A Dragon's Curiosity

Nisha did not attract much attention when she entered the Dungeon.

Plenty of adventurers entered and exited the underground hunting ground at all times of the day, it was hard to keep track of the time once stone walls surrounded the parties from all sides and sun and moons were no longer visible.

Her current attire, a loose fitting summer dress and a sky blue scarf, raised some eyebrows, but no one came forward to warn her against descending into the Dungeon.

Plenty of casters and healers chose to forego even light leather armor in exchange for comfort, as the monsters nearly never managed to make it through the frontline of their teammates, and even then most capable fighters had some means of self preservation for emergencies.

Still, some of the heavily armored frontliners clicked their tongues at the elf, having a deep prejudice against weaklings that did not even bring the most basic armor.

She ignored their wheedling and flashed her adventurer card at the entrance, descending the wide stone staircase into the dark embrace of the ground.

Most of the Dungeon visitors remained close to the path leading to the next floor, since the first floor only housed monsters of the early and middle first grade.

Plenty of adults were capable of overpowering with their bare hands, and as such only beginner adventurers practiced against them to get used to combat.

Starting from the second floor, late first rank and early second rank monsters spawned, which began to pose a real challenge for Dungeon challengers.

Even then, Nisha followed a bigger group downwards, the new map for the floor layout already available for purchase at the [Adventurer’s Guild], making it easy for stronger individuals to find the correct path quickly.

On the third floor, a number of people dispersed and went into sidepaths, ready to find suitable matchups for themselves.

Mid to late second rank monsters provided good materials and plentiful experience for Dungeon divers - a big portion of the registered adventurers had a second or third rank cultivation level.

Nevertheless, Nisha only wandered around for a little bit before another group from above headed for the next level.

Similar to the previous level, the group the elf followed checked their map and hurried downwards, whereas she took a detour first to test her strength.

Many parties disliked the fourth floor of the dungeon, as the monsters that appeared here were in an awkward spot.

Early and mid third rank monsters were more than a notch above the late second rank ones, skill and strength wise.

Often, mid second rank fighters and magicians teamed up to defeat late stage monsters and split the profit, which yielded enough benefits to make the endeavor worthwhile.

However no matter how many late second rank fighters and casters assembled, their struggle against a third rank monster - whether early or mid stage - would not generate enough income to offset the losses.

Early rank materials always turned less of a profit than high and mid parts from monsters and it was a pure fantasy to think that a party could defeat a monster two small stages about their own.

It was just not profitable for most groups to take on the monsters from the fourth floor.

Nevertheless, this suited Nisha just fine.

When she entered the dungeon to stock up on monster flesh, this place was a pretty good hunting spot, with very little opportunities for the lone elf to meet other parties.

Now it was the perfect opportunity to test her strength after ranking up to the fourth aura and mana rank, although it was already destined that the unfortunate monsters that encountered the dragon had their fate sealed already.

Nisha always retained the mind and physique of a dragon, no matter her form.

At the same rank, her physical strength and mana pool was multiple times that of a regular human and she would have no trouble taking down several equal ranked enemies at the same time.

Once cultivation increased, the disparity between ranks would only grow wider.

Purposely avoiding the rooms near the main path, the elf soon encountered a rather unusual monster.

Due to its proximity to the sea and the rolling fields, water and sand type monsters spawned more often than anything else.

Although the [Shallow Sea Bear] was of the water element, bear type monsters were often more associated with mountains or fire due to their explosive strength and solid physique.

While rare, the [Shallow Sea Bear] was a mid third rank monster with an affinity to water elemental attacks.

By relying on its densely curled fur cuffs near the ankles and wrists, sharp water blades were ejected every time the lumbering monster struck out.

Glaring at the sudden intruder, the monster rose from the shallow pool in the corner of the room and rose to its full height, towering over the short elf.

Towering more than three heads above Nisha, the bear was a pure physical type monster that utilized its inborn ability to turn water into blades for combat.

It was a very suitable matchup to test her newfound prowess.

Retrieving her [Taurith Short Sword] from the [Inner World], the elf did not plan to don additional armor.

The sword made from seventh rank metal had the appropriate sharpness for a weapon of that rank, yet it was difficult to showcase its true prowess without the matching cultivation level to activate it.

Nevertheless, it was a suitable tool for the task at hand and it never failed the dragon so far.

Still intoxicated with the newfound control over her body, she eagerly strode towards the monster instead of waiting for it to attack.

As long as she had been not aware, the dragon never imagined how much the restriction messed with her body, stopping movements short or carrying her movements forward too much.

While it did not mess up the motions too much, all the little discrepancies added up with each action.

Irritated by the insect challenging it, the bear roared with anger and lumbered forward with water dripping from its oily fur.

Seeing that the elf was almost in front of it, the [Shallow Sea Bear] took a big swing with a forelimb and sent a stream of water flying in her direction.

Dripping from the fur around the wrist, the water got reinforced by heavy water aura and turned into a blade flying midair, heading towards the elf.

Nisha often visited the library and perused the common section, hence she was well aware of the monsters that appeared within the dungeon; the [Adventurer’s Guild] made a very pointed effort to subsidize the printing of educational materials that described the strong points and weaknesses of most sighted monsters.

Seeing the flying water blade, the elf launched an [Advance] and [Turn] at the same time.

Every time she trained her martial arts, the girl set aside some time to practice the twelve stances of the [Imperial Swordplay].

Nevertheless, the moves never felt this fluid before and allowed Nisha to perfectly avoid the ranged attack, slipping around it by the breadth of a hair.

Realizing that the insect was more of a threat than it thought, the bear forcefully changed the direction of its attack and slammed its paw on the ground.

Aside from shaking the floor and disrupting the movement of all nearby creatures, water splashes also got thrown into the air from the small pool and several puddles nearby, disrupting vision at the same time.

Unfortunately, its opponent did not rely on sight alone and the elf discerned the general outline of the [Shallow Sea Bear], with two distinct locations concentrating the most aura - the heart and the brain.

If she wanted to end the fight quickly, Nisha had the option of going for either of those places while the monster did not expect it, inflicting either grievous injuries or outright killing it.

Her current objective was to confirm her combat prowess, hence the short blade of her sword swiped past the outstretched limb of the bear with a fast [Slash].

It roared in anger while the limb was damaged around the joint, making it difficult for the monster to put weight on it.

Flinching from the sudden attack and the unexpected pain, its first instinct was to recoil and nurse the wound, yet it was currently locked in a fight and the heat of the battle drove it forward regardless of the cost.

Drawing the injured arm close to its chest, the bear exploded with power in its legs and remaining arm, hurling its body towards the frail girl.

Once the disparity between combatants became large enough, the sheer size and weight of a monster could become a fearsome weapon.

As long as it managed to distance it from the elf and force her to retreat, the [Shallow Sea Bear] would regain some breathing room and have more options to look for a path to victory.

Sadly, common sense and its life were destined for a bad end on this day, as Nisha went against its expectations again and again.

Rather than backing off in the face of a large body thrown at her, she turned the flat side of her sword to the front and supported it with the palm of her free hand.

Performing half a [Sidestep], she used the body weight of the bear against it.

Leveraging her newly advanced strength into the sword, it acted like a shield and altered the flight path of the [Shallow Sea Bear], turning its body half a circle.

Instead of getting away and obtaining more breathing room, the large monster heavily crashed on its injured limb, roaring in pain and distress.

Not far behind the disoriented bear, Nisha performed [Advance] again and slid to a close stop behind the unguarded back of the monster.

Ever since she cast off the restraint, there was no gap or disharmony between the different styles and the smooth transition generated a sense of connection that was not there before, elevating the advantage of the [Imperial Swordplay] by an entire level.

Having verified that her physical prowess advanced alongside her physique and was now several times stronger than the dragon had been before the advancement to the fourth rank, the fight no longer served a purpose.

Aiming the tip of her sword at the accumulation of aura near the chest, Nisha drove her sword through its body with a [Stab] and [Twist].

The [Shallow Sea Bear] wanted to get up and struggle, but its body only struggled once or twice before it sagged down, devoid of life.

Collecting the body inside her [Inner World], the dragon returned to the main path and continued downwards to the fifth floor of the Dungeon, taking the bear as a small snack.

The fifth floor was rather lively, with some groups resting near the stairs at the entrance.

Monsters only spawned in the rooms along the tunnels, making the stairways an effective safe resting space.

Since the paths were intentionally kept free to avoid inconvenience to passing groups, Nisha kept her head low and passed by quickly.

As every adventurer was only responsible for their own life when they went outside the city or deep underground in a Dungeon, no one approached the elf despite the concerns they might have over a young girl being on her own.

Because a single material was close to ten times more expensive than the same ingredient if it was from a late stage third rank monster compared to a mid rank one, the fifth floor was countless times more popular than the fourth floor.

Aside from late stage third rank monsters, the fifth floor also featured a blockade towards the deeper floors.

In front of the steps leading downwards, a large room commonly called the boss room blocked eager adventurers from going beyond their limit.

Nisha avoided coming here previously, as it was easier to hunt for monsters on the fourth floor to stock up on meat and avoid getting spotted.

Many parties fought on the fifth floor to earn a living, which would arouse plenty of attention if they spotted a lone elf fighting her way through different monsters.

With the income from late stage monster ingredients, the adventurers capable of taking down late third rank monsters would eventually arrive at the great first divide, unable to take another step forward without breaking through first.

Once they were fully prepared and finished honing their teamwork, they could either continue working at their current cultivation level with a slim chance to break through, or take a risk and delve deeper into the dungeon to afford materials and ingredients that were useful to stimulate their potential.

A fully equipped group of late third rank warriors and magicians stood a good chance to take down an early fourth rank monster, given that they prepared sufficiently and took a certain amount of risk.

But to get there, they had to face off against a particularly powerful monster first, inside the boss room of the fifth floor.