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Chapter 45 - Damsel in Distress

In the dimly candle-lit corridors of the dungeon stairwell, Bane spiraled his way down until he was met with the usual first floor. A place he'd become very accustomed to over the past days, teeming with diverse adventurers, Bane knew it like the back of his hand.

Something adventurers despised was the trek down every single time they wanted to adventure. Having to beat floor bosses every entry was a very common thing to hate in the community. People even tried to dig around or go straight down to reach their desired floor. Though they were only met with demise, as they dug, the dungeon walls enclosed on them and suffocated them slowly.

For guilds who make runs to lower floors, they must camp out on certain floors, because traveling from the entrance to the lower floors in one day is impossible. But for Bane, it was commonplace. As he walked out onto the first floor, he noticed a familiar face in Luna, who chose to keep her distance and simply watched Bane as he moved about.

Scanning a slime with threat analysis, he was met with the usual information, plus some that was only in the book. Including theories of its origins and history, it was less useful than he'd hoped. Seeing his new skill, he had such high hopes for it, but it fell flat and made him downtrodden as he continued.

Though, eventually, he got over himself and moved on to another topic entirely: Weapon mastery. He had the same daily challenge to slay twenty foes, which he did with ease on the first floor. The slippery gel of the slimes was quickly plastered about and stuck to Bane, who happily moved through the hordes.

Being incredibly weak, they weren't worth much, but they could provide an adventurer with at least a livable income. He felt that slimes were the perfect first enemies but also felt they set people up for failure. Slimes and weeping angels being a few floors apart was not a good design by whoever or whatever made the dungeon.

Bane had an inkling that he could defeat slimes with basically any weapon, but he was getting better with the katana. Being able to cleanly slice through the gelatinous blobs with ease. Checking his weapon mastery of the katana revealed he only gained ten XP from the daily quest. But even that little bit was telling; he felt the knowledge of the blade being imprinted into his being.

Those were the two things he was most excited for. He had no achievements close to being complete and no current quests, which made him frown. "I wish I could get some quests," he muttered. He could simply go back to the guild and claim one of the many fetch quests they had on the bulletin board but decided against it.

'Maybe one will come soon,' Bane thought. But with not much else left to do aside from descending further, once he got out of sight, Bane used fast travel and found himself at the entrance to the seventh floor. People populated the sixth floor for the easy Shill that the small energy crystals gave. And while Bane was on the sixth, he saw a few groups descend further to the seventh.

So, Bane dipped into the depths, expecting to find people. A text box appeared when he reached a certain point, outlining the floor-clearing quest and rewards:

Floor 7 Completion:

Slay all enemy types on the first floor of the dungeon:

Unknown – Incomplete

Unknown – Incomplete

Rewards: 25,000 Shill, two Skill Points

Even though Bane had all the answers through the tenth floor, he wanted to keep it a secret. He wasn't against knowledge like this, but he felt it would make the dungeoneering experience less exciting. 'Going in blind is fun,' he thought. He knew that later he would take any information he could get, but for now, this was his plan.

With his night vision, Bane was able to see the thin stairwell open into a large, open expanse. This room was different from any he had seen before. It was like he was inside a castle. No lights illuminated the space, and the room split off into a few similar-looking buildings.

The walls were lined with broken light fixtures, metal statues, and paintings that looked like they belonged in a royal castle. The carpets were checkered white and black marble, with a single long red carpet occupying the center, which silenced his and anyone else's footsteps.

Bane heard the grinding and shrieks of metal in the distance, like a poorly oiled lever. Assuming it was a party of adventurers and their armors, Bane carried on, unexpecting. Though as soon as the presence of an enemy filled his mind, he slowed down.

Beyond the room Bane was currently in, a person in full-body armor was walking around. As their legs moved, the jointed metal armor creaked and grinded together in a cringeworthy sound. From where Bane stood, it seemed human, but every other sense was telling him otherwise. To solve his problems, Bane used threat analysis:

Shadow Armor: An enemy who inhabits the seventh floor of the dungeon, using swords, pikes, or whatever they can get their hands on. They will sacrifice their lives to their king. Shadow armors have no bodies and are simply shadows, or souls, who come to possess armor to fight for their king. Their movements can be clumsy if the soul is weak or not used to the weight of the armor, while some could be former knights and masters of the weapon they carry.

'So, most of them will be weak, but a few knights will be absurdly strong,' Bane thought, gazing at the enemy away from him. Bane quickly unsheathed his sword from the waist holster and started toward the shadow armor.

It turned, revealing a husk of an enemy, no physical body, the helmet floating above its shoulders, making for an eerie effect. At the shadow armor's waist, it had a similar sheath, which it slowly withdrew. Just from its slow and blocky movements, Bane assumed this armor was a clumsy one, as the system had said.

With technique on his mind, Bane held the sword as Mr. Grey instructed and engaged in a short bout of combat with the shadow armor.

Sparks flew and lit the arena. Bane's swings were strong and confident, while the shadow armor almost seemed weary. Bane had the upper hand the entire fight, and to finish it off, he sliced in between the helmet and the shadow armor chest plate, like he was cutting off its head.

As he did, it was like the soul was freed. All of the armor and its sword came crashing down to the ground. 'Glad I could put you to rest,' Bane thought, placing the small energy crystal that also dropped from the shadow armor.

He examined the armor for just a second; that was another reason why this floor was also well-traveled. Bane had yet to see anyone on this floor, but because of the armor and weapon drops, floor seven was quite popular.

"It wouldn't fit," Bane muttered as he threw the chest plate to the floor with a crash. Bane continued through the never-ending castle rooms. All of them were equipped with the same red carpets, broken light fixtures, and paintings of scenes and crowned royalty.

After defeating his first shadow armor, he received a title, which he dismissed, and continued. He was met occasionally with more shadow armors, with varying weapons like pikes and bows. All of which were easy to beat.

He reached a fork in the road, with both ways extending into more ever-repeating rooms in both directions. Bane stood and tried working out which way to go. 'It really doesn't matter, they will probably lead back to the same place anyway,' he thought.

Glancing into both pathways, his question of where to travel was answered for him.

"HELP!" A young woman's scream echoed around Bane. He pinpointed that it came from the path on his left. Without wasting any time, Bane used his skill, Fear Hunt, and charged toward the source of the scream.

Bane ran past a few shadow armors and soon came upon the source of the scream.

[Urgent Quest Received]

[Damsel in Distress]

A young female adventurer, who looked to be a healer with a staff and dressed in clean white clothes, was surrounded by four men. One carrying a torch to light the area, while the other three surrounded the woman with similar-looking weapons.

Bane knew what the quest was going to entail but opened it anyway:

Damsel in Distress:

Save the young adventurer by any means necessary.

Rewards: 2 Skill Points

"Hey!" Bane shouted, thankfully taking their eyes off the young woman. He hoped she would run, but she just cowered in fear and fell to her butt.

"Oh, what do we have here?" A gruff male voice rang out. The leader of the group, being the tallest and strongest, said as he scratched his chin scruff.

"What were you doing to her?" Bane asked calmly as his hand rested on the hilt of his katana.

"Oh, nothing. She's a part of our party and just started freaking out for no reason," the man said, grinning, clearly lying through his teeth. Clearly, something must have happened for her to scream like that.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll be on my way then," Bane said, leaving the scene slowly.

With his passive skill, Danger Sense, he knew they were annoyed at being cast aside, and soon the girl called out to him.

"Please…" Her voice was a whisper, but it reached his ears barely.

"Shut it!" The man screamed, trying to kick her in the stomach. Though his foot only met Bane's.

[Skill Unlocked]

[Speed Boost]

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