Level Down 17 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 17 - Lilac Dungeon

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A party of five adventurers came out of the Lilac Dungeon that Allen was about to enter, and at the head of the party was a man with the appearance of a veteran warrior, with many scars peeking out from his body. He was approaching the two with an unpleasant smirk on his face.

“Oi, what the hell did you...” (Nick)

“Calm down, Nick. He's still one of the best adventurers in Lilac.” (Allen)

Nick was about to argue against the provocative words, but Allen stopped him in a whisper. As expected, Allen’s words stopped Nick from speaking further.

That was because Nick also realized that a normal person would not be able to compete with a leveled up adventurer in terms of strength, and when it was one of the best in Lilac, just thinking about the possibility is foolish.

Allen took a step forward as if to protect Nick, a smile plastered on his face.

“Oh my gosh, aren’t you all from [Lionel], a rising star in the local area? Are you on your way back from the dungeon now?” (Allen)

“Yeah. We're not half-assed people after all, we're busy with a lot of things.” (Man)

All members of the adventurer's party [Lionel] burst into laughter as if agreeing with the man's words. Still with a smile plastered on his face, Allen watched, trying not to let his cold inner feelings leak out.

(It’s ironic how they’ve always been a rising star, never a true star.) (Allen)

While thinking about that, Allen ignored the boasts and belittling words of the man in front of him, Lionel, who named his party after himself.

Things like this often happened when Allen came to Lilac Dungeon when he was an adventurer, and he had already understood that there was no point in minding them.

That said, that's just Allen. Hearing a click of tongue from behind him, Allen sensed Nick's irritation and interrupted Lionel.

“My apologies, but we have plans as well, so please excuse us.” (Allen)

“Haa? Are you guys planning on diving into the dungeon? Brother, if you follow along that half-wit, you'll just die. Quit it, quit it.” (Lionel)

Lionel's comrades behind him also voiced their agreement one after another. Lionel felt better when he heard those voices and stood in a position to block Allen's path.

As expected, Allen's expression changed when he saw that, and he let out a big sigh, thinking it’ll be troublesome.

“Oi, you don't have the authority to restrict the right to enter the dungeon.” (Allen)

“I'm just trying to save someone who is about to waste his life.” (Lionel)

“Haa─, enough. I was the stupid one for trying to be polite to settle this quietly. Let's go, Nick.” (Allen)

“O-ou.” (Nick)

Allen glanced at Nick who was behind him, then started walking toward the dungeon while avoiding Lionel. And then Nick followed after him.

“Didn’t I say that it's forbidden to pass through here?” (Lionel)

Lionel's big hard fist swung towards Allen's abdomen. It was so fast that ordinary people couldn't see it, and even if he wasn't serious, it was clear that it contained more than enough power to cause injury.

The adventurers surrounding them at a distance thought that Allen would be blown away just like they had seen before, but...

Smack!

Such a sound rang out even though Allen did not make the slightest move.

“The Guild tolerates a fight between adventurers, but if it’s against a civilian, if you’re unlucky, you'll have your qualification revoked. I'm currently a civilian guild employee, but Lionel, have you forgotten about that?” (Allen)

As he said that, Allen tried to grab the fist with one hand, but he was unable to do so as Lionel immediately pulled his fist back.

“You damn coward misusing power.” (Lionel)

As Lionel left behind those parting threats, he left the dungeon, Allen saw him off, thinking ‘look who's talking,’ as he let out another sigh.

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Allen and Nick smoothly went through the procedure and paid the 5,000 zenny entrance fee at the Guild cabin in front of the dungeon, and immediately entered the Lilac Dungeon as if the trouble earlier didn’t happen.

While looking at the faces of new adventurers wearing beginner's equipment, who seemed to be returning from the depth immediately after entering, the two slipped past them.

“Aa─h, I knew there would be a lot of people.” (Allen)

“It is?” (Nick)

“Yeah. Well, it's a popular dungeon after all.” (Allen)

In addition to what was reflected in his line of sight, Allen's ears also picked up the sound of someone fighting something. And not just in one place, but in multiple places. The two left the city at 6 a.m., right when the gates opened, so it was still morning. However, the fact that there’s this many adventurers fighting even at this time showed the popularity of this dungeon.

That said, that too, was within Allen's expectations. He did think it would be troublesome if he got involved with something like earlier, but he also thinks it can't be helped.

“Then, let's quickly move on to our destination.” (Allen)

“Ou.” (Nick)

Allen guided Nick through the vast expanse of grassland, choosing an unpopular direction. All while avoiding traps and defeating monsters they encountered on the way.

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About an hour and a half later, the two reached their destination; the 9th floor of the Lilac Dungeon. With Allen's current full speed, it would be possible to get there faster, but this time Nick was with him, so he chose a route that would avoid meeting other adventurers, and as a result, they had to take somewhat a detour.

That said, from a beginner adventurer’s point of view, reaching the 9th floor in an hour and a half is fast enough. There’s probably not that many adventurers would be able to accomplish that while safely bringing an amateur who is not an adventurer.

Not showing any signs of being particularly tired, ‘Fuu’ Allen let out just a single deep breath to steady his breathing, and shook his head from side to side, surveying the sight spread out before him. There were no adventurers in sight, nor any sounds of fighting he could hear.

“As expected, this is an unpopular floor.” (Allen)

“Haa, haa. Is that so? Let me take a break.” (Nick)

Allen smiled wryly as he looked at Nick, who lowered his hips to the ground with a thump. On the way, even when he asked him if they should interpose some breaks, Nick said, “No problem,” but from Allen's point of view, it was clear that he was overdoing it. If it really was really bad, Allen intended to force him to take a break, but seeing him pushing through stubbornness until the end made Allen think, ‘He sure hasn’t changed.’

Allen watched the surroundings while waiting for Nick to recover. He didn’t feel any danger, but he knew that a dungeon is a place where you don't know what's going to happen.

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The environment of Lilac Dungeon changes every five floors, and the monsters that appear also change accordingly.

1st to 5th floor are grassland fields, containing goblins that also appear in the Demon Dungeon, one-horned rabbits with a single horn on its head that is convenient as edible meat, and elt snakes whose liver can be used as an antidote. Most who hunt them are new adventurers who are raising their level and earning money by converting the materials into cash to make ends meet.

One-horned rabbits and elt snakes can be defeated even by low-level adventurers, and there is a reasonable demand for them, so if you fight seriously here, you can make enough money to get by. In fact, when Allen was just starting out as an adventurer, he also hunted them to provide for his younger brothers and sisters.

The next floors, 6th to 10th, are forest fields. By this point, most of the completely new adventurers have disappeared. That was because, unlike the grassland field, the danger level of the monsters that appear, such as ash wolves who have gray fur and paraspiders that attack from above with paralyzing poison, jumps up to the level where you can die if you are not careful.

Of course, there are times when newcomers get carried away and come here, but these people usually suffer severe losses and retire from being adventurers. Of course, there are some exceptions.

This forest field has increased difficulty, but here you can collect medicinal herbs and wild fruits that are ingredients for magical medicines called potions that heal wounds, and even the dangerous ash wolves are in demand for coats and the likes, and even other monsters, you can obtain some kind of useful material from most of them. Moreover, since the risk is high, the selling price will also be high.

Therefore, adventurers who have reached a certain level and have the minimum equipment come to this forest field to raise their level again and earn money to sort their equipment. All in order to advance to a new field from the 11th floor, which has a different rank.

Although the forest field has such various demands, there is an exception. That is the 9th floor that Allen and Nick are currently on.

On this floor, the monsters that have been appearing in the forest field disappear. In its place, a new monster appears. And that monster is the reason why this floor is unpopular. That monster is...

“Oh, there it is. So, Nick, if I say ‘it’s fine now’, you start attacking.” (Allen)

“Leave it to me.” (Nick)

As Allen was walking in the forest, he spotted the monster ahead of him and started running. As Allen ran at the same level of speed as the old Allen towards a tree towering ahead of him, the tree suddenly started swinging its large branches in an attempt to crush Allen.

The name of the monster is treant. It is a monster that mimics a large tree.

There are several reasons why treants are unpopular with adventurers. They are large trees, so trying to bring them down will put a considerable strain on your weapon; they are tough; and since they mimic trees, they can also hit you with surprise attacks; and their attack of swinging their branches is heavy; the reasons are multitude. Well, the biggest reason they are hated is a different one though.

However, as for why Allen chose this floor...

“Shh!” (Treant)

Allen dodged the branch, exhaled and jumped up, then cut the treant’s branch in two from the base. Grinning a little at the fact that the sword he prototyped was able to cut more than he expected, Allen chopped off branch after branch of the treant, until the treant lost all its branches.

“Okay, it’s fine now.” (Allen)

At Allen's signal, Nick approached the treant while firing himself up. If Nick, a civilian who has not even leveled up, takes an attack from a treant, there is a very high possibility that he will die. Despite such a dangerous circumstance, without any wariness, Allen made no attempt to stop Nick as he approached.

Nick approached the treant and widely swung the axe in his hand.

“Heave-ho.” (Nick)

‘Ko─n,’ that satisfying sound echoed around the area. The blade of the axe was firmly embedded in the trunk of the treant. But the treant’s only reaction to this was to move its own trunk and roots slightly.

The axe swung down towards the treant again and again at a good tempo. After a while, the treant fell to the ground with a loud thud.

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