The receptionist handed a gold coin and a stack of silver coins to Shulim.
Eighteen thousand four hundred Cole... Factoring in expenses, the admission ticket and mana potions had cost a little over two thousand Cole in total. It seemed like a substantial profit, but she still needed to consider equipment maintenance.
Naturally, Shulim couldn't head into a dungeon with just a weapon in hand.
In fact, beneath her uniform, she was currently wearing blade-resistant undergarments, with matching protective gear on her legs and custom shoes infused with magical effects. Add to that various tools for dungeon navigation, camping, and repelling monsters, and the overall maintenance costs were far from cheap...
“That leaves roughly fourteen thousand Cole...”
In the end, after all calculations,
She still made a net profit of over fourteen thousand Cole!
Looking at that figure alone might not give much perspective, but it was already more profitable than what most C-Class adventurers earned...
Although C-Class adventurers could earn tens of thousands of Cole from a single quest, they only completed a few such quests a month. Adding it all up, their monthly total rarely exceeded two hundred thousand Cole—and that was before expenses. Subtracting costs, hardly any of them netted more than a hundred thousand.
Although Shulim didn't go to the dungeon every day, she went roughly half the days of the month. That meant her monthly net profit alone matched the gross income of most C-Class adventurers—and keep in mind, Shulim was diving into a beginner-leaning labyrinth where making money was notoriously difficult!
“...Do I actually have a real talent for being an adventurer?”
Standing at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild, Shulim mused as she felt the weight of her pouch.
She then looked down at her uniform.
“Maybe I should get this uniform modified...”
...
Glimmer Dungeon, Middle Zone.
Inside a cavern-like underground passageway, a figure advanced cautiously. Although faint fluorescent plants grew along the cave walls, their weak glow was not enough to make the passage clearly visible.
Just as she reached a bend in the passage, a pitch-black shadow suddenly leapt from a corner, thrusting a dark dagger toward her vital spots.
“【ᚣᚠᛟᚪᛚᛜᚢᚪᛖᛡᛞᚠᛟᛃᛜᛣᛃᛗᛡᛃᚱיᚺᛜᛖᛋᚢהᛖᛜᛞᛈᛃᛡᛚᛖᛋ】”
“Flame Arrow!”
A Flame Arrow fired a split second before the dagger could reach her.
The scorching Flame Arrow sent the attacker flying while illuminating the passage. In that brief burst of light, the assailant's true form was revealed...
“A night goblin, huh...”
Shulim looked up at the night goblin, which had taken only minor damage despite being knocked back by the spell, and began casting again.
Night goblins were a mutant variant arising from goblin evolution. Possessing C-Class strength, they usually appeared alone, could cast Dark Magic, and excelled at assassination. They were a relatively common monster in Glimmer Dungeon.
“Flash—!”
“Gah—!”
The blinding glare filled the night goblin with terror. Clutching its head, it turned to flee.
However, Shulim gave it no chance.
“Fire Barrier!”
A wall of fire suddenly materialized, blocking the night goblin's path.
Trapped with nowhere to run, the creature's feral savagery was instantly ignited. Grasping twin dark daggers, its body was shrouded in a layer of shadows, and the shadow beneath its feet began to distort.
In the next instant, partially merged with the shadows, it darted across the ground toward Shulim at blinding speed.
“Fireball!”
Just like before, the moment it came close to Shulim, a fireball materialized out of nowhere and blasted it backward.
“Wind Blade!”
“Lightning Orb!”
“Flame Arrow!”
“...”
One Second-Tier spell after another flew across the cavern, keeping the nimble night goblin scrambling frantically as it took blow after blow...
“【ᛃᚠᛒיᛈᛜᚻᛏᛋᛡᛓᚠᚢᛒᚳᛓᛖᛜᛉᚺᛡᛓᛏᚠᚱᛒᛜᛖᛋᚢהᛖᛜᛖᛗᛃᛞᛋ】”
“Ice Arrow—!”
It was only when an Ice Arrow pierced its vital spot that the night goblin finally ceased moving.
“Not bad. I managed to deal with it using only Second-Tier magic.”
Against a C-Class night goblin, a single Third-Tier spell would have been enough to finish it. However, Shulim hadn't come here just to clear monsters. While a Third-Tier spell could make quick work of it, lower-tier spells were naturally far better suited for mastering the art of Chantless Casting.
Extricating the magic stone from inside the night goblin's body, Shulim continued forward.
“I'll go one floor deeper today.”
The dungeons near Langard were divided into three zones—Upper, Middle, and Lower—based on the strength of the monsters residing within. The Upper Zone was home to monsters below C-Class, the Middle Zone held a mix of D-Class and C-Class monsters, and the Lower Zone was almost exclusively filled with C-Class monsters.
Shulim was currently exploring the Middle Zone.
A few hours later...
As another dungeon monster collapsed, Shulim stopped delving any deeper.
“It's about time to return to the surface.”
Storing away her spoils of magic stones, she estimated that today's haul would net her nearly twenty thousand Cole.
Shulim retraced her steps. The journey back was much faster than her descent, and before long, she reached the Upper Zone.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
“That sound... Is someone fighting up ahead?”
The sound of magical explosions echoed from the area ahead, accompanied by the faint screeches of numerous monsters.
“Are they in trouble?”
Shulim suppressed her presence and moved stealthily toward the noise.
Reaching the site of the battle, Shulim concealed herself behind a stone pillar and cautiously peeked out to observe.
There, she saw a blonde girl under siege by a large swarm of sword-tailed magic rats.
“Alicia Serionce? Why is she here all by herself?”
The girl under attack was none other than Shulim's classmate and the Ninth Princess of the empire.
...
“Squeak—!”
A sword-tailed magic rat leapt high into the air, its thin, long tail whipping at high speed, leaving behind a blur in the air.
Unable to dodge in time, Alicia was struck on the arm by the rat's tail, leaving a bloody streak behind.
“Dammit...”
Gritting her teeth, Alicia endured the pain and slashed out with her sword, striking the sword-tailed magic rat and tearing a gaping wound across its body.
The sword-tailed magic rat twitched and fell to the ground.
However, even more sword-tailed magic rats swarmed forward at that exact moment.
Their thin, spring-like limbs pressed low against the ground as their tails—glistening like sharp blades at the tips—whipped rapidly through the air. Crimson eyes glared fixatedly at Alicia, filled with nothing but savagery and bloodlust.
Alicia aimed the tip of her sword at the approaching rats while rapidly chanting an incantation to prepare a spell.
Panic gripped her heart, accompanied by deep regret over her carelessness in attracting so many monsters.
“Squeak!”
“Squeak!”
“...”
The sword-tailed magic rats leapt into the air simultaneously, launching an attack.
“Fire Barrier!”
Alicia cast her readied spell at the exact same moment.
Rate on N.U.
