The following morning, I woke up before the morning bell rang.
It was still dark outside, far too early to get out of bed.
"The dungeon, huh..."
Ever since the dungeon had appeared, I had turned over the question of when to enter it countless times in my mind.
I never imagined the trigger would simply be losing our ability to hunt outdoors.
"We can definitely handle up to the tenth floor. Beyond that gets tricky, and the twentieth floor is probably our limit right now."
Whenever I stopped by the Adventurer's Guild, I made a point of gathering intel from Reina-san and the other adventurers.
Piecing that information together, I had concluded that the twentieth floor was as far as we could reasonably push ourselves.
"...Wait, this is no time to be lying here overthinking it. Today's our first dive into the dungeon, so I should get a little more rest."
Catching myself lingering in my thoughts, I snapped back to reality and closed my eyes.
Before long, I drifted back to sleep.
"Phew... At least I managed to avoid starting the day sleep-deprived."
My second round of sleep was a success, and I woke up to the sound of the morning bell.
Relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with fatigue dragging me down, I got to work.
After completing my usual routine of laundry, personal training, and chores around the inn, it was time for breakfast.
"Huh? Isn't this a bit more food than usual?"
"You're making your first dungeon run today, aren't you? You'll need plenty of food to keep your stamina up. Besides, I've already dished it out, so you're just going to have to eat it all, Erik."
"...Thank you as always, Ted-san."
Deeply grateful for Ted-san's thoughtfulness, I ate my breakfast.
Once finished, I changed in my room, left the inn, and headed for the Adventurer's Guild.
Upon arriving at the Adventurer's Guild, I approached the counter.
"Good morning, Reina-san."
"Good morning. More training today, Erik-kun?"
"Yes. Also, as a quick update regarding our plans for this afternoon—the party talked it over, and we've decided to head into the dungeon."
At my words, a brief flicker of surprise crossed Reina-san's face before settling into understanding.
"Is that because your usual hunting grounds are off-limits right now?"
"That's part of it. But I also felt it was a good opportunity. If we really pushed it, we could look for other spots outside, but if we passed up this chance, I was worried we'd just keep making excuses and putting it off."
"If it's a decision you all reached together as a party, it's not my place to object. Honestly, I was just thinking it might be time for your group to try the dungeon anyway, so the timing is perfect."
Reina-san added that she would put together a reference document on the dungeon and hand it to me later.
With my report to her taken care of, I headed to the training room.
"Good morning, Olivia-san."
"Yes, good morning, Erik-kun."
When I entered the room, Olivia-san was already waiting.
"Are we continuing our training to acquire [Appraisal] today?"
"That's the plan. I feel like I'm finally starting to get a sense of it. Well, it might just be my imagination, of course."
"Even if it is, keeping a positive mindset is a good thing. Believing in yourself can be important sometimes."
"Hehe, somewhere along the line, our roles as teacher and student seem to have reversed, haven't they?"
Olivia-san gave a light chuckle, and with that, we began our daily training.
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You have trained [Parallel Thinking].
Gained 1 EXP.
87/100 until next level.
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You have trained [Mana Control].
Gained 1 EXP.
63/100 until next level.
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◇
You have trained your mana.
Gained 1 EXP.
36/100 until stat increase.
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◇
You have trained [Appraisal].
Gained 1 EXP.
29/100 until next level.
◇
Several of my skills had reached 100 EXP and leveled up yesterday.
Perhaps because of that, even though I went through my full routine today, seeing no visible progress left me feeling a slight twinge of disappointment.
"Olivia-san, we're heading into the dungeon starting today. Do you have any advice for us?"
"Advice for the dungeon, let's see... I'd say the most important rule is 'don't get greedy.' In a dungeon, the slightest lapse in caution can turn disastrous. That's why you must never let greed take over, and always act with a clear grasp of your party's actual capabilities."
"Never let greed take over..."
"Then again, that might be pointless advice for you, Erik-kun. You've always been cautious to a fault, after all."
Hearing Olivia-san's assessment, I bowed my head in thanks.
Leaving the room, I caught up with Reina-san to let her know my session was finished.
"Good work on your training. Here you go—this document compiles all the intel we have up to the twentieth floor."
"—! Thank you so much, Reina-san!"
"If you look it over with the rest of your party while having lunch, it should come in handy for today's run....Just make sure not to push yourselves too hard, all right?"
"Of course. We'll be careful."
With a nod to Reina-san, I tucked the paperwork into my bag, stepped away from the counter, and made my way out of the guild.