After killing a monster, once its body turned into black ash and scattered, its “core” would drop.
That “core” was a magic stone.
Monsters used magic stones as the foundation for their activity, and magic stones were also crystallized magical energy that could be obtained from monsters.
They contained a mysterious power.
As long as they were brought to the Guild, they could be exchanged for money, making them an adventurer’s main source of income.
“Tsk, what tiny magic stones…”
Ize looked at the three bluish-purple fragments, each about the size of a fingernail, resting in his palm.
His tone carried a strange hint of disdain.
“To be precise, those are magic stone fragments.
The magic stones dropped by monsters from the first to the fourth floors are all about that size, and they don’t exchange for much valis.
Those three pieces in your hand are probably worth around three hundred valis altogether.”
At that moment, Raul walked up from behind him and revealed the value of the three magic stone fragments.
In other words, each fragment was worth one hundred valis.
In Orario, the most cost-effective thing one could do with three hundred valis was buy ten servings of fried potato puffs.
If it were spent at one of the bigger taverns, such as the trendiest tavern on West Street, the Hostess of Fertility, it would be enough to order a single drink.
“Hah!
A mere three hundred valis.
Even a dog wouldn’t pick it up if it fell on the ground.”
As he said that, Ize placed the three magic stones into the small item pouch attached to his waist.
“Hey, hey… Didn’t you just say even a dog wouldn’t pick it up?”
Seeing him act like that, Raul could not help but retort.
“I said three hundred valis that fell on the ground.
First of all, these are three magic stone fragments.
Second, no matter how you look at it, I worked hard to get them.
That has absolutely nothing to do with what I said earlier.”
Ize refuted him with a righteous expression.
Raul: “…”
He had not seen anything that could be called hard work.
It had only taken Ize three moves—just three—to instantly kill three goblins.
Since when did swinging a spear three times count as hard work?
If the great person who defined the meaning of the word “hard work” knew about this, they might get so angry they would lift the lid of their coffin and rise from the grave.
However, after witnessing Ize’s first battle, Raul had gained a rough judgment of his strength.
At the very least, the monsters on the first four floors probably posed no difficulty for him.
On top of that, he did not look like someone fighting monsters for the first time.
He had remained calm throughout the entire process.
Then, when Raul recalled how the captain had told him yesterday that Ize had awakened magic…
The kind of tool who followed behind a “big shot” the whole time, picked up the magic stones and drop items left by monsters, and in the end, after leaving the Dungeon, would not receive a single bit of compensation.
…
After the first battle, it was as if they had attracted some kind of attention.
From then on, almost every time Ize and Raul passed through a fork in the path, they would encounter one or two, sometimes two or three monsters, and combat would begin.
But it was useless.
Izay already possessed combat techniques and experience, and he was also equipped with fine-quality gear.
Even though he had only received the Grace of the Gods yesterday, clearing the Dungeon’s first floor posed no pressure to him at all.
Like someone who had activated unparalleled mode, the two advanced without obstruction and arrived smoothly at the end of the first-floor passage.
“Next is the second floor.
Going down?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
Entering the Dungeon for the first time, receiving the Grace of the Gods for the first time, and obtaining magic for the first time—these three firsts filled Ize’s heart with an excited energy.
At least until he had vented that excitement, he probably would not leave the Dungeon so easily today.
After entering the second floor, they were still met with a complex maze-like environment—endless, uniform, and monotonous connected spaces.
However, it was obvious that the frequency of monster appearances had increased quite a bit.
Inside the Dungeon, the types of monsters born from the walls on each floor were fixed.
Sometimes, monsters born on lower floors would climb upward, or some would crawl downward, but such special cases were not common.
Everything followed the rule that the deeper the floor, the stronger the monsters.
Depending on the floor number, the number and frequency of monster appearances also differed.
The deeper one explored, the more frequently monsters would appear.
Ize’s first battle on the second floor was against six kobolds.
Although they were called kobolds, in reality, they were dog-headed monsters with dark gray fur, standing roughly one and a half meters tall.
They carried no weapons.
The sharp claws on their bodies were their best weapons.
“Phew…”
Facing the monsters that had just been born from the Dungeon walls, Ize chose to make the first move.
His figure shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
A cold gleam arrived first, and then his spear thrust out like a dragon!
With one step, he stamped onto the ground.
Power rose from his feet and surged through the spear tip!
The chilling spearhead pierced through the bodies of two kobolds and emerged from their backs.
After pausing for a brief moment, Ize flicked his wrist, and the two kobolds instantly scattered into black ash that drifted through the air.
“G-Groooaaaaar!” This story is hosted at g.com.
Using the remaining momentum of his charge, Ize shifted his body and lightly leapt a short distance away.
In the next instant, the spot where he had just been was immediately pounced upon by two kobolds.
However, they hit nothing but empty air.
Whether one was an adventurer—or, rather, no matter what profession one had—there was one awareness everyone ought to have when fighting monsters.
An attack that could be dodged should never be taken head-on.
Perhaps Ize could have turned around and swept those two kobolds down from midair, but what would be the point of that?
After dodging the attack, he thrust twice with the force of a shooting star.
A soul-stirring cold light wove and crossed through the air, and two more piles of black ash appeared on the ground.
“Ga, gaaah!”
At that moment, the last two kobolds, whose limited memory storage did not contain the words “run away,” chose to charge toward Ize like brave warriors, waving their claws.
Ize hesitated slightly.
At first, he did not react.
With his own considerations in mind, he allowed the kobolds to approach.
The distance shortened.
The two kobolds even revealed savage smiles on their faces, believing that they would be able to send this human to meet their “God.”
And in that very instant—
“A Thousand-Foot Wall!”
“Rumble!”
In front of Ize, a gigantic stone pillar suddenly erupted from the ground.
The abrupt appearance of the stone pillar violently sent the two kobolds flying into the air.
At the same time, a shockwave burst from the stone pillar, exploding outward in every direction and dealing another heavy blow to the kobolds.
The kobolds were smashed hard into the surrounding walls, becoming firmly embedded in them.
The phrase “smashed into the wall so badly they couldn’t even be pried out” was extremely fitting here.
Black mist burst apart and scattered, and two more magic stone fragments dropped.
…
Following behind Ize, Raul’s prediction had come true.
At that moment, he was like a newbie looting after a big shot, cleaning up the battlefield.
Only, while he cleaned up the battlefield, he was also chatting with Ize.
“That was amazing, Ize!
What you used just now was magic, right?!
A huge stone pillar appeared with a whoosh and sent the kobolds flying, then it exploded with a boom and released a burst of energy, killing them instantly.”
“That’s so nice… Magic.
It’s powerful and cool.
I want a miraculous power like that too…”
This “second-tier adventurer” from the Loki Familia let out an incomparably envious voice.
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