Since it was still somehow early and it looked to Anton that Flint, Norman, and Ariana did not look like they wanted to sleep yet, he talked to them about their adventurer life. Whenever the three wanted to talk about their back story or their history, Anton steered the conversation back to their current daily lives as they strive to increase their adventurer rank.
Not that Anton did not find their stories interesting, but if he learned more about the three, especially their history, he would care more about them and he was not ready to have close friends yet.
Basically, he just asked for information that would supplement his knowledge about dungeons in general, especially from beginners like them. He also asked more about common knowledge that Tobias missed, but after a few minutes of conversation, he knew that the old mage who was part of the adventurer’s guild covered a surprisingly vast amount of knowledge, and that most of what the three told him was covered by Tobias.
“We need to rest now. We need the energy if we hope to finish the dungeon early tomorrow,” Flint said.
Anton could have said that with his Vigor Aura, the group didn’t need to worry about their stamina, but he just let it be. He didn’t want the group to become too dependent on him.
“How can we sleep? I’m still full of energy even after all those fights that we had,” Norman said.
“I have an item that will help with that. I’ll activate it now, and the moment you close your eyes, you will have the most wonderful rest,” Anton told the three.
He then retrieved the Pearl of the Ocean from his inventory while Flint, Norman, and Ariana looked curiously.
“What is that beautiful pearl?” Ariana asked, fascinated by the glowing pearl.
“While we were traveling to this continent, we encountered a group of blue whales and pink dolphins. We played with them. Before they left, when the playtime was over, they gifted me this pearl. It’s a magical item that will help a person near it to sleep peacefully. It's still a normal sleep, so if you’re disturbed by something, like a noise, you will wake up as usual, but after sleeping with this magic item near you, the quality of your sleep will be the best,” Anton replied.
Once the four adventurers lay down their heads on their pillows, they were asleep. Anton woke up first, so he prepared breakfast for everyone. He prepared a hot noodle soup. Thankfully, he had a complete set of spices in his inventory, so after a few minutes, everyone was woken up by the smell of the delicious soup that he was cooking. Anton also heated some bread with butter to soften them, but since the bread was stored in his inventory, keeping it as fresh as the day it was baked, the bread was soft anyway, but heating them in a pan would make them extra delicious.
Anton called everyone, telling them that the food was ready. After eating, everyone went somewhere to relieve themselves. When they returned, Anton smelled an awful stink, so he offered to cast the cleaning spell on all of them, which the group happily agreed to.
“You’re truly spoiling us,” Ariana sighed.
“True. Hot food. Clean surroundings. Clean bodies. Not to mention that buff and the healing,” Flint sighed as well.
“It’s going to be hard the moment you leave our group,” Norman sighed as well.
“I’m still going to join you on the next floor, so I’m guessing that the two delves that we did will allow you to increase your power, so at the very least, you can tackle the second floor normally instead of running away,” Anton told them.
“If you’re going to be joining different beginner groups, be prepared to become well-known,” Ariana said.
“I’ve already prepared myself. To be honest with you, before going in here, I talked to an archmage guild staff named Tobias, and he taught me a lot of things.”
“Are you sure you’re not a noble, Andrew?” Norman asked.
“Well, to be honest with you, I hold the rank of baron in a city in Rendindura, but that kingdom is no more. It was conquered by the Undead Coalition, so I guess I don’t have a title anymore,” Anton told the three.
The three adventurers looked at each other, then Flint said that it was time to move on as a way to change the topic. Everyone carried their bags, and with the lights being carried by Anton and Ariana, they moved forward with the intent of finishing the dungeon that day.
Anton checked the time briefly in his browser and saw that it was very early. It was only two in the morning, so it was almost guaranteed that they would be able to complete the floor by the end of the day.
Flint requested that night before that the first few fights would be done without the Fanaticism aura.
“I’ll activate my healing spell in your first fight. The moment you get hit, you would all heal immediately. After that fight, I’ll then remove the healing spell to check how well you will do without the buff and the healing spell,” Anton told the three.
They encountered their first enemy of the day, which was a bunch of goblins with some of them on top of wolves. There were fourteen enemies, and five of them were on top of wolves. Flint and Norman ran forward after dropping their bags. Norman leapt forward, which was his current standard opening move when they encountered enemies. Anton then saw Flint bracing themselves when the goblins reached him. Ariana readied herself, and he could see that the elven woman was focused.
Anton saw the difference his Fanaticism gave the three. Without the aura, they were slow and less powerful. Norman and Flint received a lot more hits because of their slower attack speed. Some goblins even got past Ariana’s arrows, and Anton’s raven had to attack a couple of goblins that got near them. Ariana was extremely surprised when she saw the bird kill the goblins in one hit.
The whole fight lasted thrice as long, and after it was done, Anton switched to the Vigor Aura to replenish everyone’s stamina since they still had a long day ahead of them. Flint didn’t tag any of the enemies. The dwarf said that they could only carry a limited amount of loot due to how heavy it would be, so they would have to be very selective in what they could take with them.
Anton didn’t offer his inventory to the group, since the three adventurers needed to continue managing their loot. He wouldn’t always be a part of their group. Of course, if they earned enough coins, they could purchase their spatial item that they could use. When the monsters disappeared, everyone was overjoyed at the mana stone that appeared.
The group had already collected a total of four mana stones, which was unprecedented for them since their record was a single mana stone. Given that it was on the first floor, but four of them at once, and the delve wasn’t even done yet. That meant that they had already earned a huge amount of gold coins.
The four then moved forward immediately since everyone had full stamina. Ariana told him that normally, after every fight, an adventurer group would need to rest and heal, which was why a full clear would usually take three to four days.