Chapter 55

After washing my body, clothes, and sheets with "Purification," I got ready for the morning.

In the morning, I ate breakfast at the inn.

Today's breakfast was the same hard bread and goat's milk as yesterday.

The goat's milk has a unique smell, but it's not undrinkable. I think I could get used to it and even enjoy it.

"Miss, I'm going to the dungeon today and will stay here again. Can I have two rooms?"

"Would one single and one double room be okay?"

"Yes, that would be fine."

I nodded while bringing the hard bread soaked in goat's milk to my mouth, and took a silver coin out of my item bag and handed it to the lady. I told her to keep the change as a tip.

I was told by Haru yesterday that since there was no "No Tipping" sign in the inn, it would be necessary.

After confirming that stew would be served again tonight, I took out the wolf meat from my item bag.

It was just a part of the wolf meat that I couldn't sell to the adventurer's guild and didn't take to the butcher.

"Can you put this wolf meat in tonight's stew? You can use the leftovers as you like."

"Wow, that's good meat. Are you sure?"

"I'm in the mood for some meat."

"Alright. Leave it to me. I'll make a special dish for you."

Yeah, I think I can trust the lady's cooking skills.

[Cook: Level 18]

The job appraisal result shows she's a cook with a fairly high level.

After finishing breakfast, we headed for the entrance of the nearby dungeon.

According to what I heard, the dungeon here is very rare, as it goes up instead of down.

Caro said she wanted to stay behind because "she wouldn't be of any help," but I heard that the dungeon we're going to today is of medium difficulty, lower than the one in Velasra, so I decided to bring Caro along to level her up.

While heading to the dungeon, Caro made a proposal to me.

"Mr. Ichino, can you change Caro's job from apprentice magician to farmer?"

"Can I ask why?"

"If Caro becomes a pharmacist and can make mana potions, it will help Mr. Ichino's alchemy."

"I see. Then let's make it a farmer, and when the level goes up, we'll go in the order of gatherer and pharmacist."

"Yes, but since Caro can only get 1/6 of the experience, it will take some time to level up to gatherer, but once I become a gatherer, I can level up by picking herbs that grow on the road."

"I think you'll become a gatherer pretty soon."

I said something suggestive and headed for the dungeon.

After walking for about 10 minutes, we found a hole that looked like the entrance to a cave.

This is the entrance to the dungeon.

Of course, there was no one on guard.

We went straight into the dungeon.

"Now that I think about it, why is there a statue of a goddess at the deepest part of the dungeon?"

I thought about it belatedly.

"If praying to the statue of the goddess can grant a blessing, wouldn't it be better to have it near the entrance? Or, who and for what purpose did they carry the statue of the goddess to the deepest part of the dungeon?"

"It's for the role of the dungeon and the statue of the goddess. The statue of the goddess is originally a magical tool to gather and purify miasma."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. When monsters are defeated, miasma is released both on the surface and in the dungeon. Miasma becomes food for demons, and demons grow by feeding on it. To prevent this, the goddess herself created the statue of the goddess to gather and purify miasma."

"The goddess herself?"

"Yes. But a problem arose. The amount of miasma overflowing on the surface increased, and the purification couldn't keep up, so the miasma turned into monsters and attacked people. Therefore, the dungeon was created to contain the monsters. The reason monsters spawn in the dungeon and the difficulty of the dungeon is determined by the concentration of miasma in the area, the number of dungeons, and the strength of the statue of the goddess to gather miasma."

"Then what about the boss room?"

"The boss is created from the most concentrated miasma. The reason it takes time to reappear is that it takes time for the miasma to gather."

The reason Minotaurs tend to appear on the 24th floor of the Velasra dungeon is that the miasma flows easily into the underground due to the multiple staircases leading down, but the miasma accumulates because there is only one staircase leading to the lowest floor.

"Is the reason there are three dungeons in Floren because miasma accumulates easily in Floren?"

"That's what they say. I don't know the cause, though."

I see.

In other words, the monsters in the dungeon are born from miasma, so they disappear when defeated.

The monsters on the surface are not born from miasma, so they don't disappear when defeated.

If you ask if the dropped items are lumps of miasma, they are not. The lumps of miasma are the magic stones.

Then what are the dropped items? It's said that a great scholar is researching this.

"I've been picking up a lot of meat from Minotaurs, but I don't feel like eating it."

"But I haven't heard that eating meat or fruit dropped by monsters in the dungeon can make you sick, so it should be fine."

"It's a matter of feeling."

Still, I guess it's not good to be a picky eater.

Yeah, let's forget about this information for now.

Also, the system of the dungeon absorbing people who die inside or items placed on the ground is to prevent the bodies or items from being possessed by miasma and turning into monsters.

"In this dungeon, I'll specialize in magic, so be prepared for that. Caro, stay by my side, and Haru, go in front."

The dungeon is less likely to be ambushed because there is a detection system.

If we were outside, we could be attacked from a distance, so I'm specialized in physical attacks just in case.

By the way, my current jobs are: Unemployed, Apprentice Magician, Magician, Apprentice Alchemist, and Apprentice Enchanter.

"Understood."

"Yes."

At that moment, Haru's tail, which was in front of me, stood up.

"I smell something... the smell of a monster that carries poison."

"Poison... It sounds a bit troublesome, so Haru, don't go too far ahead."

After walking for a while, it also appeared on my detection.

It's around the corner.

Alright—

"Petit Fire! Petit Wind!"

I sent a small flame and bent it to fly around the corner.

[Ichino's level has increased]

It seems my level as a Magician has increased due to using magic.

It's a secret technique, the Flame Curve Ball.

However, the ball of fire eventually hit the wall around the corner.

With an explosion, a red frog as big as a St. Bernard came flying out from the front.

"Petit Stone!"

I threw a stone to take down the red frog in a bid to redeem myself.

Purple blood splattered around and was absorbed by the dungeon.

What was left was a magic stone and purple slime.

[Ichino's level has increased]

[Apprentice Magician Skill: Ice Magic acquired]

[Magician Skill: Earth Magic upgraded to Earth Magic II]

[Magician Skill: MP Boost (Minor) acquired]

[Apprentice Enchanter: Healing Magic upgraded to Healing Magic II]

Yeah, it feels good.

Looking at my magic list, it seems I've acquired a spell called Cure.

Sure enough, with 20 times the experience and 1/20 of the required experience, it's easy to level up. Is it really okay to level up so easily?

"Um... Mr. Ichino?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"It seems my level has increased for some reason..."

"Congratulations. Did you learn any new skills?"

"Yes, the job of Gatherer has been unlocked, and the skill for scythe equipment... no, the level is increasing too fast."

Caro was genuinely confused.

Well, Caro's surprised expression was cute, but I need to explain my heavenly blessing to her.