Arad, Jack, and Aella built a camp outside the dungeon before going inside.
“Agh! The stench!” Aella closed her nose, glaring at the dirty walls of the dungeon. “It smells like a rotting dumpster,” Jack coughed, closing his nose and mouth, “I see why you said we can’t camp here,”
Arad walked in the front, “Let’s hope the second layer is better,” He said with a smile, staring down at a crack in the ground, only a fifth of a meter wide.
The three stared at the crack. There was no other way to go deeper. “No way that we have to go through here,” Arad looked at Aella. She won’t fit with her chest.
Jack approached the crack and inspected it, “This is the way to the second layer. This dungeon is more like a cave, so this should be expected,” He explained.
Arad crouched beside him, looking at the crack, “I will make it wider. You two search around for anything we might have missed in this layer,”
Jack and Aella looked at each other, “Be careful.” Aella said, “Yeah. We don’t want you getting stuck.”
“I can teleport,” Arad replied.
Even if he got trapped, Arad could teleport out as long as he was within thirty meters of open air. Forget all of that. He can suck the dirt and boulders into his stomach. He would eat the cave before the cave could eat him.
Arad transformed into his draconic form and started clawing at the stones, slowly expanding the crack. He can’t rush it, or the cave might collapse.
“There isn’t much around here,” Jack approached Arad after he and Aella finished searching the place, “We only found bones and wastes,”
Arad shifted back into his humanoid form and looked at Jack, “How is anyone supposed to clear this dungeon?” He asked, “I can’t see someone like Nigel fitting through this hole,” ．𝗻𝐞𝘁
Jack looked at Arad with a smile, “This is what we call dungeon challenges,” He started explaining.
“Challenges?”
“Yes, some dungeons are submerged in water, some are filled with toxic gases, and some, like this one, are hard to navigate.” Jack looked at Arad, “You won’t find elaborate traps in here,” He approached one of the walls, gently touching it, “But watch this.”
Just applying some pressure to the wall caused it to crack, and a medium-sized boulder fell from the ceiling. Jack dodged it easily and smiled, “Natural traps. This place is a hazard. That’s why we call them environmental hazards.”
“Dungeons are nasty,” Arad sighed, “What kind of hazards can we expect?”
“Loose ground, ceiling, quicksand, monsters, toxic gases, tunnels that keep collapsing and changing.” Jack listed a few, “But, this wasn’t always the case,”
“What do you mean?” Arad stared at him.
Aella approached them from the back, “I heard that in the past, dungeons from A-rank and lowers were as elaborate as current S-rank.”
“You can expect natural building and such from them,” Jack said with a smile.
“Wait, we were in a C-rank dungeon before, and it had stone walls,” Arad remembered the dungeon they got stuck in before.
“That wall was man-made,” Jack replied, “Adventurers build them to make exploring easier. That dungeon was discovered decades ago and left for adventurers to test their metal,”
“So you are saying that someone in the past fixed it?” Arad looked at Jack.
“Yeah,” Jack replied, “Dungeons are managed by the goddess Aria. She rules over the world system. She allows people to tamper with dungeons that have been cleared if she sees fit,”
Aella stared at Jack, “Aria isn’t a god. She an angel serving an evil god,” She said.
“Elvish beliefs? Aria is a goddess. She is the one allowing us to grow stronger by setting trials,” Jack replied with a calm face.
“I expect no less from a rogue. How could you see that giving people deadly trials is a good thing?” Aella said, staring at Jack.
“Listen, I’m not going to debate this now.” Jack sighed, “Dungeons bring money, and I like money. That means I like the one making dungeon, aka Goddess Aria.”
[People are debating what Aria, the being controlling the world’s system is,] Mom said,
^Do you know the truth?^
[No one knows. But I don’t mind her as she is allowing us to hide our status.] Mom explained. Aria could prevent Arad from hiding his status, but she doesn’t interfere with anyone.
^I might need to offer her a prayer then,^ Arad thought, [I don’t suggest that. It’s always wise to leave a god alone if he isn’t minding you,]
Arad nodded, “The hole seems large enough. Should we keep going?”
The three looked at each other, “I will go first,” Arad stepped forward and squeezed through the hole, falling down to the second layer.
^The air is musty, but it’s better than the first layer.^ Arad looked around, “I can hear water dripping in the distance, but I can’t sense any monsters close by,” He called to Jack and Aella. They jumped after him, “Smells better,” Jack said.
“Should we set a temporary camp here?” Aella asked.
“Nothing fancy, we will return to spend the night outside,” Arad said, and Jack nodded, “The second layer shouldn’t be that hard to clear.
Aella quickly marked the hole they dropped from and set a small torch so they can find it from afar. But the moment the light hit the walls, Jack smacked it from Aella’s hand and stomped it.
Aella looked into the distance trying to guess what caused Jack’s actions, and she soon saw it. A swarm of pale-skinned, frill-headed lizards the size of dogs glared toward them.
“Axols. Life was in the dark, so they attacked any light sources. No wonder the air is humid around here,” Aella whispered to Arad.
“Are they strong?” Arad asked, looking at the dog-sized monsters.
“No,” Jack was the one to reply, “They can’t even kill a newborn with their soft bite.” He said. Growling, “But their saliva is filled with shroom blind. A fungus that attacks the eyes of living beings and blinds them.”
“Magic can heal it. But in most cases you have to say goodbye to your eyes if they swarmed you,” Aella said, stepping back, “We must kill them without getting close. Poison is our safest option,”
“Should we retreat?” Arad asked, looking at Jack and Aella, “That’s the sensible option. I don’t have the right position to deal with them,” Jack said.
[You can take them on,] Mom said, [Dragons have several nictitating membranes protecting their eyes, and you can cover yourself with the void, destroying any spores close to you.]
^Are you sure?^
[Those creatures are to dragons what onion is to humans, the best they can do is irritate the eyes,] Mom replied.
“I should be able to take them on,” Arad said.
Jack and Aella stared at Arad, “No, you can’t. What if you got blind?” Aella said.
“Do you know how much it will cost to get a healer to fix your eyes?” Jack stared at him.
Arad looked at them with a smile, “I’m a dragon. My eyes should be sturdier than most people,” Silently, he transformed into his draconic form.
[Another misconception about those creatures, is they are dangerous,] Mom said, ^How is that? Their bite is weak, right?^
[Most people can’t see them fight since they kill them with poison. But those things can use lightning magic. And they can regenerate faster than most creatures.]
^How do you know that?^
[Your mother used an Axol queen as an infinite source of food when she was young. Feeding the beast Mana so it can heal and then eating its flesh,]
^How do I fight them?^
[Just hack and slash. They will die quickly. Lightning magic might hurt you a bit,]
Arad rushed toward the monsters, igniting a small flame on the tip of his tail to draw their attention. The moment they swarmed at him, he started munching on them. ^They aren’t as soft as slimes,^
[They flesh bodies,] Mom sighed.
Jack and Aella watched Arad tear through the monsters with ease, “It’s amazing to have a dragon around,” Jack said with a smile.
“Dragons are considered S-rank monsters. We should expect Arad to be ahead of other monsters, at least in the first layers.” Aella smiled.
“S-rank in potentionell. That means they can get absurdly strong, but I don’t know about Arad,” Jack looked at Arad fighting.
“You’re worried about him being a magic dragon?” Aella sighed, “All dragons are equally strong,”
“That isn’t it,” Jack looked at her, “Legend has it that the chromatic dragon goddess Tiamat mated with an eldritch god. The magic dragons were the spawn of that relationship. No one knows much about them.” Jack shook his head, “I am afraid his body will react weirdly to positions or the likes. Remember what he suffered from vampirism and Lycanthropy?”
Aella smiled, “Well, listen to yourself. People say that the eldritch god is the same one behind Aria. Acknowledging him means you were wrong about Aria being a god,”
“They aren’t the same. Stop spreading that nonsense,” Jack looked at Arad, “We might need to look for information about the magic dragons. I bet the mages of the capital would do the impossible to get Arad and learn about the ancient primordials.”
Aella’s face shifted. She became serious for a moment, “I heard some cults tried to summon Cuthulhu and Yog-sothoth. Some even reached so low as to try and summon the demon lord Daimon.”