Chapter 42: Dungeon Crawling

After discovering an unconquered dungeon, me and my sister decided to explore it a bit. We are currently walking along the wide corridor as we wait for a monster to appear.

"Here comes the first challenger."

"A wild monster appeared!"

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Race: Goblin Elite

Condition: Normal

LV: 51

MP: 612

STR: 1220

DEF: 824

MAG: 488

MDEF: 736

AGI: 1016

Skill: Martial Art: 3, Sword Art: 2, Keen Smell

Magic Skill: [Elemental Magic: Fire: 2]

Resistance: Exhaustion Resistance, Fear Resistance, Pain Resistance, Hunger Nullification

Blessing: Dungeon Monster

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We walked for more than a hundred meters until we encountered our first monster in this dungeon. As we expect for a first floor, the monster that we encountered was an E-ranked Goblin Elite, an evolved Goblin.

Since it is an evolution, there are changes in it that differ from a Goblin. It is taller, around four feet, and bulkier. It was equipped with leather armor and wielded an iron sword.

Unlike natural monsters outside, the monsters inside the dungeons are produced by the dungeons themselves. The Dungeon Monster blessing gave them a fixed Level and restricted them from fighting another Dungeon Monster. This blessing made them invulnerable to hunger and impossible to tame. That means there's no reason for them to fight each other unless there are territorial issues.

Monsters produced by dungeons sometimes had weapons and equipment like this Goblin Elite we are facing. But before the goblin raised its sword…

"Pew."

Splat.

Imitating the firing sound of a gun, I pointed my finger gun at the humanoid and silently cast a shot of Level 2 Water Bullet. The bullet flew fast and straight at the goblin. The goblin's head burst, scattering its contents along the walls.

"Can you be a bit more mindful of your surroundings? Its dirty blood almost came into contact with my unblemished, fair skin."

"I'll be more careful the next time."

Sister muttered her complaint about my attack as I was storing the iron sword and the corpse inside the Inventory. The goblin was just too squishy, so it immediately exploded after taking a shot of water.

(The blood didn't even reach a meter from you, you know?)

Since the first floor had a labyrinth structure, we just had to follow the path to reach the end of the floor. We encountered and killed monsters along the way, but they were too weak for us. It doesn't take us long to descend to the second floor.

"Hmph. Only weak monsters spawned in lower floors. Can you make a Portal or do Warp straight to the exit?"

"I'll try if possible."

After slicing a Level 52 Goblin Elite head to crouch, Sister suggested a direct transfer to the floor exit. The last time I entered a dungeon was like three years ago. That time I was not proficient with teleportation magic spells, so I didn't have an opportunity to use it inside a dungeon.

As Sister suggested, I widened my Omnidirectional Perception up to the exit and sent my Clairvoyance there. After taking a screenshot of the stairway, I held Sister's hand and tried to cast a teleportation spell.

"Warp."

The walls were still dark gray, but our position definitely changed.

"Oh. It works."

Seeing the stairs nearby, I concluded that teleportation is still working inside the dungeon. We passed the stairs and successfully finished the second floor.

"Do the teleportation again, Raphael. I don't want to play with these weaklings."

"Yes, ma'am."

As Sister ordered, I did the same thing as before and teleported ourselves to the exit of the floor. We cannot just waste our limited time killing some low-level monsters. So low that it almost adds no EXP to our Level bar.

We continue to teleport to ignore weak monsters until we reach the tenth floor of the dungeon. But instead of dark gray, narrow walls, a wide open space unfolded before our eyes.

"I've been into the tenth floors of some dungeons… But no matter how many times I see these floors, I can't help but think how wonderful and mysterious dungeons are."

"Indeed. I am not even sure if we're still underground."

We are under the surface right now, but the scenery in front of us is like the outside world. Grassy plain, a bright sky, white clouds, and the 4 o'clock sun.

Dungeons have a day and night system that follows the sun just above the ground. Seasons also existed inside the dungeons, like these deciduous trees on this floor.

From the first floor to the ninth, the area only had a diameter of two kilometers, but this perfect circle dungeon's tenth floor had a diameter of twenty kilometers. It's surrounded by three-kilometer-high, pitch-black stone walls.

I tried to ascend my Clairvoyance to the sky but was stopped by an unseen force when it reached the altitude of the walls. To make sure if there's a barrier above, I pointed a finger to the sky and cast a very sharp Level 7 Compound Magic: Obsidian Bullet, to discover it was also blocked.

"Same as other dungeons, it seems like no one can break or pass that invisible, invincible barrier above."

"Even our parents' Divine Arts, Absolute Severance, and World Magic cannot dent or make a scratch on that barrier or those pitch-black walls." We discussed as we looked up at the sky.

Absolute Severance can cut basically everything and can only be blocked if the DEF stat of the Ultimate Art user is higher than the attacker's. So if dungeons are Ultimate Art users, they have absurdly high DEF stats that render Midnight (100% stat boost from the Monarch of the Night) Mother's Absolute Severance useless.

"I want to survey the entire floor. Take my hand; I will teleport to the center."

"Okay." Sister took my offered left hand and immediately cast Warp.

Arriving at the center of the floor, I opened my Omnidirectional Perception, which covered the entire floor.

(As expected, those black walls blocked my detection again.)

From what I've perceived, the whole Floor had a cylindrical shape like a tuna can. Radius of ten kilometers with a height of five kilometers. The earth filled two kilometers, or forty percent, of the floor's volume.

Every ten floors of a dungeon are called Safe Areas. These floors are in plain terrain and void of monster infestation. There's even a crystal-clear lake for a clean water source. Some dungeons have towns constructed inside Safe Areas.

"Hold me again. We will move to the Domain Guardian Room."

"Okay." This time, Sister put her hands over my shoulders from behind.

The reason for its certainty is for the adventurers to prepare for their upcoming battle with the Domain Guardian located on the same floor.

At the farthest end of the floor, there's a quadrilateral room where the Domain Guardian guards the passageway to access the lower floors. This is the place we are going to enter.

"We're here. The entrance of the chamber of this dungeon's first Domain Guardian."

With our footgear on the grassy surface, we teleported in front of the doors of the Domain Guardian Room. We cannot go further if we don't pass this room first.

"Let's go."

We placed our palms against the cold metal doors and pushed them inside. The doors made mild creaks as we kept pivoting their hinges.

Unlike the large dungeon gate, the doors of this room are smaller, lighter, and easier to open. The metal is still the same with the golden-black gate, indicating its rock-hard durability.

As we opened the doors enough for us to pass through, we entered the room with expectations painted on our faces. The doors slowly closed as we were inside the room, and we saw a lone monster standing in the middle.

"So that's this floor's Domain Guardian."

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Race: Redcap Goblin

Title: Unnamed Dungeon 10th Floor Domain Guardian

Condition: Dormant

LV: 100

MP: 800

STR: 3000

DEF: 1000

MAG: 600

MDEF: 1000

AGI: 3200

Skill: Martial Art: 3, Dagger Art: 5, Enhanced Senses, Detection, Weakness Finder, Danger Detection

Magic Skill: [Elemental Magic: Fire: 2, Wind: 2]

Resistance: Exhaustion Resistance, Fear Resistance, Pain Resistance, Hunger Nullification

Blessing: Dungeon Monster

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The Domain Guardian of the level was a D-ranked Redcap Goblin, an evolution of the Goblin Elite that we fought earlier. They had the same height as the Goblin Elite, but this one was slimmer.

This goblin wore light armor and an iron dagger in each hand. A red cap covered its green bald head, which made everyone know its race at first glance.

The Redcaps had a different fighting style compared to its predecessors, like the Goblin and the Goblin Elite. While Goblins and Goblin Elites had various types of capabilities, Redcaps focused on one type of ability. The Redcap in front of us was a rogue type and specialized in daggers if you look at its stats, skills, and gears.

Since this Redcap was a Domain Guardian, it's just standing straight in the middle of the room, asleep, while folding its arms.

Shut.

"…"

After the doors completely shut, the goblin finally opened its sharp eyes for the first time after a long time of dormancy. It stared at us for a while before it started brandishing its daggers.

The fight with a Domain Guardian started when the doors shut. The doors will automatically close in a slow manner as the challengers step in. The slow closing gives time for the challengers to determine strategies to defeat the Guardian.

The room is closed, with no other way to escape aside from defeating this goblin first. The room is quite spacious, measuring a hundred meters on all sides. Wide enough for us to have a decent fight.

"Wanna fight it with our Limiter activated?"

"Good idea. Fighting a skilled humanoid monster is a rare opportunity. It would be boring if we were overpowering it. Let's have to be fair." She replied as we unsheathed our blades.