Chapter 18

Fighting monsters is easy. Maybe it's because the monsters here are just goblins.

The difficult part in the dungeon is the unexpected situations that can happen inside the dungeon. Like traps. But there's no trap here so I can continue exploring the dungeon with ease.

I should have brought a bag here. I can't put all the coins and Magic Crystals I got in my pocket. So I had no choice but to leave the coins.

Magic Crystals can not only be used, but also be sold. So they are more useful than the coins. Also, with how much I have in my pocket, they are worth more than all the coins I can get from the monsters.

Bob doesn't care about the coins left behind. I guess they are not worth much for him who rules the slum. And why is the slum so rich? It should be called as the slum, right?

Well, there are other locations that are actually poor. And this slum is not the only slum in the city. It's just more famous as the one called as the slum in the city rather than other areas.

Why the disparity between the slums? This slum is doing so well while people in the other slum has it worse than this one.

It seems like the difference in ideology or something. That's what Bob said.

He tried to recruit some homeless people. But from the other slum, they are completely out of ambition and desire other than just to survive another day. They also don't have any talent in anything. So even for the homeless people here, they are too worthless to care about. And those people are the most likely one to turn into criminal whenever they could.

Back to the exploration. The only difficult part here is to find the right way to the dungeon Boss' room where the dungeon Boss and the Dungeon Core are.

I have been exploring this dungeon for around one and a half hour. But I haven't found it.

"We are actually exploring the dungeon at a much faster pace than average Heroes could. Though you're lucky that there's no trap here so you can only care about the monsters," Bob said.

"Then next time you find a Dungeon with traps, let me go there. And I will need a proper weapon as well. These knives are too old and too dull. After this exploration, I don't think these knives can be used anymore," I said.

"…They are just kitchen knives and not real weapons anyway. Not many warriors fight using knives or daggers. So it will be hard for you to buy them. You have to order some custom made one for yourself," Bob said.

He's right. Even the knives in my past life are custom made. Though in case of emergency, I would buy normal kitchen knife from a certain brand that is known to be sharp and durable. But that brand doesn't exist here. I have to test every knife brand out there first.

Now, I have reached the biggest room in this cave so far. A room filled with dozens of goblins.

"Hmm? There were not this many goblins before. I guess there will be Dungeon Break soon if we don't clear it today. I'll help you," Bob said.

"No need. I'll do it myself. You know that I haven't used Body Strengthening magic, right? I'll use that now and fight them," I said.

"Can you get rid of them all?"

"Easy. If I use Body Strengthening, I should be able to kill them all in no time," I said confidently.

For preparation, I remove my clothes before drawing the magic formulas in my body.

"Why are you removing your clothes?" Bob asked.

"Because I didn't prepare to go to a dungeon today. If my clothes got ripped, my mother will ask me what happened. I don't want to explain to her that I entered a dungeon. She will be mad. And she hasn't known you yet. If she knows you, then she will know that I have a powerful instructor to help me and can rest easy," I said.

"When I have the time I'll visit your house," Bob said.

Again, he's doing so much for not just me but also my entire family. Something is going on in his head. So I have to ask him.

"Why are you doing so much for me? What do you get from doing all of this? Helping me to get stronger and even inviting me to a Dungeon," I asked.

Kindness can't explain everything he has given me. That's not enough explanation.

"…Long ago when I was a Hero, I was in a party with a young and confident Hero. But he died because of something that can be prevented. Since then, I would teach as many things as I could to young and inexperienced Heroes. Let's just say that this is one of my regrets before becoming a beggar," Bob said.

"That's not the full explanation I guess. But I'll take that," I said.

That's not enough to convince me about his kindness. But I'll accept it.

"I have my regrets and you have your unspeakable explanations. Maybe one day we can talk about them. Not inside a Dungeon but in a more comfortable place," Bob said.

"Sure. Let's do that in the future."

By this time, I have finished thinking of what I should write for Body Strengthening magic. And this time, I covered my entire body and not just one part of my body.

Just by writing stronger bones and muscle using my entire body as the magic circle will make the magic spread thinner around my body. But this will make my body more balanced and I will be able to fight better rather than just using it on a part of my body.

The magic will spread around my body so it won't be as strong as if it's in just my arm or my leg. But this is the best option to have in a real battle.

I also use around fifty percent of my total mana. This should be enough for me to be about as strong as a level 2 warrior. Maybe I am even as strong as a level 3 warrior who is on the weaker side. But this should be enough to fight twenty goblins.

The magic formulas I wrote are not much. But the magic I use to cover them make it looks like I'm covered with tattoos. Some tribal-like tattoos. What kind of tribe, I don't know.

And this magic use oral activation. So I need to say activate to use it. And I will only use this once I'm in the middle of the battle.

"Alright, I'm off."

And so, I run by myself toward the group of goblins. They didn't expect that someone would attack them so I managed to kill two of them right away.

Previously, I just walk casually as I waited for the goblins to attack me. But now, I'm fighting actively instead of waiting.

I already use Enchant magic on my knives. But after my fifth kill, it seems like just this much is not enough.

"Activate!"

Finally, I use Body Strengthening magic. It enhances my speed, my strength, my explosive speed, my flexibility, and my endurance. Those are all the things I improve using this magic. I haven't figure out what I need to improve next time.

Now that I'm faster and stronger, I had easier time killing the goblins. And it feels as if there's no resistance at all when I'm cutting their body with my knives. This is good.

After the tenth goblins, they finally realized that their opponent is stronger than they thought. So they tried to escape.

That's quite smart of them. But I'm faster than them so I never let a single goblin escape.

Just like that and I killed all the goblins in this room. My body that was covered with their blood and also smelly because of them is now clean after their corpses disappeared. Leaving behind some more Magic Crystals and coins.

"Do goblins only drop small Magic Crystals and coins? What about weapons? They have swords, right?" I asked Bob.

"It's rare, but yes they drop once in a while. I guess you're not that lucky today. From the look of it, one of your knives is already damaged badly. I'm sure it won't last a few attacks," Bob said.

"You're right. But beyond that door over there, that's the Boss, right? I think it's enough to defeat the Boss," I said.

Beyond this big room, I can finally see a door. There's no door at all in this place until this one. So I'm pretty sure that's the door leading to the Dungeon Boss.

"Yes. That's the door leading to the dungeon Boss who is protecting the Dungeon Core for this dungeon. Are you still thinking of taking the Dungeon Core home?" Bob asked.

"Hmm… Just doing that will make me a criminal. If the Dungeon Core can be taken out, can I store it in the slum until I need them? I actually don't want to bring Reina here but if I have to, I will," I said.

"Sure. But you need to defeat the dungeon Boss first. Though after defeating twenty goblins so easily, I don't think the dungeon Boss will be a problem for you."

My Body Strengthening magic is still active for ten more minutes. I finished killing the goblins earlier than expected.

Ten minutes should be enough to defeat a Dungeon Boss, right?