Published: December 10th 2024, 8:11:16 am
Dungeon Fourth Floor: Exploration of the Ruins Floor
As planned, we finished exploring the Forest Floor and moved on to the next floor.
On the way, we encountered the floor guardian protecting the stairs, but like before, it was dealt with instantly.
Now, what’s the next floor like?
I decided to ask Melanie.
“The next floor is the Ruins Area.”
“Ruins Area?”
“Yes, it consists of a decayed village and its surroundings. Many undead monsters appear here, and there are also poisonous swamps.”
“Are there treasure chests too?”
“They can be found under the eaves of ruined houses, on the second floors, and in basements. However, most adventurers are more interested in the monsters here, so the treasure chests are often ignored.”
I see, so this is another chance to gather treasure chests.
When we cctually explored the village, treasure chests turned up in abundance.
However, from this floor onward, many of the chests were trapped.
If you don’t disarm the traps first, it can lead to trouble.
In my case, I have Talat’s protection, so I was fine.
Still, I don’t want to rely on Talat every time.
With that in mind, I left the task of disarming traps to a maid specializing in such work.
I accompanied the maid, Akumi, to learn the methods, studying how to disable traps from her.
Apparently, the disarming method varies depending on the type of trap, and the first step is identifying the kind of trap.
If it were up to me, I’d probably just try to grab the chest without thinking, which would be risky.
Because of the traps, collecting each chest took time, but we managed to gather 18 chests by the end of the day.
It seems most of the treasure chests are concentrated in the ruined village, but since there aren’t that many buildings, even a thorough search yielded only this amount.
I’ve heard that treasure chests don’t respawn for several days, so this is likely the only day we’ll spend treasure hunting inside the village.
“Well then, what will we do tomorrow?”
After hearing my plan, Plum asked for clarification.
True, we’ve thoroughly searched the village, so there’s little reason to stay here any longer.
Still, there might be something outside the village worth exploring, so I suggested we check the surrounding areas.
“Alright. Tomorrow we’ll explore the surroundings of the ruined village.”
“Yes, please.”
“Understood. The monsters around here aren’t too strong. Melanie, what about the monsters on the fifth floor?”
“Well, they wouldn’t be much of a problem for all of you. There are enemies like Metal Skeletons and Metal Giants, which aren’t very affected by regular physical attacks, but you have magic and… your weapons aren’t exactly ordinary, are they?”
Well, that’s true—nothing about us is ordinary.
By the way, no Skill Crystals came from today’s treasure chests.
Even though we found three copper chests, it was a bit disappointing.
Let’s hope for better luck tomorrow.
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Dungeon Fifth Floor: Arrival at the Ancient Castle Area
Yesterday, we explored the forests and swamps of the Ruins Area, but nothing significant came up.
Really, there was nothing of note.
We found a few treasure chests, but no major discoveries.
Aside from the ruined village, we came across a broken temple and a belfry, but that was about it.
Sometimes, you just have off days.
So today, we’re searching for the stairs to the fifth floor.
But for some reason, we couldn’t find them.
Usually, it only takes about two hours, but now half the day has already passed.
What’s going on?
“Oh, the stairs to the fifth floor can spawn anywhere on the fourth floor, so that’s likely the issue.”
Now that I think about it, Melanie had been guiding us directly to the stairs on the previous floors.
But this time, she wasn’t doing that. Why not?
“The stairs to the fifth floor truly spawn in random locations. For the previous floors, the stairs usually appeared in fixed locations, so I was able to guide you. But the stairs to the fifth floor don’t follow any known patterns, so I can’t guide you this time.”
Saying that with a smug look doesn’t exactly help…
At any rate, it became clear that finding the stairs in this area would involve searching endlessly.
Not that I wanted to know that, but now that I do, I have no choice but to press on until we find the stairs to the fifth floor.
Apparently, only a handful of adventurers ever aim for the fifth floor; most turn back at the fourth.
The search for the stairs alone can take days, and concerns about running out of food usually deter them.
We, on the other hand, have plenty of provisions and could stay in the dungeon for a month if necessary, but I’m not exactly keen on a prolonged dungeon life.
If we can’t find the stairs after a reasonable effort, we’ll give up and head back.
After three days of searching, we finally came across an area that felt distinctly different from its surroundings.
The atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.
“Hm, it seems we’ve finally found the stairs.”
“Really, Plum?”
“Look over there at that monster. Its aura is entirely different. That’s the floor boss of this level.”
Plum confidently pointed toward a rotting boar that exuded an undeniable air of power.
Yep, that’s definitely the floor boss.
It seemed aware of us and was waiting for the right moment to attack. What should we do?
“Well, there’s no need to face it head-on. Look, it’s over.”
Plum launched a fireball from her fingertip. It streaked toward the boar with incredible speed, striking it squarely.
With an explosive roar and a column of fire, the boar and its surroundings were utterly scorched.
Maybe Plum had some pent-up frustrations to let out?
“Hmm, that’s that. Look, the stairs are there. The loot is… a hammer.”
“That’s a pretty rare weapon. You should sell it to the Adventurers’ Guild when we return.”
“What will you do, Lily?”
“Me? Um, I don’t need it…”
“I have no use for it. You decide.”
I don’t particularly need it either.
Since the Adventurers’ Guild seems interested, I’ll have Melanie handle the sale when we get back.
We descended the stairs guarded by the boar, which eventually turned into a spiral staircase.
At the bottom, we found ourselves on the battlements of a massive castle.
So, this is the fifth floor, the Ancient Castle Area.
What a huge castle—it might be as big as the entire city of Vardmoi.
I hope we can find the Skill Crystals we’re looking for here.
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Dungeon Fifth Floor: Courtyard of the Ancient Castle Area
We finally arrived at the fifth floor's ancient castle area, but this level was undeniably a castle, divided into multiple floors.
For now, we descended from the castle walls into the courtyard, only to find an overwhelming number of monsters that made me want to quit on the spot.
Do we have to defeat all of these?
"Oh, there's no need to defeat them all. Many monsters will react if you try to cut through the middle, but if you move along the walls, they won’t come too close.”
"Melanie, you're sounding awfully proud. Where did you even get that information?"
"From the Adventurers’ Guild in this town, of course. I also purchased a map of the castle there."
This ancient castle even has a map, huh?
From her explanation, it seems that the paths on this fifth floor don’t change.
Instead, the corridors are filled with numerous monsters, and the main source of income is the loot they drop—or, rather, reaching the treasure chests is the real challenge.
The treasure chests are confirmed to be placed in narrow areas, such as dead ends or inside rooms.
To retrieve them, you inevitably have to fight monsters along the way.
Naturally, traps are also set in the treasure chests, and if you take too long disarming them, reinforcements will arrive.
As a result, only experienced adventurers can collect the treasure chests on this level.
Not that it matters to us, though.
"Melanie, are there any treasure chests in the courtyard?"
"Hmm, I wonder? We don’t have much information about the central part of the courtyard. Ever since people learned that moving along the walls minimizes attacks, everyone started sticking to the walls."
I see, so there’s a possibility there could be treasure chests.
In that case, we’ll just have to proceed.
While progressing through the courtyard, I had Talat take care of the monsters using spider silk.
Regardless of this being the fifth floor and home to some of the dungeon's strongest monsters, it didn’t matter to Talat.
We could simply defeat them all and keep moving.
The courtyard featured flower beds and fountains, all impeccably maintained—though I couldn’t imagine who might be taking care of them.
Wait, there’s a treasure chest in one of the flower beds.
"Talat, just to be safe, freeze all the flowers over there."
(Okay.)
When Talat released icy threads onto the flowers, they froze solid and turned into dropped items.
Just as I thought—the flowers were monsters.
After Akemi confirmed that the treasure chest wasn’t trapped, we decided to take it.
Its color was gold—this could be promising!
In various flower beds, similar treasure chests were hidden and guarded by monstrous flowers.
All the chests were either gold or silver.
Then, while investigating the fountain in the courtyard, we discovered another treasure chest submerged within.
To be cautious, I had Talat freeze the fountain’s water as well, which also transformed into loot.
Even the water was a monster!
Regardless, we managed to secure the treasure chest from the fountain, making our courtyard harvest highly rewarding.
At this rate, we might be able to gather more treasure chests in other areas too!