Towering trees stretched toward the stone ceiling high above them, while glowing blue crystals illuminated the entire area with a faint light.
Strange plants grew between the massive roots of the trees.
Some emitted a soft green glow, while others released dangerous poison into their surroundings.
At one point, Ank tried to pick a flower, but Marek immediately stopped him and explained that the flower contained poison.
Ank then noticed pieces of monster flesh scattered around the plant, all of them slowly turning blue from the poison.
The deeper they travelled, the more Ank realized that this place was nothing like the outside world.
It was a completely separate ecosystem, a world hidden inside a cave.
At one point, they encountered a river filled with golden fish, while at another, they discovered giant mushrooms taller than houses.
Ank could not stop looking around because everything was new and fascinating to him.
He had travelled through countless worlds in the past, but he had never truly appreciated their beauty.
For him, power had always been the most important thing.
But now, he was changing.
Marek, however, seemed completely relaxed, as though he had seen sights like these countless times before.
“You look surprised,” Marek said with a chuckle.
“I am,” Ank admitted.
“I thought dungeons were just caves filled with monsters.” Marek laughed.
“Most people think that until they enter one for the first time.” He pointed toward the distant forest.
“Dungeons are more like worlds.
Every dungeon develops differently.
Some become forests, some become deserts, while others become frozen wastelands.
And some become places where even powerful adventurers fear to set foot.” Ank remained silent as the more he learned about dungeons, the greater his suspicions became.
If the gods had created dungeons, what was their purpose?
Gods never did anything without gaining something in return.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a strange sound coming from nearby.
The ground split open, and a giant hole appeared beneath the trees.
Ank immediately grabbed his sword and prepared himself to fight, while Marek simply sat down on a nearby rock.
“I’m not helping,” Marek said casually.
Ank sighed.
“I wasn’t expecting you to.” Three creatures suddenly emerged from the ground.
Unlike the reptiles from before, these monsters resembled giant rabbits.
White fur covered their enormous bodies, while their red eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.
At first glance, they looked harmless.
Then Ank noticed their teeth.
Each fang was longer than his fingers.
“Those don’t look friendly.” “Sharp observation,” Marek replied.
The rabbits suddenly attacked.
Their speed immediately shocked Ank.
One moment, they were standing completely still, and the next, they had already crossed half the distance between them.
Ank barely managed to react.
One rabbit jumped above him, another moved toward his side, while the third attacked from behind.
Ank’s eyes widened.
“They’re working together?” “Most dungeon monsters do,” Marek replied lazily.
Ank gritted his teeth.
The monsters were weaker than the reptiles he had fought earlier, but they were much faster.
One rabbit rushed directly toward him.
Ank thrust his sword forward, piercing the monster’s chest.
The rabbit let out a small sound before collapsing onto the ground.
The remaining two immediately changed their tactics.
Instead of attacking recklessly, they began circling Ank, carefully searching for openings and waiting for him to make a mistake.
Ank remained patient.
He remembered his training with Maya and the words she had repeatedly told him.
“A adventurer who rushes carelessly often becomes prey.” One of the rabbits finally moved and leaped directly toward Ank’s face.
Ank easily blocked the attack before swinging his sword.
The blade cut through the rabbit’s neck, separating its head from its body.
The corpse crashed into a nearby tree before falling onto the ground.
Before the final rabbit could escape, Ank rushed forward.
His sword flashed through the air, and the final rabbit’s head fell onto the ground.
Its body collapsed shortly afterward.
Ank had killed all three giant rabbits.
Marek nodded approvingly.
“Better.” Ank wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Better?” “You didn’t panic.
You observed and adapted.
That’s how people survive dungeons.” Ank could not argue with that.
Every fight since entering the dungeon had taught him something.
The monsters were not simply stronger than ordinary creatures.
They were predators, and they learned from their opponents.
Hours later, they finally reached the staircase, or at least, that was what Ank had expected to find.
Instead, a massive stone structure stood before them.
A giant pillar rose from the center of a circular clearing, and in the middle of the pillar stood a spiral staircase descending into complete darkness.
Ank stared at the enormous structure.
“This leads to the second floor?” Marek nodded.
“Every floor has a gate.
Some are hidden, some are guarded, and others require special conditions to enter.
This one is simple.” Ank remained silent as he thought about how much effort it must have taken adventurers to map dungeons.
Every floor was practically an entire world, and finding these paths alone must have taken months.
As they approached the staircase, Marek suddenly stopped.
His expression changed.
“What?” Ank asked.
Marek looked toward the side of the giant pillar.
“There.” Ank followed his gaze.
At first, he saw nothing.
Then he noticed movement.
A figure slowly stepped out from the shadow of the giant stone pillar.
Ank was surprised when he saw the monster.
He had killed countless creatures like this in the past, and hunting them had once been one of his favorite ways to pass the time.
The creature was humanoid and roughly the size of an ordinary man.
Dark gray skin covered its body, while its eyes glowed yellow.
A rusty sword rested firmly in its hand.
“A Goblin Warrior,” Marek said.
Ank blinked.
“A goblin?” He remembered that this race used to be called something else, but he did not think much about it.
Cultures changed, and names changed with them.
The Goblin Warrior stared directly at them before a cruel smile slowly appeared on its face.
The next second, it charged.
Its speed surprised Ank.
The goblin rapidly closed the distance between them with its sword raised above its head.
Ank immediately blocked the attack with his own sword.
Clang!
The impact echoed throughout the forest, and Ank’s arms trembled from the force behind the attack.
The goblin was stronger than he had expected.
Far stronger than the rabbits.
The creature attacked again and continued swinging its sword toward Ank without giving him a chance to rest.
Its swordsmanship had many weaknesses.
According to everything Maya had taught him, Ank could clearly see those flaws and knew exactly where its openings were.
Ank continued retreating while defending against the attacks, patiently searching for the perfect opportunity to kill the creature in a single strike.
This was his first time fighting a weapon user since entering the dungeon.
Suddenly, the goblin changed its sword style.
Ank recognized this style as well and immediately moved to block the attack.
Then the attack suddenly changed direction.
A cut appeared on Ank’s shoulder, and blood began flowing from the wound.
Ank stumbled backward.
The goblin laughed after seeing his injury.
The moment Ank heard that laughter, anger appeared in his heart.
A faint trace of his Emperor Aura erupted from his body.
Marek silently watched from a distance.
The aura was so weak that he barely noticed it, and he showed no intention of interfering in the battle.
The goblin charged once more.
This time, Ank stopped retreating.
He had finally found the opening he had been waiting for.
Ank remembered everything Maya had taught him.
The goblin raised its sword.
Ank stepped forward.
Instead of blocking the attack, he entered the creature’s range.
The goblin’s eyes widened because its sword could no longer swing properly at such a close distance.
Ank’s sword shot forward in a powerful thrust and pierced directly through the goblin’s stomach.
The creature screamed in pain, but Ank did not stop.
He twisted the sword before kicking the goblin backward.
The monster crashed against a giant tree.
Before it could recover, Ank lunged forward and pierced his sword directly through its chest.
The goblin did not have enough time to react.
Its glowing yellow eyes slowly dimmed before its body collapsed onto the ground.
Ank remained standing in front of the corpse, breathing heavily.
This fight had been harder than all the previous battles he had fought inside the dungeon.
It reminded him of how he had once slaughtered millions of creatures far stronger than this goblin without the slightest effort.
Marek slowly approached him with a grin on his face.
“Congratulations.” Ank frowned.
“For what?” “You just killed your first intelligent monster.” Ank looked down at the goblin’s corpse.
For some reason, the victory did not feel satisfying.
Instead, it only reminded him of how powerless he had become.
Marek crouched beside the body and picked up a small crystal that had appeared near the corpse.
The crystal glowed faintly in his hand.
“What is that?” Ank asked.
“Dungeon loot.” Marek tossed the crystal toward him.
Ank caught it.
The moment his fingers touched the crystal, a strange warmth spread throughout his body.
His eyes widened.
“What was that?” Marek smiled.
“One of the reasons people risk their lives inside dungeons.” He then pointed toward the spiral staircase descending into darkness.
“The second floor awaits.” Unknown to them, far below the first floor and deep beneath the twentieth floor, a massive throne room remained hidden within the dungeon.
A pair of golden eyes slowly opened in the darkness.
The Dungeon Lord had sensed something unusual.
A human had entered its doma in carrying a fate that even it could not see.
For the first time in many years, something had caught its attention.
And that human interested it.