Chapter 96 90: Deep Down Dive (1)

My long tour of the Deep Down Town with the receptionist of the Adventurer's guild came to an end after I treated her to the meal I had promised.

Back in the room that was 'adjusted' for me that belonged to Dawn, I tried to lie down, but a sense of incongruence grew in my heart.

"Hey, hey, Eugy~" Titania called out. It took her a while to regain her carefree attitude.

"What is it?" I asked, walking around the room. I couldn't shake off the disgusting feeling that this blatant trespassing brought, even if Dawn had allowed it. Maybe if she was in here I wouldn't have minded it as much.

"I didn't give you your reward, did I?"

At that, I stopped.

The translucent window of the quest opened in front of me again.

[Success: Titania will give you a big big hug~ (っ´▽｀)っ(っ´▽｀)っ]

"Will this hug make me stronger?" I asked, remembering the details of the game. It should serve as what Albert called 'stat points,' I believed.

"What? What's with that?" Titania floated in front of me and tilted her head. "Why would that make you stronger?"

"Don't mind it," I said. Maybe she didn't know.

Then, Titania stretched her hands outwards and floated closer to me. The palm-sized fairy came up to give me a hug.

I smiled and closed my eyes.

Then, a presence grew in front of me. The feeling of something giant filled my senses. Before I could open my eyes, soft skin wrapped around my back and pressed down on my shoulders.

A rich, citrusy aroma filled my nose as locks of hair fell near my nose while something elastic pressed against my chest.

I was shocked for a few seconds, but then, I smiled. My hands wrapped around the back of the now enlarged Titania as I leaned into her hug.

What a strange, strange feeling.

This fairy I had met for barely a day made me feel eased and homely in her embrace.

We stayed like that for a long time.

I didn't get any stronger though.

In the end, I decided to stake out the night in the library while learning everything I could about the dungeon.

***

A group of adventurers was gathered around the door in the fence that separated the hundreds of meters wide lake that served as the entrance of the Deep Down Dive.

"Hey, Dusk, wasn't it....ah, shit I need some coffee."

I was approached by a man in full-plate armor carrying a bag. He yawned but was kicked in the back of the knee by a beanie-clad person.

"You two..."

"This guy totally forgot our names, didn't he?" beanie said.

"Of course not," I shook my head at that accusation. "I remember you, Sharkie."

"Tsk! It's Megalodon! What do you even mean Sharkie?"

"Same thing."

"I agreeeezzzz."

Full Plate fell asleep while speaking. Sharkie looked at him once and shrugged. His name was too long to remember.

Since a lot of adventurers were gathered around the entrance, not many people noticed the odd group of newbies conversing in the shade of the red eaves of the buildings that phased away before the lake.

"Well buddy," Sharkie said. "Wanna party together? I brought some soda to take in."

"A party?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "The old adventurers are saying its best for us to party. Even the old man and that new magician and the other kid formed one."

"So you guys were here to invite me to a party?"

Not bad. These were plenty strong from what I remembered. That said, if I was in a party, I wouldn't be able to freely throw myself in dangerous positions.

"I don't really get it?" Sharkie shrugged. "I just thought it'll be nice to make friends."

"Poor kid," Titania commented and I agreed.

"We can be friends," I said. "But I won't be able to party together."

"Not even an actual party instead of whatever this is supposed to mean?"

"I can consider that."

Sharkie suddenly nodded and showed me a thumbs up.

We stood in silence for a bit, and he grew fidgety.

He was surely rather bold with others. Did my win somehow elevate my position that high?

Eventually, Sharkie broke out in nervousness and giggled before dragging the asleep full-plate away.

As I walked up to the front of the group, a few knights were about to open the fence that guarded the entrance to the Deep Down Dive.

An employee of the guild walked up to me with a box in his hands.

"Adventurer Dusk," he said. "Are you not going in as a party?"

"Nope."

The employee smiled. "The only ones not going as a party are two new adventurers. Well both of you did make history."

I shifted my gaze around the front and looked at Dawn. So she was going solo as well.

"That's not the one, Eugy. The girl is at the back."

Oh.

"Here," the employee said, raising the box in his hands. "Please take one of these amulets and place them around your neck. This will capture your surroundings and send it outside the dungeon. It's a rare item so I'll ask you to be careful, but there's no problem if it does break."

I grabbed the amulet he offered. The alchemic tool tied with a black thread was just a green sphere with an eye of red drawn on it. As I placed the amulet around my neck, I raised my brows at the employee.

"And who will be watching?" I asked.

The employee grinned audibly at my words. "The entire city, from their homes. This is the pride of our Deep Down Town!"

A TV was the pride of the Deep Down Town.

"Then, I wish you the best." With that, the employee moved away.

The door to the fence was finally opened.

"The entrance to the Labyrinth is now open!" the knights announced and I rushed to the front, not ready to face a line.

I was set at the front of all other adventurers as I stared at the edge where the ground ended and the crystal-clear reflection of the sky began.

"Nervous, Eugy?" Titania asked.

"Nervous?" I chuckled and raised my foot, hovering above the entrance. "It feels like I am going where I belong."

My body fell forward.

And I passed through the gate of the Great Labyrinth.

The first thing that greeted me was the sight of an expansive patch of green below my free-falling body.

And a deep dive down the skies.