Outside of the Crawling Caverns Dungeon

A Few Hours Later

Astrid frowns as she watches William standing off to the side of the group with his hands bound, wearing nothing but some under armor and no armor. The group had decided to make him work off his debt to them before they would let him really join the group. So long as he doesn’t display any intent to betray them over the time.

And no matter how long Astrid watches him, she can’t help but feel unnerved. Because the guy has completely flipped around in his actions compared to before. Whereas he used to be a plotting prince with disdain for commoners, he now acts like a perfect gentleman who is kind to everyone. As if he had reformed himself after being killed.

Which, while technically possible, isn’t very likely in Astrid’s opinion.

“Astrid?” Alara asks, bringing her gaze back to their base’s leader where she finds her with a worried expression on her face. “Don’t worry about him. Aidan and Reginald will be keeping a close eye on him while we’re gone. And it’s not like he can do much without a weapon, armor, and with his hands bound and his mana drained.”

Astrid just grunts in response, not saying anything as she glances at William one last time before focusing on the dungeon.

The only reason why I’m willing to leave him here with the others is because his mana has been drained during construction.

After a few seconds of staring at the dungeon entrance while the others continue making sure they have everything prepared, Astrid lets out a sigh and looks down at herself, checking her equipment. Not that there’s very much to check since the only person who’s managed to find a loot box somewhere on the island was Aidan, who got a better weapon from it. Leaving everyone else still stuck wearing basic equipment until they get better gear in the dungeon.

It’s too bad Lexi couldn’t join us in the dungeon. Stupid dungeon restriction limiting people to one finished dive a month.

“Alright, looks like everyone’s ready to head out,” Alara calls out after Astrid looks up again, following which she says, “Let’s head in then.”

Everyone in their team of six including Astrid, Alara, the former princess Elizabeth, Rob, Shelly, and one person from Elizabeth’s group immediately begin walking up to the purple portal making up the dungeon entrance. And the moment they all touch it, they find a bright flash of purple and blue light shining out of it before they find themselves in a large cavern.

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Dungeon – Crawling Caverns

Description: This is a basic dungeon located within Tutorial Block #108

Monsters: The Primary monster type in this dungeon are arachnid-type monsters, with the secondary type being insects and common cave dwelling monsters.

Requirements To Enter: N/A

Dungeon Tier: 1

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Astrid raises a brow slightly at the sight of the requirements to enter the dungeon having changed since the last time she checked. But she quickly focuses on her surroundings when she hears the sound of skittering. Then a large spider roams around the corner of a connected tunnel to the cavern, entering the cavern itself with a hiss.

{Lesser Taracht – Level 2}

And there’s the lesser taracht that Lexi spoke about.

Astrid grins before teleporting straight to its shadow and digging into the thing’s head with a knife made of shadows that she summons mid swing of her arm. And without even leaving her blade in the creature for a single second, she pulls it back out and looks at the others, finding them all standing at the ready to attack.

So Astrid turns to face the tunnel, feeling excited for the dungeon dive.

I bet Lexi is having just as much fun searching for that island’s level 100 as I’m gonna be having in this dungeon.

After having that thought, Astrid turns back to Alara as the woman takes control of the team.

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Alexia

I let out a relaxed sigh as I let myself soak in the lovely hot spring I found in the middle of a random cavern in the hills on the island while in my under armor with my armor itself having been taken off with just a thought. And no matter how long I stay in here, I just can’t get enough. Because it just feels so relaxing after fighting constantly for a month. Or running constantly. Or both.

It’s too bad I don’t have a swimsuit or something to stay in here with, but my under armor will have to do. Because I’m not getting naked out in the open, even if this is inside of a cave.

Either way though, it’s nice and relaxing in here.

Over the last few hours, I have managed to do basically nothing but walk while killing some monsters. But since I’m already at the level cap, and I don’t get EXP for killing anything after this point, there’s no reason to hunt the monsters right now. So I’m only killing those that try to attack me. Any others would just be unnecessary and pointless slaughter.

I let out another sigh while raising my gaze to the ceiling, only for my hair to catch my attention as it floats in the water.

Right. The whole deep purple tint thing.

Almost forgot that my hair had changed colors.

Then again, I don’t really care about my appearance as long as it’s not shameful.

I grab my hair, rolling it between my fingers.

Although it does feel softer than it used to.

I let go of it again and lean back with my head resting on the edge of the hot spring.

This hot spring was a rather lucky find. Maybe I should find some way to mark where it is just so that I can come back before returning to the home island?

That thought has me pursing my lips for a second before I just close my eyes, deciding to worry about that in half an hour after I get out.

I wonder if Astrid has started her dungeon dive yet?