The next day.
In the courtyard of Empyrean Citadel.
"Aishia, I'm leaving the house's security to you." Charlie left instructions before departing.
"Um."
Aishia nodded briefly. Her beautiful face remained flat and expressionless, while the morning breeze played with her long pink hair.
"..."
Beside her, Est stood with her petite body. Although her cute face appeared as flat as Aishia's, Charlie, who had known her for a long time, could sense the girl's sulking aura.
Charlie then crouched down so their eyes were level. He held Est's soft hand, trying to break the ice.
"Still angry?"
"..."
Est remained silent, but her silence was the clearest answer.
"Haaah..." Charlie sighed, repeating his reasons for not bringing her along. "Today I'm taking Kei to the Dungeon to gain experience. So, we're only entering the Upper Floors, which are completely danger-free—it'll be very boring. It would be extremely boring for you. Rather than coming along and just watching, it's better if you go sightseeing to interesting places in Orario with Aishia and Goddess Astraea."
"Once again, Onii-chan is leaving me behind." Est replied with a slightly annoyed tone she rarely showed. "Compared to Areishia who always used me, the number of times Onii-chan has used me doesn't exceed single digits."
Areishia Idris, the previous wielder of the Holy Sword Severian. As a Sword Spirit, the meaning of her existence lay in being gripped and swung in battle. Without that, she felt her existence became meaningless.
"..."
Charlie could only smile wryly hearing that complaint, but eventually, with help from Aishia and Astraea's coaxing, Est was persuaded.
"Are you ready, Kei?"
"Yes! I can't wait to go to the Dungeon!"
Kei clutched tightly the gun Charlie had made based on the Teigu design, Pumpkin. The weapon had now been given a pet name by its owner: Flare-chan.
Her usually calm eyes now sparkled with pure adventurous spirit, though also slightly tense.
"Charlie, don't let Kei be reckless." Astraea, as the main deity of Astraea Familia, was very concerned. Her usually bright face was now covered with worried wrinkles. "Usually, novice adventurers easily get carried away and underestimate the Dungeon's dangers, which often ends tragically. Compared to veterans, beginners' mortality rate is far higher."
"Alright, Goddess Astraea. As long as I'm there, Kei will be fine. You can rest assured."
Knowing that Astraea Familia had been wiped out in the past, Charlie understood what lay behind Astraea's excessive worry. He gave a firm nod, trying to instill confidence.
With the goddess's blessing and the gazes of the two spirit girls, Charlie and Kei finally stepped away from Empyrean Citadel.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Orario's Main Street was already packed with the hustle and bustle of life despite the early hour. Adventurers of various races—ranging from humans, Demi-Humans, elves, pallums, to dwarves—passed by with full combat equipment heading toward the city's central square.
Kei looked around in amazement, slightly overwhelmed by the commotion and strange figures like humans with animal attributes or bearded dwarves.
At the heart of the city, soaring high through the clouds, stood Babel Tower. The magnificent pure white structure acted as a lid for the gaping hole known as the Dungeon.
If someone looked up from the central square, the tower's peak seemed to merge with the horizon, its limit invisible.
Babel Tower wasn't just a building; it was a symbol of authority, luxury, and at the same time a clear boundary between the bright upper world and the dark underground world.
Its lower floors were a marketplace for adventurers—a place where Valis coins changed hands for weapons from Hephaestus Familia or magic potions.
For Orario's residents, Babel Tower was a beacon of hope. But for adventurers, it was a gateway to hell wrapped in divine architectural beauty.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
"Oi, isn't that Solo Leveling?"
"Yeah, that's really him."
"Who's the girl beside him?"
"Dunno, I don't recognize her. Seems like no one else does either. So, that girl isn't a High Class Adventurer. I guess Solo Leveling is guiding her against monsters. That's a common thing big Familias do—letting veterans watch over beginners so they don't die."
Whispered voices could be heard from the adventurers in the square when they saw Charlie. Instantly, without anyone telling them, they made way for the two, creating a narrow corridor through the crowd. Some even bowed their heads slightly, a sign of respect as well as caution.
Charlie was Level 6, among the top combat forces in Orario. After demonstrating his power to someone foolish enough to provoke him, no one wanted to cause trouble with him. His alias, 'Solo Leveling', had become synonymous with untouchable strength.
"Charlie-san is so feared~ it's like a yakuza passing through." Kei nudged Charlie while giggling, completely unintimidated by the stares or whispers.
She wasn't the least bit nervous being the center of attention. From the start, Kei wasn't the type to get stage fright, especially since she had already survived where morality and social order collapsed during the apocalyptic world.
Compared to life-or-death situations against zombies and desperate humans, being talked about in this crowd felt trivial. Her mentality was clearly more resilient than most novice adventurers in Orario.
"Just ignore them. As long as they don't start trouble, I'm too lazy to pay attention to them." Charlie answered indifferently.
Their footsteps brought them to the large hole that served as the main entrance to the underground darkness. Charlie stopped right at the edge of the stairs.
"Here we are. Go in, I'll be behind you. Unless you're in real danger, I'm just watching."
"That's what I want, Charlie-san! I can't always be under your protection. I want to become stronger too!"
After saying that, Kei without hesitation descended the wide stone steps, her steps firm.
"Good determination." Charlie praised while following behind her, maintaining a distance of about three meters.
The damp, stuffy, and cold air instantly greeted anyone brave enough to step past the spiral stone staircase. This was Floor 1, the threshold to the darkness known as the Dungeon.
The corridor walls here weren't made of man-made bricks, but rather a kind of pale blue organic substance that emitted dim light—as if the labyrinth itself was a living, breathing creature. The light was enough to see, but created swaying shadows that could deceive the eye.
"So this is the Dungeon? The environment isn't much different from what I imagined." Kei commented lightly while her eyes swept around, analyzing every corner and crevice.
"The landscape in the Dungeon varies depending on the floor. Some can be very beautiful, yet deadly. Well, I won't say much, you hate spoilers, don't you, Kei?" Charlie said casually but his posture remained alert. "Witness the wonders and horrors of the Dungeon with your own eyes."
Hearing that, Kei rolled her eyes at him with a small smile. "Charlie-san is starting to like playing mysterious, huh?"
*CRACK!*
Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound came from the wall. There, the initially smooth wall surface cracked, opening like a strange bud before finally giving birth to a small creature with tough greenish skin with wild, feral red eyes. A crude stone knife was gripped in its hand. A Goblin.
"That's a Goblin! So it's true as told, the Dungeon births monsters directly from its walls!" Kei was startled witnessing this unnatural birth scene, disgust and amazement mixing.
"You're quite lucky, Kei. Not everyone gets the chance to witness a monster's birth up close directly." Charlie said lightly, not moving from his spot. "By the way, your first battle has begun."
"Higeeeee!"
The Goblin hissed loudly, its hoarse voice sounding like broken laughter. Thick drool dripped from its mouth full of sharp teeth as its red eyes locked onto Kei, considering her easy prey.
For experienced adventurers, that sound was merely meaningless background noise. But for those setting foot here for the first time, every Goblin screech was a death knell signaling that the hunt had begun.
"Die, you woman-raping monster!"
Kei remembered the horrifying stories about these creatures. She remained calm as the Goblin charged at her with its stone knife raised. With trained movement, she raised Flare-chan, quickly aimed at the small point on the monster's forehead, then pulled the trigger.
*SWISH!*
A concentration of mental energy converted into orange-red laser shot with high precision, penetrating right in the middle of the Goblin's forehead.
Instantly, the Goblin's scream was cut off. Its body shook violently before turning into a cloud of black smoke that immediately disappeared, leaving a small clink sound as a small magic stone fell to the floor.
"Congratulations on your first monster kill in the Dungeon, Kei." Charlie praised, a note of pride in his voice. "Now, you can officially call yourself an adventurer."
Kei drew a breath, lowering Flare-chan. She walked forward, picked up the still-warm magic stone, and stored it in the storage space in the form of a bracelet on her wrist, Space-time Cache.
When she turned to Charlie, her face showed a triumphant smile and fiery eyes. Kei raised her fingers in a V-shape.
"This has only just begun! Watch me, Charlie-san!"
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