Chapter 37 – Entering the dungeon again

"You are back?" A huge man covered entirely in black armour said in an amused tone of voice.

He stood next to a tall mound of mud with a huge dark hole in it. This was the entrance to the dungeon of Two Fang city and the man was Ard.

In front of him stood 3 kids. 1 boy and 2 twin tiger tribe girls. The boy had a straight face on that betrayed none of his emotions but the two girls behind him had twitching ears and their tails swung in such huge arcs that it was hard to miss their excitement.

Unlike the last time, Adam had walked into the illusion formation without the help of Ard and arrived at the entrance.

Greeted with a question right off the bat Adam did not see it as rude. This was how the man was. Fewer words more action. So he replied to him calmly.

"Yes. Hopefully, I won't come out the same way as last time." He chuckled.

"Good. You've got guts. I'm guessing the two behind you are the ones Bren told me about?" The man turned his gaze toward the two excited girls.

"Yes, they are my party members."

"Class?" Ard questioned. He had grown curious.

"Luna is a Mage." Adam pointed at Luna and explained. " Elaine is a Tank." He then pointed to Elaine.

"Not bad. You are a ranger so you are an attack based party. Keep that in mind. End the fight quickly." He did not say much more but his intent was evident.

Adam's party had Elaine for defence, Luna for powerful attacks and Adam for crowd control. Basically two attackers and one defence. Ard was hinting to the fact that if they ended up in a prolonged fight their main attacker Luna would spend unnecessary amounts of magic power. It was better to swiftly end fights. If not retreat was the best option.

Adam took the man's kind intentions to heart. The last time the man had seemed so distant but had still carried him home after he lost consciousness and now he was advising them in his own way.

"Yes, sir!" His gratitude was evident in his words. There was no need for more to be said.

"Get going. Take this." He tossed a small pouch at Adam. "Your reward for the three corpses last time. 30 coppers."

Before Adam could reply the man spoke again.

"Wait. You still haven't gotten a storage tool? Did you not learn anything from last time? Will, you carry all the corpses and materials you find inside by hand?"

Adam did not know what to say at Ard's sudden temper at him.

'Storage tool? What the hell is that?' He thought to himself.

Seeing the confusion on Adam's face the man only let out a sigh and pulled a ring off his finger then pulled a string from his pocket. "Take this and tie it around your neck. Hold it and think about sucking something into it." He did not say anything else.

Adam did exactly as he said. He first put the string through the silver ring with a dazzling blue gem embedded in it and tied it to his neck.

He then lifted the hanging ring with his fingers and turned towards a loose rock lying on the floor and willed a suction force.

Zoop.

The rock was pulled toward the ring and then sucked into it.

"What?!" He couldn't help but cry out in astonishment.

'This is the legendary storage ring.' How could a nerd for gaming like him not realize what he was holding? His excitement had hit the roof, bored a hole through it and then even broken the ceiling of the heavens.

"it is a storage ring." The man said in his deadpan voice. "I forgot you grew up in Two Fang… The craftsmen here are all 2 stars and below. No masters who have stepped onto the path of enchantment are anywhere near this place."

"Will it to show you its contents."

Adam followed his instructions. He felt a similar sensation to when he peered into his soul. A completely empty space with the rock from earlier floating in it appeared in his 'sight'.

It wasn't a defined space but he could sense its boundaries.

"How big is the space inside it?" He asked.

"It's a low-grade treasure tool so not that big. I've forgotten the measurements. But you should be able to store around 300 or so corpses of those goblins in it." Ard replied after a bit of contemplation.

'Ahh, no one ever remembers the fine print behind a product. 300 goblin corpses? And it's only a low grade… the heck.' Adam thought to himself.

Seeing the shocked look on Adam's face, Ard thought that he still couldn't understand what he was holding.

"Boy, haven't you ever read or heard about the fiend's attack on the races of this world? We were able to close the dimension portal back then and end the threat of the invasion. Do you think we have just sat back since then and not enhanced our technology?" The usually quiet man was now filled with pride when he spoke about the advancement in technology.

" I have read about it. I also know about the crown prince of illumination empire and his endeavours to help innovation back in the day." Adam replied.

"Good. So you know. Space type magic tools have always been a priority since those times. They are very common in the three kingdoms and even some of the bigger trading hubs of the plains. The only reason it hasn't reached this city is that no one here has any use for them. So I'm guessing the store owners see no need to hold a stock of them."

"As soon as the dungeon opens you will see these tools everywhere. With the dungeon still in a stage of infancy, you shouldn't expect that to happen anytime soon."

"How can I get one of my own then? I'm guessing they aren't that expensive since they are so readily available in other parts." Adam had to ask this question that was on his mind.

"Leave that up to Bren. She can handle it easily. I'll let her know. She can put up a delivery mission in the bigger guild's nearby. It will be slightly more expensive but I'm sure the Madam of the Four Ways lodge will not object."

"Leave this matter to the adults. You kids should focus on what you are supposed to do. Keep my ring till you get your own."

"I cannot. It's too weighty a favour. What will mister Ard do if I take it?" it didn't matter how cheap or expensive this item was. It was still the legendary storage ring that would pump the blood of all men. How could he accept it so easily?

"What's a kid like you worrying about favours for?" He harrumphed but a glint of admiration flashed in his eyes. " I have an extra for my personal items. I only use that when I go hunting. It would be too dirty to mix corpses with my other items."

"ugh…" Adam was left speechless. This intimidating man who could send shivers down other men's spines was an unlikely hygienist.

"Take it, young master. Since mister is being so nice. I can't wait to enter the dungeon any longer." Elaine spoke up. Even Luna nodded in consent.

"Even the girls are so decisive. How can you call yourself a man in the future acting so indecisive?!" Ard glared at him.

'I was only being considerate. Fine. Fine! I'll take it.' He made up his mind.

"I will then thank you for your kind intentions." He nodded his head in gratitude.

"Good. Get going now." He turned away and stood in his position again.

Adam and the two girls stepped into the entrance of the dungeon.

Just like last time the sense of weightlessness was followed by standing in the cavernous corridor.

The girls let out two small yelps when the weightlessness struck them. It was their first time after all.

Adam had already explained what he knew about the dungeon to the two in detail. Personal experience was still a completely different ball game though.

Walking along the corridor, Adam kept fiddling with the ring that hung from his neck. A foolishly huge grin on his face.

"Is young master all right?" Elaine whispered to Luna.

"I don't know… maybe it's just a boy thing? He keeps acting weird when he's messing around with that ring. Even the old uncle outside had a pained expression when he handed it over." Luna tried her best to make sense of the weird actions.

The two girls walked a step behind him trying to figure him out.

Suddenly Adam's face turned serious. He let go of the ring and faced forward. Ahead of them, the corridor seemed to open up.

"We are here." He said and continued walking forward.

Coming to the opening of the corridor the same hemispherical room with stalactites and stalagmites greeted them.

Looking inside the room three goblins were in plain sight.

Two were skinny and one was average with a stick in his hands.

"It seems they don't spawn in any particular pattern. There are two that throw rocks and one of the averagely sized goblins." Adam analyzed the situation.

"Are you two ready?" The plan was to let Elaine and Luna clear the first room alone.

The girls had repeatedly said that they had killed small monsters on several occasions for their meals during their exile but it was better to give them an early taste of fighting something of their same size and with a bit more intelligence.

"We are!" They replied in unison.

"I will wait here then. Don't worry, I will jump in the second you need any help." Adam tried to calm their nerves. The two were obviously tense.

"No need to worry young master. we've got this." Luna said confidently.

"Yeah. Easy!" Elaine conferred but both of their knees were wobbling slightly.

Seeing this Adam smiled and laughed.

"Do your best. If you can do this alone I will listen to any one of your requests as a reward." He tried providing a bit of motivation.

"Anything?!" Both of them had a fire light up in their hearts.

"Umm… as long as its something that I can do… yeah." He replied slightly startled by their sudden outburst of fervour.

The two girls looked at each other then nodded.

"Let's go, Luna," Elaine called.

"Um!" Luna affirmed.

The two girls were almost skipping as they made their way into the hall.

A few screeches were heard and within a minute the two girls voices came from inside.

"Easy!"

"Young master we are done. Please collect the corpses."

Adam walked in with a wry smile. 'Where has the tension from earlier gone? It now feels like a field trip.'

Adam had seen what had happened from outside. Elaine blocked the first few blows of the goblins and made the one in close combat stagger backwards and fall.

Luna then cast her water territorial skill which enveloped the limbs of all three goblins that were touching the floor. With them immobilized for a few seconds, she cast three quick fireballs and incinerated them.

"Luna was awesome back there. Did you see it, young master?!" Elaine was almost yelling in her excitement.

"yeah, she was pretty cool." He agreed.

"Stop it you two!" Luna blushed bright red.

"Hehe, Don't forget that he also owes us a reward!" Elaine voiced what both of them were thinking.

"Yes, what do you two want?" There was no point in stalling for time. He asked straightforwardly.

"A pat." Elaine instantly said.

"okay." He gently rubbed the top of her head and fiddled with her soft ears.

"Mmmmmhhhh" She almost purred from delight.

"Do you want the same thing, Luna?" He questioned.

"No. Umm… I… I want to hold hands." She stuttered.

"Here." He had already promised and expected this so there was no surprise. The girls did this way too often. He put his hand forward and grabbed her silky smooth palm.

"Ah! Wait! Wait! no fair. She gets a longer reward!" Elaine whose pat had come to an end complained.

"You made your choice. Let us go, we need to keep exploring." He walked ahead into the corridor at the other side.

He was still comparing how he had been beaten to a pulp on his first time here but the girls had completely annihilated the goblins on theirs.

'Where is the fairness in this world?' He couldn't help but lament in his mind.

'I am not being petty and teasing her. This is the way of the world. I am only teaching her the cruel reality of the world we live in. I would never do this just because they completely outclassed my first time.never' He tried reasoning his action's but even he couldn't completely convince himself.

Luna giggled as she hugged his arm and knew that her sister was being teased while Elaine could only walk alongside them with a pout.

They made their way into the corridor that even Adam had not explored on his previous visit.