Chapter 17: Finally Going Home

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 17:
Finally Going Home

SOMEHOW, I made it through what had seemed like a hopeless situation—mostly because of the low LP cost on the golden bee’s skill Bestowal, and the fact that Target ended up working so well.

The amount it cost to Bestow skills varied greatly depending on the kind of skill and the nature of the target. For example, nimble enemies didn’t have much affinity with a skill like Heavy, so Bestowing something that slowed them down would require a considerable amount of LP.

At any rate, the area surrounding Dory’s tree was littered with the corpses of monsters, and the only people doing well were me and Dory.

“I guess we should probably clean this up.”

“Yes, I believe these carcasses will only attract other monsters.”

Dory didn’t seem very happy about dealing with the remains of our victory, but I had another objective: the monster materials.

7× Silver Wolf Fangs (Grade C)

7× Silver Wolf Hides (Grade B)

1× Golden Bee Wing (Grade C)

1× Golden Bee Stinger (Grade B)

The parts were all of a lower grade than I expected. I wasn’t sure if I could even sell them. If these monsters only existed in the hidden dungeon, they wouldn’t even have an established price. I’d have to ask Lola about them later.

I stowed it all away in my Pocket Dimension. As I did, Dory thanked me again. Her true body waved some of its leafy branches.

“I’d be drowning in poison if you hadn’t been here, Noir. I’m sorry I wasn’t very helpful.”

“You were super helpful. None of this would have been possible without your Forest Sensitivity. Once you made sure we could gather them together, the interspecies fighting and intraspecies teamwork made the rest of the plan a basic guarantee—cooperation trumps conflict every time.”

I was trying to sound cool, but the reality was that one wrong step and I’d have earned myself a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

“Are you headed down now?” Dory asked.

“I don’t have much time today. I’ll leave after I reach the eighth floor.”

“Okay. Let me take you to the treasure first.”

“Lead the way.”

I followed Dory over little streams and through the brush and, after we’d walked for several minutes, we came to a small cave in the side of a hill. Apparently, the treasure was inside.

“Hm, I’m not sure if I can fit…”

The hole was pretty small, so small I didn’t think I could get in there even if I crawled.

“I can get it for you,” Dory said.

“Are you sure there aren’t any monsters in there?”

“There aren’t. It’s too little anyway.”

She was confident it was safe, so I took her up on the offer. She used her small body to her advantage and wiggled into the cave. She was back in under a minute.

“This is what was inside the chest,” she said. “What is it?”

In her tiny hands, she held a green bead that was about an inch in diameter. It looked like a marble. I used my Discerning Eye for Items.

Wind Selection (Grade A)

Grade A?! It seemed valuable, and that got me excited. I was really curious about the name though, “Wind Selection.” The bead didn’t seem to have any skills, so maybe it was just a decorative item? I figured I should ask my master.

“I don’t really know,” I confessed. “But it seems precious. A worthy reward.”

“Oh good, I’m so glad to hear that. Now let me take you to the stairs.”

The way down to the eighth floor wasn’t far from the treasure. I had to pause to wonder if I could have ever found it on my own. It was tucked away in the middle of a dense thicket of trees. Even if I’d had a bird’s eye view, the foliage would have obscured it.

As we approached the stairs, Dory started to look lonesome and more than a little sad.

“Keep at it, okay?” she said.

“I want you to live your life to the fullest too, Dory. I promise I’ll come to visit when I have time.”

“Y-you will?!”

“And we’ll have to have some real fun next time. How about I bring some delicious food from outside the dungeon?”

“I can’t wait!”

We were already fast friends after our ordeal. I shook Dory’s hand and took my leave.

“See you again soon!” I called back.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Dory watched as I descended the stairs. This staircase was well over twenty steps, but it was still shorter than my trip to the seventh floor.

“Finally…”

In stark contrast to the seventh floor, the eighth presented me with a world of silvery metallic walls. It had pretty standard corridors, if a little on the wide side. I prayed that there wouldn’t be giant creatures like there had been on the fifth floor.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk…

A heavy sound echoed from the end of the corridor. I have to admit, I got curious. Surely it was a monster or something?

“I am Noir Stardia, third son of the impoverished noble Stardia family! Who goes there? Be you human or monster or, uh, whatever, show yourself!”

I planned to run the second anything showed up to challenge me, so I made myself an escape route with Dungeon Elevator. But as far as I could tell, nothing responded to my call. The thunking sound continued, uninterrupted. Exploring this level…would have to wait until next time. I returned to the second floor and reported back to my master.

“Thanks to your wisdom, I made it through, Master.”

<That’s my boy! I’d give you a big hug if I could move.>

“Well that’s not happening. Anyway, I found this item called a Wind Selection, any idea what it’s for?”

<Ooh, now that’s a pretty rare one. You can learn wind magic if you eat it.>

“Huh. That sounds handy.”

“Interesting…”

At Hero Academy, we’d had a lesson on items you could eat that granted you the chance to choose skills, but I’d never heard of one where the item made the selection for you. The world was full of mysteries, huh?

“Hrm, I thought I’d give it to a friend. I don’t have much affinity to wind.”

“Are you trying to tease me again?”

<As your master, I just want you to indulge…in everything, and earn a ton of LP. He he he.> Olivia cackled.

Okay, enough of that. I thanked her for her help and started to head out, but before I got far, my master stopped me to check on my LP situation. I told her I was at about 500.

<So, Noir, you’ve collected a lot of materials by now, right? I think it might be a good idea to pick up LP Conversion—Items, even if it’s expensive.>

“Ooh, that sounds useful.”

“Understood. I’ll be out for a few days, but I’ll be back.”

I said my goodbyes and, at last, I left the dungeon. By the time I got out, the sun was already rising. I really had spent the entire night in there. I hurried home, where I found Alice pacing restlessly outside the house.

“Brother dearest!”

“Sorry, don’t tell me you were waiting for me?”

“Of course I was. You never came home…”

“You have dark circles under your eyes. Were you up all night?”

“I was truly worried…for a number of reasons.”

I didn’t really understand she meant.

“Wh-whose house did you spend the night at?” she asked anxiously.

“I didn’t stay at anyone’s house. I spent the night in a dungeon.”

“Oh, is that all? Hm. I suppose I worried for nothing then.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

Before I could ask, Tigerson and my parents came rushing forward.

“I wasn’t worried in the slightest, sweetie. I knew you’d come home safe.”

“It’s all your fault our family meeting yesterday was a complete mess. You really need to grow u—mmph! What are you two doing?”

Alice and my mother covered my father’s mouth with their hands.

“Breakfast is ready. Are you hungry?” my mother asked.

“Ravenous.”

“It’s a holiday, after all, so you should eat your fill and get some rest,” my sister added.

“Sorry to disappoint, Alice, but I can’t take a break today. Once I eat, I’m off on an expedition to complete a guild request.”

“Oh. Please…take care of yourself.”

“I will. Though I’m gonna need your help, Tigerson.”

Things might get a little crazy sometimes, but I really did feel at ease at home. I went inside and savored my warm breakfast. It made me forget my exhaustion from not having slept. Delicious!