Marzipan was heading deeper into the Dungeon. She planned on defeating monsters in the third floor, though she knew that she should’ve at least had a party of some sort to help her. Maybe other members of her familia? She shook her head and sighed. Better not think about it, you’ve already made your choice, she chastised herself. Seeing the looming Tower of Babel made her wrinkle her nose and wipe her hand across it. She’ll get something done today, that was for sure. Taking a deep breath, she went to the tower and began her descent down below. Her footsteps echoed on the steps of the spiraling staircase as she made her way down. Already she was feeling a little apprehensive as her hands found their way to her swords. She was prepared, but even then it didn’t stop her from being nervous. She was still unused to the Dungeon and this was a bold move of her to try and explore the third floor in hopes of earning some soul stones. Her ears twitched as she descended to the bottom and found herself in the cavernous halls of floor one. She got out her swords and began searching for the entrance to the second floor. It didn’t take long for her to stumble upon some goblins. With a grunt, she rushed forward and dealt one of them a blow to the face. It screeched as it clawed its wound while its companions began to swarm her. “Two against one? Hardly fair,” she said as she began slicing them with her swords. She pushed them back and plunged one of her swords into one of the goblins’ chest. It shrieked as it died, disappearing and leaving behind a soul stone. The other two were similarly dealt with and she bent over to pick up the soul stones. “Few more to go…” she mumbled as she pocketed the stones and continued on her way to the third floor. More monsters were slayed as she ventured deeper into the Dungeon. It wasn’t a swarm like the first one, of that she was thankful for. Still, the way the cavernous halls winded made her fear that she might never find the way back out. “At least I won’t have to worry about monsters if I can kill them quickly…” She shook her head and continued down to the right. Soon enough, she stumbled upon the entrance to the second floor. Her face lit up as she grinned. “Score!” And down she went, still intent on boldly reaching the third floor. Though perhaps she can meander around the second floor for a bit. …Nah. At the beginning of the second floor, she was greeted by several more goblins, some of them brandishing their weapons as she got closer. They were similarly dealt with and she went over to collect their soul stones. “So far so good…” The longer she fought monsters, the more exhilarated she felt. Yes, this got her adventuring blood going. She wondered if other adventurers felt like she did the longer they stayed in the Dungeon. She didn’t know. The entrance to the third floor was found faster than second floor entrance, which surprised her. She thought that it would take longer than when she was searching for the second floor entrance. She hadn’t really even met any monsters, other than the goblins she first encountered. Shrugging it off, she began her descent down into the third floor. It looked just like the last two floors, nothing new there. She ventured forward a little more before she was met with a kobold. The creature roared as it spotted her and dashed towards her. Readying her swords, she, too, charged forward and met the creature’s claws with one of her swords. She used the other one to jab at its stomach, landing several hits before they broke apart. It roared in anger and tried to slash at her some more. She hopped back to dodge before once more coming closer and dealing several more blows on its neck and chest. The kobold snapped at her arm, missing it by a few inches. One more slash across the face and the creature held its head in pain. “Gotcha,” she said with a smirk as she plunged both her swords into its body. The monster disappeared and left a soul stone. She bent down to pick it up and inspect it. It was bigger than the goblin soul stones, which meant that if she took it with her, she would most likely get more valis. Pocketing it, she began to look around the caverns before continuing her way through. She found, to her surprise, even more goblins. To be honest, she thought she wouldn’t get to see anymore now that she was in the third floor. Guess she was wrong there. Either way, she had to deal with them. But like the goblins from the upper floors, they were dispatched fairly quickly. She pocketed their soul stones and continued on her way as she thought about what might appear in this floor. Goblins, as she found earlier. Kobolds as well. But were there other monsters she didn’t hear about? She hadn’t heard much from the mouth of experienced adventurers about the monsters down below, but perhaps this floor would be easy enough to get through? She didn’t know. Next thing she knew, she stumbled upon a pack of kobolds. The creatures snarled as they began to make their way towards her. She cracked her neck from side to side as she warily approached them. Then they dashed forward, causing her to block them with her swords. She grunted as their claws met her sides before pushing one of them back. She sliced at their bodies, though they didn’t take much damage. She found herself being battered by the kobolds as she tried to fight them off. She managed to get one down when she noticed out of the corner of her eye more creatures coming from the Dungeon’s walls. I can’t handle this many kobolds! she thought to herself. The Hume Bunny disengaged from the fight and began to run as fast as she could down the cavernous halls. The kobolds were in hot pursuit and she had to duck and weave in order to shake them off. She was panting as she rested her body against the wall after she lost them. She turned her head to look around. “…I have no idea where I am anymore,” she realized, a sinking feeling in her chest, “Maybe I should’ve stayed close to the entrance. This isn’t good…” She groaned as she moved away from the wall, only to hear something behind her. The young woman turned around. It was another kobold, go figure. This one seemed larger than the others, though. With a grunt, she readied herself as the big kobold charged at her. She stuck a sword into its wrist while the other one was used to block its attack. She grunted against as she tried to maneuver her blade so that it would block every one of its moves. No such luck, for some of it managed to hit her. She couldn’t help but hiss in pain as she backed off before the creature slammed into her. She was knocked off her feet and she found herself trying to push the kobold away with her swords as it snapped at her face. “Get off me!” she cried as she tried to wiggle her way out. It continued to pin her down and snap futilely at her being. She spat into its eye and the creature growled as it tried to rub away its eye. With that distraction, she wiggled out from under its grasp and scrambled back, able to stand up now. The creature snarled and glared at her as she rushed forward, this time slashing at its head and neck while it was still down. It growled again before standing up tall and trying to crush her with a body slam. She quickly got out of there and plunged a sword into the back of its neck. It coughed feebly as she left it there and began using her other sword to slash at its face. The sword stuck into the beast clattered to the ground as its body disappeared, leaving behind a soul stone much bigger than the others. She couldn’t help but marvel at its size before pocketing it with the rest of her soul stones. “…Should probably find the exit,” she muttered as she retrieved her sword and went on her way. After a while, she ended up running into another pack of kobolds. Knowing she couldn’t face them, she once more ran for dear life as they came in hot pursuit. She was starting to get tired as she started gasping for breath. Her eyes lit up when she saw the entrance to the second floor. Without hesitation, she immediately went up. To her dismay, however, the kobold pack followed after her. …Where have I seen this situation before? she thought sarcastically, remembering how she had to help another adventurer fight the same species of monsters that were now after her. She began to duck and weave through the caverns as she tried to shake them off. Hopefully whatever adventurer that meets them would be able to handle them. But then again, at least they would have back up, probably. She dashed to the right before taking another right, hiding from the pack. They rush past her, causing her to sigh in relief. I think I’ll stick with the second floor for now… With a sigh, she began walking around the second floor in hopes of meeting some monsters that wouldn’t be the pack of kobolds she shook off. The rest of the day was spent on the second floor, defeating goblins. She had gathered quite the amount by the time she was finished and she was very tired at that point. She had eaten some of her lembas bread, which cured her fatigue a little, but she was still tired all the same. Once she noticed her sack was filled with soul stones, she began searching for the first floor entrance to subsequently get out of the Dungeon. Sometime later, along with more monster fights, she found the entrance to the first floor and quickly made a beeline for the exit. Today was a good day, she thought to herself as she found the exit and began her ascent to the world above.
