Chương 58: Into the Dungeon

Tengen laughed loudly.

"You can even carry a girl on your back. Are you telling me two grown men are not as good as one petite girl? Hurry up and die gorgeously of shame, hahaha."

"What! How could I be inferior to someone so small? I will show you how strong I am!" Inosuke was immediately riled up. He quickly picked up a backpack almost as tall as himself, puffed white air from his nose, and slapped his chest.

"Look! I am strong!" Zenitsu looked aggrieved, shouted, and stubbornly shouldered his own backpack. Lili smiled to herself. The reason Lili could carry hers so easily was the Skill Hero Behind the Scenes. Excess weight would be corrected. In other words, the heavier the burden, the stronger the correction.

"That is manly, yellow-haired boy."

"Everyone seems happy, Mr. Cael," Shinobu said.

"After all, this is a new environment. Everything is fresh. Aren't you happy too?" Cael said. Perhaps because her hope of revenge was growing stronger, Shinobu's smile looked much more natural than it had at first. Besides, everyone was chatting well. There did not seem to be any separation between them. Because their personalities were so different, however, the topic always went off course. As they chatted, they arrived at the foot of Babel.

The area was suddenly crowded with people, and the sound of metal striking metal filled the air. It was the sound of adventurers' equipment. Most adventurers wore armor. A smaller number wore leather armor, and only a rare few wore no armor at all. Those who wore none were either unable to afford it or extremely confident in their own strength.

"Let's go." Cael walked at the front with the flow of people. Behind him, the Hashira and the three younger ones stepped onto the spiral stone stairs leading down into the Dungeon. This was Cael's fourth time entering the Dungeon. Every time he entered, he completed a transformation. He knew this was only because his Skills were especially powerful in the early stage. Later, each transformation would take longer. Perhaps after he became a Level 2 adventurer, he would also encounter bottlenecks and the like.

"Gulp. It is so scary and eerie. It feels like we are about to enter a monster's mouth." They had only just entered Babel and had not even reached the first floor, but Zenitsu's face was already blue. His hands trembled on the backpack straps, and mucus dripped from his nose.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, Zenitsu," Tanjiro said.

"Coward," Lili said contemptuously.

"That's right, coward," Inosuke said. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The Hashira also grew serious, because they had already sensed a faint, unsettling aura. This was the smell of the Dungeon.

"On the Upper Floors, meaning within the first twelve floors, our team can basically kill all monsters instantly. We can go directly to the Middle Floors. During that time, we can slow down a little so everyone can better understand how monsters fight." Cael spoke like an experienced senior adventurer captain. The Hashira had extremely strong adaptability and learning ability. After encountering a monster two or three times, they basically knew how to handle it.

Whether they encountered a Dungeon Lizard, a Silverback, or an Orc, the Hashira could easily defeat it with one sword. If one sword was not enough, two swords were. As more and more monsters were killed, everyone's understanding of fighting monsters rose sharply. At the same time, many adventurer parties saw them. Lower-level adventurers thought they were upper-class adventurers, while actual upper-class adventurers were shocked. A mere Lv. 1 team was actually advancing at the pace of a Lv. 2 adventurer team.

They cut and killed all the way down, taking several detours before arriving at the twelfth floor. Their reaction to all kinds of monsters had gone from initial curiosity and surprise to familiarity. Of course, someone had still fainted from fear midway and then stood back up with snot under his nose. Boom. A powerful slash cut a three-meter-tall Orc in half, and a huge explosion raised a large amount of dirt and smoke. A shallow pit appeared on the ground. Inside it lay a purple Magic Stone broken into pieces.

Tengen returned his blades to the slots on his back, bent down, picked up the Magic Stone dropped by the Orc he had just killed, and tossed it to Zenitsu.

"But it really is amazing that monsters turn to ash every time you kill them."

"That is the charm of the Dungeon. This is only the Upper Floors. When we reach the Middle Floors, that charm will gradually expand, but so will the danger." Cael looked at another Orc emerging from the mist, then condensed a sword and threw it forward. The Orc lowered its head and glanced at its chest, then fell to the ground and turned to ash. Lili quickly ran over, picked up the Magic Stone broken in half, and muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Really, Lord Cael. If you break the Magic Stone every time, its value will be cut in half."

"Since the monsters here are not very strong, the thirteenth floor should only be stronger than this. It cannot suddenly be several times worse." Sanemi spoke fiercely after cutting off an Orc's head with one sword, then put his Nichirin Sword back into its sheath.

"We go through here to reach the Middle Floors, right?" Mitsuri said, looking ahead before turning sparkling eyes toward Cael. Mr. Cael was such a good leader. Everyone was willing to listen to his advice. She had not taken action since entering the Dungeon, because every monster had been eliminated before she could make a move.

"I have not been there either, but it is described in the Adventurer's Handbook." Cael looked toward the dark passage leading to the thirteenth floor that had appeared in front of everyone.

"The Middle Floors and the Upper Floors are completely different concepts. Once we enter Floor 13, the strength, spawn speed, and number of monsters will all increase by a large step."

"Newcomers who have just reached Lv. 2 will suffer one-sided defeats if they enter the Middle Floors. It is called the first line between life and death."

"Several new monsters appear there."

"First are the upright rabbit monsters called Al-Miraj. They are rated as high Lv. 1."

"They already have a trace of intelligence. They gather together to surround adventurers and may even follow them, waiting until more companions arrive before launching a killing blow."

"Hellhounds have been rated as having Lv. 2 potential. They can spit high-temperature fireballs, have long-range attack capabilities, and appear in groups of at least ten."

"Hard Armoreds rush at adventurers like rolling stones. If you are careless, the team will be scattered, and their hard shells can even prevent swords from cutting properly."

"Most importantly, there are Minotaurs. Although they usually appear alone, they are high Lv. 2 monsters and can use weapons. Their strength and speed can completely keep up with Lv. 2 adventurers."

"They only appear below Floor 16, so we generally will not encounter them on the earlier floors."

"As for cave bats, they only appear when a cave-in happens. They become the final stab at adventurers already exhausted from dealing with the collapse."

"Monsters originally have no Levels. Monster Levels are manually assessed by the Guild. If a monster has Level 5 strength, it will be evaluated as having potential ability reaching Level 5."

"Usually, a monster's potential ability is higher than that of an adventurer of the same Level, but its overall strength is lower than that of an adventurer of the same Level."