—We finally found it, I'm tired of walking so much —Mirra let out a sigh of relief upon spotting the door to the next floor.
Nim, who was at her side, also let out a slight sigh.
On the fourth floor, the strength of the monsters hadn't increased much. But it had taken them a long time to find this place, even with a map.
From the moment they arrived on the floor to this moment, more than six hours had passed.
Mirra, who was next to Nim, whispered—Nim, is there a problem this time?
Mirra suddenly became tense as she looked around. She still had the fresh memory of what had happened on the previous floor.
—No, there's no problem —Nim took the lead.
Mirra relaxed her nerves when she heard that—You should've said so earlier.
Mirra caught up and they entered the portal room together.
Upon entering, they were surprised to find that there were already people inside.
The next instant, Nim and Mirra raised their guard.
The people also showed cautious expressions upon seeing them.
Nim noticed the people were three men: two younger and one slightly older. Also, they wore gear better than Nim's, but inferior in quality to Mirra's.
If this group was in this room like them, then it meant it was also their first time on the fifth floor. In that case, they shouldn't have a class.
Either way, Nim wouldn't lower his guard, and now he wasn't the only one in his group.
The three men gave Nim a quick glance but kept staring at Mirra. Especially the two younger men, who seemed to be whispering something.
Nim put on a serious expression. Mirra, who was beside him, loosely held her sword at her waist.
—Enough, we've rested long enough, let's move on —the man who looked slightly older spoke calmly.
The two younger ones looked away from Mirra. Apparently, that man had more authority.
The three men began heading toward the portal. And when they were about to enter, they held each other's arms.
Nim and Mirra watched them disappear into the portal.
—Phew... —Mirra, who thought there would be a battle, relaxed her nerves again.
To be honest, Mirra wasn't afraid of those people. Because she had the abnormally strong Nim.
But if there had been a battle, most likely they would've had to kill those people. Or rather, Nim would've done it.
—Let's not lower our guard —Nim
Mirra nodded, knowing that just like them, more groups could arrive in this room.
Without further words, the two chose a corner and rested.
They knew the fifth floor wouldn't be like the previous ones. Also, this floor was a dividing level. One that separated those who had a class from those who didn't.
Although adventurers with a class also came here, but not necessarily to hunt monsters. With all those factors, the fifth floor was one of the most dangerous.
—Ahem... Nim, can you turn around for a few minutes?
Nim didn't understand Mirra's sudden behavior. But even so, he obeyed.
With his back turned, Nim heard the sound of armor.
—Don't turn around yet
After a few minutes, Mirra finished.
—Done, with this gear I won't have any problems —Mirra examined her new armor and weapon.
—Ah right, you can turn now —Mirra, who had forgotten about Nim, called him.
Nim turned and noticed Mirra's new appearance.
He had already thought her previous armor was of good quality. But now with this new one, Nim didn't dare imagine the price. Also, her new sword shone with a mysterious blue tone.
—Is that armor... magical? —Nim asked upon seeing a small gem on the armor.
—Yes, it's the best armor I have —Mirra put on a proud face.
—Besides, this armor has resistance to the fire element. And this magic sword has the water element, with it I can unleash three magic attacks.
—If I'd had this gear when I fought the red slime, it never could've hurt me. But it would've been a waste to use the magic shield on the slime.
Nim sometimes didn't understand Mirra. Because if he hadn't intercepted the slime's spell, Mirra would've been seriously injured.
It seemed one of the abilities of her armor was more important than her life.
—Alright, I'll stand guard while you rest —Nim changed the subject.
—Yeah, I'll relieve you later —Mirra replied.
Nim nodded, even knowing that wouldn't happen.
...
Three hours passed quickly. During this time, Mirra ate her rations and then took a long nap.
Nim didn't wake her at any point during that time.
After a long nap, Mirra got up. Not far away, she saw Nim sitting with his eyes closed.
—Eeh... you can actually look like a normal person when you sleep.
Even though they had just met, they had already been through many battles.
In those situations, Nim had given the impression of being someone who never got tired.
Also, she now knew he came from the outskirts of the city. He surely had to leave behind his family and friends to enter the dungeon. In that sense, Nim wasn't so different from her.
Amid her thoughts, Nim opened his eyes.
—You finally woke up, I thought I'd have to do it for you.
The truth was that Nim was already awake when Mirra got up.
—Alright, let's continue —said Nim as he got up and grabbed his sword.
—Wait, aren't you going to prepare anything? —Mirra stopped Nim.
Nim didn't understand what Mirra meant.
—Wait, I just remembered you shouldn't know how hard the fifth floor is. Let me explain a few things.
In Mirra's explanation, the fifth floor had a different environment. If it could be described in one word it would be: hot.
Here there were fire-attribute monsters, and variants frequently appeared. For that reason, this floor was more dangerous than the sixth or seventh.
It's not that Nim didn't know that information, since uncle Smith had explained many things about the dungeon. One of them was about the fifth floor.
But in the end, he had said that with his current strength he shouldn't have any problems up to the eighth floor.
After Mirra's explanation, Nim's expression didn't change.
—I give up, with your strength you probably won't have problems. Even so, I'll give you this.
Mirra pulled out a sword and handed it to Nim. Even though the sword wasn't magical, it was much better than the ones he had.
Nim accepted it and thanked her.
—Don't mention it, now let's go, I'm close to leveling up —said Mirra as she returned to her usual attitude.
They approached the portal and entered together.
...
Somewhere on the fifth floor, a light appeared; moments later, two figures holding each other appeared.
These two figures were Nim and Mirra. They had been sent to this place after entering the portal.
Nim took a look at the new environment.
The floor looked like the surface of a dormant volcano, and the walls had that same rocky look. Also, very high on the ceiling, spikes could be seen.
This whole place looked like the inside of a volcano.
—What heat… or I would say that if I didn't have my fire-resistant armor —Mirra said while observing the new floor.
Nim didn't respond; he was already used to Mirra's strange personality.
In the middle of that, they heard noises coming from ahead. Also, those sounds were getting closer.
Nim raised his guard and held his sword. Mirra stopped joking and did the same.
They were about to face their first battle on the new floor.