Thrust!
Evan had plenty of experience dealing with these three mutated kobolds.
First rule: never let them surround you. You had to force them to spread out—then pick them off one by one!
So in the blink of an eye, Evan's long blade pierced straight through one mutated kobold's skull. The sheer impact sent the monster flying backward.
Next, Evan yanked the blade back. He dodged the creature's sudden head-whip bite, then swung again—splitting its skinny body clean in two.
"One."
Only then did the other two mutated kobolds seem to react, howling madly as they charged him.
Evan dodged the first one's pounce-and-bite again, spun, and kicked it away—sending it tumbling back—then his long blade slashed at the second one rushing in close behind.
Combat Art: Crescent Moon Slash!
A gorgeous cold flash streaked through the air, forming a bright arc like a full moon.
And as that light dispersed, the sound of a body being cut perfectly in half hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"Two."
Only one left.
With the numbers advantage gone, this kind of monster was no longer a threat to Evan.
Blade in hand, he strode toward the last mutated kobold he'd kicked away earlier. In a few swift moves, he dodged its desperate final lunges, then severed its oversized head.
The whole fight ended in under thirty seconds.
Evan quickly pulled out a small knife, dug out several magic stones from the corpses, and also got two drops—razor-sharp, shaped almost like teeth.
"Should be able to take these back and have Cecil forge a short sword or dagger or something."
He weighed the materials in his hand. From the inner side of the abnormally sharp fangs, filthy pus was still slowly seeping out—looking like it might even be poisonous.
Nice. Very nice.
He stowed them away, then continued deeper into the cave.
Evan moved with practiced ease:
Dodging cold arrows suddenly fired from the darkness;
Taking out an elite goblin squad—front line with heavy shields and spears, and stone-throwers behind them;
Dealing with a kobold assassin that dropped from above like a giant bat, dual blades in hand;
And—just like last night—a goblin stood proudly in the path ahead. It wore a blue-green kendo uniform and a pure white cloth band tied across its forehead. When it saw Evan arrive, it bowed solemnly, then drew a samurai sword from its waist.
This one looked a little different from yesterday's.
It had meticulously groomed gray-white long hair and a beard—like an elderly goblin swordsman.
Hmm…
Three minutes later, Evan killed it.
He hadn't gotten greedy with extra swings this time, but the old goblin's attacks were noticeably sharper than the one from yesterday.
Evan took his first sip of the healing gourd since entering the Dungeon today. The wound on his abdomen stopped bleeding at a visible speed, knitting itself closed until it was completely restored.
So good.
This stuff worked way better than normal recovery potions—though he had no idea how it compared to the legendary panacea said to bring the dead back to life.
Too bad he only got three uses a day. Once he used them up, that was it.
Still, once he leveled up, both the healing effect and the number of uses would probably improve.
The passage leading to Floor 2 was just ahead.
A damp, earthy scent clung to the air. Under the faint glow that floated like drifting plankton, pale-blue walls stretched forward in a straight line toward a sloping ramp at the far end.
Before the passage was a smooth, half-circular chamber where several tunnels converged.
Evan had been here before.
So the moment he stepped into the chamber, just as expected—the entire Dungeon shuddered, up and down, left and right. It was only an instant, but strong enough to rattle your soul.
And right after that violent tremor—
A huge hand suddenly thrust out of the ceiling, where the stone wall seemed to "grow" open!
Dungeon monsters always spawned by growing directly out of walls or the floor.
That was why adventurers had to stay alert even while resting—one minute there could be nothing around you, and the next minute the place could be swarming with monsters.
And right now, something was taking shape.
Boom!
A true colossal mass crashed down, slamming into the ground right in front of the passage to Floor 2.
It was still a goblin—
But a Gigantified Goblin!
If you asked Evan, though, he'd call it a Goblin Guard!!
Over three meters tall, with a huge visible belly, its body swollen like a balloon—this massive goblin wore only patchwork armor, torn from adventurers and crudely stitched together…
Yet it still wrapped itself up into what could only be described as a living iron lump.
A giant axe in hand, it just stood there—and the pressure it radiated alone was on a completely different level from the monsters Evan had beaten so far.
That's right.
It was because of this Goblin Guard that Evan had never managed to break through Floor 1.
"…Hoo."
Of course, if he ignored it, with his speed he could probably just dash past and enter Floor 2 without much trouble.
But Evan was a traditionalist.
When there's an enemy in front of you, you kill it fair and square—then step over its corpse and move on!
Fight!!
Choosing a direct challenge again, Evan launched himself forward in an instant, charging straight at it.
The battle ignited—
…
"!!!"
The monster's roars and heavy shaking sounds echoed from up ahead without stopping.
"What's going on, Lefiya? And that tremor just now too…"
"I don't know…"
The elf girl holding a staff—who should've been in the rear—was somehow at the very front of the group. The other companions crowded in close too, all trying to push forward and see what was happening ahead.
"Why are you scared? This is only Floor 1."
The burly bull-man boy with a huge axe on his back spoke casually.
"Even Level 1 adventurers can handle Floor 1 easily. We're almost all Level 2—some familia expedition teams aren't even stronger than this, right?"
"Badain, it was you and Nassen who snuck out to come here…"
"Relax! The teacher won't scold us when we get back. Besides, we finally made it to Orario—if we don't come play in the Dungeon, what's the point? Don't you want to see the adventurer town built inside the Dungeon on Floor 18?"
"Uh…"
These young students from the School District were driven by intense curiosity, deciding to launch a small "expedition" into the Dungeon.
But…
"It's up ahead! The passage to Floor 2!!"
"Seriously? You sure you didn't mess up again? You took the wrong route before—we wandered around forever."
"I just remembered wrong last time…"
"Tch. When we came in, you said you'd explored the upper floors a bunch of times already—and you got lost on Floor 1."
"You guys were the same!"
The over-energetic students bickered all the way until they passed through the not-very-deep tunnel and finally saw the downward slope in the distance—
And…
"What is that?!"
The Goblin Guard that appeared before them—its huge body covered in iron armor—stunned everyone on the spot.
But what was even harder to believe—
The elf girl Lefiya, walking at the very front, recognized the boy fighting it at a glance.
It was him!
"The big brother who sells fried potato balls!!"
-------
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