At daybreak, Roland said goodbye to Hestia and walked out of the room with Est. Originally, the goddess wanted to ask her friends to make the appropriate equipment for Roland, but after Roland showed his financial resources and vision for the future of his Familia, she had to give up the idea temporarily.
Although it was not yet the time for most adventurers to start activities, Roland did not care about anything while walking on the road. He had already obtained basic information from the guild yesterday. However, compared with the monsters themselves, Roland was more moved by the completely different structures after only one layer.
"But, Orario is worthy of being the center of the world."
Roland sighed as he looked at the magic stone lamps that had not yet been extinguished on the street.
The dungeon is both a disaster that the underworld cannot resist and a treasure trove. After gaining the power of resistance through grace, the technology of this world has become deeply dependent on the dungeon.
Roland discovered yesterday that although the surrounding architecture was indeed in the style of medieval Europe, daily life was already quite modern.
As long as you are willing to pay a fortune, you can live a very convenient life because there is more convenient energy here.
The magic stones born from monsters are quite versatile and can be used as energy for electric lights and as ignition devices for cooking. Due to the inexhaustible nature of the dungeon, even civilians can make use of these model products and continue to develop technology in this area and put them to good use.
As the only maze city in the world, Orario has made a lot of money relying on magic stone resources. It is also because of this that the guild can afford the public consumption used to support many gods.
They also monopolized the purchase of magic stones. Every adventurer's gains in the dungeon would be exchanged for money in the guild.
"So if you calculate it this way, ordinary people can probably live a much better life than some level 1 adventurers if they work hard."
Roland yawned, somewhat unaccustomed to getting up so early. After the Holy Grail War, he had been quite indulgent for a while.
However, considering what we have to do next, we can't be so lazy.
Because the Tower of Babel, which serves as the entrance and exit of the maze, is located in the center of Orario, no matter which area it is located in, it can be connected through eight main routes. Roland arrived at the center of the Tower of Babel without much effort.
It was early in the morning and there were not many adventurers wandering around. After all, for most people, although it was an adventure in name, fighting in the dungeon was more like going to work.
Today, the information about this underground maze has become very clear after generations of explorations.
According to the number of levels and difficulty, they are roughly divided into the upper level (1-12), the middle level (13-24), and the lower level (25-36) and the deeper levels below that.
In these four stages, the stratification of each stage will result in a significant increase in difficulty.
If there may still be adventurers exploring alone on the upper level, forming a team becomes an urgent need in the later stages. Otherwise, life cannot be guaranteed at all. But even so, the danger still exists.
Currently, the development area of the dungeon ends at the 58th floor.
The strength of the first 37 floors is enough to cover adventurers of level 4 and below. As for the deeper parts, even high-level adventurers like Aisi will not easily advance without teammates.
The safest approach is to wait for the clan to launch an expedition and then follow the large group.
With Roland's current physical condition, even if he does not release his positive side, with the cooperation of Est, he is undoubtedly an extraordinary adventurer. After making up for his combat experience and mastering his strength through grace, there should be nothing in this dungeon that can stop him.
But when it comes to Spirit Contact, you can never be too careful.
The Soul of the Shendu, a relatively passive spirit, could instinctively obtain twelve spells that were completely beyond Roland's expectations, not to mention an unknown place like a dungeon.
What kind of host will that contracted spirit choose to live in, and what will its status be? Is it as passive as the Shendu and Matou Shinji, who are unable to use the power of the contracted spirit at all, or has it already caused some unnoticed impact?
Roland could not ignore these problems. If possible, the best option would be to find some cannon fodder to gather specific intelligence.
The current situation was just as Roland had expected. Even though there were not many adventurers at the Tower of Babel, after his arrival, there were still many people looking at him with awe, obviously recognizing this legendary figure.
In fact, according to Hestia, the whole of Orario has been swept by a wave of hero-chasing.
"But it's not enough... Most of them are just curious, and they are still wary of me."
There was a deep red light flickering in Roland's eyes, sensing the emotions contained in each gaze cast at him.
"It has not yet reached the point of fanatical worship or even reverence. If this continues, at most he will only hold the title of the strongest, but will not have the power to attract the support of hundreds of people. He needs to become more famous."
Although the fact of simply defeating Sword Lady was significant, it was not enough to shake the many clansmen who were standing aside from the matter. After all, they were truly risking their lives and were not like the gods who were not afraid of failure and death.
But as long as people see the honor and benefits behind the heroes, there will definitely be people who fall into the trap. At that time, with a disaster that sweeps the entire city as an introduction, people will put the glittering hope on the altar.
Roland raised the corners of his mouth slightly as he looked at Est who was curiously looking at the Tower of Babel. Under the complicated gazes of the other adventurers, he walked into the Tower of Babel.
——
Although it is called an underground maze, it is more like another world than the dim and dark place we usually imagine.
Each layer is like a wonder, some are tortuous and complex, some are full of vitality, and some are as gorgeous as caves filled with gems.
After randomly walking in an empty passage for a while, Roland encountered the first monster in his adventurer's career.
In front of him, several goblins, which are very common in Western fantasy, were slowly spit out by the walls of the dungeon. They made unpleasant roars and pounced on Roland. He was too lazy to even do anything about these things. He just focused his eyes slightly, and the dazzling electric light pierced through the bodies of these monsters, turning them into corpses.
But after death, the bodies of these monsters quickly lost their color and became like ashes, and finally turned into powder and dissipated, leaving only a tiny magic stone.
Then, from the shadows on the ground, blue-gray arms stretched out and picked up Roland's spoils.
"It's actually alive..."
With a subtle expression, Roland walked to the wall, which had become normal, and scanned the surrounding scene.
The surroundings seemed very empty, and there were no other monsters. After all, this was the first floor, and adventurers coming and going had to pass through here, so it was hard to see any monsters.
However, after personal experience, Roland could understand why teamwork became the mainstream, because this living dungeon did not have any teleportation points or anything like that. To get to the next level, one could only walk down step by step on their own.
The upper level is easy, but going to the deeper places would probably take several weeks. Plus, this dungeon itself is a living thing, and monsters will not only spawn in fixed areas and at fixed times. Monsters will suddenly spawn and join the battle when you are in a tough fight or injured. It would be too troublesome to rely on yourself alone.
Roland glanced at the other passages around him, sensing the faint sounds coming from inside, and continued to walk down without hesitation.
There is no reason to even use Est to start training here, and although I can clearly feel that the location of the Contract Spirit is here, the Key of All Spirits still does not give any information.
Roland advanced at an almost unstoppable speed. Anyway, his purpose today was not to train himself, but to confirm some things.
"The difficulty of the tenth floor begins to gradually increase..."
Roland, spewing flames in an almost extravagant manner, crossed the ruined cave that he had blown up and came to the stairs leading to the thirteenth floor.
He did this not out of any desire to vent his destructive desires, but simply to save trouble.
The dungeon is alive and breeds monsters. The different floors are like its organs. Once damaged, they will repair themselves. This responsibility is greater than its instinct as a monster's nest. During the repair period, the frequency of monster appearances will drop significantly.
Thanks to this, Roland didn't even have to worry about exposing anything, and under such terrifying firepower, Roland's speed of movement was much faster than others.
If he continued to explore at this pace, it wouldn't be long before his exploration progress today would catch up with the first echelon of Orario.
But at this moment, the expression on his face was not relaxed or indifferent, but solemn.
There is no news yet from the Key of All Spirits.
He was about to enter the middle-level realm, but still hadn't received any clear indication that he had found the Contract Spirit. If it weren't for the fact that after he contracted the Divine Throne Outflow, the sublime intuition brought about by the increased authority allowed him to vaguely discover the approximate whereabouts of the Contract Spirit, he would probably have thought that he had found the wrong place.
You know, the range covered by the Key of All Spirits now is the entire Fuyuki City. If it cannot be detected in the middle-level area, it only means one thing.
"In the deep layer, no... maybe it's the progress of the first-line strategy, or even a place that the expedition team has not yet reached?"
Roland sighed, which made Est beside him take his hand and rub it on his head.
This was Roland's reward to her when he was happy. Est wanted to comfort Roland in the same way. She looked at Roland expressionlessly and spoke.
"Est is the master's sword. No matter what the future holds, I will face it with my master."
Looking at Est's beautiful eyes, Roland subconsciously rubbed her silver hair that felt like silk.
"Of course, this is our contract. Est will always be my sword."
Est's eyes wavered slightly. She didn't say anything, but just closed her eyes. A hint of enjoyment appeared on her expressionless face.
"Anyway, it's the first day and the situation hasn't even been determined yet, so there's no need to rush. Next, no matter what, I have to explore the known areas, even if it's just to expand the map of the Shadowkhan."
The power of the Shadow Kingdom allows Roland to move freely among the shadows, but it is not omnipotent. If no corresponding clues or specific orders such as past locations are given, the Shadow Legion can only search like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Roland did not stop and took Est into the thirteenth floor. As soon as he entered this area, he felt refreshed.
Although it is a traditional cave terrain with endless stone roads everywhere, the air is full of the pleasant smell of fire.
As the first level of the middle area, the monsters here have been officially recognized as level 2 in the guild's certification, and some of them can even use magic.
At such an early hour, this passage was empty, which was exactly what Roland wanted.
"Well, let's start the experiment."
Roland stretched and put his hand close to the wall of the dungeon.
"Let's see whether what this dungeon hates is the so-called gods, or simply the person itself."
Burning energy continuously emanated from his palms, causing horrible cracks to appear on the surrounding walls and lava that looked like blood to flow out.
It is a well-known fact that gods cannot enter the dungeon, because once they enter, it will cause a crazy counterattack from the dungeon.
The formation of any commandment must have been preceded by a painful lesson. Now, there are no more monsters rushing to the ground from the dungeon, and the gods do not take the initiative to enter the dungeon. The peaceful situation between the two is exactly the result left behind in the past.
But this rule is not absolute. If the god whose divine power is sealed is not afraid of death and does not take the initiative to explode his divine power, he can jump left and right along the red line of this rule.
Is it the same for forces of similar nature?
Roland looked at the wall that had completely turned into a flowing wall like melted ice cream, his eyes full of anticipation.
After a while, the ground around them began to crack open, and the terrain of this passage began to move as if it had life, and they all rushed forward to entangle with the scorching flames without hesitation.
After it was completely extinguished, a crack suddenly appeared in the remains of the wall.
Then, a huge magic stone almost as tall as Roland fell out, with strange fire patterns on its surface.
What was going on… a show of goodwill?
He used his own power to harm the dungeon, but the monster he expected did not appear. Instead, the dungeon that he had beaten up even took the initiative to convert its power into magic stones and send them to him.
Roland walked forward slowly, touching the strange magic stone, feeling the energy and faint consciousness hidden in it.
It was a chaotic sense of closeness.
This underground city is extending an invitation to Roland.
Inviting him to become one of his own, to be his strongest child, it told Roland of a bright future, that he would have a body more powerful than the legendary black dragon, with inexhaustible power, enough to burn everything on the earth with flames.
This magic stone was created by combining his power with Roland's own.
"Heh," Roland chuckled, his eyes turned cold, and the mark of the dragon spell flashed across his eyes for the first time in a long time. Flames spewed out of his mouth, turning the magic stone in front of him and the consciousness into ashes.