Ikky arrived at the end of the staircase, other doors were present along with a guard standing right in front of them.
"Hello?" Ikky greeted politely.
"Ah! Another adventurer, it's been a while since somebody came here,"
Compared to the previous stiff guard, this one was a very talkable NPC.
"Are you coming for training or for a cleaning?" the guard asked.
"Is there any difference between it?"
"Yes, people coming for training usually kill a few mobs and leave, but some people try to clear underground armory completely."
"Can you only do one or other" Ikky asked?
"Of course not, you can try to clear it and give up halfway. Just don't die on me, young boy!"
"Don't worry, I definitely won't overestimate myself. Can I ask you one more question?"
"Go ahead," said the guard with a slight nod.
"Why do you call it underground armory? I heard it's called an underground arena?"
"Tsch.." said the guard while spitting on the ground.
Ikky got worried that he might have asked an improper question.
"That's how some people call it, but we soldiers don't like that name." he started to explain.
"Underground armory has several layers. In the past, it was mainly used for armor and weapon storage, but some floors were also used for training. However, this training was a bit different compared to the outside field. To get fighting experience, we allowed soldiers and adventurers to fight with real monsters, which were locked in lower layers, that is why this name got its name, such as arena,"
Ikky was listening very closely, glad that he did not offend the guard with his question, but the guards' disgust was more focused on something that happened in past.
"but then the accident happened, the monsters escaped from their cages and soon enough they occupied every floor. Yes, if we get higher-ups informed, they would send some high-level soldiers to clean this mess, but it would also show them, that we couldn't even resolve such a small incident including low-level trash monsters. Therefore our captain did not report it to higherups, and is hoping that some adventurer will actually clear it before they find out."
When the guard finished a surprising window appeared in front of the Ikky, even though he was already kind of expecting it.
[New quest - Bottom layers (hidden)]
-Clear Underground arena completely, not leaving a single monster alive
(Confirm)
"Thank you for sharing your story with me." Ikky politely thanked the guard.
"I will try to help you as much as I can."
"Just don't die on me, that would be worse than some monsters locked in the underground armory." answered the guard with a heavy voice, he must have seen many people never return after entering those doors.
Ikky nodded and entered the doors.
Inside was quite dark, there were magic lamps, but all the torches were exhausted a long time ago.
As he continued to walk, he hasn't heard or see a single monster, but after another 200 meters, he finally saw the first enemy.
-Level: 2
'For a quest that needs a level 3 to start on, there is a surprisingly under-level monster?' thought Ikky while taking out his dagger.
The rat didn't stand any chance but was also not worth much experience due to the level difference. As Ikky continued, he often had to fight two or more rats at the same time, but compare to his previous fights, it was as easy as walking.
Soon he reached the end of the floor and arrived at the stairs leading down.
"I should have asked how many layers are there.." he mumbled under his nose walking downstairs.
On the next floor, a new type of enemy arrived.
-Level: 3
Compare to the rats, the dog was a bit faster, but also didn't stand any chance.
Ikky spend over six hours cleaning every floor and all the rooms on each floor, he must have passed more than 10 floors. When he arrived at the floor which was visibly different compared to the other ones.
At the end of the stairs, there were big steel bars, supposedly working as a door and they were closed. However, even if they were closed there was a big hole in them, big enough for 2 people to walk through while walking next to each other.
Ikky instantly knew that this was probably the last floor, and this hole was the accident that the guard mentioned before.
With his senses to the maximum, he walked inside. The last monsters he fought were already level 5, even though Ikky managed to reach level 6 already from all the fighting, he knew that the real challenge will be on this floor.
After walking another 200 meters, he arrived at wooden doors which were smashed to he pieces, he saw that behind them there is a big circle room approximately 50 meters in diameter.
Ikyk entered prepared to dodge any surprise attack, but no attack came.
"This must be the training area, in the other words the arena."
Ikky walked to the middle of the room and looked around. On the left side, there were benches smashed to pieces and skeletons of both people and monsters, and on the right side, he saw small rooms, probably cages where monsters were locked in.
However, there was no monster left, and no other way to progress further.
"Did I clear the underground arena already? That was surprisingly easy, I was expecting a boss at the end."
The moment he let his guard down, karma came to say hello.
(-18 received)
Ikky felt pain in his back, he rolled to the front which amplified the pain in the back as it touched the ground, or one would say he was pushed to roll by the force of the attack. When he turned around he saw nothing.
Without a second thought, he instinctively dodged to the left.
(Evade)
Turning his head, he was able to see a big furry silhouette before it disappeared from his sight.
"What the hell was that?!"
Ikky rushed to the entrance, but before he could reach it, the previous big silhouette leaped over his head and blocked his path. Finally able to see what he was fighting with a small fear was raised back in his mind, a Werewolf.
On the previous floor he was fighting a pack of Wolves, there must have been an accident involving a mutation to Werewolf, which probably led to the destruction of the previous underground arena.
-Level: 6 (Elite)
'Elite? Is this another rank above Rare?'
Looking around Ikky was trying to find a way how to survive this mess, the enemy was faster than him. Even though he could increase some of his stats, he wasn't sure which stat would increase the movement speed as he previously forgot to test it, due to the excitement from the items he received.
Then an idea was created in his brain, 'I have about 20 training arrows, might as well test his new bow and skills!'
Ikky used his [Throw dagger] with one of the Trash daggers and leaped backwards. Even though Werewolf dodged the dagger, it got delayed and the distance between them grew larger. Ikky used this opportunity and exchanged the dagger for a bow. Instantly using both Guided arrow and Poison attack.
~Shoot~
Werewolf saw an incoming arrow, feeling of danger embraced the monster, it tried to dodge it once again, but the arrow somehow followed it like a magnet.
(-48 delt)
"W-What?!" Ikky couldn't believe his eyes.
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INFO:
I've scheduled 1 chapter on Tuesday and another one on Thursday.
Unfortunately, I cannot provide more at the moment, as I have an external audit in my job planned for next week, so I need to prepare for it.
I will try to make up for it on weekend.