His gaze involuntarily shifted back to Gauss.
Among the few, he must have been the most surprised. Knowing Gauss for so many days, he thought he was quite familiar with him, yet during the morning drill, Gauss displayed many skills he had never shown before.
At this moment, he couldn’t help but feel grateful, inviting Gauss on this trip was probably the wisest decision.
...
Due to the location of the micro-dungeon, it’s a bit of a distance from Bitter Wormwood Town.
The dungeon exploration team gathered relatively early.
After getting on the carriage from Lawrence’s family herb shop, the group headed towards the dungeon.
Those inside the carriage had no intention of continuing frequent conversations and instead leaned back on their seats with eyes closed to rest.
As they moved further away from the human settlement, the scenery outside the carriage grew increasingly desolate.
After traveling for some time, the group disembarked by the roadside, starting the last stretch that needed to be walked on foot.
In front of several stone pillars that rose like bamboo shoots from the barren land, Lawrence, leading the group, stopped.
"Here it is."
Gauss turned to observe the surroundings; the scene here was indeed peculiar and eerie.
Some constructs looked as if they had been squeezed out from beneath the ground.
But obviously, such speculation defied common sense.
The group didn’t rush into exploration and instead, put down their packs nearby to rest and regain strength.
Before starting a formal adventure journey, the first thing to do is replenish oneself to the best state.
Gauss started to eat his carried food in large bites, and the stamina consumed from the walk and the magic power used earlier for Mage Armor steadily recovered with his consumption, like rising tides.
Once everyone was ready.
The Wanderer Edith began her work, first examining the ground area near the dungeon.
She checked whether there were any other monsters or beasts around the dungeon’s ground area.
After some inspection, confirming there was no danger, the group finally turned their attention to the dungeon entrance itself.
Dungeon entrances like this are often controlled by certain mechanisms.
Lawrence pointed somewhere; among the tightly fitting stone floor tiles, there was a relatively loose brick, which he cautiously removed.
"Creak creak creak—"
Accompanied by the sound of a mechanism activating, an originally flat stone-brick surface gradually opened a crack, eventually forming a two-meter square underground entrance.
The entrance inclined extending downward, and due to the lack of lighting, the situation deep within the passageway couldn’t be seen.
"Cough cough!"
The first thing to come out from the sticky, profound darkness was suffocating air.
"Let my little pet go in and take a look first." The Wandering Apprentice Edith pinched the neck of a ferret, her slender fingers gently tickling its belly, simultaneously calming and checking its condition.
After feeding it a small treat, the Wanderer Edith placed the pet ferret on the ground in front of the entrance.
She pointed into the passage, producing a sharp onomatopoeic sound.
The ferret, receiving its master’s command, cautiously peered into the passage for a while before entering.
"Squeak squeak!"
Soon, a few short, sharp squeaks were faintly heard from inside the passage.
Edith lay down near the entrance, seemingly understanding something.
"I’ll go in first to check the situation. If it’s safe, I’ll come up and inform you."
Later, her figure quietly merged into the darkness.
Gauss patiently watched the disappearing figure of his teammate.
Lawrence, worried that he might be nervous during his first time in the dungeon, had already introduced to him the crises and situations he might encounter after entering a dungeon days ago.
Dungeons are creations of the Forgetfulness Country civilization, and almost every dungeon contains some mechanisms and traps.
If one hurriedly enters without proper preparation, relying solely on some combat ability, they might not even know what hit them when they encounter deadly situations.
Compared to visible monsters and guards, some silent traps can be more lethal at times.
The Wanderer Edith in the team is responsible for the reconnaissance work. She needs to use her Stealth Skill early on to gather intelligence about the dungeon’s interior, identify trap and mechanism locations, mark enemy distributions, and draw maps and routes, providing more information to her teammates.
One might say that in a dungeon exploration, anyone could be absent except an experienced wanderer.
This is also why Gauss, after resuming his lone adventurer status, only takes on simple tasks. Before reaching a qualitative leap in combat power, relying solely on one’s strength is always insufficient, and this inadequacy becomes more apparent in complex environments and task scenarios.
After waiting for some time.
Edith returned with her simple hand-drawn leather map, beginning to explain the environment and layout of the dungeon’s first half to the group.
Gauss looked at the map, and slowly in his mind formed a detailed understanding of the underground space below.
Inside this dungeon, it was made up of individual rooms, connected by long, narrow passageways, presenting a tree-like structure in form.
Each enlarged node represented a dungeon room.
Edith had only scouted the dungeon environment around the entrance passageway.
Further exploration would still require the rest of the team to continue delving inside.
"Is this the micro-dungeon?" A trace of surprise appeared on Gauss’s face.
Initially, when Lawrence mentioned ’micro’, he thought it might just be similar to a small basement of dozens or hundreds of square meters.