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Chapter 16: The Dungeon
Bidding farewell to a fretful Eina and her endless warnings, Aiden and Robin finally arrived at the center of Orario, the magnificent white tower—Babel.
This was the entrance to the Dungeon.
The vast plaza at the base of the tower was teeming with people. Adventurers were assembling parties or checking their equipment, the atmosphere tense yet orderly.
At the entrance, several Guild staff members were responsible for verification. The process was very simple; one only needed to show their Adventurer Status Plate.
Following the surging crowd, the two stepped into the interior of Babel Tower.
A spiral staircase, wide enough to accommodate thousands of people, led deep underground.
This was the "Beginning Road," the 0th floor of the Dungeon, an absolute safe zone where monsters never spawned.
The air grew cool and damp, and the light gradually dimmed.
The moment they finished descending the long staircase and set foot on the soil of the first floor, a brand-new world revealed itself before their eyes.
This was the 1st Floor, a shallow cavern.
The ground, composed of rock, was uneven. Glowing moss growing on the walls provided the only light source, illuminating the entire space in a dim haze.
At that exact moment, Aiden felt a sudden heat on his back.
He knew that [Abyss Gazed Back] had been triggered.
"Robin, be careful."
Aiden warned in a low voice, his right hand already gripping the hilt of his sword, slowly drawing the blade.
Robin immediately understood, raising the staff in her hand. The Magic Stone at the tip glowed faintly, ready to unleash magic at a moment's notice.
They moved forward. The surrounding adventurer parties gradually dispersed, and soon, no other figures could be seen in their field of vision.
Suddenly, the rock wall to the side shattered with a crash. A short, dark-green-skinned goblin rushed out screaming, waving a rusted short blade.
Facing this most basic of fodder, Aiden felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
He took a step forward, his longsword tracing a crisp, clean silver arc that precisely sliced open the goblin's neck.
Black blood splattered. The goblin let out a short scream before crashing to the ground, then turned into black ash with a poof, leaving behind a Magic Stone the size of a fingernail.
Robin stepped forward, picked up the Magic Stone, examined it curiously for a moment, and placed it in the backpack behind her. Since they hadn't hired a supporter, the job of collecting loot was temporarily hers.
Next, they killed several more goblins in succession.
Just as everything seemed to be proceeding routinely, the expected change finally occurred.
The ground ahead suddenly trembled and cracked, and a monster that absolutely should not have appeared here drilled out from the earth.
It was a spherical gelatinous creature, the size of a human head, red all over.
"Pyro Slime..."
Aiden's pupils contracted slightly, instantly recognizing this monster from his distant memories.
His gaze sharpened, and his figure moved like lightning. His longsword left an afterimage in the air, instantly slicing through the slime's body and bringing with it a smear of red, viscous liquid.
However, in the next moment, both Aiden and Robin's eyes narrowed.
The slash, which was strong enough to cut a goblin in two, had only left a deep gash on the Pyro Slime.
And that gash was wiggling and healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, recovering completely in less than two seconds.
Immediately after, the Pyro Slime's body compressed sharply, then catapulted up like a cannonball, smashing toward Aiden with a wave of scorching heat.
Aiden twisted his body, dodging the impact by a hair's breadth, and followed up with a backhand slash, knocking the Pyro Slime flying heavily.
"Aiden, your sword!"
Robin's clear voice suddenly rang out.
Aiden looked down, only to discover that the blade of his steel longsword, the part that had struck the monster, was now glowing red-hot, as if it had been scorched in a furnace.
He glanced at the Pyro Slime, which had recovered yet again, his brows furrowing tightly.
Physical attacks were ineffective, its body contained high heat, and it caused immense wear and tear on weapons. Although its attack pattern was simple, this was extremely unfriendly for rookie adventurers with rudimentary equipment.
Just as he was pondering, the Pyro Slime suddenly stopped. Its body wiggled, and it opened a non-existent "mouth" toward Aiden, spitting out a fireball the size of a fist.
"Resound!"
Robin's reaction was as fast as lightning.
She pointed her staff directly at the Pyro Slime, chanting a short verse.
An invisible, piercing sound wave burst through the air, accurately hitting the fireball while it was still in mid-flight.
Boom!
The fireball detonated prematurely in the air, exploding into a brilliant display of fireworks.
The corner of Aiden's mouth twitched.
It even had magic attacks? This wasn't just unfriendly to newcomers; this was an out-and-out "Rookie Killer."
What normal rookie adventurer could cope with a monster capable of ranged magic attacks on their first trip into the Dungeon?
But since it was a monster spawned by the Dungeon, it must follow the Dungeon's laws—its weakness must be the Magic Stone.
No matter how strong its regeneration, as long as the Magic Stone inside shattered, it would undoubtedly die. Figuring this out, Aiden hesitated no longer.
He pushed off the ground with force, launching himself like an arrow from a bow.
The longsword in his hand no longer sought a one-hit kill but transformed into a flurry of sword light, slashing continuously at the Pyro Slime.
After several flashes of the blade, the gelatinous body of the Pyro Slime could finally no longer withstand the assault and was thoroughly segmented into several pieces.
A Magic Stone emitting a red glow was exposed to the air.
This time, the slime fragments falling to the ground did not heal again.
"It seems that as long as the damage dealt in an instant is high enough, it won't have time to regenerate."
Aiden made a judgment in his heart, dismissing the idea of directly attacking the Magic Stone.
After all, destroying the Magic Stone meant no income; that was a last resort.
He stepped forward to pick up the loot, which was obviously a size larger than a goblin's Magic Stone, as well as a glob of dropped, still-warm red slime condensate.
"Is this a 'special monster' that appeared because of your skill?"
Robin walked up, a hint of gravity on her beautiful face.
"It's much harder to deal with than a goblin."
She had also read the materials provided by Eina. Pyro Slimes simply did not exist on the first floor of the Dungeon.
Not to mention, monsters capable of casting magic should at least be Hellhounds from the middle floors.
Although this Pyro Slime's attack power was far inferior to a Hellhound, its trickiness was enough to give rookies a headache.
Just then, bursts of exclamations and screams, mixed with the sound of fireball explosions, could be heard faintly from other passages not far away.
Aiden and Robin exchanged a glance, seeing the same thought and a trace of a wry smile in each other's eyes.
Clearly, the "surprise" brought by [Abyss Gazed Back] was not targeted at him alone.
The entire first floor of the Dungeon was forced to welcome this rookie trial that shouldn't have existed.
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