Chapter 4: Surprise Attack
The sword was much lighter than the bat. He wasn’t very confident in the strength of its strikes.
He got in line to pay the entrance fee for the dungeon, but the receptionist told him to go straight in. Buying the sword had granted him four free entries.
The strikes were faster and had almost the same power as the bat, but he wasn’t sure about the strength, since he killed the slime with a single hit. The same happened with the white wolf and the crystal snake. The force he needed to use with his arm was lower, so choosing the sword had been a good decision. After two hours of killing monsters, he was less tired, and the number of monsters he had defeated was also greater, along with the five copper coins that had dropped from the monsters.
He decided to venture onto the third floor. He entered slowly. The floor was different from the others. On the first floor, the floor, walls, and ceiling resembled those of a cave, and the corridors were like a maze. On the second floor, the walls were made of brick, the ceiling was smooth and looked like concrete, just like the floor. The corridors also resembled a maze, but on both floors there were markings so adventurers wouldn’t get lost. The third floor, however, was an open field. There were a few trees, some bushes, grass, and a small stream. The place was enormous. Before long, a goblin carrying a dagger appeared. The monster ran toward Haru, who quickly drew his sword and, with a single strike, managed to kill the goblin, but it took a few seconds for the monster to die. As it died, the monster screamed in pain.
It was a horrible and somewhat chilling sight, since the monster had human-like features, which made it unsettling.
[Goblin defeated, +10 xp]
He picked up the crystal and left the rusty dagger on the ground, since it had no resale value. Besides this goblin, the one with the hammer also only had a crystal worth anything. The best one was the Goblin Mage, whose mana crystal could be sold for six copper coins. The Goblin Archer dropped a quiver of arrows, which could be sold for five copper coins, but killing an archer took more work since they attacked faster. The best of them all was the Goblin King. The tooth it dropped could be sold for one gold coin, in addition to a crystal worth ten silver coins. But they were rare, extremely resilient, and strong.
The third floor was a goldmine for beginners. It was on this floor that any combat class could earn money the fastest and most easily while leveling up.
He killed a few more goblins.
He kept walking until he reached a forest. He stopped and considered giving up, but decided to continue and entered the forest. However, he was thrown back out. A single blow, and he felt intense pain. He got back to his feet and pointed his sword at the monster. The monster simply stared at him. Its movements were slow, and it walked slowly. Then it disappeared and reappeared behind Haru. Another blow, and once again Haru was sent flying. The monster looked at Haru, then walked away.
’But what was that?’
That monster definitely wasn’t a goblin. Its skin color and size were different.
’There shouldn’t be any other type of monster here.’
He quickly left the floor. He killed a few more wolves and snakes along the way. Then he left the dungeon and reported it to the receptionist.
She didn’t seem surprised. She simply typed something into the computer and asked what the monster looked like.
"From your description, that’s an orc. They’re intermediate monsters from the fifth and sixth floors. In some cases they can appear on the third floor, but they rarely attack. Besides that, they’re weaker than the orcs on those floors, since they’re summons."
"Summons?"
"Did you take the course before becoming an adventurer?"
"I did," he really had, but he hadn’t paid attention.
She gave him a serious look.
"Fine, I’ll explain it again. On the third floor, Goblin Mages can summon stronger monsters, but they normally only summon them for labor instead of fighting, such as carrying wood and things like that. These monsters are weaker in terms of attack power. You just wandered into some goblin nest, and in that case, there’s a King. If you manage to kill it, you’ll get one gold coin for its tooth. But I don’t recommend trying. Even if you can kill goblins, there are too many of them, and the King is very strong. You still won’t be able to kill it, and you could die."
He thought about it and decided to follow her advice.
He walked to the cafeteria. There were ten people there. He sat down at a table and chose something to eat. While waiting for his food, he watched the other adventurers. They always sat with their team members. Normally, an adventurer team had four to five members, but there were still pairs, trios, and even groups with more than six members. Those larger groups were rarer, since the ideal team consisted of members whose abilities complemented one another or covered each other’s weaknesses. A swordsman has no long-range damage, so an attack Mage is useful, and the opposite is also true. In addition, a support member is necessary. Knowing healing, using shield skills, or having a rogue’s abilities all help. Large groups usually stayed below the seventh floor. Before that, solo adventurers, pairs, and trios were much more common, since the drops were poor.
"Did you hear what the Himura family is doing with the city’s guilds?"
"I only heard about it, but I don’t know the details. From what I heard, they’re just doing what the Tsukishiro family told them to do, since the Himura family doesn’t have as much power or money."
Haru’s attention shifted to the nearby table. He recognized those names. The Tsukishiro family was the third most powerful family in the entire Empire. The Himura family owned a dungeon and was a vassal clan of the Tsukishiro family.
"What they’re doing will probably cause a huge problem for this guild and the entire city. They’re stockpiling monster crystals, even the ones from demons and monsters in remote areas. They’re paying more, but it’s not worth going to their dungeon because it’s full of adventurers, so the adventurers are heading into the forest instead."
"How much are they paying?"
"For some crystals, they’re paying almost double. If this dungeon didn’t limit crystal sales to third parties, this place would be packed with adventurers."
"Is that why Kurosawa owes Himura money?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"I just overheard someone saying that the guilds are getting into debt because the crystal supply has decreased, and some guild masters have taken out loans."
"But what’s the point of Kurosawa borrowing money from Himura?"
"That doesn’t matter. What we need to know is why they want all the crystals. Some adventurers are stockpiling them because they’re afraid of a shortage, but most are selling them."
Monster crystals are used to generate electricity and in certain medicines and magical items. They are indispensable items for any country, and they are also very easy to obtain, since every monster and demon drops a crystal. Because of that, Haru knew there was no chance of a shortage occurring.
Haru became interested in selling his crystals for a higher price, but to do that he would have to buy better weapons, as well as armor, and become stronger, since the monsters in the remote areas were random.