🦊 🦊 🦊
THE next day, Embert, Custode, and I entered the dungeon at the crack of dawn. Janus hadn’t been able to join us because of work.
“Seriously?” I asked. “You should’ve told me sooner.”
“Sorry,” Embert replied with a chuckle. “I was planning to bring it up if you invited me to go dungeon diving.”
“Ugh…”
✦ ✦ ✦
A long time ago, Embert had studied abroad in Bragioga for a year. During that period, he and Janus had registered with the guild. Together, they’d cleared the dungeon numerous times. I learned all that yesterday after our initial conversation. Their guild IDs, which resembled dog tags, marked them as B-rank adventurers. As a brand-new guild member, I was still a lowly F-ranked adventurer.
“We probably could’ve reached A-rank in another year,” Embert had said.
“Still, we made decent progress for something we did in our spare time,” Janus had replied.
All of us had been too stunned to reply. According to Julietta, it usually took adventurers several years to reach B-rank, even at a fast pace. Furthermore, some people never reached A-rank even after a decade.
“Well, we’re talking about Janus and my brother here,” Lauris had said.
“Exactly,” Rosario had agreed.
Neither of them had seemed the least bit taken aback by this revelation. As such, the rest of us had been forced to accept it as well.
“There’s not a single person in sight,” I remarked.
We’d been exploring the dungeon for half a day. Embert took the lead, Custode followed behind him, and I brought up the rear. We’d reached the twenty-fourth floor. There had been a surprising number of adventurers at the outset. Some people ventured into the dungeon just to sightsee, as you could almost immediately become an adventurer. Certainly, very few monsters were on the first three floors. However, the number of adventurers dwindled as we descended. Hardly anyone had remained past the twentieth floor. At this point, we were only encountering monsters.
“Honestly, I was expecting more monsters, too,” I said.
Embert frowned. “When I last explored the dungeon, powerful monsters appeared in droves after the twentieth floor.”
“Sorry about that,” Custode apologized.
Apparently, the monsters were hiding from him out of fear. The only ones to appear were either confident in their strength or none too bright. Of course, we defeated them without any trouble, and before long, we reached the thirtieth floor.
“This is where the final boss resides,” Embert said.
Once, I had considered the front door to the castle to be large. However, this one was several times larger. I couldn’t see the ceiling, no matter how far back I tilted my head.
“This final boss must be quite the heavyweight,” I said.
Embert nodded. “Indeed. Are the two of you ready?”
“I was born ready,” Custode replied.
“Me too,” I agreed.
Determination burned in our hearts as we stood before the door. A thunderous tremor shook the earth, its vibrations strong enough to throw us off balance. We braced ourselves for the massive door to finally open.
However, a much smaller space—about six feet in each direction—opened in front of us.
“Seriously?!” Embert and I cried out in unison.
Meanwhile, Custode analyzed the situation rationally. “This appears to be the entrance.”
“Huh?” I asked. “Then what’s the point of this absurdly large door?”
“Perhaps it’s just a wall that resembles a door,” Custode replied.
Embert threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Haha! A mere wall, eh? We fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”
“A wall?” I repeated. “Seriously? My heart was on the verge of busting, y’know? I was expecting a monster three times the size of Custode.”
“The last boss could still be large,” Custode said. “Perhaps the door is small because humans enter through it. At any rate, the interior seems spacious enough.”
A quick look into the chamber confirmed Custode’s words. After taking a moment to fire ourselves up again, we walked through the entrance with Embert in the lead. As expected, vast space unfolded all around us. A colossal monster lurked within the depths as well.
“Is that a lich?” I asked.
A skeleton twice the size of Custode in his normal form stood in front of us. It brandished a khakkhara staff, had rings on every skeletal finger, and wore black robes. Furthermore, blue flames flickered within the lich’s empty eye sockets. Raucous laughter emanated from the skeletal creature, though I couldn’t tell where the sound originated.
The three of us slumped our shoulders in disappointment.
“Really?” I asked with a sigh.
“Of all the monsters to be the last boss,” Custode said.
“And during Ally’s first dungeon raid, too,” Embert added.
I sighed again. “Well, whatever. Let’s finish this.”
I channeled my mana to swell around me. The magic energy transformed into brilliant white flames that engulfed the lich. As the skeletal monster disappeared, its raucous laughter faded as well. At the same time, its staff and rings dropped to the floor.
“You had too great of an advantage this time,” Embert said. “Shall we visit the dungeon again when it changes form?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I replied.
Undead monsters were extraordinarily weak to holy magic. In other words, a lich stood no chance against me. That aside, I picked up the creature’s staff and rings. Despite how large the skeleton had been, its items had shrunk to human size while falling to the ground. Although the staff seemed ordinary, the rings had some sort of enchantment placed on them. Most adventurers would have considered them a lucky find, but honestly, none of us needed them.
“Oh, what’s that?” I asked. I spotted a small door beyond where the lich had stood. Perhaps it led to a hidden room.
“There might be a treasure chest inside,” Embert said.
Upon entering the room, we did indeed find a treasure chest. Though not particularly large, it had a stately design.
“Ally, be care—”
I touched the treasure chest before Embert finished speaking. The lid opened with a rattle, and smoke rose from the chest.
“Uh, what?” I asked.
And just like that, I turned into a fennec fox.