Chapter 29: The First Dungeon - Part 1
After about an hour on the carriage, we arrived at the dungeon closest to the capital city.
There are two types of dungeons: "Cleared" dungeons and "Uncleared" dungeons. This dungeon belongs to the former, the "Cleared" category.
Unlike fixed maps, the dungeons in this world are randomly generated, just like in the game era.
This rule applies to this world as well, and the structure of the dungeons changes at regular intervals.
However, the inhabitants and resources inside the dungeon remain the same. In fact, adventurers use them as hunting grounds.
"Hey, Jin-kun. How deep do you plan to explore today?"
"Fiine-san and the others told me to gauge my abilities first and then dive deeper. I'm planning to explore up to the third floor initially, and if it seems possible, I'll go even deeper."
"Got it. They told us not to push ourselves too hard."
"With our strength, I think we can conquer this dungeon, but well, it's better to heed their advice."
Saying that, we stepped into the dungeon for the first time.
Soldiers were stationed at the entrance of the dungeon, and we showed them our adventurer cards to gain entry.
The area near the entrance had a cave-like feel, but as we went a little further, the "sun" somehow appeared.
"Huh?! We entered a cave, but there's a sun inside, Jin-kun!"
"This is the dungeon. Dungeons come in various designs, so some adventurers look forward to exploring dungeons from different places."
"I see. In that case, let's explore various places too!"
"Yeah, once we become stronger, it would be nice to travel to different locations."
In response to Chloe's suggestion, I agreed, and a few monsters appeared ahead of us.
The monsters that appeared were three goblins.
Two of them were holding clubs like usual goblins, while one of them had a staff.
"Two regular goblins and one goblin mage. The goblin mage will use magic, so be careful."
I told Chloe that, and both of us entered combat stance.
Having heard from Fiine-san that the movements of outside monsters and dungeon monsters were slightly different, we decided to observe the enemy's actions first.
"Gigii!"
"Gee!"
As the goblin mage gave a signal, the remaining two goblins yelled and charged at us.
Meanwhile, the goblin mage at the back unleashed fireballs towards us.
I neutralized the goblin mage's magic with my water-based magic, and Chloe and I each took care of one goblin that came charging at us.
Then, we cast magic towards the surprised goblin mage behind, and the first battle in the dungeon ended without much difficulty.
"Well, they were weak, huh?"
"Yeah, but it felt like they were using their heads more than the monsters outside, didn't it?"
"I felt the same way. They moved like they had a strategy, but their abilities didn't feel as strong as the ones outside... Maybe it's because they're only on the first floor."
"Yeah, they said they get stronger as you go deeper."
"Right, well, let's try to assess the strength of the monsters on the first floor and descend to the third floor."
After that, we swiftly defeated all the monsters we encountered and reached our target floor in just a few tens of minutes.
We had descended to the first floor in about five minutes, and we began to wonder if this was what a dungeon was really like.
Fiine-san had mentioned that there were some challenging places even for two people, despite being able to proceed relatively easily.
But the impression we got from actually clearing it was somewhat different from what we had heard.
"I was a little on edge, but it wasn't that bad, huh?"
"Well, I think that's from here onwards. Fiine-san also said that there would be more people coming out from the third floor and beyond."
I said that, but I already felt a sense of dissatisfaction after battling a few times on the third floor.
"Chloe, for now, we seem to have the ability to go beyond the third floor. Shall we go down?"
"Yeah! I was thinking the same thing."
When I suggested going down, Chloe responded with excitement.
From there, we entered the fourth floor through the staircase we had already found.
The view of the dungeon changed from the fourth floor, taking on a forest-like atmosphere.
Numerous trees grew to several meters tall, and we could sense the presence of monsters deep within the woods.
With our perception skills, Chloe and I could sense the presence of those monsters and cast magic to defeat them.
"If we didn't have perception skills, things would have been tough."
"Well, yeah. Perception skills require some training to acquire, so I understand now what they meant when they said even copper-ranked adventurers would struggle from the fourth floor."
We had heard from Fiine-san that even copper-ranked adventurers would have a hard time in the forest area.
However, both Chloe and I possessed perception skills.
Furthermore, Chloe's scouting skills were on par with high-ranking adventurers, so we proceeded without any difficulties.
"Yeah, but if it's just at this level, we shouldn't have any problems."
After that, we smoothly advanced through the forest area up to the seventh floor.
And when we reached the eighth floor, the scenery changed again, resembling a normal cave-like environment.