Radiant Light illuminated every face. The eight-person adventuring party regarded Loulan, who stood ahead with his blade drawn, with visible tension and restraint.
Although every one of them could see the festering wound on the back of his right hand, no one dared lower their guard.
They had only to consider that he was alone, his power to emit light, and the two nearby piles of monster corpses, one large and one small.
This was a supreme expert wielding an unknown number of supernatural relics!
"Greetings. I am Andu Hammer, captain of the third squad of the Gold-rank adventuring party 【Emerald Eagle】. As you can see, I am a dwarf."
The two sides remained locked in this chance encounter for a full fifteen minutes before the silence was broken. The speaker was the same man who had called out "Someone there?" and the one who had opened the door.
Dwarves weren't rare in Loulan's current city. More than one blacksmith shop was run by dwarves, and at night their figures could be seen in every tavern.
What truly surprised Loulan were the two young women in the party.
Not only were they dressed in hooded mage robes and wearing reflective badges on their chests, one held a book while the other carried an oddly shaped staff.
Mages!
This was the first time Loulan had seen members of this rare profession. They were rare cultivators on this continent, practitioners of one of the paths to the supernatural that didn't rely on relics—magic!
"Just call me Loulan. This is the first time I've seen... Hmm〜"
Loulan didn't put his weapon away. Holding the blade in his left hand, he extended his wounded right hand toward the two young women, rolled his shoulders twice, then spoke.
"Mages? I seem to recall that Coldiron City has neither a mage academy nor a mage tower. What a rare sight."
Loulan hadn't spent every day idle since arriving in this otherworld.
An unknown power allowed him to translate any written language into familiar Chinese, and even speech worked the same way. He could handle everything by speaking Chinese. Consequently, he had gathered a great deal of information about this world.
Transcendence didn't mean wielding miraculous power, but reaching a particular realm! That was also why Darkest Dungeons were so unique.
Loulan hadn't found the specifics. They belonged to that beloved old classic: knowledge being kept under lock and key.
But he had discovered something even more classic—classes!
Magic and battle aura, the time-honored supernatural powers of Western fantasy, naturally existed in this world.
Yet the more information Loulan gathered, the more he found this world's power system resembled two games from his previous life: 《Dungeons & Dragons》 and 《The Elder Scrolls》.
Thieves weren't merely pickpockets, magic wasn't simply the manipulation of elements, and battle aura wasn't exclusive to warriors, among other things.
Classed professionals were still rare, especially mages.
They were generally found only in mage academies or mage towers. Even the most worthless mage would be addressed as "Lord Mage" by a noble "knight" of the lowest rank!
That was why Loulan was surprised. He wouldn't have reacted this way if the two young women belonged to any other mainstream class.
Lord Mages formed parties to delve into dungeons too?
"You... what do you mean?! Believe it or not... believe it or not, I'll cry!"
The petite young woman among them craned her neck and answered Loulan. She seemed furious at his offense, yet at the same time, she didn't dare enrage a fierce man capable of soloing the shallow reaches of a Darkest Dungeon.
Loulan's gaze was drawn to the voice. Fine, he admitted that the naked scrutiny in his eyes and his final words had indeed sounded offensive, especially to a mage, whose status was comparable to a noble's.
But his demeanor just now was more like someone playing a game. Beyond basic vigilance, he showed them complete indifference.
Arrogant and utterly unrestrained.
That was the other members' first impression of Loulan.
"You're very cute, but unfortunately, I'm not interested in pure-blooded humans. There are some things in that treasure chest I can't use, so feel free to take a look. Now... could you clear the way?"
Loulan first complimented the adorable mage girl who had begun trembling with her staff clenched in hand, then decided against any further entanglement with the adventuring party.
Aside from knowing that Darkest Dungeons offered high risks and high rewards, he currently knew nothing about them.
For example, he had never imagined he might encounter other people after entering. He had assumed each party entered a separate instance.
"Thank you for your generosity. The corridor behind us contains two more unexplored doors. Good luck."
After speaking, Andu waved to his companions.
"Move to the side and make way for Mr. Loulan."
The eight-person adventuring party immediately obeyed. Aside from the two mage girls, who merely followed the crowd, everyone else reacted in an instant.
This made Loulan even more certain that their identities were unusual.
【Do adventuring parties also offer a service where they escort people through instances? Or are there related bounties?】
After speculating to himself, Loulan strode toward the door behind the group with his blade in hand. As he neared it, he didn't forget to offer a well-intentioned reminder before leaving.
"There's no path left behind me. You can rest here for a while, then take the door I didn't open."
Human nature withstood testing more poorly than anything. Loulan didn't want to risk befriending these people, so it was better to warn them from the outset.
Through observation, Loulan wasn't fool enough to miss how these people viewed him.
It was—the reflection of a mighty expert!
Since he was a mighty expert, he needed to put on the proper airs!
"Thank you!"
Andu was an old dwarf more than one hundred and fifty years of age. Rich in experience, he was exceedingly steady. Even though Loulan's final words carried a warning, Andu still thanked him for the reminder.
Before long, Loulan vanished from sight. Only then did every member of the adventuring party relax and begin resting according to their clearly divided roles.
A male human thief hurried to the treasure chest and took out the three potions Loulan had left behind.
"A mystic potion! Boss, one of these is a mystic potion!"
His voice was extremely quiet, but it couldn't conceal the delight in his words.
He rushed over in a few long strides, took out the purple potion for Andu, then casually tossed the other two to the party's logistics officer, who also served as commander and priest.
"It's a Magic Essence Elixir. Miss Lilia, Miss Vina, would you be willing to purchase it?"
"A Magic Essence Elixir? We'll buy it. Of course we'll buy it!"
The mage Lilia, who was holding the spellbook, cried out loudly, her eyes shining with pure light. A moment later, however, she spoke in embarrassment.
"But we didn't bring enough money on this trip. Could we use it first and pay later?"
"Of course. I'm willing to trust the character of students from the Arcane School Mage Academy."
Andu nodded and agreed to her request.
Just as Loulan had guessed, they weren't truly one party. They merely had a straightforward employer-for-hire relationship.
The Arcane School, one of the Imperial Mage Academies, was conducting a practical study tour. These two young mages had been assigned to Coldiron City...