Surviving the Dungeon with an EX-Rank Trait

Step.

I carefully took a step forward.

Chill. It was cold. I could instinctively feel a chilly energy seeping out from within.

[Chaos warns not to let your guard down at any time.]

‘What could possibly be at the end of this cave… If I go in with half-hearted resolve, it might be dangerous.’

“I don’t know what will come out, but no matter what happens, everyone needs to stay alert.”

I stopped at the cave’s entrance and looked at them.

It’s a given, but it’s good to remind ourselves before we dive in.

“Let’s use the shield primarily to protect you two. No need to worry about me, your safety comes first. Got it?”

Yeriell and Lumia nodded with serious faces and responded with a thumbs-up before we moved forward again.

The cave was very dark and ominous, with not a single ray of light.

In the darkness where monsters seemed about to jump out any moment, we slowly walked forward, lighting the surroundings with the flickering flames of our torches.

‘Is there nothing at the entrance? Well, we just got here.’

Keeping my guard up, I glanced at the cave walls and above, but all I saw were small bugs crawling here and there.

There were no signs of any living creatures.

With the Great Labyrinth’s rules in play, it was definitely an artificially created cave, right?

With this size, if it were a natural cave that always existed on the 4th Floor, it would have been marked on the map as a hotspot.

‘…Hmm.’

Having very shallow exploration knowledge as a modern person, it was difficult to differentiate anything even after flipping through some books at the Library.

We walked quietly for a good two hours without anything happening.

‘Isn’t it about time for something to pop up?’

Tap, tap.

“…What is it, Lumia?”

Lumia’s fingers tapped on my arm.

Oh, it seemed she’d discovered something. Or maybe she sensed the presence of a monster?

Anyway, it was a good sign after my tense body had been itching.

Lumia whispered, being cautious of her surroundings.

“I can feel numerous monster presences about 100 meters away. Their sizes are just a bit larger than goblins.”

Numerous monsters? Surely, not in the hundreds. Assuming it’s in dozens, could we break through?

“Alright! The appearance of monsters means we’ve officially stepped deeper into the cave.”

I pulled out the blood-red dagger from my backpack.

“It’s not a small cave, so we might get lost on the way back, so let’s carve a marker here.”

With a size like this, it should stand out, right?

I etched a marker on the wall for easy recognition.

“If we spot a monster, I’ll take the lead, so just support me appropriately from behind. Yeriell, I’ll need a buff.”

“Sure. His sword shall gleam with light, and the wind shall wrap around him.”

[The effect of Divine Weapon raises your strength by one level for one hour.]

[The effect of Haste raises your agility by one level for one hour.]

After receiving Yeriell’s buff, I finished preparing.

‘Now, let’s see what kind of monsters will show up.’

[Chaos advises to be careful.]

Step, step.

Tap.

I slowed down and moved stealthily.

Eventually, I saw a group of squat, stubby monsters that appeared to be about twenty in number.

They were just slightly larger than goblins, but their appearance was that of goblins with thick gray skin instead of green.

They said it was all goblins from the 3rd Floor; could these be a variant? When I thought about it, there seemed to be something in the bestiary…

Yeah. No matter the name known, since we encountered them in the cave, from now on, you shall be called Cave Goblins.

‘Twenty of them… The initiative is on our side. Let’s land a big hit first and then sweep them away with the Great Sword.’

Szzzap—

Thunder!

Boom!

“Kerreek?!”

“Kereek!”

Damn it. Do they have some sort of innate resistance?

Out of the twenty, only three were directly hit and burned to ashes by the furious bolt that fell among them.

Boom!

Grinding my teeth to suppress the headache, I rushed forward.

The damage was less than expected, so the monsters quickly regained their composure and noticed me charging in.

The cave was spacious enough for me to swing the Great Sword without hindrance, so—

Whoosh!

Slash!!

With all my might, I swung horizontally.

The tough skin was like nothing before my sword filled with magical power.

The two I hit with the massively swung sword sprayed blood and fell as if I were chopping wood with an axe.

Fifteen left.

By this point, the Cave Goblins weren’t going to stand idle either.

“Kyah!”

“Kereek!”

They began attacking in various patterns.

“Ugh!”

Slash!

“Kekek.”

I took a strong step forward and slashed at the three rushing me like four-legged beasts.

Jump!

“Keaaak!!”

While their attention was diverted, there was one attempting to claw me after a running start, but—

Not a chance. Their attack paths were all visible.

Unless a monster is significantly faster and stronger than me, it wouldn’t hit.

“Too predictable.”

Flinch—!

I shifted my body slightly to dodge the attack by a hair’s breadth, then punched my left fist into that ugly face.

The creature’s face caved in, and it died instantly.

The two that hesitated for a moment rushed in late, but I heard Lumia’s incantation from behind.

“Black hand that grasps the night.”

[Lughen’s Grasp]

“Gek!”

A black claw appeared in mid-air, lunging at the two airborne goblins, shattering their bodies like popping water balloons.

Splurt! Shlurp.

With a vicious sound, blood gushed from the fingers that clutched them tightly.

Now there were nine left.

In the blink of an eye, more than half were down, making the Cave Goblins retreat and stagger back.

However, it seemed that the essence of monsters doesn’t just disappear, does it?

“Kereek, Kerekerrek!”

One particularly massive one with bloodshot eyes shouted, and their movements became more coordinated.

Including the shouter, the two at the back extended their hands.

Crack, crack.

Boom!

“?!”

Before I could even react, earthy energy quickly gathered over that hand, causing the ground in front of me to rise sharply.

“Ugh!”

‘What? They’re casting magic?!’

They were not holding wands, nor did they look different from the others, yet they suddenly attacked me with magic, leaving me bewildered.

…But being bewildered only means I can’t stand still and be hit.

The rising ground turned into large stakes trying to pierce me; I quickly stepped back to avoid them.

“Kereek!”

Crash!

One of them, still with energy left, hurled a boulder the size of my torso, but—

Thud!!

I blocked it with my Great Sword while using it as a shield, receiving only a slight jolt backward as I staggered back three steps.

“Keaaak!!!”

Leaving the shrieking one behind, the remaining seven charged at me.

‘These little bastards!’

They split into halves.

While two shamans and three goblins marked me, the remaining four attempted to encircle Yeriell and Lumia from behind.

“How dare those brainless twits!?”

Thunder!

Boom!

I dropped a thunderbolt to keep the four at bay.

The surviving two should be no problem to handle. I trust them.

I charged toward the remaining five, burning with rage and swinging my sword.

Realizing that clustering together would make them just a pile of blood before my Great Sword, the goblins finally understood.

Each Cave Goblin slipped to attack me with claws and teeth, but—

I just needed to switch to a lighter weapon and move faster.

I immediately switched to my dagger and channeled magical energy to my feet.

The freedom I felt was incomparable to when I held the hefty Great Sword with both hands.

Swish.

First one down. I rushed past a goblin at twice their speed, slashing its vitals.

Swish, slash!

I deflected a hand aiming for my side and, continuing the motion, turned halfway to behead the goblin attempting to bite me from behind.

“Keaaah!!!”

As their kin was slaughtered in an instant, the angered shamans.

One of them softened the ground to trap my feet into muck, while the other quickly shot sharp stone shards like a projectile.

Watching the shards approach slowly in this painfully slow world, I gathered magical power in my arm.

‘I’ve caught the Layered Ruler and high-tier species. I won’t fall for such a weak attack!’

“Watch closely!”

Swish!

While swinging my weapon, I released the gathered magic into my arm, accelerating as I forced a change in direction with Ivelyn’s devastating sword technique.

—Bang! Bang! Boom!

In an instant, I found the exact trajectory to intercept six shards and shattered them three times.

The two shamans stared at me with incredulous faces.

Now… it’s time for them to meet their end, right?

Flames of blood red surged from the handle along the sword blade.

“Grrr.”

Gripping the trembling sword, I swung it.

‘Release the killing intent!’

Roooaar—!

No time to resist against the wave of condensed killing intent.

The monsters could only shut their eyes and curl up, witnessing their impending doom.

Limbs flew apart as I blasted their corpses, and immediately after, I turned my body to look toward Yeriell and Lumia.

It seemed they were done over there too.

Yeriell was swinging her weapon wildly, shattering goblin skulls one after another, with blood dripping from the staff’s tip in splatters.

Whether she sensed my gaze or simply became worried as the fight concluded, both turned to look at me.

They hurried toward me.

“Aren, you’re finished over there too, right? Are you hurt? Should I heal you?”

“No, I’m fine. Really, I’m okay. By the way, you two fought really well! Now I can fight with my mind at ease.”

“Absolutely! Ahem, we’re developing a bit in everything, from support to containment and even individual combat!”

Seriously, you can’t help but love them.

[Chaos thinks maybe the priestess could be a bit cute despite her position.]

As I watched Yeriell crossing her arms and thrusting out her chest while trying to show off, Lumia spoke up.

“The difficulty of this cave isn’t easy. Twenty Cave Goblin variants in a single pack, including two shamans…”

“You’re right. There’s no problem with hunting, but if it continues like this, it will take quite a while to reach the end. We’ll also need to rest periodically.”

“But now that we’re in, let’s charge ahead with full vigor! I’ll smash all their heads in! Don’t let your spirits down, okay?”

Yeriell smiled brightly, lightening the mood after the battle.

“Uh, that’s a bit unnecessary. But sure, let’s push on. There’s definitely going to be some great rewards waiting for us.”

After saying that, I turned to survey the bloody aftermath.

“If we want that, we better start farming the bodies together right away?”

“Speaking of which, two goblins were using earth magic, but where are their corpses? Anything related to magic or the mysterious is worth money.”

As soon as Lumia suggested farming, she asked me about the shamans.

Worth money? Ugh, should I have just taken them down cleanly?

“Both blew up, so there shouldn’t be major organs left… It was just an arms’ length left of heads and limbs flying everywhere.”

“Hmm. That should be fine. Even just gathering wrist bones would still be worth something.”

Hearing this, I moved to pick up the scattered arms immediately.

Let’s see. One, two, three, four. At least the condition is good.

I was able to safely farm a total of two pairs of arms from the shamans’ bodies.

Afterward, I cut the ears from the eighteen fallen Cave Goblins and neatly stored them in my backpack.

‘My space bag is amazing. It’d be good to peel off their tough-skinned leather too, but it can’t be helped. Let’s be satisfied with this.’

Finally, I searched the vicinity thoroughly to see if any traits had emerged.

Unfortunately, it seemed the divine powers didn’t activate, as there was no gray light in sight.

Tsk. Well, maybe if I keep catching more, something will come up.

More importantly, it’s far more beneficial to have it activate during crucial moments fighting stronger monsters instead of mobs.

In any case, we finished the battle and successfully finished farming.

“Now, let’s head out again.”

Leaving the grim battlefield behind us, we stepped toward the depths of the cave once more.

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