Early morning the next day, they finally went to the dungeon's grounds. Artemia led Alex and Isabella to the dungeon.
Isabella was the vanguard, Artemia the midguard, Alex at the rear; he can also play the two other roles as a long-range attacker.
They walked through the village while feeling the cool weather on their skins; it was a fine autumn day.
They encountered adventurers on the way; those adventurers were probably going into the dungeon. The second dungeon, the most used, different from the one Alex and others were going into. The adventurers they encountered ranged from parties of 5 to people going solo. Alex could also see a few parties of up to 10 people.
Ignoring the curious stares they were receiving, the three continued forward, and soon they arrived before the dungeon.
Several adventurers were lined up at the entrance of the dungeon. Roughly 20 people or so, about four parties if you consider one group having five members.
''It seems that we will need to use that card after all,'' Artemia muttered when she saw the adventurers line up at the entrance.
''Well, it's why you got it in the first place. Make sure that everything is prepared.'' Alex said.
After hearing his words, Artemia and Isabella checked their equipment; even though they have prepared before going here, it wasn't wrong to verify if everything was alright one more time before heading to the dungeon.
''Let's go. Everything is okay.'' Artemia announced after checking her equipment; she wore elegant silver armor with blue patterns on it. Isabella's equipment seemed okay as well.
Passing the adventurers, they went towards the guild staff member at the front of the entrance next to the queue.
Even though some adventurers wanted to complain, they shut it after seeing the black card.
After recovering the black card, Artemia gave a generous bow toward the adventurers, leaving a good impression. She did this in order to weaken the dissatisfaction they felt when they used this particular method to go ahead of them.
''I understand why you are so popular,'' Alex mumbled when he saw Artemia's way of handling things.
''Did you say something?" Artemia asked as she didn't hear what Alex had said.
Shaking his head, Alex said, ''Nothing.''
As Artemia entered the dungeon, the adventurers around her involuntarily looked at her admiringly.
The entrance to the dungeon itself was a standard set of stairs. They went down into the ground.
Curious, Alex couldn't help but ask.
''Are the stairs also part of the dungeon?"
''No, the stairs were prepared by the guild after the dungeon was formed. Here, this is the evidence.''
At the end of the stairs was a black door. As for what it was, it was something the guild installed to stop monsters from coming out of the dungeon because sometimes monsters escape from the dungeon and attack the nearby villages; these monsters are fierce than the monsters outside.
"In other words, past this door is the real dungeon?" Alex asked after studying the black door; it was sturdier than anything he has ever seen. As for what materials were used to create this door, Alex didn't know. His appraisal skill only showed only one thing: Black door.
''Exactly.'' Artemia nodded. Her voice brought Alex back into reality.
Isabella opened the door; a wide corridor greeted them.
''This, it's pretty wide. Do the walls emit light themselves?'' Isabella muttered, impressed, and touched the walls that emitted a faint light. Judging from her reaction, it was her first time seeing this.
''According to the information I've gathered, walls that emit light seem to be a feature that is common to all dungeons. Well, depending on the layer, there are places completely wrapped in darkness with no light, so you shouldn't become careless.'' Artemia explained.
''By any chance, can you take the walls here back home and sell them for a considerable amount?'' Without thinking, Isabella muttered.
However, Alex shook his wry smile.
''I doubt it will wor,.'' he said.
Artemia confirmed Alex's doubt before further explaining.
''It's as Alex said. Or did you think no adventurer has thought of that before? Even if you shaved off parts of the wall and brought them up, they don't seem to shine outside. It seems to be a dungeon-only feature. Some speculated that dungeon nucleus (Dungeon Core) does this as not to inconvenience the monsters that live inside the dungeon.''
''Wow! Dungeon's Core can do that for monsters? Something like that is that possible?" Isabella asked in disbelief.
''Isabella's question is reasonable. I think it's possible as to why the Dungeon's Core does this? All I can say is that it's done in order to help monsters, as the others speculated. Most monsters can't see in the dark, so this will help them attack the intruders. I do not think the monster would hardly be active if it were completely dark."
''I see. It certainly might be if you think about it. '' Isabella nodded at Alex's words.
''Well, what the Dungeon's Core does is impressive, but I'm more interested in knowing how dungeons are created. And who created them, for what purpose." Alex voiced his thoughts.
Artemia sighed; it was the eternal question. Numerous people tried to find the origin of the dungeons to end up failing at the end. Nobody knows how they were created, just that they existed a long time ago. Even if one manages to conquer a dungeon by acquiring the dungeon's core, a new one will soon form elsewhere.
''Well, that's some good questions. However, we do not have time for this. Let's get going.'' Artemia said.
Alex and Isabella nodded. Following Artemia's instructions, their party advanced through the dungeon. As expected, most of the monsters that appeared on the first floor were easy to deal with, such as Horned Rabbits and Giant Bats.
Thrusting her spear forward, Isabella cut down the giant bat, diving toward her.
From the other side, Artemia moved her glaives and cut down three Giant bats.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Alex threw his knives around to eliminate the remaining monsters.
Soon the monsters on the first floor were cleared, and the group walked toward the second floor.
The group went straight to the stairs leading to the third when they entered the second floor after quickly dispatching the monsters on this floor. Monsters on the second were not different from the one on the first floor.
''I thought it would be hard, but I guess I was wrong,'' Isabella muttered as she sliced a 2 m long Poison Toad, which had jumped at her with her spear. The third floor was filled with Poison toads.
Artemia, with her glaives, danced amidst a group of Poison toads; she struck their vitals, killing them with almost no effort.
Alex at the back made use of his Swift fingers and launched knife after knife at monsters standing further away. His knives effortlessly killed the poison toad charging toward the others. He was a little bit surprised by how strong he became; if it was three months ago, he couldn't kill Poison toads so easily as he did now. This shows that he has grown up and was still growing.
''Let's go,'' Artemia said after shaking off the blood on her glaives.
The three moved toward the fourth floor.
''I hope that the monsters ahead will be more interesting than Poison toad or Giant bats,'' Isabella said as they moved.
Soon they arrived on the fourth floor. What greeted them was another group of Poison toads; however, unlike on the previous floor, the toads here were larger.
The three quickly cleared the monsters. However, soon an ominous feeling assaulted them just as they killed the last Poison toad.
''New monsters are coming,'' Alex warned.
Suddenly, the dungeon's light dimmed, and when it got lighter again, Alex and the girls found themselves surrounded by monsters. It was a goblin.
Twenty goblins showed. Most were armed with long swords or daggers with simple shields and armor.
''Their equipment seems to be quite substantial for Goblins,'' Isabella commented.
''Perhaps they stole them from inside the dungeon or obtained them by attacking adventurers who came exploring the dungeon,'' Alex said while Isabella nodded.
Artemia looked at Alex for a moment. Alex understood what she wanted to convey. While the two charged toward the goblins at the front, Alex summoned Silveria for the first time since their arrival inside the dungeon.
BANG!
One bullet was shot; however, five goblins lost their lives. Isabella, who was killing a goblin holding a rusted sword and a half-broken shield, froze when she witnessed Alex killing five monsters with only one shot.
''How?" She couldn't help but raise her brows.
''Can you please focus?" Artemia chided the distracted Isabella. While the monster in front of her may be just a goblin, one of the weakest monsters, the slightest lack of focus may result in injury worth death. Goblins are cunning creatures by nature.
''My apologies, your highness.'' Isabella apologized and moved her spear at fast speed. Like a snake, the spear tore through the neck of two goblins, instantly killing them.
Alex, who was watching them after killing another two goblins, was impressed by the level of Isabella's spear skill.
''She seems to have improved as well.'' He muttered.
〖It's natural. Her defeat against you must have been a hard blow for her. So, it was natural for her to try to improve. By the way, master, why you didn't use me until now?〗Silveria asked, a bit dissatisfied.
Alex ignored her and killed the last goblin.
Artemia turned to face him and asked.
''How did you do it?"