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Chapter 91: Into the Catacombs (1)

Soon after receiving the system prompt regarding the opening of the dungeon's entrance, the notifications continued.

[ 'Area discovery buff' will be in effect due to a party member receiving the buff. ]

[ Nearby allies of the affected will receive a 30% boost in receiving experience. ]

[ Your party sense a strong force looking at you within the dungeon's walls. ]

"...!" Reading through the notifications in front of him, Shinto narrowed his eyes towards the last prompt. "...a strong force looking at us within the dungeon's walls?" he muttered out.

"Hah. To receive this at the very start of the dungeon?" Ethaniel raised his brow. "Just what is this?"

"Huh? Weird... this message didn't appear when I was here originally..." Frey tilted her head in confusion.

"...this didn't appear initially?" Raina questioned whilst scanning around the area, seeing that there was only the dark narrow passageway in front of them that was behind the door. "Hmm... I don't see anything upfront... or well, I can't see."

"..." Shinto silently turned towards the hallways that Raina was looking at, with his enhanced sight under the dark, the darkness in his vision lit up as if lighted up by torches. Scrutinizing the premise, he saw that the passageway was a long one, however, it didn't seem as if anyone was awaiting them at the end. "...the hallways a long one. I don't think anyone's at the end of it though."

"Oh, really?" she replied whilst thinking to herself. "...if it's like that, then why this notification?"

"I am just as clueless as you are," Shinto shook his head helplessly. "Though, whatever it is, it seems to be the boss?"

"Ah? So the boss has an interest in us?" Frey blinked at the statement as she quickly nodded her head excitedly. "Great!"

"...what do you mean, 'great'?" Ethaniel frowned.

"Uh... well, wouldn't that mean that we'll meet the boss sooner than expected?" she reasoned. "So then, that would mean we'll get the loot faster and we'll be much stronger!"

"Aha... well, that's one way to put it," Shinto chuckled. "Still, meeting the boss too early could mean our death."

"Huh? So... we can't do this dungeon, then?" she asked.

"His implying if we meet the boss too early in a random area of the dungeon, we'll be caught off guard and die," Ethaniel said. "How would you feel if a large enemy appears out of nowhere and then attacked you at your weakest?"

"Ah... right, good point!" she nodded her head. "...ahem! Then that's not great..."

"Sigh," Ethaniel sighed as he turned to Shinto. "So, what are we going to do about this?"

"Well, whether or not we'll encounter the boss early, we just have to stay on high alert. If anything, the first monster we encounter could be the boss."

"...right, we should do that," Raina nodded her head. "Though... I'm sort of worried that this dungeon would be too high level for us... we're only just in the fifteens after all..."

"Bah. It should be doable for us," Ethaniel brushed off the worry. "Anyway, are we going in or what?"

"Yeah, let's head in!" Frey said excitedly.

"Well, let's not waste any more time then," Shinto said. "Just as what Ethaniel said, this dungeon should be doable for us."

At the current level of the party, although they were in the tens, Shinto and Ethaniel combined could tackle a dungeon a few levels higher than their level range. Though the numbers didn't seem much, this was just on the scale of brute strength.

If they were to include Raina and Frey as well as the thought utilizing tactics to clear the dungeon, they could possibly tackle dungeons much higher then their own level. This was Shinto's estimation.

"...hmm, if you say so," Raina said.

Soon after, the group quickly stepped foot into the dark narrow passageway. The moment they did so, the door of the dungeon closed from behind them, as another notification soon prompted

[ You have entered into the instance dungeon: 'Catacombs of the Deserted Sanke', all communication to the outside world has been blocked. ]

[ You may not leave for until you defeat the bosses of the dungeon. ]

[ You may temporarily leave if you clear a certain part of the dungeon. ]

"...eh? We can't leave until we defeat the bosses of the dungeon?" Frey mumbled out whilst reading through the notifications.

"...hmm, so this is a part by part dungeon?" Shinto said. "I guess we'll be here for a while then."

There were multiple types of instance dungeons in the game. Depending on the dungeon, some required to only defeat the main boss of the dungeon, while others required to clear certain conditions of the dungeon.

"Part by part dungeon?" Frey turned towards Shinto in question. "What does that imply?"

"It's probably like... with multiple bosses in the catacombs, it means that we'll be able to leave when a part is cleared?" Raina thought.

"Then, what does 'we can leave temporarily' mean then if we can leave when a part is cleared?" Frey continued questioning.

"Well, Raina's not wrong for the most part. Depending on the condition of clear on the instance, we can leave at a certain section of the dungeon once cleared," Shinto explained. "But... for this one... we can only leave temporarily..."

"Oh... but if it's temporary... what will they do to bring us back? Have us magically get teleported back here or something if we get out for too long?" Frey asked.

"Penalties, curses, or whatever the dungeon can think of to make you regret it," Ethaniel shrugged.

"At the very least, we can take a slight break and restock our supplies if necessary," Raina continued. "Unless... the implication is that we can only leave the game...?"

"We can always leave the game at any time unless stated otherwise in an instance dungeon," Shinto said. "So yeah, being able to temporarily leave the dungeon means that we can get a break and possibly be able to restock our supplies if we run out."

"...phew, that's a relieve," Raina said. 

"Yeah, yeah," Ethaniel waved his hand as he quickly walked further ahead. "Now, can we get a move on out of this passageway already? "

...

Through the dark hallways of the dungeon, the group swiftly made their way along the path, though, from the entrance of the place to now, it had seemed as if they had been walking through the passageway for a long time.

"Ahh! How long is this passageway?" Frey shouted in impatience.

"...this is a pretty long path... and it's just the beginning of the dungeon too..." Raina said helplessly.

"...right, if this is only the beginning of the dungeon, just how big is this place?" Shinto raised his brow in question.

"Tch... just keep moving or something. We're bound to actually get to the actual dungeon sooner or later..." Ethaniel said as he quickly caught glimpse of a small light protruding out by the distance. "...speaking of which, there it is. The end of the damn passageway."

"Ahh! Finally!" Frey cheered out upon hearing Ethaniel's words. "Let's hurry then, I want out!"

Without wasting any time, the group hurried out of the hallway, quickly stepping foot into an open-spaced area. Scrutinizing the area, they were greeted by the sight of multiple statues as well as three other hallways around the vicinity.

"...what is this?" On the shoulders of Shinto, Kon asked. "Some statue thingy?"

"Ack! What the? Kon! Where did you appear from?" Frey slightly flinched back as she turned towards the direction of the voice.

"Huh? What do you mean where did I appear from?" he tilted his head. "I was on master's shoulder the entire time..."

"Wait, what?" "Frey blinked. "How did I not notice that?!"

"...you seem to be a person that doesn't notice a lot of things..." Ethaniel sighed.

"What? Hey!" Frey pouted.

"...ahem, anyway... about the statues..." Shinto stated as he took a closer look at the statues made of stone, quickly taking note that one of the statues seemed to be that of a mage.

Wanting to turn to the other two statues in the vicinity, he was quickly interrupted as he heard sudden footsteps drawing near to the group. "...huh?" Turning over towards the direction of the noise,  he saw that it was coming from the hallways upfront.

"What's going on?" Raina cautiously asked.

"...tch. I guess the real dungeon's starting huh?" Ethaniel quickly unsheathed his sword.

The group on high alert, they awaited for whatever monster that drew close to them. Moments later, the footsteps grew louder, as a single rat appeared from the hallway.

"...it's just only one enemy?" Frey blinked at the sight.

"Everyone, be prepared! A mischief of rats is coming!" Shinto hurriedly shouted out as he prepared to cast a skill.