1





"What are those?"

"Those are dungeon inns."

The dungeon has finally reawakened.

Lecan was surprised to find rows of buildings around the entrance of the dungeon just as they were about to enter.

Food stalls are crowding the gaps between those buildings as if stitching them together.

"What's dungeon inns."

"They're inns where adventurers who go back above ground every two three or even every day stay at. Those adventurers will then fill their stomach at the food stalls, and stock up on some portable food before going down the dungeon once again."

Dungeons in this world are furnished with Floor Teleportation magic which is usable to anyone, even those without mana, with <Marks>, enabling them to go back above ground anytime they want.

Come to think of it, Lecan overheard something about adventurers sleeping on ground floor at Dungeon Golbul. He also found it weird how there weren't many who camped inside the dungeon despite the number of adventurers exploring inside back then. That must be because most went back outside.

But, going back outside every single day huh.

Can you truly explore a dungeon by doing that.

Lecan asked another question to knightess Heles while thinking that.

"Do adventurers who go down the depths not camp inside?"

"That depends on the party in question. <Jaira> and <Alcariz> often get back above ground, yet <Vega> tends to stay inside the dungeon along with their exclusive porter."

"Umu. Going back above ground after every little things is just a waste of time. Food eaten around a camp fire in a dungeon is the best."

"Lecan-dono."

"Hum?"

"There is no wood that can be used as firewood in this dungeon."

"What?"

"Hence, even those who sleep inside don't set up a campfire."

"What a boring dungeon."

"There's nothing I can do about that."

"Anyway, let's just take a look inside. Magic beasts on the first floor are Spotted Spiders (Hadrin) huh. What does First Rank and Second Rank mean?"
<TLN: Was mistranslated as First Ladder and Second Ladder, corrected.>

"The same kind of magic beasts in the same dungeons could differ in strength and size depending on the floors they're at, those terms are used to differentiate such magic beasts. However, this dungeon's First Rank Spotted Spiders may not be equal in strength with First Rank Spotted Spiders in other dungeons."

"Got it. It's said here they have <Weak Venom>, on which part?"

"Spotted Spiders carry venom in their fangs. You're pretty much envenomed if you're bitten by one. This weak venom results in fever and dizziness if left unattended, it could even lead to death."

"Got it. Eda."

"Yes."

"You're wearing thin clothes with lots of exposure. Pay attention and dodge the magic beasts' attacks."

"Un."

"And don't use magic until I tell you."

"Eh. Y-yes."

"Use medicine even if you're bitten by a spider."

There's only Spotted Spiders from the first to tenth floors of this dungeon. Afterward, it's Eight Eyed Great Spiders. Or rather, all magic beasts up until floor 44 are of those two types or their variants.

Per Heles's advices, they have bought antidotes that counteract venoms of these two spider types. However, venoms of magic beasts on deeper floors are intense and fast acting. Thus, you need equipment that annuls or resist venoms once you get to a certain floor if you wish to continue onward.

The reason for Eda's thin clothings is due to Arios's instruction.

According to him, the only way to master the art of moving around with concealed presence is to train one's sensitivity in detecting presence. For that reason, Eda is wearing a thin clothing with many exposed parts. Her vital spots are protected by leather gear, but it still looks way too risky to Lecan. However, according to Arios, this would help improve her evasive ability.

The short sword hanging on her waist is lent to her by Lecan. She's holding <Bow of Isya> in her left hand.

Leather protectors wrap both her forearms. She originally had protectors handmade by Arios, but yesterday he found new protectors and advised Eda to wear those instead. They're made of Eight Eyed Great Spider's husk reinforced by webs from the same spider, the price would have been five to ten times higher had they bought them in another town.

All extraneous stuff like her change purse and things are inside the <Box> Shira gave her, worn on her back.

"Alright then. Let's go in."

Arios is carrying two <Box> on his back, Heles three.

Lecan has only got his overcoat. Earlier Heles asked him if he was really going in a dungeon dressed like that. From Heles's point of view, his overcoat must be utterly useless as a protective gear.




<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
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"Eda. We're on the ground floor of a dungeon."

"Un."

"The moment you set foot here, you're no longer able to hear or see things outside."

"Ah, it's true."

"This place is an entirely different world from outside."

"Un."

"Dungeons' got their own set of rules, different from outside world. See for yourselves what are those differences."

"Un."

"Heles."

"Umu."

"Why are there so many people lying around here inside this dungeon."

"Is it not the case in other dungeons? People who sleep here are those who cannot afford dungeon inns. The so-called upfloor adventurers."

Lots are emaciated. They must be not eating well.





3





"This is, this is a dungeon."

Eda was deeply moved when she witnessed the spectacles on the first floor.

On the other hand, Arios doesn't seem to think of anything in particular in his first dungeon outing.

Lecan was, in fact, also surprised himself.

He had never imagined a dungeon like this existed.

Say, a flat plane of grounds that spreads out endlessly.

Dug up mortar-shaped holes here and there on those grounds. Some big, some small.

Connect the dug out soil with webs, making them into passages.

Each hole has one or two small Spotted Spiders inside.

You'd find the stairway down if you walk to the opposite end of the stairway you took to get to a floor.

That's this dungeon.

In other word, this dungeon has obvious spots where to go up and down, on top of that, you can traverse through the dungeon without engaging in even a single fight.

Since passages are connected in web shape, advancing ahead while avoiding other adventurers is simple.

This first floor barely has any adventurer though. Must be unprofitable.

"Fumu. Heles."

"Umu."

"What parts of the magic beasts here fetch good price."

"Spider thread sell the highest. You could also sell their outer shells, however the prices aren't worth the the effort stripping them off and carrying them back up."

"How do you collect the thread."

"Those spiders will spit out thread if you wait a while after you enrage them. Their thread is sticky and could pose a problem if you get bound in it. The stickiness will vanish once the spider dies. As such, you'd want to let them spit out a lot of thread before killing them, then wait until the thread loses its stickiness before you take it."

"Got it. Eda."

"U-un!"

"Relax."

"Hehe."

"As a starter, try killing a spider over there with <Bow of Isya>."

"Got it."

Eda readies her bow. Having already been used to it, she quickly poured her mana to form an arrow, and let it go hitting the magic beast's lower part.

"Ooh. A magic bow. Nice shoot."

"That's a really nice bow."

"Eda."

"Yes."

"Go fetch the magic stone."

"Yes!"

She swiftly got down, took a dagger out of her <Box>, cut the spider's abdomen, grabbed the magic stone inside and ran up the hill in no time.

"I got it here."

"Well done. I'll hold on to that."

Lecan casually dumped the magic stone in <Storage>.

Eda had mastered the process of killing a magic beast and taking out their magic stone before Lecan knew it.

"Next, kill some spiders with a short sword without using your bow. Go get the two over there."

"Got it."

Eda put away her bow in the <Box> on her back, trotted down the hill, effortlessly killed the two spiders, and swiftly retrieved their magic stones before running back up. Those spiders looked small from afar, but the swollen sections on their legs are bigger than Eda's head.

They're still about a tenth the size of spiders Lecan saw in Dungeon Golbul though.

"All right. Nicely done."

"Ehehe."

"Well then, next go collect some threads."

"Ah, Lecan-dono."

"What is it."

"You need to wait for quite long before the spiders on this floor would spit out their thread."

"She doesn't have to get a lot. Just a bit will do."

"Is that right. I have prepared this <Box> here for storing magic beasts' materials."

"That'll help. Eda. Go get it."

"Un!"

Eda provoked the spider below and proceeded to keep dodging the spider' attacks for a while.

The spider eventually stopped moving, turned around and began shaking its rear toward Eda.

Then after quite some time, pyuit, it spat out a little piece of thread.

Eda killed the spider and immediately climbed up with the thread on hand.

The thread lost its stickiness after a while, still wrapping her hand.

Eda put the thread inside the <Box> for materials Heles prepared.

As they arrived at the stairway down on the first floor, Lecan turned around, closed his eyes and slightly hung his head down.

"Hey, Lecan. You did the same thing before, didn't you."

"Hum?"

"That slightly bowing your head with your eyes closed thingy. You did that during the time we were escorting Chaney and that time we went to Vantaroy. You always do that after fight. What's that anyway?"

Being asked that, Lecan started pondering just what is the meaning of this odd habit of his.

"Gratitude, I suppose."

"Gratitude?"

"For the fights and lives."

"Does everyone do that in dungeons?"

"No. Never seen anyone else besides me do this."

"Oh really."

Mimicking Lecan, Eda closed her eyes and slightly hung her head down toward the first floor where she had been fighting.

Arios was listening to the conversation silently, but he too imitated them, closing his eyes and bowing slightly with his left hand placed on his sword's grip.

Heles put her right fist on her left chest and closed her eyes without bowing.

This was the moment this odd form of gratitudes toward the floor they conquered became a tradition to this party.









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