It had only been two days since my departure from Luton City, and I was already in the middle part of the wilderness.
The middle part of the wilderness consists of D-rank to A-rank magical beasts dwelling within, and it's also the radius of the wilderness with magical beast dungeons.
There were a few choices for me now that I've become an adventurer. I could take on commissions that were at or below my rank. These missions consisted of a variety of responsibilities ranging from guarding to obtaining certain things. I could also travel to the forests and explore while hunting down magical beasts, or I could do some regular dungeon-exploring.
My father suggested that I take on commissions for escorting people through Luton City to the central, but I felt like exploring the wilderness for myself. After spending some time inside, I plan to return to Luton and take on a mission like that.
I'd seen it all in the Adventurer's Guild, and considering I have only one year left to gain experience in this field, I had no choice but to watch what was coming at me from the choices I make.
And now, contemplating what would be coming my way, whether fortunate or unfortunate, I found myself standing in front of a massive cave that sent shivers down my spine.
"Huh. It looks like a dungeon to me!"
I uttered a loud groan and peered inside. Inside, it resembled a darkened and dried-up forest. The stone walls were thick with twisting vines, and the stench of rotting bodies assaulted my senses. I even heard some strange noises from afar that sounded like magical beasts now and then.
"....."
Given that I'm alone, I suppose I can use my skills and cultivate my aura now. But am I able to make it out alive? Is this something I'm prepared for? Is it possible for me to pull it off?
Well, I guess there's no point in thinking about it. This would be my first real dungeon-exploring experience.
Thinking thus, I drew my dagger from my waist immediately.
My path behind was blocked, and after walking for a few minutes, I realized I had lost my way back to the entrance. The only alternative I had was to move ahead.
I walked in gently, centering my mana towards my eyes. I held my breath and surveyed my surroundings, but I couldn't sense anything in particular.
However, I once read that "underestimating the risks of a dungeon is strictly forbidden."
There were quite a few low-ranking magical beasts who were quite good at masking and hiding their presence.
No, perhaps because they were so lowly ranked that they had no choice but to conceal and wait for their prey to ambush them.
As I went deeper, past the shattered and drought-damaged trees, I came to another gloomy spot in the cave.
It looked more like a disaster than anything else, as trees and vines had been burned down. Something felt ominously weird and frightening about seeing the weird ruined shells of the edges with mild mana flow from the surroundings.
Because it was so dark inside, I employed my fire magic to make lights using flames. However, when I lit them up, after a while, they gradually became lighter than before.
Overgrown weeds poked out from between the cracked ground as I walked gently on them, but I felt a sense of dread and surveyed my surroundings with a sense of dread. Everything was so calm and peaceful, although I did catch a glimpse of something's gaze.
And suddenly there was this odor. Something was emitting a horrible odor of animal carcasses. Flies were crawling on it. This was a pretty familiar stench for me, who had seen far more than this in my prior life as someone who has experienced killing monsters and cleared dungeons.
The majority of humans and other major species decompose with this fragrance, although monsters have a minor difference in their odor. As a result, I can tell that this smell is from a beast.
However, I was still unable to track it down. Just as a predator would stalk its prey. With that, I can only conclude that the magical beast wanted to remain concealed and await its opportunity.
"Haha!" I must say, even for a monster or beast, this is a smart strategy.
"So, in that case... "
I purposely turned around and displayed my backside. And carefully retraced the steps I'd taken up to this point.
As soon as the prey's back was revealed, any monster creature in my past life's world would try to attack it. A Magical Beast would be no different... or so I hoped! So, as I took my fourth step back, that's exactly what happened.
"Smash!!"
Something leapt out as the tree behind me smashed into pieces. And this creature leapt towards my exposed neck as soon as it dropped to the ground.
"Roar!"
"Haha! I have been getting ready for a sneak attack like this one for this long, you dimwit of a beast!"
I immediately swung the dagger, imbuing it with my fire-attributed mana, in the direction of the presence and sound I felt and heard behind me.
It was an instinctual reply that was flawlessly executed.
"Slash"
The blade's keen edge split open the creature's jaws. The magical beast screamed in agony as it flew away from me and landed in a heap on the ground. It was a massive tiger with a black fur coat.
The tiger beast, its jaws slashed, wiggled around and threw a seizure-like fit, as if in extreme anguish. When I examined it more closely, I discovered that it was a,
"Black Tiger?".
"Now that that's out of the way, there's no time to waste!" I said to myself in courage. While the Black Tiger was unable to move due to its wounds, this was the ideal scenario.
As I rushed, I threw the Black Tiger's body up and sliced down its throat with my dagger, separating the Black Tiger's head from its body.
"Rawa...r.a..rr!"
The Black Tiger let forth a final yell and then ceased breathing. "Good!" I was able to take a deep breath, as there was only a weak magical beast inside... or so I thought.
But fate had other plans for me that I couldn't have predicted. And one of them was... Two more Black Tigers jumped out from the inner dungeon's darkness.