No Drinking Potions

"Just my rotten luck. A dignified Silver-rank adventurer party nearly died in a 'Normal'-rated dungeon. It'd be humiliating if word got out."

Sithran complained as she skillfully sliced off the Minotaur's horns with an enchanted dagger and stuffed them into her spatial backpack.

As a noble pure-blooded elf, she had spent fifty years traveling the world. Her masterful archery had earned her Silver-rank adventurer status, and her strength was nothing to scoff at. Taking on twenty Filis at once would not be a problem for her.

Her party was called Morning Breeze. Besides herself, it had another Silver-rank adventurer and two Bronze Rank adventurers on the verge of promotion. The team's commission completion rate exceeded eighty percent.

Yet they had nearly been wiped out in Sain Underground City.

One Bronze Rank companion had been dragged into a swamp by Skeleton Monsters and Rotten Hounds. By the time they pulled him out, he had the two negative buffs, "Severe Poison" and "Decay."

They had prepared the appropriate antidotes, but...

The companion in charge of the potions had opened an unremarkable treasure chest earlier, and then—

[Teleportation Trap triggered!!!]

Now, they could not find him anywhere.

Sithran was a High-rank Ranger, while the other Silver-rank companion was a High-rank Sword and Shield Warrior. Neither of them knew healing magic.

So they could only watch helplessly as their companion died from poison.

The Sword and Shield Warrior was a hotheaded brute. Seeing two companions die such miserable deaths, he immediately entered a berserk state and hacked his way from the Upper Level to the Middle Level, killing anything that stood in his way!

But his rage had robbed him of his awareness. When passing a cliff, he was struck off it by a huge Iron Ball that suddenly rolled out from around the corner. Both of them jumped.

The two met a fortunate end.

"Who could've guessed there'd be an Iron Ball hidden there?!"

Sithran kicked the door open with a bang, revealing the staircase leading to the Lower Level—the mining tunnels.

Yet she did not enter immediately. Instead, she tossed in a stone first to test the way and make sure no enemy was waiting behind the door to launch a Sneak Attack!

It was not that she was naturally cautious. This damned Sain Underground City had forced her to become careful!

She had encountered more traps along the way than she had in the past ten years combined.

Just among the monsters, there were ones disguised as corpses, hidden beneath swamps, hanging from ceilings, crouching around corners, and clinging to the sides of Suspension Bridges.

"The place is as treacherous as a 'Hard'-rated dungeon. If the monsters were any stronger, it would absolutely qualify as Hard."

Though the traps were devious, Sithran had discovered a major flaw in this dungeon—the monsters were too weak.

Skeleton Monsters, Goblins, Rotten Hounds, Blood Mosquitoes... They were all low-tier even among low-tier monsters. Two or three sturdy farmers could kill one if they worked up the courage. Only the Minotaurs were somewhat decent, but they were merely slightly stronger low-tier monsters.

There was not a single true elite monster. The traps could catch people off guard, but once she became vigilant, most of them were useless.

"Let's find a way out and get back as soon as possible. Nothing's gone right since we entered this place."

Come to think of it, they had not entered Sain Underground City for any particular purpose. They had come with the mindset of tourists, wanting to see what the legendary easiest dungeon looked like.

But after seeing it, damn. How was this the easiest dungeon? It was the most treacherous one.

She could tell at a glance that this place had undergone a mutation. A mutation meant major changes to a dungeon's layout, monster types, and so on.

According to the books, dungeon mutations had been frequent a thousand years ago. They changed every day, making them extremely difficult to explore.

But nowadays, they would not change even once in decades. As a result, quite a number of dungeons had already been thoroughly mapped out.

Sain Underground City was the first dungeon to mutate in the past thirty years.

"If we can make a guide for this place, we'll definitely make a fortune." Sithran sensed a business opportunity. "After resting for a few days, we'll come back. We'll be the first ones to make a guide!"

They continued onward, passed through a spiral staircase, killed a Wraith that attacked from behind, dodged a boulder falling from the ceiling, and slew a disguised Mimic. At last, they arrived in a spacious mining cavern filled with blood-red crystals.

Sithran suddenly stopped.

Sharp crimson crystal clusters illuminated the entire cavern in red. They looked cool, but not nearly as cool as the "person" standing before her.

He was an exceptionally tall knight clad head to toe in bronze armor. His axe-shaped helmet exuded majesty, while the greatsword and Great Shield in his hands bore the marks of countless battles.

The armor's patterns were intricate and mysterious, their meaning impossible to discern.

He currently stood with his back to Sithran, but one look at his stance told her that he was strong!

She activated the Battle Skill [Aura Perception]!

Sithran's left eye glimmered faintly, and she immediately sensed the towering aura emanating from him.

Strong. Stronger than Bigge—the Sword and Shield Warrior—and me combined!

"Uh, hello?"

After some thought, Sithran decided to greet him first.

She could not see what lay beneath his armor, and his aura did not feel like that of a monster. What if he was an ally?

The Furnace Knight slowly turned around. Just as Sithran was about to say something, he suddenly charged at her!

"So you're not an ally after all?!"

Sithran cursed, then sprang lightly into the air with a tap of her toes. Drawing her bow and nocking arrows, she fired nearly ten shots in an instant.

The Furnace Knight raised his sturdy shield and blocked every one.

Unscathed!

"No, isn't using a shield way too unfair?!"

In the Lord Room, Gong Qiying rested his chin on his interlaced hands and stared without blinking at the battle displayed on the Crystal Ball.

"Shield bashing is true Invincibility. Too bad I can't change the Furnace Knight's equipment."

He was collecting combat data.

The C-rank Furnace Knight was currently the highest-ranked unit he could use. Other units of the same rank included Black Knights, Silver Knights, and so on.

So far, F-rank monsters required only single-digit Mental Power, E-rank required two digits, and D-rank reached three digits, though never more than five hundred. As for C-rank... some required three digits and some four, with quite a large gap between them. There were quite a few he could not afford to summon.

After inheriting Godwyn's memories, Gong Qiying had also gained an eye for assessing other people's strength. If his analysis was correct, Sithran possessed at least one High-rank Profession and one Intermediate Profession.

Everyone could possess multiple professions. From lowest to highest, profession ranks were Lower Rank, Intermediate Profession, High-rank, King Rank, Saint Rank, and Legendary Rank.

The adventurer classifications of iron, Bronze Rank, silver, gold, and so on were merely based on the contribution earned from completing commissions.

Sithran's strength was considered solid even among adventurers, so Gong Qiying wanted to see how far the Furnace Knight could push her.

After merely ten minutes of fighting, Sithran was already showing signs of fatigue.

Ordinary arrows were useless against the Furnace Knight's armor and Great Shield. Only by enchanting her arrows with "magic power" and firing them with powerful "Battle Skills" could she pierce weaker portions of the armor.

But that greatly increased the strain on her stamina.

The gaps in the Furnace Knight's armor had been shot full of arrows, making him look like a porcupine. Yet his movements remained swift and fierce, with no sign of weakening.

Sithran leaped backward to evade the Furnace Knight's Earthquake Stomp, only for a jutting shard of rock to slice open her arm. She was just about to counterattack when—

Golden light flashed, and a pair of dazzling golden wings suddenly sprouted from the Furnace Knight's back!?

Danger!

The word flashed through her mind. She instinctively rolled to the side, and in the next instant, the Furnace Knight dove down!

"Ah!"

Even though she had dodged as quickly as she could, the sharp wing still ripped a bloody gash along Sithran's waist.

"Healing potion, healing potion... Good thing I brought some!"

The Furnace Knight's dive had widened the distance between them, giving her the perfect chance to drink a potion!

Sithran hurriedly pulled out the cork and poured the red healing potion into her mouth, casually glancing up.

The Furnace Knight rushed toward her like a madman, eyes red as though he had been provoked!

I just want to take a sip of potion. Is that really necessary?!

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