While some of the adventurers of the "Loki Familia" group were chatting happily, others still walked silently through the dungeon's corridors.
Many green monsters appeared in front of them, intending to kill the intruders; unfortunately for them, after a long and hard battle, they were defeated by those adventurers who had recently joined the group.
Although it was their first time venturing into the dungeon to gain excelia and battle experiences, they faced the difficulties bravely, earning some nods of satisfaction from the more seasoned adventurers.
However, no matter how much the novice adventurers and the veterans of the "Loki Familia" sharpened their ears so that the slightest noise would not escape their senses, they could not notice one thing.
Inside the small leather pouch hanging from Ais's slender waist, something was happening that no one in their group could imagine.
Where there was nothing but darkness and some small purple stones piled on the surface, a small rock moved without causing any noise.
The magical stone fluttered to glide smoothly until it landed on top of its other companions. Letting out a small imperceptible sigh, the tip of the magic stone pointed upwards and jumped.
The lid of the pouch snapped open, and with a swift movement, a small purple blob shot out towards the opposite entrance causing the air to become slightly disturbed.
"Did you feel something?" The dwarf, who appeared to be a tank, turned to his companions.
The others of the veteran group nodded, and Finn spoke, "I could feel the wind disturbed as if someone was cutting it with a sword. But after scanning the surroundings, there doesn't seem to be anything."
"It's not like low-level trash can do anything," Bete grumbled with his hands in his pockets.
"Low-level garbage...".
"Useless... we are...".
Despite Bete's reference to monsters, the novice adventurers looked on with lifeless eyes and souls escaping their mouths...
"Strange... the only faster monster inhabiting the second floor is the Jack Birds. Maybe it's one of them." At Riveria's words, the ears of the others instantly pricked up.
"Jack Birds" were monsters that had a body structure like that of a land bird that only appeared on the first floors. However, the most exciting thing about said monster was that if one managed to kill it, the Jack Bird would release an egg sold at a high price within the guild.
Unfortunately for them, far from exciting assumptions, the cause of all this was not one of the coveted Jack Birds.
***
"Hahh~, there's nothing better than freedom."
A pleasing voice echoed from inside one of the dungeon's deep corridors.
In the center of the corridor, the purple magic stone was surrounded by a golden glow, and little by little, the object began to enlarge until it reached about ten centimeters.
What was left as a result was, surprisingly, a round, gelatinous figure with round eyes. On top of the creature's head was a slight ice blue crown, which, although small, gave it an aura of dignity.
Without delay and fearing that some random disgusting monster would come to bite him in the ass, the golden slime lit up again as the gelatinous body expanded endlessly into a humanoid figure.
In the blink of an eye, and after the golden glow disappeared, the silhouette became apparent. A golden-haired boy replaced the previous round figure with two strangely beautiful eyes.
"..."
Adler remained silent as he scanned the surroundings with his eyes that quickly pierced the natural darkness. Aside from the disturbance of the walls and the cracks slowly forming to reveal some sharp monsters' claws, there was nothing else of interest.
"This is the rumored dungeon, eh?"
Previously, Adler had used the "Camouflage" skill to change his form to that of a magic stone, which hadn't taken much effort to replicate. Using the magic stone form, he had intended to "accidentally" fall in front of an adventurer heading into the dungeon to pick him up and carry him inside the dungeon; as that was the only way Adler could enter without him being part of a "Familia" or a group made up of adventurers.
Of course, Adler was aware that there was a possibility that the god protecting the city was watching or observing him; however, he also had his "Existential Veil" skill, which completely erased his presence for anyone who wanted to spy on him.
As for whether Ouranos was aware of what he was doing, he didn't much care; in any case, the god Ouranos didn't meddle much in the lives of others...
Fortunately, the idea went off without a hitch.
Though Adler's initial thoughts of being picked up by a random adventurer were shattered when he stumbled upon the "Loki Familia" entering the dungeon today, so without hesitation, he dashed towards them from the crowd of people to fall in front of Ais.
"Come to think of it; I was lucky that Ais didn't sell me out to the guild." Adler's body shuddered at the thought of being sold.
He shook his head and, with a quick movement of his hands, pulled the white pajamas out of his inventory to get dressed.
*Crack! *Crack!
The various cracks stretched along the rocky walls spread out, and the stone fragments collapsed with a thud as the russet-colored monsters fell heavily to the ground.
According to many of Orario's adventurers, Adler had heard and confirmed the veracity that indeed, just as in the light novel, the monsters in the dungeons possessed more strength and, in turn, better magic stones than those homeless monsters that roamed the surface.
That being the case, Adler figured he could increase his strength even more and in the shortest possible time. He was ecstatic at the feeling of becoming strong every time he killed an enemy, so, without him realizing it, an excited smile broke out on his face.
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As the kobolds, with their claws outstretched, pounced fiercely towards the boy who broke into his house, Adler pulled out the dagger that glowed with a cold light in the darkness and a dark blur that blended in with the surroundings; his figure disappeared from the scene.
The kobold in front of him couldn't even turn the grinning face riddled with sharp teeth as a white blow sliced the monster's neck, causing the reddish head to roll magnificently through the air.
"One." The cold whisper was all that remained in place as Adler's figure vanished from his spot again.
"Grr!" A kobold growled loudly and brandished the mace in its hands at the dark figure with glowing eyes that appeared in front.
However, the dagger in Adler's hands danced gracefully, and before the kobold's attack impacted his face, the wooden mace split perfectly.
"Two."
Adler disappeared from his position leaving behind the kobold's body which crumbled forward cleanly as if a scorching knife had cut through butter.
Unlike the other two initial kobolds that leaped towards Adler, the other kobolds were running on foot with all the speed they could muster in their short legs, so Adler didn't bother using his dagger and lifted one leg upwards.
*Booom!
A small explosion sounded as Adler's kick buried the now mangled head of the kobold into the hard dungeon floor, killing it ultimately.
"Three."
'Oh, it can regenerate. Interesting.' Untainted by the dripping blood, Adler kicked the ground so that it avalanched forward at the same time as he glimpsed how the broken part of the dungeon regenerated at such a high speed that, in the blink of an eye, the rocky floor had already been left as if nothing had happened.
This was also why, even after countless years of intense and skilled adventurers venturing inside the dungeon to fight monsters, the walls, and the floor, which would typically be full of craters and holes caused by battles, everything was still normal.
*Crack!
Adler blinked amidst the darkness, and his legs extended forward. The strong kick connected against the head of a kobold that didn't have time to brandish its weapon, forcing it to bury itself inside the outer wall.
"Four!"
*Boom!
"Five!"
...
..
.
"Nine!"
Within seconds after the battle began, all the kobolds that would cause enough trouble to even a group of novice adventurers were exterminated as if they were mere insects.
Although it was not surprising because Adler possessed the rank compared to that of a "Level 2" adventurer and a strength capable of competing against "Level 3" adventurers, all thanks to the pure source of energy that coursed through his body.
"With this small encounter, I can't gauge if they are stronger than the surface monsters." Adler shook his head and buried the dagger in the chest of a dead kobold.
From within it came a purple magic stone the size of a baby's thumb. Adler looked at it and nodded with satisfaction.
Indeed, from the tiny lightning-like filaments dancing inside the magic stone, he could conclude that, indeed, the labyrinth magic stone was more condensed than the other magic stones he had obtained so far.
"I can't wait to get my hands on the higher-level magic stones."
Adler chuckled as he removed the magic stones from the remaining kobolds.
"Oh, an item. Though very few are dropped, these sell well within the guild."
Adler picked up a small object dropped by the kobold as he pulled the magic core from inside the monster.
All monsters in the labyrinth can drop items that can remain next to the monsters' magic stones without turning to dust after the monster dies because the magic stone is broken or because someone removes the magic stone.
Because drop items are used to make weapons, armor, and items, the guild buys them at a high price. Therefore, even though drop items were not given with every monster one managed to kill, one was content to get one.
"With everything going on, I feel like a video game character...".
When he finished, Adler wiped his hands and looked at the body of the last kobold disintegrating into dust to return to the dungeon.
"This floor is too weak for my current self; besides, even if I absorb them, they won't give me energy. I'll also need more battle time to learn the dagger passive skill."
Remembering the path Ais' group took, Adler began walking down one of the many corridors connected to the other end, heading to floor 2.