The pain finally faded, leaving behind only a dull ache.
Kael exhaled slowly and forced himself forward.
With every step, the wounds on his body began to knit themselves together.
It was a trait he'd been born with—not an abnormal regeneration.
Just fast regeneration, what others take a week to heal he can heal in a day, what others take a day to heal he can heal in hours, what others take hours to heal he can heal in minutes
But he can't heal when missing limbs or when his stamina is depleted.
And it was that very gift that gave him the courage to become an adventurer.
The certainty that he wouldn't break as easily as others.
———
A goblin lunged forward.
He swung the club low from the left, aimed straight at his torso.
Kael reacted on instinct.
He slid back a half-step, letting the attack slice through empty air, and in the same motion drove his sword forward.
The goblin had overreacted.
Because of the wide swing—from low left to high right—its neck was completely exposed.
Slash.
The tip of Kael's blade pierced clean through the goblin's throat.
For a split second, its eyes widened.
Then its body collapsed into a cloud of black smoke.
"…Phew. Finally managed to easily kill one solo," Kael muttered, sheathing his sword.
"Not exactly something to brag about, though." His heart was still pounding.
It took time to get used to fighting like this—where every mistake could mean death.
Back in the outside world, you could survive just fine as long as you stayed out of trouble.
Don't go to shady places.
Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong.
And don't be too unlucky.
Here?
Every step was a gamble.
"…Time to head back."
Kael crouched and picked up the magic stone the goblin had dropped.
After slipping it into the small pouch at his waist—already heavy with other magic stones—he straightened up.
Using the map he'd memorised, Kael turned toward the path leading back to the surface…
and started walking.
During his explorationon on the first floor, he has come across a duo of goblins and other adventurers.
But he always keeps his distance, in the senior adventurer's notes he has readied many times.
Warning—rule number 2: stay far away from the unknown adventurers, as they are sometimes far more dangerous.
As he cautiously walked towards the surface, he noticed sound coming from both the front.
...Damn I'm already exhausted, now I have to take a detour to avoid whatever is coming from the front Kael thought to himself
He began to back away, and he unsheathed his sword for any unforeseen accident
But the dungeon has other plans
"—grrrhhhh"
Suddenly sound of a goblin respawn sounded from behind him.
[KAEL'S POV]
damn, is goblin respawning right now
I began prepare myself to take out the goblin coming behind, and fast
Because there is no time left, if what's coming from the front is also a goblin I will be trapped
No, even if what's coming from the front is an adventurer, it's still dangerous if they have any malicious intent, they can attack me from behind while my attention is on the goblin
Looking at the goblin coming from the back and holding a dagger, I began to sweat
A goblin holding a weapon and a goblin without one are completely different concepts
Even if I take a hit from the club, as long as I don't break my bones it will be fine but if I get hit with a dagger it's all over for me
I don't wait for him to attack,instead.
I take initiative, running towards him while gripping the hilt of my sword and holding it at my side
The distance between two close
—Opening my attack with a diagonal Slash with my sword.
As my sword leaves a trail of light reflected from the faint light of the dungeon, the goblin also raises his dagger to parry my sword
And this was what I was waiting for.
Because of the force of our clash, both our weapon deflected and our bodies shifted backwards
At this time, I raise my right foot and kick towards his crouch
Call it despicable as long as he leans forward in pain I can cut his head off in one full swing
–suddenly my pupil constricts, I barely managed to throw my head back and did a backflip with my left hand, when a stone passed by where my head was–and messing goblin who leaned forward in pain- lodged itself on the wall
[Hestia's pov]
"How is Kael doing in the dungeon?, It's been 5 hours since he went down"
Slap
—slapping my face with both hands, and trying to calm myself down from my suddenly arising bad feeling
Okey Hestia pull yourself together, he will be fine he has Hera's and Zeus's divine protection
[Divine protection: often manifest on mortals cared for by gods, A gift that increases their luck, potential and survivability (god are transcendental beings, even after their power is fully sealed they will still influence the surrounding world, in both positive and negative ways in the form of divine protection or divine punishment, that's why gods avoid getting too close to mortals Unless he/she are someone they recognised )]
I was working at a food stall, when I started to get a bad feeling
I can't calm down, what if something happens to my Kael? He is my Familia!
No, I have to go. Kael is in danger
I started to pick up my stall and headed towards the dungeon, on the main road – that starts from the city gate and ends at the dungeon entrance – I noticed my divine friend Takemikazuchi(Japanese god of war) as well as his Familia as pure Far Eastern faces and clothing is quite unusual in Orario
He also noticed me and called out to me while raising his hand
"Hestia! How has it been? I heard that you have started your Familia?"
"What's happened? Why are you so anxious" he noticed my expression as whe get close
I replied to him while still running towards the dungeon, with worry and a determined expression
"My Kael haven't returned home "
Reading the meaning of my words, his face changed. He realises what I intend to do
He take of running to stop me from destroying this world
[Hestia's pov ended]
Dungeon is alive
This is not a mere saying but a literal fact, at the beginning of the mortal world, as various races started to establish their civilisation, their spirit began to produce various energies.
Good energy born from the goodness of mortals, starts to be absorbed by a higher dimension known as Heaven.
While evil energy born from the wickedness of mortals starts to be absorbed by the inner world.
an alternative dimension where all the mysteries and life force of the planet are located
These energies are extremely mixed and chaotic, because of the gods in Heaven who can purify and transform it to divine energy, Heaven was completely fine
But no one on inner world can purify evil energy
Evil energy started to corrupt the inner world, which started to change the mortal world in to hell by birthing monsters
because of this mortals started to lose mystery until aside from few race most of whom can't use mystery (such as magic)
Even all-knowing and all-powerful gods could do nothing. Because as long as mortals exist evil energy will always be born
This is a trial of mankind. Born from mankind itself,
The situation only changes after Uranus (or Ouranos), the primordial Greek god and personification of the sky and heaven, comes down to the mortal world.
He then gathers all of the evil of mankind and transforms it alongside the entrance to the corrupted inner world—A hole in the world— into a dungeon then personally seals it off with the Tower of Babel built by mortals and his own body waiting for the one qualified to permanently destroy it