Advancement

Chapter 9 · Advancement

What should they do?

Inside the pitch-black sewer, this question surfaced simultaneously in the minds of Tuka and the other three, who stood back-to-back in a circle. All kinds of rumors they had once heard from other adventurers kept appearing in their minds. Tuka, especially, was under tremendous pressure as the team leader.

"Retreat!"

The next second, Tuka's grave voice rang out. Since they couldn't figure out what was happening, the best choice was to leave this place and get away from the unknown danger.

"Yes!"

The other three nodded and maintained their formation as they slowly headed toward the sewer's exit, keeping a close watch on their surroundings. As time passed, the muddy, damp sludge beneath Tuka and the others' feet began to dry, and faint glimmers of light appeared in the dim passage. Only then did their tightly wound nerves begin to relax slightly.

After all, reaching this point meant they weren't far from the sewer's exit. Their retreat had also gone surprisingly smoothly. Aside from encountering a few giant rats and Mud Monsters along the way, they hadn't been attacked by any other monsters.

Suddenly, Tuka, who was walking at the front, narrowed his eyes slightly. A dazzling beam of light shone onto his face, and an atmosphere completely different from that of the sewer rushed toward him. The bustling sounds of the crowd and the residents on the street, who covered their noses and stared at the four of them with disgust, all proved that they had successfully left the sewer.

"Let's go. We'll return to the Adventurer's Guild first. We have to report the details of this mission to the guild."

After Tuka took several deep breaths of air filled with the scent of sunlight, he turned around. His grave expression had relaxed, and he looked at the other three with a faint smile. Although he didn't know what they had encountered this time, at least they had survived yet again—and no one had died.

For this low-level adventurer party, that was the greatest reward of all. Even though being an adventurer meant risking one's life to make money, who would want to die if they could live?

"Captain, don't forget to treat us!"

At that moment, Nina ran up to Tuka with her hands behind her back, hopping along as she tilted her little head and looked at him with a mischievous, adorable smile. It was impossible to tell that she was the same person who had previously held a bow and killed monsters without batting an eye.

"All right, all right. After we turn in the mission, everyone go home and change clothes, then meet at the usual place. You don't want to go there wearing what you have on now, do you?"

Looking at the mischievous yet adorable Nina in front of him, Tuka couldn't help patting her head. Then he raised a finger and pointed toward the residents in the distance, who were covering their noses and keeping far away from them. After all, the smell on them after just emerging from the sewer was truly indescribable.

Sniff, sniff.

Nina lowered her head and smelled herself. The sewer's signature stench had mixed with the smell of monster blood. She hadn't found it particularly unpleasant while they were still in the sewer, but Nina's tightly furrowed brows and disgusted expression now made everything perfectly clear.

"All right, we should head to the Adventurer's Guild."

Seeing Nana looking as adorable as ever, Tuka burst into hearty laughter. His burly body strode toward the nearby Adventurer's Guild. Seeing this, Keith and Gordon exchanged a glance, grabbed Nina, and hurried after him.

Meanwhile, back in the dark sewer, Lu Minghao continued hiding for nearly half an hour after Tuka and the others left. Only after roughly half of the magicules in his body had been consumed did he silently emerge from the shadows. He hid in a corner and confirmed that there was truly no danger before slowly crawling over to a giant rat's corpse.

"What were those adventurers doing? They actually left without taking their spoils. Or are the corpses of Lower Demons worthless?"

Looking at the monster corpses the adventurers had left behind, Lu Minghao extended a small hand from his body and poked the still-warm corpse of the giant rat. As for how a round, chubby slime could have a hand, it was simply because, after receiving a large supply of nutrients, Lu Minghao had suddenly discovered that he could do this.

"Whatever. It has nothing to do with me. Actually, them not wanting these monster corpses is a bargain for me."

The next moment, Lu Minghao couldn't be bothered to think about it any longer. He opened his mouth and swallowed the giant rat's corpse in front of him, then ate the remaining corpses as well. He hopped toward the goblin camp while digesting them. There should still be the corpses of the few goblins that had escaped. With his spirit of not wasting food, Lu Minghao naturally accepted them gladly.

About an hour later, inside an inconspicuous cave several kilometers from the goblin camp, Lu Minghao surveyed what would be his home for some time and nodded in satisfaction.

After swallowing all those goblin corpses as well, Lu Minghao headed in the opposite direction from where the adventurers had gone. After all, who knew whether those people might suddenly turn around and come back? For now, those adventurers were far stronger than him, so for his own safety, Lu Minghao decisively chose to stay away from them.

Afterward, Lu Minghao found a section of the sewer filled with mountains of garbage. He found this cave inside one of those garbage piles. Its entrance was completely buried beneath a large amount of trash, and only a slime's liquid body could enter it with ease. This alone could keep a large number of enemies away from Lu Minghao.

After all, whether they were monsters or human adventurers, they would instinctively avoid this place filled with garbage and filth, let alone crawl inside a garbage heap.

As for how Lu Minghao had found this place, it was purely an accident. After devouring those goblin corpses, along with the monster corpses from earlier, Lu Minghao instinctively sensed that the magicules in his body and his body itself were beginning to evolve toward a higher level.

After noticing the changes in his body and magicules, Lu Minghao began searching for a safe hiding place while checking his talent panel. The originally pure-white talents [Magicules] and [Slime Physique] were gradually beginning to glow blue.

He was evolving from a Lesser Demon into a Lower Demon. In this world, monsters had all sorts of classification systems. For example, human adventurers ranked monsters from F-rank to Special S-rank. Slimes, goblins, and Mud Monsters were among the weakest F-rank monsters, while the strongest Special S-rank monsters were Calamity-class beings—existences that were absolutely impossible to resist.

The most representative Special S-rank beings were Milim the Destroyer and the terrifyingly powerful Veldora the Storm Dragon, who was still sealed away.

However, that was merely the ranking system used by human adventurers. Monsters had a much simpler system: from Lesser Demon, to Lower Demon, Middle Demon, Upper Demon, Demon Lord Species, and Awakened Demon Lord.

Moreover, every leap between stages brought about a fundamental increase in power and could even cause one's species to evolve.

"Why am I so sleepy after evolving?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Minghao fell into a deep sleep. His sky-blue body radiated a faint glow. The magicules inside him could clearly be seen spinning rapidly around the center of his body, forming a vortex made up of countless points of light, like a surging galaxy.

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