Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

We left the shelter and headed towards the portal at the southern end.

“You all did well. Most people pass through the first layer quickly, but we seem to encounter strange people frequently,” I said.

“Should we wait a few days before entering the dungeon next time?”

No, it’s more likely that there will be people waiting to ambush us on the first layer after the first day.

We won’t always encounter people like Carrix.

“That’s true… But sister said there will always be people like them, no matter how many we catch,” Yeriel said.

She shook her head.

“The battle with the human hunters was because of me, but encountering trash like that in the dungeon is inevitable,” she continued, scratching her cheek and laughing.

“But now that we’ve overcome this bad situation, maybe good things will come our way, hehe.”

She was right.

When I had spoken with Evelyn a few days ago, I had quickly skimmed over the rest of the conversation after revealing my identity as a transmigrator.

A few days later, when Yeriel’s training was complete, I hinted to Evelyn about the reason we had encountered the human hunters.

Their leader had taken a piece of paper related to Yeriel out of his bag, and it was also related to his master.

At first, Evelyn was furious and radiated killing intent, but she eventually calmed down and said,

“There’s no other way. Yeriel needs to become stronger. Unless I cover her in A-rank and S-rank items and ruin her…”

“You have to either become stronger yourself or give up adventuring and stay within my sight in the 3rd district.”

“Human hunters, losers, professional looters, criminal organizations… If I wanted to, I could kill them all within my reach. But being in my position and with my strength, I’d face too much backlash. Recently, I had to deal with a group of organized human hunters, and it was quite a hassle. I had to enter the 1st district several times.”

“I have a lot to protect now. Of course, Yeriel is still my top priority, but Ahren, I’m asking you as your teacher and sister to protect her as you grow stronger.”

She assured me that she wasn’t going to be a bystander, and that she would do her best to keep anyone from harming Yeriel in the city.

There might be adventurers who would target Yeriel or Evelyn in the dungeon, but there would also be adventurers who would cause trouble or start conflicts.

“The only answer is to become stronger as soon as possible,” I thought.

As we walked, we kept an eye out for any dangers and continued our conversation.

For example, Yeriel, wanting to help as a priest, asked about the circumstances of the woman who had followed us, wanting to at least offer her some comfort.

I didn’t particularly want to know, but I listened anyway.

The woman had come to the dungeon city, but ran out of money and had to work in the outer areas of the 7th district.

One day, she ventured into the 8th district and was kidnapped and sold into slavery, ending up in that party’s hands.”

The 8th district was supposed to be abandoned land, but it was more like a lawless zone.

I sighed.

After walking for a few hours, we finally reached our destination.

“We’re here.”

Two portals appeared before us, one yellow and one blue.

So far, we had only entered the yellow portal, which led to the city.

‘Finally, we’re about to ascend to the second layer of the Great Dungeon for the first time’ I thought.

[Chaos cheers and encourages you to keep going.]

The blue portal, which led to the next layer, looked particularly radiant.

This wasn’t the time for distractions.

I turned to the woman and slowly spoke.

“You can now return to the city through the portal. Wait, come here for a moment.”

She nodded and cautiously approached me.

Once she was in front of me, I began to take out a few items from my backpack.

I took out a pouch containing ten silver coins and some of the equipment we had looted from the adventurers, which was relatively cheap and fit her size.

Some people might call me a fool or a sucker for doing this, but I wanted to help her as much as I could before she was out of my sight.

I wondered what she had been thinking in that hellish situation when she told me to run away.

If she had been caught, it wouldn’t have ended with just a beating from those men.

I would never know the answer to that question.

‘Good deeds for good people, bad deeds for bad people’ I thought.

Most of the adventurers I had encountered were bad, but there were also many good ones, like Derek, Evelyn, Berkel, and Hutton, and the guild master.

This wasn’t an act of random kindness.

It was for my own satisfaction.

I wanted to feel satisfied knowing that I had saved someone like this in my early days as a low-level adventurer.

“Goodbye, and may you live a long and happy life.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Take care.”

We bid farewell to the woman as she entered the portal.

She bowed deeply, tears streaming down her face, and I simply nodded in response.

“That’s right.”

I understood why people did good deeds within their means.

Whoosh!

The yellow portal flickered, and the woman disappeared without a trace.

She was gone. I felt relieved that we wouldn’t meet again in this vast city or dungeon.

“Okay, let’s forget about her and focus on our own journey now.”

We couldn’t stay in front of the portal for too long, or we might run into other adventurers and cause trouble.

“Yes!”

“This is my first time on the second layer. You said that the layers are divided from the second floor, right?”

“Yes! I’ve only been to the second layer once, and it’s not a memory I want to revisit. The area we entered had disgusting monsters, regardless of the difficulty level.”

When entering the portal to the next layer, we were in a bonded state due to entering the Great Dungeon in physical contact.

“Let’s go. To the second layer.”

I took the lead, as there might be something waiting for us as soon as we arrived on the second layer.

.

.

.

Whoosh!

“Ugh!”

“I almost embarrassingly fell on my butt as soon as I arrived.”

The feeling of traveling through portals never got better, but the layer portals were particularly strange.

When entering the dungeon, my body was stretched out, and I found myself in a random location on the first layer.

When using the escape portal, I felt like I was floating in mid-air, being carried away somewhere.

The layer portal felt like a giant hand had grabbed me from behind and thrown me into the next layer.

I was fascinated by this manipulation of space and time, as I had no understanding of it.

“Ugh, my stomach feels queasy.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself and heard a sound from the empty space next to me.

“Eek!”

Yeriel was falling from a not-so-high height, flailing her arms.

‘Even experienced layer portal travelers can be startled’ I thought.

Thud.

I quickly reached out and caught her before she hit the ground.

“Hehe. This is strange, it’s different from last time.”

She smiled awkwardly as our eyes met.

I gently lowered her and waited for Lumia to arrive.

“Wow.”

Lumia, being a beastkin, landed gracefully without losing her composure.

“Huh? Why are you both staring at me like that?”

“It’s just impressive that you can maintain your balance after traveling through the portal.”

“Hmm. It doesn’t feel like a big deal, but it’s embarrassing when you say it out loud.”

I ignored Lumia’s embarrassment and looked around.

Drip. Drip.

“Water droplets?”

I hadn’t noticed it when I first arrived on the second layer, but upon closer inspection and listening, I realized that water was dripping from the ceiling.

As I focused my senses, I felt the surrounding area was unusually humid.

The damp air made my skin feel heavy and uncomfortable.

“Ugh, it’s so damp,” Yeriel said, and I agreed.

The area had a similar terrain to the first layer, but the environment was humid, and the walls were covered in moisture.

Based on these features, I concluded that this was the swamp area.

The dungeon had a typical maze-like appearance, but unlike the first layer, which was filled with weak monsters like Ratman, Kobold, and Woodman, this area had different types of monsters.

According to the information I had gathered, the monsters in this area included Slime, Cave Merman, Cave Snake, and the higher-ranked Full Serpent.

‘Damn, I was hoping for a beast area, but I guess I should be grateful it’s not a bug area’ I thought.

The first layer was divided into north, south, and central areas, but the second layer was divided into three distinct areas based on the types of monsters that appeared.

There was the swamp area, where Cave Mermen, led by Goblins and Hounds, occasionally encountered Gray Wolves and Black Boars.

The bug area was home to Giant Centipedes, Giant Earthworms, and Poisonous Snakes.

These were the three main areas.

Just like the portal we had arrived through was at the southern end of the first layer, the portals to the different areas on the second layer were also located at the end of each area.

The monsters in these areas were slightly stronger than those on the first layer, but they were still only on the second layer, so they shouldn’t be too difficult to handle.

“As long as we’re careful, we should be able to reach the next layer without any problems. Stay alert,” I said, organizing my thoughts and reaching for my map and compass.

Just then, Lumia grabbed my sleeve and spoke quickly.

“Ahren, there are monsters approaching.”

“We have no choice. Everyone, get ready for battle!”

A group of monsters was running towards us, making tapping sounds on the ground.

It was a Cave Merman!

The Cave Merman had poor eyesight, almost to the point of blindness, but it had highly developed hearing and sense of smell.

Its distinctive features included shrunken skin, bulging eyes and mouth, and a repulsive face.

It had webbed feet, fish-like gills and scales, a tail, and dorsal fins.

When fighting a Cave Merman, you had to be careful of its agility, as it could freely move on any terrain, and its claws were coated with paralyzing poison.

Additionally, it was known for its aggressive attacks.

“Kreeeeek!”

The Merman charged towards me, letting out a piercing scream.

I gripped the hilt of my greatsword.

Yes, let’s see how this new monster fares against me.