Multiple Gnomes later he found himself facing a more formidable foe; a Leprechaun. The cheeky little gnome like green bugger had nonchalantly walked up to him, taken, in just a split second, some of his gold coins and vanished!
Anger was a natural part of Botan's character. Most people consider themselves to be just and kind by default and only allow themselves to be angered but are never just angry. For Botan life was different, he had long accepted that he was angry by default and only allowed himself to be calmed to a state of lesser anger when tended to with kindness. His anger came with variety, there was his usual slightly annoyed anger, the more intense just anger, the resigned malicious anger and now for maybe the first time in his life; the mind-losing furious anger that can otherwise only be witnessed when someone, whose name shall not be mentioned here, has, despite repeated reminders, again left his dirty used coffee mug in the kitchen sink and couldn't be bothered to clean it himself.
But the Leprechaun was a wise one. Instead of hanging around to be slaughtered by a furious samurai it hid in the darkness, biding its time, ready to strike again when its prey would exhibit another moment of weakness.
It didn't have to wait very long. Botan, drunk on power and rage rushed through the dark gnomish mines and unfortunately happened to trip a trap and fell down into a spiked pit. The splint mail did an admirable job at protecting his vitals but, having no shoes, he did scratch his feet a little and apparently the spikes were poisoned as the usual voice rang out in his head to tell him that even though he didn't die from it, he had lost multiple points of strength and his body felt heavy.
The slaying and looting process slowed down by a considerable margin as the foes that seemed to spawn out of thin air became tougher to beat. No longer were they being cleaved in two by single swings of the trusty but now rusty, thanks to some random water spray, katana. Among the many bodies that were dismembered or mutilated by Botan's attempts to eat them were a couple of, initially, peaceful dwarves that Botan decided to slice anyway since they had angered his pet cat, KitChiko.
The offending leprechaun however, was nowhere to be found. And Botan, tired of searching for it, left it be and descended further.
What he found surprised him a little. Greeting him on this new dungeon level was a well lit, well maintained, well guarded (by actual Human beings) interesting small town. There weren't really any peasants around, but the place looked a bit like a shopping mall. The usual dwarves and gnomes ran around and tried harassing him Botan wasn't having any of it and just cut them down as they came, but the most curious thing was that no one seemed to mind very much. Gnomes must be like a rat infection to these people he thought. Unpleasant and certainly in need of culling, but not a matter an honest upstanding citizen concerned himself with.
Intrigued by his new surroundings he entered the first shop he found and was greeted by:
[Konichi wa , Botan-San! Welcome to Itzchaks lighting store!]
'Hello there!'
Itzchak turned toward him and stopped using the Dungeon voice and answered:
'Hey, can I interest you in buying some quality dungeoning equipment? Such as lamps and candles? A man in a dark dungeon ought to have some light with him, especially a lawful fella such as yourself!'
'Uhm thanks, maybe I'll have a look around later.'
How in Amaterasu Omikami's name did that guy just know his? Creepy ...
'Sure, come back any time! Itzchak's is always open for business!'