/ Level 1 Strongest Sage / Haruto and the Four Heroes (4)

Chapter 136 - Haruto and the Four Heroes (4)

It had been one year since I was teleported to this world. The monsters have become more lively these days.

The Demon King was already revived again, and the damage that monsters afflicted started to increase, too. The occurrence of ‘Stampede’, the term they used for vast numbers of monsters surging onwards and attacking villages and cities, had already been confirmed.

A full-fledged stampede hasn't occurred yet, so there was no news about villages being annihilated, but we couldn’t let our guard down.

It was at this time that Tina and I went to a certain dungeon in Vestier, the Kingdom of the Beastkin. Our goal was to level up. We had to raise our levels as soon as possible in order to defeat the Demon King, but we still didn’t have that power.

Sarion wasn’t here. There was no way the country would let a powerful guy like him idle around now that the world was terrified of the damage the monsters bring. Sarion was commanded to protect the royal capital.

I was at Level 70, while Tina was at Level 55 before we entered the dungeon rumored to be made by the Creator God to train the Heroes.

Several dungeons existed in this world. These particular ruins housed the dungeon that was created to aid the low level heroes, and it was the perfect place for Tina and I to do our leveling.

The level of the monsters gradually increased as we went down starting from the first layer. It was designed so that if all goes well, the people who cleared the dungeon would surpass Level 100.

Also, people couldn’t enter this dungeon unless they were together with a person who came from Isekai — in this case, it would be the world I was previously in — and said person was below Level 100.

As to why I knew this stuff, it was written on the stone monument at the dungeon entrance. The vestier soldier guided us to the entrance, but he couldn't read the words on the monument.

This dungeon was really exclusive for heroes.

Because it was a dungeon created to strengthen the heroes, even if Sarion wasn’t around, if we cautiously advanced, then we’d be able to travel through the dungeon.

And I have that in case of an emergency. Tina and I then stepped into the dungeon.

──＊＊＊──

We managed to defeat the first layer boss without a hitch. It was still the first layer, but there were a lot of rare items stored in there.

This dungeon was made for low level heroes, but all of the Creator God probably bestowed high levels to almost all of the heroes before coming into this world.

Those high-level heroes won’t be able to enter this dungeon. Furthermore, even ordinary adventurers won’t be able to enter this place, so they have been here ever since this dungeon was created.

We could get all the rare items that we wanted.

After clearing the first layer, we touched the stone monument that would take us to the second layer, but I was taken to a room with four pedestals. Tina wasn’t with me.

The prerequisite for entering this room was probably being a person from Isekai, I guessed.

I was flustered for being sent to a different place from Tina. I tried to search for Tina with my poor magic detection skills, but I couldn’t sense anything outside this room.

There was no door, either.

Maybe I had to recover an item from this room in order to go out. Itook all the items on top of the four pedestals.

However, nothing happened.

I put all the items on my hand on top of one of the pedestals for the meantime.

I was worried about Tina, but she has the protection called [Inherited the Blood of the Heroes] so it was easy for her level to increase, and she became Level 58 while we walked through the first layer.

The monsters on the first layer were mostly Level 30 and below. The second layer probably wouldn’t have monsters who were a lot stronger than that. Besides, Tina was smart. She shouldn’t be perturbed even if we got separated.

I calmed down when I thought about it that way.

I should check the items on hand. Maybe they contained a clue that would let me out of here.

The items in this room were a leaf, a sack that looked like it was made from hemp, a handy dagger, and a book.

I couldn’t understand a single word written on the entire book, from its cover down to the contents. My aim was to clear the dungeon. I decided to leave this unreadable book here since it would only be a bother.

I wasn’t sure about this leaf, but since it isn’t bulky, I decided to keep it inside my pocket, anyway. I’d show it to Tina later.

I chucked the dagger and the hemp sack into my bag containing the items that we collected. They weren’t useful in helping** me** get out of this place.

For some reason, I tried to touch all the walls after that, and that’s when I found out that only one wall is passable. There seemed to be no other way, so I sucked my breath then jumped into that wall.

“Haruto-sama!”

Tina was right behind that wall, and she hugged me as soon as she noticed that I appeared. She must have been anxious, there were still traces of tears on her eyes. Anyway, I was relieved to see that Tina was also okay.

I showed the items I got from the room to Tina after she calmed down. The leaf came from Yggdrasil, and it was a mega rare item.

She wasn’t familiar with the dagger, but the hemp sack was a storage sack that could carry an infinite number of items, and you wouldn’t feel the weight once you put them in, and they would remain as is, no matter how much time passed. It was also an ultra rare treasure among the storage bags, boasting of being the cream of the crop among them.

As expected of the dungeon created by the Creation God. Even the items were top notch. Even the bonus items lying around were of a different caliber. In that case, that book must have been super valuable, but it seemed that I couldn’t go back to that room, so we just had to move forward.

I was sure there are lots of rare items lying around in this dungeon. My heart soared in excitement as we resumed travelling through the dungeon.

──＊＊＊──

I never got teleported again to that bonus room aside from that one time, when I moved from the first layer to the second one.

The Storage Sack never got full despite all the items we crammed inside while we did our leveling.

And now, we were currently on the final layer of the dungeon, fighting against the boss of this floor — the Sekiryuu.

For the last boss to be a dragon……

The dragons were the most dangerous race of all — they are monsters classified as S-rank. This particular dragon, standing right before our eyes, probably had the strongest attributes among their kind.

I was Level 105, while Tina was Level 98 when we finally reached this place. Even with that, this Sekiryuu was absolutely not our opponent if we fought individually.

In order to defeat a dragon, one must possess Level 150 at the very least. If Tina and I combined our levels, we would already surpass that, but if we weren’t perfectly in sync, then it didn’t amount to anything.

We managed to defeat the monsters up to here by cooperating with each other, but this one’s rank was on a different level.

No other choice then, I had to use that.

“Tina! Let me protect you!”

‘Y-yes!”

Just like how we previously agreed, Tina dashed to the spot behind me, creating distance between her and the Sekiryuu.

Then she placed her sword back on its scabbard.

It would be suicidal to put away your weapon when you’re facing an opponent that is a lot stronger than you. But it was just what we decided on.

Now that Tina didn’t have the means to fight, the overwhelming desire to protect her flowed into me, and in that instant —

I could feel the rapid rise of my status.

My Guardian Hero skill was activated.

All of my status doubled.

“Sorry, but let us cheat just for a lil’ bit.”