“Boss Su Yao, are you sure we can’t dig up these ‘Fire Crystal Stones’?”
Inside the maze corridor on the third floor of the Dungeon, the group came across magical ores every now and then. Although the purity was low, they were still quite valuable.
Uzo probably wanted to bring some magical ores back to use for lighting fires.
After all, the Dwarven Clan’s affinity with magic was getting lower and lower these days, making even simple things more troublesome.
“Relax, Uzo. You won’t be disappointed following me. There are plenty of high-purity magical ores deeper in the maze. Let’s leave these for the Adventurers who can’t make it that far.”
“Hmph, who knows if that’s true? I don’t believe you’re so generous. For all I know, you’ll send us away and sneak back to dig them up yourself.”
“You’re always picking a fight, kid. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and dig them up right now.”
“You! You’re the kid! I don’t even care about these ores!”
……
Leya’s relationship with this “Su Yao”… girl had eased quite a bit, it seemed. Arthur wouldn’t have to spend time coaxing her anymore.
Come to think of it, this Boss Su Yao was rather suspicious.
Arthur still clearly remembered everything that happened when she met the Goddess. The strange furniture in Lady Athena’s room had left an impression on her.
She recalled that this inn had something called a “flush toilet” and a “water heater”.
The former was made of different materials and looked different, but worked exactly the same.
The latter looked and functioned similarly, but the principles behind it were completely different.
Arthur didn’t know the names of the furniture in the Goddess’s room, but she had a vague feeling that the “restroom” in this inn resembled the room where Lady Goddess and her old friend once lived together.
Her instincts told her Su Yao might have some connection to Lady Athena, but that alone didn’t prove anything. After all, all the inn’s furniture had help from a Dwarven designer.
“Miss Arthur? Why are you staring at me?”
“Pardon me, you just reminded me of someone I know.”
“A friend? What kind of friend?”
“Arthur! Stupid loli, you led us to a dead end!”
They hadn’t run into any troublesome monsters along the way, so she had let her mind wander a bit. Luckily, Leya called her back to attention.
“Kid, look carefully—how is this a dead end?”
No sooner had the blonde loli finished speaking than a huge boulder ahead started to move. It was another monster disguised as a maze “wall.”
“Though it looks odd, it should be a ‘Grem’. Finding the core would take too long. Let’s just deal with it and find a chance to sneak past!”
The monster, resembling a massive rock wall, stood up—enormous and slow, but very powerful. Still, it wasn’t much of a threat to them.
Will calmly issued instructions. With just Uzo and him holding it off, it would be no trouble. Arthur wasn’t worried.
What really puzzled Arthur was this Dungeon itself.
Lady Athena had once said, “The monsters in a Dungeon are ‘copies’ made by the Dungeon Core drawing ‘energy’ from the earth-veins, and the ‘maze’ is a ‘projection’ of naturally-formed or man-made terrain.”
But this Dungeon they were exploring now was too strange. Everything here looked nothing like something the mindless ‘earth-veins’ could produce.
Treasure Chests, traps, monsters disguised as maze walls, doors that needed puzzles to be solved before they would open…
This Dungeon clearly had a “Master”, and she might be the same kind of being as Lady Athena.
That would mean a third self-aware “earth-vein” had appeared.
Strange monster loli, strange Dungeon maze…
Could it be?
It shouldn’t be. Neither Lady Athena nor the other “earth-vein hostile to humans” had the ability to leave her own Dungeon…
This girl called “Su Yao” might just be a monster created by this Dungeon’s Master.
Maybe, by watching her, Arthur could find the real Master of this Dungeon.
Time was running out. At the very least, she had to tell her about the Saint Nation’s plans before the diplomatic delegation arrived—otherwise, humanity might have yet another “enemy”…
—————
“Shui Jing! Uzo, he’s yours!”
“Alright!”
A chicken-bodied monster, as tall as a man, charged at the blonde loli standing a short distance away.
The landlady of the Adventurers’ Guild Branch took a step back and shouted out the water spell she had prepared.
Taking that as a signal, the nearby Dwarf, who had been waiting in ambush, raised his massive battle axe and leaped high.
Using the force of his arms and body, he slammed the weapon down hard on the immobilized “Chicken Snake”…
Beads of blood slowly dripped from the axe blade to the floor. Uzo planted his foot on the corpse of the Basilisk and yanked out his giant axe.
“Perfect teamwork. Nicely done.”
“Thank you for the praise~”
The Basilisk was a rather tricky monster. While it wouldn’t put them in a desperate fight, defeating it still took some effort.
What was surprising was that this monster’s Ma Bi Shi Xian could be countered in such a way. Uzo was right; she really did know this place well.
But the third floor had only formed five days ago, right? How did she manage this…
“Hmph, Arthur could have taken care of that monster by herself!”
“I know, I know. Go open the ‘Treasure Chest’ up ahead. You love doing that, don’t you?”
“Don’t treat me like a child!”
“Alright, kid.”
……
The relationship between those two—who could say if it was good or bad? After all, people who really hated each other wouldn’t argue so much.
The little one opened the Treasure Chest and pulled out something like a piece of glass. It didn’t look like a particularly rare treasure.
After collecting the “reward,” the group, led by the blonde loli, successfully entered a room ahead blocked by a “Light Curtain.”
With a click, the mechanism activated, and the entire room rotated…
“This…”
“This is the deepest part of the Dungeon’s third floor—the mine pit I mentioned earlier.”
After passing through the “Light Curtain” twice, Will and the others found themselves on a platform jutting out from the rock wall.
At the end of the suspension bridge in front of them stood a massive stone pillar, encrusted with clusters of sky-blue, sparkling crystals.
“Water Source Stone! And such high purity!”
“That’s not all. Look over there!”
The scene before them was just as awe-inspiring as the second floor of the Dungeon—three stone pillars rose from the ground, each crowned with rich, sharply-angled crystal clusters.
Their vibrant color meant exceptionally high purity.
A bit farther off, orange-red lava and pure-white glaciers could be seen. The absurd coexistence of fire and ice was both visually stunning and a challenge to common sense.
The words “Impossible” almost slipped out, but he swallowed them back.
Lava, snow, and pools of water spread to the bases of the three gigantic stone pillars, splitting the mine pit floor into a ‘Y’ shape.
All sorts of magical ores covered the ground. And at the very center of the mine pit stood an immense “tree” made entirely of crystal.
“I’ll need your help to defeat the Dragon right in the center of the mine pit.”
Following the blonde loli’s pointing finger, Will didn’t see any “Dragon” at all. All he saw was…
“That tree is its ‘tail.’”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.