“Mmm,” John let out as he stretched his arms while getting up.

‘Hm? I stretched my arms!? What happened to all the daily weights which would appear on my arm whenever I woke up?’ John wondered.

He looked around and as he suspected, Ariel was sleeping soundly on her bed and so was Serena. It looked like she had really thought about what Serena told her.

“It does feel quite lonely though… And a bit colder.” John sincerely said.

“What’s a bit colder..?” Said Serena as she got up and stretched her arms.

“T-The blankets, they feel a bit colder than usual…” John replied.

“They feel the same as any other inn, I’ve been to..?” She said.

“Nevermind,” John said.

She gave John a confused look before getting up and heading to the bathroom. While she did that John woke up Ariel.

After they all brushed their teeth and got prepared, they headed towards the Adventurer’s guild. Honestly, John was feeling very excited.

Adventurers which spend their time conquering dungeons, John wondered how balanced the parties were or how strong they were. 

‘Maybe I’ll be able to meet a Rank A or S? I’ve never met them before. If I do meet one, I’d like to fight them’ He thought.

“John, are you floating in space again?” Ariel asked.

The 3 of them were walking on their way to the guild.

“Space? I float in space?” John asked.

“No, it’s what my uncle used to say whenever I was distracted. I wish I could see what you were thinking about,” She said.

“Hm? I was just thinking about what sort of adventurer’s we might encounter, and if it’s a Rank S or Rank A, I’d like to fight them.” John said.

The two gave him a surprised expression.

“John, you realise they are rank A for a reason, right? Why would you like to fight them? They’re in a completely different league from us Rank D or C like us.” Said Serena.

“Wow, now I’m more curious to meet them. The highest rank I’ve ever seen or fought was a B-Rank,” John said.

“You fought a B-Rank!? Why?” Serena asked.

“It’s a long story, but he was threatening us so John didn’t have a choice,” Ariel replied.

“Why would a B-Rank threaten you… Wait, that’s not important, what matters is that you guys came out fine…” Serena said with a relieved expression.

“Mhm,” John said as he continued to walk.

“Ah, by the way, what happened in the fight?” Serena asked.

“John won, well, he told me that the adventurer surrendered so when John dropped his guard, he got hit by a surprise attack and fainted,” Ariel said.

“You didn’t have to add that last part… And I didn’t faint because of his attack. It was before I wasted too much magic power holding back. I could have ended it from the beginning if I had frozen him completely, that way he wouldn’t be able to chant.” John arrogantly said.

“I don’t even know what to think right now, but what I can do is proudly say ‘As expected of the guy that beat me!’,” Serena said.

“Wait, why are you feeling proud about that?” John asked as he laughed.

“We’ve arrived!” Serena said while changing the subject.

The guild looked completely unlike any other he’d seen so far. No, honestly, every other guild he’d seen looked sort of run-down, but still in a condition where everything wouldn’t break down.

This looks like they hired workers to maintain it. A big wooden and concrete building. Not to mention it looked clean from the outside. It wasn’t very big, but it was at least big enough for them to fit 3 floors in.

“John… Is everything okay?” Asked Ariel.

“Of course, why do you ask?” John said.

“You’re crying…” Replied Serena.

“Ah really, sorry! It’s just… when you see people taking good care of what founded your dream job, you sort of feel happy.” John said as he brushed away my tears.

“Dream job…” Ariel muttered.

“Yeah, becoming an adventurer has always been my dream. What about you two?” John asked.

“Dream, huh… I guess it would have had to be to go travelling with my master?” Serena replied.

“Then, for me, it is to keep travelling with John.” Ariel declared.

“I-Is that so… Me too… But that wasn’t what I meant. Nevermind, I’ll explain it later, we’ve been standing in front of the guild for quite a while and it looks a bit weird.” John said.

The two nodded and together they walked inside.

The first thing John noticed when he walked in was the vast amount of adventurers that were there. Sat on the tables, there were over 30 adventurers in the room. There were also a lot of tables.

The vibes coming off of these adventurers made them look like professionals. Some of them had unique looking armour too, John could tell just by looking that those guys were strong.

For example, there was a girl who appeared to be a ninja standing by herself near the walls. She wore a violet cloak which covered her entire body, allowing you to only see the face. It looked so cool, John didn’t know there’d be ninjas in this world. 

‘Maybe she’s an assassin?’ He thought.

As he was lost in thought, Ariel grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the counter with a receptionist as he was just standing there in the middle of the room.

“John… You’re not getting cold feet, are you? I never expected the guy who beat me to be nervous over standing in front of adventurers.” Said Serena with a smug look on her face.

“Huh? I was just checking to see if there was anyone strong enough to fight me, and surprisingly enough, there are a lot.” John said.

“Why do you wanna fight someone so bad? I don’t mind us having another duel.” Serena said.

“I don’t mind fighting you either, John.” Ariel declared.

“No, to be honest, I’d rather not fight you, Ariel. To be honest, you’ve gotten so good with wind spells, I’m not sure I could win. Besides, I don’t want to fight just for the fun of it. I just want to see my Actual ranking level.” John explained.

“Oh… So that was why… I was starting to think you were a battle addict.” Serena said.

“Since we’re going dungeon exploring today, I won’t be wasting unnecessary energy in duels,” John said before approaching the counter.

“Excuse me” John called out to the Receptionist.

“How may I help?” She asked.

“We’re planning on exploring any of the 4 dungeons which surround the kingdom. Is there anything specific I should know?”

“Is it your first time going to a dungeon?” She asked.

“Yes,” John replied.

“Very well, As you know, a dungeon contains many floors, the further you descend the stronger the monsters get. Any adventurer is allowed in the dungeon as long as they are Rank D and above. You will need your Adventurer’s card as verification and proof.” said the receptionist.

“I see… And regarding the dungeon, how exactly do we make money from it? Isn’t most of the treasure in the first few floors already taken?” John asked.

“Not necessarily. The dungeon is alive, or to put it simply, it lives off of monsters and humans that die there. If a monster dies, it will be turned into a magic stone and its body will be absorbed into the dungeon as nutrients, the same happens if a human dies. You can sell the magic stones obtained at the guild or use them to enchant weapons and armour,” Said the receptionist.

‘Enchanting… I wonder if I could use that sort of spell… Hehehe… The possibilities are endless.’ John thought to himself.

“I see… Looks like dying isn’t an option.” he said.

“Yes. Monsters are also much more common in dungeons than in the wild. There are traps in there which can result in you being teleported into a room with a horde of monsters or you might just encounter a horde out of nowhere by climbing down. Either way, it’s unpredictable and dangerous.” The receptionist explained.

‘What’s this weird feeling of Deja-vu… Oh, I remember, it’s from the receptionist from the other kingdom. I feel bad for suddenly disappearing without telling her anything. I hope she’s doing fine.’ John wondered.

“That sounds troublesome… So are we allowed to go right now? To any of the 4? I heard they each have different levels of difficulty. Which is the easiest? Is it the one near the port?” John asked.

“Didn’t you just hear what I said? It’s dangerous! Kids like you shouldn’t be doing such reckless things.” Said the receptionist.

“Thank you for worrying about us, but it’s fine. These two are strong, they can handle themselves. Besides, aren’t adventurers supposed to be reckless?”

“Just make sure you three stay safe and take good care of each other…” Said the receptionist as she let out a sigh.

“Yes! I’ll make sure to take good care of them,” Serena replied.

‘Well played, Serena! Knowing that we have an adult with us should make the receptionist feel more relieved.’ John justified to himself.

“Yes… You’re a good kid taking care of your friends.” Said the receptionist.

“K-Kid… I-I’m 15 already… I’m an adult…” Said, Serena.

“I’m sure you will be soon…” Replied the receptionist with a joking tone.

At the receptionist’s sudden reply, Serena did nothing but stay quiet. She appeared to have taken some emotional damage from that joke.

John’s body began to tremble as he held in my laughter.

Seeing this, Serena’s empty expression changed into an annoyed one.

“All right, you said you wanted to spar and test your level. Why don’t we take this outside?” She said.

“W-Wait, i-it’s fine, I don’t have enough magic power to spare. I’m sorry!” Apologies are the best methods of escape.

“To answer your question. If you’re serious about exploring dungeons, I suggest you prepare a camping kit and food supplies. If you have one put it in a magical toolbox as time doesn’t pass inside so the food will never spoil. The smell also won’t come out and attract monsters to your location.” Said the receptionist.

‘Wow, she’s a pro…’ John thought.

“And make sure that you go to the dungeon near the port. It’s for beginners and less dangerous than the other ones. Understood?” She asked.

“Yes!” John replied

——————————————————–

After thanking the receptionist, they left the guild and arrived at the dungeon entrance.

Unlike every other time, Ariel and John weren’t the centre of attention in the guild, or rather, everyone was busy worrying about their own life.

‘This isn’t good… I was planning on travelling around the world, but I might get addicted to living here…’ John thought.

“Anyways, we’ve finally arrived!” he said.

They stood near one of the ports in front of the entrance to a giant tower. There was a guard which was guarding the entrance and making sure there weren’t any trouble makers going inside and that everyone that went in was Rank D or Above.

Honestly, the dungeons were the only source of income for adventurers in Atlas, meaning they wouldn’t be able to complete hard quests which would rank them up from F to D in a rapid motion like John.

‘Simply because we were literally in the middle of the sea. I’m so glad those bandits decided to raid us…’ John thought.

He looked at Ariel and Serena to see how they were doing. Serena didn’t seem nervous or excited at all, she just looked the same as always. No, wait… always would be annoyed. So unlike always, she looked calm. If she remained like this most of the time, she would be a lot more pleasant.

“Did you just say something?” Serena asked as she stared at John.

‘Whoa… can she feel my thoughts?’ He wondered.

“N-Nothing at all,” John replied.

As for Ariel, in the beginning, when they were approaching the dungeon she had an excited look on her face, but now that she’s standing directly in front of it she looks nervous.

Seeing that, John patted her on the head and said. “Don’t worry, you have me and Serena here to help. Besides, you should have more faith in your abilities. You’re a lot stronger than you were before.” he said with a smile on his face.

“That’s right, we’re a party, as long as we work together, everything will be fine,” Serena added.

“Yes! Thank you, I’ll also do my best to help” Said Ariel with a relieved and less stiff expression.

“It’s fine, Well then, let’s hurry up and go, I can’t wait!” John said as he grabbed on to their hands and led them to the guard.

“Scram, this isn’t a place for kids.” Said the guard without batting an eye.

“We’re adventurers,” John replied.

“ID?” He asked.

They handed him their ID’s, and he allowed us through.

“My bad, I thought you were one of those kids who would just come here and start causing trouble.” Said the guard.

Hearing that, Serena’s brows twitched.

“I-It’s fine, mistakes happen, you’re just doing your job,” John replied.

‘Oh god… I’m sure getting constantly called a kid must be annoying… It’s probably better if I don’t mention it. She looks very annoyed right now. If I laugh, I might not come out of this dungeon alive.’ John thought.

“Okay, we’re finally here,” He said as they walked inside.

The two girls nodded at what John said.

‘Dungeons… Exploration…. I’m so excited!!!’ He exclaimed internally.