CHAPTER 41: ENTERING THE DUNGEON

The first place they headed to after getting into the carriage was the dungeon. Zane wanted to go there; it was the only reason he became an adventurer.

He sat inside the carriage, staring at the card that he had gotten, the bold "F", his details, and more.

"You know you have to complete one quest a month, right?" Ava said.

"I know that," he said, playing with the card in hand. It was a fixed setup that every adventurer needed to complete quests at certain intervals.

"Master, are we all going into the dungeon?" Grey asked.

"No, we have nowhere to stay, so Ava and Lucy will be going to do that," Zane said.

"Master, I have to go with you," Lucy said.

"No. If I become too reliant on your strength, how will I grow? In the beginning, I needed you—and I still do now, but I also need to grow for myself," Zane said.

Her expression darkened; she looked down at the floor of the carriage. "I’m your strength, Master. You can use me how you want," she said.

"No, you are a person of your own. You aren’t a tool, Lucy," he said. He stretched out his hand and patted her on the head. She was a bit shocked when she felt his hand, but she liked it, so she stayed put.

"But one day, I want to be strong enough to also protect you, Lucy, not only you protecting me," he said.

Her eyes lit up when she heard that. She turned to look at him, her pale cheeks slightly rosy. She didn’t say anything, but there was no need.

Ava glanced back at the two of them. She let out a soft smile, but her eyes held some pain, some resentment. She looked forward and kept riding.

After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the dungeon. It was a crowded place, massive metal gate was open, and it had stairways that led downward.

Zane and Grey came down from the carriage. They waved the ladies goodbye and then faced the gate. Zane looked at Grey. "Are you ready to become rich and strong?" Zane asked.

"How so?" Grey asked.

Zane pointed at the gate. "Behind there is an unlimited amount of monsters—and that means unlimited amounts of resources.

Our stamina as vampires is out of this world. If we grind like our lives depended on it, we will be eating the freshest meat and wearing the craziest drips," Zane said. The gamer in him started showing, the grinding maniac that he was.

Grey imagined being rich, something that he had never had in his life. He imagined the lavish lifestyle filled with the best of things. His motivation rose.

"Let’s go, Master. Let’s go grind," Grey said.

"That’s the spirit," Zane replied in a jolly tone and marched forward.

They joined the crowd pressing toward the gate when suddenly he spotted a little girl pickpocketing. But she wasn’t a human, she was a wolf-man. She had long thick fur-like hair, with wolf ears and eyes. She also used a tail.

She moved fast, picking different pockets. He observed her without saying anything, until she finally came close to a man near him. As she attempted to steal, the man felt it and was turning around.

Zane immediately stepped between the girl and the man. He looked the man in the eyes and used charm.

"Nothing happened. Face the front," he said.

"Okay," the man replied and turned. Zane looked behind him for the girl, but she had scurried away.

Finally, they made it to the gate. The guard there asked for their identification, and they showed it.

"You are only allowed within the first five floors. Don’t go any further, it’s for your own safety," the man said.

"Yeah, yeah," Zane replied, walking past the man. Grey followed behind. They stepped into the dungeon, and the atmosphere had already changed.

The mana particles in the air were more dense; the inside felt cold and smelled of soft decay and moss.

The walls were lined with crystal lamps, it was a good touch rather than flame torches. The walls were made of bricks, which showed that the humans had slowly been developing the dungeon. But that would change the deeper one went.

There were other people also entering at the same time as him, players mostly. They formed parties and groups to raid the dungeons.

Zane could feel some players staring at him as he walked past them, but he didn’t care. He made it to the first floor after descending a good amount of stairs.

There, there were players gathered and some NPCs. There were even groups of mixed. He walked past again, not saying anything.

[You have entered a dungeon for the first time. Special Bonus: 2x Drop Rate is activated.]

[Unique bloodline features activated.]

[Due to your unique bloodline, EXP is doubled inside a dungeon—and so is drop rate.]

Zane wasn’t expecting those messages. The moment he saw them, he froze, staring at the screen.

’Two times drop rate, which means any drop is doubled because this is my first time. And then unique bloodline allowing me to have double EXP and double drop rate, which means I can get more drops than anyone else.’

Zane was ecstatic. He immediately picked up the pace. Right now, it was time for him to get busy. After walking for a bit and taking different turns, they finally lost any player or person around, then they finally met their first group of monsters: goblins.

Three-feet tall creatures of death, the same as the ones he had killed a few days back. There was a total of five. Zane pulled out his dagger, rolled it. He looked at Grey and nodded.

Grey lunged forward first. The goblins rushed at him as well, one in the front. It leaped into the air, hands wide open, teeth ready to bite.

"Kyahhhhhh!" it screamed as it attacked.

Grey stepped back, set his fist to his side, and then exploded with a punch. The fist collided with the head of the goblin.