"Good Morning, Ethan."
Miach greeted me as I entered the shop early in the morning.
"Good Morning, Miach."
I greeted back with a smile.
"Early today, hm. Will you be going to the dungeon then?"
He asked and I nodded.
Today was going to be a short workday since I had planned to visit the dungeon.
"I am."
He nodded back, then he went behind a counter to fetch a brown leather pouch clinking with familiar glass tubes.
"I've prepared some potions for you. Take them. They will be of help in the dungeon."
I smiled wryly at that. Of course he did. Miach was kind and caring like that.
"Thanks, Miach. I appreciate it."
I didn't even bother bringing up the mention of paying for them. He simply wouldn't accept. After around 3 months of working here, I had learned that fact. Miach was kind to a fault.
And so, instead of trying to convince him in vain, I knew how to tackle this particular situation.
Miach soon left to go make some purchases, while I went to the back to help a certain Chienthrope girl stoically working.
Naaza looked up as I entered the room, her tail swinging briefly before settling down.
"Hey Naaza. Morning."
"Good Morning."
She replied with a simple nod.
"Dungeon today? Did Lord Miach give you the potions?"
"He did. Here."
I fetched some valis from my hidden money pouch that I carried with me nowadays, bringing up the correct amount that the potions I'd gotten would have cost.
Naaza stared at them for a moment, then looked back at me, her impassive face set in a small frown.
"You do realize he gave you to them for free, yes?"
I smiled, lips almost curling in an amused smirk.
"I did. But I also know these cost a fair bit. Especially since these are the proper potions and not the ones you dilute."
Naaza had the decency to look away in guilt and shame.
I couldn't blame her, given their rather dire practice, but it was also not something I could condone since it played with the Adventurers' lives. And it harmed the shop's reputation as well, even if most adventurers couldn't tell the difference, there were those that could, and they would talk to others about this, naturally.
It was a dangerous practice altogether and one which didn't really yield that much of a profit margin. But as the saying goes: Beggers really couldn't be choosers. Even though I personally thought this was not a great practice. But what did I know. I was just an intern who had recently passed as a proper employee here.
I did feel a little bad seeing her already droopy expression drop further. The desire to pet her briefly flared in my head before I smothered that thought. That was a dangerous and highly inappropriate thought and one I'd had to struggle with, every now and then. I just simply couldn't help it. Despite intellectually knowing Naaza was a person just like I was, her tails and ears would catch my subconscious interest and attention.
The power of floof compelled me to give her headpats and caress her floofy-looking tail, but my sensibilities as a human being protested against that very idea of invading someone's boundaries like that. Especially a girl who was much younger than I was. But then again, as her senior and someone who was getting to be more and more familiar with her everyday, couldn't I—Nope, stopping that thought process before it gets me into trouble with a very powerful, if droopy-looking
"Take it, Naaza. You know I can't just take advantage of Miach after everything he's done for me. And… I'm sorry. I shouldn't try to guilt-trip you like that. It's not your fault. I know things are… tough."
Naaza looked back at me and her lips parted briefly as to speak something, but instead she simply nodded, her gaze lowing down towards her hand as she used the other one to take the offered money, going out briefly to deposit it in the hidden cabinet near the register. She had a habit of not keeping everything she earned in the register just in case someone tried to break in during her absence and tried to take in the money. Not that they would find anything since she would take out most of the money to set aside funds for purchasing raw materials and such.
The fact that she trusted me enough to not care about hiding that information from me did bring a small joy in me. It meant something to me that she didn't feel the need to hide that from someone she had only known for months.
Then again, maybe my own actions reflecting my honestly. I rarely, if ever, took advantage of Miach's kindness and had been an honest and hard-working employee here for months. And I had no intention of wronging them since I empathized with them as someone who barely makes ends meet.
Shaking my head of those sad thoughts, I set to working my share of the job, already knowing what to do and what not to touch.
I had sort of graduated from just crushing ingredients to a pulp or paste now. I had been taught, both by Miach and Naaza how potions are made and had been allowed to craft them, even if my final results couldn't quite match with Naaza's, much less Miach's.
Miach seemed to think I had talent in potion-making, but I felt like I was fumbling around, barely making passable and sellable potions.
I may have had a habit of being overly strict on myself and being a bit of a perfectionist in my work, so maybe that caused this feeling of inadequacy, but I did think I was learning to be better at it and in maybe a few more months, I would be able to make acceptable potions.
Until then, however, I was just glad neither Miach nor Naaza seemed to ever blame me for the many failed potions or ruined ingredients during the learning phase that no doubt cost them money and I had never seen a deduction in my paycheck for those mistakes.
Was it any wonder that I was dedicated to being better and support this establishment, while also feeding my own curiosity (and ego, small as it may have been due to my rational side keeping me in check) to be a good potion maker and fully understand the mysteries of this magical art.
-x-
Time passed by in a blur as the early morning turned into midday. I was working hard and with concentration, initially sitting beside Naaza, until she had to go and man the counter. Occasionally, I asked for help or raised a query here and there where I felt like I was maybe making a mistake or where I forgot the exact measurements, and Naaza would calmly and succinctly offer her help. Sometimes, even prematurely as she noticed me about to make a mistake. But aside from that, we didn't really talk much and focused on our work.
Finally, the time came when I had to leave and I cleaned up my workspace and put everything where it belonged. That too was part of my job.
Once done, I used the backroom to clean myself up a little and dawn my adventurer outfit, which had gained some minor additions. Namely, two wrist pauldrons, a rudimentary backpack with fitted and tightly held slots for items and an additional chest plate that just covered the place where my heart was with some spare coverage, worn below my leather armor vest to offer an extra protection against attacks meant to pierce my heart.
I still lacked a proper headgear and it bothered me quite a bit, but most of the headgears I had seen so far were either too bulky, hindering my vision, or were barely a step above having no headgear.
For some reason, the Adventurers simply didn't care to protect their heads. Almost all of them, except a rare few, left their heads and faces unprotected and it bothered me that I was following in their footsteps. I kept reminding myself that I wasn't like them and had barely any experience in dungeon diving. Thus, I didn't need to follow whatever their common sense dictated.
Hopefully, after today's dungeon run, I will have enough money saved to buy good head protection. That was the other reason why I was still lacking that gear. Armors and Weapons were costly, even the cheaper ones, and I simply didn't have the money saved to pick up good gear that was also suited to my needs and was reliable.
Dungeon diving had its own expenses in the form of gears, weapons, and stocking up items of single use like potions, on top of the inherent danger it presented. It was a vicious cycle of sorts. The more you delve into the dungeon to earn riches, the more costly and dangerous it got. Thus, the dungeon preyed on the greed of Adventurers and Familias and invited them inside its depths to their probable demise.
The thought was rather grim and something I really shouldn't be having just before entering the dungeon. Especially since this was the first time I was going to do it alone.
I exhaled deeply, releasing all the spiraling thoughts as I gave one final check at my gear and weapon.
"Maybe I should get a small shield."
I mused, wondering if it'd be a terrible idea to get one of those wrist mounted shields for my off hand.
"Hn."
Maybe. I'll look for it after I am done with today's dungeon run.
"Alright."
Putting my best face, and feeling relatively prepared, I left the room and headed towards the back exit, passing through the main shop area to inform Naaza of my leave.
"Hey, Naaza. I'm heading out."
The Chienthrope girl looked up from her counter to nod at me, giving me a brief once over but not commenting on my current look.
"Good luck. Here, your earnings for today."
She pulled up a small pouch.
"Thanks. Ah, actually, could you keep that for now? I'm going straight to the dungeon, and I don't think it's a good idea to bring Valis with me there."
She nodded, putting away the pouch in one of the drawers.
"Right. See you tomorrow."
"Bye."
-x-
Climbing down the stairs towards the first floor of the dungeon, I felt my heart beat in nervous anticipation.
So far, I had the support of Mikoto whenever I entered the dungeon. But after gaining some experience on the first floor, I couldn't continue to use the excuse of being a complete noob to mooch off of her, even if I tried my best not to rely too much on her help when I was fighting monster. But there had been several times when she had intervened when I was about to get overwhelmed or missed on an attack. Some of which could have been lethal.
So, yes, I was nervous. And I was paying utmost attention to everything.
'Look around constantly. Don't get tunnel vision. Only fight them one on one. Run away from any groups. Run away if multiple enemies start spawning.'
I repeated it like a chant to keep my head in the game and not let my nervousness overwhelm me.
Fuck, it was nerve wrecking. Maybe I wasn't made for such a violent and deadly lifestyle, and yet, here I was anyway. Trying to go through it anyway in the hopes it'll help me get closer to that cheat power.
It sucked that my other skill was also useless until I gained excess to Magic and Magical spells.
But for that to happen, I needed to actually gain points in Mana and guess who had their all their stats locked to I0?
'Sigh. It's one disappointment after another. No, focus. No distractions.'
Finally landing on the first floor proper, I began my Adventuring on the first floor, keeping my eyes around for any goblins spawning or lurking around.
After minutes of roaming around, walking paths I had gotten familiar with from past excursions into the dungeon, I only found other Adventurers, unfortunately. Not a single monster in sight.
This was to be expected. The first couple floors were literally where a majority of the Adventurers spent their time, hunting monsters. And I was just one among them. Any monsters that spawned near the entrance area would be immediately killed by the adventurers. This continued to be the case for a good section of the floor. To find monsters on the first floor, you had to travel a bit more inwards, laterally. Not towards the entrance to the second floor, since that path was always crowded. But towards the side areas which didn't lead towards the entrance to the second floor. That's where I'd find monsters to fight.
Thus, knowing where to go, I walked towards that area, keeping a look around for monsters or other adventurers. The latter only because I wanted to keep my distance from any other folks roaming around in the dungeon. You simply didn't know what might happen and who among those adventurers might start something. I had zero confidence in winning any brawls, what with my stats stuck at the starting point.
Anyway, eventually, I found the goblins I had been looking for. Unfortunately, there were three of them in a cluster and I didn't know if I could deal with them.
Mikoto's advice rang in my head, and my own sensible self told me to leave them undisturbed and find a single target instead, something I knew I could take on. But I had been roaming around for a while and hadn't encountered anything for some time now.
So, instead of immediately turning back to make my way around this group, I kept my eye out towards my surroundings as I thought of a plan.
'What if I distract them and then attack them? That one over there is kinda separated from the others. If I managed to lure him away, then…. But then it'll still be two vs one and I don't like my chances there. It's dangerous. No, if I can somehow distract two? Ah, I wish I had something to snipe them. A ranged weapon would have been nice. Not that I know how to use a Bow. Maybe a crossbow? Hn…'
I frowned, not seeing a way to deal with three goblins on my lonesome with my very much non-supernatural physique and talent.
Picking up a rock from nearby, I squeezed it, my mind struggling to decide if it's worth taking that risk.
Two of the goblins were bare handed and one of them held a club. That one was the one a bit further away from the other two.
'Fuck it.'
Feeling bizarrely confident suddenly, I decided to take the risk and fight this group.
'Worst case I run away. I can run faster than them.'
Thinking that, I took a deep breath, my sword held in my off hand temporarily as I used my right to chuck the piece of rock above the goblins and towards the other end on the tunnel. Not having a great aim, the rock hit the top of the tunnel a bit further down the line from the goblins, causing them to look up above, before the rock hit the ground, rolling away with thuds.
That had the goblins attention as they were now all looking towards the other end of the tunnel, growling and snarling at the area where the rock had rolled off to.
The one separated from the others moved first, stumbling towards the rock to check, while the other two followed after a short delay.
'Damn it.'
Not what I wanted to happen. But since they're all distracted, I had the opening to sneak at them and kill at least one of them quickly, then fight and kill the other. Finally, I'll only have the club goblin to deal with.
Wasting only a brief moment in indecision, I started to quietly sneak towards the group, my mouth shut in a concentrated frown and breathing kept under control while my sword was ready to strike.
The distance between me and the goblins wasn't too large, but it was also not short enough to jump at them quickly.
I managed to cross half of the distance before I decided to start running, following my gut feeling.
And it was a good thing that I did since one of them had started to turn towards me in that moment.
Though, I wasn't able to fully hide myself, since the turning goblin did notice me before I could deal with him, opening its mouth to snarl at me, probably.
However, by then, I had managed to cover the entire distance and without hesitation, I sliced at the nearest goblin, making a deep cut on the chest of the about to be snarling goblin.
I didn't pause, reverting my momentum to plunge the sword deep into its chest.
The goblin exploded into black dust and I brought my attention to the other two.
The one closer to me, the other of the two, had turned and was now raising its hand to swipe at my stomach.
I dodged that attack, having had learned from my previous experiences fighting them. After three months and several excursions, I could say I more or less understood the attack pattern of these goblins. Dodging them however was not exactly a piece of cake since, again, I had no superhuman physique. But I could deflect or dodge sufficiently enough to prevent it from trying to gauge out my intestines.
And so, I did just that, dodging its claw attack, while I heard the last goblin roar from a bit further away, now running towards my direction.
My heart hammered as I brought my sword down on the goblin I was fighting, slashing at its face. It cried out in what looked like pain as red blood began to ooze out of the deep cut on its face. I took that opportunity to then plunge my sword at its chest.
Just as it too exploded, leaving behind the quickly dissipating black mist, I had to bring my now free sword in a defensive stance to block the lunging attack of the third goblin that had closed the distance and lunged at me with ferocity.
The attack connected with my blaze and I had to grit my teeth as the sword almost slipped my grasp. If I hadn't been holding onto it with both hands, that attack would have made me loose my weapon. But thankfully, I managed to hold on to it, even if the back of the blade had come a bit too close to my face from the impact.
Gritting my teeth, a growl leaking from my mouth at the exertion, I pushed against the club and using my body weight to overpower the gobbling, I shoved his club down to the side, then I raised my left foot and kicked him as hard as I could.
The kick didn't launch him away like in some anime fights, but it managed to make him lose his balance and fall on his back, losing his club.
I took a moment to find back my footing, then before it could fully get up, I plunged the sword straight into its face, the sword sinking deep into its skull and killing him. The last goblin turned into black dust and I was left a little winded, trying to take deep breaths to keep my heart from breaking free from my chest.
"Fuck…"
'That was… It could have gone wrong. But… I managed. Phew.'
Chuckling at my victory against three goblins, I took a short pause to center myself and look around for any unexpected enemies. Finding none, I collected the three goblin stones, wincing as I realized one of them was broken. Being already a tiny rock barely the side of my nails, this meant that it was almost worthless. I won't be getting much from this broken stone.
'Damn. Must have hit it accidentally. Maybe I should avoid hitting them dead center in the chest.'
This was the second time I had ended up with a broken goblin magic stone. So, I knew what happened and why it was bad.
Oh well, it is what it is.
Not letting it ruin my mood I deposited the stones in a compartment in my backpack and continued my dungeon run. The start was rather intense and left me a little winded, but I was far from done with just that. No, I was going to spend a couple hours here and get as many magic stone as possible.
Thankfully, I hadn't gotten hurt, other than that one attack from the club-wielding goblin rattling my hands, so my potion supply was still topped up.
Perhaps it was due to that great start, but I was feeling a bit more confident and decided I'll earn a good haul today. Maybe even try to break my record of goblins hunted in a single run. Not that I was going to go out of my way to risk my life to do that. Just something that would be nice if I managed, but if I didn't… oh well. No harm done. It was just a stupid competitive mentality anyway.
-x-
Several hours later, I left the dungeon, feeling tired and sore, but also feeling content and relieved at the successful solo dungeon run.
Heh, Solo Levelling. Except… I don't level up or gain any Falna. So, the reference kinda fell short.
I made my way to the guild and stood in a short line for selling the Magic Stones.
My turn came and I deposited all the Magic Stones on the counter, all 17 of them.
The clerk counted the crystals one by one, setting aside the cracked one with a disappointed click of his tongue.
"One broken crystal. The rest are decent quality."
A few moments later, he slid a small stack of coins across the counter.
"One thousand seven hundred and ninety-five Valis."
...
Nearly eighteen hundred Valis.
More than twice what I'd earned on my first dive. And almost twice what I earned from my job. Well, twice of my initial 900 Valis pay. Miach had raised it to 1000 Valis just last week. He said he was quite happy with my progress and that I was doing good work and deserved the raise. The shop had also seen an increase in customers, but I doubted that was because of me. I was no salesman and rarely manned the counter when neither Miach nor Naaza could afford to.
So, almost double what I earn now. Still pretty impressive in my biased opinion.
'Not bad. Not bad at all. All this for just, what, a bit over four and a half hours of dungeon delving on the very first floor. Yeah, I'm starting to see the reason for the popularity of the Adventurer profession.'
Taking my money and securing it in my backpack's hidden compartment, I headed back to the church.
I was pooped and my legs cried at me that they wanted a break soon.
Fair enough, despite my new-found exercise routine and improved stamina from continuous 'training montages', I was still a regular human who had been a couch potato just a couple months ago. So, it'll take time to improve. But I had improved. There was no doubt about that. The over double earnings from Magic Stones were proof enough.
I was tired, yes, but I was also happy with my progress.
At this rate, I might not become a noteworthy Adventurer or anything, but I was certainly growing. Slowly but surely, the container had filled up further. Drops after drops making it a small puddle.
It'll take time, but I was sure I could fill up the entirely of that container eventually and then things will change.
But until that time in the distant future, I was going to take this small victory for what it was and motivate myself.
'Bet Hestia would be excited once she learns how my day went. I should take her out tonight. Someplace nice.'
-x-