Open Dungeons, Training Dungeons

My relationship with Mary was pretty complicated. We met and fought together in the dungeon, and quickly, we got along. Our relationship then took the next step when we exited the dungeon and had sex.

But afterward, I learned that Mary was married, and that made our relationship a bit awkward.

I did not plan to contact Mary again after that, but she contacted me instead and invited me to a 'date'. At the start, I was hesitant about agreeing or not agreeing, but the demon suggested that I should not cut off my relationship with her.

According to him, my relationship with Mary could 'help me to learn about the adult world'.

I agreed with him after thinking for a while. To be honest, I did not want to cut off my relationship with Mary either, after all, I got along with her well.

Thus, I agreed to her invitation and went out with her on a date. The date was nothing special, just going out, window shopping in a mall, and eating something delicious in a comfortable restaurant.

But to my surprise, the date was more enjoyable than I expected.

Mary was funny, witty, and smart, plus she was beautiful. Moreover, because she was older than me, she liked to take the initiative, making my date with her relaxing.

We did not have sex after that date and just returned to our homes, but we kept in contact through messaging apps. After that, we went on another date, and this time, the date ended with us on a bed.

After that, my relationship with her continued to improve. I talked to her about my life, and she told me about hers. Occasionally, she complained about her husband, and I complained about my training (without mentioning the demon or the dreamland).

Soon, I found myself looking forward to talking to her.

The best part about our relationship was that it was free of responsibilities. We were not lovers, but friends closer than normal friends. Following Mary's words, it was better to not make it complicated.

It was not that easy, though. Mary was very charming as a woman, but I tried to act like a mature adult. Instead of thinking of Mary as an object of affection, I tried to think of her as just a friend. A friend whom I occasionally went to bed with.

Mary seemed to notice it, and she became more and more casual with me. To be honest, I kind of liked the relationship we had now.

Thus, when she asked me to see her in the morning, I agreed without thinking much about it.

The next morning, I arrived at her house early in the morning. Mary was waiting for me outside and hugged me as soon as she saw me.

"Come, I will bring you to a nice place. You will like it."

"You are making me curious. How about a clue? What kind of gift is it?"

"Hehe, guess." Mary chuckled and hugged my arm, pulling me towards her car. "I can only tell you that it will help you during the entrance examination."

Mary's words intrigued me, however, no matter how much I asked her, she did not reveal anything else.

The car drove for around twenty minutes before arriving at our destination. To my surprise, Mary brought us to a cordoned area outside the city.

"This is… a dungeon?"

"Hehe, but this is not a normal dungeon. Come, follow me."

We left the car and I followed Mary to the soldiers guarding the zone. Mary then showed them a credential and the soldiers allowed her to go in.

Soon, we arrived at the location where the dungeon appeared. There, a woman received us.

"Mary, you are here. Is he the boy that will enter the dungeon?"

Mary nodded. "Yes, when can he enter?"

"Half an hour later. Does he know the rules?"

"I'm about to explain them to him. Don't worry."

"Okay. Get ready then. He will enter when the person inside comes out." The woman said and left.

I was completely flabbergasted right now.

"Mary, what is it about?"

"You know that there are several kinds of dungeons, right?"

I nodded. Most dungeons were of the normal kind, but occasionally, the behavior of some dungeons was a bit different, so the association used this behavior to classify them.

"Then you should know about open dungeons. This dungeon is like that."

I was surprised.

Open dungeons referred to dungeons that could be entered and exited freely. Normally, you could not leave a dungeon without destroying the dungeon core, but open dungeons did not have that restriction.

Mary noticed my surprise and smiled.

"Not just that. This dungeon is even more special. Besides being an open dungeon, this is a training dungeon as well."

This time, I was completely stunned.

A training dungeon!?

That was the most valuable kind of dungeon!

Inside training dungeons, the mana was very active, abundant, and at the same time docile. It meant that training the mana inside this kind of dungeon was many times easier than in the outside world.

But that was just the start. Due to the nature of this kind of dungeon, when you kill a creature inside, the mana in its body is released and absorbed by the nearest creature. It meant that killing creatures in this kind of dungeon was the same as becoming stronger.

It was almost like gaining experience inside a game.

"Surprised? This dungeon appeared yesterday, and I was called to explore it. When I discovered that it was a training dungeon, and also an open one, I immediately thought about you, so I asked a friend of mine if I could allow you to enter. And he agreed."

This…

Mary, I'm really about to fall in love with you.

I calmed down my emotions and started to think. This is really a great opportunity for me.

"How strong are the monsters inside?"

"Don't worry, all the strong monsters were killed by us yesterday. None of the monsters inside is stronger than tier three, but you should not have any trouble facing that kind of monster, right?"

I nodded. I killed even a Tier-Five Awakened. Killing tier-three monsters is a piece of cake.

I took a deep breath and controlled my excitement. This time I struck gold.

Right now my strength should be the same as a Tier-Four Awakened, but my mana, on the contrary, is stuck on the second tier. According to the demon, my talent in mana is trash, so I should be happy that my mana is not regressing.

Mary knows that my mana is just at the second tier (though she thinks that it's because I just awakened), so she thought that if I entered this dungeon, my mana could increase for one tier at the very least.

To me, this is a godsent opportunity. If my mana increased for one tier before the entrance examinations, my strength will see a considerable improvement.

"Mary, can I fall in love with you?" I asked with a sincere expression.

The auburn-haired woman giggled and shook her head. "It's better if you don't. I don't want to break your heart."

"What a pity." I feigned sadness, making Mary chuckle and throw a flirtatious glance at me.

Sigh, what a dangerous woman.

Being just a friend is not easy.

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P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels