After making our way through the second level of the dungeon, we finally came out into a long hallway. A massive set of double doors loomed ominously at the far end of it.
“Huh? A dead end?” I wondered.
“No, there’s a door. But there’s something there...” Marco said.
“Could that be the boss?” Seren asked.
“Wait, what? We already made it all the way to the bottom?” I said.
Every dungeon had a boss monster that was way stronger than any of the other monsters, and even seasoned adventurers who’d had a smooth run so far could find themselves wiped out if they weren’t careful.
I’d always thought dungeons would have more than two floors, but I guess this one was much smaller than I’d expected. I was feeling a little disappointed when Philia spoke up.
“Not exactly. It may only have two floors, but its layout was extremely complex. Normally, it would’ve taken much longer to explore. We only made it through so easily because Kamul found a flawless route on his first try.”
“I-It wasn’t that big of a deal...” Kamul scratched his head, clearly embarrassed.
His Gift of Dungeon Exploration had turned out to be the real deal.
“So now what, Lord Luke? Everyone still seems to have energy to spare, but jumping straight into a boss fight is a little risky,” Philia said.
“Hmm...” I hesitated for a moment. “We may as well see what kind of monster it is, right? If it looks too tough, we can just bail.”
Thankfully, buying time with my Gift wouldn’t be too difficult.
With that plan in mind, we pushed the doors open. Inside, two monsters waited for us in the center of the biggest chamber we’d seen yet.
“Two minotaurs?”
At first glance, they didn’t look any different from the ones we’d already fought.
“Stay alert. They may look like regular minotaurs, but these are bosses. They could be higher-ranked variants with special abilities,” Philia warned.
“Mrraaaaagh!” they bellowed, charging straight toward us.
Noel and Gordy stepped forward, shields raised. But just like Philia had said, we couldn’t assume they were as strong as the ones we’d fought before. Noel could hold his own, but Gordy had been struggling against the regular minotaurs. If one of those things slammed into him, he might not be able to take it.
So I moved ahead of them and summoned a stone wall. Unlike earthen walls, they had much higher durability, so even these enhanced minotaurs probably wouldn’t be able to break through them easily.
Craaaash!
The sound of the impact shook the floor as the minotaurs slammed into the stone and were knocked clean off their feet.
Huh. They’re not as strong as I expected.
While they were still stunned, I customized the wall and turned it into a golem. Its massive arms shot out and grabbed each minotaur by the throat, then slammed them to the ground.
The golem released the minotaurs, but they didn’t move. Their eyes rolled back in their heads, and then they were out cold.
“Wait, were they not that different from the regular ones?”
“It seems that way.” Philia gave me a surprised look and nodded.
“I guess the mayor doesn’t really need me after all...” Noel muttered, looking down sadly.
“Noel, buddy, that’s more of an inside thought.” Gordy patted him on the shoulder with a shake of his head.
“S-So anyway, that means we’ve beat the boss, right?”
“Um,” Seren said, hesitating. “Over there...”
At the same time, Kamul pointed toward the back of the room.
I saw a fancy, ornate box nestled in the far corner.
“A treasure chest. Most likely a reward for clearing the dungeon,” Philia said.
“It doesn’t seem to be booby-trapped,” Marco said. Kamul also confirmed he hadn’t detected any traps.
I decided to open it.
“Huh?”
“It’s just a sword?”
Inside was just a plain steel sword. It wasn’t anything special at all.
“Maybe it has some kind of hidden effect or something?”
“It sure doesn’t seem like it.”
Honestly, it felt like a pretty underwhelming reward for my first dungeon.
I wasn’t expecting some divine weapon or anything, but come on. At least throw in something legendary tier!
“It looks well forged, at least. I guess I’ll take it,” I said.
“No, hold on. That’s clearly not an appropriate prize. In this case, we should try negotiating with the dungeon master,” Philia said.
“We can do that?”
“Yes. As you know, every dungeon is managed by a master. That person left this chest here.”
Philia seemed to know all about this stuff, probably due to her long life as an elf.
“But dungeon explorers do have the option to refuse a reward,” she continued. “And when that happens, the dungeon master must guide the challengers to their lair.”
Apparently, dungeon masters had to follow certain rules when managing their dungeons. If they could design them however they wanted, they could easily make something impossible to clear.
“I’m not totally sure myself, but apparently, the gods created dungeons originally as some sort of game. So they have built-in mechanisms to maintain the game’s balance.”
“Does that mean the dungeon master is watching us right now?” I asked.
“Most likely. If we wait a little, the path to their location should open up,” Philia said.
We waited just like she said, but nothing happened.
Then Kamul turned his head. “L-Look...”
“Huh? What is it? Stairs? But they’re tiny.”
I saw a hole in the floor with what looked like stairs inside, but the aperture was so small I couldn’t even fit a single foot inside. We definitely couldn’t use them to descend.
“Looks like this dungeon’s master really, really doesn’t want to meet with us.”
“Wait, so that is the path to the dungeon master?”
“Most likely, yes.”
“Isn’t that just cheating?”
“Maybe this dungeon master can actually use that staircase. If so, it’s probably barely within the rules,” Philia said.
Seren leaned over the hole, peering into it. “Want me to shoot a spell inside there?”
“H-Hang on!” I rushed over to stop her, knowing she’d actually do it. “You don’t have to go that far. Watch this.”
I used my Gift to create an underground tunnel. This time, a proper staircase appeared that we could actually use.
“Let’s go pay the dungeon master a visit.”