ESCAPE

It had been fifteen minutes since Ivan had entered his escape tunnel and he already heard the rushing footsteps of what he presumed to be knights above him. The only thing he brought with him was a lantern to light up his way and a map to lead him to his destination.

While it was a huge pain in his backside, Ivan wanted to make sure anyone that entered his tunnels other than him would become lost. So while carving the way towards the dungeon he made sure to double back and create a few misleading paths that either looped together or had dead ends.

A process he dreaded yet found necessary to his success.

Now, while his tunnel did span far and deep, it would have taken him far longer to carve his way into the dungeon. So for now he settled for a small park somewhat near the check-in area for adventurers.

Looking at the makeshift hatch of leaves and dirt, Ivan directed his eyes to the shelves molded into the earth. Right before his exit he had created a little safe room to grab items he had specifically prepared for this operation.

What he picked up first was a large leather backpack containing canned food and other preservatives. It would be impossible for him to eat any of the monsters living in the dungeon so he had spoken to Hajime and Aiko about creating canned and other unexpirable foods.

When they had asked him what it would be for he just brushed it off and exclaimed that it would be very beneficial to the class during long expeditions and to the people of the Kingdom.

Another thing he had gotten was a new satchel to carry his potions and other elixirs. To make a more convincing death Ivan made sure to leave everything but the clothes on his body. As such he hoarded a lot of things he might need in this very cramped underground room.

He opened the sacks of potions he had left in the corner of the room and loaded his satchel with the ones he felt he needed the most, such as healing and stamina potions.

Ivan had no idea how long he'd be gone for but his goal was to reach beyond any of the floors people of Tortus had ever seen. The materials he had on him surely wouldn't last the whole duration of his trip so he was prepared to adjust on the go.

While the vegetation of the dungeon was scarce, Ivan had no doubts that it would contain rare and powerful herbs and the like the deeper one goes. Why did he have such confidence? Well, to him it seemed like the dungeon had an ecosystem of its own. And from what he read while most of the monsters were flesh eating there are records of more herbalistic monsters inhabiting deeper floors.

In order for them to survive against the bloodthirsty carnivores, the herbivores surely had a source of food besides other monsters that kept them going strong. Well, if Ivan was wrong about his guess and the herbivores only survived with the traits and tactics they gained by evolving as a species then he was screwed.

'But evolution huh…' Ivan was fascinated at the prospect of discovering how these creatures in the dungeon evolved to survive in their harsh environment. At least if he was going to be spending a long duration in the dungeon then he'd need to adapt the same way they do.

Adorning the different set of clothing he had prepared, Ivan fastened the hood of his coat and pulled up the mask he would wear from now on that covered the bottom half of his face.

It was the dead of night and he was sure a figure as suspicious as his would be stopped immediately. So he would need to sneak to the entrance of the dungeon from the park a few blocks away and take care of any guards that may be protecting its entrance.

A process that sounds simpler than it is.

Ivan climbed the makeshift steps out of his little saferoom and slowly lifted the hatch of leaves, dirt, and twigs. When he determined the surroundings to be clear he threw his bag up first and swiftly followed after it.

He wasn't sure how many guards would be placed at the entrance of the dungeon but he would guess at least two. If he used any of his more distinct elixirs than whether or not he really died would become dubious.

Not that he had any confidence in shooting them with a dosed arrow or getting close enough with a coated knife.

He inched his way down the streets, avoiding being under the light of the crystal lamp posts that lined the streets.

50 meters… 40 meters… 30 meters… 25 meters… 10 meters!

Ivan was so close to the entrance of the dungeon that it wouldn't be impossible to ignore the guards and just dash right in. If he was quick enough he could transmutate a wall behind him and buy enough time to escape.

But that would mean possibly revealing his status. If the Kingdom was any smart they already had a track of what Ivan was capable of. The wall he created to stop and detain the Rockmount would probably come to mind when they hear about a mysterious trespasser who blocked the entrance of the dungeon with a wall of stone.

So with all other options closed there was only one thing left to do. If beating the guards unconscious and using his abilities was out of the question then he'd have to try the oldest trick in the book.

CLINK!

"Hm?" The two burly guards that stood at each side of the entrance stared at the shiny coin that had mysteriously rolled in front of them.

They stared at it a bit to themselves before wondering whether is had always been there

"Hey Ross, was that coin always there?"

"No no, I don't think so at all Paul."

"Wanna play rock paper scissors for it?"

"Shut up, you can pick it up after our shift is over."

And just like that the two guards stayed at their posts.

'Damn, that always worked in the movies.' Ivan banged his head on the wall he was hiding behind as he praised the determination of the two guards.

He looked around the area for a moment before resisting the temptation to use his amulet. The roar of a Rockmount would surely attract just as much attention as if any other knights caught the sight of two unconscious guards.

What he needed now was a distraction large enough to draw the guards away from their posts but not large enough to cause a panic.

That's when an idea hit him.

"Somebody help! There's a fire near the castle!"

Ivan moved away from the building and yelled from the top of his lungs, he was positioned and ready to jump back into his hidey hole the moment he saw the guards respond to the yell.

And respond they did. The two guards made their way to the park swiftly, displaying the same amount of swiftness one would expect from two high level adventurers.

They looked around a moment before staring at each other, the one who yelled disappeared but if they chalk it up to a prank when what they spoke of was the truth then it'd be careless of them not to act.

"I'll head on over to see if it is the truth, you head on over to the barracks and warn Captain Meld about this. Alright?"

"Alright, just be careful, Paul!"

The two went their separate ways, having faith in each other's abilities to complete their task.

'Well, I'm glad that worked out.' Meanwhile Ivan dragged himself out of his hole again and sighed in relief. For a moment he was afraid they'd decide to look for the one who instigated the call but luckily they cared more about the wellbeing of the castle than their own duty

Ivan scurried to the entrance of the dungeon once more, this time going as quickly as he could in hopes of not running into any knights or guards that may be loitering in the area.

He looked at the marble and well furnished room that stood before any who planned on entering the dungeon. And with calm and confident steps, he entered with an excited grin on his face.

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"GRAGH!"

The rat-like creature lunged at Ivan, only to be met with his spear-like tendril of mana. It pierced through the chest of the Ratman and threw its body like a bowling ball at the rest of the pack.

While Ratmen were one of the weakest species in the dungeon their strength was more derived from working together as a pack. Unless you had an offensive skill or spell that could take care of multiple enemies at once, it'd be difficult to take on an entire pack on your own.

And while Ivan possessed neither, he was indeed a very resourceful man.

Ivan only eyed the multiple figures that leaped at him at the same time before clasping his hands and touching the ground beneath him.

A magic circle appeared under him before he was enveloped by a dome made of earth. Then he repeated that process and pulled something else from the ground beneath him, while he wasn't familiar with spears he did understand its principle of piercing the target in front of him.

So without further ado, he opened a slit in his dome and stabbed at the Ratmen that ferociously attacked at it.

"GAGH!"

"RAGH!"

The pack of Ratmen that lost two of its members from that attack backed away from the dome and circled it, if their attacks weren't going to work then they'd just starve him out of hiding.

Under normal circumstances Ivan would be able to tunnel his way out of such an encirclement but soon after entering this dungeon he realized he wasn't able to transmute the ground beneath him to a certain depth.

While there was enough room to make some pitfalls with spikes at the bottom it would be impossible to break through the ground to the lower levels. He wasn't sure what the cause of it was but any attempt he made to break through was met by swift regeneration by the dungeon.

If he had to guess there was some kind of protective spell in the dungeon that prevented anyone from skipping to the lower levels. Normally that'd bring a sense of dread to Ivan, however this kind of large scale magic only brought him excitement.

It only made him salivate at the thought of beating this dungeon and attaining such large scale power. At least he believed the attainment of it would fasten his process towards 'Ars Magna.'

Ivan gripped the spear in his hands tightly and opened a path for him to rush out of the protective dome. He dashed at the nearest Ratman, neglecting the opening he left behind him for others to attack.

The Ratman, not anticipating such a rush, accepted the spear into its head before losing all feeling in its body.

Ivan remained in his position and kept the impaled Ratman at the end of his spear, as for the two Ratmen that lunged at his back…

SQUISH

Two gray tendrils shot out of his back and gripped the heads of the Ratman that lunged at him. As he sent more mana through them the pressure only grew stronger and stronger. Eventually the Ratman stopped struggling altogether and dangled in the air lifelessly.

"HAHAHAHA!"

It was only his first encounter in the dungeon and yet he was satisfied with his display. Though he really felt that he is too vulnerable when he needs to touch whatever he needs to transmutate.

While not on the scale of 'Ars Magna,' he already thought of a way to improve his combat capabilities in an effective way for now.

Calmly recollecting himself, Ivan made plans for his current expedition. While he wanted to work on his new way of transmuting, it would be unsafe to do so without some sort of base of operation

The class would follow behind him soon, in the past month they had made an advancement from the 20th floor and are now on the 30th floor. Seeing as how everything up until the 65th floor was mapped and explored, Ivan needed to set up his base somewhere near there on a route the class and any other adventurers would have no reason to travel upon.

Wrapping up the map in his hands, Ivan threw it neatly into his satchel and made his way to the next floor with his hands in his pocket, whistling all along the way.

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Like it? Add it to your library! Of course that's if you wish to do so. Honestly this was one of my weaker chapters.

Anyways thanks again for reading! Look forward to seein' you again. Have a great day/night!

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