"It's almost 8:00 O'clock."
"We should be done before 12, so no sweat." Ezra said.
This was really too much for the workers. They needed rest, not to mention this wasn't part of their deal, to work overtime. Eventually, the situation got to Rolf, and he had to make a call and speak to Ezra. He didn't know why Ezra was so impatient, but it wouldn't allow him to treat his people badly. They were normal people for the most part, so they lacked the endurance of an awakened would have.
Ezra proved difficult to reason with, and it wasn't as though Rolf could actually force him. Ezra agreed to compensate Rolf for the resources he could have gained from the dungeon so that the other workers could return home for the day while the two hunters stayed behind. Lance and Mailyn were to remain there until Ezra was done raiding, all part of the initial deal. They both didn't oppose the idea, so it was agreed upon.
"I'll go in immediately." Ezra entered the gate immediately to begin the raid. Fortunately, it was still a dungeon system and not a different terrain, though he reckoned this one would be of a much larger scale, as it normally is. 'So I've heard.' What was unfortunate, though, was the monster type for this particular dungeon.
The first thing he noticed about this dungeon was the fact that it was dark, unlike normal dungeons. The dungeon crystals inside the dungeon are what provide lighting within the dungeon, as they glow faintly, many of them together add up to create a good enough light. If there were no crystals, then there would be other sources of light. Here, however, the crystals were scarce, only present in different sections far apart. Though there was still light, it was far too insufficient for anyone to make detail of their surroundings. Good thing Ezra had good eyes and could see better in such dark environment, after all, the abyss was a good place to train the senses so.
As Ezra walked in further, he picked up a particular sound that he would never miss even on a bad day. It sounded like many legs matching towards his location, and their speed was fast. Even more, the sound of the legs colliding with the ground felt irritating to Ezra's ear.
Krik Krik Kik kik krik krik kik
"Of all things, I hate insects. Especially, giant insects." As it would seem, this dungeon was a Spider cave that had spiders of different sizes crawling at every cover. Ezra realized this the moment the first monster came within his field of vision.
The size of the spiders was 1 metre in height and 2.5 metres long. It only went up from there actually. He could not thank his luck more that he had borrowed a sword from Luck. This time, Luck did not dare to lend out his actual weapon that he carried around on his back, so he gave Ezra a spare. This was more of a blade though, and could easily be passed for a cutlass if one didn't take a better look. Being his arch nemesis, Ezra had spent good time studying how to kill various insect creature in case he ever had to face off against them in a dungeon, so killing them proved to be not as difficult as it was disgusting.
This time, it didn't take as much time for Ezra to clear all the monsters in the dungeon, leaving the last one, the boss. Maybe it was because of his efficiency that he was so fast, but the A rank dungeon turned out not so big and deep in the end, kind of a special case. It felt like raiding a D rank gate in terms of size.
"Also, why is there no boss monster? Maybe I didn't follow the correct path?" Ezra was quite confused. Since this was an insect type dungeon, there were bound to be many routes, and most of them led to dead ends. 'But then again, this dungeon is not as big, and I'm sure I didn't miss anything in particular.
Ding
Ezra ignored the notification at the time, but a couple seconds later, the system opened on its own.
[Time Elapsed. Transporting commenced]
[You will now be transported to the Second floor of the Abyss]
"Hey! Great."
Vhoom
In an instant, Ezra was enveloped by a bluish light that briefly illuminated the surrounding and the next moment vanished.
…
Vhoom
[You have entered the Second floor of the Abyss]
[Second Stage will now begin]
The realization of where he was Induced in Ezra a brief moment of PTSD. His heart rate shot up like a space craft launched into the sky while his body tensed up and his breathing becoming rapid. After some time, he managed to bring himself to calm down. The very rocket that had shot towards space came crashing down like the first launch trials, his breathing was regulated and his body relaxed.
'This is what I've been preparing for. There's no reason to be unsure of myself, I'm here already.' He encouraged himself.
All this was good, as the first monster Ezra came across showed him just how miserable his time in the second floor would be.
It was a spider.