Dungeon

It has already been more than a week since I arrived in this world, and finally, I am going to enter the dungeon.

"Come back safely and don't overdo it!" Alya told me with a warm smile before leaving. "I will do that!" I replied before bidding her goodbye and waving my hand.

Alya was the one who became my advisor. She made me memorize the types of monsters, how to obtain their magic stones, the maps that show the paths on the first floors, and helped me get accustomed to using a weapon. I am happy to have such a responsible advisor, especially since hardly anyone wanted to accept me due to the belief that I would die shortly after.

Although I asked about Eina, I was told that there was no one working in the guild with that name.

Then I found out that Bell hadn't arrived in Orario yet. Which was good news. Until I found out that I'm around 9-11 years old before he arrives.

I don't remember much other than a few details. Which left me in a bad situation because I'm in Orario's dark age, with Evilus being in his prime.

When I finally got to the dungeon I could see the entrance that was a giant hole that was made up of a spiral staircase.

I sighed and started down the stairs. I haven't told my goddess that she would enter the dungeon today, because she would have Milya, Milye, or David accompany me.

I didn't want that to happen because the best way to become strong was to go through difficulties, which was difficult if I went to the first floors in a group. So, I decided to come secretly. I avoided talking about what I would do today because Abeona or Adeona would notice if I told a lie, and I didn't want them to worry too much by telling them what was on my mind.

After reaching the first floor, I picked up one of the two daggers I had. The daggers were the ones offered by the guild to novice adventurers. My goddess paid for them, and she also wanted to buy the armor, but I didn't want her to spend more money. I declined, saying that I felt comfortable in my normal outfit. It wasn't a lie because every time I wore different clothes around the house, I felt a little uncomfortable.

I walked for a while until I finally found my first enemy.

A mere goblin. He was looking in the opposite direction from me, so I took the opportunity to approach him from behind and kicked his paws. When he fell, I seized the opportunity to stab him in the head several times.

After confirming that he was dead, I used the dagger to open his chest and retrieve the magic stone.

As soon as I snatched the magic stone fragment, the goblin's corpse turned into black particles and disappeared into thin air.

Seeing it in person was more shocking than reading about it in the novel or watching it in the anime.

Monsters don't disappear on death, but rather they disappear when the magic stone is removed, just like in the novel. For this reason, it can be cumbersome to remove magic stones from corpses, but it can also have its own advantages. Maybe I can eat the corpses of Needle Rabbits on the seventh floor.

I stopped thinking about eating horned rabbits and continued exploring until I found the second goblin. This time, he saw me and pounced on me. Since we were almost the same height, I leaned my body to the side, and when the goblin missed his attack, I slashed him with the dagger several times. Being the weakest monsters and having low intelligence, they are easy prey for many novice adventurers.

Come to think of it, for some reason I don't feel any guilt killing the monsters. It's weird because every time I see an animal hurt, it makes me a little sad and I feel bad for the animals dying, but when it comes to monsters, it's like I don't have any kind of empathy.

I ignore those thoughts and proceed to the second floor of the dungeon after killing a few more goblins.

I thought I would continue to encounter goblins, but this time I met a kobold. The kobold was much bigger than me. When it saw me, it began to run in my direction.

This time, I didn't try to dodge and just yelled "Hinding!" Several bursts of sky-blue magic came out of my hand and completely destroyed the kobold's head.

I approached his corpse and used the knife to open his chest and take out the magic stone. I was very careful not to get blood on myself, which made pulling out the magic stones more difficult. It was a good thing Alya gave me some disposable gloves.

After taking out the magic stone I continued to search for more goblins and kobolds.

Exploring the dungeon further, I had to kill a few small groups of monsters, but I started to feel more tired. Every time I fought a monster, my breathing became heavier and it was harder for me to fight against goblins or kobolds. Several hours had already passed, and I decided to have lunch on the stairs that led up to the third floor to rest a bit.

Even though I had rested, the fatigue that had accumulated was still taking its toll on me. Apart from simply killing the monsters, I also had to remove the magic stones from them, which made it more exhausting.

I saw a few adventurers, but they just nodded their heads, and neither of us got in each other's way.

Due to my exhaustion, I decided to change my strategy. I wouldn't waste any more of the little stamina I had left and would just spam Hinding at every monster I saw. By the way, I practiced with the portals. I opened a portal next to me and another one behind the monsters. I launched the Hiding magic at the portal and observed that unlike before, where only the head exploded, it could now explode up to a little below the shoulders. I found that interesting and wanted to try something.

I also want to try the exalted state, but that would only cause unnecessary consumption of MIND, and the adrenaline it gives me would lead me to waste my stamina by doing unnecessary actions. I can endure with low MIND or low resistance, but I can't last with low MIND and low stamina, as weak monsters could kill me while I'm tired.

Feeling that my MIND was starting to dwindle, I decided to leave the dungeon with my small backpack, where I kept the magic stones. Its small size doesn't get in my way while moving through the dungeon or fighting monsters, which is a big help.