Dungeon Investigation

After walking for a while, we discovered the staircase leading down to the third floor.

Our objective for this mission was strictly a primary investigation, not a full-scale conquest. Therefore, there was no pressing need for us to plunge all the way to the absolute deepest sector. Our core duty was simply to report back to the guild with an accurate assessment of the dungeon’s true difficulty rank.

“Should we keep pressing forward as far as we can go?” I asked Hana and Misa.

“Yes, let’s. I calculate that it would be wise to descend a bit further,” Hana replied.

“I entirely agree,” Misa chimed in.

“Alright, sounds like a plan. Shall we move out?”

With our current party dynamic, we could easily handle whatever lay ahead up to a certain threshold. For all I knew, we might even possess enough raw power to clear the deepest sector completely. Well, if we ever found ourselves backed into a corner, I knew I could always resolve the disaster using my high-caliber magic anyway.

Moving as a unit, our party descended the staircase continuing down to the third floor.

“Whoa… this is a horrific mess.”

“It certainly is.”

The moment we set foot onto the third stratum, the ruggedness of the terrain escalated significantly. Granted, since this was an unmapped dungeon that humans had never set foot in, I had anticipated a certain degree of neglect, but a layout this chaotic made merely advancing a grueling exercise.

“The footing is incredibly hazardous through here, so ensure you maintain absolute vigilance as we move forward.”

““Understood!””

I expanded the effective operational radius of my Light spell, while slightly narrowing the coverage area of my detection magic. Since the ambient mana density had undergone another distinct spike, prioritizing the structural accuracy of my scanning array over raw range was the smartest calculation.

We kept pushing steadily through the cavernous gloom.

“Hostile approaching from the front!”

I registered a distinct magical lifeform entering the perimeter of my detection magic. It was a single entity, but I could instinctively feel an exceptionally massive chunk of raw magical energy radiating from its signature. This was undoubtedly an opponent that left zero room for complacency.

A few tens of seconds after my warning, the magical beast materialized directly ahead of our position. It possessed a massive, towering physical build resembling a bear.

“Engaging!” Hana shouted, rocketing forward toward the bear-beast.

“Keep it within reasonable limits~” I called after her.

Sensing Hana’s rapid vector, the beast instantly flexed its razor-sharp claws, launching a heavy counterattack to intercept her.

“Detonate.”

Applying my fire magic arrays, I triggered a high-caliber explosion directly against the beast’s facial features. The flash and concussive force successfully threw its movements into an absolute, sluggish state.

“Haaah!”

Seizing the opening, Hana masterfully slid straight into the beast’s blind spot, diving deep inside its guard. With a fluid extension, she drove her blade deep into its chest cavity.

“GARRRRLLLL!!”

The beast unleashed a thunderous, earth-shattering roar that vibrated loops through the entire cavern. A steady stream of fresh blood poured from its chest wound. Yet, even with its vitals pierced, it was far from dead. Driven by feral rage, the beast lunged forward to snap its razor-sharp fangs straight at Hana’s position.

The exact fraction of a second it moved, Misa shot forward from behind my shoulder with exceptional velocity. With a magnificent display of martial precision, she caught the beast’s jaws squarely against her blade, deflecting the lethal strike completely.

“Hana, now is your window!”

“Right!”

Answering Misa’s cue, Hana circled cleanly around to the beast’s rear quadrant. She brought her blade down in a sweeping arc, cleaving deep into the nape of its neck. The steel tore through halfway across its throat, and the massive bear-beast collapsed heavily onto the earth. It never moved again.

“Magnificent work, you two. That was a textbook takedown.”

“Thank you very much, Lord Vim.”

“It was strictly because we had the luxury of your magnificent fire support, My Lord,” Misa noted.

While they were modest enough to say so, I had barely lifted a finger during that skirmish. The definitive, lethal blow had been delivered entirely by Hana’s own hands. Evaluating her performance today, I couldn’t help but reflect on what a spectacular growth she had undergone.

“Still… that entity possessed quite a formidable power parameter for a regular floor mob.”

“It certainly did.”

The fact that a magical beast of this absolute caliber was roaming freely as early as the third stratum explicitly confirmed that our initial S-class estimation was entirely accurate. Even inside a standard A-rank dungeon, hostiles of this magnitude would be strictly locked to the perimeter directly adjacent to the deepest domain.

“Let’s maintain absolute vigilance as we advance.”

“Understood.”

Illuminating the dark corridors with our Light spell, our party resumed its steady march through the dungeon interior. From that point onward, we didn’t cross paths with any further high-tier threats. Any stray groups of minor wolves that blundered into our path were systematically incinerated by a casual wave of my magic.

“Oh, look at that. We found it.”

After a steady walk of several tens of minutes, the structural descent leading to the next floor loomed into view.

“Let’s descend.”

“Yes, sir.”

With Hana taking the lead as our vanguard, we navigated the steps downward.

“Wait… isn’t this stratum remarkably cramped?” Hana noted, her features twisting into an expression of pure surprise the moment she stepped off the stairs.

True to her observation, the fourth floor was an incredibly tiny, self-contained space that could be completely taken in with a single glance.

“Ah, so we’ve breached that boundary, have we…”

“It certainly appears so. The atmospheric mana seems completely non-existent here as well,” Misa added, having already masterfully calculated the reality of the situation.

“The Boss of this sector—the Floor Guardian—is waiting directly on the next floor.”

“A Floor Guardian? What exactly is that?” Hana asked, looking thoroughly confused.

“You might not have encountered the concept yet, Hana, but certain critical strata inside a dungeon are patrolled by a localized boss entity known as a Floor Guardian.”

Under normal physical laws, the fourth floor should have been completely saturated with ambient mana and crawling with local hostiles. The fact that it was entirely barren explicitly indicated a single reality: an exceptionally powerful entity was stationed directly on the floor below. The fifth floor’s internal mana loops weren’t sufficient to sustain its massive energy footprint, so it was actively vacuuming up the atmospheric mana from the fourth floor as well. Because its presence systematically compressed the surrounding spatial architecture, the fourth floor was left with this incredibly tiny structural layout.

Among seasoned adventurers clearing dungeons, a floor like this was widely celebrated as a “Safe Zone” since hostiles completely failed to manifest inside the perimeter. It served as the absolute perfect rest area for raiding parties to recharge their batteries.

“Well now, shall we go dismantle this Guardian?”

“Let’s do it.”

“Um… am I genuinely strong enough to contribute in a fight like that?…” Hana murmured, a visible wave of anxiety washing over her face.

“You are exceptionally strong, Hana, so you’ll do perfectly fine. Besides, I fully intend to actively participate in the combat parameters this time.”

“Understood! I shall exert every single ounce of my strength!”

“Alright, let’s lock in and sharpen our focus.”

With our objectives aligned, our party descended the final steps into the next stratum.

“Good grief… the mana density down here is truly oppressive.”

Because the fourth floor had been entirely stripped of its magical energy, the atmospheric mana concentration on the fifth floor was exceptionally dense. If an ordinary human lacking proper structural resistance crossed this boundary, the sheer pressure would cause them to foam at the mouth and collapse instantly.

The fifth floor unfolded as a completely flat, barren expanse with zero environmental cover. Based on standard dungeon mechanics, the exact fraction of a second we stepped inside the Guardian’s sensory perimeter, the boss entity was bound to manifest.

“Now then, let’s see what kind of adorable Guardian-chan is waiting to greet us.”

Highly eager to pay our formal respects to the boss, our party marched in a straight line toward the absolute center of the fifth stratum.