> From this day onward, the 30th day of the 1702nd year of the new age as ordained by the gods, I declare:

>

> A new adventurer rank shall be added, between the iron rank and the silver rank there shall be the new rank 'Steel' named after the newly popularized material.

>

> Along with that, the wood rank shall no longer be given out to any adventurer in any place of the world and the conditions of obtaining different ranks will be altered to account for modern circumstances.

>

> From the copper to iron rank ranking up shall be done as long before; by paying a fee to the guild in order to fight with a examiner at a certain place and time decided by the guild, if no character suitable to do so is available then proof of prowess in the form of a monster corpse shall be required.

>

> Thought a partial monster corpse is allowed, if shown that it was tampered with the validity of the proof will be directly removed and those who tried to use the tampered corpse shall no longer be allowed to rank up through such a method and will be required to go to a guild with worthy examiners; the same being true for any others who attempt foul play.

>

> But from steel rank to diamond rank, there shall be a different modus operandi used. The only way to rank up is the usage of a recording device provided by the guild after a paying a fee dependent on the various circumstances of the branch from which it is bought, requiring a feat required of the wished rank.

>

> Beyond that the means to rank up shall be decided on a case by case basis by the main branch of the nation or the council of direction.

>

> Still, the obsidian rank and related means of identification shall be automatically be filed and gifted to any who stand at the zenith in class and/or skill.

-Excerpt from an official announcement by the adventurer's guild on the 1702nd year of the new age.

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I walked down the steps with calm breaths to maintain me with six good fellows behind me, there be Vale and Stil- Brother and sister, {Martial artist} and {Swordsman}- There be Harry and Newal- Friends among friends, both variants of mercenary classes- Then two who had joined on the way, unrelated in any way, Hark and Gil: {Blaze mage} and {Priest of life}.

Then there was me, leader and low-level {Guardian}.

Yes, my class be [Rare] you see. A surprising development for both me and my family, nonetheless a great one!

The first four rooms were left there to make sure no complete weaklings found their way into the real part of the dungeon, the slime plains, which was the dungeon's namesake.

My tower shield buckling with every step, it funded by the slime cores I've already scrounged up along with the metal helmet, chestplate and bracers I currently wore over my whole body. All the rest also had their own armour snugly fitted as well, a bit of a requirement if we wanted to confidently stride through the slime plains.

Even if it was probably nothing if a 'Double weave acid slime' appeared.

They were rare, yes, but that didn't mean I would bet on it. I wasn't a {Gambler} or anything.

With the final room reached before the slime plains, I let Vale forwards to deal with the problem. Though Hark could do it with ease, every drop of mp had to be saved in case of any danger. was powerful but expensive and volatile, it had to be saved for the important things.

Didn't mean that he couldn't just use or when it was a bit less important, even if they weren't given any growth boost.

With a single kick the slime was dead, and with that the annoying part started.

The tunnel.

I was first in line, taking off my shield and putting it into the hole behind the weird rock hook that it was hidden behind, fell down and let my chestplate touch the stone floor, and struggled through while pushing my shield through.

And it was annoying, like always, the armour did not help even slightly.

After a painful minute or two, I finally be at the end of the nightmare and stood strong on two legs and not a single thing more.

Then I had to wait for my fellows to come through with much less trouble, but their protective gear did at least cause a bit of problem "Any issues?"

With no complaints mentioned, I quickly confirmed "Two mana potions ready?"

"Eh, cap," He responded, tapping the satchel at his side "Got a' experimental one too, free."

I didn't know why he had an 'Experimental' mana potion, or what one of those things really were, but that be how he was "Okay, let's get going."

Walking to the opening just a bit away, I saw a few torches standing tall still. And while the path wasn't completely lit, it was still somewhat clear where to go. Good, it seemed that nothing snuffed them out, that was really good.

No worrying variants to worry about.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Still, when it was still possible for 'Slime apostle 1' to appear at any point in time, I had to be careful just like always.

The effort put in be of far less worth compared to a life.

Standing in front, I descended the stairs leading down to proper rocky 'Plains' of the slime plains with shield held by one hand and newly magically-lit torch in the other, keeping a close watch on the sides of the stairs with helmet on my head.

I made sure to keep my heart calm with deep breaths the whole way down, though only a few had ever even been attacked on the stairs out of the countless times people went down, that one chance could lead to a permanent end of my journey.

Standing in the proper danger zone, I quickly checked if there was an issue, seeing nothing I quickly declared "In standard formation people."

With me at the front, Gil in the middle with Harry and Newal to his left and right with Hark a layer behind with the martial siblings at his side. No issues to see, great, then all that I had to do was make sure nothing attacked any of the others.

After clearing me' throat I took out 'me' old dagger', thin though refined barely reflecting the golden light of the torches on its obsidian and two-pointed blade, and slammed the metallic and guardless hilt's flat pommel down on my shield with some strength, flaring out as words came out of my mouth "Come and get me or ye be nothing more than a beast!"

Though we did not intend to gather slime cores at the moment, it was important to make sure none of the actually dangerous slimes suddenly shot their shot and got a easy kill. While with my current stats, any normal acid shooter couldn't actually cause any extremely serious harm like gnawing through a limb in mere seconds or moments even without any equipment against it, but one of the more dangerous ones actually could and quite easily too.

Multiple shots of acid suddenly pelted my shield, as to be expected. And without my input, Newal shot it down the few slimes that revealed themselves with bow and arrow in hand.

But then the piece of metal was pelted again, and again, and again.

Shiiiieeeet.

"Hark! Get ye ass on this!" I shouted as I dropped my dagger to the side and held my right arm's forearm against the shield to stop dangerous amount of shuddering. Though I could hear the soft chant coming from behind me, I did not listen as I let directly counter any acid impact from somehow landing any where else than the shield specifically made to counter it.

Luckily, the problem went away a few moments later.

I had heard of a slime variant that could do something like that, a... I couldn't remember the exact name, not that it mattered. It was dead now, and that meant the problem was gone. After a few moments of waiting and another taunt to make sure nothing was close by, I nodded to the rest.

Trekking through the slime plains was always stressful, from what I heard it used to be a lot more peaceful few months ago when it was first discovered. A strange thing, a dungeons so many months old yet still [Common].

Did not mean it be a safe dungeon, it felt far more dangerous than anything [Common] deserved to be.

As my gaze passed by the wandering lights in the darkness, I taunted again and again as I slightly winced at the degradation of my shield. At least it was a party expense, and its repair would be paid for before any profits were dealt out.

With a few encounters with acid slimes passed without a singular slime apostle 1 sighting in consideration for the fact that all of the slimes were directly led into attacking the shield and nothing else.

No issues came along as we came before the lit stairway leading down and then up and then down and then up... Again, another annoying bit not helped by the shield.

But such were the sacrifices I had to make to have such a large piece of metal to protect me from anything.

But after that came the real annoying part, the extremely annoying part, bringing it down the hole.

But it wasn't impossible, sliding down three ropes twirled around with the shield held to tightly by my feet, I quickly found myself in the empty 'Room of disaster'. From what Hark said he heard from others, apparently the large indent at the floor was originally filled with second weave acid slimes that had caused catastrophic damage to some of the ones that came down the first time. Even if the room didn't refill for some reason.

With confirmation of safety, I called up towards the rest of the team to come down "Ey! It's fine down here, come down!"

A few minutes of more careful descent on the part of the non-physical members of the team lacking in physique, it was time to do what we had come here to do. It was time to find out what was in one of the tunnels leading back up.

Probably something highly dangerous considering that this was probably the path to the core due to the obviously dirty tricks used in the room I was in right now.

But a core was a core, and we could sell the information easily.

Then came the even more annoying part, far more annoying than the previous section.

Harry took out a large bundle of rope pre-prepared and hung it to his side, it being a three ropes intertwined along with a metal hook meant to be forced into stone, and was easily propped up to the hole by Newal and me before starting his ascent.

An even longer time later, the rope dropped down and tens of seconds later Harry returned with his speed rapidly stopping at the bottom.

Then it was my job to climb all the way up with the hope that Harry didn't screw up somehow.

Taking a few deep breaths, my hands clamped down on the ropes, arms pulling me up while still holding my shield between my legs.

Skill : lvl 6 -> lvl 7

The notification did not come on deaf ears, neither on mine or 's, as I felt my hands become more proficient and a sense or relief seemed to seep through me as I felt as if I became 'Better' even if ever so slight in comparison to when I leveled my class. I was definitely not rejected by me.

After a quick mental thanks to Cer for her radiant blessings, mostly to not get on her bad side on the off chance a paladin variant came along, I continued upward.

Minutes later, I finally reached the top, it had been a pain like always. At least it seemed that the rope and hook were still properly in the rock, Harry wasn't in this team for nothing. Though I could only see it vaguely after lighting a new torch.

But more important was the slime bouncing just a bit away, though I couldn't see it, I could hear it just a bit. This wasn't a safe zone of any kind, sadly.

Tugging at the rope three times as to confirm my situation silently, I waited for the others to come up. With Harry, who probably had a climbing skill in the 20's, coming in first.

It would probably take a dozen minutes for Hark and Gil to come all the way up, though maybe it'd be a little less due to skill gains. Newal came a little after his friend though, good.

With another torch lit and then thrown towards the next room, the three of us laid our eyes upon a duo of slimes. It was a shame none of us had or anything like it, but still, it seemed highly suspicious.

I quickly got ready with my shield and my dagger, preparing to use to the fullest.

You have entered the dungeon 'Slime plains'

...

Wut.

It turned [Uncommon]?

Why now?!