Chapter 255: The Slime Layer

Passing through the castle gate that suddenly appeared in front of him, Tauro went inside.

Inside the castle walls covering the entrance and exit of the dungeon, there were several buildings, a rest area, a tool shop, and several armory shops, all crowded with the villagers.

Some of the children, smaller than Tauro, were sitting by the side of the square listening to the adults’ explanations.

They were being told what to do and say in the dungeon and what precautions to take.

It seems, the goal is to familiarize them with the dungeon from a young age.

“Those children also dive into the dungeon.”

Tauro was impressed.

“Yes, the third level underground is relatively safe because it is full of slimes. But the level below that level is a completely different and dangerous level, so we have to explain to them repeatedly how dangerous it is. Those kids are probably on a ‘slime layer march’ to the third level and back over which will take a whole day since today is their first day.”

I received a reply mixed with ominous words.

“Huh? A whole day?”

“Yes. The slime layer here, ah, I mean from the first to the third level. This slime layer is not so dangerous, but it is very wide and complicated. It takes a whole day to go back and forth from the first level to the third level. I experienced it when I was a child, but it was hell to walk all the way except for breaks. Ha ha ha.”

The leader replies with a smile.

Are you guys like that?

Tauro was secretly thinking, “This is where the dragon tribe’s reckless nature begins.”

“Of course, this time we will lead the way in the shortest possible distance, so don’t worry. We will take you to your destination, the “Transition room”, in a few hours.

The leader pointed to what appeared at first glance to be a mere crevice in the slope.

“That’s the entrance to the dungeon.”

Unlike “Babylon,” the dungeon near the capital, there was no building covering it, and it was a bare crevice.

There were several guards around the entrance of the dungeon, and the five warriors, including the leader, greeted the guards lightly as they led Tauro through the dungeon.

Naturally, they all knew each other, so they immediately understood that Tauro was a stranger, a rare human race, and that he had saved their lives, so instead of greeting him, they thanked him with “Thank you.”

Tauro responded with a light nod and followed the leader into the dungeon.

Unlike the outside appearance, once inside the dungeon, a beautifully maintained staircase with cobblestone pavement peculiar to dungeons appeared.

Of course, it’s not maintained by someone, the dungeon itself manages it.

So even if you break the cobblestone floor, it will repair itself over time.

So it was not possible to dig a direct hole to the bottom.

And like other dungeons, the floor, walls, and ceiling emit a faint light, so there is no dark area.

The aspect of the dungeon changed drastically when we descended the stairs leading to the bottom of the dungeon.

The cave was made of cobblestones until we descended, but when we reached the first level, it was a natural-looking cave with bare rocks.

But what made it different from a natural one was the overall pale light it emitted.

After all, it seems to be a sculpture created by the dungeon.

“There are dungeons of this type, too.”

Tauro looked around with admiration.

“Do you know about other dungeons, Tauro-dono?”

The leader showed interest.

Yes, one was just completed, and the other was a dungeon called ‘Babylon’ in the Royal Capital, both of which were brick-style dungeons with cobblestone pavement that came down to here. I only know of one level, though.”

“The first level of the dungeon is basically built like that. This place has a natural cave-like appearance with a lot of moisture and bare soil, perhaps because of the slime that springs up here. But you can’t dig a hole because you can’t scrape out the dirt.”

The leader put his hand on the wall and made a pretense of grabbing the soil, but there was nothing in his open palm.

Tauro tried to imitate the leader and grasp the fragile-looking wall of dirt, but was of no use.

It felt like dirt, but I couldn’t grasp it, and a strange feeling remained in my palm.

The leader said, “Let’s go ahead. Please follow me.” And started to lead the way.

Tauro followed and encountered slime clinging to the walls.

There were slimes of all colors, and it looked like a slime exposition.

“That green slime and that earth-colored slime are supposed to inhabit different environments, right?”

Tauro noticed this.

“Yes, the slime layer has many different types of slime, regardless of the environment. But don’t worry, the higher ranked individuals don’t appear in this shallow layer.”

The leader explained.

Hearing this, Tauro remembered something he wanted to try.

“I would like to try something. I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“Sure. What are you going to do?”

The leader asked with interest.

“A little bit of dark spirit magic…”

Tauro answered and decided to use the dark spirit magic that he had been refraining from recently.

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