Going back to the first floor, Neves took a deep breath of the air within it.
"Haaah..." He breathed out, a sense of relief as he did so.
Remembering how there's structure on this floor, he decided to look for them first before leaving the dungeon completely.
"The exit is in the center, so those things should be in the corner," Neves said, moving slowly through the grassy hills on the floor.
As he moved, he kept a good grip on the book and ring he had, not wanting to lose them here.
Before he knew it, small slimes that reached his legs were in front of him, stopping him from moving further in.
"Guess the fountain is near," he said, tapping his boots and stretching his legs.
Moving to the bouncing slimes, Neves stomped on them, squashing them in one go.
One kick. Another flew. If one jumped at him, he slashed it with the book.
"They're annoying no matter what," he commented on them.
His body was covered by the slimes' goo. Tapping and swaying those away from him, he continued to move.
Then, the fountain was in sight.
A statue of a goddess set in the middle of it, carrying a vase, where the water of the fountain was coming from.
Moving towards it, he started taking off his shirt, then scooping a handful of water and splashing it to where his wounds were before.
"The healing effects are amazing no matter what," he murmured, smiling as the pain and exhaustion left his body.
After a bit more time, Neves was done cleaning himself with it. Seeing how he was already here, he took another handful of water and drank it.
"..... nothing," he said, feeling no rejection to the water he placed into his mouth.
"The restrictions are really gone." Taking another handful of water.
For a bit, tears ran down his face, feeling free from such horror now.
Leaving the area, he made his way to the center, ready to leave the dungeon once and for all.
On the way, many slimes spawned, leading to him being exhausted as he killed them.
Though they only needed a good step and kick, they still bothered him greatly.
Finally getting to the center, he didn't hesitate to think of leaving the dungeon, teleporting out from its inside.
"Ahh!!" A scream erupted before he could even see what was happening.
The moment Neves' vision returned, he found Lenin from this morning on the ground. Her expression carried a terrified look.
Looking around to find the reason for this, he asked, "Are you okay?" moving towards her and giving her a hand.
"What happened to you!" she screamed. "Why are you covered in blood?"
Realizing he was the reason for her being like this, he stepped back a bit and said:
"Sorry, kinda in a hurry, didn't really think about it that much."
Grabbing her to help her stand up and finally leaving the area.
"Just go, will you," Lenin said, moving further away from him.
Looking at him in this state, Lenin couldn't help but think about what happened to him inside the dungeon.
She wanted to ask this and question if she could do something for him, yet couldn't muster the will to do so.
Having the idea she was not the person who should say this, but instead someone else — someone that cared about him.
Not her, a person that's been annoying him all this time. "...I'll try to be better next time," she said to herself, making a promise to treat him better from this moment on.
Finally leaving the tiny island the dungeon was set on, Neves took something from his pocket.
Although he still carried the 20 copper he had left yesterday, Neves didn't bother to go to the stalls.
Instead, he hurried to the guild without caring about his looks.
Entering the guild, people's attention dropped on him, looking at the quiet and known homeless person covered in blood.
Neves noticed this all, but didn't care enough to say anything at all. Instead, he moved to the lane he always went to and waited.
After some time, it was finally his turn. Without saying anything else, he placed down the skill book he had and said:
"I'd like to sell this, please," putting on a friendly smile on his face.
Seeing the skill book — something he would normally not bring.
He would always bring back 1 or 3 mana crystals every day — the receptionist couldn't say anything within the first second.
"Wait, please," she said, standing up and moving to her seniors.
Waiting for her to come back, Neves looked around, thinking about what he should do with the money he'll get after selling the skill book.
'I guess I'll pay to make one first,' he thought, thinking about that specific reason why he had been staying at a horse stable all this time.
'But, before that I'll enjoy the bathhouse first.' Thinking so, the lady receptionist returned with someone else.
Seeing her, Neves felt like he had seen this woman before. Then, it hit him. This was the guild secretary.
Knowing this, he fixed his posture and gave a bow of respect to her, telling his name and reason for being here.
With the secretary being seen in the guild halls, the people around them were already whispering to each other.
But the secretary and Neves didn't mind them at all, and only kept their attention on each other.
"Shall we take this to a private room?" the golden-haired lady said to Neves.
He only nodded, grabbing the skill book and following her to a room.
The moment they entered, Neves seated himself in a chair and was given drinks, then waited for her to say something.
There were snacks prepared for him, yet Neves didn't bother to take any, and only patiently waited for her to start the conversation.
As the secretary took a good look, a smile and admiration could be seen on her face.
'I guess it's a good skill book?' he thought within, seeing her reaction.
Now in this moment, Neves recalled how rare a skill book was.
Even the basic fireball skill was worth over a thousand silver coins, and this is the lowest rank of them all.
Since this skill book came from a rare monster that even guaranteed a 100% drop rate, he wondered:
How much would it be?
This was one of the reasons why he didn't go to stores dealing with skill books, because unlike them, the guild couldn't possibly try to scam him — as this would ruin their reputation.
Putting down the skill book on the table, the secretary smiled at him — not a practiced one, but a genuine, real smile.
"A hundred twenty gold coins," she said. "I'll offer you… one hundred twenty gold coins for it."
Hearing that, Neves' mind could not process it. 120 gold coins?
That was more than what he earned this past month living in this world.
"Wait, how much is a gold coin in silver again?" he murmured, trying to remember it.
"A normal skill book is ten gold at the lowest. Changing that into silver, it would be around a thousand coins."
Unable to process the whole thing, he handed his hand to her as a sign he would take the deal.
"Thanks!" the secretary said her words, another smile coming back to Neves' face.
Lost in his mind, Neves didn't forget to ask a favor from her, seeing he had a chance.
Saying what he wanted, the secretary thought about it for a while, then said:
"I'll take it." With that, Neves left the guild that day, carrying gold coins with him.