"So, this is the dungeon entrance?"
"Guruuu."
At Rei's words, Seto—who had accompanied him to the vicinity of the dungeon—let out a regretful trill.
Seto had already decided to wait outside while Rei explored the interior, but seeing the entrance up close clearly made the griffon regret that it couldn't go inside with him.
While comforting Seto, who rubbed its head against him as if lonely, Rei turned his gaze toward the dungeon entrance.
Two massive boulders stood to the left and right, with another rock resting on top like a roof. It looked more like a rock crevice than a proper dungeon entrance. The gap was incredibly narrow; even Rei, carrying no weapons, could only just squeeze through.
It was so cramped that he could tell without even trying that it would be impossible for Seto to enter, even if the griffon used its Size Change skill. In fact, any particularly tall adventurer would likely find it difficult to get inside.
"It certainly is narrow..."
"Isn't it? Well, thanks to that, the monsters that emerge are only the weak and small types, and they only come out a few at a time," Ranga explained.
"In that case, is there really a need to wait here in ambush? If you just left them alone, wouldn't they eventually be killed by other monsters anyway?"
This was the frontier, a place where a diverse array of monsters roamed. Rei figured that since high-rank monsters appearing at night wasn't rare, a few stray goblins wouldn't pose much of a threat to the local ecosystem.
Ranga shook his head at Rei’s doubt.
"We aren't that far from the highway here. While travelers are fewer this time of year, they haven't vanished entirely. If a monster from here headed toward the road, it could be trouble. Besides, you never know what might happen with a dungeon. We can't afford to just leave it be."
"Dungeon growth, I see."
"Exactly. Considering that possibility, we have to remain vigilant."
Ranga turned an expectant gaze toward Rei. Knowing the extent of Rei’s power, he clearly hoped that the young man would conquer the dungeon for them.
Rei nodded in response to that look.
"I can't make any promises, but I'll do what I can. Fortunately, I won't have to worry about food or supplies."
The Misty Ring contained a massive stockpile of food. Much of it consisted of items Rei had bought from various stalls in Gilm over the last few days.
"I don't know how long I'll be, so if you get hungry, feel free to hunt a few monsters and eat, okay?"
"Guruuu!"
Rei gently stroked Seto's head as the griffon gave an "I'll be fine!" trill, then looked back at Ranga.
"Alright, I'm heading in."
"Be careful."
Exchanging brief partings, Rei squeezed through the rock crevice that barely accommodated a single human.
"Gugya?"
The moment he entered, he came face-to-face with a creature ascending the stairs leading underground. Because the creature was still on the steps, it was positioned a head or two lower than Rei.
It seemed as surprised as Rei was. It tilted its head slightly as if asking, What just happened? However, its face was hideous, lacking any of the adorability Seto possessed when performing a slight tilt of the head.
That was only natural. The being staring Rei in the face was a goblin, one of the most common monsters in existence.
"...Whoa!"
Rei hadn't expected to stumble onto a goblin immediately. After a split second of silence, he let out a startled cry and reflexively threw a punch.
The wet thud of meat being struck and the snap of breaking bone echoed through the passage. The goblin in front of him took the blow directly; its face caved in as it was sent flying backward down the stairs. It seemed there were several more goblins behind the first, as they were all swept up in the collision and went tumbling down into the darkness.
"Gyabububububu!" "Gyoaaaa!" "Jyanyaaaaaa!"
As Rei watched the goblins disappear with their dying shrieks, a voice called out from behind him.
"Rei-kun, what happened?"
Ranga must have heard the screams. He peered through the rock crevice to check on him.
Rei shook his head. "It's nothing. I just ran into some goblins right as I stepped inside. I punched one reflexively, and they all fell down the stairs."
"...My condolences to them," Ranga said with a wry smile.
Rei let out a sigh, lightly shaking the fist he had used to strike the monster. "Well, I heard this was that kind of dungeon. It can't be helped. Okay, I'm really going now."
"Be careful."
With Ranga’s words at his back, Rei began his descent.
The stairs looked as though they had been carved directly from the stone. They weren't man-made, but rather a structure formed by the Dungeon Core when it birthed the dungeon.
Dungeons really are impressive when you think about it. It makes sense that they can grant skills like Terrain Manipulation. Though, the core of this dungeon is destined for Seto.
He reached the bottom in less than a minute. Ignoring the goblins that had died from the fall, he moved forward. Ahead of him lay a stone passage. The stone itself emitted a faint glow, ensuring he had no trouble with visibility. Of course, Rei was capable of seeing reasonably well even in total darkness.
However, the moment he saw the passage, Rei knit his brows. It was barely wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. There was clearly no room to swing his Death Scythe. At most, he could use the butt end part of the weapon as a make-shift spear, but it made more sense to just use a weapon designed for thrusting.
"I guess only spears and daggers will be effective here... A spear it is."
He could probably manage a longsword, but Rei wasn't particularly skilled with one. He was much more comfortable with polearms like the Death Scythe or a spear.
He searched the Misty Ring List and pulled out a spear he had looted from a thief during his journey from the Imperial Capital back to Gilm. It wasn't a high-quality weapon, but it was more than sufficient for killing goblins.
With the spear in hand, he took a step into the stone passage—and then a sudden doubt crossed his mind.
"Wait, didn't the reports say an ogre appeared in here? In this narrow passage?"
The corridor was barely wide enough for Rei—who was small for an Elgin resident—to walk alongside one other person. The ceiling was about three meters high, but even so, it seemed impossible for a massive ogre to move freely through such a space.
"I should go back and ask."
Muttering to himself, he turned around, spear still in hand, and climbed back up the stairs. When he peered out of the rock crevice, he saw Ranga giving orders to his men.
"Guruuu."
Seto rumbled happily upon seeing Rei reappear, and the sound alerted Ranga to his presence.
"Rei-kun? Did something go wrong?"
"The info I got in Gilm mentioned an ogre inside the dungeon, but those passages are so narrow I can't imagine one moving freely. I was wondering if you knew anything about that."
"Ah, the ogre. There are several larger areas inside that are more like wide rooms. The person who reported fighting an ogre likely encountered it in one of those. Because they're so big, the ogres can't actually leave those rooms."
"I see. That helps."
Exchanging nothing more than that, Rei gave Seto a quick wave and descended back into the dungeon.
He passed the goblin corpses without a second glance and returned to the stone passage. The narrowness was just as unpleasant as it had been minutes ago. As he advanced with a look of slight distaste...
"Gigigigi?" "Gyagyo."
Once again, he heard those familiar, grating voices. Rei scowled, annoyed by the repetition. However, since the path from the entrance was a straight line, there was no point in turning back now.
He moved forward, spear at the ready. Soon, familiar shapes emerged in the dim light. The owners of the voices were, predictably, two goblins. They were armed with a rusty dagger and a club that was nothing more than a broken tree branch.
Come to think of it, what were the first ones carrying? Well, they're just goblin weapons; no point in collecting them.
While he mused, he braced himself. The goblins spotted him and charged with shrill cries.
"Gyagagyaga!" "Gyojojogyo!"
Goblins were small, even smaller than Rei. In a passage like this, they could fight without their movements being restricted at all.
"...Not that it matters how many of you show up," Rei muttered.
In the same instant, he unleashed two flashes of light. Utilizing his superior physical ability, Rei delivered two lightning-fast thrusts that pierced the goblins' foreheads, causing their heads to burst.
The two headless goblins stumbled forward a few steps from their own momentum before collapsing, scattering blood, brain matter, bone fragments, and eyeballs across the cobblestones.
Leaping backward to avoid the splatter, Rei used his Sleipnir's Shoes to walk through the air. He had no desire to keep smelling the foul stench and simply jumped over the corpses.
"I wish at least one unknown monster would show up. I know I can't expect much in the way of magic stones from a goblin-centric dungeon, but still..."
As he continued through the dungeon, he eventually reached a T-junction. He hesitated for a few seconds, deciding which way to go.
During that brief pause, he heard footsteps coming from the right—and from the left as well. Three goblins appeared from the right and two from the left. A total of five goblins had surrounded him, but...
"You're in the way."
By the time they noticed him and entered their combat stances, Rei was already upon them. Once again, the flashes of light cut through the air. A few seconds later, nothing remained but five more goblin corpses.
"Forget the goblins. I want a monster I haven't seen before."
Using Sleipnir's Shoes again, he walked over the bodies and continued on his way. Normally, an adventurer would harvest the magic stones and proof of subjugation parts, but in the case of goblins, both were worth very little. To Rei, they weren't worth the time and effort required to harvest them.
He simply ignored them and passed by. Even if he left the bodies there, the dungeon had slimes acting as scavengers to clean up the remains.
He decided to turn right at the T-junction and walked for about five minutes. Ahead, he found a door on his left and paths leading both right and straight ahead.
"A door, huh? I'm curious about what's inside, but more than that..."
His eyes were fixed on the path continuing straight. Acting on a hunch, Rei ignored the door and the right-hand path and kept going straight.
As he walked, the path turned left twice, eventually bringing him to a fork leading straight or right. On the cobblestone floor before him lay the corpses of five goblins. They were clearly the ones he had just killed.
"So I just looped around this area. It's surprisingly large."
Just to be sure, he used his Sleipnir's Shoes to jump over the corpses again and followed the path he had originally taken. Naturally, he arrived back at the door on the left and the right-hand path.
"Now then, what's next? Doors usually mean traps. If that's the case, I'll try this way first."
Rei turned his attention to the passage on the right. Keeping his spear ready for immediate use, he ignored the door and headed down the right-hand corridor.
He walked for about ten minutes. Eventually, he emerged into a space large enough to be called a great hall. And there stood a creature with a massive frame that made the goblins look like toys: an ogre.
However, Rei instinctively knit his brows at the sight.
The ogres he had seen before were usually around five meters tall, but the one standing before him now was only about three meters. Granted, that was still quite large—nearly twice Rei's own height. He still had to look up to see its face, but compared to the ogre he had encountered in the dungeon containing the Altar of Inheritance, it felt severely lacking in menace.
"Is it an ogre child? Or maybe it's just weak because this dungeon is so new."
Rei's mutter reached the monster. Though it likely didn't understand the words, the ogre raised its club and let out a roar.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
To Rei, however, even the roar lacked any real impact.