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Evan D. Sherden, Enter the Dungeon Again (6)
“There’s a saying that the ‘real’ Dungeon starts from the sixth floor.” Evan brought this up as they bounded down the Dungeon stairs after a quick meal and nap. He already had the Battle Bead in hand, preparing himself for the upcoming battle.
“Of course, the Dungeon is very much real right from the 11th floor, the 16th floor where the Orcs appear, and not to mention the 31st floor, where trolls classified as high ranking monsters only appear as regular monsters. One could say there are a lot of variations with no clear cut answer.”
“But isn’t that just blindly insisting that the tier they have reached is the hardest?”
“Yes, I suppose that may also be the case. Not that there is it necessarily wrong to do so. What’s important is for us to understand the dynamic environment of the Dungeon, where the monsters and traps laid out constantly undergo change every 5 floors. That is why it’s considered nearly impossible to attempt adapting to the Dungeon. It’s a fruitless feat, and one should never let their guard down if they wish to make it out alive.”
This was strikingly true, especially from the 6th floor, which housed Goblins. One often encountered them at random, seldom going about their quest when in a flash, a horde of said mutant beasts surges forward, lunging at their throats from nowhere. Their stealth gave them an easy advantage over their prey, stalking up behind their backs and injecting them with venom that caused paralysis when they least expected it.
As though these vile creatures were not adequate to cause enough damage, there was the Blinde. Quaint and barely audible, these scurrying rodents could bring down opponents many times their size. Looking out for them would certainly come in handy to avoid getting hurt.
“Maze rats, Vampire bats, and Saw rabbits are one of the most prominent features of the Dungeons. They cluster around everywhere, almost on every single floor. You’ll most likely get tired of encountering these three. However, you must get used to seeing and fighting them.”
To survive in the Dungeon, one had to possess a lot more than just mere power. To qualify and call oneself as the proud invincible explorer of the Dungeon, an array of skills and abilities need to be mastered.
Listening to all that Evan had to say, Shine decided to be brave and put forth a question, ignoring the looks he received from the rest of the group.
“You have given us quite an explanation, Master. If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you have been doing this whole time?”
“Oh, I’m just organizing a collection of junk monsters from here and there. It gets tiring trying to slay them all, so I’m only aiming at the ones I know. It’s hard to find them at first, but they at least have small HP. That makes it easier to kill them using my beads.”
“Oh. I see. Then I’ll take my leave now, Master. I’m going to check on their corpse. Let’s talk again once I get back.”
Shine nodded at Evan, who was busy throwing the Battle Beads in all directions, and ran forward with the scimitar. It was to draw blood from the monsters which Evan had previously killed.
“Wait, hold up! What if one or two of them are still alive? I mean, I know you handle yourself well, but all the same, you really do need to take necessary precautions before you go headfirst into situations like these.”
Shine barely heeded any of the offered advice and was already thrusting the scimitar into the fleshy part of the corpses, soaking up all their blood. As gory as it seemed, Shine loved leveling up his scimitar. While Evan continued to look at him with his head tilted to one side, Arisha spoke up and posed a question.
“I was wondering if anyone could tell me what exactly that scimitar is?”
“It’s an artifact that is available on the first floor. Although it looks like it doesn’t amount to much value, don’t let that fool you. It has a tremendous capacity to store blood, which you will soon realize is essential for Shine.”
“Oh, I see.”
Arisha nodded and went back to staring ahead without letting any of her emotions out. No one could figure out what she was thinking or feeling when she steeled herself like that. No one but Evan. He had always found it easy to understand due to unknown reasons. Right now, he could sense that she felt bad for not having acquired any artifact so far, feeling inferior to the rest of the group.
“Don’t be like that. We’ve come all the way here, and you can’t possibly think about giving up now. Maybe the sixth floor will have something that will be appropriate for you to use, don’t dwell too much on this.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to that.”
I can’t let my guard down against her. Evan thought to himself.
Shine was walking toward them with a huge grin stretched from one cheek to the other, clearly having had the opportunity to fill his scimitar to the brim with blood.
“Master, I still can’t fathom how you managed to clear this entire horde of monsters by only using your beads. You hardly even shifted from your position the entire time. I’m impressed with your sense of detection.”
“Well, of course. I’ve spent so much time honing my alchemy, as well as my other skills. You haven’t missed anything?”
“Of course. You’ve killed every monster there is to be found in this level. Which reminds me, I’ve been meaning to bring up something with you, Master.”
“Yes?”
Shine held out his palm to show Evan the tiny mana stone he had extracted from one of the bodies a few moments ago. He carried on with a determined tone of voice.
“You are a lot more sensitive than you think yourself to be, Master. You can kill two or three monsters in one shot.”
“Really…?”
“Yes, it has been checked. Frankly speaking, it’s no doubt that if anyone can single-handedly clear the entire Dungeon, it is you. And that’s not your problem, but it’s our problem if we keep going this way.”
Shine blurted whatever he had wanted to since they entered the Dungeon. He’d felt this way since their last dungeon encounter and felt a huge burden being lifted off his shoulders now that he had come clean with his emotions.
“No matter what we want to do, you will detect and clear every possible danger. How can we stack our own experience and skills……? You’ve given Miss Arisha a chance, and now you have to give us a chance to prove our qualifications to protect you.”
Oh, I can’t refuse it because it’s all true… Evan’s eyes widened. Shine continued with a sigh.
“I get that you’re a perfectionist, and it gives you satisfaction to know that you’ve taken care of all the safety protocols. You assign roles to us, yes, but you’re practically breeding us. We need to be able to fight on our own in order to actually grow.”
“I’ve never thought of that, even in my dreams…”
Evan’s plans were usually perfect at any time, but there were occasional errors in the part that did not take his ability into account. A little while ago, he had just thrown beads to get rid of what he could, and as a result, everything around him was cleared up.
Perhaps no monsters would approach them for awhile.
“Your skills are very high. If you continue to solve all the difficulties for us in the future, then we’ll have to worry about our own contribution.”
The imbalance in Dungeon attacks began from this. If left unchecked, it would get worse. Ever since the expedition in the previous Dungeon, Shine had thought so.
The only way to solve it was to reduce Evan’s stake in the Dungeon attack even a little. Then naturally, there would be more opportunities for others to play and face the Dungeon.
“We sincerely request that you take on the role of a guide from now on. Lead us and train us to detect monsters and set up traps to kill them. Even though we’ll be slower than before to clear each floor, it will help us learn to fight and protect ourselves.”
“But that’s -”
Shine interrupted Evan before he could finish.
“Of course, if you think we’re in genuine danger, then feel free to step up. If not, though, we’d appreciate it if you leave it to us. This is not only my opinion. I am speaking on behalf of everyone here.”
Everyone implicitly agreed with Shine. Even Arisha was nodding, even though she had set a new record of clearing up to the fifth floor in less than 10 hours with Evan’s presence. Evan then asked.
“Then, won’t my contribution be less?”
“Oh, well, it won’t!”
“It’s okay, Master. It’ll be the same if you reduce your performance to a tenth of what it is now.”
Taking Shine’s lead, Belois followed suit and nodded along with the rest of them. That did it for Evan. If even Belois felt the same about this, there was nothing left to be discussed any further. Evan had no other option than to pretend that he was convinced and on board with the plan for now.
“Alright, fine, you’ve convinced me. I’ll do as you wish. But in the case that I am unable to level up, you will all be left with no choice but to take more Dungeons with me.”
“Yes, I’ll be with you forever, so don’t worry about that.”
Shine bragged. Evan finally accepted his colleagues’ proposal to set his role as a ‘guide’.
The others didn’t waste any more time and quickly assigned roles to each other. The Dungeon expedition was all set to begin.
“Miss Arisha, there’s a trap ahead!”
“Eek!”
Shine was learning the insights from Arisha, who had turned out to be a rather skilled professor.
It was an essential skill for bandits. Since Evan had taken care of mapping and guiding so far, Shine was eager to learn the new skill and use it to his advantage. Leading came naturally to Shine, and others adhered to his orders without questioning his authority in the slightest.
“Belois, break the ornament up there!”
“Fox fire!”
“I think something is crawling around at 3 o’clock! Someone cover me while I check it out!”
“I’ve got your back, Shine!”
Pretty soon, the party led the expedition into the Dungeon in a synchronized way. Although Evan was still in charge of guiding them to places where there were only a few traps and procuring achievements was relatively easier in those areas, there was still lots to work to be done before they could stop to take a breath.
“Another trap ahead!”
“Everyone, fall back. Do not advance any further!”
“We can’t take this monster on yet. We’re not qualified enough!”
“Raihan!”
The atmosphere quickly turned dark and sinister in the matter of a few seconds. Monsters never appeared alone all by themselves. If you spotted one, you could bet that there were others following suit immediately behind.
“It’s an elite!”
“I heard that from the sixth floor, you can expect spontaneous sightings of elites. I guess it was true after all.”
As the monsters kept streaming through, the fight with them grew more intense. Their numbers were gradually increasing, and the fighters had a hard time keeping up.
“Don’t worry. I can easily handle this number. I can take on even a hundred more. Just leave it all to me, I can stop them all!” Raihan yelled out confidently.
As soon as Raihan took the center and drew all the monsters towards him, Shine went to look for the traps laid out.
“Hyung, that’s enough! I’m going to kill them all!”
“This part has been cleared.”
“Thank you for all your hard work, everyone!”
In other words, without Raihan, the group would have found themselves in some pretty deep trouble. They all knew it as well.
“Is everyone alright? Let’s keep moving since this has been cleared.”
“Miss Arisha, take it slow. You keep going ahead of us. It will be better for us and yourself to maintain pace with us.”
“Huh. Okay.”
Shine’s role was to scout and attack the enemy while Raihan defended them. Belois covered them while Arisha flitted out, taking out as many monsters as she could. They were indeed a perfect team.
“I found a trap,” Shine called out.
“Shine, step back. I’ll take care of it.”
“Raihan, please be on standby with the shield. There are more of the monsters trickling in.”
“I’m free now, I can be of help to you!”
“This almost looks like an accomplishment on the wall. Don’t you agree, Master?”
“Yes, I thought the same. We have to take this and then fight again, so let’s just get this over with. It’s a puzzle, so you’ll be able to crack it easily.”
“Alright, then I’ll get started on it right away. For the others, prepare for battle!”
It was no common feat to clear a single floor of the Dungeon. Sometimes, it took others a couple of days to clear a single floor. However, they were able to get achievements, one after the other. The team’s coordination was like one never seen before, working on a tight and efficient schedule.
“Once the battle is over, take a break! We’re on the move in five minutes!”
“Okay, Master!”
“Everyone, I’m going to cast a divine spell. If you don’t allow yourself to rest up now, you may not get a chance to do so for a while. We need you at your maximum potential if we’re going to get this done successfully.”
‘Letting them take on the monsters all by them is certainly making us move at a slower pace. But I suppose it is better in the long run, since they’re getting stronger as they go. If they manage to keep this up, could it be possible to earn the title of the best team by the time they reach the 30th floor?’ Evan thought to himself. Evan used to be a part of the best party to have ever attacked the Dungeon in his previous lifetime. They had been able to attack the whole place in the shortest and most efficient way possible.
He shifted his attention to Belois, who was panting, her hands on her knees.
“Are you all right, Lua?”
“Yes, Master. I just needed a moment to catch my breath. No problem at all.” Belois heaved out the words with extreme difficulty.
When he led the team, they had never been as tired as seemed to be now. Now that the responsibilities had been divided and they were actively participating in the attacks, they were bound to lose energy quickly.
“Okay. Just a little further now, we’re almost done on this floor.”
“You’re being too kind, Master. We know it’s much slower compared to when you were taking the lead. How long has it been since we started out?”
“About seven hours. It’s very slow, but it’s okay. You guys are getting better, and you’ll probably get faster.”
At Evan’s words, all the members looked at each other and nodded. They seemed proud of what they had managed to achieve so far. They were more than willing to put in the necessary work to be as great a Dungeon Explorer as Evan was. Not to mention how oblivious they were to the fact that they had taken only 7 hours so far. The record of clearing the sixth floor stood at a whopping 27 hours, and that was without gathering any significant achievements.
Although Evan grew increasingly anxious every time he thought about his level up, he was upgraded to level 7 when he discovered the staircase leading up to the seventh floor, along with receiving divine protection.