Chapter 9 - The Stygian Lair[1]

My second day of academy classes was uneventful, I think that's good, but at the same time boring...

Well, I got called by some professors, by a lot. Some of them were coincidences, but some were obviously intentional.

I feel like they want to embarrass me or something...

They thought I was not listening, so they decided to bully me, what are they? 10 years old?

Well, honestly, I'm not really listening to the lectures, but with and , answering their questions is like a walk in the park.

I used a lot of mana using those skills, but seeing them fail to embarrass me just feels satisfying so it's fine.

The system also recorded the lectures, so I could study them later.

Also, seems like some students noticed Yuki, especially the main characters, but they didn't tell any professor, so it's fine. I think...

And about the professors, they didn't notice Yuki because they were too focused on their lectures.

And whenever they look in my direction, Yuki will go into the spatial storage to avoid being seen.

So for now, Yuki's existence is not well known in the class.

***

Two days later...

It was now Thursday.

It's currently [3:30 P.M.].

And the professors just announced that it's only half classes today and we don't have classes tomorrow too.

They said they have a meeting, but I know they're just preparing for the freshmen's assessments.

Well, we have 3 days and a half of our free time, and I already have a plan on how to use them...

'I'm gonna enter a dungeon.'

Am I gonna get items or artifacts? Well, yes.

But that's not the main point of this expedition.

My goal is to gain more experience in fighting, that's what I need the most at the moment.

Yes, I didn't neglect my training, but I greatly lack real-life experience...

Also, I plan to make Yuki rank up.

And to do so, she needs to eat a lot of monster cores. She eats pretty much everything, but it wouldn't make her rank up unless they contain mana.

So that's why, I plan to enter a dungeon.

Luckily...

In our free time, like holidays and weekends, students can freely leave the academy.

So there's no need to get permission to leave.

Anyway...

'A dungeon only exists in games and novels. I'm kinda excited to enter a real one myself...'

I was really excited.

However, that thought didn't last in my mind as I remembered what dungeon I was going to enter.

***

"Let's see."

Currently, Raven is checking all the things he packed beforehand.

He doesn't know how long he'll be inside the dungeon, so he prepared a lot.

"Looks like I have everything I need."

After double-checking the items he prepared, Raven put them in his spatial storage.

"Let's go Yuki."

-Kyu!

Yuki answered, raising her wing.

'Cute.'

...

Raven left the academy about [3:40 P.M.]...

He's been ready to enter the dungeon even since he upgraded two of his artifacts.

So this time, Raven's sure he didn't forget anything...

After leaving the academy. Raven rode a rapid train.

...

He arrived in Zreles City 10 minutes after leaving the academy.

It was only a city away, that's why it's a short ride.

Anyway, arriving in the Zreles City...

Raven traveled for half an hour to reach his destination.

...

The place is called like that because there are no animals, beasts, or even monsters residing in there.

Even the trees in this mountain are leafless and dead...

But since no beasts or monsters lived in this mountain, it was left unguarded.

Which made it easier for Raven to infiltrate it.

Oh, by the way...

The dungeon Raven is planning to enter, is an undiscovered dungeon...

In his novel, a few months from now on.

This dungeon will be discovered by the black market because the said dungeon will overflow.

At that time, the main characters 'coincidentally' happened to be near The Sad Mountain...

So they responded...

They saved a lot of civilians from the dungeon overflow and then got hailed as the 'Young Heroes' afterward.

Well obviously, that will not happen this time because of Raven's action.

Though, there's gonna be a lot of events in the future that can gain them that title anyway.

So it's no big deal...

'I'm basically trying to save a lot of lives. I'm trying to prevent the dungeon overflow by raiding it.'

Raven thought to himself and shrugged, feeling a bit guilty for messing up a part of the story.

Anyway, dungeon overflow happens when a dungeon boss is left alive for a long time...

Or when the dungeon is not being raided for a long time, resulting in it being full of monsters and the dungeon overflowing...

After killing a boss monster, a new boss will appear in that dungeon, the higher the rank of the boss monster that got killed, the longer time before a new one appears.

Also, monsters spawn endlessly inside dungeons, so some dungeons need to be raided continuously to avoid dungeon overflow.

...

After climbing the mountain for an hour or so, Raven arrived at a cave's entrance...

"This is a dungeon right?"

He asked the system.

Raven can feel mana coming from the entrance, and with , he can pretty much confirm it.

But he still asked, just in case.

[You're right, it's a dungeon.]

"Can you appraise it?"

The system did not answer Raven's question, instead, it projected the dungeon's information...

=====

[The Stygian Lair]

Difficulty:F+

-It's very dark inside and it's full of traps.

=====

The appraisal skill of the system is good as it gets information from Raven's novel and from the Higher Being who created this universe...

"Stygian Lair..."

Raven nervously muttered.

Originally, he planned not to touch this dungeon because it's too dark inside and it can lead him to his death.

But after acquiring the skill from the [Cat's earring]...

He changed his mind.

He also desires the reward of this dungeon anyway...

Raven originally planned to save Zeals and buy the dungeon's reward in the future, but that would be a waste of money, and time...

So he just decided to get it himself...

Oh, Raven is still wearing the training bracelets,q but he plans to remove them once the situation calls for it.

So with that...

Raven activated and turned his eyes into a cat's, then he added focused mana in his eyes to make his vision clearer.

And after that, Raven entered the dungeon's entrance...

***

After entering the dungeon...

Raven immediately noticed that the mana inside was a bit denser than outside.

Which is good for training...

"So this is why it's faster to get stronger inside dungeons..."

Raven mumbled while holding his head as a nauseating feeling washed all over his body.

This is pretty common when it's your first time entering a dungeon, fortunately, Raven didn't throw up...

...

***

{Raven's POV}

It's dark...

But I can see just fine, I still feel sick, but I can now move normally...

Looking around, I concluded that I was in a safe zone, seeing no monsters around.

There's just a straight path ahead... So I walked in it.

...

After walking straight for about 10 minutes...

I saw 2 tunnels, left and right. I can tell that the left one is a pretty relaxed path while the other one is...

Why?

Well, because I can see goblins' trails on the right path.

Normally, I would go left, but I'm here to gain experience...

So I chose to go to the right.

And not long after doing so...

Swoosh- Swoosh- Swoosh-

Swoosh- Swoosh-

5 arrows went flying in my direction!

Luckily, they're not as fast as the moving targets that I practiced in the academy...

So I can follow their trajectories.

I transformed my fingernails into cat claws and coated them with mana.

Then...

Wack!

I slashed two arrows down and dodged the other two, the last arrow missed me...

Looking at where the arrows came from.

I saw 5 goblins about 3 feet tall holding bows and arrows in their hands.

I can also see the goblins hitting one of them...

'Maybe they're hitting the one that missed...'

The distance between me and the goblins is about 20 meters.

Goblins are rank monsters as they can use weapons and have fairly good intelligence.

The path we're on is narrow, so long-range weapons are an advantage here.

And knowing that, they took advantage of it...

"Too bad for you guys, I'm using a long-range weapon too."

I said as I raised my gun and aimed at them.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five gunshots were heard consecutively.

Thud-

And with a small 'thud' sound...

Five goblins fell to the ground, they were dead...

All of them, my bullets didn't miss.

"That's 5,000 Zeals."

I said while walking towards the monsters' corpses to collect their cores.

-Kyu!

But then, Yuki came out of the spatial storage.

Looks like she can sense the monster cores...

"Well, I can settle for 4,000 Zeals."

***

Having no sunlight or moonlight entering the dungeon...

It was quite hard to tell what time it was.

Luckily, I have the system so it's no problem for me.

I've been here for 9 hours now...

"This is one hell of a cave."

I've been trying all the paths I can and creating a map while doing so...

And because of that, I encountered a lot of traps and goblins.

I've been seeing goblins a lot and it's making me feel sick already.

I can't even sleep well, for fuck's sake!

Goblins are good at ambushing as they know they lack the strength to fight head-on...

-Kyuuu!

I looked at Yuki, she was trying to cheer me up.

I smiled...

"I'll lose my mind if you weren't with me."

And patted her head.

Then I continued exploring the dungeon...

...

After another hour of walking...

I discovered a huge door.

'Looks like I'm near the boss.'

Anyway, I didn't enter or even opened the door.

Instead...

I camped near the area and slept.

This could be called a safe zone, as no monsters go near the boss room.

***

I woke up at [5:32 A.M].

It's already Friday.

And after getting ready...

I entered the room.

And what greeted me, made my eyes widen in surprise...

It's spacious inside.

But, it's not the boss room.

There's no boss monster in here.

Instead, what's inside is a herd of goblins!

This room is their base!

The room's floor and walls are well-made, but the ceiling is pretty rough as you can see some stalactites attached to it.

Anyway...

I immediately hid behind a rock pillar as I could see a lot of goblins patrolling the area.

Roughly counting, looks like there are about 50 goblins in here...

"What the hell?"

I unconsciously mumbled.

[The Transcend Beings discovered you doing something interesting, so they made it more exciting.]

The system then appeared and said to me.

"Exciting my ass, they just want me dead don't they?"

I tried leaving the room...

But the door didn't even budge.

"Fucking hell."

I cursed.

-Kieek?

It was then, I heard a noise coming from my side. Turning my head to the source of it.

I saw three goblins looking at me with wide eyes.

Without wasting any moment...

Kicking my feet onto the ground, I dashed in their direction.

Bam-

My fingernails turned into claws and I covered them with mana, then I slashed toward them!

In the midst of my slashing motion, I poured mana into the training bracelet I have on my wrist, resulting in my hand becoming heavier!

Then my claws slashed downward toward the head of the goblin in the middle!

SLASH!

Not just a slashing sound, but also blood splashing resounded around us.

After that, I spun the left side of my body to the right, drawing an arc motion with my left foot covered with mana.

Boom–!

With a loud sound.

I pinned the head of the goblin from my right to the ground.

Its head was crushed.

I saw the last goblin running away.

I pointed my left hand in its direction...

""

And cast a magic.

A black rope made of mana erupted below the goblin's feet and restrained them.

It's a support magic that I learned from one of the books I got on the Red Wolves' Mountain.

And looks like after acquiring the [Ring of Gluttony], my mana changed to the color black, it was transparent pink before. And now even when I'm not wearing the ring, it remains black.

Anyway...

I dashed to the restrained goblin and stabbed its neck with my claws.

And with that...

Thud-

They're all dead.

"Tsk, dirty."

I whispered as I cast a magic on myself.

[You have a great fighting sense, even the Transcend Beings are impressed! The way you used your training bracelets to make your attacks heavier is just plain splendid!]

The system said.

"They can go to hell then."

And I replied.

I'm not interested in what they said, I'm suffering because of them...

I stored the goblin corpses in my spatial storage.

"I need to get out of here."

Then I decided to hide.

It got pretty loud while I was killing them. So goblins will come here any moment now.

I started to adjust some of the functions of the magic .

And after reconstructing some of its functions...

I aimed my right hand at the ceiling of the room.

""

And mumbled those words...

A magic circle then appeared in my hand.

Then a similar black rope shot out of it...

But this time, there's a claw made of mana attached to the very end of it.

It propelled toward a thick stalactite on the ceiling of the room.

Crank-

And with a clutching sound...

The claw of my magic connected to the base of stalactite.

I then coated my hands with mana and climbed the magic rope.

I found a small footing near the stalactite, so I transformed into a cat and settled there for now, this is where I'm gonna form my plan for this situation...

After that, I canceled and the rope disappeared in thin air.

[You're really good at this.]

The system appeared, complimenting me.

"I just adjusted some things to make that magic, I also have the help of ."

I answered it with a shrug.

"Yuki."

Then I called Yuki.

-Kyu!

She then came out of spatial storage and looked at me weirdly at first.

Maybe because it's the first time she saw me in my cat form...

But not long, Yuki approached me and rubbed her head on me.

I smiled, unfortunately, I had something for her to do.

"Okay Yuki, can you fly all around the room and look at every disgusting green shit down there?"

I said.

"Just fly near the ceiling and use stealth."

Then I added.

-Kyu!!

Yuki saluted using her wings and immediately flew away.

'Cute.'

I'm glad that she became my familiar.

***

Based on what I saw from Yuki's eyes.

A total of 53 goblins are here, and 22 of them are long-range weapon users.

"I need to get rid of all long-range users and just shoot the rest dead from up here."

-Kyu!

"Yes, you did a great job."

I patted Yuki with my cat paw.

It feels weird, but not unpleasant...

"Anyway, let's kill them when they're sleeping."

Is what I thought at first, but I need to leave here as quickly as possible...

For no reason, I'm just feeling impatient.

So I went back down...

And waited in one certain path in the room. In this pathway, only 5 goblins can enter at the same time.

So it's a good place to ambush them...

Anyway, not waiting for long...

Four goblins entered my sight.

I went out in cat form, and they looked at me with curiosity...

Seeing that I was smaller than them, they approached me with a grin on their faces.

And when they were half a meter away from me, I cancelled the skill and went back to being human!

Except for my fingernails which are still claws and are coated with mana.

Then, I slashed at them sideways.

SLASH!

One died and the other three were wounded.

-Kie—

""

The remaining goblins tried to scream, but no voice came out of their mouth.

I cast a magic on them.

Then, I slashed the remaining goblins dead and they dropped to the ground.

"I'll just do this again and again, easy peasy."

Though, as I was storing the goblins' corpses...

-KIEEEEK!!!

A loud ear-tearing scream echoed throughout the room. I turned my head to where the sound came from.

And saw a goblin pointing its hammer toward me with a terrified expression.

Looks like they were originally a group of five, but the other one was left behind a little.

"Shit."

I cursed unconsciously.