Danmachi: the Great Devourer

C6: First Time at the Dungeon

Word count = 2472 on 12/23/2023

Two weeks pass in this simple life, Axel has not been to the dungeon yet but his stats have all risen to mid 60s to low 80s. This isn't all that impressive as it is still 'I' ranked for all his stats but having such steps before even entering the dungeon once is impressive. He is on the border of reaching H rank. He wasn't always able to spar with the students as they only have them once a week while other times is mostly focused on self improvement and learning martial arts techniques. Granted the learning part is just from Axel and not from any other student.

Some of her Raikou's martial arts students have stopped showing up for a bit as they realized that they were regressing but no known reason for it as their schedules have been the same for quite some time. They just can't figure out the reason for this weakening effect on them.

Axel has spent this time mostly training and learning about the dungeon from his handler Illya, he was even given some starter gear but he has found that he doesnt really like swords or knives but he will at least humor his goddess and handler during his first time so that he can see how effective it really is. Which leads to his current situation where he is wearing a simple leather vest to cover his chest in case of injuries. They couldn't afford any gauntlets or greaves just yet so the rest of his body will be exposed. Luckily his dexterity stat is the highest, so he should be able to avoid injuries from the monsters of the first floor. So with a knife and shortsword resting on his hip at each side and a backpack on his back. He is given a kiss on the head and waved off by Raikou who returns home alone.

Axel has a bit of nervous sweat lining his forehead as he gets in line to enter the dungeon. He has long gotten a dungeon ID which ensures he can legally enter it. This is likely a security measure to prevent suspicious figures from entering whenever they want…like Evilus or monster poachers.

Axel finally enters and the entrance area looks like a giant pit with steps lined up along the edges which allow him to walk down to the first floor. There are multiple staircases that seem to all connect to a single area. Which means that it starts out fairly open but gets more clustered as you go down but more guards ensure that everything is done smoothly as one side is reserved for people exiting while the other side is for entering. Axel soon gets his turn and finally witnesses the first floor of the dungeon. The light blue walls and wide hallways is what greets Axel's eyes. He doesnt immediately see any monster as either the guards or previous adventurers have already killed them for easy money.

Axel has his hand on his shortsword in a ready position should any monster appear as he has been warned over and over again about the dangers of the dungeon, even on the first floor. He is walking around for some ten minutes before he encounters his first monster. It begins to break through the walls to reveal a short green figure with a dirty loincloth around their waist. This creature is called a goblin and infamous for their group tactics but Axel is lucky enough that this one was born alone as he unsheathed his sword and steps towards the goblin which has noticed him and started charging towards him.

Axel is stunned at the speed of the monster before raising his sword high and swinging it down. The goblin dodges the attack to only receive a cut on it's arm due to it just being on the edge of the sword's length. The goblin redoubles it's charge while Axel retreats to keep his distance but it's not enough when he is tacked by the goblin. Axel falls over, dropping his sword but he luckily has the dagger to quickly unsheathe and stab into the goblins chest as it has started pummeling his chest with it's bare hands. The impacts hurt but the stab wound he delivers in return hurt more and the goblin stumbles off him while holding the knife in it's chest.

"GRAAAAAAA" the goblin screeches from the pain as Axel gets back up and grabs his sword again. He is less afraid this time around and remembers the life lessons of his Goddess.

"A strike does not need to immediately go for the kill if you arent confident. Stab the legs or arms to restrict it's movement or combat ability if you must before delivering the killing blow", with this lesson in heart, he cuts halfway through the goblins right leg which causes it to kneel before him while struggling to take the dagger out of it's chest. Axel cant tell if that is from a lack of self preservation or in an attempt to use the dagger against him, so he immediately cuts off it's arm before he tries out his skill.

"Shadows of the Abyss, I AM the Endless, Rapture of Power and Possessor of All that Belongs to Others." He chants softly as his hands are covered in aura, he starts out by kicking the goblins head into the ground before he grabbed it's arm and head with his own hands while kneeling on it's back.

The sensation flowing through his body is much stronger than what he is used to before. He can tell this is the Excellia or 'stats' he had been absorbing from the other students but this is more pure, or condensed. It's the type of energizing feeling that one would get when high as ones excitement reaches a peak.

As for the goblin itself, it's body has gradually withered due to the absorbing process and Axel holding it down has made his dagger stab far enough into it's chest that it finally explodes into dust and he has to avoid skewering his own member since he was kneeling on the goblins back.

Axel wipes his sweat from his brow as well as some dust that gathered when he was first tackled. He sheathes both his sword and dagger since he doesnt want to tire himself out by constantly holding the sword out. Which is why he is slowly walking forward, exploring and being mindful of corners as he moves around.

His next opponent is a group of two goblins. With the experience of the first, he moves to cut either their legs or arms but he misses once and immediately kills one of the goblins as it tripped into his sword, cutting its own neck and dying as a result. He moves to absorb the 2nd goblin with his skill again. He then collects the monster cores. He quickly realizes that the cores are super thin and small but the stones from the goblins he absorbs are even more so as they are half the width of the one goblin he purely killed.

"What happens if i try to absorb the stone itself?" He ponders and goes to a quiet corner to sit down at a ready position before setting his backpack down while holding the 1st goblins core. He actives the skill and the stone quickly disappears, strengthening him but on the other hand, his hand is trembling as the unfiltered dungeon energy is striking out at his body before it is weakened out of nowhere. The weakening felt similar to how he felt whenever he was healed from the injuries he got before getting his falna, just weaker.

He learned a valuable lesson that he couldn't absorb the stones. Or rather he could but at the cost of extreme pain and weakness. He might try it again but outside the dungeon if he is in a need for strength but definitely not inside where he is at a great risk of death.

He regathers his things and is about to head further in when the wall next to him opens up 3 slots to reveal a small pack of kobolds. He quickly swings his sword at one of the blue/brown dog-like lizard folk. He kills one quickly and begins to enact the same strategy as against the goblins by targeting their limbs until he kills another and begins to absorb the last one.

Unfortunately, he is hit on his back by a wooden stick that one of three goblins struck at him after having snuck up on him while he was preoccupied. Axel rolls out of the way and grabs his dagger as he had already set his sword down to absorb the kobold. An oversight on his part but the one armed goblin keeps charging at him and swinging it's stick every which way with no martial art knowledge while Axel blocks the strike with a tiny bit of strain as the gap between their power is vastly decreasing the more he absorbs. He sidesteps which makes this goblin trip and he would have delivered a killing blow if not for the other 2 goblins charging at him. He is forced to sidestep more. He moves to get his sword and stabs the weakened kobold which had barely gotten to it's knees as it very weakened right now. Axel stabs it in the throat to finish it off and grabs his sword while sheathing his dagger again. Bad News once again as by turning his back ont he goblins, they slam into him again, mounting him before he could actually get his dagger up. One goblin is mounting his chest again and raining down punches while the other is standing over him and begins to kick his face. The one with the stick is walking over to them. Axel panics and simply punches out at the goblins which knocks them off him for the moment he needed to get up. He activates his skill while still walking away from the group as he is currently trapped in a small tunnel at a corner and can use a sword to it's proper length without hitting the edges. He could use his dagger but against 3 goblins, it would quickly be lost to them.

So as the first goblin reaches him, he begins to absolutely wail on him, PUNCH, PUNCH, KICK, ELBOW, EYE STAB. THROAT JAB. The goblin also returns to a few hits but they hurt less due to the adrenaline running through his body. But the more the group of goblins is in contact with him, the stronger he gets as he begins to actually break their bones or stun them just long enough to deliver a stronger hit before two goblins go down and now it's just the stick goblin left who strangely looks nervous. Axel on the other hand is very bruised and possibly even a broken rib from all the attacks he took. His hands also hurt from all the impacts but he feels that part of the pain strangely satisfying as he charges at the last goblin to beat it within an inch of it's life before he starts to absorb it. Once it explodes into dust, he finds a goblin fang amongst the dropped cores. He collects his first monster drop with a proud expression as he makes his way out. He didn't go that far into the dungeon this time around so it only took him 10 minutes to get out and start making his way over to the guild to turn in his cores.

The 8 goblin/kobold monster cores and 1 goblin fang net him roughly 8,000 valis (currency). He feels it's a bit short but that is because the only shopping he has done so far was for clothes and equipment which would naturally cost more. He pays the guild for the dagger and leather armor as they were given to him by it on a loan which he now pays off, leaving him with 4,200 Valis.

"Welcome back my child, are you hurt anywhere" He returns home to rest when he is assaulted by a very worried motherly figure who welcomes him back and begins to check his whole body for bruises before practically throwing him in bed half naked and begins to bandage his wounds. Allowing him to recover and rest. Once Raikou is done bandaging him. She found that he was luckily only badly bruised and scratched with no actual breaks unlike what Axel assumed. Though his ribs were on the verge of breaking if he tried to fight anymore. Raikou brings him some soup to eat while he begins to tell her about his adventure, fighting the various goblins and kobolds before being trapped in a corner. How he actually enjoyed simply using his fists to strike out at the monsters as compared to the usage of the sword or dagger. He receives a smack on the head for his foolishness as she explains that it takes alot of effort and even a few development skills to become a proper fist fighter in the dungeon as certain monsters are just too tough for a fist. She gives him a small shot glass filled with red liquid which she explains is a bit of a healing potion she had gotten long ago and never used. Since he had no great injury, he doesnt need the whole potion but once he sets up a proper routine, and gets more money, he can get himself the potions from a store that was recommended to her by her God-friend Takemikazuchi.

Axel simply nods in response and finishes his food then drinks the bit of bitter potion given to him. Granted his injuries begin to quickly recover as a result. He is told to rest for the rest of the day. They can check his falna the next morning.

Axel accepts and is tucked in early and goes to sleep which gives Raikou the chance to change into her sleepwear which is now just her bra and panties as she no longer feels the need to wear the sweater around Axel since he hasn't really ogled her at all.

She joins in the bed and plants a kiss on the back of his head as he has shifted to the side. She brings him closer and lays out a few more kisses while whispering, "I'm so glad that you came back safe and sound my child" She relaxes into bed and falls asleep.

Axel who just has his eyes shut plants a kiss on her arm as well while saying, "im sorry for worrying you kami-sama"