I am now traveling together with Carrot after I bid farewell to Arbri. She looked a bit sad about losing her chatting partner, but I assured her that we will meet again in the future. Currently we are walking along a tunnel which ramps upward, and it has small zigzagging brooks of water we has to cross. I also made sure to order Carrot to drag along one of the rats I killed earlier. It is my food after all, even if it is disgusting to eat.

Ever since I killed those rats and made my declaration of will I has felt different. As if a part of myself just withered away and nothing grew back to replace it. Is that good or bad?

Adventure, I always wanted to go on one when I was just a child. I got what I wished for and now I start to regret it. Stop moping Biali! If you keep brooding all the time you will go mad! Where did that childlike humor go? Did it die when you arrived here?

"Shut up naive me!" I say to myself as we walk up the tunnel. Do not think you will get rid of yourself that easily. Come on, try thinking of something funny!

"Will you go away if I do?" I answer thinking I has become mad. You are not mad Biali. Think of this as your way of keeping yourself happy. Me is you, and you is me. Cheer up girl! You are doing very well in overcoming your limits! Oh, do you remember that time that Ruby put smoke powder in Tenebrias spell book? Wasn't that funny when she opened it and her face got completely covered in white smoke? She got so mad at Ruby that she started chasing her!

I bring up a little smile while still pondering over whether I has gone mad, or this is just a way for me to cope with with the stress. It speaks truth though. If I just keep having negative thoughts I will go truly mad then.

Maybe I should start cracking jokes to improve my mood?

After a while we eventually arrive to a larger cavity than before. The ceiling slopes sharply upwards only to reveal a man sized hole far away at the top. From the hole can a rope with a bucket be seen dangling halfway up. On the opposite side of the room is a hole with a metal gate. From the sides of the room are tiny waterfalls going down into a small body of water in the center of the room which also connects with the brook going down the ramp.

Dungeon plaza discovered.

Signs of civilization I guess. Could be either good or bad for me. Ah, civilization, how I miss a good cup of tea...

Strangely the cavity seems to be completely absent of monsters despite being well lit. Maybe they are behind that gate? Does not sound impossible to me!

But then the question is; Is it to keep the monsters in, or adventurers out? I guess I will find my answers once I enter. Without wasting any more time I start walking toward the closed gate. I pass man made bridges along the way and I can even see what looks like tables being placed in one location. But one thing is off with one table.

The table is collapsed and a dried out corpse with a knife embedded in its chest lies on it. One of the hands are still clutching the knife as the rest of the limbs are spread out. The scene shocks me a bit, but after the rats this feels like nothing.

"What happened here?" I mutter to myself as I step toward the corpse of a dead man. Except for the knife stuck to him and the clothes it looks like he was picked clean by whoever came here before. What a shame, I really could had used his stuff. But a knife is a knife after all!

I pull out the knife with relatively little effort and the corpse then starts collapsing. The knife is in a relatively good condition despite being stuck for so long. One mans trash is another mans treasure, right?

Steel hunting knife

Health: 93%

Weapon Class: Daggers

Damage: 12 (8 from Base + 4 from Material)

A common steel hunting knife used for skinning and dismantling of monster corpses. This knife is mass produced and bear no markings of its creator.

While it has better raw damage than my wooden branch, I has no idea of how to fight with knives! For now I will just use it as a tool. I look at the dead rat which Carrot has been dragging all this time. Maybe I finally can eat rats without feeling like I want to vomit now.

I scavenge the belt off the dead man too, but its not like he will need it anyway! Tearing off cloth from the man and then tying it around my knife and belt I can now sheath it when I am not using it. A stopgap solution, but it will do until I find a bag or something.

"Thanks for the help." I say to the dead man before I continue towards the gate.

Finding the knife clearly put me in a better mood. Not being hungry anymore helps my mood heavily too. Now if I got some proper clothes too... My nightgown is clearly starting to feel worn down now. I guess you can't have everything in life, if anything this dungeon has taught me.

As I arrive at the gate I find a lever next to it. I assume if I pull it, then the gate will open. I suspect I has to either pass through this gate or somehow get up to through where the bucket hangs to get out. For now I can only reach the lever so without waiting any further I pull it down by using my entire body as weight.

A metallic clicking sound is heard and then the sound of chains and metal cogs is heard behind the stone walls. After ten seconds the gate is open and the clicking sound is heard again as the lever revert backs to its original position. No time to waste as I walk through, the faster I am out of this dungeon, the better!

Inside the gate is a room made out of stone bricks. One the sides are there two hallways which shortly change directions. The entire stone clad room and hallways are strangely lit up without any obvious light source. This must be the power of dungeons from what I read about then.

Without any obvious hint I pick the right hallway. Why? Because it smells better. My nose has not failed me yet, because it led me to Arbri after all.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity I come across a slow moving gelatinous blob. It does not look very interested in me at all. Suits me fine that I do not have to fight it. As me and Carrot moved past it, it seems like it caught a whiff of the dead rat which Carrot has been carrying for several hours. But by the time it made its move we were long gone. Interesting little thing.

Eventually I arrived at a room which in which a staircase which lead upwards several floors was the centerpiece of it. Connected to the room are four hallways, but those are not as interesting as the stairs leading up!

Like how i felt a warm breeze when I first arrived here, that feeling is here again. I must be getting closer to the surface then! I start my ascent on these stairs and after a long time I finally arrive at the top. Walking all those steps made me feel exhausted so I took a rest before I continued moving on.

At the top of the staircase could a narrow hole be seen in the middle of the ceiling. Through it shine moonlight down through a metal grate. The outside is close, but yet so far away. In the distance I can hear the skittering of rats and the occasional grunt. Is that a new monster that I hear?

Gripping my wooden branch with both of hands I start sneaking towards where I heard the grunting noises. I walk into the only hallway there is up here while keeping close to the walls. After a while I hear squealing noises and fighting. What the heck are these monsters?

As I arrive at a three way junction I peek around the corner to see what the noises are. I see two small and thin pink skinned humanoids with pig faces. Their only clothes are loin cloths which protect their modesty. They look to be unarmed but their fingers have quite menacing looking thick nails on them. What are they?

Querying shell database...

Closest match: Stunted pig man

Stunted pig man? They certainly look like small men with pig faces. But what are they fighting over? I then look at what is between them and what I see is a dead rat. Ah, food. I then look at the dead rat which Carrot is lugging around. Makes sense.

Then I hear squealing and grunting noises and one of the pig men punches the other one in the face. The other one screams out in pain and counter attacks. Good, tire out each other... I grin as I tighten the grip on my branch.

The pig men then kept fighting for a few minutes. Once the victor had been decided the other pig man walked away bloodied in shame. After it turned around the corner I quietly cast [Lesser dark bolt] at the victor. What followed afterward was the worst noise I has ever heard in my whole life.

Hit the stunted pig man for 4 damage!

Stunted pig man is now on fire!

Stunted pig man is now frightened!

This flaming pig man desperately tries to put out the fire, but because of its magical fuel it is a vain effort as it rolls around on the ground. Time to act! I dash out of my corner and then swing down my wooden branch onto the knees of the pig man. With a loud thunk and cracking noise I shatter one of the kneecaps on the burning pig man. The pained squealing becomes even worse.

Hit the stunted pig man for 2 burn damage!

Hit the stunted pig man for 2 burn damage!

Hit the stunted pig man for 8 damage!

Stunted pig man is now on crippled!

Hit the stunted pig man for 2 burn damage!

Hit the stunted pig man for 2 burn damage!

Fighting still makes me uncomfortable, but I feel like I am building up a wall in my head.

The pig man now lies clutching his now broken knee on the ground while being covered in various degrees of burns. With a decisive swing I cave in the skull of the pig man which then collapses lifeless onto the cold paved stone floor.

Critical hit on weak spot!

Hit the stunted pig man for 16 damage!

Defeated stunted pig man!

You absorbed its life force!

Stored life force is 25% filled.

What is this life force these boxes mention? I do not feel any different after raising it after each life I take. Also now the whole corridor smells like badly roasted pork. Should I... Eat these pig men? Just a bite? No... Is it not cannibalism to eat human like monsters?

As I keep thinking about what to do, the loser of the previous fight comes back. Must had heard the squealing noises and then smelled the burnt flesh. The pig man looks unsure of what to do as it looks at me standing beside the corpse of its kin. I give it a death glare. It hesitates but then runs away squealing.

"Huh?" I just say as I squat over the corpse while using my wooden branch for support.