Danmachi – Card Wizard

The following day, Aidan woke up early as he and Ais would be going to the dungeon as soon as possible. They had decided to leave the manor by 6h00 and to bring their lunch with them for the day. They planned on staying as long as possible in the dungeon.

Loki had instructed them to completely map out a floor, killing fifty monsters each on the floor before moving down. These were her instructions so that the two wouldn't go deep in the dungeon without being prepared for it. However, her instructions just prompted the two partners to stay underground longer.​​

Washing up rapidly, he made his way to the dining room of the familia with his sword and cards. By that point, it was 5:30, and most of the members of the familia were still asleep. Arriving in the dining room, the chefs had already started cooking for the early members. Entering the line and taking some eggs and toasts, Aidan didn't forget to ask for dinner and supper for both him and Ais. They would be staying in the dungeon until nightfall and didn't want to go hungry.

Seeing the cooks nodding at his order as this was normal for them to prepare extra food for the adventurers to bring in the dungeon, Aidan took his food and went to sit at a table. 'Right, won't it be a bother to bring food in addition to our equipment, pouch for the potions, the magic stone and the probable materials we will collect? Can't I store them in my cards somehow? The card can use all types of magic, I think. So, can't I create a storage card?'

As he finished thinking about this, he took out his fifth card and started to refine it. Thankfully he was in advance and had some time before leaving. He would have time to complete the card first.

Twenty minutes later, along with Ais beside him, who was still eating her breakfast and looking curiously, Aidan finally managed to finish the card. The word he had used on the card was 'storage,' and it currently had enough space to hold for one cubic meter. This amount was more than enough for the moment as it would easily carry their lunch and a lot of loot. However, Aidan promised himself to increase the space since he didn't want to lack space in the future.

Finishing their breakfast, the cook came to the two of them and gave them two lunches each, which would be their food for the day. "I wish you good luck in the dungeon." He said before turning around and going back to work.

Taking the food in the card, which surprised Ais, he started to explain the use. "With this card," He said while showing her the newly made card. "I can store items. So, we won't have to bother about bringing bags or having added weight. We only have to focus on exploring the dungeon, killing monsters and collecting our loot." He said with a smile, which she sent back.

Ais knew what it meant. While she was quiet and had difficulty in expressing her feelings with words, she wasn't stupid. She may want to become the strongest, but she was not some idiots who only thought about fighting. She wasn't a musclehead. Instead, she was pretty brilliant in battle and wanted to improve herself.

"Let's go," Aidan said as Ais finished her breakfast.

Seeing her getting up, the two of them went to the armoury to collect their armour and immediately left for the dungeon. They didn't make any stops on the way as they only thought about exploring the dungeon. They hoped to be able to at least reach the third floor before having to leave. They almost completely mapped out the first floor, and the second would take at most 8 hours. They believed it was possible to reach the third floor this day and move on to the fourth the next day.

The first to the fourth floor was known as the beginner floors, with the first floor known as the beginner road. The adventurers staying on those four floors were those with stats 'I' and 'H,' those with less than 200 points in their stats. In his opinion, the actual danger of the dungeon started from the fifth floor downwards. However, according to their goddess's words, they would have to stay on these floors for a few days.

The first floor only had goblins as monsters. From the second floor, kobolds appeared alongside the goblins, and they were slightly more numerous. It would give them a higher challenge and allow them to kill more monsters to gather excelia. Considering that the two of them wanted to increase their stats as much as possible before levelling up, they would have to work harder than most adventurers who only upgraded as soon as they could. However, with their determination, they would undoubtedly become the strongest adventurers there are.

Entering the dungeon once again after leaving their information to the guild worker, they went where they hadn't yet completed the map. On the way, they killed some goblins, which allowed them to warm up. The two collected the loot since it was money they would most likely need in the future.

As soon as they arrived in the unexplored area, they looked at each other excitedly since it meant they progressed with their goddess's instruction. Of course, during this time, Aidan did not forget to continue powering up his cards. With the past evening and the morning, he had increased his card magic quite a bit. His fireball card had a strength of 1.3, and the boy could use it a total of 6 times. He had stopped growing the power after 1.3 since all the monsters they would meet in the first four floors did not need more potent force than this. Instead, he decided to increase the number of fireballs and to make them all of the same strength, which was more helpful in this case.

The second card he improved was the shield card, which he also increased to 1.3 since with this defence, it would easily block the monsters on the first four-floors level and not necessarily break after an attack. For this card, he had increased the number of uses to ten. They would be able to use it to save themselves if necessary. Finally, Aiden had raised his barrier card to hold for three hours or take the attacks of 1.4, which was enough to block a single assault from the eight and ninth-floor monsters. It wouldn't be handy in the deeper floors since there were many more monsters there, which would render the barrier obsolete if it was to take more than a single hit. However, he promised himself to increase the magic he sends in this card since it was handy.

Aidan and Ais took an hour and a half to finish mapping the floor entirely, and it surprised them when the dungeon map card turned green when they explored it all. Aidan figured it might be one of the card's functions he didn't know, which would tell him whether or not the card had wholly mapped out the floor of the dungeon. The first floor had a lot of room, but from what he found, there were a total of three pantries on this floor, which served as the monster's dining room. In those rooms, Ais and Aidan had found quite many goblins and had managed to kill a total of fifty monsters each. If the two were to count the monsters they had killed the previous day. It meant they could go to the second floor.

Looking at Ais, smiling brightly at their first achievement in the dungeon, the two ran towards the second floor. The goddess had said it was fine, and they would certainly not miss this opportunity.

The second floor was surprisingly the same as the first floor. The only difference was that there were slightly fewer adventurers as they had most likely separated to hunt by themselves. Moreover, in addition to the goblins, kobolds also started appearing. They were dog-headed monsters who only lived to see blood as they didn't hesitate to throw themselves at adventurers.

"Are you ready, Aidan?" Asked Ais suddenly as the two of them set foot on the second floor.

Hearing her words, Aidan remembered the words he had first given her when they arrived on the first floor. Turning towards her and seeing her smiling slightly, he grinned and said. "No problem." Upon which they both set foot on the new floor, their new limit.