- Ch. 13 - A Canary's 1st Foray into the Dungeon

{10:45 AM}

It hasn't even been 15 minutes yet since Dinah left the Guild Hall... And Dinah still felt weighed down. The words of her advisor left a significant presence in her mind. With Henrietta's advice swirling in her thoughts, she found herself in a long, slow, ride to the top of the Tower of Babel on a wooden elevator held up by gears, chains, wood, iron supports, and counter weights.

Thankfully, this wasn't the only elevator to the top, and that she was by herself; lost in her own thoughts. She didn't choose to walk the circuitous route to the top, because she felt that it would've taken longer, and she wanted to be left alone at the moment.

With the wind in her hair, the sun in the sky, and the smell of fresh air, Dinah felt rejuvenated. She was mentally preparing herself for her 1st ever foray into the dungeon. The information that Henrietta bombarded her with was definitely difficult to swallow, but then again, she was reminded that this is a new world.

She has to stop comparing her old world to her new one. Those comparisons could get her killed, so she needs to let them go. With a deep breath in and a deep exhale out, Dinah relaxed her mind. 'Don't hesitate, Dinah. Danger lurks around every corner. You need to take out the things that are going to want to kill you with extreme prejudice. Don't hold back.'

As the wooden elevator stopped at the top, Dinah strode forwards and took in the view. There must've been hundreds of Adventurers roaming about the place. Dinah would've explored a bit more, but she didn't have the need or want to explore the top of the tower. 'Maybe another time.'

With her satchel adjusted snugly and to the left of her person without hindering her in any way, Dinah was done with her final last minute preparations. She immediately made her way forward and followed the line of Adventurers that were heading downwards towards the dungeon. Her instincts and senses were currently screaming at her, but she pushed it down. 'It feels like there are plenty of strong Adventurers around.'

Dinah knew that she wasn't the most flamboyantly dressed compared to the people around her, but she somehow was still able to draw attention to herself without her meaning to.

She was alone, an obvious Level 1 Adventurer, since no one knows of her or has seen her around here before, and she only had a small dagger as the only visible weapon on her person. Her small satchel at her side definitely gave her the appearance of someone new. Some of the people around here had backpacks of different sizes, some had Supporters accompanying them; of whom are carrying enormous packs filled with all sorts of items, or they had pouches tied to their belts; where they could place their collected magic stones into as well as other types of loot. To a strangers' eye, her satchel could probably carry just a few potions, a few hundred small slivers of magic stones, and a couple dozen small drop items.

Dinah didn't really care, but she was still very wary of the half dozen pairs of eyes she was drawing to herself. She didn't give them the privilege of returning their gazes or acknowledging their presence, so she stayed as cool as a cucumber. They can look, but they can't touch, after all.

'Anyone that tries...'

With a shake of her head to get back on track, she focused further on her surroundings and the people she was traveling downwards with. It didn't take her long to descend to the entrance of the dungeon. She would've admired the circular room, the multiple columns at equal intervals, the beautiful azure painting of the sky that resembles the real sky above, but she was entirely focused on going down the gentle stairs that spiraled down into the dungeon.

The entrance to the Dungeon was the first underground floor of the Tower of Babel. In the center of the room, is the 10 meter long hole that leads straight into its depths.

Without any preamble or hesitation, Dinah walked down to the depths of the dungeon. The 1st floor of the dungeon was as advertised. The walls are the color of light blue; thanks to the small crystals embedded in them, and the monsters that'll appear here are Goblins and/or Kobolds. As she walked on, she saw that she was on a wide hallway; although calling it a hallway is a misnomer. 'This must be the famous Beginning Road. Newbie Level 1's with lower parameters in their basic abilities normally spend their time here. Calling it a road was the right call...'

'There sure are a lot of people around...', was the thought that crossed her mind, as she ran her eyes from person to person.

With no pause in her stride, Dinah walked down and went through one of the openings that lead down further into the dungeon. 'I'd rather not be around that many people in a dungeon filled with monsters.'

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{After a few minutes...}

It was odd, but Dinah hasn't spotted any monsters so far, and she's been literally wandering around from hallway to dank hallway, and room to rocky room for a few minutes now. She's been on a constant state of alertness since heading down the dungeon, but being down here is grating to her senses.

The air down here is breathable, and it reminded her of the times she's spent in caves underground, but there's no insects here anywhere. The smell of the air is slightly stale, but it's ominously still. The lights from the crystals embedded in the walls and ceilings were enough to light up the tunnels, but she wasn't letting herself be fooled by the gentle lights.

*\!CRACK CRACK CRACK!/*

Dinah was already in a fighting stance, the moment the walls, and ceilings opened up and birthed a pack of Goblins.

She would've preferred that they spawned in front of her, but the dungeon decided to be cheeky, so Dinah now found herself surrounded.

"Aren't you all just the ugliest things?", she asked with a smirk.

As if that was a signal, the green tide of death rushed towards her.

*!HISS!* *!GROWL!* *!LOUA LOUA!*

The sounds they made were as advertised, but this wasn't what Dinah was focused on.

At that moment, Dinah found something more repugnant than the smell of garbage. It was the smell of Goblins...

Without hesitation, she used the walls as a stepping stone and leaped away.

From tunnel wall, to the ground, and to the wall again, she leaped, hopped, and vaulted over the small humanoid monsters.

In the air, she was out of reach, but they still tried. When they couldn't reach, they gathered towards where she was about to land.

They failed to understand that the tunnel walls and floors weren't the only things she could use to her advantage.

Dinah didn't know it at the time, but she accidentally invented the monster stepping stone method.

When she saw the chance, she kicked the heads off of the ugly things, before leaping away again.

She didn't think, she just moved. A wall skip here, a side kick there, another leap away to give herself some space, and Goblin hopping just for the hell of it.

When she found the opportunity, she punted the little green things like soccer balls towards their brethren.

She even picked up a few small rocks as she leaped from place to place, and threw them with startling accuracy at their large eyes.

The distractions proved fruitful, since she took them down swiftly afterwards.

After a time, she now found herself on one side of the hallway tunnels, with maybe a dozen more Goblins left on the other. Unlike before; where they outnumbered her by a significant margin, they now found themselves dropped to a 6th of their original number. 'Are they hesitating?'

Within moments, the dozen goblins were dealt with. The tunnels were now empty once again, and the bodies of her recent kills were swiftly dissipating into black dust.

Dinah swept her gaze while waving her hand back and forth in front of her nose. "These guys smelled so terrible. I prefer Solomon Grundy's scent more. And he was a literal swamp zombie..."

*Sigh* With a cautious gait, Dinah collected her spoils. '65 small magic stone slivers, and 7 Goblin Fangs... Nice. Thank you bag of holding for your amazing powers of easy storage.'

While she was picking up her loot, she also picked up small rocks and put them in an empty side pocket on her satchel, just in case. 'I may not be well-versed with the bow and arrow, but I can throw a mean dart. But since I don't have any of those, small rocks will have to do.'

As she dusted herself off, she looked over the area one more time; making sure she didn't leave any monster loot lying around. 'It was a good start. And the encounter didn't even take that long. What took most my the time was gathering the drops.'

Dinah strode on forwards, looking for more monsters to slay as she reviewed parts of the fight in her mind's eye. 'It felt too easy... But the dungeon did just drop a monster party on me... And these Goblins are the weakest monsters here.'

As Dinah turned another corner, she looked down at her outfit for a few seconds, before raising her eyes up again. 'I've mostly just been kicking them down. A kick to the neck was enough for me to decapitate some of them. Kicking them to the walls hard enough to splatter their brains also works. A rock to the eye, and then a boot to the head seems enough for these normal Goblins... but I wonder what their variants are like...'

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{2:23 PM}

It was odd, but Dinah found herself wandering into multiple monster parties. And all of them were made up of normal Goblins. It was both fortunate and unfortunate for the blond woman. Fortunate, because she now had a grand total of 678 tiny magic stone slivers, as well as 91 Goblin Fangs. Unfortunate, because her sense of smell has now recognized the stench of Goblin. She can now smell where they are within 5 meters of her. This discovery almost made her cry.

The Canary was currently sitting down in the center of a side room, enjoying a sandwich and washing it down with some cool refreshing water.

She just recently cleared the room not too long ago, and decided to eat a light; yet very late, lunch. Faith's pocket watch reminded her of the time, so she decided to partake in some sustenance while she had the time.

'It's very thoughtful of her to lend me her pocket watch.' She pictured her half-elf Familia Captain in her mind with fondness.

'Don't you worry guys, I'll be back home in time for dinner. Dungeon diving by myself is kind of depressing...'

As she finished her food, she watched the walls and ceiling of the dungeon slowly fix itself. 'I think this dungeon has an agenda against me. But then again, the dungeon hates everyone. Hmmm...., should I head towards the 2nd floor?'

"Nah, I don't think I'll push my luck.", she told herself, as she brushed herself off and got up.

Dinah was slightly sweaty, but she wasn't feeling all that tired. Even after encountering hordes of Goblins, and promptly killing them, she was still filled with energy. 'Probably another effect of the Falna enhancing my endurance.'

As she started her wandering once again, a random thought trickled into her mind. 'I haven't seen any other groups or solo Adventurers around, but I might just be in an area where they don't normally travel. If they can handle the ones here, then they might've thought to go to the other floors.'

With a calm pace, she walked further into the tunnels of the 1st floor to hunt down more monsters. Dinah has dispatched small groups of those tiny green monstrosities here and there, and as she kept on fighting them, she noticed something peculiar.

She was able to anticipate their movements more clearly, as she fought them. The little things were fast, but as she fought more of them, she noticed how she could predict their movements more easily after each encounter. These Goblins were fast, but they're not the fastest things on two legs that she's encountered before.

'How odd...'

As she passed by another tunnel's entrance, she caught a scent of something new.

"I smell wet dog... and something familiar..."

Dinah went through the connecting tunnel, and as she turned another corner, she saw red. The smell of iron lingered in the air. Growls, grunts, and the sound of feeding dogs could be heard clearly. There was maybe a dozen Kobolds roaming the room. But she wasn't focused on them. She was focused on the five at the center.

There in the middle of what she could tell was a feeding frenzy, was a dead Adventurer.

After she took in the situation in it's entirety, her body just moved. She sprung into action once again. But this time, she wasn't reacting. This time, she was the aggressor.

With a flying leap, she kicked the head of the nearest kobold. The twisting crack of the dog-headed monster's neck didn't give her pause.

The sound of their brother's demise, brought their attention to the furious looking blond.

Without pause, she stepped to the side to avoid a claw, before she retaliated with a spinning backhand.

The dog-headed fiend was turned around by the force of her blow. And in the next moment, she kicked it's legs out from underneath it.

Before she could deliver the killing blow, she had to dodge and roll away from a combined attack from her flanks.

*!GROWLS!*

"Oh shut up, fido!"

With a raised growl, a few of the kobolds circled around her, trying to box her in, while three attacked her at the same time.

Dinah; with a look of contempt on her face, leaped at them faster than they could react. Her boot met the snout of the first, breaking it.

Her fist crushed the throat of another, and the third she tossed over at a few of their brethren.

Seeing their pack being dismantled by a 5ft 4in, blond, woman in black must've been terrifying to them, because they hesitated.

Too bad for them... Because the Canary did not.

If anyone were to have walked by the tunnel, they would've heard the sounds of bones breaking, dogs whimpering, bodies being tossed around, and blood being spilled.

After a few minutes, Dinah now found herself alone in the room with a corpse. The bodies of the Kobolds having already broken down into black dust after she's slain them.

Dinah ignored the drop items, the magic stones, and the monster blood that was now staining her leather jacket, as she walked towards the unmoving, blood soaked body of the young man in the center of the room. A trick of the light made her see blond, but after blinking her eyes quickly, she saw that the young man had messy brown hair.

'...?'

She knelt down by his side, and felt her eyes get misty as she studied the body of the young man. He was obviously dead; with a lot of body parts missing. His eyes were open, the light from them long gone, and empty. His blank stare was haunting. His lips were blue, and his skin was pale and cold. His leather armor was shredded, the sheath at his side was empty, and his brown tunic, blue shirt, and brown pants were soaked through with his blood.

After studying the body, she closed his eyes. Dinah looked over the room and spotted his short sword near one of the walls of the cave. 'He can't be any older than 19...'

*Sigh* "Damn.", she said sadly; while sudden flashes of repressed memories appeared and disappeared in her mind's eye. After a shake of the head, Dinah promptly gathered her loot, returned the young man's weapon to his side, and she carried him out.

The body of the young Adventurer must've weighed more than 180 lbs, but Dinah didn't feel it. She refused to let her tears fall right now. She refused to let this unfortunate young man's body rot in this place. He deserved to be buried ground side. His family and friends deserved to see his body.

With her will hardened, and her resolve tempered, she moved forward; backtracking the paths she took.

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{3:57 PM}

It took her a long while, but she finally made it to the Beginning Road. She had to sometimes stop for awhile, take care of the monsters that the dungeon kept throwing her way, and gather the loot.

She wasn't about to fight while carrying a dead body, so she kept on gently setting the recently deceased down, before taking care of the Goblins and Kobolds.

Dinah didn't stop, she didn't rest, and she didn't utter a single word. She just kept on moving and fighting.

As she stepped into the Beginning Road, she felt the sudden stares pile up. The gazes of the people conveyed a lot of emotions, but Dinah met them all with an unwavering stare. Her lips were set into a neutral facade, and her stride didn't falter.

"What do you think happened to them?"

"-...probably careless...-"

"Don't stare, it's rude...-"

"She just wasted her time, the idiot...-"

"-...she looks beat up...-"

"What a fool, carrying the corpse of another fool...-"

"She probably killed him, think we should rep...-"

These conversations and more spread like wildfire, but Dinah ignored it all with stoic silence. She would've loved to beat the stuffing out of some of them, but she forced herself to calm her turbulent emotions.

She was stoic while her heart felt heavy. Her arms were tired, but she persevered. It took her no time at all in climbing up and out of the dungeon entrance. As she climbed up the stone steps, everyone gave her a wide berth.

Some of the people wanted to stop her, but they were stopped by their compatriots out of respect or fear. Some wanted to ask, but they were silenced.

Dinah was secretly thankful that there wasn't as many people now as there were this morning.

Earlier, when she was descending down to the entrance of the dungeon, there was lighthearted conversation all around, but now, there was only somber silence mixed with hushed conversation.

It didn't take her long to get to the top of the Tower of Babel. An even wider berth, was given to her as she walked towards the area where she suspected she could register the deceased body of the young man in her arms.

*Sigh* With a quiet exhale, she followed the signs towards the Medical Ward.

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-> A/N: Author's Note(s): Please support me on Patreon. I'd like to make writing my career, because it's something that I love. I'm registered there as KnightWriterRLK. You can also type up the website listed below to find it.

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