Kopii, confident and purposeful, descended to the first floor once again.
«I'm here again.» – Flashed through his head as he surveyed the familiar walls surrounding him on all sides.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
He moved forward and he did not have to walk long before familiar sounds reached his ears.
Turning, he saw a goblin appearing as if from nowhere, filthy and vicious as always, the peak of vileness simply. Kopii bided his moment, and when it fully materialized, he rushed into the attack, closing the distance between them with every instant. The goblin, as always, crouched, preparing for resistance, but Kopii, having foreseen this maneuver, brought his strike down from above, exerting all his strength, and cleaved the creature in two, as if cutting soft bread. In the place of the defeated enemy, a magic stone appeared as always.
The search for the descent to the second floor took considerable time, and along the way he encountered several goblins, whom he sent into oblivion without difficulty, and this gladdened him to the depths of his soul.
Finally, Kopii began descending the stairs, his steps echoing softly in the silence of the dungeon. Down below, nothing new awaited him in truth, only more monsters and that was all.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
He continued on his way until he heard the already familiar sound, which again made him alert and strengthen his grip on the sword. Kopii looked towards the sound and saw that this time there were three goblins. Without losing a second, Kopii attacked. Because they appeared rather close, he managed to cleave only one before the clatter of a falling magic stone rang out. Paying no attention to the magic stone, he focused on the remaining enemies, preparing for the upcoming battle.
«Nothing new.» – Thought Kopii, cutting off the last goblin's head.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
?
No sooner had Kopii even rejoiced at the victory than behind his back the familiar sound rang out again.
«So quickly?»
He asked himself the question, at the same time wondering whether this was possible or not. But as he knew from the guild's information, this should not be. Not even a minute had passed and already other monsters were being born.
Turning around, his eyes narrowed and his grip on the sword tightened, for before him stood not a goblin but a kobold, – he immediately understood, recalling information from the guild library. A humanoid monster with the head of a dog.
«At least this is true.»
There were two kobolds, and his momentary delay allowed them to fully materialize.
One of the kobolds leaped forward without a second's hesitation.
SWOOSH
At this pitiful attempt of the kobold, his sword shot upwards. The blade cut through the air and plunged into the kobold's shoulder, but it did not stop, but neither did Kopii stop. Its claws froze before his eyes before it vanished. Focusing on one, he completely forgot about the second, and it made itself known.
Kopii saw with his peripheral vision how it was already flying at him, and at that very second he leaped back, gathering all his strength in his legs.
– Ah!
But it was not enough; the monster's claws slashed across his chest. The cut was not deep, but it was still painful for him.
WHOOSH
But quickly pulling himself together, suppressing the pain into his consciousness, he grabbed the sword with both hands and brought it down with all his might, cutting off the kobold's head without trouble.
POOF
The sound of a falling magic stone rang out, a sign of Kopii's victory.
Kopii picked up the stones, his fingers squeezed them with force, barely containing his joy. He moved on, deeper into the dungeon, night was still far away, and he was not the least bit tired, so the choice was obvious.
Kopii walked through the corridors of the dungeon, his steps echoing. His wounds ached, but with all his might he tried to ignore this pain; the blood had long since stopped flowing, but the pain upon sudden movement was still there. But he chose to endure rather than use a potion on such a wound. They were poor as it was, and if he wasted potions on such nonsense, they would never repay the debt. Well, to tell the truth, he simply did not want to work off the potions.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Soon the familiar sound rang out again, forcing him to surface from his thoughts.
«Goblins again.»
He quickly dealt with them, and he began to feel the heaviness of the day. His body ached, his muscles demanded rest, but Kopii was not one to let fatigue command him. But rest is also important, so he decided that was enough for today, and finally began searching for the ascent to the first floor. While he searched for it, both kobolds and goblins crossed his path, as if the dungeon did not want to let him go so easily. His body became covered with new wounds, but they were just as insignificant as the first, so he could save the potions.
He felt how the fatigue grew with every minute. After some time, he finally made it out of the dungeon, and the first thing he did was drink a potion; of course he did not want to work off these potions, but neither did he want to come home wounded and get a scolding from both of them. Having drunk it, he immediately felt lightness and all the pain vanished, but the fatigue did not disappear anywhere.
Exiting the tower, he immediately headed to the guild.
Entering the guild, Kopii, as always, exchanged the magic stones for money, feeling how his efforts had been rewarded. Rose approached him, looking as cold as ever.
«Well, basically nothing new.»
– How is your descent into the dungeon progressing? – she asked, looking straight into his eyes without averting them for a second.
– Well, I think little by little.
Lowering his gaze, unable to maintain eye contact.
– Good... How deep did you descend?
– I'm on the second floor. – He said in a voice filled with pride.
He had managed to advance to the second floor in such a short time. For him, it was a worthy achievement.
– You mustn't rush so. – She said, but her voice became colder and firmer. And her gaze became more intense, because of this gaze all of Kopii's pride evaporated.
– I know.
After talking a little more, he left the guild and headed home, where his body demanded rest and recovery, like a flower thirsting for water.
Having reached the Blue Pharmacy, Kopii stepped inside, feeling that warm atmosphere that always reigned in this place. He felt his body begin to relax.
«I'm home.»
Lying on his bed, his thoughts were tangled, images of goblins and kobolds kept surfacing in his head, their disgusting and vile faces. And when his mind began to leave him, he abruptly jumped up.
– I need to bathe!
Kopii took off his dirty clothes, throwing them into the corner. Then, filling the bathtub with hot water, he immersed himself in it, allowing the warmth to relax his tense muscles. The water gradually turned brown from blood and dirt.
– How good~
He had simply wanted to lie down for a second before the bath and had almost fallen asleep; how shameful, he had almost succumbed to weakness.
Closing his eyes, he began to involuntarily give in to daydreaming about how he would descend lower and lower and defeat all monsters in his path... And how beautiful girls would cling to him.
He lay like that for several minutes, and then he gathered all his thoughts into a single whole.
And getting out of the bath, Kopii dried himself with a towel and put on clean clothes, putting everything on the line. He walked to the window and looked at the night city that stretched out before him.
«Alright, time to sleep.»
He lay down in bed and passed out immediately.