Dungeon (1)

Arias finally reached the end of the path that lay within the crooked cave. But what he found was not an exit that he was hoping to find. Instead, what he found was something that even he had not expected: a dungeon door.

Dungeons were places with numerous beasts hidden inside. Thus, they held dangers from beasts but also valuable treasures, along with rare herbs and beastcores which were the target of mages who wished to clear the dungeon. Nobody knew how dungeons were built and by whom, there were only legends that had been passed down from generation to generation. Some of the legends said that dungeons were created by Satan to raise beasts inside. Others said that they were created by the gods who wished to lock away the beasts to keep them from pestering humans. In the end, no one could say with certainty who built these dungeons.

There were several dungeon doors like the one that appeared in front of Arias hidden in many corners of the world. Many of them had been discovered and cleared by groups of powerful people, while some were yet to be cleared or discovered. Nevertheless, there were several dungeons that were simply too dangerous that no one dared to set foot inside.

“Seems like I’m the first to discover this dungeon.”

Arias raised a delighted smile. Him being the first to discover this dungeon meant that all the hidden treasures inside were still untouched by anyone. This made Arias imagine himself raking every last treasure hidden inside this dungeon. He shook the thought away from his mind before preparing to activate the dungeon door.

For a dungeon that had been entered before, all that the next person needed to do was use their magical power to trigger the door open. That alone would have been enough to re-open the dungeon door. Arias had tried this method a moment ago but found that he could not open the door, which meant that this dungeon had not been discovered by anyone before.

Arias used a knife to make a cut on his fingertip before using that finger to create a magic circle with his blood. The circle was drawn on the door at the dark red gem. Then, he conveyed his magic power into the gem, making the dull red stone turn bright like a tiny sun. It shined brightly before starting to absorb all the blood on the door.

“Damn it. Is it trying to suck all the blood out of my body?”

Arias quickly jerked his hand before leaping backward and away from the door when it seemed like the gem was trying to absorb the blood from the wound on his fingertip as well. Luckily, he was able to pull his hand out in time, or else it would have taken all of his blood.

Red lines started to stem from the red gem before spreading along some kind of markings on the grey door. Then, it began to shine so strongly that Arias had to raise a hand to partially cover his eyes because the light was too bright. It hurt his eyes as if he was looking at the sun itself. Finally, the door opened, and behind it was neither beast nor land of wonder. Instead, it was a twisted black light that looked like a dimensional void.

Arias stepped toward the black light with determination. His eyes were full of bravery, with no trace of fear to be seen. It was the look of someone experienced, not like the look of a young man who had just turned sixteen at all.

The black light enveloped Arias’s body before he disappeared from the spot in an instant. The door then slowly moved to shut before the area fell into darkness once more.

“Demon or god. Human or beast. Day or Night. What is evil and what is right? What is the truth and what is the illusion? What is the thing called destiny? Mortal, use your power to write your own destiny. Pray not, as the only power that will help you survive this dungeon is none but your own.”

Arias was a little confused by that impassive voice, which sounded like the speaker lacked any emotion. He looked around but only found the twisted black light of the dimension and no sign of the speaker. There was a hint of something ancient that Arias could sense from that voice. Perhaps it was the voice of someone who had created this dungeon. Though he could not understand everything the voice said, he found himself agreeing with that last part. In this dungeon, the only thing that could help you survive dangers was your own power. After the voice finished its speech, everything went silent, and not a single noise could be heard.

The black light enveloping Arias’ body slowly grew dim and his eyes started to see the surroundings once again. The place that he found in front of him looked like a huge ore mine that had been hidden inside this cave. The walls of the cave were full of green ores that glowed in the dark, brightening up the once dimly lit space. The glow was not as bright as a firelight, but it enabled Arias to see his surroundings.

“Let’s see what creatures are here to welcome me.”

Arias raised a smile before calling the Shadow Demon from his dimensional ring. His hand gripped the hilt of the sword firmly before he started walking forward with determination.

After taking only a few steps forward, Arias came across the first beast. The beast had white and fluffy fur, with two elongated ears that jutted upward. No matter how one looked at it, the beast was just like a normal wild rabbit. Perhaps it was only the size that was about double a normal wild rabbit’s and the black fangs that lined the inside of its mouth like a saw blade that differentiated it from a normal wild rabbit.

“Oh, just a bestial rabbit. And here I was hoping for beasts that could give me some fun. But this is just the first level, so I shouldn't expect much from it anyway.”

Arias shook his head in mild disappointment before stepping closer to the fluffy creature which did not look all that cute. As soon as it noticed an unwelcome presence stepping into its territory, the beast bared its fangs to intimidate the other to back away. Once it saw that Arias was not going to do so, it immediately started to attack. Its body leaped toward Arias with a quick speed, the black fangs lining its mouth were a big contrast to its fluffy rabbit-like appearance.

SLASH!

The blade sliced through the bestial rabbit’s body, splitting it into halves in an instant. Arias did not even have to use any of his strength. The power of the Shadow Demon Sword alone was enough to cut the beast’s body into halves. Bestial rabbits were just low-level beasts and they were also weaker than other beasts of the same level. For this reason, their kinds were usually preyed on by other kinds of low-level beasts.

SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

It seemed that Arias’ arrival had called other bestial rabbits nearby to gather together. Arias quickly scanned the area around him and found three more coming in his direction. The increased number of rabbits, however, did not seem like an obstacle to him. It took but a short moment of Arias swinging his sword and delivering blows to the newly gathered bestial rabbits before they were all exterminated. Arias collected beastcores from the bodies of all the bestial rabbits he had killed before he continued to explore the dungeon.

Arias ran into dozens more bestial rabbits along the crooked path of the dungeon. Aside from them, there were just a few other low-level beasts. On every path that Arias had set foot on, he eliminated them without leaving a single one to survive. Arias knew that there were still several more beasts hiding in the area and paths that he had not explored, but he had no intention of obliterating all of them. These low-level beasts were not a worthy opponent for him at all.

“I guess killing low-level beasts can be quite energy-consuming too.”

Arias panted slightly in his tired state. Though these were just low-level beasts, dealing with dozens of them was not an easy task at all. If they came together as a group and made a simultaneous attack, Arias would certainly be in a difficult situation. Up until now, Arias had gathered as many as forty-three beastcores.

Arias continued on until he found two doors. The one on his left was a door that radiated a warm feeling upon touch. On the right was a door that gave off a gloomy feeling and had grey smoke coming from around it. One was the way to the outside world, and the other was the way to the next floor of the dungeon.

A dungeon consisted of several sub-floors. The first floor was usually inhabited by low-level beasts. Unless that dungeon was a high-level dungeon, then there would be chances to find mid-level or high-level beasts even on the first floor. The next floors were inhabited by stronger beasts, with the most powerful beast of the dungeon inhabiting the dungeon’s final floor.

Generally, the first few floors of a dungeon did not hold any kind of treasure aside from beastcores. There were a lot of people who chose to finish just these first levels since acquiring a large number of beastcores alone was enough for them. No one could predict how many floors any given dungeon would have. Some might have less than ten, some might have more than a hundred.

On every floor of a dungeon, there would be two doors much like these two in front of Arias. Everyone could choose either to exit the dungeon or continue on. Many people overestimated their abilities, and the majority of these people lost their lives in dungeons. Because of these dangers, mages often chose to clear dungeons as a team. Though it meant less treasure and beastcores to take home, it was much safer than attempting to clear a dungeon alone. There were only a few who would choose to walk into a dungeon all by themselves like Arias.

Instead of stepping through one of the doors in front of him, Arias chose to take out all the beastcores from his dimensional ring. A huge amount of beastcores were piled in front of Arias.

Arias sat down before starting to absorb power from all the beastcores slowly. Black veins popped up all over Arias’ face, arms, and legs. Even his torso was covered in these black veins which were filled with concentrated beast power. The lightning inside the core of magic was doing its job well, absorbing all the power that entered Arias’ body without leaving a trace before turning all of it into the power of that lightning. Though it was painful every time he absorbed a beastcore, Arias was also glad by the increased amount of power.

“Let’s see how much this dungeon can help strengthen my power.”

More than ten minutes later, finally, the absorption of all the beastcores was done. Arias got up with a pleased smile, his hand gripping the Shadow Demon Sword determinedly. The power of a fifth-level acolyte radiated from all over his body. He walked toward the door that led to the next floor without any hesitation, his eyes full of excitement. This was the kind of training that he could not hope to experience when he was back at the manor. His heart was longing for a fight; thirsted for it. It was the fight between a human and beasts, one with lives on the line.

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