Kopii slowly, unhurriedly descended to the first floor, watching the adventurers moving back and forth, like living streams of a river flowing past him. Someone was undoubtedly returning from the Dungeon, while someone else, on the contrary, was rushing swiftly into its depths. Passing through the human flow, Kopii suddenly realized that he was at the "beginning of the path" – the wide corridor of the first floor, which was known to him from books, but this path was of no use to him. He turned at the first turn he came across.
Just as the old man had said, the walls of the Dungeon here had a ghostly light-blue color. A torch might not even have been necessary, but Kopii did not know whether there would be such bright sources of light everywhere in the Dungeon. He walked forward slowly and cautiously, warily peering into the darkness, which seemed to be filled with mystery.
«Where are the monsters?» – He thought, preparing for their unexpected appearance, he squeezed the sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He was ready to meet them, but the corridor remained surprisingly empty. And yet, Kopii did not relax, he remained cautious. The silence began to affect his psyche more and more strongly.
A sudden sound behind him made him turn around sharply and, one could say, instinctively. From the wall, as if being born from the darkness itself, a goblin appeared. A disgusting sight, truly! Kopii had read about them: humanoid monsters considered to be the weakest inhabitants of the Dungeon and not causing much fear.
But even so, this was the first monster he had encountered in the Dungeon. So he would give it his all.
«Just one goblin.»
But his momentary relief was suddenly interrupted by a swift attack. The goblin, barely having appeared into the world, already lunged at him with insatiable fury. Kopii had been waiting for this moment, letting the monster come as close to him as possible. The goblin jumped. And Kopii was lucky once again – the monster chose the most clumsy attack, one that was impossible to dodge in the air. With agility and experience, he drew his short sword and made a sharp thrust. The blade pierced the goblin's soft body with a dull sound. He felt the sword penetrate the goblin's flesh, which caused mixed emotions in Kopii.
But without stopping, turning the sword, he continued, slicing open the creature's stomach. The goblin collapsed, and not even a second passed before it disappeared, and in its place a small crystal appeared. Without thinking for long, he approached and picked it up – it turned out to be a magic stone.
«My first magic stone!»
Kopii's joy knew no bounds. This little stone became yet another proof that his life would never be the same again.
Without wasting time, he put the trophy into his bag, but the smile was not going to leave his face for some time.
Kopii noticed that the blood on his sword had not disappeared, and this raised some questions. Kopii stared at the blood flowing from the sword, and the mere sight of it caused disgust in him.
«My first monster.»
SWISH.
Kopii wiped the blood from the sword and continued his journey with renewed strength. The adrenaline after defeating the first monster of his life was not going to go away.
He slowly moved forward, continuing his journey through the light-blue corridor. He tried not to lose his vigilance, listening to every rustle, every slightest sound, but nothing could be heard except silence. The tension gradually increased, the anticipation of the unknown weighed more heavily than a potential battle.
Suddenly he heard a sound – looking toward the source of the sound, he saw goblins, and this time there were three of them! Seeing this, Kopii's eyebrows furrowed.
«Can there be three goblins on the first floor?»
But even so, he rushed forward without hesitation, deciding to attack before the goblins had fully formed. He managed to cut off one of their heads, but immediately retreated, instantly realizing that it had been reckless. The magic stone fell to the ground, but there was no time for it now – two goblins had already fully formed and rushed at him like a whirlwind. Kopii ran, hearing the footsteps of his pursuers behind him. This was exactly what he had been waiting for, and now the chance had come. Stopping abruptly, Kopii turned around and made a thrust, aiming at the nearest goblin. His attack reached its target!
SWISH.
Dodging the second one's attack, he brought the sword down from above, and this attack also succeeded. The magic stones rolled across the floor once again.
«Haha, I won!»
Kopii could not contain his smile. The fact that he had dealt with three goblins so quickly almost made him happy, even if these were the weakest monsters in the Dungeon. He did not care about that now; he was simply wildly happy about the victory.
But he did not rejoice for long – a sharp pain pierced his back, and at that very moment a goblin pounced on him, knocking the sword from his hands.
Kopii's eyes widened from shock, and from his incomprehension of the situation, a sharp pain in his shoulder brought him back to his senses.
– AAAAA!
The goblin clung to his shoulder and was not going to stop. Sharp pain and despair overwhelmed him, but they were quickly replaced by adrenaline and the desire to live. Through the pain, he managed to tear the goblin away from himself, and in the same second he rushed toward the sword.
Picking up the weapon, he turned sharply and saw that the goblin was preparing to attack him again, but this time he was ready.
SWISH.
Kopii held nothing back. He put all his strength into this strike, and the blade cut the goblin into two pieces.
The magic stone that had fallen to the floor served as proof that he had won. But he did not feel the joy he had felt earlier; he felt only despair and fear.
– A ah ha. – Kopii breathed heavily.
«I could have died!»
The realization that his first descent could have been his last. The second encounter with monsters had almost become his last. His relaxation after the victory had been a mistake, he realized. But even in his boldest thoughts, he could not imagine that there would be four goblins. Three, and so many, was already a lot for the first level.
– Ow!
A sharp pain interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.
Taking out the potions, he drank one potion in a single gulp. And not even a second passed before he felt relief and the pain gradually fading away.
After resting, Kopii gathered the magic stones, which were now a serious achievement for him. He did not know how much they would give him for them, but he decided that there had been enough adventure for today. He resolutely headed back. Along the way, he encountered several more goblins, which he quickly dealt with. Soon he realized that he was approaching the exit – adventurers moving back and forth began appearing in his path again. With relief, Kopii made it back to the first floor, feeling the weight of what he had left behind. He tried to walk confidently and boldly so as not to reveal his fear and exhaustion in front of the other adventurers moving in different directions. Kopii headed toward the exit, dreaming of a hot lunch and a soft bed. He needed time to recover and think over what had happened. The Dungeon turned out to be the kind of place he had imagined, a place of complete danger. And he realized one more fact: information is not always correct. He had not doubted for even a second that the information in the Guild could be erroneous, and this mistake could have cost him his life.
Remembering that battle with the goblin, an uncontrollable tremor ran through his body.
He decided to distract himself from the bad memories and began counting his magic stones – there were seven of them. From all the information he had received in the library, magic stones were the core of Monsters, and they were always located in the chest area of the monster.
«I definitely need to go to the Guild to exchange them for valis... I hope this information is accurate.»
Magic stones possess magical power that can be used for various things, such as lighting, water purification, kitchen stoves, refrigerators, and many other useful items. If the Magic Stone located inside a Monster is broken, upon hitting the core it will immediately die, and the magic stone will definitely not fall out of it.
This was all the information he had found. And the more and more he went over this information in his head, the more convinced he became that it was accurate.
Some time later, having changed clothes and feeling refreshed, he came to the Guild to exchange the stones for valis. On the way, he met Rosa.
– How was your first descent... Kopii.
«Another pause?.. Does she forget my name?»
– Everything went well, – Kopii answered confidently and with a smile on his face.
But she immediately saw that this smile was forced and full of falseness, but she did not show in any way that she understood this.
– That's good. – She said in an emotionless voice.
After saying goodbye to her, Kopii exchanged the magic stones for valis. The amount turned out to be small, but he was happy even with that, because this was his first earned money. Kopii left the Guild, counting the valis he had received in his pocket. The amount, of course, was not impressive, but for the first time it was quite good. Now he needed to figure out how to spend this money. Food, of course, was the first thing to take care of. A hot meal after what he had experienced in the Dungeon seemed like a real feast.
Entering the nearest tavern, Kopii ordered himself a hearty stew and a piece of fried meat. Enjoying the delicious food, he thought about his future plans and strategies. The Dungeon turned out to be more dangerous, just as he had actually expected, but the excitement was also incredibly strong.
«I'll need to prepare better for the next descent.»
Studying more information about monsters and acquiring better-quality equipment would not hurt. But he perfectly understood that he could only do the first thing.
He ate, stretched contentedly, went outside and headed to the Blue Pharmacy. When Kopii arrived, it was already dark, and the evening air was filled with freshness. Naaza and Miach asked him how his first adventure had gone, and he kindly said that everything had gone well, even better than he had thought.
What Kopii did not know was that both Naaza and Miach saw right through him; they saw his fake smile and the tension written all over his face. But they said nothing about it. They both understood that if he did not want to talk, forcing him or demanding the truth would be useless; it could only worsen their relationship.
Kopii was already about to go upstairs when Miach stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
– We are always here for you, Kopii.
Kopii stared at Miach's face, which expressed obvious concern. And he could not help but smile.
– I know.
– Good night. – He said, removing his hand from his shoulder.
– Yes, thank you, and good night to you too, Miach-sama.
And after that, he simply went to sleep. Taking off his clothes and touching the soft mattress, he immediately fell asleep, sinking into a dream full of new adventures and prospects.