-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo's Outskirts; Goblin's Lair; 1st Floor-
Amid the dungeon with its walls covered in luminescent musk, Kymani was moving through its tunnels with Lavenica and Merilyn.
"No matter how long I stare at them, there's always something... almost mystical about the walls of this dungeon, and like they are trying to pull me in some way..." Merilyn commented as she touched the walls as they kept moving further into the dungeon.
"It's probably because it's actually trying to pull you in." Lavenica said in response.
"Meaning?..." Kymani asked with his currently limited speech, and though he could use telepathy to talk to Lavenica, it felt better for him to just actually speak again.
"Dungeons are alive in a way, and they want to consume other living beings for their own growth. Any adventurer that dies in here and doesn't get their corpse recovered on time will be consumed by the dungeon, and whatever items or equipment on them will become the fuel for the dungeon monster drops." Lavenica explained.
"If that's the case, do monsters just spawn from it? And can it truly be destroyed?" Merilyn got curious and questioned.
"Well, yes and no... Monsters can be spawned by the dungeon but to do so, it first has to attract a batch of monsters and then use them as a base for the dungeon, until it eventually starts getting traction and stops trying to pull in monsters at all. Then come adventurers, which become its main source of energy.
The more adventurers die here the better for it, but since it's an instinctual being with little intelligence, it makes mistakes and easily becomes predictable because of all the patterns they repeat, though things change for higher-ranking dungeons. Not something to worry about now as we are only in a basic-ranking dungeon, the simplest ones." Lavenica continued.
"Wow! I had no idea dungeons were alive... But doesn't it mean we're casually walking in its stomach? Can't it just kill us?" Merilyn felt chills go down her spine as she thought of the possibility.
"Mistakes?..." Kymani got curious about what she had mentioned.
"... Well, dungeons are different from most living beings, and calling it stomach would be a bit rough since all of the structure is capable of adsorbing life, but technically I guess. As for killing us, theoretically, it could but aside from creating an environment for the monsters it absorbs, and absorbing dead beings, dungeons don't really change on their own.
Now when it comes to mistakes, dungeons like I said before, generate environments for the monsters that inhabitant them, but unfortunately due to the low intelligence and efficiency, of lower-ranking dungeons, the areas made tend to not give the monsters, the advantage dungeons would rather them have over the adventurers. For example, a cave system is a decent environment for goblins, but the walls here are too wide, which allows for adventurers to use longswords, spears, and so on. That puts the goblins who excel at combat in closed spaces, at waste here." Lavenica answered.
"Are goblins that much stronger in closed spaces?" Merilyn inquired.
"It's not so much about them being stronger, and more about it's better suited for them. They are relatively small, and mostly hunt in groups. Even if an adventurer brought a dagger to be able to fight in such a space, they would still be very limited in terms of movement and eventually overwhelmed by the numbers, unless they outclass the goblins by a few levels." Lavenica replied and from then they simply continued moving.
In time, they finally got to an area, where they could see 8 goblins up ahead.
"Do you want me to help, or should I just be ready in case something happens?" Merilyn asked being fully aware that the monsters here represented no threat or challenge whatsoever to her, and more so interested in the experience of dungeon crawling.
"Wait..." Kymani responded.
To that, Merilyn nodded and calmly sat there careful to not touch the walls full of musk, and that aside, the thought of the dungeon being alive was still fresh in her mind.
After not using it for a while, Lavenica once again pulled out her magic musket from under her skirt.
Looking at the group of 8 goblins in front of them, Kymani and Lavenica got ready and he immediately began charging at the monsters.
The yellow eyes focused on him as they all began to also run at him, soon they met, and before they could do anything Kymani punched one of the goblins in the face with a right hook.
"2nd-degree ice shot." She chanted.
From behind, another goblin jumped at him, but before it could do anything it was shot onto the wall, frozen by one of Lavenica's shots.
"2nd-degree ice shot." She chanted once again as she aimed for the next one.
Not letting it affect his performance, Kymani dodged an attack from a second goblin easily due to the combined work of
Grabbing two goblins nearby, his hands on their faces, Kymani slammed both onto the ground making them let out some blood.
"2nd-degree ice shot." She chanted once again killing one of the two still-standing goblins behind Kymani.
Finally, as the only goblin still standing trembled having almost been hit with the shot, Kymani came in with a full-on uppercut breaking its jaw as some blood splashed off. 3 goblins dead by ice shot, and 5 goblins were on the ground injured by Kymani.
Now that there wasn't too much more fighting to do, Kymani just began punching them to death one by one until he had killed four goblins and left the last one for Lavenica.
[You have killed a level 1 goblin. 1 experience point has been gained.]
[You have killed a level 1 goblin. 1 experience point has been gained.]
[You have killed a level 1 goblin. 1 experience point has been gained.]
[You have killed a level 1 goblin. 1 experience point has been gained.]
'It's even more unsettling than before... But in a different way...' Kymani looked at his hands shaking not because he had killed more goblins, but due to something that felt off, as he unknowingly smiled.
Once Lavenica killed the last one, they moved on to the next area.
-Later-
After roaming around for a while and defeating a bunch of goblins, they finally reached the warp pad leading to the next floor of the dungeon.
-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo's Outskirts; Goblin's Lair; 2nd Floor-
'I only need to kill 2 more goblins to reach level 2.' Kymani thought to himself as he saw the second floor, which was the same type of cave system as the first floor.
"... I'm honestly a bit surprised... I was told dungeons are very unpredictable but this feels rather... Predictable..." Merilyn commented as she looked around.
"Welcome to low-ranking dungeons." Lavenica replied while shrugging her shoulders.
"Look..." Kymani pointed ahead as once again a group of goblins was found, but this time, it was only 4 goblins and each of them was carrying a bone dagger.
While Merilyn just sat to watch again, Kymani and Lavenica moved. The same as before with him on the front and her covering from the back.
Soon Kymani approached them and came in with a flying kick making one of the goblins crash right into another one, before hitting a third one with two consecutive punches. As the last goblins went in to stab him, an ice blast sent it flying plastering it onto the wall frozen and dead.
Taking this chance Kymani went all in on the third goblin, punching it to death on the ground, and as blood dripped from his fist a notification came up.
[You have killed a level 2 goblin. 2 experience points have been gained.]
[You have met the experience point requirement. Your level has risen to 2.]
Not wasting time, Kymani immediately moved to the last two goblins who just recovered and slammed them onto the ground, accidentally killing both as their heads exploded under the pressure.
[You have killed a level 2 goblin. 2 experience points have been gained.]
[You have killed a level 2 goblin. 2 experience points have been gained.]
"My... Bad..." Kymani scratched his head as he didn't mean for this to happen.
'My stats did increase substantially...' He thought to himself as he looked at his status screen.
[Name: Kymani Njeri Marvion
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Species: Voidling | Sub-Species: Viscous Voidling(Extinct)
Affinity: Neutral, Void, Chaos, Order, Isekai
Bloodline: None
Physique: Viscous Goblinoid Body
Soul stage: Mortal
Soul grade: 17th
Level: 2
Exp: 4/50
Titles: Reincarnated Individual; Otherworlder; The Holder Of Order and Chaos; The Spawn Of Sin and Virtues; The Only Apostle Of Isekai, Reincarnation, and Lesser Creation; The Lucky Pervert; The Antithetical Existence
Job: Harem Collector, Isekai Grand Apostle, Celestial Container, Hero
Class: None
Stats(Goblin Form):
Strength: 3 --> 7(10.5)
Dexterity: 2 --> 6(9)
Vitality: 4 --> 9(13.5)
Magic: 2 --> 6(9)
Willpower: 2 --> 6(9)
Agility: 3 --> 7(10.5)
Charisma: 69
Luck: 99
Undistributed Stat points: 25 --> 0
Attributes:
Hp: 80/80(120/120) | Mp: 60/60(90/90) | Sta: 80/80(120/120)
Attack: 6.5(9.75)
M.Attack: 6(9)
Defense: 7.5(11.25)
M.Defense: 7.5(11.25)
Speed: 6.5(9.75)
Unique ability/s: [Absorption(Basic)-lv:20], [Double Exp.Lv -], [1/2 Exp Requirement.Lv -], [Challenger Ascension],
Innate ability/s(Racial skills): [Void Walker], [Mimic]
Active skills: None
Passive skills: Mortal Core(2).Lv -, Mana Circuit.Lv I, Mana Sense.Lv I, Battle Instincts.Lv I,
Resistances: Physical Attack Tolerance-lv:1, Magic Attack Tolerance-lv:1, Elemental Attack Tolerance-lv:1, Void Attack Immunity-lv:1, Order Resistance.Lv -, Chaos Resistance.Lv -,
Magic: Chaos Magic.Lv -I, Order Magic.Lv -I,
Unique Magic: Isekai Magic.Lv I,
Extras: Omni-Harem God System(Owner), Blessing Of The Higher Divine Of Chaos and Sin, Blessing Of The Higher Divine Of Order and Virtue, Blessing Of The Lower Divine Ruler Of Isekai, Blessing Of The Divine Of Reincarnation
Mimic Forms: Phaseless Goblin,
Inventory: Empty]
'All in all, pretty good. If I can keep this up, aren't I going to be decently strong? So, let's keep moving!' Kymani concluded looking at his status screen.
From then on they continued to move through the second floor, killing whatever goblins they met along the way, but no goblin would give out any drops at all, which Lavenica said to start happening on the 6th floor, halfway through this dungeon, which only had 10 floors.
-Later-
"The goblins seem to be getting a bit more organized. Though they are still pretty weak overall, so I can't really tell if it's helping them." Merilyn pointed out as she took note of it.
"Yes, this is because the deeper areas of the dungeon are closer to the dungeon core, so everyone works smoother... For a lack of a better term." Lavenica explained having grown used to Merilyn's occasional questions.
"I see... So the deeper into the dungeon the more efficient it is at controlling it all... No wonder Commander Rana and Lilico would always say that the deeper you go into a dungeon the more attention and preparation you'll need. Actually isn't there a boss monster in this dungeon?" Merilyn questioned.
"Yes, there's even a mini-boss on the 5th floor. That's why I suggested this place. It's a decent start for Master and will do wonders for his growth, and plus he seemed to really want a body with bones and muscles, so here we are." Lavenica responded.
"Oh, do think anything in here is strong enough to take a hit from me?" Merilyn inquired.
"Definitely not... You're overleveled for a place like this..." Lavenica said with her eyes narrowed.
"... That's boring... Don't get me wrong I like hanging out, but I don't want to just go back to the palace after this..." Merilyn made puppy eyes as she didn't want to just return, after all, who knew when she would get to do this again?
"How about we pass by a bar and you perform there before we return?" Lavenica proposed.
"Great! What an excellent idea!... An actual performance before an audience... Can I even do this?!..." Merilyn began having a crisis of some sort just thinking about the possibility.
'She's pretty easy to deal with... Huh?' Kymani shook his head and then they moved on.