The young man's gaze lost itself in that system notification. His teeth clenched tightly as his body began to be shaken by a slight tremor.
His right arm flexed backward. He tried to load a strong punch, but in the end, he didn't throw it. 'I don't have the strength to break a wall... I'll only hurt myself more than I already have.' He relaxed his right arm and pressed his palm against the stone.
The young man's fingers gently stroked the stone wall; the gloves prevented him from feeling the cold of the rock.
"Ha~aa." Adriel removed his hands and dismissed his gloves. He sat down and pressed his hands against his face. "I think, therefore I am." He whispered to himself as his eyes became shiny under the warmth of his own touch.
The wounds caused by his conditioning were not lethal, but they still hurt and gave off a unique odor.
He clenched his teeth so hard that it seemed like he was trying to see which row would withstand the pressure the longest.
After a few minutes, he took his hands off his face. He was wet; his dark circles shone from the small amount of water covering them. "This is not how a hunter acts." He stood up with trembling hands and legs.
He twisted his torso as well as his head until he could see behind him. The beautiful landscape didn't seem like it belonged in a cave.
The young man inhaled and exhaled slowly. He turned completely and began to walk toward what appeared to be the first room of the dungeon.
The view was grand. The floor was grayish stone full of dirt and protrusions. No matter which direction you looked, the place was full of moss. Nearby was a lake of considerable size.
To the left, the ground gradually sloped upward until you could no longer see beyond.
Hundreds of small bioluminescent mushrooms allowed him to see some areas clearly.
Adriel looked at the lake for a few seconds, then approached cautiously. With his first step, he summoned his katana, gripping it tightly as he watched the water.
His gaze was fixed on the depths of the lake, an area he couldn't see. His steps were slow and cautious.
Something came into the boy's view, and without hesitation, he made a quick slash. The thing wasn't big, yet he managed to cut it. A simple 'plap' echoed through the cave.
When the young man looked down, he noticed that the object he had cut was a simple drop of water.
He was somewhat bewildered seeing it. His gaze turned to the ceiling, where he noticed the stalactites were damp. Only after that did he realize what had happened.
'How could I have forgotten the water cycle?' He asked himself, disappointed, as he watched another drop fall from the ceiling to an area near him.
After that small disappointment, he went back on guard. He continued walking toward the lake. Upon reaching the shore, he checked his sides for a stone.
Once he found one, he picked it up and threw it hard into the large body of water.
A great splash echoed near the young man. Water splashed everywhere, but aside from these common events, nothing happened.
The young man relaxed a bit, dismissed his katana, and sat down by the lake's edge. 'I wonder if cave water is drinkable. If my memory serves me right, the reason water wells exist is because there's a large source of it below...' The young man thought as he observed intently.
As he calmed down, he noticed something strange. His brow furrowed, and he concentrated on his feelings. 'I feel uncomfortable... I feel uncomfortable!'
When he realized this, Adriel thought about summoning the system, and it appeared before him.
The white window was limited. The first thing he saw was simple: "You are not allowed to change rooms or leave the room until it is completely cleared."
The message could only be minimized, replacing the guild section. 'I suppose that once you enter a dungeon, you can't join others inside it.' The young man thought as he looked at his options.
After what had happened, he had 42 coins. The few available options he had were to view his balance and enter the shop.
He clicked on the shop since it was the only useful thing he could do. Upon entering, he immediately noticed that the auction and bin sections were blocked. Even so, he could buy things from the main shop.
Food, arrows, whetstones, lightning rods, water, minor healing potions, and more were his few options.
Suddenly his brow furrowed as he noticed a small detail; the lightning rod cost 14 now. 'Are they really charging me more just because I'm inside a dungeon?!'
He became frustrated, feeling that the white system was mocking him to his face. 'I'm sure this thing is similar to an omnipresent being. Does it just charge more to make things complicated?' Adriel crossed his arms as his gaze fixed on the new prices.
'It doesn't even bother with a percentage; it just charges double the original price!'
The young man's annoyance reached such a level that he decided to dismiss the system and look at the water. His gaze fixed on that place.
Adriel went blank for a few seconds, then remembered something. He summoned his bow and looked for the arrows. After scanning his surroundings, he noticed there were no arrows.
'Did they scam me when I bought them?' He wondered as he couldn't find the arrows.
After searching, he sighed. Disappointed, he took the string with three fingers. His index finger above, separated by what should be an arrow on the string; below that, he had his middle and ring fingers. He drew the bow hard while aiming at the wall in front of him.
Before the young man could release the string, an arrow appeared on the bow. The young man's eyebrows arched instantly.
With his left hand, he grabbed part of the wooden arrow. He began to stop drawing the bow, but suddenly the arrow disappeared.
'I can't use them for anything other than shooting.' Adriel removed his right hand from the string and looked at the bow. A small sigh escaped; his bow was dismissed, and instantly his katana was being held by the same hand.
He switched the katana to his other hand; then he turned to look at the lake. He approached more slowly, then dismissed his clothes and began to submerge himself little by little.
When a small part of his legs were submerged, he made a downward slash, close enough to hit anything that approached him, but far enough not to cut off his fingers.
He kept doing this over and over until the water reached his hips. 'It's probably not a good idea to put my upper body, full of wounds, in; if I go in, I'll get infected with one thing or another.'
After thinking this, he began to take slow steps backward. When he came out of the water, he shook his legs slightly, then summoned his clothes.
The young man's footsteps echoed through the cave as he walked toward the slope. 'I doubt it's a good idea to try to go underwater. Even though I know how to swim, it scares me. This world isn't good; it would even scare me in my original world. After watching many videos of that game about a world that's nothing but ocean, I concluded that I have thalassophobia. The same probably applies to caves.'
His thoughts filled with trivial things as he walked up the slope.
When he arrived, he began to walk as far as he could, using his hands for support in a few sections or using the dash to get through others that were quite long or difficult.
He soon reached a small stable area where he could sit and relax. From there, he could see the upper part of the cave.
There wasn't much in Adriel's view. Just mushrooms he was used to and a floor much more uneven than the one below.
'This is strange. I can't see the door. Now that I look at it, there are few mushrooms; the lighting here is horrible. The door is probably further ahead or on one of my sides.' His brow furrowed as he peeked, trying to see everything he could.
Adriel sat down again in the small area and dismissed his katana to make better use of the space. He sat there thinking for 10 minutes. Most of the time, he just dissociated with food.
Suddenly, a figure appeared near him. Something launched itself down the slope as if it were a kind of slide.
It had orange eyes similar to the color of a cat's fur and short navy blue hair that seemed designed to tell you what kind of abilities it had even before seeing them in action.
The young man's breathing stopped for a few seconds. Realizing what had happened, he hurried to climb up to the high area.
His back pressed against the stone floor while his hands hurried to cover his mouth. 'Did it see me?'