Kiek felt that today must be his unlucky day. As a seasoned lower-level adventurer, although he was only LV1, he was already an old hand. Though he could only wander on floors above the 18th Floor, he felt that he had completely understood these dozen or so floors, like his own backyard, and could even walk to the safe zone on the 18th Floor with his eyes closed.
But in reality, he had forgotten one thing: the Dungeon was not a lifeless cavern.
The Dungeon was alive.
This was something all adventurers knew, as anyone who had adventured in the Dungeon had basically witnessed monsters being born from within the Dungeon's walls.
However, most adventurers, after a long time, simply felt that the Dungeon was nothing more than that.
The so-called 'being alive' merely meant being able to produce monsters, at most, it could only suddenly generate a large number of monsters to form a monster feast.
But it was precisely this kind of experience... that led to everything today.
"Hey, hey, isn't this Cloud Ironwood, which is rarely seen in the Dungeon?"
Their usual three-person team hadn't walked far after entering the Sixteenth Floor when they discovered a very rare material.
In the Dungeon, there were not only monsters but also plants, water sources, minerals, and so on. These things grew naturally in various parts of the Dungeon. Although materials from deeper areas were more valuable, some rare materials were occasionally found in the upper levels.
"Lucky~ It seems today is our lucky day."
Cloud Ironwood, a relatively rare material produced in the Dungeon, just like elite monsters, this item was also considered an elite among materials, not to mention it was found in the mid-levels where material output was extremely low.
"Haha, it looks like we can drink our fill when we get back, Kiek."
Listening to Mori's words, Kiek smiled. Indeed, in Orario, the rarer the material, the more expensive it was, such as deep-level materials, or rare mid-level materials.
"I'll keep watch for monsters around us."
Kiek drew the large saber from his back and began to keep watch around them.
And Mori also drew two scimitars from his waist.
The remaining person, Al, took out a dagger and walked towards the Cloud Ironwood.
The three of them had been working together for a long time. Although they were not from the same Familia, their division of labor was clear: his speed was the fastest, usually responsible for scouting and collecting materials, and ambushing during combat. Kiek was the warrior who faced enemies head-on, and Mori provided support and cover.
Al walked towards the Cloud Ironwood. Although it was his first time encountering Cloud Ironwood, he had done material gathering many times, so he knew exactly where to strike without thinking.
Although Cloud Ironwood appeared as a white sapling about a person's height, the valuable material was actually the branches of the tree; its trunk was not very valuable and difficult to collect.
As an excellent forging material, Cloud Ironwood branches were extremely hard and impossible to break. Al used his dagger as a chisel and struck it hard several times, but only left a few centimeter-deep indentations on the Cloud Ironwood.
"Damn it, it's so hard."
Al struggled for another half a minute, not even cutting out a fifth of the desired opening, and this was just a branch!
Moreover, due to the violent use, the dagger itself, which was not of very good quality, also started to dull.
"Are you going to do it, Al? Hurry up!"
Mori was impatient. Seeing Al struggling for a long time without even getting a single branch, he shouted impatiently.
"Shut up! If you can do it, you come! Cloud Ironwood isn't like those ordinary materials!"
Al, as the one directly involved, was the most anxious, not to mention his weapon was partially damaged due to material collection, which made him even more unhappy.
"I'll do it then!"
Mori heard this and walked directly towards Al.
"Hey, Mori, what about keeping watch?"
"There are no monsters anyway, isn't Kiek enough on his own? This Al guy is so slow, it's safer to just finish it quickly."
Mori replied impatiently. Kiek couldn't very well run to pull him back to his post, but he still felt a bit annoyed.
If it weren't for the fact that these two guys were somewhat capable and familiar, he wouldn't team up with them!
Kiek continued to keep watch of the surroundings, while Al had already reached the side of the Cloud Ironwood, raised the knife in his hand, and swung it down at the Cloud Ironwood.
Crack!
An abnormal sound came from the blade.
"My knife!"
Looking at the chipped blade caused by the Cloud Ironwood, Mori let out a wail.
"Alright, alright, your broken knife isn't even as valuable as a single Cloud Ironwood branch. We'll just give you an extra share for the weapon when we split the money."
Al said with a hint of mockery from the side. He had experience collecting this type of material, so he knew that Mori's method would definitely break his weapon.
However, thanks to his recklessness, a single strike cut the Cloud Ironwood branch so that only a tiny bit was still connected to the tree.
"You said it, kid. You pull this branch, and I'll cut off the rest."
Al had no complaints about Mori's instruction. He walked over and pulled up the branch that had been mostly cut off and was hanging down with only a small part still connected to the tree, but even with only a tiny connection remaining, Al's arm strength couldn't pull it off the tree.
Mori raised his chipped scimitar and struck down at the last connection between the branch and the tree trunk.
Boom!
Just as he struck down and cut it off, the ground beneath their feet suddenly shattered, and both of them, along with the entire Cloud Ironwood tree, fell into the suddenly appearing pit.
"Hey! Are you two alright!"
The collapse of the ground immediately attracted Kiek's attention. He turned around and saw that where the two had been, only a huge pit remained.
He quickly ran over and saw the two lying at the bottom, along with the Cloud Ironwood tree.
"Damn it! It's a trap!"
The Dungeon is alive! This needs to be emphasized again.
Because it not only produces monsters, but it also randomly generates traps in the middle levels and below.
However, just like elite materials and monsters, the probability of encountering a trap is also very low.
"Pull us up quickly!"
The deep pit they fell into was a full six or seven meters high, making it impossible for one person to climb out.
Just as Kiek tied the rope to a stone pillar and was about to throw it down, the surrounding ground and walls suddenly began to bulge and crack.
One, two, three, four, five...
Dozens of such situations appeared simultaneously around them. Kiek immediately recognized that this situation was...
Monsters were being produced.
And when a large number of monsters appeared all at once, adventurers referred to this situation as...
A monster feast.
Kiek threw the already tied rope directly into the pit, slung his weapon over his back, turned, and ran.
"Good luck to you two."
Even with three people, encountering a monster feast meant only fleeing. Kiek didn't think he could save them and kill all the monsters together, and besides, they were just temporary teammates who knew when they might be betrayed.
Kiek fled frantically into the distance, and only a small portion of the newly spawned monsters remained at the cave entrance, watching the two trembling adventurers inside.
More monsters chased after Kiek.
"What bad luck!"
Kiek felt that today was definitely his unlucky day.