Emiya was slightly surprised.
There were plenty of clerks at the counters, but he hadn't expected to run into her.
Perhaps because Emiya wasn't the protagonist-and didn't have a particularly cute face-Eina didn't give him any special attention. She registered him efficiently, offered a few routine reminders with a professional smile, and sent him on his way.
Emiya nodded and left the Adventurer's Guild with Tiona, heading toward the dungeon.
The dungeon's first floor was directly connected to the surface and followed a standard labyrinth layout.
The deeper one went, the more complex the environment became.
Forests. Lakes. Plains. Wastelands.
The lower floors formed an underground world so vast it was hard to imagine.
The deeper you went, the more obvious the environmental changes became.
Of course, none of that mattered to Emiya right now.
This was his first time entering the dungeon, so Tiona had no intention of taking him deep. At most, they would remain within the first ten floors.
And the first ten floors were all standard labyrinths.
Stone brick walls. Stone brick floors. Narrow corridors.
The monsters here were mostly goblins and kobolds.
Emiya was no stranger to goblins. They appeared in countless fantasy worlds.
In the world of Goblin Slayer, they were practically a disaster-level threat.
Kobolds, on the other hand, were less common.
In the Danmachi world, kobolds looked like wolves that walked upright. They were fast.
And more importantly, they appeared in groups.
Not just kobolds. Goblins did too.
That was why almost no one entered the dungeon alone.
It was dangerous.
If a group of monsters surrounded you, a level one adventurer would struggle to survive.
The reason Bell could enter alone and live was simple.
Zeus had trained him properly since childhood.
If nothing else, his speed alone was exceptional.
Otherwise, he wouldn't later earn the title-
The Fastest Rabbit in the World.
...
After entering the dungeon, Emiya saw light blue walls and ceilings.
A vast, natural labyrinth stretched endlessly in all directions.
Branching paths. Intersections. Gentle slopes.
The underground space was orderly, repeating at fixed intervals.
And here-
Emiya encountered his first battle.
Eight kobolds rushed out from a crossroads.
The moment they saw Emiya and Tiona, they charged, grunting, eyes gleaming with savage intent.
Tiona immediately stepped back and waved her arms.
"Go on, newbie-kun! Don't lose to trash like this!"
To be honest, Emiya was nervous.
He wasn't violent by nature.
Growing up, he'd only been in a handful of fights-countable on one hand.
He wasn't good at this sort of thing.
As a child, he always got nervous before fighting.
As an adult, he no longer fought at all.
But now, in the dungeon, facing monsters-
He felt that old tension again.
Still, he wasn't panicking.
Tiona was nearby.
And if things went wrong, he could always escape to another world.
So even though he was nervous, he stayed composed.
Before the kobolds reached him, Emiya formed four psychic hands.
When the monsters were still twenty meters away, he sent them flying forward.
One punch after another.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Four kobolds were blown backward instantly.
The remaining ones froze, staring at their comrades flying through the air.
Emiya seized the moment.
He controlled the psychic hands, sweeping them back and forth.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The rest of the kobolds were sent flying as well.
However, Emiya had held back.
They were injured, but not dead.
The kobolds scrambled back to their feet, growling and glaring at him. Yet none of them rushed in again.
They hesitated.
These monsters lacked intelligence, but they understood fear.
And more importantly-
They couldn't see what was attacking them.
Emiya didn't waste the opening.
He took a breath.
His psychic power condensed and fired.
Psychic bullets.
A technique he'd developed not long after awakening his ability.
The power wasn't bad.
And since he aimed straight for their eyes, the effect was immediate.
The invisible bullets pierced through eyeballs, shredded brains, and exited through the backs of their skulls, splashing blood.
One by one, the kobolds collapsed.
Dead.
Emiya exhaled slowly.
Tiona walked over and slapped him on the back.
"Nice one, newbie-kun!"
Normally, a rookie would panic in a situation like that.
She'd noticed Emiya's tension and had been ready to step in.
She hadn't expected him to wipe out more than ten monsters on his own.
That psychic power really was cheating.
She handed him a small knife.
"Go collect the magic stones. They're in the middle of the chest."
"No need," Emiya said.
A psychic hand sliced open the kobolds' chests and pulled out small fragments glowing blue-purple.
Magic stone fragments.
Crystals condensed from monsters, filled with energy.
At the Guild, they could be exchanged for money.
In the Danmachi world, magic stones were an essential energy source. Humans used them to create magic stone lamps, refrigeration devices, and countless other tools.
They were valuable resources.
The one in Emiya's hand was only a fragment.
After all, this was the first floor.
Kobolds were among the weakest monsters.
They couldn't possibly produce complete magic stones.
~~~~~
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