Chapter 20: Dungeon Upgrade?!

Second Layer of the Shadow Cavern. Zhao Tianhe collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat.

Just as he had predicted, with ten points in strength, he could crush the small monsters on the first and second layers. But the issue was, weren’t there far too many of them?

“The number on this second layer is at least double what it was yesterday,” Zhao Tianhe muttered, massaging his shoulder and taking a sip of water.

“That’s right, something’s off here! And if we keep going… don’t tell me there are elites on the third layer?” Lainis spoke, her face filled with apprehension.

“Hmm… I suppose I’ll summon Saber soon,” Zhao Tianhe sighed, worried about the same thing. “Today’s five silver coins are practically wasted.”

“Not necessarily! If there’s only one third layer, with Miss Saber’s strength she should be able to take care of it in ten minutes. If we hurry, it’ll take us about ten minutes at the airship’s top speed to reach the Slime Cavern. That gives us at least half an hour to clear out the Slime Cavern!” Lainis calculated eagerly.

“Let’s give it a try. But hopefully there won’t be any elites on the third layer,” Zhao Tianhe nodded.

Unfortunately, not only were there elites on the third layer—there were two!

Upon seeing the two burly cave-dwelling warriors, Zhao Tianhe immediately summoned Artoria, without hesitation.

Under Artoria’s overwhelming power, it took only eight minutes to clear the entire third layer.

Artoria, after hearing their plan, merely nodded and said nothing more. Without a word, she hoisted the two of them onto her shoulders and charged out of the dungeon.

“So this is the airship?” Artoria regarded the vessel before her, shaped like a speedboat with eight metal landing struts beneath. She nodded, tossed them onto it, retrieved a lunch box from the ship’s basket, and began eating as she activated the airship’s magic array.

“Mhm, just show her the way,” Artoria replied after swallowing her food, commanding the airship to ascend with her mind.

“How do you know how to pilot this? Sure, it’s a civilian model controlled by thought, but…” Zhao Tianhe asked in surprise.

“Hmph. Did you really think you’ve seen the full extent of my abilities?” Artoria replied, grabbing another meat bun and eating as she spoke. “Riding skills are—are an inherent talent of this knight!”

Although a bit surprised, Zhao Tianhe obediently gave directions.

Five minutes later, the airship, running at full speed, landed in front of the Slime Cavern.

“Hm?” Pixie tilted her small head, frowning as she looked at the cavern. “Something seems off about this place…”

“Well then, I’ll leave the food in your hands, Lady Pixie!” Zhao Tianhe acknowledged her absent-mindedly and dashed into the cavern.

But as soon as he entered, he realized something was wrong.

“Changed color?” Zhao Tianhe stared at the stone pillars and walls on the first layer’s open ground, noticing that everything was tinged with a faint crimson glow. “The temperature’s obviously rising—what’s going on?”

Not only that, the ordinary slimes had all become red, fire-attribute slimes, and their size had increased slightly.

“Charge, Miss Saber!” Lainis, never having visited the Slime Cavern before, assumed this was its natural state and shouted cheerfully to Artoria.

Though Artoria knew the first layer wasn’t usually like this, she didn’t care about the change. She rushed forward, slicing and launching all the slimes and spraying digestive fluids everywhere.

As the two were about to dash into the second layer, Zhao Tianhe felt uneasy but followed, pondering the situation carefully in his mind.

‘Is this related to yesterday’s dungeon mutations? Such a massive change—it feels like the rare phenomenon of a dungeon upgrade…’ Zhao Tianhe, having spent considerable time at the Hero Academy, recalled reading about such events.

A dungeon upgrade, caused by shifts in the earth’s veins, brings about dramatic changes: the environment alters noticeably, monsters receive significant boosts, and all of this matches the current state of the Slime Cavern’s first layer.

‘So that’s it. The strange events in nearby dungeons were caused by the Slime Cavern upgrading?’ Zhao Tianhe immediately understood the anomalies of yesterday and today. But why would the Slime Cavern upgrade?

And once a dungeon upgrades, it guarantees the appearance of a dungeon boss.

“Saber! Lainis! Listen to me!” Zhao Tianhe stepped forward and explained the current situation to them.

“What a perfect opportunity!” Lainis’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “When a dungeon upgrades, a boss appears, but only one matching the pre-upgrade dungeon level! That means here, it’ll be the weakest F-rank dungeon boss! And as long as it’s a boss, it’ll drop premium gear—even boss-exclusive equipment!”

Premium gear and boss equipment are unique drops from dungeon bosses. While one might luck out and find a premium item from thousands of elites, only the boss drops boss equipment, always with powerful special attributes.

“With Miss Saber’s strength, an E-rank boss might be tough, but F-rank is definitely no problem!” Lainis declared confidently, recalling her own encounters with F-rank bosses.

In fact, a boss’s power ceiling matches the dungeon’s rank, but the floor does not—an E-rank dungeon can spawn an F-rank boss with considerable probability. During her time at Hero School, Lainis had participated in a teacher-led assault on such an F-rank boss during a practicum.

“In that case… let’s go all out, Saber!” Zhao Tianhe weighed the risks and benefits, then gritted his teeth and declared.

“Understood, Master!” Artoria nodded solemnly and charged deeper into the cavern.

All sorts of elite slimes appeared along the way, but most were no match for Artoria. After twenty minutes, both Lainis and Zhao Tianhe leveled up, and nothing managed to stop their advance.

“So many mutated elites… we must have killed thirty. Is this normal during a dungeon upgrade?” Zhao Tianhe recalled his knowledge and glanced at Lainis.

“It’s probably because a large number of elites had accumulated here already. But we still have twenty-one minutes left, and there’s nothing blocking our return, so time should be sufficient,” Lainis said excitedly, checking the timer on her sleeve. “If we don’t encounter the boss in five minutes, let’s retreat, alright?”

“Mm… Looks like that won’t be necessary.” Zhao Tianhe stopped, swallowed hard, and gripped his sword, ready for battle.

Not far ahead, Artoria, rarely, raised her holy sword and assumed a fighting stance.