As Drake’s gang went to the gladiatorial rink to maintain a presence, and Miki remained behind to take care of the store, the rest of us took a one-way trip into a dungeon.
“Ah, Dirage?” Raissa recognized where she was right away.
This was the spot where we had fought the variant boss that had nearly killed Raissa. That meant that we were on the fifth floor of Dirage, the farthest down we had ever gone.
Since I could teleport anywhere I had been, including dungeons, I decided to spare myself the taxation fees by going right into the depths of the dungeon. I was worried Ruby and Raissa would look down on me for tax evasion, but they were too distracted by the new environment.
I picked Dirage for a few reasons. First of all, it was one of only two dungeons I hadn’t completed yet, not that I anticipated ever completing this dungeon. Dirage wasn’t like the dungeons I had finished. This was one of the Great Dungeons. That meant that not only did it go unfathomably deep, but the levels were also larger and the enemies were typically stronger. Well, that was what people said, anyway.
The reality was that most small dungeons weren’t frequented by people, so the monsters in there had a longer time to be exposed to miasma and grow stronger. Just like with dungeon bosses, the monsters also grew stronger the longer they were allowed to live. Dirage was a very popular dungeon and a major site for resources for all of Aberis. People frequently entered every day, so at least within the first ten floors, the monsters were regularly defeated, preventing them from building up and becoming dangerous.
The true dangers came from the vastness of the dungeon, which made it easy to get lost, and the number of monsters that sat on each floor. If someone drew too much interest in a battle, they could find themselves overwhelmed by monsters from all over the level. That was typically why Great Dungeons were considered dangerous. Even so, Dirage was considered the safest dungeon for anyone who wanted to get their feet wet.
Other than the dungeon I created personally; this was probably the least dangerous dungeon on the continent due to its safety precautions. There was a lot of existing information on the dungeon which went down to a shocking level sixty. This included maps, details about each enemy, and more. On top of that, there were tons of people, so you were never too far from help on the early floors. Finally, there were people with jobs similar to Raissa, who went and rescued those who were in danger, usually for a small fee.
“So, this is a Great Dungeon…” Ruby shivered. “And I thought that Mina’s Dungeon was bad.”
Ruby was looking somewhat pale standing there. It took me a moment to realize what was wrong. She had been on my first journey into a dungeon along with a large group from Chalm. Of course, that group had been scattered and I had gotten trapped in it and almost died. That felt like an eternity ago. I had thought she would be fine because of her experience, but the miasma of a Great Dungeon, let alone level five of a Great Dungeon, was much higher than what she would have experienced then.
Overall, she was very inexperienced with dungeons, and on top of that, she didn’t have the protection of being my slave. I didn’t know how it worked, but my resistances seemed to passively affect my slaves. Well, even without that, they were all special in various ways that made them highly resistant to miasma. Ruby was the first person I had brought into a dungeon who didn’t have such resistance.
Most people who entered a Great Dungeon started on the first floor and then slowly worked their way down, acclimatizing themselves to the increasing miasma. There was a reason the miasma in the safe rooms was expected. Climbing down a dungeon was a lot like climbing a mountain. You had to grow used to the thin air and take it slowly. Dropping Ruby into level five a Great Dungeon was actually a bit cruel when done to a normal person. If she wasn’t already a decent adventurer, she might have passed out on the spot.
I reached out and touched her forehead. “Refresh.”
White light poured through her body. Her face turned red.
“Th-thanks…” She stammered.
“So, is Ruby part of the harem yet?” Raissa whispered to Shao.
“She better not be!” Shao retorted.
“I just meant, for status purposes, since his harem gets various benefits…”
I wanted to ignore the conversation, but that was a pretty good question. Taking a look at the blushing Ruby, I decided it was better to keep that question a mystery for a bit longer.