"It's too winding. Is this a labyrinth?"
Kroos felt a surge of irritation.
He especially noted that, up until now, he hadn't found any of the markers left by the other members of his team.
After all, this floor was simply too convoluted; with all the twists and turns, it was difficult to even discern his direction.
"Damn it. At this rate, the lord's men will probably arrive soon."
In reality, the lord's men had already entered the dungeon.
"This group might be difficult to deal with."
Dalun Li watched the lord's party enter the dungeon, a sense of unease stirring in his heart.
The first floor of the dungeon wasn't particularly large. Although Dalun Li had designed it like a labyrinth, with enough people, finding the passage to the next floor would only be a matter of time.
"I must create the third floor as soon as possible."
Creating the third floor required 20 points of Earth Vein Power.
If he relied solely on his own absorption, there simply wasn't enough time.
However, there was excellent nourishment available right here.
Dalun Li quickly adjusted the positions of the mandragoras. Soon, two more unlucky souls excitedly charged toward the mandragoras and became nourishment for Dalun Li, providing 7 points of Earth Vein Power and a handful of coins.
"Only 10 more points of Earth Vein Power, and I can create the third floor."
"I need to push a little harder."
Dalun Li arranged several mandragoras along the paths the remaining four adventurers were bound to take.
It was likely only a matter of time before they fell into the trap.
But another concern soon arose for Dalun Li.
The lord's men who had entered later did not split up entirely. Instead, they divided into three squads of four people each to explore.
This left Dalun Li with no opportunities.
Mandragoras could only rely on sneak attacks; if they encountered too many people at once, that method would be useless.
"I can only avoid them for now and use the labyrinth to stall for time."
One of the three squads formed by the lord's men was led by their leader, Croton.
Gazing at the barren first floor, Croton reached the same conclusion as Kroos.
This had to be a massive dungeon of extreme depth, hiding countless treasures.
"Don't be careless. A dungeon like this is definitely not ordinary. Stay alert at all times!"
Croton gave his instructions carefully, while a thought of his own began to form.
This dungeon might just be his big break!
...
"Damn it, they're not giving me any chances to catch them alone."
Dalun Li watched as the labyrinth was explored bit by bit. He wanted to shift the labyrinth's layout, but found he couldn't do it.
Once foreign life forms entered a floor, it was like a gear being jammed by a foreign object.
Even Dalun Li could no longer make adjustments to that floor.
He could only move the monsters within it.
"I'll have to be more deliberate and quickly harvest all the previous adventurers!"
Several mandragoras began to take the initiative, approaching the remaining adventurers and making themselves conspicuous.
The adventurers didn't suspect a thing and died quite easily, which even surprised Dalun Li.
Are my methods... really that underhanded?
Whatever. Only one left!
Once he dealt with this last one, he would have enough Earth Vein Power to create the third floor.
Dalun Li locked his gaze onto the last remaining man, Kroos.
...
Kroos, who had been circling the grotto, suddenly paused and looked toward a tunnel on one side.
A faint glimmer of light seeped out from the tunnel.
Kroos wasn't careless. Keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword, he approached cautiously.
Soon, he discovered a mandragora deep within the tunnel.
"A magic herb... a mandragora?"
Kroos was initially delighted, but then grew wary.
"Why would a mandragora be growing in a place like this?"
Unlike the other adventurers, Kroos maintained a constant sense of vigilance toward this dungeon.
He approached the mandragora carefully as the fragrance grew stronger.
Kroos gripped his sword hilt with one hand and reached toward the mandragora with the other.
At that moment, the mandragora suddenly split its stems and leaves, shooting out silver Leaf Needles.
Kroos hurriedly swung his sword, parrying the needles.
Right then, the mandragora twisted again, firing two more rounds of Leaf Needles in succession.
Parrying the first needle had been due to Kroos's vigilance.
The two consecutive sneak attacks that followed were completely beyond his range of reaction.
The Leaf Needles shot rapidly toward Kroos's chest and neck.
Striking these two locations would allow the paralytic toxin to spread through his body quickly, rendering him immobile.
Just as they were about to hit, a faint light suddenly flashed on Kroos's chest.
A transparent film instantly covered his entire body, deflecting the Leaf Needles.
Kroos seized the opportunity to swing his sword, cleaving through the mandragora's stems in a single strike.
"Phew... what on earth is this? How can there be such a monster in a dungeon!"
Kroos clutched his chest.
If it hadn't been for his family's heirloom magic item, the Leaf Badge, he would be dead by now.
Kroos cautiously approached the mandragora and delivered several more stabs. Only after seeing that it was completely unresponsive did he carefully pull it out.
"It really is a magic herb, a mandragora. And it's of extremely high quality."
Now, Kroos felt a bit of regret.
This was a magic herb, after all; those extra stabs had caused significant damage.
Storing the mandragora away, Kroos composed himself and continued searching for the passage to the next floor.
"I lost one mandragora."
"And since he now knows how unique the mandragora is, it'll be hard to trick him again."
Dalun Li watched Kroos's figure.
This guy's identity was clearly unusual; he even possessed a precious magic item.
Magic items were undoubtedly treasures that could increase the efficiency of his Earth Vein Power absorption.
He had to find a way to take it.
If he could retrieve the mandragora's corpse, he could spend some power to resurrect it.
Dalun Li ceased his actions, ordering the mandragoras to avoid the group of intruders.
Under the gradual exploration of these intruders, the labyrinthine first floor was slowly being understood.
The lord's men, in particular, had already begun creating a map of this floor.
Two days later.
During these two days, no other adventurers had entered from the outside.
Instead, the lord had sent two more waves of men, forming squads to enter the dungeon.
It was clear that the area outside the dungeon was now under the lord's control.
Typically, a lord would spend about a month looting a new dungeon for themselves. Otherwise, they would face pressure from the Adventurer Association.
After that, they would open the dungeon and charge an entrance fee for adventurers to explore.
The first floor had been almost entirely mapped out.
But it didn't matter. After two days of Earth Vein Power absorption, Dalun Li had gathered the 20 points of Earth Vein Power he needed.
The second floor of the dungeon.
"Create the third floor!"
As the silver orb glowed, 20 points of Earth Vein Power were consumed, and the construction of the third floor began.
The entire dungeon began to rumble like an earthquake.
The people on the first floor leaned against the stone walls to steady themselves, looking around in alarm and uncertainty.
[Earth Vein Power required to create the next floor] 40
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