Chapter 122: Dungeon Ruins

We entered the dungeon.

There probably wouldn’t be strong monsters inside, but just in case, I still summoned Hakoku from the Realm of the Spirits.

According to Tina, this dungeon had 10 layers. We were currently on the first layer, and the monsters here would be around level 30. The deeper we went, the higher their level.

This dungeon had a relatively simple structure. A straight, wide path continued on with occasional narrow roads on both sides. Several rooms contained either monsters or treasures.

We walked down the central main road, and only a few monsters appeared. If we wanted to fight monsters, it was best to continue on the wide road.

Tina still remembered most of the layout of the rooms, as well as the circumstances of monster appearances.

“No strong monsters will appear until the third layer, and you can’t find significant treasures here, either. Most of the weapons we left here were already retrieved.”

The dungeons in this world had two types of patterns.

The first type was dungeons controlled by the Dungeon Master, a type of demon. These dungeons were considered suitable for adventurers. For some reason, treasures periodically appeared here, and the monsters that were supposedly defeated reappeared after a fixed period of time.

It was easy to level up there, and items were easy to get, so many adventurers continued to tackle those types of dungeons as challenges.

Apparently, the Dungeon Master was also collecting Dungeon Points and managed the entire dungeon.

The adventurers who trekked the dungeon and became friends with the Dungeon Master then relayed that information to the Adventurer’s Guild.

I had read about this in a book called *Adventure Travel Guide* before, so I was curious about this so-called Dungeon Master.

The management of the dungeon seemed fun.

The other type of dungeon was made by the deities. These dungeons were constructed to train heroes, so monsters with strong mana would spontaneously appear.

The dungeons created by the deities, nicknamed ‘deity dungeons,’ produced items of exceptional quality compared to those from adventurer-targeted dungeons. However, once a person obtained an item, it had to be consumed, or else it would be broken before it could be replenished in the dungeons.

The equipment that heroes obtained from the deity dungeons would then be kept by the country that the heroes were affiliated with after they returned to their former worlds.

Almost all of that equipment would become national treasures. That was how marvelous the items from the deity dungeons were.

However, since the national treasures were treated with the utmost care, they wouldn’t be broken, so the deities could not provide new ones in the treasure boxes of the deity dungeons.

This historic ruin was also a deity dungeon, and Tina and the Guardian Hero had already traveled all over it, so there was not much anticipation regarding the treasures.

Well, we didn’t come here to search for items, so that’s fine.

Ah, but when Ryuuka and Youko heard about that, they were depressed. They seemed to love treasures so much.

No treasures probably existed, so Ryuka and the rest didn’t have to come. But if I didn’t go through it, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to get information regarding the Guardian Hero.

I requested Youko, who had the fighting ability that I might need to go through this, and Ryuka was essential, especially because of her rebirth and restoration abilities.

I had some reservations about taking Tina, but she insisted, so I couldn’t say no. It’s fine, we’ll manage… that’s how I felt.

When using mind reading, a lot of mana flows into the brain of the caster, and it becomes very stimulated. That was why my intuition functioned really well recently.

It wasn’t on par with Elder Brother Leon, and still inferior to the beastkin Sally’s skill, but it was extremely convenient. If there were alternatives, I was naturally guided to the option that would yield the best results.

That intuition was telling me it would be fine even if I took Tina with me.

Alright, back to the story. Luna was the one who called out to the others at the entrance. She was like a walking library—not exaggerating there—that’s how extensive her knowledge about items and equipment was.

She also had a keen eye and could notice any trace of abnormality right away, so she was the one member I wanted to take with me in this dungeon that might contain something.

And now, my intuition was telling me it’s better to take her along.

So, I invited Luna to the dungeon exploration, and she happily agreed.

Leaffa, Mai, Mei, and Merdie came, saying that ‘if Tina comes, then we will too.’

I invited Ryuka, so of course, I also told Ryuushin, who also agreed to come.

At this point, it would be rude to leave Luke out, so I also invited him.

And so, the entire class would now explore this dungeon that didn’t even have a rare item in it.

“Until the 3rd layer, huh? Then let’s go forward quickly.”

“Agree.”

“Hurry up, meow!”

We defeated the level 30 monsters that occasionally popped out from the corners of the passages and strode straight down the central road.

──＊＊＊──

We finally arrived at the farthest part of layer 1.

A heavy-looking stone door stood here.

The Boss Monster was just beyond this door, and we had to defeat it in order to advance to the second layer. When Tina went through here before, the boss at that time was a level 40 Goblin Fighter, and it had a few goblin followers around it.

Yup, if that was all, then it would be easy-peasy.

The door opened on its own.

A huge room was beyond it, and at the dead center, we saw a 2-meter-tall Goblin Fighter flanked by two goblins—

“Fire Lance!”

“Flying Fist!”

Two flaming spears pierced the Goblin Fighter, and the burst of mana that erupted blasted off the goblin lackeys.

The instant we confirmed the presence of the boss, Tina and I released Fire Lance, while Merdie and Ryuushin unleashed the Flying Fist, all at the same time.

By the way, we didn’t plan this. I just wanted to try saying ‘I slayed the boss even before we entered,’ you know.

I was kind of surprised that aside from me, 5 other people also thought the same thing.

“Everyone’s magic activation is too fast…”

Leaffa, who didn’t make it in time, lowered her jade-green bow and muttered that.

“Yup, that kind of speed is impossible.”

Luke was troubled about what to do with the mana he released for casting his spell.

Luke and Leaffa both tried to release their magic attacks too.

—Wait there, Luke, wasn’t that too much mana for a Goblin Fighter?

It wasn’t the level of a high-ranking spell, but he did release enough mana to cast the highest level of mid-range spells.

“Luke, if you don’t need that, can I have it?”

Youko wanted the mana that Luke released. Youko could absorb the mana of other people and store it in her tails. She would consume a large amount of mana just by living day-to-day, so I requested the Divine Beast Shiro to regularly give her mana.

“Yup, it’d be a waste, so here, have it.”

“Thanks a lot!”

Youko held up her hand, and Luke’s mana was absorbed. For some reason, Youko’s bust size seemed to have increased.

...Don’t tell me, the reason why Youko was consuming so much mana was to maintain her human figure when she humanized?

While having that conversation, we then entered the Boss room to proceed to the next layer.