Entering the dungeon

[Orcus Great Dungeon]

This was a huge labyrinth that consisted of hundred floors. As one of the Seven Great Dungeons, the lower you go, the stronger the Magic Beasts become. Even so, this dungeon was a very popular place for mercenaries and adventurers. It was also a great training ground for new recruits; That was because it was easy to judge the strength of the Magic Beasts in accordance to the dungeon floor. Moreover, the Magic Beasts in the dungeons also possessed higher quality Magic Stone in their body compared to the Magic Beasts in the wilderness.

The Magic Stone is the core that provides power to the Magic Beast. The stronger the Magic Beast, the higher quality the core is. These Magic Stones are used as raw materials to make the magic circles. The magic circle could be activated as long as it was completed, but the effect was only one-third when comparing the magic circle drawn by oneself to the magic circle drawn by using Magic Stone Powder.

In brief, using Magic Stones could effectively improve the efficiency of magic. In addition, the magic tools used in everyday life were also powered by Magic Stones. There was a very high demand for these Magic Stones; It was essential for both the armies and everyday life.

By the way, powerful Magic Beasts with high quality Magic Stone can use inherent magic. Inherent Magic does not require incantation and magic circles. It is the only spell the Magic Beast can use, the same species of Magic Beast will not be able to use all sort of spells even if they possesses magic power. But in place of that, the Magic Beast doesn't require incantation and magic circles to perform the spell. This is the biggest reason one cannot be negligent when confronting the Magic Beast.

Commander Meld led a group of knights, and brought the students to their temporary lodging at small town of [Holward]. The adventurers who wished to challenge [Orcus Great Dungeon] would stay here. Tonight, they were going to stay at an inn managed by the Kingdom, which was exclusive for the new recruits.

After getting his own room, Kazuto started to walk towards the garden with a western sword in his hand. But what he didn't expect was Shizuku to be already there practicing her swordsmanship.

"Are you also here to practice swordsmanship tonight, Kazuto?"

Shizuku stopped doing her training and asked as she saw Kazuto standing there quietly. Seeing kazuto nod his head shizuku smiled and said,

"Let's have a spar then, it's been a while since we have done it."

"Sure"

Hearing shizuku's word, Kazuto replied immediately and began to take his stance with a barely noticeable smile on his face. Shizuku who noticed kazuto's excitement also smiled and began to get ready to start. In the whole classroom, only shizuku knew that kazuto was a battle junkie. She also only knew that after coming here, as kazuto would always ask her and kouki for a spar in the name of training but because of that she also got a little closer to kazuto so she is also happy with it.

Fifteen minutes later,

Both Kazuto and shizuku were lying on the ground next to each other with a sword near them. After some time, shizuku spoke while looking at the moon and some melancholy on her voice,

"Hey, Kazuto can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go on." Kazuto replied without thinking much.

"What do you think about our situation kazuto, do you think we can really go back?"

Kazuto thought for a while on how he should reply and said,

"I don't know, everything looks confusing and it looks like the whole place is run by God's fanatic believers with the God in top. But for now, all of us are really weak compared to many people of this world, so we have to get stronger if we want to do something about our situation."

Kazuto replied honestly, after all, even he, himself did not know much about this world. He had even searched in the royal library but the important parts were not there and all the books were always praising the God and his kindness or benevolence.

"Do you think we can do that?"

Shizuku asked uncertainly, like she was doubting herself.

"Maybe or maybe not, but what is more important is to never give up and try your best to make the best of the situation."

Kazuto said with great fighting spirit in his eyes and a smile on his face. Kazuto was a typical battle junkie, which he found out after joining the dojo, but he always controlled it, as it was not a good thing to fight in earth. But after coming here, he has been enjoying himself in his fights and most importantly he felt like some kind of chain has been lifted up from him.

Looking at his side, Shizuku who saw kazuto's smile was dazed for a few seconds. After regaining her wits, she blushed furiously and looked away.

Kazuto who saw this was amused, as most of the time shizuku would always act like a noble girl and he thought that this side of her is cute too. Kazuto felt an urge to tease shizuku who was acting like a normal girl, so he looked towards her and spoke with a teasing smile on his face and asked with a fake worried tone in his voice.

"Are you alright Shizuku?! Did you get a fever?! your face is red like a tomato."

Kazuto put his hand on shizuku's forehead with a fake worried expression on his face, who blushed even more. Seeing this kazuto couldn't help it anymore and laughed after a really long time in his life.

"HAHAHAHA!!!, look at your face, looking all flustered like this. You look really cute Shizuku."

Shizuku who heard kazuto's laughter was both surprised and angry at the same time, as this is the first time Kazuto expressed himself like this, but it is also the first time someone was able to tease her like this and make her this flustered.

"Don't laugh much or I will tell others that your are a battle junkie."

Shizuku said with a pout on her face which looked really cute on her. Shizuku didn't know why she was acting like this but she was enjoying herself, so she just did what she wanted without any pretense.

"Huh, it doesn't really matter to me if others know I am a battle junkie or not, but I wonder what would happen, if they know that you like cute and girly things."

Shizuku who heard this had an shocked expression on her face and she asked kazuto in a surprised voice.

"How did you know?"

"We were together for more than 2 years, so it was easy to figure it out, even if you tried to hide it."

"I don't think anyone other than you can figure out something like this. But it is still a surprise you know?"

Shizuku said with a smile in her face.

"What is?"

Asked Kazuto with a confused expression on his face.

Shizuku smiled even brighter and said,

"You behaving like this. I thought you would always have the same expression on your face and never show your feelings to others, much less teasing me like this."

Kazuto who heard this realised what he was doing and blushed a little, but after a while his expression returned to same indifference except for a small red hue on his cheeks.

"I don't why I behaved like this today but it's been a while since I have been this happy. Shizuku also looks happy and she stopped acting like a noble girl around me, so I guess it's fine. It looks like I have somehow changed a little since I came here. "

Kazuto thought in his mind.

"I guess it's true. But I just did what I felt like, and as a reward, I also got to see a new side of you today."

Kazuto said with a smile on his face and shizuku also smiled in return.

"Hmm, you are right, but time is late right now Kazuto, so lets go to sleep."

Shizuku said after a while and kazuto also replied with a smile.

"Good night!"

Afterwards, both went to their own rooms and after a long time Kazuto slept rather peacefully.

****

Today is the day Kazuto and others would challenge the dungeon, It seems like they will only challenge up to the twentieth floor. This is what the commander said with his own mouth.

Right now, Kazuto and the rest of his class gathered in front of the entrance to the [Orcus Great Dungeon].

Kazuto had imagined a dark gloomy entrance, but instead he found something that looked like museum. It even had a reception desk at the side of the entrance. A uniformed big sister with beautiful smile was inspecting the people who entered and left the dungeon. In brief, their work here was to inspect the Status Plate, and record the number of people who entered and left the dungeon to accurately pinpoint the death toll. With the war nearing, this was the method they adopted to avoid more casualties than necessary.

On the plaza near the entrance, there were many stalls lined up. All the shop owners were trying to promote their own goods. It was like a festival. This place was a popular area to earn money because people would naturally gather here. There were many foolish people who challenged the dungeon haughtily, which ended with them losing their life. The dungeon's back alleys also seemed to attract criminal activities. However, with the war coming, they didn't want to have any internal conflicts, so the Adventurer Guild and Kingdom worked together with a common goal in mind. The venue beside the entrance was a place where the materials were traded. The treasures obtained by the adventurers would be exchanged for money there.

While the class was looking around like country bumpkins, they followed behind Commander Meld like ducklings following their mother.

～～～～～～～～～～～

The inside of the Dungeon was totally different to the bustling of the outside. There was no lamp at the five meter wide passage, yet it was emitting a dim light, it was possible to see to some extent even without any illumination magic or torches. It seemed like a lot of special green stones were buried in the walls, one could excavate a huge vein of these green stones from [Orcus Great Dungeon].

The party organized into ranks and pressed forward. For a while, nothing of interest happened until they advanced into a certain hall. This hall was dome shaped and the ceiling looked to be around 7-8 meter high. Then, in front of the party that seemed to be looking for treasures in the circular hall, gray fluffy balls gushed out from the crevices in the wall.

"Okay, Kouki's group, kazuto, step forward. Everyone else fall back! Follow the instructions you received before setting off! Get ready! These Magic Beasts are called Ratmen. Their movement is quick, but they are not very strong. Just stay calm."

Just like he said, the Ratmen ran over with considerable speed. Their scarlet eyes shone eerily from their gray matted heads. Their name suited them. The Ratman was a very fitting name, their outward appearance looked very similar to a rat... They were bipedal Magic Beasts and had a muscular upper body. As if to show off their six packs and chest muscle, those parts were not covered by hair.

The front line was comprised of Kazuto and kouki's party. Shizuku, Kazuto, kouki, and ryutaro started to intercept the ratmans with their weapons. Meanwhile, two girls that were close to Kaori started to chant. The girls were Nakamura Eri, a glasses-wearing girl, and her friend Taniguchi Suzu the energetic loli. They were preparing to invoke their magic, staying in the formation like they were taught.

Kouki was killing his opponents with his weapon holy sword made for the hero. Ryutaro was a fist fighter so he took on the rats head on with his punches and kicks. He was like a tank class in battle.

Meanwhile, Shizuku and Kazuto took their stance in battle and cut the ratmans in one swift movement in a agile way. Seeing the swordsmanship of kazuto and shizuku caused many knights to sigh in admiration.

While the students were fascinated by the battle, a chant resounded.

"Swirling Dark Flames, Incinerate My Enemies, Return them to the Earth as Ashes, [Spiral Flame]."

Three people simultaneously launched the spiraling flames which engulfed the Ratmen. The Ratmen let out a death cry as the flames turned them to ashes.

By the time they noticed, all the Ratmen in the hall were wiped out. The other students didn't get a turn. It seemed like the enemies on the first level were too weak.

"Ahhh~ good job! Next time you guys give it a try, but don't lower your guard!"

While facing the outstanding students, Commander Meld smiled bitterly as he warned the group not to let up. However, after successfully subduing Magic Beasts for the first time, it was unavoidable for them to feel excited. The student's faces broke out into smiles. Commander Meld just shrugged his shoulders and said, "It can't be helped."

"Anyway, good job on your performance this time, don't forget to retrieve the Magic Stone. But still, wasn't that a bit overkill just now?"

Commander Meld was clearly admonishing the rear-support, the girls in Kaori's group knew they overdid it and began to blush.

There were no particular problems from there onwards, they took turns in battles, and made their way to the lower levels smoothly. Eventually, they arrived at the 20th floor, which is the mark of a first-class adventurer. The highest level explored was the 65th floor, but this achievement was accomplished by adventurers over 100 years ago. Getting to the 40th level now is considered the work of an Elite Adventurer. Any who passed the 20th level were considered first-class. Since all the students were cheats, they easily broke through to the 20th level, even if they did not have much battle experience.