Still wondering around the 1st floor, Ryu finally finds the savepoint for the place. There's actually a trick to determine if it's a savepoint or not. For a savepoint, the environment around them is a bit different from the Dungeons it resides. Also, the strongest type of monster on the floor will periodically spawn guarding the walls. In this case, it's the Green Worm from earlier.

The savepoint is located behind these walls, when a party or an individual succeed killing the monster guard, then they can push the wall. The wall will react to it as it will transform into a portal that serves as a warping point toward the save zone.

Sure that it's the savepoint, Ryu quickly decided to take down its guardian. This time, he was fully prepared to block the silk that the Worm keeps splurting. In case something unexpected happens, he keeps a spare wing with him that's placed in his back.

After the preparation is done, Ryu swiftly charges with his shield. The green creature who notices this quickly spams its weapon. Providentially, all the silk is being blocked by the wing. When He's close enough, he throws his shield toward the Worm's direction to disturb its line of sight. And at the same time, he quickly spins around it and swiftly executes a Fatal Strike to the Worm. Making sure the Worm dies from the first moves, Ryu follows the strike with a Quick Slash.

Wiping his sweat off, Ryu then proceeds to take off the Worm's horn.

"I'm able to beat it in one combo, but I guess it took quite of my stamina."

"Now the question is... Should I use the save point?"

Ryu starts to rub his head with its hand.

"Hmm, I guess for the first floor, it's better if I go back to the outside. After all, I can sleep in a comfortable bed. Also, I can trade the materials."

"But before that, let's make use of the storage magic to its fullest!"

Later, Ryu keeps wandering around the first floor. Killing every creature that comes in his sight. Of course, he keeps dismantling it perfectly.

"Hmm? I can't insert these wings anymore. I guess it had reached its maximum capacity."

Knowing this, Ryu quietly clicks his tongue.

"Damn, with my current mana, the limit of the storage is really sparse."

"Well... It's time to go back, I guess."

With that, Ryu takes out a piece of paper. It's the map that he draws to keep track of where he's going too. It can help him to prevent getting lost in the Dungeon. Generally, the interior of the Dungeon is changed every month. Because it's the start of a month, Hunter association still doesn't release the full map of the Dungeon.

Thanks to this self-drawn map, Ryu can get out of the Dungeon relatively easy. He encounters some monster in his way back and subsiding them immediately. Unfortunately, he can't bring the materials with him.

Succeeds in getting out, the bright sky already transformed into a dark and cloudy night.

"Time sure flies fast when I'm absorbed in the hunting."

Luckily, the Hunter Association is opened for 24-hours a day. So he can still trade his materials. He's currently very broke because of the things he needs to buy to prepare for the exploration. Now, he only has 5 Disks with him. It's only enough for one regular meal.

Entering the building, he can see the lively atmosphere of the association. The building is actually more active in the night compared in the day. At night, the peoples inside are partying and drinking until they're passed out from the alcohol. Its function is basically changed into a bar. Seeing a familiar face, Ryu slowly goes to the receptionist area.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"You're still working, Ms. Mia?"

Getting greeted suddenly, Mia flinches a little before showing her smile.

"Ah, Mr. Ryu. Yes, I'm taking over a friend shift. She's sick and can't make it here."

"I see, by the way, can you drop the formality? It's kinda weird for an older person to call me Mister all of a sudden."

Mia is somehow looked irritated with Ryu's request, her smile can be seen disappearing from her face.

"If that's what you want, I can call you that. But, you see. I'm not that old yet! I'm still in my early twenties!"

In response to this, Ryu began to tilts his head.

"You girls sure is sensitive when it comes to age."

Hearing the casual remark, Mia can only let out a sigh.

"That's just how we are, oh yeah, what do you want to do?

"I'm here to trade the materials."

"Ah, you can put the materials you want to trade here. I will calculate it first."

Mia taps her table, indicating Ryu to place it there.

"Okay."

Opening his storage magic, Ryu instantly throwing all the materials he had collected to the table. Seeing this, Mia started to get astonished.

"Wow, Ryu, did you really hunt alone?"

"Yes, why?"

"Are you really a novice?"

Keep being asked with a question where the answer should've been obvious, Ryu starts to tilts his head again.

"Yes, so?"

A silent has descended.

"Pardon me, I'm a bit dumbfounded with this. How can you collect this many materials in a mere day... Don't tell me, you buy it from a black merchant!?"

A black merchant, It's someone who sells the Dungeon material for a higher price than the original for the Hunter. Although it sounds absurd, there's still a lot of Hunters who gladly buy them.

The reason was simple, it's for an instant achievement point for a Hunter rank up. Because it's hard for them to get a rank up, they're ended up resorting to such a thing. Although, the Hunter Association keeps checking if there's any suspicious growth or not. There's still a lot of phony Hunters where their ranks are not matched up with the skills.

So, being suspected of doing such a deed makes Ryu a little bit offended.

"Why are you suspecting me like that? I don't care about such things in the first place. Even if I want that, I don't have the money to do so!"

"I'm sorry, but with your current stats, it simply seems to be impossible..."

Mia instantly apologizes to Ryu when she deduces that he's not that kind of kid. Appearing to accept this apology, Ryu gives out a loud sigh.

"You're overreacting, can you count it?"

"Oh yeah, I will also consider the quality of the materials."

"Hehe, go ahead."

Seemingly to wait for those statements to comes out from her mouth, Ryu gives his reply with confidence and a smug face.

"Perfect... Perfect... Perfect..."

Another silent has descended.

"RYUUU, be honest with me, do you really not buy it from the black merchant?"

"... Want to know how my punch taste?"

"But... How can you bring only the necessary part, also it's being dismantled this perfectly."

"Oh, the green Worm precious part was really the horn?"

"Yeah, it can be used as an alchemy material after all."

"How about the silks that are being splurted out from their mouth?"

"It supposed to be that thing, but there's a lot of Hunters that complain about how annoying the thread was. Not only that, if the creatures get ambushed then they won't leave any silks that can be picked up. That's why the association decided to change it into the horns instead."

While listening to this explanation, Ryu seems to nod constantly, he can't agree more with the decisions they make regarding the green Worm.

"I see, can you do the talk while counting the materials? I'm already starving."

Being reprimanded, Mia gives out another apology before progressing back into her duty.

After a minute has passed, the counting is finally done.

"Let me see, for each pair of ladybug wings, the base price is 5 Disks, but because you dismantle it perfectly, we will buy it for 8 Disks. And, for each one ball of green Worm silk, its base value is 10 Disks. With perfect quality, it will get you 20 Disks."

Mia explains while still calculating the materials.

"You have 20 pair of ladybug wings and 10 of green Worm horn. So you will get 360 Disks in total. Additionally, you will get 50 achievement points for this trade."

"How many points do I need to rank up?"

"It's 5000 points."

"That's a lot."

"Of course, receiving our support is definitely not an easy thing."

Giving out an obvious answer, Mia holds her hands against her chest, proud of her association. Before long, she suddenly sticks out her arm to Ryu.

"Now, please give me your card. I will transfer the Disks and update the points."

Taking out the card from his pocket, Ryu places it on Mia's little hand.

"While you at it, please give me a 5-Disk meal set. I'm starving."

"Okay, I will subtract five Disks from your reward."

Later, the meal has come to his desk. Ryu eats the meal as it was a blissful moment for him, even though it's just a simple soup. Indeed, there's no better spice than the hunger itself. After he finishes his meal, he goes out of the association and goes to the nearby inn to get a rest for tomorrow's hunt.