Chương 90: Challenges For The Novice Adventurers! And... A Shady Group?

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Frank, Annabelle, Hilvera, and Asterion walked through the busy streets of the town of Acacia, often filled with people selling their farm products, such as meat, vegetables, and fruits.

There were some people selling eggs, young chicks, and fresh cow milk, in such place is where Cathyl once sold her milk to gain some money to maintain her children, who were now about to explore a Dungeon after having awakened their Mana Cores, something that she never thought would have ever happened.

Using Annabelle's lead, which seemed to be quite well versed in the town's geography, Frank's group walked around the streets, reaching the outskirts of the town and then a paved road, which was surrounded by a peaceful forest.

Many Adventurers of all shapes and sizes walked through this road, some walked in the same direction as them, while others walked in the opposite direction, there were at least three to four more parties that were going to explore the Dark Lair Dungeon, which was only a few meters ahead.

"(This place is exceedingly crowded of people… Not at all like the often-empty Hunting Domains of the Clan back on Earth. This world's 'Dungeons' are a whole different thing, I guess… Well, if I could get Mana Cores from my Hunting Domains, I would have probably not come to any Dungeon until very later on… But well, that is how it is. If I want to increase my Cultivation, I gotta grind Mana Cores. And this place is a good spot)" thought Frank.

"Uwah! So many people!" said Hilvera.

"Indeed, it is quite busy today, seeing as we are getting near the weekend, people like to rest, so many adventurers are trying to gather some money before that, so they can relax!" said Annabelle.

"You sure know a lot, Annabelle-san!" said Asterion.

"Indeed, she's surprising me," said Frank.

"S-Sheesh! Of course, I know these things, my mother always talks to me about these things. Do you think that I simply forget about them?" asked Annabelle.

"Well, you're young, so I wouldn't blame you if the things your mother said to you entered from one of your ears and exited the other…" said Frank.

"H-Hey, don't say that!" said Annabelle with a bit of anger and a strong embarrassment on her face. She cried quite loud, making many Adventurers glance at her.

Which immediately came with many comments about people laughing at them for being kids or pitying them for going to the dungeon to die, as they assumed they were very weak.

"Is that a party of children?"

"Why does the Guild let children register as Adventurers?"

"Don't they know that they could easily die?"

"Well, who cares about some stupid kids?"

"Yeah, mind your own business, if they want to die so badly, let them alone! Hahaha!"

"Hey, don't get near them, maybe they're the lackeys of some of those shady organizations that send kids to dungeons,"

"B-But they're kids…"

"Why do you worry so much? They're probably street kids, some fancy leather armor doesn't mask their ugly poor kid faces!"

"Aw, you're so mean!"

"We got our own lives to take care of, forget about faceless kids,"

"Poor brats, they're getting themselves killed inside of there,"

"Can they even kill a Goblin?"

"If any of them is sting by a giant scorpion, it's their sure death. I mean look, they are not carrying anything aside from their weapons!"

Many Adventurers wanted to intervene but were stopped by other adventurers that did not want them to get involved in shady business.

It seems that Frank's Party was somehow attributed to a small organization that had suddenly appeared within Acacia, which employed kids found on the streets, forcing them to go to the dungeons and risk their lives to bring materials or monsters corpses.

Aside from this, some Adventurers laughed at them because Frank's party was not carrying anything other than their weapons… This was because Frank decided to save everything inside his inventory for convenience's sake.

Frank was also a strong healer, strong enough to heal a god, so he was confident that he would be able to heal the kids if they were to be injured.

Although the kids had shown mental fortitude in the Guild, as they walked through the road and kept being showed by more and more odd glares, they felt a bit overwhelmed, getting angry and frustrated.

"Tch, why don't they stop glaring at us?" asked Asterion.

"It feels weird, can't they glance elsewhere?" wondered Hilvera.

"Those annoying adventurers! They think they're the bosses in here because they got some years of experience ahead of us!" said Annabelle.

"You three calm down, there is no point in getting angry over strange stares, let's go explore and have some fun, moderately, that's it," said Frank.

"Aniki… Okay!" said Asterion.

"If Frank-kun is with us, I feel at ease," said Hilvera.

"Well, not me. I still feel a bit nervous!" said Annabelle.

"But didn't you wanted to come by yourself? Don't chicken out now, Annabelle…" said Frank.

"W-Who are you calling a chicken?! I will not chicken out! I'm going to burn those monsters!" said Annabelle.

"Make sure to not completely, we need their corpses as well," said Frank.

"O-Oh, right," said Annabelle.

"We're here!" said Asterion, as the party glanced at the mythical entrance of the dungeon, made entirely out of dark blue bricks, the entrance was dark, but slightly illuminated by torches, it was particularly clean and peaceful inside, but Frank assumed that as they entered deeper, the monsters that are hiding of a large number of Adventurers would show up.

"It is a bit cold inside…" said Hilvera.

"D-Don't worry, it is the lowest level dungeon…" said Annabelle.

"Ah, this place looks more disappointing than I thought. Well, it is small because it is a low-level Dungeon, I guess…" said Frank.

"What did you really expect?" asked Annabelle.

"Well, something more grandiose, I guess… This looks more like the entrance to an old and subterranean temple filled with moss and darkness… Oh, I guess 'Dark Lair' fits," said Frank.

"Anyways, let's get in, other Adventurers are waiting for us to get in behind us…" said Hilvera.

"Oh? So there is a system of the first enter first serve?" asked Frank.

"It's nothing too fancy. The entrance may look small, but according to my mother, the dungeon expands a lot as we walk in through the vast corridors, and it's easy to get lost. Due to its vastness, it is rare for parties to meet within the dungeon," said Annabelle.

"You're like a little guider, you know?" asked Frank.

"I-I'm not a guider! But this is all of what mother had always taught to me about it," said Annabelle while crossing her arms.

"Very well, let's get going then…" said Frank, walking alongside the rest of his party through the corridors, and reaching long stairs that conducted towards the dark depths.

"There are torches everywhere, so it is not as dark anymore," said Annabelle.

"It kind of kills the thrill a bit…" said Asterion.

"But it would suck to not be able to see anything, Asterion!" said Hilvera.

"A-Ah, well, yeah…" said Asterion.

"(I will leave my threads connected to the stairs. A small and thin thread that is invisible should work. With this, we can backtrack if we ever get lost, although my other Skills greatly enhance my perception of the whole place… Though, an Auto Mapping Skill would be ideal… Ah, I got some Skill Scrolls in my Inventory, but they are random, so hoping for it would be unrealistic… I will use them at night, no time, for now, to sit and use them)" thought Frank, as he left a thin and almost invisible thread connected to the stairs' wall.

As Frank and the trio walked through the vast corridors, the Dungeon began to slowly felt bigger and more expansive.

"It really does get bigger as we go…" said Frank.

"See? Mother never lies about this stuff, she knows all of it after all! She explored many dungeons!" said Annabelle.

The walls of the dungeon were damp and filled with moss, and the smell of torches burning filled the ambiance, giving it an old and rustic feeling. And due to the ancient-looking scriptures within the dungeon's old walls, the entire atmosphere was almost mystical, very different from any Hunting Domain that Frank had ever explored.

As the group finally made a good distance from the entrance, monsters finally began to show up.

And it was a tiny Demon Rat who greeted the party.

It had the size of an adult cat… but it was cataloged as 'tiny' by standards, as Demon Rats can easily get to the size of an adult dog, or even a young cow.

"A Demon Rat! Is it part of one of the Quests?" asked Asterion.

"Yeah, we need their fat, but I will just save the whole corpse in my Inventory," said Frank.

"We'll catch it!" said Hilvera, as she ran towards the Demon Rat, who was glancing at the party intensively with its crimson eyes.

"Grryyaarr!"

The Rat roared, jumping towards Hilvera, and evading her knife!

The rat's fangs were directed towards Hilvera's face, they were sharp enough that they would easily pierce through her skin and flesh if it were to bite at her tender face!

"G-Gust!" cried Hilvera, releasing a gust of green winds that made the Demon Rat lose its balance in midair, flying to the wall and hitting it with great force.

Although clumsy, Hilvera managed to evade a strong attack that might have left an ugly scar on her face.

"I got it now!" said Asterion, raising his axe and hitting the rat with it!

Clash!

However, the Rat was faster than any Horned Rabbit, evading in time!

"Gryyarr…!"

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Check "The Protagnist's Sister Is Actually the Strongest"!

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Chương 91: Vicious Little Monsters!

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Asterion had thought that he would have easily sliced the rat in half with his axe, but the rat's speed surprised the young minotaur, as the tiny critter moved around the floor at great speed.

"Damn it! Ah!"

Asterion tried to take his axe back again, but was surprised as it was stuck on the floor!

"A stickiness?" he asked, as he found a slowly moving ooze of slime that had tightly grabbed his axe with its liquid, green-colored tentacles.

"A Slime!" said Annabelle.

"Rank 1… Nothing to sweat about. It's weak to fire, so let Annabelle kill it, Asterion," said Frank, he was strong enough to sweep any of these monsters, but he wanted the kids to do the work by themselves, and gain real experience. If the baby sited them, they would grow spoiled and weak, and he wanted them to find their own strength through their experiences.

Of course, Frank did not simply watch, he offered healing and support, alongside giving commands, and appraising the monster's weaknesses. He also provided mana through Mana Transfer, giving the kids the ability to spam their Skills or Spells more freely.

The Slime was a Rank 1 Green Slime, it was weak and moved as slow as a slug, but it possessed enough strength to entangle an axe and not let it go, even resisting the pulling strength of a young Minotaur such as Asterion.

"Alright! Fireball!" said Annabelle, rushing near Asterion and throwing a fireball towards the slime, which was simply moving slowly, trying to grab the entire axe, probably because it was capable of digesting metal.

Boom!

The blazing fireball clashed against the slime, as the creature released a slight shriek, its ooze became liquefy into the greasy and oily water.

"Grrryyyy…!"

"Ah, where is the rat?!" asked Asterion.

"Right there, Hilvera, duck!" said Frank, pointing at the rat that was rushing through the walls, charging with towards Hilvera's torso, jumping towards her, and pointing its sharp fangs!

"Grryaar!"

"Uwaaahh…!" cried Hilvera, evading the Demon Rat and then using her precision and Gust to point the knife in midair against the Rat!

Flash!

The knife flew thanks to her Gust Skill through the air, reaching the rat as it deeply seeped into its chest!

Clash!

"Grrryyaarr…!"

The Demon Rat shrieked in agony as it tried to escape, but it was caught by Frank's threads.

The Demon Rat was already dying, and it died down a few seconds afterward through blood loss, but due to the monster's natural stamina, it shrieked and struggled as hard as it could.

"Good job, that was impressive," said Frank.

"That was pretty intense… But I did it! I killed it! Ah, I gained Experience… po… points?" asked Hilvera, as a System Notification notifying her of her gained EXP appeared in front of her.

"You already leveled a bit yesterday, remember? It is the same with every monster, you can gather experience points and level up your Job, which is all part of the power I've shared with you, which originates from Abraddon-sama," said Frank.

"I see, so that's how it is… so even by just simply killing monsters we can get stronger?" asked Hilvera happily.

"Uegh, this Slime smells horrible when it melted entirely…" said Annabelle.

"But I got my axe back! Although it sucks that I didn't get some action myself…" said Asterion.

"Cheer up, there will be another opportunity for you," said Frank, as he saved the Demon Rat corpse inside of his Inventory, cleansing and giving back the knife to Hilvera.

"Will you save the slime ooze?" asked Annabelle.

"Well, it is all burned out and oily… So, I don't think so- Huh? What is that? A pearl?" asked Frank.

"Ah, that's the Slime Core, it is a special organ inside of slimes. Mommy said that it is like their hearts," said Annabelle.

"And there is also the Mana Core here, inside of the Slime Core," added Annabelle.

"I wonder if the crystal that covers the Mana Core, the Slime Core, can be sold?" asked Frank.

"It can, I believe it is used to make accessories or potions. It is not as precious as a Mana Core, but it can be sold!" said Annabelle.

"Let's save it as well then…" said Frank, putting the green-colored fist-sized crystal inside of his Inventory.

Frank walked through the corridor, as he had now gathered one Demon Rat corpse, completing one of the quests, although he would gladly add more as they came across them, as the rewards might increase.

As the party explored around, a group of old-looking Adventurers, all of them being already above twenty-five years old followed them stealthily.

One of the four men, a short catkin beastmen with short black hair seemed to be slightly concerned.

"H-Hey, are you sure that we should be tailing some kids? Aren't we acting kind of shady? Today the dungeon is quite busy if we get caught by another party…" he said.

"Meh, relax, Styx. We are part of the thief guild after all, right? We steal things, that's what we do… And well, that's why it is a secret guild too," said their boss, a wild cat-kin beastmen with brown hair and black stripes.

"Yeah, don't be so scared, they're just some stupid kids," said a third member, a dog-kin beastmen.

"That's right. It's their fault for being so stupid to come to the dungeon, to begin with, and bringing that fancy leather armor… And did you see the wand of that fox girl? That could sell for a gold coin!" said a fourth man, a rat-kin beastmen.

"Sigh… Okay…" said the black cat-kin beastmen.

"Boss will get pretty happy when we bring this to them, we'll surely get a raise in the guild's ranks!" said their group boss, the wild cat-kin beastmen.

"Oho~ I like the sound of it! If we get some rank up in the guild, we can then get access to the black-market shop inside of it and get ourselves some cultivation materials for a cheaper price than in the market!" said the rat-kin beastmen.

"Yeah! See? These kids are a jackpot," said the boss of the group, slowly walking with the other three through the shadows of the corridors.

Frank's party came across what seemed to be sewer-like rooms, where strange rivers filled with nasty, green-colored water blocked their path, only leaving a small bridge to cross through.

"What is this? Smells terrible…" said Hilvera.

"This is… I think mother said something about a river that looked like a sewer in the Dark Lair! Ah, this is the place where those big fish that eat people appear!" said Annabelle.

"That… eat people?" asked Asterion.

Splash!

As the party chatted in front of the river, the fishes swimming around wasted no time, jumping out of the river while pointing their sharp teeth at them!

Frank quickly used his Inspect Skill in all of them.

"Rank 1 Giant Man-Eating Fish, rather weak, and don't possess anything special going for them aside from… well, their big size and sharp teeth," said Frank, as he created a Mana Barrier, protecting the kids from the charging fish as they hit the mana wall with loud clashing sounds.

Clash! Clash! Clash!

The fishes fell to the ground as they began to struggle, trying to jump back into the water.

"So their special skill is to jump out of the water, catch someone and bring it in… If they fail, they are left defenseless while struggling to go back into the water… Quite disappointing… Finish them off, they're easy EXP," said Frank.

"Yessir!" said Asterion, charging and chopping a large fish with his axe! Instantly slicing it in half!

Clash!

"Fireball!" said Annabelle, firing a fireball over a fish and instantly setting it on fire, releasing the delicious smell of grilled fish.

"Gust!" said Hilvera, using gust with her knife and stabbing one of the fish's skulls with it.

The other fish was finished off by Ruby, who jumped out of Frank's shirt, grew into a dog size, and began to eat the fish alive, she seemed to have found them appetizing, despite these fishes have come from nasty, green-colored water that smelt rotten.

"Good job, this was quite easy, do Adventurers have a problem with these fishes?" wondered Frank, as he wrapped the corpses and saved them inside his Inventory.

"We're dining fish tonight!" said Asterion.

"Ah, I have never eaten fish," said Hilvera.

"I wonder how it is!" said Asterion.

"I've eaten river fish from… not here. It is good, it has a special flavor, different from normal meat or chicken…" said Annabelle.

As the party reached the other side of the river, a group of two Demon Rats and a Giant Scorpion ambushed them from the side of the corridor!

"Ah, they must have come from the smell of grilled fish…" said Frank.

"Oops…" said Annabelle.

"Don't worry, this is nice, it wouldn't be fun without the monsters!" said Asterion.

"Yeah, let's get rid of the Demon Rats!" said Hilvera.

"I and Annabelle will take care of the Giant Scorpion, now, go!" said Frank, as the minotaur twins clumsily began their onslaught against the Demon Rats, who used their swift movements to evade most of their attacks.

Frank made sure to keep an eye on them and to always have Gift of Life ready whenever something happened, while Annabelle rained the Giant Scorpion with Fireballs as it ran towards them.

"Ah, it's not burning!" said Annabelle.

"That must its hard exoskeleton… Let me help you a bit," said Frank, releasing a Light Ray out of his index finger, leaving a gaping hole into the Giant Scorpion's abdomen!

"Grrisshaaa…!"

The Giant Scorpion, angered, charged towards Annabelle, pointing its stinger towards her!

Boom!

Annabelle swiftly evaded the strong attack, as she charged her Fireball towards the wound in the Giant Scorpion!

"Fireball! Fireball!" she said, repeatedly conjuring Fireball thanks to Frank's shared Mana, hitting the Giant Scorpion's wound and making it shriek in more pain.

"Grrryaar!"

The Scorpion suddenly moved to the sides, deciding to run away!

"Ah, no buddy, you're not going anywhere," said Frank, using his threads to catch the Scorpion legs.

"Finish it off, Annabelle!" said Frank.

"Fire Whip!" said Annabelle, practicing a new spell she created and slapping the Scorpion with a whip of fire. Frank glanced at the creature's HP turn from yellow to red, dying after three whippings.

On the other side, Asterion and Hilvera defeated the Rats with some of their efforts, although they ended with a few bites in their arms, which Frank healed before they were to get infected.

"Phew, we somehow caught them! Ouch…" said Asterion.

"It was a bit fun, but the pain is hard to get by! Ouch… Although your healing appeases the pain, Frank-kun," said Hilvera.

"Everything will be okay… See? Not even scars. If your mother were to see you with any, she would literally kill me…" laughed Frank, saving the corpses of the monsters by wrapping them in threads and continuing the exploration with the party.

"T-They're quite strong…" said the dog-kin beastmen, as he and his party had been spying from afar at Frank's party.

"That kid has some weird thread magic… We better be careful. I believe they are still manageable. They wasted a lot of Mana by spamming their spells, so we should be able to get them now that they are exhausted of Mana!" said the group's boss.

"Y-Yeah, you're right, boss!"

The group walked through the corridors in silence while shrouding themselves in some kind of Dark Attribute Magic, unaware that Frank had already noticed their presence.

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