The market was still shrouded in a grayish morning mist, and the stalls had just begun setting out their wheat cakes.
Steaming white vapor, wrapped in a faint aroma of wheat, drifted slowly over the stalls and merged into the hazy fog.
Bai Xuan picked up a few on his way, eating as he walked. As the warm meat-filled wheat cakes hit his stomach, a sense of warmth spread from his throat throughout his body.
By the time he stepped into the dungeon rift, a trace of warmth still lingered on his fingertips.
At the crossroads of the first floor, a few Shadow Rats poked their heads out, their small, beady black eyes staring intently at him.
Bai Xuan didn't stop, walking straight past them. The Shadow Rats seemed wary of his presence and didn't dare to approach.
On the second floor, several Multi-Headed Snakes were coiled within the brick crevices of the workshop ruins. They flicked their forked tongues, letting out menacing hisses.
Bai Xuan had no intention of wasting time. He moved lightly around the edge of the ruins, avoiding any unnecessary skirmishes.
In the abandoned mine tunnels of the third floor, the Crystal Silver veins on the rock walls glimmered under the firelight, casting a faint, cold light that added a chill to the dim tunnels.
As he moved through the tunnels, he was already mentally mapping out his route for the fourth floor—where to set an ambush, and where to use the terrain to restrict the swarms. He went over everything in his mind.
The moment he stepped onto the fourth floor, a damp, musty smell hit him.
With a practiced flick of his hand, Bai Xuan stowed his cloak into his ring.
Unbeknownst to him, he had already been doing commissions in the dungeon for four days.
The light leather armor he wore had gradually broken in, no longer feeling as stiff and uncomfortable as when he first put it on.
He looked up at the translucent panel appearing before him, his gaze landing on the data columns at the bottom:
【Class: Redeemer Lv. 4 (11%)】
【HP: 770/770】
【Mana: 356/383】
His leveling speed was significantly faster than he had initially anticipated.
After reaching Lv. 4, he could clearly feel a substantial increase in his physical capabilities, with his HP and Mana also seeing a significant jump.
Of course, even at the same Lv. 4, he was different from the ordinary adventurers in town.
The panel wouldn't lie. His current attribute values were much higher than any Lv. 4 adventurer he had seen back in Blackcreek Town.
Whether this was a residual effect of the blessing or a difference inherent to the Redeemer skill system itself, he couldn't say, nor did he feel the need to look into it. As long as he was strong enough, it was fine.
With his current strength, he no longer had to live in fear as he once did in Blackcreek Town.
Even if he encountered a sudden emergency, he had enough confidence to handle it.
As his thoughts drifted, he couldn't help but think that if he wanted to form an adventure team in the future, he should be able to find decent candidates.
At that moment, the face of the dwarf Barend involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
That guy’s level wasn't low—he had already reached Lv. 5—and he was honest, speaking directly without playing games, and certainly not someone who would stab a comrade in the back.
In the murky circles of adventurers, someone with that kind of character was harder to find than a rare monster.
To be honest, if he were to form a team, Barend would definitely be a reliable choice.
But he immediately shook his head slightly, pushing the thought to the back of his mind.
Future matters could wait. Once he returned to Blackcreek Town, he could see how things stood before making plans. For now, acting alone was actually quite nice.
Bai Xuan also admitted that going solo had its risks.
There was no one to take turns on watch when he was tired, no one to help carry the heavy loot, and no one to cover him if his stamina ran out.
But the benefits were just as obvious: all the gains belonged entirely to him.
Every piece of shell, every Magic Core, every drop of experience and Pleasure—he didn't have to split them with anyone.
He didn't have to adjust to someone else’s pace, nor did he have to carefully calculate who did how much work or how much reward each person deserved when distributing loot.
He only had to be responsible for his own life and do his own work.
Just as he was thinking this, a Black-Armored Crawler suddenly crawled out from a corner. Its six legs crunched over the rubble, making a clicking sound as it instantly locked onto him.
Bai Xuan’s reaction was lightning-fast. Stepping forward half a pace, the short spear at his waist thrust out diagonally, the tip precisely wedging into the gap between the crawler's forelimb and its shell.
He snapped his wrist upward with force, and the heavy insect body was instantly flipped onto its side, leaving its soft, grayish-white belly completely exposed.
Without a moment's hesitation, the spear tip followed through with a downward thrust, steadily piercing the abdomen before being swiftly withdrawn.
He stepped forward and dragged the insect corpse to the wall, skillfully using the spear tip to pry at the shell. An entire, intact backplate was peeled away, its edges so smooth there wasn't even a nick.
A second and third followed in quick succession. His touch was exceptionally good today; every thrust and pry was precise and efficient, wasting no extra effort.
However, by the fourth one, his aim slipped slightly.
The spear tip was supposed to only enter the joint gap, but he didn't pull back enough force when he snapped his wrist. He put too much power into it, and the entire spearhead punched straight through the insect’s leg, pinning the creature to the ground along with its abdominal tissue.
The insect didn't die; its six legs spasmed and clawed wildly, letting out a shrill screech. A long tear was ripped along the edge of the shell, rendering it completely damaged.
Bai Xuan pulled out the short spear and looked down at the damaged shell. He roughly estimated that something that should have fetched five silver would now get four at most.
He didn't dwell on it, stepping forward to deliver a finishing blow to end the insect’s suffering before peeling off the damaged shell and stuffing it into his bag.
At noon, Bai Xuan found an abandoned mining chamber to rest, leaning against the cold rock wall while gnawing on his rations.
He looked down at his bag; it already held sixteen shells, three more than yesterday morning, and the integrity rate was higher as well.
Swallowing the last of his food, he took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat. After a brief rest, he set off again.
During the subsequent battles, Bai Xuan unintentionally discovered some unusual traces.
These marks were very similar to those of the Black-Armored Crawlers, but based on their size, the monster that left them must have been enormous—nearly as tall as he was.
This discovery made him lose focus, and in his distracted state, he failed to control his strength during combat.
The already cracked butt of his spear now showed an even larger area of fractures. The crack had extended quite a bit, revealing the cold gleam of the iron core underneath.
He pressed the protruding wood splinters with his thumb, confirming it wasn't broken. He then focused his mind and returned to the fight, intent on finishing today's commission first.
By the time he finished for the day, his bag was stuffed to the brim with a total of thirty-one shells.
Bai Xuan carried the bag to the Adventurer’s Guild. The appraiser took the bag, maintaining that same lifeless tone as he slowly checked the items and gave a quote.
“The Grade 3 shells are in good condition, but several Grade 2 shells have pry damage on the edges,” the old man said flatly as he rifled through the shells. “Total: two gold, six silver, and thirty copper.”
Adding the Magic Cores and other miscellaneous materials he had collected, Bai Xuan had earned a total of one gold and ninety silver today.
Standing at the guild entrance, he counted the coins in his pouch. After several days of saving, he had nearly twelve gold in cash.
After confirming the amount, he carefully tucked the pouch away and turned toward the inn where he was staying.
...
The next morning, Bai Xuan returned to the fourth floor and paused for a moment.
The musty smell still held its familiar humidity, and the Crystal Silver veins on the rock walls reflected light as brightly as ever.
Occasionally, the clicking sound of Black-Armored Crawler shells rubbing together drifted from the distance.
However, compared to his previous visits, there was a subtle difference in the sound.
There were fewer insects.
Bai Xuan walked through the mine tunnels for a long time, only encountering two lone Black-Armored Crawlers along the way.
He skillfully peeled off their shells and stood at a fork in the road, waiting for more prey to come to him.
But only the occasional dripping of water echoed from deep within the rock walls; he couldn't hear that familiar sound of scuttling legs anywhere.
Sensing something was wrong, he decided to turn toward a more remote side path.
After walking for a while, dragging marks began to appear on the ground, deeper and wider than the footprints of ordinary Black-Armored Crawlers.
Small fragments of shells were scattered along the path, their edges already dried and curled, clearly left there for some time.
Bai Xuan followed these traces inward, and the side path gradually narrowed.
The sporadic Crystal Silver veins on either side almost completely vanished. The rock walls turned from grayish-white to a deeper dark brown, and the musty smell in the air grew heavier, making him feel slightly unwell.
He finally stopped in front of a crack.
He had glanced at this crack a few days ago when passing by, but at the time, he had dismissed it as an ordinary natural rock fissure and paid it no mind.
But as he knelt to look closer now, he realized the rocks at the edges of the crack had been worn into smooth curves by something repeatedly moving in and out. He could faintly hear a dense rustling sound coming from within.
Bai Xuan didn't dare be careless. With a wave of his hand, he stowed his outer cloak into his Space Ring, wearing only his light leather armor as he carefully squeezed sideways into the crack.
The crack was much deeper than it looked. He moved forward cautiously, and before long, his field of vision suddenly opened up.
It was a natural nest modified by the insect swarm.
The sensation under his feet was strange. It was no longer the hard rock layer of the mine tunnels, but a layer of soft, slimy, dark brown humus.
It was mixed with tiny shell fragments and some kind of translucent insect secretion. When he lifted his feet, thin, sticky threads clung to his soles.
The sour, foul stench in the air was so strong it was choking, making it almost impossible to breathe.
He looked around and saw a layer of dark, reflective film clinging to the cavern walls after drying.
As his gaze swept across a corner, he saw over a dozen fist-sized, grayish-white translucent eggs clustered in a hollow in the rock wall.
A few had already split open at the top and were empty, while several others were still intact. Through the thin eggshells, he could faintly see the curled outlines of larvae inside.
Beside the cluster of eggs, three newly hatched larvae were huddled over a mass of dark remains, their tiny mouthparts wriggling constantly, looking very fragile.
Bai Xuan stood still, his gaze warily locked on the depths of the nest. He knew the adult swarm wouldn't be far away.
Sure enough, before long, adult Black-Armored Crawlers began to crawl out from the depths of the nest.
Two, three, five... they had been resting in the darker corners, but now they all turned to lock onto Bai Xuan.
Their compound eyes glowed with a cold, eerie light, and their mandibles snapped frantically, letting out sharp hisses as if warning the intruder.
Before they could attack, Bai Xuan lunged forward.
His short spear pierced precisely into the joint of the first crawler. He snapped his wrist upward to flip the creature over, then immediately thrust the spear tip into its abdomen.
The entire sequence was fluid, far more rapid and lethal than in previous days.
Seeing this, a second crawler immediately spat acid. He dodged nimbly to the side, and the acid slammed into the rock wall behind him, instantly sending up plumes of white smoke.
Immediately after, another crawler charged at him from the side. He held the spear shaft horizontally to parry.
The familiar impact traveled through the shaft, and the cracks on it grew slightly larger.
Bai Xuan stepped back to create distance, moving nimbly among the swarm with his short spear.
At times he thrust at the crawlers' joints to drive them back, and at others he aimed precisely for their compound eyes. In the gaps while they recoiled in pain, he followed up with strikes to their joints. One by one, the Black-Armored Crawlers fell.
The floor of the nest was too slimy and soft; his boots slipped from time to time, inevitably affecting his movements.
Just then, a newly molted crawler slowly approached from the side. Its shell was still a soft, damp light brown, and its movements were very sluggish.
Bai Xuan could have easily bypassed it, but the crawler happened to be directly between him and his next target.
It even opened its mandibles as if trying to block his path.
Bai Xuan didn't hesitate; the spear tip punched straight through its cephalothorax.
The crawler didn't die immediately. Its six legs paddled slowly, and the soft tissues beneath its shell were turned outward as dark green body fluid slowly seeped into the humus layer beneath his feet.
At that moment, a loud boom suddenly echoed from the depths of the nest.
The sound was completely different from that of an ordinary beetle; it sounded like something heavy had stomped hard deep within the rock layer.
A faint vibration traveled through the ground to the soles of his feet, making his heart tighten.
Bai Xuan immediately withdrew his short spear and stepped back, pressing his back firmly against the rock wall while his eyes remained fixed on the deepest part of the nest.
A second later, a massive purple-shelled crawler slowly emerged.
Only now did he understand that the giant tracks he had seen in the tunnels were all left by this purple-shelled crawler.
The creature's compound eyes locked onto Bai Xuan before slowly rotating.
Its gaze swept over the several dead adult crawlers on the ground and the still-twitching, newly molted larva.
It was enraged. It let out an incredibly sharp screech, and then, with all four limbs pushing off, it charged violently at Bai Xuan.
Bai Xuan immediately held his spear horizontally to block, but the force of the impact far exceeded his expectations. The hardwood of the spear handle shattered completely, leaving only the bent iron core.
His feet skidded repeatedly on the slimy ground, and his arms were numbed by the shock, nearly unable to hold onto the spear shaft.
After stabilizing his center of gravity, he immediately swung the spear to strike at the purple crawler's forelimb joint.
But the moment the spear tip hit the shell, it instantly slid off.
The shell of this purple crawler was too hard, its surface as smooth as polished horn. The spear tip simply couldn't find a gap to catch.
Level 5? Or Level 6? He didn't have time to think as he quickly scanned the panel appearing before him:
【Black-Armored Crawler King (Boss) Lv. 5】
【Status: Enraged】
【HP: 910/950】
【Mana: 130/130】
【Potential: 3 Stars (Monarch)】
“A Boss?”
Bai Xuan’s heart jumped. He had never seen such a suffix before.
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