condition had clearly declined. The Shield Guard was exhausted, and the impacts had left his arms numb;

the two Spearmen had expended a great deal of stamina, and both the speed and force of their thrusts had diminished;

Su Ran had also used up more than half his mana, and his mental strength was beginning to tire from sustained intense concentration and spellcasting.

Although they successfully killed the tiger again, the fight had been fraught with danger, and several deep claw marks had even been left on the Shield Guard's shield.

"I can't keep going, Mage Su Ran."

The Shield Guard panted heavily and wiped the sweat and blood from his face. He looked at the third tiger's corpse on the ground, then toward the depths of the slope, from which faint tiger roars could be heard.

"The guys are almost at their limits, and my shield won't hold up much longer either. We've gained enough already. If we run into another one, I'm afraid we'll be in trouble."

The two Spearmen nodded in agreement, their hands trembling slightly around their spears.

Su Ran glanced at the materials from three mostly processed tigers piled up in his Personal Space: three tiger skins, several tiger bones, and some of the choicest tiger meat and innards.

He then sensed his remaining mana and checked his teammates' condition, and nodded.

"Let's quit while we're ahead. Retreat."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and immediately withdrew quickly but cautiously toward the dungeon entrance along the route they had taken in.

Fortunately, they encountered no more tigers along the way and returned safely to the exit, which gave off a yellow halo.

The moment they stepped beyond the bounds of [Crouching Tiger Slope] and returned to the dungeon wilderness, four familiar pillars of milky-white light descended from the sky and enveloped them.

[Calculating battle results...]

[Location: Crouching Tiger Slope (Easy)]

[Contribution assessment: 35%] (As the main source of control and key burst damage, his contribution was still the highest)

[Base experience reward: 8 points] (The target monsters' average level was detected to be lower than the challengers' average level. Experience gain efficiency greatly reduced)

[Results finalized.]

Only 8 experience points. Su Ran looked at the number and understood. He was now Lv.3, and the experience penalty for fighting Lv.2 monsters was severe.

Most of those 8 experience points had probably come from the contribution reward for advancing through and ultimately clearing the dungeon.

The pillars of light dispersed, and four plain wooden treasure chests appeared before them—the reward for clearing [Crouching Tiger Slope] itself.

The Shield Guard and the Spearmen looked at their chests. Though exhausted, smiles appeared on their faces.

For them, the materials from three tigers plus the chest rewards made this haul far greater than expected.

Su Ran also walked over to his chest. Although the experience gain was meager, the resources were tangible.

Besides...

With a thought, he put the wooden chest into his Personal Space.

"We owe it all to you this time, Mage Su Ran!"

The Shield Guard spoke from the heart. "If you hadn't changed classes to become a Mage, how could we have taken down three tigers so easily and come away almost unscathed?"

"Yeah! Mage Su Ran, you're amazing!" the Spearmen chimed in, their voices full of gratitude.

Su Ran waved a hand. "Teamwork. Thanks for the effort, everyone. Let's get the materials dealt with first. The usual place?"

"Sure! See you there!"

The four agreed to meet at their usual materials recycling shop in the Inner Ring District, then parted ways for the time being.

Su Ran did not leave immediately. He stood where he was, feeling his mana slowly recover and his mental state settle somewhat.

Sure enough, once his level was higher, the experience gained from grinding low-level dungeons had plummeted.

That meant he had to challenge higher-level dungeons or monsters as soon as possible to maintain an effective rate of level growth.

As for the Shield Guard and the others... they clearly could not keep up with that pace anymore.

He glanced in the direction the Shield Guard and the others had gone, then looked at the wooden chest from [Crouching Tiger Slope] in his Personal Space.

It was time to pick up his own pace.

He turned and walked toward the bus stop.