Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The lift that had been descending slowly toward the ground finally came to a stop.

When the doors opened and I stepped outside, the full vista of the first floor filled my vision.

“So this is the first floor....”

Its proper name was the Brink of the Abyss.

The light spilling in from the vast opening high above, the bizarre rock formations spread out below it, and the countless thick-growing plants crowding between them.

It was a breathtaking sight in the truest sense of the word.

“It really is better to see it in person.”

I had thought it looked incredible even through a screen, but seeing that scenery with my own eyes made even the word incredible feel insufficient.

Still, I only had a moment to lose myself in that swelling awe.

I turned to look at the people who had come down with me.

“Ugh, I am getting dizzy.”

“Wait, my stomach... urk!”

“This place is awful every single time, seriously.”

The moment they stepped onto the ground, they either dropped where they stood or started retching.

It was hard to believe they were the same people who had looked perfectly fine before departure.

‘So that is the dungeon’s side effect.’

Each floor had its own side effect.

On the first floor, that side effect was severe dizziness.

Most people suffered weakness or vertigo, but frailer ones could even end up vomiting.

“Huh? What is with that one? Is he not an apprentice?”

“The badge says he is... so why is he perfectly fine?”

While groans were rising from every direction, I felt completely normal, without a single symptom.

Not only was there no nausea or dizziness, I did not even feel the slightest weakness.

‘Well, this is a body that has been enhanced five times over.’

By the time Ishara graduated from the Selection Grounds, her specs were already at the level of a 2-Star Adventurer.

The recommended level for the first floor was 0 to 2-Star, so she was strong enough that graduating immediately would not have seemed strange at all.

Normally, she would have had to grow stronger step by step and gradually overcome the side effects, but I had inherited all of her abilities and skipped that entire process.

“His apprentice status is not fake, is it?”

“Forging that badge is a capital crime. Besides, why would anyone show it off that openly if it were fake?”

So forging this thing was a capital offense.

Well, if someone did it in secret, they might be able to deceive a few people, but if they flaunted it that openly, it would not even serve a purpose.

By now, everyone was staring at the apprentice who looked perfectly fine as if I were some kind of oddity.

‘Judging by how bad everyone looks, I guess there are no veterans here.’

Side effects naturally stopped affecting you once your specs were high enough to graduate from that floor.

That meant they did not apply to adventurers heading for the second floor, the third floor, or below.

Aside from me, everyone here was suffering from the side effects, so they were all people active on the first floor.

‘Well, I guess that does not really matter to me right now.’

That was only the sort of thing you needed to know when forming a party.

For someone moving alone, it was not an analysis that meant much at the moment. What mattered more was that I had come down to the right place.

This was one of the areas commonly called a beginner zone.

The fact that so many first-floor-level adventurers were here meant I had picked the right lift.

“Alright, everyone. Pull yourselves together and get moving.”

“Drink a recovery potion. It will help a little.”

“Do not drop your bags!”

Whether alone or in teams, people began dispersing.

It was about time I chose my own direction too.

“Is that apprentice moving alone?”

“If there is no party with him, then I guess so?”

“Tch... another idiot trying to show off.”

They sure were interested in me.

Apparently, they saw me as some reckless fool acting far beyond his abilities.

Wearing an apprentice badge meant I was a beginner who had only just graduated from the Selection Grounds, and a dungeon was a dangerous place for someone with poor equipment and little knowledge to wander around alone.

If you were a noble, then your family’s knights would probably carry you through it, and if not, then you were supposed to form a party.

“They sure have a lot to say for people who are not offering to help.”

For all their clicking tongues, not a single one of them actually asked me to join up.

An apprentice meant a complete novice who had just graduated from the Selection Grounds. How much could someone like that really know how to do? At best, they would be lucky not to become dead weight.

There had not been any apprentice system in the game, but there had been a seniority element, and the lower your seniority, the harder it was to find companions.

This place probably was not much different.

‘Let me just focus on what I came here to do.’

I ignored them and started walking.

The moment I chose a path, I heard another round of disapproving clicks.

“Of all places, he had to pick that one....”

“He is not going to last long.”

That path led straight to the central region of the first floor, the high-level zone.

Of course, since the surrounding area was still part of the beginner zone, it would be fine for a while, but go too far and dangerous monsters would start appearing with no buffer zone in between.

There were several paths branching out from the lift platform, but I was the only one heading this way.

‘That is exactly why I chose this place in the first place.’

I was planning to head straight for the boss zone of the first floor.

To descend to the second floor, I would have to defeat the floor boss and prove my qualifications.

There were several boss rooms even on the same floor, but I had chosen this place because it was the closest to the boss room I was aiming for.

“Well, whether there is actually a boss there or not, I will have to see for myself.”

In the game, bosses respawned periodically after being defeated, but I had no idea how it worked here.

First, I needed to confirm it.

I started walking toward the dense forest.

***

For the next three hours or so, nothing happened.

The only monsters that appeared were small fry closer to animals than actual monsters, and there were no real traps lurking around either.

That was why this place was called a beginner zone.

“Hm... was this one edible?”

So what I was doing was foraging.

I had no idea how many days I would end up staying in the dungeon, and all I had brought with me for food was a few pieces of bread.

Of course, this was not recklessness. I had thought it through.

For all that I might look like this, I knew exactly which berries and meats were edible.

That was because I had leveled life skills like crazy too, purely because I hated spending money.

“This one is poisonous... this one too... wow, this one is deadly poison. That could come in handy later.”

Anything poisonous went into a separate bundle.

I could smear it on a blade later or sell it at a general store. Everything had its uses.

The only real problem was cooking... but I decided to think about that later. Worst case, I could eat it raw.

It might not taste great, but it would not make me sick.

“This is fun.”

Walking with my own two feet, searching around, discovering all kinds of things.

My body might have been working hard, but every step of the process was enjoyable.

Thanks to that, I kept making my way through the difficult terrain without noticing the time pass, and at last I reached the boundary that led into the danger zone.

“This looks dangerous at a glance.”

The thick trees blocked out most of the light, and above all, even the plants themselves had turned dreary in color.

Just looking at it felt like a giant sign was hanging there, screaming, “This place is incredibly dangerous!”

But honestly, that made it better.

The beginner zone had been so full of light it had felt more like a hiking trail.

Dark, gloomy, and filled with that eerie sense that something could leap out from anywhere.

A dungeon ought to feel like this.

“It should be about time monsters started showing up... oh.”

No sooner had I said it than I heard a faint sound somewhere in the distance.

Not the wind or running water, but something more irregular, the kind of sound a living creature would make.

Honestly, it was so faint I was surprised I heard it at all, but my ears did not miss it.

“A Mana Stone, a Mana Stone~”

I closed the distance toward the source of the sound.

Not recklessly. I moved quietly and carefully, doing my best to muffle my footsteps.

But the closer I got, the more I realized something was off.

There was not one sound, but two. And they were fighting.

“Ah.”

What had been waiting for me there was not just a monster. There was also an adventurer fighting it.

That said, the adventurer’s condition was terrible. They were covered in wounds from head to toe, and anyone could see they had been driven completely onto the defensive.

‘That is... a Hobgoblin, I think.’

An upper-rank species of goblin that appeared on the first floor.

Just because it belonged to the goblin family did not mean you should think of it as the usual punching bag cliché.

It was larger than a human, far stronger in both muscle and bite force.

More than anything, it was intelligent, which made it dangerous to underestimate.

‘That is strange. With that man’s specs, he should not be struggling this much.’

I looked at the adventurer fighting it.

My eye for these things was still lacking, but judging from his equipment, he looked like someone who could make it to the second floor without much trouble.

It was hard to understand why someone like that was struggling against a first-floor monster, and not even a Field Boss or a named monster, just an ordinary mob...

‘Well, I will find out if I ask.’

Monsters dropped Mana Stones when killed.

With my current specs, absorbing them would not be all that efficient, but they would still sell for money.

And now that I would be saving that man too, surely he would not try to claim ownership.

Hm... probably.

“A-a person!? Over there! Please, help first...!”

The older man, who looked to be somewhere in middle age, sensed my presence and called for help.

Then, the moment he saw me clearly, his expression stiffened at once.

“An-a apprentice...? No...!”

Had he thought the rope tossed down to save him had turned out to be rotten?

I expected him to curse, but what came out of his mouth was something entirely different.

“D-do not come this way! Run, quickly!”

“....”

“That is not something you can handle! I will draw its attention, so hurry!”

He looked far more in danger than I did, and yet the first thing he did upon seeing me was shout for me to run.

If I left, he might really die.

The nameless old man had said that without a moment’s hesitation the instant he realized I was an apprentice.

“Wh-what are you doing!? Hurry and run—!”

“Just stand there and watch.”

I picked up a nearby stone and threw it at the Hobgoblin.

The rock hit it on the head with a dull thunk, and the creature turned with a growl.

“That thing is unbelievably ugly.”

The visual impact was insane.

Seeing it in person was on an entirely different level from seeing it on a monitor.

How could a living creature like that even exist in the world?

—SKREEEECH!

The moment it realized I had thrown the stone, it turned fully toward me.

Maybe it thought that since the man was already injured, it could kill me quickly and then go right back to chasing him.

I watched as it came stomping toward me with heavy thuds.

‘That club is its only weapon, then.’

A wooden club stained with vivid blood.

With the level of equipment I had right now, if I got hit even once, there was a very high chance I would die on the spot.

That thing was an enemy you generally needed to be at least mid-level for on the first floor to take down.

“No!!”

—SKREEEECH!

The Hobgoblin charged.

I took the sword from my shoulder and unwound the cloth wrapped around it.

Beneath the light filtering into the forest, the sleek blade was revealed.

Wooooong—

I awakened the Mana circulating through my body and tempered it into a single force.

Magic Power that flowed through my veins like blood.

Divinity that wrapped around me with warmth like gentle heat.

And beyond those two, the third Trait that now existed within me... Mysticism, pulsing like a heartbeat, almost like the force of nature itself.

In that instant, a violet gleam raced across the silver blade.

‘Stay calm.’

I looked straight at the Hobgoblin’s descending club.

I measured the timing and raised my sword.

In that fleeting moment faster than a flash, the instant club and blade met, light burst forth.

The signature of the Mysticism Trait.

Parrying had activated.

KAAANG!!

A deafening metallic crash exploded out as a flash of light blazed.

The Hobgoblin’s strike, which should have been impossible to stop, was flung high into the air, sending its body staggering wildly.

By contrast, I remained perfectly calm, without even my stance collapsing.

—Skrk...?

Did it not understand what had just happened?

Tilting its head, the creature swung the club again.

Clang! KAAANG!

The result was the same as before.

No matter how great the difference in strength, no matter how huge the difference in size, Parrying was a technique that unconditionally deflected every attack.

It was just outrageously difficult to use. But if you could use it, there was hardly a more broken technique in existence.

“That is... Mysticism...? Was that really Parrying?”

“You there. Stop babbling and tie up your wounds.”

What was the point of just standing there being shocked?

The moment I turned toward him in irritation, the Hobgoblin moved.

“Oops.”

Because I blocked in a bad position and in too much of a hurry, I ended up losing hold of my sword.

That was my mistake. I should not have let my attention wander in the middle of a fight.

No matter how good your talent was, a beginner was still a beginner, apparently. I still had a lot to learn.

—Skrrk!

The Hobgoblin grabbed the sword that had flown away.

Maybe it thought I could not use Parrying without a weapon, because it bared something like a sneer.

It was not exactly wrong, either....Gripping my sword, it brought it down toward me.

If I had to guess, it was mocking me, telling me to taste my own weapon.

“It would have been smarter to use the club, idiot.”

I did not dodge.

I let the sword strike me directly.

Naturally, nothing happened to me.

—Skrrk...?

It had definitely hit me with the blade.

And yet the sword merely rested on my shoulder. It had not cut me, and I could not even feel the impact of a slash.

“What a shame.”

I stared straight at the flustered Hobgoblin, which was still holding the sword mid-swing.

“Ishara does not turn her edge against me.”

Whether it was instinct or something else, even in sleep, she would never do anything that could harm me.

No matter what happened, she would not turn her edge against me, would not strike me, and would only ever try to protect me unconditionally.

The Starting Weapon had never originally possessed a function like this.

This was something only Ishara could do.

—SKREEECH!

The creature threw the sword away.

Apparently it had judged it useless.

“You are smarter than you look.”

I reached out toward the sword as it flew through the air.

“But I bet you did not know this, either.”

The sword hanging in midair changed direction at once and flew back toward me.

It shot back like an arrow and settled neatly into my hand.

“I-Igigeo Swordsmanship!?”

“That is not what this is.”

That was a technique you needed to be at least 7-Star to use. I was nowhere near that level.

I had not called it back. Ishara had returned on her own.

It was simply Ishara’s will to remain by my side.

KAAANG!!

I deflected the descending club once more.

The creature’s arm was thrown upward, leaving its chest wide open, and I leveled my sword toward it.

“Got you.”

[Flash Lightning Thunder Sword]

[First Form – Rushing Thunder]

The secret sword art of House Ortanis, aimed through the tip of the blade and driven forward with full force.

A lightning-fast strike pierced straight through the Hobgoblin.