Day 26.
That morning, the sun had just risen, painting the sky with golden orange hues. A fresh morning breeze blew through Orario.
Charlie wiped the sweat from his forehead after an intense sword training session.
"Water."
Aishia, who had been watching the training session from the beginning, approached and handed him a glass of cold water.
"Thank you, Aishia."
After saying that, Charlie downed the water in one go.
"Are we going to the Dungeon today?"
"No, for the next few days we won't be entering the Dungeon. Now that I'm Level 3, even though I'm not the strongest, I can be considered upper-class strength in Orario. Based on my calculations, I can defeat a Level 5 adventurer with poor basic abilities, and I won't be overwhelmed if I face a Level 6 like Revis."
"That's true; there are only a few people who can hurt Charlie."
If others heard this statement, they would think Charlie was arrogant and exaggerating.
Level 3 can defeat Level 5?
No one would believe it!
Aishia, unlike those limited by common sense, believed that since Charlie said it, it must be true.
"Charlie, I'm hungry." She said while holding her stomach.
"What do you want to eat this morning?"
"I want to eat vegetables mixed with peanut sauce. That's the breakfast you made for Hera."
"You want gado-gado? Alright, just sit and wait. I'll make it."
"Mm."
Since there was no electronic entertainment, Aishia filled her boredom by watching Charlie cook in the kitchen.
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"Let me wash the dishes."
After breakfast, Aishia took the initiative to play the role of cleaner.
"Huft... Let's get to work."
Standing up from his chair, Charlie broke the wooden floor in the middle of the house, revealing the earth beneath it.
Placing his palms on the ground, he activated the Earth Spirit Art.
*GGRRRMMM*
The next moment, the earth began to move, shifting smoothly according to his commands.
"A depth of ten meters should be enough."
Pulling his hands back, Charlie stared at the hole with a surface area of three meters and a depth of about ten meters. Then, without hesitation, he jumped into the dark hole.
"I really can't be considered a normal human anymore..." Charlie smiled faintly.
If a human jumped from a height of 10 meters onto hard ground, the impact could be very dangerous and potentially result in serious or even fatal injuries. Yet here he was, without a hint of pain despite doing so.
"Since I'm not a construction expert, this project must be carried out carefully; there must be no mistakes to avoid problems later on."
This time, Charlie placed both hands on the ground, mobilizing a large amount of magic essence, and once again used the Earth Spirit Art.
*GGRRRMMM*
The ground began to tremble, and the size of the hole around him slowly started to enlarge. Charlie deliberately slowed down the expansion to avoid creating a roaring sound during the process.
The purpose of all this was to create a basement!
The house he bought from the Guild was not spacious, measuring only 60 square meters. Therefore, Charlie wanted to build a basement that would serve as his personal workshop!
With Spirit Art and the Mystery Development Ability, he planned to create magic items himself instead of ordering them from other Familia. After all, he had many ideas from different anime. In other words, his insights were more varied than the inhabitants of this world.
Even the Space-Time Cache he created on a whim had caused quite a stir among many. So, Charlie wanted to secretly develop magic items.
"What is Charlie doing?"
Aishia appeared beside him, asking curiously.
"Making a basement. After all, I have too many secrets."
"I see."
Not wanting to disturb Charlie while he worked, Aishia stopped asking and just watched him.
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Meanwhile, inside the Dungeon.
Bell Cranel was having a great day. After about two weeks of being an adventurer, he had successfully fought monsters on the first four floors. Currently, he was collecting a magic stone from a Dungeon Lizard that had failed to ambush him.
"The 4th Floor is quite easy now; maybe I should try going up to the 5th Floor for a bit." He said cheerfully.
After gently wiping the sweat dripping from his soft white hair, he placed the magic stone into his small pouch and began descending to the 5th Floor, his red eyes sparkling with excitement.
Since this was his first time on the 5th Floor, Bell looked around as he walked, noticing the change in wall color from light blue to light green. As he continued walking, he soon realized that something was wrong.
"Strange. Eina-san said that the 5th Floor spawns stronger monsters and they appear more quickly, but I haven't been attacked at all. I haven't even seen another adventurer. It's too quiet." He thought.
"GROAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
Bell was startled by the sudden rumble coming from the tunnel to his left. Now all his excitement vanished.
"W-What was that?"
Then he saw the source of the sound. With its characteristic bull's head atop a tall, muscular body, a monster was heading towards its next prey: him.
"W-Why is there a Minotaur on the 5th Floor? I thought they appeared after the 15th Floor!" Bell exclaimed, a mix of confusion and fear.
"GROAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
The Minotaur roared again before preparing to attack.
"AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Bell screamed as he ran with a speed befitting his rabbit-like appearance.
The Minotaur was clearly chasing him, and Bell didn't know what to do. He knew there was no way he could defeat the Minotaur at his current level, but he also knew it wouldn't be long before the Minotaur finally caught him.
Approaching the walls with tunnels leading to the right and left, Bell quickly looked back to see a fist coming to hit his face.
*WHOOSH*
*BANG*
Bell ducked just in time to avoid the massive fist that flew past his hair and slammed into the wall. Seeing an opening, he quickly swung his knife at the Minotaur's arm that was embedded in the wall, but the knife simply bounced off.
Realizing he had no way to injure the Minotaur, Bell quickly turned left and ran fast to save himself as the Minotaur turned around and prepared to attack again.
'Why is this happening? Why is there a Minotaur here? I can't defeat that creature!' Bell's thoughts spiraled into panic as he kept turning around, even though he was much faster than a normal Level 1 adventurer.
He didn't even have time to formulate a plan, as his heart raced while he saw the stone wall at the end of the path.
"A dead end!?"
Bell stopped right in front of the cave wall.
His eyes looked anxious as he felt the surface of the cave with his hands, as if trying to find a secret button that would magically open a secret room to save him. However, the sound of the approaching Minotaur's footsteps made him turn and lean against the rock, tears streaming down his face as he saw the Monster finally arrive just a few meters away.
"Am I going to die here?"
Fear and despair filled his mind as Bell could only stare at the Minotaur, which looked fierce and terrifying.
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