Chapter 164: Something Is Going On In The Dungeon...
Chapter 164: Something Is Going On In The Dungeon...
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"So what are we going to do today?" asked Annabelle curiously.
"I think we were going to explore the Goblin Dungeon, it is one of the Dungeons we haven\'t explored yet, it is said to be a bit fiercer than the Dark Lair Dungeon, right?" asked Frank.
"A bit more, I believe. Goblins are more organized than normal monsters, they can wield weapons and even have leader subspecies, sometimes, a certain talented Goblin grows strong enough to become a Goblin Champion, or even a Goblin King… Although each time it happens, a big event occurs where the Guild gives a bounty to kill it, making many Adventurers join hands to defeat it, as it could be a threat to the town if left alone," said Gwendolyn.
"I see… Well, I doubt we\'ll find it, after all, it is a rare occasion, I think it usually spawns every ten or so years, but we can beat some little green men while our main dungeon generates more monsters," said Vheslia.
"Sounds like a plan. Orb had recently become a Rank 2 Dungeon, but she told me that monsters still would take some days to appear, and Rank 2 Monsters might take over a week as they still need to grow before we can even find them," said Frank.
"Oh well, there\'s no rush," said Cathyl.
"Although it is pretty amazing! How can a Dungeon Rank Up to begin with?!" asked Vheslia.
"It\'s because when I proclaimed the Dungeon, it was assimilated by my System and given a status, through this, she was given this ability to Rank Up," said Frank.
"In fact, all Dungeons have this potential, but for some reason, they never can Rank Up, despite already having gathered good amounts of Divine Power," added Frank.
"Oh, that\'s nice… I wonder if we can get better rewards through those Treasure Chests now!" said Hilvera.
"Oh, I see! You should try to conquer the Goblin Dungeon then, so you can Rank it up and we can get to hunt Rank 2 Monsters~!" said Vheslia.
"I wish it were that easy, but I made some… well, deals with the Goddess of Chaos, whenever I conquer another Dungeon, I have to create another in some other world I visit… Which I do not really want to do at the moment," said Frank.
"Well, that\'s quite the bummer… Oh, I remember that you said something about the goddess calling you at night?" asked Gwendolyn.
"O-Oh… Yeah, it hasn\'t happened yet, I guess she is rather patient," said Frank.
"Well, that\'s good! She should not be calling you around! Who does she think she is?" said Kamei.
"But Kamei, it was also part of the deal, after all, she gave me pretty good clues of where the artifacts could be needed to revive mom and dad," said Frank.
"Oh right… Well, whatever then… J-Just don\'t let her do anything funny to you, nii-sama, you\'re sometimes very passive!" said Kamei.
"Passive?! What are you talking about? I won\'t let anyone touch me!" said Frank.
"Kamei might be overthinking things a bit…" said Gwendolyn.
"Hahaha!" laughed Cathyl.
"Eeeeh? So he\'s passive? Maybe I should be more aggressive on my approach then~?" asked Vheslia rather smugly.
"H-Huh?! N-No!" said Kamei, hugging Frank.
"What did you do to your little sister to be like this for you, Frank~?" asked Vheslia.
"P-please stop asking weird things… Kamei is only an affectionate sister," said Frank.
"Y-Yeah! I just want my onii-san to be with the right girl!" said Kamei.
"The right girl, huh?" said Vheslia while glancing at Kamei rather smugly again, until Kamei turned all red.
"D-Don\'t look me with that face!" she said.
"Hehe, Kamei-chan is so cute when she gets all embarrassed," said Vheslia.
"Ahem. Anyways, let\'s wash the dishes and prepare lunch so we can get going, everyone that hasn\'t taken a bath yet, get to it," said Gwendolyn, as she began to grab the dishes and wash them with the cooperative Annabelle.
"Let\'s go take a bath together, nii-san!" said Kamei.
"Not this time, I will go alone, Kamei. I told you that it was the last time yesterday," said Frank.
"But I wanna rub your back and you rub mine, like always!" said Kamei.
"N-No, I don\'t think that\'s a good thing to be doing at our age, so bear with it," said Frank, walking into the bathroom and locking the door, Kamei knocked it rather hysterically.
"Let me in, nii-samaaaaaa!" she cried.
"S-She really likes to bathe with his brother…" said Hilvera.
"Well don\'t we bath together sometimes?" asked Asterion.
"Oh right… I guess we should also stop?" wondered Hilvera.
"Well the thing I like the most is to bathe with my little angels, so I don\'t mind doing it even if you grow older, fufu," said Cathyl, hugging and kissing her children.
"Why don\'t you stop babbling about and help me with the dishes?" asked Gwendolyn, as everyone except Frank went to help Gwendolyn wash the dishes.
Frank then began to undress as suddenly, Zero emerged from within his shadow, using her Shadow Travel Skill.
"Master- Ah!"
Zero widened her eyes as she glanced at Frank\'s nude body, as the young man quickly blushed in embarrassment.
Zero\'s eyes were particularly locked on his crotch…
"What are you doing here?! Look at your back!" said Frank as he covered himself.
"Master… don\'t feel embarrassed, your body is beautiful," said Zero.
"I-I don\'t need the approbation of a zombie! Also, what do you want?" asked Frank.
"I have come to report something happening in town, it seems that a new Extermination Request has been put on front… Both a Goblin King and a Goblin Champion have been spotted inside the Goblin Dungeon and they had already taken the lives of four Adventurers… The survivor was the one that informed the Guild about this… just before dying out of bleeding himself…" said Zero.
"W-What?! We just talked about it and… they appeared… Isn\'t this too much of a coincidence? Well, what else could it be than a coincidence? Do you know anything about their strength?" asked Frank.
"It was said that the Goblin Champion is Rank 2 Middle Stage, while the Goblin King is Rank 2 Peak Stage… However, monsters can naturally increase their power by eating Mana Cores, if they consumed the Rank 1 Upper Stage Mana Cores of the Adventures they killed, they might have increased their ranks even further…" said Zero.
"Oh damn… so there is even a chance for the King to be Rank 3?! Maybe a lot of Adventurers are gathering… We should get ready for the worst, good thing I got a lot of tools to work with now… But I guess we will have to join other Adventurer parties to take this down… Hm, I might as well distribute the Mana Cores we have been hoarding these last days so everyone can get a bit stronger," thought Frank.
"That would be ideal," said Zero.
"…Now leave," said Frank.
"Can\'t I stay watching over as you a bath, Master? I promise to not peek over… If you do not ask me to," said Zero.
"Leave…" said Frank.
"Very well," said Zero, disappearing through the shadows.
Frank sighed, as he began to think about the challenge to come… He had now grown strong enough… But was he strong enough to take care of his friends?
He even began to consider leaving them in here and go alone, as they were not as strong as him…
Although Gwendolyn and Vheslia should be fine, Annabelle, Hilvera, Asterion, Kamei, and Cathyl had just recently hit Level 10, but their Mana Rank Cultivation was Still Rank 1 Upper Stage.
Perhaps with enough Mana Cores… they could get to Rank 2?
But even then, the difference between the strength of each stage per rank was rather big…
However, the power given to them through the System could make up for that.
But… should he trust them enough that they would not get killed?
"Well, I also have Nezhit, Zero, Ruby, Zhulong, and Ginseng… Viper and Nyarlathotep are still too weak to fight those monsters… Wait, how do I even justify Nezhit?" wondered Frank.
"Maybe if I tell him to not summon his mount… he should be able to look \'normal\' enough… I hope," sighed Frank, as he finally decided to take a warm bath.
Meanwhile, atop the moon, a mischievous Goddess chuckled.
She has not called Frank because she was having a lot of amusement just by glancing at him.
Through her connection to him by her Divine Protection, she was able to mildly see and watch what he did and was amazed by everything he went through last night, Frank was like a constant source of entertainment to her.
Although she also wanted to call him within Dreams, she had come with another way to make things fun while also giving a challenge to Frank and prove that all the power he gained last night was not for nothing.
"Fufu, I have slowly nurtured those Goblins since a few days ago… Let\'s see if you can really be the Hero that the Gods call you as, Frank… I am looking forward to your struggles and your growth…" said Axitl, as her face showed a bit of excitement and depravity…
"A-Axitl-sama… Do you really think it\'s okay to do what you did? Five mortals died because of your intervention…" said Aztraloth.
"Oh? Yeah, why not? If they died you can only blame their weakness. Don\'t worry, maybe on their next lives they might prove to be someone else more successful or something that mortals do," said Axitl, without any remorse for the death of the Adventurers.
"I-I see… Well, please make sure… not to use your powers too wildly… With your power… you could even end this world…" sighed Aztraloth.
"Fufu, don\'t worry, this world is filled with a lot of fun, I would never destroy it!" laughed Axitl, glaring at Terra with her glowing crimson eyes.
"I am looking forward to what you will do, Frank…" she thought, licking her lips.
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