2 The real deal

"Here goes nothing…" Speaking to himself in order to once again cheat all the rationality within his brain into descending down the dark corridor, Arthur made his first step. And then the second one. By the time he was about to make his third move, the momentum of his body alone was the only reason why he was pushing forward.

But the corridor wasn't that long for the young man to be stuck travelling through it. After all, it was nothing more than a connector between the real world and his personal dungeon.

Crack.

With the reality itself breaking under the force capable of destroying all the laws of physic formerly known on earth, Arthur finally reached the outer end of the corridor. His mind already blank from fear. But all of it simply cracked away when the strange veil that held his humanity together was lifted as he placed his foot on the cold stones of the dungeon's floor.

"Seventh level, huh?" Shaking his head in disbelief, Arthur once again checked his equipment all over. Over the last two years, he only managed to clear six floors of the dungeon. And now he had to ignore all caution and rush into the search for yet another legendary grade monster dwelling in the depths of this magical place! "I guess there is no time to waste then."

There was no room for a faulty piece of equipment where the young man was going. Thankfully, Arthur didn't need to fight monsters on his way to where his future would be once again decided. That was the one major difference between this personal dungeon of his and all the others that dirtied the face of the earth ever since the new era began.

The era of magic, rapid growth and endless priceless resources enriching the economy. It got to the point where even the schools created separate classes for people interested in making dungeon dwelling their life occupation.

"I wonder what the heck did I do to deserve this…" Leaving all his fears and trauma back in the corridor, Arthur was jogging through the dim corridors. With the first four floors already perfectly mapped in his mind, he didn't even need to open the app where he kept the images of the complicated mess of the dungeon's insides.

Only after descending down to the recently cleared fifth level did Arthur's smartphone came to good use. With only some fleeting memories allowing the young man to find the direction, following his guts alone was the simplest way to fail the mission and see all his loved ones gone from the world.

Thankfully, the fifth floor was completely cleared already, saving the young man the problem of being wary of the attacks. And this situation continued through the next part of his stroll, all the way to the transfer room.

Apparently, every five floors, a single room of this kind could be found. From here, the young man could directly transfer to any of the floors he already visited. Something like this would be insanely useful for anyone aiming to explore the truly deep levels of the dungeon… But not so much for Arthur!

"Here goes nothing then…" Entering the hidden room, placed exactly where Arthur's map claimed it would be, the young man saw a small, shining gem. Taking one last look at his equipment to make sure it was all fine, the young dungeon dweller hesitatingly placed his palm on top of the crystal.

Crack.

The reality fell apart once again as if an illusion suddenly dispelled from right before Arthur's eyes. Right now, instead of being in the middle of the transfer room, he was facing the staircase connecting the sixth and seventh floor.

"Battle metrics activate, " Whispering the command that was already ingrained as a part of the prefight preparation routine, Arthur took a glance at his statistics. Even though he just managed to reach level sixth, his attributes didn't reflect that at all. "I wonder what others would say if they were to see this status of mine…"

For all the dwellers of the normal dungeons, levelling up was possible in many ways and forms. From killing the monsters within the dungeon, completing the tasks that would randomly appear in writing on its walls, all the way to clearing the floors or using some less orthodox methods of growing. For Arthur though, there were only two ways to do the same.

And omitting the one that went directly against his morals and personality, he could raise his level only by clearing an entire dungeon floor. Thankfully, this problematic situation didn't apply to his attributes, making him the strongest level six dungeon dweller to ever walk the earth.

And that strength was about to come in handy, as the rustling coming from the many corridors connected to the staircase area announced that the monsters were already making their way to Arthur's position.

"Let's go!" Hyping himself up for the upcoming fight, Arthur brought his violet, crystal ball up before squeezing it in his hand. Breaking under the pressure of his fingertips, instead of shattering into a myriad of pieces, this ball seemed to suddenly turn liquid, flowing down Arthur's hand and arm, before sinking deep under his skin.

*Magic Ball effect activated.*

*Energy will now be stored within the magic ball instead of being converted into the experience.*

Confirming that everything went according to the usual routine, Arthur discarded the notification before directing his eyes towards the mouth of one of the corridors in front of him. All of the paths from the south through the east all the way to the north were already mapped. Obviously, the task was not fully finished but with over two years of experience within this dungeon, Arthur could tell the signs implicating that the legendary boss wasn't hiding at the end of either of the paths.

"Buff aura activate."

As wasteful as it seemed to use the strengthening aura so early given its ridiculous demand for the energy, Arthur didn't dare to take any risks. Given how little time he had to not only find but also defeat that rogue valkyrie that the system tasked him with slaying, he couldn't afford to calmly travel through the two remaining paths.

Then, a huge crowd of the monsters finally appeared at the end of both corridors that Arthur had to choose from.

"Let's go directly west then, " Muttering to himself, Arthur stretched his body before suddenly throwing his entire self forward. Before any of the monsters could attack, his sword already made a quick work of the incoming opponents. Bit by bit, the energy cost of activating his aura was refunded with the magic of the fallen monsters fusing with Arthur's flow.

Step by step, the young man continued to run through the extensive path of the dungeon. Even though there was no GPS to speak off in this place, his pricey phone was at least capable of tracking both the distance and the direction that he would cover, automatically creating a simple map in a special app.

Even though this was only his fourth time on this floor, Arthur couldn't afford to be cautious anymore. The clock of his mission was ticking. If he wouldn't finish it in the first, golden time, the difficulty of the legendary monster he was tasked with slaying would grow up a huge notch all the while he would be forced to battle it to the death… Without the ability of a tactical retreat to recover!

Bit by bit, more time passed as Arthur continued to recklessly run through the corridors full of monsters. Slowing down only when more than half of his magical energy would deplete, he would swing his trusty weapon a few times, replenishing it by killing the everpresent monsters around him.

Arthur's progress was slow. What people in other dungeons would do in days or weeks at most, he took two entire years to accomplish. But given how the death in this dungeon was ultimate rather than forcing one to reappear in the peak state back at the dungeon's entrance, the young man dared not to take any risks.

But as pitiful as conquering only six floors over the last two years would appear to anyone listening, it was the only reason why Arthur could afford to be as careless as he was right now. Just a single look at the battle metrics proved that he had absolutely no reason to fear those spiders. Just the difference between their combined power and what the young man was bringing to the fight was overwhelming. Once one would account for additional techniques, skills and items, the gap between Arthur made it affordable for him to not pay much mind to his opponents.

That is, for as long as he had the time for leisure!

Tap, tap, tap.

So far, most of the monsters appearing took the form of dog-sized spiders. With the enchantment of his leather armour giving Arthur a complete immunity to poison below or equal to third-grade damage, his journey so far was no different from a simple stroll. But now, the sound of the approaching enemy indicated that the young man would face the spiders no more.

Now, the real deal was approaching.