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nThe small group stood right in front of the entrance to the 'Fail' type beginner dungeon that they wanted to explore. Its entrance was mostly barred up, but there was still a small, mostly rotten, wooden door right in front of it to stop people from just accidentally wandering into it. But beside that, there was nothing in front of this entrance at all.

nThere was a small part of the grass in front of it that had been pressed flat before, and was now growing slower and worse than the rest right around it. It was clear that this dungeon was cared for far less than the others supposedly were, which was also the reason why it was so bothersome to actually get here. The dungeon was placed in the middle of a small forest near arcadum, and the paths leading to it had been allowed to overgrow completely.

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"I guess it's time to get started now, huh?

" Foster asked with a wry smile, actually getting a bit nervous about this now. He was about to enter this monster-infested, old underground labyrinth right now, after all.

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"At any point, if you feel you're in any sort of danger, immediately come out, alright?

" Lynol told his friend, who immediately nodded.

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"Yeah, of course... I'll just head inside, see what I can find out about those guys, see how much a threat they are... and then I'll come back out!

" Foster said, practically just repeating the plan in the most basic way again, before he slowly approached the old wooden door in front of the dungeon's entrance. He placed his hand on the handle and slowly pulled it open, something that made the whole door fall over forward right onto where Foster stood just now. Of course he was able to dodge pretty easily, but it still didn't help his nervosity,

"Now that's a great start...

" He muttered.

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"Foster, you can back out of this, y'know? You don't have to do this.

" Octer pointed out with a worried expression. There was basically just one person that was absolutely excited about this experience. Kyla.

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"Don't worry, he's going to be totally fine! He has the map with him and everything~!

" She pointed out, and everyone slowly started calming down a bit more. Foster turned back toward the entrance to the dungeon.

nHe turned to his hip and lit up the lantern he attached to his bag, the same lantern that he had taken from Thiodrus' manor. He looked at his friends and quickly waved at them as he walked into the dungeon. As he stepped further into the darkness, the lantern, which was run by something other than a simple candle or some gas, became brighter to accomodate for him. Along the walls hung some torches that Foster had Aster light up, so that he could at least easily find his way back to the entrance. Although they had sketched out a path on the map that Foster should tkae so that he could easily return to the entrance, he wanted to make sure he would be totally fine later.

nSomething was... weird, though. The more Foster walked through the labyrinth, constructed with stone bricks along the walls and ceiling, the more anxious he felt. Since he had realized that his 'fear' from back then was rather something of a stunning excitement, he thought he wouldn't be worried about something like this. He knew for a fact that the sort of enemies he would face wouldn't be an issue, he literally survived in a sludge that caused a grown man's body to disintegrate within seconds.

nAnd then he had to run away from those horrid monsters, and later fought against a giant wolf without worries... not to mention the fact that he was actually kind of used to this tight space, walking through darkness and not knowing what enemy might be in front of him. Having been the strongest fighter in the syndicate, he of course led 'raiding' groups during fights against other criminal organizations. Foster knew that he practically had no risk to face in here, but for some reason, he still felt weirdly uneasy.

nAlthough, he really didn't have too much time to think about this, since he soon heard a sound coming from in front of him. It was a mixture of quiet, blunt clacking combined with a weird, uncomfortable squelching. And there was a lot of it. Soon, the source of this barrage of sounds came into sight. It was a group of maybe a dozen or so 'rats'. Rather, they were rat-shaped, but their flesh was dark but translucent. Due to the light the lantern by his bag was giving off, he was able to see the bones of rats floating within a weird black, translucent mass.

nThe first of these things soon attacked Foster, jumping at his leg. He could feel a slight tingle, but... that was it. It didn't try to bit him, it didn't try to scratch him. It was simply trying to affect him with necromancy. In the end... this really just felt like someone was spreading some kind of jello with pop rocks in it all over his skin.

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"This really isn't a big deal at all, now is it..?

" He muttered with a wry smile on his face. Foster rolled his eyes and proceeded to crush one of the slime-rats with his foot. He could hear its bones cracking apart into pieces, but it was still trying to resist in usually impossible ways. Its bones were practically trying to squeeze away from underneath Foster's foot, but he simply pressed down a bit harder whenever that happened. And soon, the creature just stopped squirming, as the sludge just flowed away to the sides, forming a small puddle. At the same time, a message window appeared in front of Foster's eyes.

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n3 Experience Points Rewarded

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"Huh? Just 3? That's not even a tenth of what one of those wolves would give me... And like, less than a percent of that huge guy?

" Foster pointed out with a wry smile on his face, as he continued to just crush these monsters underneath his feet, making more message windows pop up.

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n2 Experience Points Rewarded

n3 Experience Points Rewarded

n1 Experience Point Rewarded

n3 Experience Points Rewarded

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"Ah **... 3 is the max? Seriously?

" Foster grumbled to himself as he just shook off the rest of the slime-rats that were covering his body, quickly crushing them underneath his feet.

nOnce this small wave of monsters had been taken care of, he had become a total of 26 experience points richer,

"I thought these guys were supposed to be super troublesome...

" He whispered, as he turned his head toward Aster, who was currently hanging off of one of the torches on the wall,

"Seems kind of like a ripoff, huh? Although, to be fair.... others might already have rotten chunks of flesh falling off their bodies right about now.

"

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