Notes from the Demon King, page 65:

I love magical weapons. I love ‘em!

They’re probably one of the coolest parts of this world. Forget casting spells, I want a sword that's always on fire.

Or a mace that can leave a crater the size of a city. Or a knife that can cut the very air.

I have always been fascinated by magical items in books back on earth and now that I’m actually in a fantasy world I’ve made it a point to collect as many as I can, some would even argue that I’m married to my weapons.

I would argue that it’s an equal partnership.

Like, marriage I guess.

Anyway, the thing with magical weapons is that everyone is unique, even made with the same material by the same artificer, and the same enchantments will be different somehow even if only in small ways. It’s beautiful, It makes every acquisition worth it, and makes a good weapon worth thousands of gold when other times the same thing could be worth twenty. It’s all up to chance. And I’m a gambling type.

I consider myself a spellsword class-wise (Classes aren’t a thing in this world so i just kinda picked my own) and having more swords to go along with my spells is definitely a plus any time.

My collection is getting pretty large now, nearly 700 unique weapons in all, 12 of them legendary.

I think that’s a pretty good start.

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Chapter eleven

Giel-

After the initial mixed reactions, including horror, annoyance, terror, greed, anger, and many other emotions.

The party somehow found themselves standing outside the mouth of a giant cave.

Giel wasn't really sure how the Demon King had actually convinced them to go along with this, maybe it was the money. Okay, who was he kidding it was definitely the money.

By his best guesstimate, 150 gold was nearing 300,000 USD back on earth, and that was just the base pay. It didn't even include the treasures they could find in the passages of the dungeon. Giel had seen parties bring back jewels the size of his head and sacks so stuffed with goldkart that they were bursting at the seams.

There was no way the group would pass up a chance to go in here

“This is a terrible idea” Ali griped

“Yeah…” Kenn agreed “This is a C ranked quest we just barely survived an F rank this morning, Why the hell are we here?”

“I was so caught up in the moment that i don't think I was thinking” Hailey huffed “We could really use the money... but”

Sandra wire a look of utter disbelief at her companions “What are you guys talking about!? We’re mages now. Isn't going into dungeons and stuff what we DO now?!”

Ali glared at the thief “Sandra, we did our first trial less than an hour ago”

“And the majority of us, including you, still don’t know any spells” Kenn pointed out

“Except mage hand”

“Yes, except mage hand but”

“And we have the books!” Sandra said almost pleading now “Come on let's give it a try! I’ve never even seen a dungeon before! We live in a fantasy world, damnit! We have the Demon King with us if anything goes wrong! He’ll save us. Won’t you?” She looked over at the demon who had been silent this whole time

“Oh, yeah… sure,” he said with a clawed thumbs up

That didn’t strike assurance into Giel’s heart but…

“Well, what are we waiting for, we’re gonna go”

“And why is that?” Ali scoffed

“You saw the reward. We are NOT going to pass up on that.”

“I... want to disagree but, I can’t. let's just rip the bandaid off” Hailey sighed.

“Does that mean we’re doing this?!” Sandra said with a doofy grin

“I guess so…”

Giel stared into the darkened maw of the dungeon, shuddering at thoughts of what was to come inside. He looked to his friends all seeming equally filled as he was with nerves and excitement. He looked to the Demon King, calm and almost bored as he was, and with one final deep breath, he took a step into the dungeon's entrance.

The inside of the dungeon was nothing like Giel expected. He had expected a cave much like it looked from the outside, instead, he found himself standing in a nicely furnished foyer. Framed paintings lined the walls along with a white chair rail.

The hardwood floor was partially covered by a red rug. At the edge of that were a set of plush couches with an ottoman set between them. The whole setup framed a giant door made of dark stone With jewels inset into the frame.

“Wow, this is... extravagant…” Kenn whistled

“It's a bit much don't you think?” Ali concurred

Sandra waved the others over “Guys, come look at this,” She pointed above the door where there was text written in what looked like gold foil.

You have entered the dungeon of Crystlstone. Passing this door is to face danger with the promise of equal reward. Enter at your own peril.

Giel felt his tail begin to wag nervously

“T-that isn't ominous at all” Hailey echoed his own feeling on the matter

“Maybe we can just pry these gems out of the wall and be done with it” Giel suggested, hoping the easy way out was an option for once. His hopes were dashed immediately

“Nope, If only it were that easy.” the Demon King answered “Dungeon magic means that to move even one of those jewels you’d need a million times the strength you have. Nothing this dungeon doesn't want to move is going anywhere”

Giel's ears flattened,” So if we want the rewards, we have to face the danger?”

“You get it, So are you going or not?”

It was too late for them to back out now and the demon knew it.

With a groan from Kenn, the stone slab of a door was pushed open by the tank and the party headed into the dungeon proper.