As he descended the first step, Ruminas felt a chill emanating from underground. The air here was damp, carrying the musty smell characteristic of places that had been abandoned for a long time.
She paused for a moment to check her equipment. Currently, she had an axe from Kazin, a small knife, and some food from Akira. She had no special skills to aid in hiding, so facing 142 monsters in here was clearly not a wise choice.
"It's best to just fight a guerrilla war," Ruminas thought to himself.
"That reminds me, I haven't checked the information on this axe since I got it."
"Appraisal!"
[Snake Axe [A]: Although it is tough, it can also be flexible like a snake. When attacking, it will create an additional attack on a nearby target and deal half damage. In addition, if the enemy is an Undead, the damage will be doubled and the additional attack will keep the same damage. When using a special attack, it will summon an illusion of a snake to attack the opponent. The special attack can only be used twice a day. When used, the power will be +3]
"Oh, that's pretty cool. I didn't expect that scum to have such a cool weapon."
Ruminas decided to use the axe, and leave the knife for emergencies. After preparing everything, she continued down, the darkness forcing her to use a flashlight.
When she got there, her first impression of the place was dark, damp, gloomy, and… full of monsters. There was only one path ahead, but there were many forks after that.
"The maze…"
She tried to look over the wall on both sides and accidentally discovered a lever, out of curiosity she pushed it down. The dungeon shook a bit then suddenly light appeared in the middle of the ceiling, illuminating this passage.
"Oh, I thought it was really dark…" Ruminas had to put away the flashlight again.
Ruminas was in no hurry to leave, but she found something to mark the path. After a while, Ruminas had to take out some black blood and smear it on the wall to mark the path.
"Um, let's go"
After a few minutes of walking, she discovered a large room ahead. Its door was partially broken, and she could enter with just a slight push.
Ruminas glanced through the crack in the door.
Inside, she saw a group of monsters moving around, but couldn't see what kind they were.
"Appraisal"
[Low-Grade Skeleton Guard]
[Description: Simply a skeleton with armor and sword]
[Lower Guard Zombie]
[Description: Just a zombie with armor and a sword]
"It's undead, right? What a lucky break, there were only about 15 of them."
With this number, if it were parasites or chaos monsters, Ruminas would have run away long ago, but if it were just these undead then—
"Next!"
Ruminas charged straight in, the monsters saw her and rushed forward but she just picked up her axe and swiped it across, immediately a series of monsters fell down.
"It's truly an anti-undead weapon, not only does it double the damage but it also has an additional attack. It's just a one hit one kill."
Ruminas continued to swing a few more times and it was all over.
"That's fast but swinging this is tiring."
[Received: 150 EXP, 8 hard bones, 7 rotten flesh]
It was then that Ruminas noticed a chest in the room. She went to open it and the bright light emitted from it made her eyes dazzle.
"Gold??"
She saw that there were a lot of round gold coins inside, it didn't seem like the kind that was commonly used in her world but it would definitely be useful in the future so she took them all.
[Received: 200 gold coins]
"It will probably act as currency in this new era. We will have land to use when we enter the city-states."
Ruminas took a short rest to regain her strength and then continued moving.
Ruminas left the room, carefully observing her surroundings before continuing deeper into the dungeon. She followed the long, narrow corridor, the cold air still lingering in every corner.
After a few minutes of walking, she noticed a fork ahead. One path led straight downhill, pitch black with no visible bottom, while the other led a little higher, lit by the glow of the glowing stones on the wall.
"Another choice…"
Based on experience, deeper paths were often more dangerous but also had more rewards. However, with her current state, she wasn't sure if she could fight against a group of stronger monsters.
Thinking for a moment, Ruminas decided to go in the direction of the light.
Her footsteps echoed on the stone floor as she slowly advanced, warily observing her surroundings with each step. As she neared the top of the slope, she stopped and listened.
…There was a noise.
The sound of rubbing, the sound of footsteps dragging on the ground… and a low growl.
"There are monsters?"
She exhaled softly, adjusted her posture, gripped the axe tightly in her hand, and slowly walked forward. As she got closer, she discovered a partially cracked stone door, through the cracks she could see the silhouettes of moving creatures.
"Appraisal."
[Low-Level Wolf Soul]
[Description: A species of wolf that died and revived as undead. They are fast and attack in packs]
"Wolves, about five…" Ruminas frowned slightly.
Unlike the slow skeletons or zombies, these undead wolves are much faster and more dangerous, especially when they attack in packs.
She stepped back a bit, thinking about her approach. If she charged straight in, there was a high chance of being surrounded. But if she lured them out and attacked them individually, she could deal with them more easily.
Having finished planning, she picked up a small stone at her feet and threw it hard into the crack of the door.
Thump!
The sound immediately attracted the attention of the pack of wolves inside. One of them rushed forward, its crimson eyes glowing in the darkness.
"Now then…"
Ruminas did not wait. As soon as the wolf jumped out of the door, she immediately swung the Serpent Axe. The flexible blade curved and slashed down on the wolf's head, causing it to collapse instantly.
[Receive: 20 EXP, 1 Faded Feather]
"Get one"
Ruminas gasped. Although it looked quick, the previous attack had taken a lot of her energy.
"Let's take a break"
Not letting time pass in vain, she rested just enough and repeated the tactic.
The second stone was thrown, and another one charged out. Ruminas quickly finished it off with a precise swing of his axe.
The third pill…
The fourth pill…
After killing the fifth one, she felt her body almost exhausted. Luckily, these wolves had no thoughts and only acted on instinct, so she was able to lure them out one by one.
[Received: 80 EXP, 4 Faded Feathers]
"Now go get your reward!"
Ruminas immediately entered the inner room, she was excited when she saw the chest in front of her but before she could get there, her foot suddenly stepped on some mechanism.
"Oh no!"
Ruminas was about to turn back but suddenly steel wires shot out from the wall and tied her up.
"What!" She tried to move, but they were too tight for her to do anything.
Then she saw, the floor under her feet suddenly opened up to reveal a deep pit below.
"Don't tell me—"
Just as Ruminas thought of a possibility, the ropes suddenly loosened and caused her to fall down.
"Ah…!"
Ruminas closed her eyes as she fell, bracing herself for impact, but instead of a hard surface, she felt a chill envelop her entire body.
BOOM!
She fell straight into an underground lake.
The water was so cold that it made her body numb for a moment. Ruminas quickly struggled, lifting her head above the water and gasping for air.
"What the hell is this…!"
She muttered to herself, feeling drenched and heavy. Each layer of clothing clung to her skin, making every movement difficult. Since she had fallen quite far and the lake was deep, it took her almost a minute to get back up.
"It's cold!" Ruminas shivered all over.
She struggled to swim to the nearest shore, her hands on the cold stone floor and she pulled herself up. A shiver ran through her body as the cold air made contact with her wet skin.
"Can't stay like this for long…"
Ruminas quickly removed each item of clothing from her body, spreading them out on a large rock to dry. Not only was her wet clothing uncomfortable, it also slowed her down—a big no-no in a dangerous place like this.
After removing her outer layer, she wrung out the water, trying to speed up the drying process. While waiting, she checked her belongings.
The Axe is in good condition, but the handle is a bit slippery from the water. The dagger is fine.
The sudden cold made Ruminas shiver again, she quickly took out some wood she had gathered and built a small campfire, she sat as close as possible to warm herself.
Ruminas sighed, feeling the drops of water falling from her wet hair. In this quiet space, only the sound of dripping water echoed, making her a little wary.
Regardless, she needed to wait for her clothes to dry a bit before moving on. But the feeling of being naked in a place like this still made her a bit uncomfortable.
"…Just bear with it for a while."
She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against a rock, her eyes still constantly observing her surroundings, on guard for anything that might appear in the darkness.
After a moment of calm, she began to take in her current situation, a cave with a lake in front and a dark passage behind. She looked up again at the place where she fell.
"The distance must be hundreds of meters, how can I climb up like this!"
"What bad luck"
"The only thing left to do is wait for the clothes to dry and then follow the available path," Ruminas said.
"I should have prepared some spare clothes…" Ruminas rummaged through her item space again and luckily found an old blanket.
She immediately took it out and covered it up. Although the old stuff was a bit uncomfortable, she couldn't ask for anything more now.
"Shouldn't I get some sleep? There aren't many monsters around here anyway." So she curled up in her blanket by the fire, feeling her body warm up a bit and quickly fell asleep.