Chapter 20: Strolling

After careful reflection, he realized it was his own problem.

"After all, I'm just a newbie explorer. It's no surprise I don't know these basic issues," Kane said, thick-skinned.

"Oh, that seems to be the case," she laughed. "The 'Crystalline Arena' is a tower-style dungeon, with a total of 15 floors.

Every 5 floors there's a boss room, requiring one to clear each layer before advancing. The passage to the next floor only appears after all monsters on the current floor are cleared. However, you can return to rest after clearing each floor."

Adoma scratched her ram horn, carefully recalling if there were any omissions.

"That's about it, the rest you will have to experience yourself," she affirmed, after confirming there were no omissions.

After understanding this information, Kane thanked her, "Thank you, Adoma, you've really helped me a lot this time. When I return, I'll bring you a gift."

"No need, it's my job to help explorers with their questions, so there's no need to thank me. Besides, I haven't even thanked you for telling me stories."

Hearing Kane's gratitude, she was quite pleased.

"Then I'll be on my way."

"Mm, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

On the path towards the rental district, Kane lowered his head, contemplating.

The 'Crystalline Arena' requires a lot of time to clear the path to the boss floors.

But fortunately, you can exit once after each floor, so there's not much logistical pressure, just need to bring a day's worth of food.

Should I look for teammates then?

Teammates are necessary, and perhaps I'll see if I can activate the party system this way.

If the pressure of clearing monsters is large, then it's best to find some fixed teammates.

If not, I can handle it alone for now, taking it slowly. After all, teammates are people you entrust your back to.

Lost in thought, he had already returned to his rental room.

Entering and grabbing his luggage, he set off, planning to rest at the outpost before the dungeon tonight.

With luggage on his back, he headed to the teleportation station.

Next to the teleportation station was a ticket hall, containing over 10 ticket counters, each with 5-6 people in front.

He got in line at window 3.

Soon it was Kane's turn.

The ticket clerk was a female demi-human with pink skin, lacking hair, replaced by tendrils hanging down like hair.

Having been scrutinized before, the clerk wasn't angry.

Instead, she opened her blue eyes and said to Kane, "If you don't say which station you're headed to, the people behind are going to get upset."

Only then did Kane come to his senses, feeling his gaze was quite impolite, and apologized, "Sorry, please give me a teleportation ticket to the 'Crystalline Arena' dungeon, thank you."

"One teleportation ticket to the 'Crystalline Arena' dungeon. Alright, that'll be 3 gold."

He pulled out 3 gold, took the ticket, and before leaving, couldn't resist taking another look.

The number of races in this world is truly numerous, as there's always a new race to see every day.

For example, among tiger-men, there's one with tiger ears and tail, more human-like, and another that's an upright tiger.

People generally have different names for them, the more humanlike ones are called half-beastmen, and the upright tigers are called tiger-men. But this has caused some real half-beastmen to be dissatisfied.

Now, almost every continent has its own naming conventions.

He continued on to the Teleportation Stone and handed the ticket to the guy beside it.

Then vanished into the teleportation beam.

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Arriving at the outpost at the entrance to the 'Crystalline Arena' dungeon.

It's called an outpost, but its scale is comparable to a bustling small town.

Then he noticed the stone tablet beside the entrance, inscribed with 'Crystal Town.'

Alright, indeed a small town.

Entering the town, people bustled about, teams of explorers and merchants hauling goods.

There are streetlights on both sides of the road, their rusted surfaces showing the town has been here for quite some time.

Around him were numerous ordinary people, and even some elderly folk strolling along the street.

There were a few plainly dressed children squatting by the roadside ahead, drawing something on the ground with sticks, indulging in simple childhood fun.

So it seems this place wasn't built because of the dungeon, but rather the dungeon appeared within the town.

It's hard to say whether that's lucky or unlucky.

After walking a short distance, he noticed a crowd gathered ahead.

The crowd was letting out excited shouts.

"Go, hit his jaw."

"Dodge to the right, ah, you're so dumb. Do you even know how to fight?"

"Hit harder, yes, like that, harder."

"Fight, get in there."

Kane used Magic Play-Doh to increase his height, so he could see the center of the crowd.

It wasn't that Kane was short, but rather there was a hulking figure at least two and a half meters tall before him, blocking his view like a wall.

In the center were two hulks grappling and exchanging punches.

He glanced at the goods scattered on the ground beside him and noted one of the fighters' attire.

He had a rough idea of the cause: one was dressed like an explorer.

The onlookers weren't bothered by the commotion, egging on with cries of fight, hit.

You would think it was a wrestling match.

One person was so enthusiastic, he seemed ready to jump in himself.

"The patrol's here!"

Someone yelled, and the crowd immediately scattered.

In the distance, a team of soldiers came running, clad in armor and brandishing one-handed swords, clearly not to be trifled with.

They quickly separated the two brawlers on the ground, posing them in a manner suitable for arrest, and brought them before what seemed to be the captain.

The captain glanced around, seemingly understanding the situation.

After taking a look at the two, he waved a hand at the soldiers, saying, "Take them away, every single day it's something, can't people give us a break?"

With no more entertainment to watch, Kane quietly turned and left.

Returning to the main road, he leisurely roamed through the town.

As he wandered, he checked out nearby shops for anything he might need, so he wouldn't have to search when it was necessary.

During his wandering, he eventually reached the dungeon entrance.

This time, the entrance was located within a stone house, at the door stood a bulletin board listing basic dungeon rules.

Suddenly, a few figures rushed out of the stone house, two men and a woman carrying another man, presumably their teammate.

"Medic, we need assistance here," the woman shouted.

A short figure dashed out from a small building next to the council office.

The short figure emitted a voice unfit for their stature towards the injured team, "Bring him inside, quickly."

With that, he went inside with them.

Kane was astonished.

The one who dashed past looked like dry noodles, I mean a small raccoon.

Once again, Kane encountered another incredible new species.

After wandering around town, Kane found a fitting tavern, pushed open the door, and entered. Above the door frame, the tavern's name read "Big Gold Teeth."