ALL NOVEL Chapter 37 – Quratar
“What about the Demons appearing in groups? Groups of two appear on the second floor, while groups of three appear on the third floor; does it continue in that way?”
“Not from I have heard, master. It’s only like that for the first three floors, the next increase is groups of 4 on the 6th floor and the groups of 5 on the 12th floor, 6 on the 24th floor.”
I had finished confirming that Roxanne could fight very well, without even having her clothing scratched, so I transferred the two of us to the 4th floor.
While we were tracking Demons, I asked Roxanne about how groups of Demons worked.
She answered while sniffing intently at one of the tunnel entrances. I could tell that there were quite a few enemies down there, since her tail would wag in excitement whenever she smelled a lot of Demons.
When we followed the corridor, I saw a group of two Kobolds and a Mino; since I wasn’t sure of the strength of the Demons, I gave Excalibur to Roxanne. Each Demon took 3 - 4 hits, and I was ready to heal, or support Roxanne whenever it was needed.
Luckily, Experience sharing in this world was done in such a way that everyone in the party would get a percentage of the Experience, whether they fought or not. Which was how the noble children were power-leveled.
When the Mino charged, Roxanne would side-step at the very last second, taking the chance to stab Excalibur into the Demon’s side. With a vicious ‘Moo’, the Mino swung its massive horns, and Roxanne easily ducked under them; stabbing it in the forehead with Excalibur, before slitting its hairy throat.
After spending several hours hunting Demons, I decided to use Appraisal on Roxanne.
Name: Roxanne
Age: 14
Sex: Female
Class: Beast Soldier
Level: 20
Master: Alex Conner
That was surprisingly fast, from level 6 to 20 in a day. It was good that my Bonus Skill applied to party members, but I knew that as soon as she got her second-stage--her leveling speed would slow down, a lot.
Even with my Experience increase, getting 1 level in a second-stage Class, took about the same number of Experience Points as 10 levels in a first-stage Class; and that was before level 10--where the Experience Point cost increased.
Roxanne was very excited and happy when I told her about her increase in levels.
We return to the wall in the Adventurer’s Guild.
I should probably avoid shutting us in the Dungeon; well, I’m fine with just spending time with Roxanne, but I think that too much alone-time may be bad--that and the mental strain could cause issues.
When we finished hunting, the Magic Crystals had each turned blue. Apparently we had hunted around 100 Demons, which was fairly impressive.
Roxanne’s sense of smell was incredibly efficient.
We had 2 gold worth of Mana gathered…a very good haul. However, when I suggested to buy more Magic Crystals, Roxanne regretted to inform me that the Crystals were affected by their owners--meaning that it was limited to only one Magic Crystal per person in the party.
It was 2 gold, if we sold the Mana now; but we didn’t urgently need money, so we could charge it more when we next went Dungeon diving.
The Adventurer’s Guild feels like it’s more crowded than usual, people are lined up at the counter. They seem to have somewhere between 4 - 5 branches, and occasionally a leaf.
Apparently there was an alert that the first floor had been completely scouted and its difficulty had been completely confirmed; so more parties could feel safe to enter the Dungeon.
Various parties are coming out of the wall of the Adventurer’s Guild. As I was looking around, a group of two people, “Quratar, one-way trip. Does anyone need it?”
The first man shouts out.
This is convenient.
“I’ll be back in a moment, wait here.” I speak to Roxanne as I disband our party.
“Yes, Master.” She nodded.
Paying the two men 1 silver coin, they quickly Field Walk me to Quratar; and I then Warp back a few seconds later.
Roxanne is standing in the same place as before, ignoring the men ogling her, while staring at the wall--as soon as I get back, she darts over to my side.
“Well, I’m back. Do you want to visit Quratar?” I ask her, gently stroking her head.
“Yes, master.” Roxanne looked up at me, her cheeks a bit flushed.
I remake our Party.
Grabbing her small hand, I lead her through the pitch-black wall; we Warp to the Adventurer’s Guild in Quratar.
The Adventurer’s Guild in Quratar is larger than the one in Vale--but still can’t be compared to the massive building in the Imperial Capital.
“Have you come here before?” I asked Roxanne, mainly because she was looking around with nostalgia in her eyes.
“Yes, I came once with my mother when she had business here, though I was too young to enter the Dungeon at the time. There are many Dungeons that I wish to enter…” She quietly murmured the end of her sentence, tapering off with downcast eyes.
“Well then, do you want to visit it now?”
“Yes, yes please Master.” She nodded enthusiastically, before pointing, in a certain direction.
“You still remember which direction the dungeon is in?”
“Well, in cities based around a Dungeon; the Dungeon is always in the center of the town, and the streets radiate from there.”
If you look in one direction, the buildings are sparser, and thickened in the opposite.
We start walking to the center of Quratar.
While Quratar is many times larger than Vale, it’s still smaller than what little I saw of the Imperial Capital.
As we needed the center of Quratar, I could see the number of shops increasing. Other than the Slave Trader, the Armour Merchant and the Weapons Merchant, I hadn’t seen any shops in Vale. But here, there were many.
A short distance down the road, the streets intersect and there is a plaza--in the center of which is a large hill; the entrance to the Dungeon.
“Master, the Knight’s Order is built across the street from the Dungeon’s entrance, and the big building on the other side is the Explorer’s Guild.” Roxanne explains, pointing at the two buildings.
The Explorer’s Guild building is five stories tall red-brick building, with a rather majestic look. There are many people going in and out of the open doors.
In front of the Knights Order, which is a large building coated in a layer of white marble, there is a long queue. When I ask Roxanne about it, she explains that people have to pay 1 silver every time they want to enter the Dungeon; which is how the Lord of Quratar makes his money.
“Well, if we have to wait in line, and then pay a fee--I think it would be better to rent a house first.” I pause, “Umm, do you know the best way to rent a house?”
“Well, there should be a Real-estate office somewhere. We could ask in a shop for information about it, master.” She paused for a moment, “But, master.”
“Yeah?”
I was about to pull her over to the nearest store, to ask for information--I was still grasping her hand, I hadn’t let go since we arrived, and she didn’t seem to dislike it.
“Wouldn’t we be able to enter the Dungeon with your Magic, master? Once we enter once?” She asks in a whisper.
“That’s a good idea.”
While stroking her head, and fluffing her ears, I can’t help but feel embarrassed that I didn’t think of that; it was probably because I was distracted with looking around the city--or because I was looking forward to getting a house.
Roxanne grinned at the praise.
We entered the nearest store, which seemed like a hardware store. Saucepans, scissors, hoes, shovels and other miscellaneous metal items are on display.
“Welcome.”
An old lady comes out and greets us when she hears us enter.
“We’re searching for a place to live, in this area. Do you know where to go, or who we have to talk to.”
“You’ve found her. Not only do I manage this store, I run a real-estate business.” She responds with a nod, “what kind of property are you looking for?”
I’m stumped after hearing her question.
“I’d like you to show us what kind of properties we can rent for around 40 gold a year.” Roxanne paused, and looked at me, “besides that, we don’t have any other conditions.”
“You two will be living there?”
“Currently, but there will be more later on.” I respond to her with a grin.
She looks towards Roxanne for a bit, and then looks at me with a knowing smirk, “Is it alright if the house isn’t too close to the Dungeon?”
“I’m not particularly picky.”
It’s likely that the rent will be higher the closer we are to the Dungeon, which makes sense since the Dungeon is the source of income for the whole city--and Explorers like living as close as possible to the Dungeon.
But that doesn’t matter to me, since I can use Warp to enter the Dungeon whenever I want.
“Well, if it isn’t for an Adventurer, there’s a house that’s at that price. What do you think?”
“Why if it isn’t for an Adventurer?”
“The previous resident covered it in Shielding Cement, so it’s difficult for Adventurers to use.”
“Master, Shielding Cement blocks the Field Walk Skill.” Roxanne leans in close and whispers quietly.
“Ahh, thanks Roxanne.” I stroke her hair, patting her head--before turning back to the old woman, “Will you show it to us?”
“Alright, I’ll make the arrangements.” She quickly goes behind the counter, and in a few moments she returns.
We depart via a different street, in the direction of the Adventurer’s Guild.
In Quratar, tall buildings are usually only built in the central area; once we leave that, it becomes a residential area--with the buildings usually consisting of around 2 - 3 stories.
As we go even further out, there are more vacant lands and farms, than houses.
“Well, it’s over there.” The old woman points towards a white house, after we progress a bit further and enter a fairly narrow alley.