Traps set in Dungeons generally targeted those who walked on the ground and those standing near walls. There were very few that targeted those flying through the air.
The reason for this was that for the Demon King Guduranis, the creator of the Dungeons, they were breeding grounds for the monsters that ford his army and traps for treasure-seeking humans.
It was said that Ricklent, the genie of ti and magic, changed this so that Dungeons were a place to train and acquire resources and treasures.
But Ricklent had fallen into slumber before the end of the war, and, of course, the Demon King had been sealed.
Neither the Demon King nor Ricklent had imagined that people would be able to fly.
There were currently races created by Vida that could fly, such as pterosaur-type Drakonids and bat-type Beast-people, but before those races existed, no people could fly except for those with precious Magic Items, those with the ability to use advanced magic and those who had tad flying monsters.
For the Demon King and Ricklent, it could be safely assud that there were many more flying monsters than people with any thod of proceeding through a Dungeon other than walking across its floors.
Even so, so B-class and A-class Dungeons contained traps targeting those who could fly, but such traps didn’t appear in Class Dungeons and below.
However, there were so monsters in Dungeons resembling caverns and ruins that clung to the ceilings and looked to take adventurers by surprise.
A mucus-like monster called a Sli was clinging to the ceiling in this particular Dungeon.
This Sli, whose instincts as a monster generated by the Dungeon made it prioritize the repulsion of intruders over its own life, patiently waited for its prey to pass by beneath it.
But the Sli heard the rustling of sothing crawling along the ceiling. It ignored this sound, thinking that it was just so other monsters.
But the source of the sound drew closer to the Sli.
Monsters born in the sa Dungeon didn’t share any feelings of companionship. Though they prioritized other monsters less than the repulsion of intruders, they were still just prey.
The Sli obeyed its instincts and decided that this approaching monster was prey.
But what approached it was not a monster. It was an intruder with spider legs protruding from its back and bee legs extending from its sides, crawling along the ceiling.
The Sli did not see things as people did, but the presence it sensed was so bizarre that even its instincts stopped functioning.
“Hmm? The reaction suddenly disappeared?”
Vandalieu, who had gone on ahead to use Danger Sense: Death in order to see whether there was any danger such as traps on the ceiling, was confused by the sudden disappearance of the reaction that he had sensed and his gaze began to wander around.
He had been certain that there had been a trap or a monster waiting for an ambush from the ceiling, but… there was no way that a trap would disappear on its own, and even if the monster fled, it was unnatural for it to do so without making a single noise.
He tried using Detect Life and found a response, but it wasn’t a very strong one. He hadn’t sensed a large danger to begin with, so it was likely a venomous insect or sothing.
Coming to this conclusion, Vandalieu decided to continue, but then he froze as he felt a wet sensation on his hand.
Vandalieu and his party had challenged the D-class Dungeon, the Lizardn’s Nest, in order to power-level Tarea and to have the Lizardn beco absolutely loyal to him, and they had gained imdiate results.
“I have tad a Sli,” Vandalieu announced happily, having brought back a Sli with a washbasin’s worth of fluid volu and an internal core the size of a child’s fist.
“Oh, that’s definitely a Sli.”
“It really is! It’s my first ti seeing one.”
“How rare.”
“This is also my first ti seeing a Sli.”
“It’s certainly a Sli.”
Kasim, Zeno, Fester, Tarea and Rita were all surrounding the Sli, impressed.
“It is true that it is rare, but why does Bocchan seem so happy?” Saria asked, and everyone looked at Vandalieu, suddenly wondering the sa thing.
For him, Slis were indeed rare. This enormous, amoeba-like Rank 2 monster was an enemy that would be dangerous for beginner adventurers if they were caught by surprise. Attacks with farming tools and improvised weapons were ineffective, as Slis possessed great resistance to impacts.
But in the end, they were only Rank 2. They could be defeated by brute force using martial skills, and a thrusting weapon could be used to pierce the core to defeat them easily.
They could be exterminated even more easily using offensive magic spells.
Superior Sli races such as tal Slis and Poison Slis were enemies that one would need to stay vigilant against, but ordinary Slis were nothing but small fry as long as they weren’t handled carelessly.
In fact, even in Devil’s Nests, they often concealed themselves in hidden places and scavenged corpses rather than actively hunting other monsters.
That was why they were simply rare monsters that were seldom encountered.
It was difficult to imagine that anyone would be happy about taming them. Especially Vandalieu, who had already tad nurous high-Rank monsters.
“It’s because it’s a Sli,” said Vandalieu.
For him, Slis were a great example of monsters that appeared in fantasy works, just like Goblins.
Unlike the Slis that appeared in an extrely popular international ga on Earth, the jiggling, quivering Sli in Vandalieu’s arms wasn’t comical or cute in appearance. In fact, it was dark-colored, viscous and odd.
But it was still a Sli.
“It’s weak now, but I’m sure it will beco strong,” said Vandalieu. “Just like Bone Man, the other Undead, Pete and Pain.”
Bone Man, who now rode Demon Horses and Leo (forrly the Scaled King), and the calamity-designated Bone Fort Knochen, had originally been Rank 1 Living Bones. Though the Sli was currently Rank 2, there was more than enough of a chance it could beco a calamity-designated race surpassing Dragons in the future.
Click-click.
Pete and Pain, a forr Pain Worm, erged from Vandalieu to agree.
Pete had beco a Rank 5 Lightning Centipede that emitted electricity from the horns on his head, while Pain had beco a Rank 4 Fur Worm with a lot of fluffy hair covering his body.
“That’s true…” everyone said simultaneously. Given Vandalieu’s track record, they had no choice but to agree.
“Then we’ll have to be careful to make sure that the Sli doesn’t catch up to us,” said Kasim.
“If I recall, Bone-Man-san took eight years to… Won’t it be difficult?” asked Zeno.
“I do not mind in the slightest if he catches up to ,” said Tarea.
“Bocchan, please raise us properly too!” said Rita.
Kasim and the others hadn’t been opposed to the idea. They were satisfied by Vandalieu’s explanation and seed certain now that this Sli would one day beco a big figure.
Normally, those of Rank 5 or 6 would already be considered big figures.
“Incidentally, your Majesty, what will you na it?” asked Princess Levia, who was floating a short distance away as the Sli seed to be frightened of her.
Vandalieu thought for a mont before answering. “Let’s na him Kühl.”
It was the na of a military nation in Origin, sounding like a German word that ant “cold.” It seed that Slis were genderless, so this na was probably fine.
“I see. Nice to et you, Kühl,” said Kasim. “By the way, are we going to walk on and have it follow us? Or are you going to have soone carry it?”
“Ah, it’s alright,” said Vandalieu. “I can equip him with Insect Binding Technique.” The mont he finished saying these words, the Sli Kühl was absorbed into his arms.
“… Were Slis always insects?” asked Zeno.
“That’s the biggest surprise of the day,” said Rita.
“The Insect Binding Technique probably includes all creatures that move around by crawling, not just insects,” said Vandalieu.
If Slis counted as insects in this regard, it was possible that Vandalieu would be able to equip snakes and lizards as well. Dragons would likely be impossible, however.
There were no historical records of the D-class Dungeon called the Lizardn’s Nest, but it was likely to be quite old.
According to the information passed by mouth to the wise Lizardn like Shashuja, the Lizardn produced by this Dungeon were their ancestors.
In Talosheim, directly north of the marshlands, it had been recorded on stone tablets that Lizardn had existed nearby for tens of thousands of years, so this Dungeon had likely appeared before then.
The Lizardn, who had erged from the Lizardn’s Nests in a monster rampage, had won the battle for survival in the marshlands and settled there. And then they had conquered the Lizardn’s Nest in order to gain a reliable source of food and experience in battle.
It was quite ironic that a Dungeon would be conquered by monsters that had erged from it in a monster rampage.
And the Lizardman who had cleared this Dungeon on his own was a being acknowledged by the god who had created him (whose na was not known), so there was apparently a custom among the Lizardn of these marshlands where they paid their respects to this exemplary mber of their race.
This Lizardman had been the chief of the group who had ford the non-aggression pact with Talosheim in the past.
“Then isn’t it likely that you won’t be recognized as an exemplary individual if you clear the Dungeon with us?” asked Kasim.
“That’s not a problem,” said Vandalieu. “I’ll be soloing when I clear the B-class Dungeon that Leo (the Scaled King) ca from, anyway.”
The above-ntioned honorary custom had fallen out of use when the B-class Dungeon that had given birth to Leo appeared.
“Though you say you will solo, we will be with you,” Princess Levia reminded him.
Click-click.
And so they cleared the Dungeon up to the twelfth floor with ease. Befitting of the birthplace of the Lizardn, most of the monsters in this Dungeon were Lizardn, so Kasim and the others would have found it difficult on their own, but the Rank 5 Levia, the Rank 6 Living Armor sisters and Vandalieu himself were with them.
There was no chance that a D-class Dungeon would give them problems. And the Labyrinth Construction skill inford Vandalieu of each floor’s layout as he stepped into them, so they never even lost their way.
If they wanted to, they could have even done a complete run through the Dungeon in just a few hours.
Their objectives were the leveling of Tarea, Kühl, Kasim and his friends and to check the value of the resources in the Dungeon. Tarea’s Night Vision skill had transford to the Dark Vision skill under the effect of the Eclipse King Title along the way, and Kasim and his friends had acquired the Night Vision skill thanks to the Title’s effect as well, so they spent two days in the Dungeon for them to get used to their new vision as well.
As a result, their levels increased significantly. Most importantly, Kasim had beco able to actually use Shield Bash rather than just screaming the skill’s na in pretense.
“Did you see my Shield Bash?! I shattered the Lizardman General boss’s greatsword!” he exclaid.
“Yes, I saw it!” Tarea shouted. “I saw you take the Lizardman General’s attack directly from the front and your shield shatter along with its sword! How can you have your defensive equipnt broken as a shield-bearer, even if your opponent is the Dungeon boss?!”
“Eh, I an, I couldn’t help it?”
“You could! If you wish to boast proudly, make sure you beco able to repel the boss and his martial technique without breaking your shield!”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
Though Kasim had made great efforts, those efforts had resulted in his shield breaking, so Tarea scolded him.
Vandalieu had wanted to warn Kasim as well, but he hesitated, seeing that he was too late. Seeing Kasim feeling depressed after Tarea’s nagging, he thought that lecturing him further would be a bad idea, so he ended up comforting him instead. “… Well, that shield was full of scratches, anyway. It has been holding out against similarly powerful opponents since you ca to Talosheim, so I’m sure it was nearing the end of its lifespan.”
“Van-sama, how can you be so soft on him?” Tarea asked. “I am saying these things to him for his sake -”
“I’m sure Kasim already understands,” said Vandalieu. “Isn’t that right, Kasim?”
“Yeah. I’ll be careful from now on, Tarea-san,” said Kasim.
Seeing Tarea and Vandalieu’s conversation reminded him of the tis he was scolded by his parents. Back then, his mother had been angry as well, while his father cald her down.
Tarea looked to be only a few years older than Kasim in appearance, and Vandalieu was less than half his age, so it felt significantly out of place, however.
Of course, Tarea’s real age was over two hundred and seventy and the number of years that Vandalieu had lived in total was over forty years.
“Well, let’s replace our equipnt when we get back to Talosheim. My sword has started to fall apart, too,” said Fester as he looked at the chipped blade of his longsword. He and Zeno had been talking to each other about how they should clear the Dungeon without Vandalieu’s supervision next ti.
“Will you be upgrading to Death Iron equipnt?” Vandalieu asked.
“Hmm… It’s tempting, but I still think it would be a waste for us to use it,” said Fester.
If they were to indulge in exceptional equipnt, they would beco negligent in the training of their techniques. It seed that they planned to do their best with iron and steel equipnt for a while longer.
“So, was there anything that seed useful in this Dungeon?” Zeno asked.
“There weren’t any minerals, but there were fish like catfish, swamp prawns and swamp crabs that can also be found in the marshlands, and mud,” said Vandalieu.
“Mud?” Princess Levia repeated.
“Yes. The grey mud that can be found in a part of this Dungeon has fine dirt, so I think it will be good for beauty products.”
The mud-packs that had been available on Earth. Of course, Vandalieu had no experience with mud packs or beauty salons that had used mud products, but wouldn’t he be able to do the sa thing with this mud?
“Oh my, is that true?!” Tarea exclaid.
“That’s good for you, isn’t it, Tarea-san?” said Princess Levia.
“I see,” said Saria.
“More importantly, Bocchan, you said that catfish are delicious when cooked with the kaba* thod, but how are you supposed to cook them with the kaba thod?” asked Rita.
“Co to think of it, I heard from Hannah-san that there are Lava Hippopotamuses that live in boiling lava, but… I wonder if you use those to cook them?” Princess Levia wondered.
The only one interested in skin beauty among the won present now was Tarea.
After all, the other four didn’t have skin. What appeared to be skin was actually spirit form.
“Kabayaki takes ti, so I’ll try it when we return. It will be my first ti doing it myself, too,” said Vandalieu. “Incidentally, I won’t be using hippopotamuses.”
anwhile, Tarea and Kühl had both increased in Rank.
Tarea had beco a Rank 4 Ghoul Artisan first, and now a Rank 5 Ghoul High Artisan. There hadn’t been any large changes to her appearance, but tattoo-like patterns had appeared on her skin, centered around her arms.
And as expected of the Artisan in her race na, it seed that there were bonuses to her crafting skills.
Kühl had beco a Rank 4 Venom Sli. The volu of its body had increased and its color had beco a poisonous-looking purple, but Vandalieu was expecting it to develop even further.
“Fufufufu, once we get back, we must have the working Ghouls level up in turn and have their Ranks increase,” said Tarea, spellbound by her arms that moved more nimbly and powerfully than before. It seed that her mory of how opposed she had been to leveling around half a month ago had vanished into the distance.
“Please be careful when leveling them,” said Vandalieu. “Have them wear the armor of the Red Wolf Knights’ Order, and don’t forget to post requests at the trading post to recruit people to support them.”
“Of course,” said Tarea. “You should do your best in clearing the B-class Dungeon as well, Van-sama.”
“Once we get back, we need to get new equipnt and find new party mbers,” said Kasim.
“Things went well this ti because Vandalieu and everyone else were with us, but things will be tough with just the three of us,” said Zeno.
“Yeah, do your best,” said Fester. “I’m sure you two can find nice girls like my Lina as well.”
“That’s not what we ant!” Kasim and Zeno shouted together.
The Dungeon that had given birth to Leo, nad the Scaled King’s Nest, was in the depths of the cavern that Leo had been using as his burrow.
“Well then, here I go,” said Vandalieu as he entered without any particular signs of enthusiasm, being watched by a large number of Lizardn.
The Lizardn who had served the Scaled King seed skeptical that he would really be alright on his own as they watched him go. They were intelligent and had an advanced society for monsters, but they were still monsters.
They would not recognize those who were not strong as superior beings, as rulers. With that absolute instinct in mind, Vandalieu hadn’t fought the Scaled King directly, so so of the Lizardn had their doubts whether he had the qualities of a ruler.
He had fired the projectile that had killed the Familiar Spirit (actually the Spirit Clone) of the evil god that had given the Scaled King his divine protection by smashing its heart, but it wasn’t as if the Familiar Spirit’s (Spirit Clone’s) corpse could be found lying around, so naturally, so had begun to doubt Vandalieu’s abilities after so ti passed.
This was especially true for those that had served the Scaled King.
Vandalieu could always have Bone Man and the Black Bull Knights’ Order use physical force to convince them if they caused problems, but it would be troubleso to have to repeat this over and over, so Vandalieu had decided to solo the Dungeon, leveling himself and his monsters in the process.
Though he had told them that he would be soloing, the Lizardn would not be able to see him once he entered the Dungeon, so he would be letting everyone out once inside.
“As expected of a Dungeon where Dragons appear; it is quite large, isn’t it?” Princess Levia remarked as she appeared.
Pete gave a hiss as he erged from Vandalieu’s body.
“It’s quite different from Barigen’s Fall Life-Mountain, even though they’re both B-class Dungeons,” said Rita. “Barigen’s Fall Life-Mountain’s internal structure was all mountains.”
“Well, it is a mountain,” said Saria.
The two sisters had simply been stored in Vandalieu’s luggage. The suits of armor that were their actual bodies actually had very little volu, so once they erased their spirit forms, the armors folded up and were easily carried.
Bone Man had insisted that his bones could be taken apart and absorbed by a large worm, but there was a chance that they would be digested, so he had been stationed in the marshlands.
“Is everyone alright?” Vandalieu asked.
“Ugh… We are alright, but… This is sothing that I cannot get used to,” said Zadiris.
“It’s quite harsh on us,” said Vigaro.
The two of them had erged from Vandalieu’s body after Pete, and Basdia was with them as well.
“Being infested by the parasite is alright, but… being equipped inside you with your Insect Binding Technique, Van, is a little…” Basdia muttered.
“Now that you ntion it, what is it like inside ?” Vandalieu asked.
“… It’s dark and we can’t see anything. While we’re equipped, we can’t move, but the other creatures can, so we can feel them crawling around on top of our bodies… we can hear the sounds of the insects’ wings in our ears, too.”
“Wow.”
It wasn’t just that they found insects unpleasant; it seed that the inside of his body was an extrely unpleasant place for people to be.
“Well, it is called the Insect Binding Technique,” said Zadiris. “The insects are the main part. Also, we could not hear the sounds made by the Ents and Monster Plants, so the ones equipped by the Plant Binding Technique are likely in a different place.”
“It’s amazing that Eleanora and Luciliano were always willing to be equipped,” said Vigaro.
“That’s true,” Vandalieu agreed. “Well, Luciliano’s unlikely to care about a little discomfort once his ambition for research is fired up.”
“Hmm, was it really that unpleasant to have insects crawl around on you?” Rita wondered.
“I wonder? I do recall that it is unpleasant, though,” said Saria.
“The normal sense of touch… I lost my body two hundred years ago, so I cannot rember,” said Princess Levia.
“It was certainly unpleasant,” said Darcia.
As the four of them didn’t have skin to speak of, they only felt confusion during this discussion.
As if the monsters had heard the noise, the ground suddenly rumbled.
“It seems that the first monster has appeared, so let’s leave the talk for later… and let’s begin our leveling,” said Vandalieu.
And so the power-leveling on the stage of the B-class Dungeon that nobody had cleared in over a hundred years began.
Na: Tarea
Rank: 5
Race: Ghoul High Artisan
Level: 17
Job: Arms Smith: Skilled Artisan
Job Level: 90
Job history: Apprentice Arms Smith, Arms Smith → Slave (Forced job change at level 47), Apprentice Prostitute, Prostitute, Arms Smith (Level 48)
Age: 271 years old (18 years old physically and in appearance)
Passive skills:
Night Vision → Dark Vision (Transford!)
Pain Resistance: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Superhuman Strength: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)
Paralyzing Venom Secretion (Claws): Level 1
Allure: Level 4
Active skills:
Estimation: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
Armor Smithing: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
Weapon Smithing: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
Bedroom Skill: Level 5
Dancing: Level 2
Love-making: Level 2
Archery: Level 3 (NEW!)
Title explanation:
【Monstrosity】
A na acquired by those feared by nurous influential beings.
But those with this Title are not simply feared; the Title cannot be obtained unless a strange, ominous aura surrounds them.
Those who acquire this Title are often monsters whose true identities are not known to the higher-ranking individuals and bosses in societal organizations, including the Adventurers’ Guild, so those with this Title are treated with caution once they are known to possess it. However, they might simply draw attention in the underworld. When monsters possess this Title, it becos easier for them to acquire subordinates.
Those who have acquired this Title attract the attention of those who fear them more easily, and more individuals in the underworld take notice of them and draw closer.
In the past, there have been nurous cases where statesn deliberately gave the Monstrosity Title to bosses of criminal organizations that had beco so trendous that gaining more subordinates made no difference to them in order to watch out for their movents.
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