The next day, Sol made his way to the northern part of the city. Right outside of the city walls, a small mound jutted out of the ground with an entrance inside. That was the Osuga dungeon of the city. Almost every city had a dungeon within close proximity, as there were many benefits to doing so.
The first obvious one was the easily accessible leveling location, allowing many adventurers, guards, and anyone able to enter and grow stronger. The other one was the effect a dungeon had on the nearby area. A dungeon fed off ambient mana to sustain itself, calming the wild mana in the area. If there was no dungeon, the mana could keep gathering and eventually create natural disasters. From violent storms to creating elementals, it could cause a lot of damage.
This was why most cities were built near a dungeon, with the rank ranging from at least D-Rank to A-Rank. While there was one more dungeon rank above A which was S-Rank, almost no city was built next to them for the dangers they posed.
Not only was the risk of dungeon outbreaks higher, but higher ranks produced stronger monsters. At a certain point, the dungeons would begin to emit their own mana that could cause the surrounding environment to take similar properties as itself. A famous example was the A-Rank Atlantus dungeon, which was an underwater dungeon. When it ranked up to S-Rank after consuming the mana of many strong adventurers, it started to naturally terraform its surroundings, causing the nearby area to flood, sinking an entire city.
Learning from their mistakes, no nation dared to build their cities near high-ranked dungeons unless their properties were relatively tame. Some dungeons didn't have any special environments, and very rarely did they even have beneficial environments that positively affected their surroundings.
Arriving at the dungeon entrance, Sol saw it guarded by two soldiers. After verifying his rank, they allowed him through and gave him a friendly tip as well.
“Be sure not to go past floor 5. That's where C-Rank monsters start appearing.”
Already knowing this information from the guide, Sol nodded his head and ventured into the Osuga dungeon.
Once inside, Sol was surprised by what he saw. A wide expanse of cave systems, similar to what he saw in the kobold cave, but much larger. The passages to other rooms could even fit an entire carriage easily. The open areas and passages were illuminated by glowing rocks scattered throughout the ceiling of the dungeon.
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"If I remember correctly, the enemy of this floor is rock beetles.’
It didn't take long to find one.
Race: Rock Beetle
Talents: [Defensive]
Level: 5
HP: 140
MP: 10
Str: 6
Vit: 14
Agi: 3
Int: 1
Wis: 1
Passive Skills:
[Scuttle] Lv 2, [Physical Resistance] Lv 1
Active Skills:
[Harden] Lv 1, [Bite] Lv 2
(A/N: Omitting blank sections of the status page for ease of reading)
The first floor only consisted of these beetles, an easy enemy for most people to take down. Sol made quick work of the beetle.
You have slain a Lv 5 Rock Beetle! Gained 30 Exp.
The moment the body touched the ground, it rapidly sunk into the ground and disappeared.
“This is why I thought it would be a bad idea to [Siphon] in this dungeon.”
The dungeon consumed all dead beings quickly. This was why when someone died in the dungeon, their body was never recovered, converted to mana and never to be seen again. That was the main reason why one couldn’t enter the dungeon without at least being D-Rank, as at least then the adventurers had more experience and wouldn't die as easily.
‘Though there was a small gap before it was consumed. I wonder…’
Sol searched for another rock beetle, and when he found one, he killed it as easily as the first one. He was constantly monitoring the beetle’s HP, and the moment it hit 0, he used [Siphon] as quickly as possible.
Learned [Physical Resistance] Lv 1!
He also siphoned [Harden], but there was no message. He did receive the skill experience, but it wasn't enough to level it up.
“Hoh? This changes everything.”
Originally, Sol didn't believe that going to the dungeon would be very beneficial as the bodies were rapidly consumed by the dungeon. But if he timed it just right, he could use [Siphon]. This meant the dungeon would not only solve his leveling needs but also his skill growth.
Testing it out with a few more beetles and failing every so often, he eventually got the hang of it. With small enemies like the beetles, an ideal strategy was to kick them up in the air and siphoning before they hit the ground works to delay the dungeon from absorbing it.
In the process, he leveled up [Physical Resistance] to level 3.
[Physical Resistance] Lv 3: Reduces Physical damage by 15%
‘If I max it out, it will cut all physical damage by half. The dungeon's theme is earth-themed, so there is a good chance many of the monsters have this skill as well.’
But then Sol realized something.
‘Wait. What if I max it out? Will it stay at max, or does it evolve to a stronger version? Has this even been done before?’
To level up skills, one has to use them often. The speed in which it grows also depends on if one has an associated talent, but some skills like [Physical Resistance] rarely get leveled. The reason for that was because to level it up, one must be physically attacked a lot. Few people have the ability to endure such a punishment, and even if they can, would they? No one was willing to take a beating for a 5% physical damage reduction.
‘But with [Siphon], I can find out. I'm really curious what it will become.’
Following the map provided in the guide, Sol quickly maneuvered through the fastest path to the next floor, killing any beetles he saw on the way.