DMS Chapter 77

Flinx was queued in front of the Adventurer Guild’s booth beside the dungeon’s entrance, waiting for his turn. When he left Olivia, her brothers, and the four kids in the shop selling wooden things like furniture and the cart they were looking for, he was comforted by the fact that they were guarded by three earth elementals. He knew that he shouldn’t be worrying too much since he was told repeatedly that the areas surrounding the dungeon were safe enough simply because it was well maintained by the guilds hovering the dungeon.

Besides, the four children had managed to survive while roaming alone inside Ilioven’s slums, and Olivia and her brothers also managed to survive despite the fact that they were some sort of fallen nobles.

Flinx didn’t know why he cared so much. He felt stupid for caring so much. He should be focused on leveling up since that was the only way he could gain power, and power was the only way he would be safe and never be enslaved again.

“Sir, may I ask which floor you’re planning to enter?” A voice interrupted Flinx’s musing.

When he looked at the person who asked the question, he saw that it was a young male adventurer who was also in line behind him.

“HI! My name is Flinx. I just arrived here in the city and don’t know much about this dungeon, so I planned to scout it first by going to the 10^th floor.”

If truth be told, Flinx knew that he overexplained because he was a little ashamed that he was only going to the 10^th floor despite being a diamond rank adventurer. Flinx almost shook his head at his stupidity regarding getting bothered by stupid things. His life was the most important thing, and despite his need to level up as fast as possible, he simply couldn’t disregard his safety, and at that moment, knowledge was the only thing that would keep him safe.

Flinx knew that he should have started looking for a group to party with inside the dungeon for safety reasons, but then Camryn and Oliman kept bombarding him about stories of betrayals and backstabbing, so he became a little paranoid about getting close to other adventurers.

“That’s very wise of you, Flinx. Even though you look as young as my son, you’re not impatient,” the older adventurer beside the young man who first asked Flinx a question said.

“I saw your fight against Semanor, Mr. Flinx! You’re very powerful!” The girl in their group said.

“Just call me Flinx.”

“My name is Roon, this is my uncle Larun, and my cousin Lorna. Larun is Lorna’s father,” Roon, the young man who first asked him a question said.

“Which floor are you planning to enter?”

“My uncle is a Silver Rank adventurer, and both Lorna and I are just Iron Ranks, so we’ll only enter the 3^rd floor.”

“I did read the book that the guild gave me that contained information about the dungeon, but I still need to check things out inside,” Flinx told Roon while Lorna was making calf eyes at him.

Larun just shook his head at his daughter’s expression.

“As I’ve said, that was a good idea. I’ve also seen your fight against the shield warrior, and based on that alone, I think that you can easily solo even the 40^th floor of the dungeon. I’m exaggerating, though, so don’t listen to me. It’s just me appreciating your power. It’s still a good idea for you to join a group instead of going at it alone,” Larun said.

“I know. It’s just that I’m a little wary about joining an unknown group. When I was traveling, I joined a merchant caravan, and the merchants there kept warning me about trusting other adventurers too much. They told stories of betrayals, and the fact that the dungeon would be able to conceal evil acts made them not uncommon.”

Those merchants were correct about that, and the only thing that you can do is try to find a trustworthy group. If you were lower than a Diamond Rank adventurer, I could have helped you since I’ve been doing this gig for decades and know a lot of trustworthy folks. Unfortunately, the world of Diamond Rank adventurers is so far above me that I simply don’t know anyone that had that rank. Truth be told, you’re the first Diamond rank that I’ve talked to in years. How old are you if I may ask?” Roon’s uncle asked.

 Flinx simply replied with his age, which was 25 years old. Thankfully, the 1^st tab of his system had his personal information because if not, he wouldn’t have known how old he was. During the time he was a slave, the time simply moved forward without him or any of the other slaves caring about it.

“You’re only four years older than Lorna and me, and you’re already a Diamond Rank!” Roon exclaimed.

“And a magic caster to boot!” Lorna added.

“When I saw you throw those magic bolts toward Semanor, you looked so powerful! I wish I could cast spells like that,” Roon sighed.

“I like those pretty lights that hover on top of your head. At first, I didn’t know why you summoned pretty lights, but when those lights flew towards Semanor, I knew that they were extremely powerful!” Lorna exclaimed.

“Your fight against Semanor opened a lot of people’s eyes. Normally, wizards wouldn’t allow anyone to know how they fight, but you generously allowed other people to see your fight against the shield warrior,” Larun said.

“Why don’t wizards want others to see how they fight?” Lorna asked her father.

“I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that it was to make sure that the specifics of their spells wouldn’t spread and be easily countered by their enemies,” Larun answered.

Roon and Lorna stared at Flinx admiringly for not caring even if others saw his spellcasting. Soon, Flinx reached the booth and paid 10 gold coins to enter the 10^th floor of Mara’s dungeon, after saying goodbye to Roon and his group.

Flinx knew that the dungeon wasn’t an instance dungeon, and there were a lot of people delving the 10^th floor, so he expected that he would meet some adventurers inside.

The moment he entered the 10^th floor, Flinx couldn’t help but shudder. The 10^th floor of Mara’s dungeon was a cavern. Much like the cavern dungeon where Flinx had lived for two years as a dungeon miner slave. He felt his soul trembling, but he resolutely shoved his fear to the very back of his mind. That was the reason why Flinx chose to hunt monsters in the forest outside Beldor Town to level up his Wizard Class, instead of heading into dungeons the moment he learned that there were also dungeons in this world. He knew that delving into dungeons would reopen his mental wounds, but if he truly wanted to reach the level where he could rescue his fellow dungeon miner slaves, he needed to face that fear.

After bracing himself for a couple of minutes, Flinx started moving forward. He didn’t want to remain by the gate and encountered adventurers entering the 10^th floor. The 10^th floor of Mara’s dungeon was extremely huge. Flinx felt like he was on an alien planet since the ceiling was so high that he could only see darkness there, reminiscent of the night sky. People could start traveling to different parts since there were so many of them.

According to the book that the guild gave him, the paths that one could see on the 10^th floor were straightforward despite the fact that the paths were filled with different types of obstruction which were mostly stalagmites. The stalagmites didn’t have any uniform structure, and some of them were so huge and so tall that one couldn’t see the top. Flinx assumed that some of them reached the ceiling.