The next day.
"I will be going to the Dungeon, Lady Hestia!"
Kael, after eating breakfast, was leaving for the dungeon.
Today I will go to floor 3
Kael thought to himself as he gazed at the Tower of Babel from the west main street.
Yesterday, after their celebration at the hostess of fertility, they all chose to return to their home without staying for a long period of time, as Lady Hestia was completely drunk.
Though, Kael doesn't know why Lady Hestia was so clingy yesterday
Even after returning to their home – the underground basement of an abandoned church.
Lady Hestia wasn't willing to let go, he even had to sleep on the same bed with her.
Fortunately, due to his life experience, he possesses a very high level of self-control.
So he didn't make a fool of himself in front of her or because of sleeping in the same bed – with goddess Hestia clinging to his arm, go through the entire night without sleeping.
So he was able to rest and recover before waking up in the morning.
And remain in his peak condition for going to the 3rd floor of the dungeon today.
"Are you fully recovered from last night's indulgence, Kael?"
Asked Miss Eina, who was sitting behind the guild counter in her usual guild uniform - consisting of a black vest over a white blouse with a black bow around the collar, black slacks, along with a pair of black dress socks, as well as a pair of thickly heeled, black boots.
Miss Eina is a half-elf and a Half-human.
Unlike an elf, who usually has a perfect appearance.
She, as a Half-elf, has an imperfect appearance, but instead of this being a minus point, it makes her more human and easy to approach or to talk with.
"Yes Miss Eina, I have recovered perfectly from yesterday. And ready to go to the floor 3"
Kael replied as he dropped yesterday's dungeon loot on the table.
Miss Eina started to count yesterday's monsters' drops and record them.
"Here you go, it's a total of1.500 valis"
Miss Eina said as she handed me small bags of gold coins.
"Mmm, Miss Eina? Can I store it in the guild for now? Its weight will slow down my speed in the dungeon battle"
After weighing the small bag of money in my hand, Kael asked Eina with a bit of trouble expression.
"He he he" Miss Eina stifled a laugh behind her hand. Her lips remained curved in a lingering smile, she replied:
"Of course you can, don't I tell you every day to come to the adventurers' guild in the afternoon to convert your monster's drops into valis for this reason? "
Kael chuckled awkwardly with embarras expression on his face
Kael:
" You have, but yesterday I was in a hurry to get back home so I could ready myself for celebration and I totally forgot to go to the guild"
Seeing Kael's embarrassed expression, Eina stopped laughing but her lips still curled up in a smile
Eina:
"It's fine, next time you should pay more attention to your stay in the dungeon and don't lose track of time. Now go, aren't you going to the third floor today?"
Hearing her say this Kael started to hurriedly pack his equipment.
Kael said loudly while he left the guildheadquarters:
"I will head off miss Eina! "
Seeing him leaving in such a hurry Eina shakes her head gently her face still holding a smile
She mutters to herself in a low voice, her tone softened:
"Really, he is always in a Hurry" Then, she replied to Kael in a loud voice.
" Take care, and don't spend much time on the third floor. Come back safely!"
Kael in a loud voice:
"Okay!!"
———
Floor 3 is similar to and different from floors 1 and 2.
narrow, maze-like stone corridors with brown-colored walls like the upper floors.
It resembles a standard cavernous labyrinth.
The floor is lit by natural phosphorescence emitted by the dungeon walls, providing enough light for beginners to navigate without torches.
But the atmosphere here is completely different.
Even though the lighting here is the same as on floors 1 and 2, floor 3 appears much, much darker and dimmer.
No, it's not that my surroundings have become dimmer, but rather the air itself has become heavier.
Kael thought to himself as he stepped forward cautiously
Guess I have to take some time to get used to it.
"haaaa!!!"
It's been some time since Kael descended on floor 3.
Currently, he is locked in combat with a pack of 12 kobolds
Although monsters have become a bit more intelligent and cunning, their strength hasn't increased significantly.
The most troublesome part is their increasing number and slightly tactical teamwork, which has made me expend much more effort to defeat them.
After finishing the last kobold, Kael whipped his forehead, Kael let his thoughts out loud.
"Man, I really need someone to accompany me"
The last adventurers' party I joined didn't go so well.
Can I also have teammates who can have my back in future?
Now is not the time to focus on this.
Kael shook his head to shake off his wandering thoughts and quickly gathered his attention on the dungeon.
He picked up all of the monsters' drops and walked deep into floor 3 after storing them in his backpack.
Kael don't have to go far when other monsters begin to appear in front of him, Kael didn't take much time killing them.
But his stamina also began to be depleted very quickly.
There are too many of them coming at me, at once.
Unlike upper floors, where monsters rarely appear or are spawned in large groups, the floor 3's monster density and spawning rate are much faster.
Moreover, here monsters appear on much larger group.
Guess this is why this floor is called rookie trail ground?
Kael thought to himself, currently he is taking a break.
In the dungeon, a safe floor is usually below the floor of the floor boss.
But if you cleared the surrounding monsters fast enough you can make a temporary safe zone, which is enough to last for a quick break.
But you can't take your guard off, not to mention a temporary safe zone, even safe floors are never absolutely safe.
Dungeon is never safe or easy.
Even high-ranking adventurers can die if they let their guard down.
Gulp Gulp Gulp
Haaahh
Kael quenched his thirst.
Damn, my stamina is depleting too quickly.
Should I let support join me from the next day?
No I can't trust them.
Kael was thinking about what to do tomorrow and preparing to retreat to the surface, when he heard a sound coming from another direction in the corridor that led deeper into the 3rd floor.
"Screeeee!"
This sound.
A horned ant?
I am meeting them so soon?
It's only my first time descending on the 3rd floor.
Looking at the red shell, who's hight reaches his waist.
Kael gulped, he quickly got on his feet and raised his sword in his hand.
Kael remembered the monster's information that Miss Eina told him.
Horned ant:
Usually found alone on floor 3.
They have a red shell on their body with a small one on their forehead.
Their size can reach upto approximately 3.3 to 3.5 feet (roughly 100–107 cm).
They like to ramp straight into their target and hook the target body with their horn and bite the target body in half with their super-strong jaws
And in a low probability event, you forgot or didn't finish it off quickly.
They can also call for their kin in same floor.
This trait is similar to the rookie killer, also known as the killer ant.
The only reason the horned ants aren't called rookie killer alongside the killer ant is that, their probability of calling reinforcement is low.
Of course, one should always remain cautious.
Tkt-tkt-tkt
Horned ant attacks quickly, his joints producing a metallic sound that reverberates on silent dungeon.
Without hesitation, Kael jumps to the side and throws a dagger at the ant's head.
But its hard shell barely left a single scratch after being struck with a dagger.
Damn it, its shell is too hard.
Even if I slash at him with my sword, not a single scratch will likely be left behind on his shell.
Even though it's very likely, my sword will break into pieces first.
Kael after landing on the floor, didn't stop for a moment and began to run in a circle around the horned ant.
Kael began to think hard about how to defeat the horned ant
Remember Kael, remember what Miss Eina said.
Tkt-tkt-tkt the horned ant also began to turn around to always face Kael with his giant jaws.
This metallic sound coming from its joints is very annoying!
Right joints, I remember Miss Eina telling me that between his joints there are small space uncovered by his hard shell.
After remembering crucial information from Miss Eina, Kael no longer just continued to run around it.
Suddenly increasing his speed, Kael slashes cracks between the horned ant joints.
Slice.
Kael didn't stop for a moment after slicing the horned ant's limbs.
He quickly left the front side where its giant jaws were located.
Never stand in front of a horned ant or a killer ant.
This is what Miss Eina told Kael.
That's right, just sever its limbs and then fall back, repeat it until only its head remains.
Although this strategy is slow, boring and bothersome.
But it's incredibly effective on horned ants.
Hsssss
Kael jumped back after severing the horned ant's last limb as its jaws bit towards him.
Kael after retreating for a second, slashes at the gaps between the horned ant's neck joints with a vertical arc with his sword held in his hand
Swish
Horned ant collapsed in black smoke.
Kael after taking a look at his surroundings for any other danger, sheathed his sword
That was really tiring!
Is this why most of the low-level adventurers don't like horned ant!?
Kael started to pick up monsters' drops as well as his belongings, which he hadn't picked up before because of the horned ant.
Just when Kael was about to head back, he once again heard a sound.
Don't tell me there are other monsters here? This is too fast! Give me a break!
"help!. Help!!. Help!!!!"
thin, desperate cry echoed through the tunnels.
No this is the sound of a human.
I have never heard monsters on the 3rd floor imitating a human's voice.
And this voice sounded incredibly familiar!
Kael stopped.
His heart sank to his stomach… then he ran towards source of sound without stopping.
Upon finding Chamber where sound of help come from, Kael quickly step inside.
Inside the chamber
Kael saw hell.
The corridor opened into a wide cavern.
Blood streaked the stone.
Bodies leaned against the walls.
Monsters ringed the centre of the chamber like hunters around wounded prey.
And at the centre of all that stood someone Kael never thought would meet again.
Looking at three people standing at the centre at edge of death, with missing limbs and injuries filled entire body
Kael eyes widened in shock.
His voice cracked is it left his mouth
"Miri? Roivan? Toma?"