Oh, isn’t this …

  While meditating, Zalanir had just realized that he had a better feel for the ambient magic surrounding his spot. Like stars hanging out together on a night sky, striking and grabbable. Not just sound affinity, but others that he was familiar with like air, earth, and shadow as well. Why was that the case? Didn’t the skill mention …

  [Meditate] — Common: Everything needs a break once in a while. Allows you to enter meditation to speed up the recovery process at the cost of reduced perception.

  Essence: 0

  Mana cost: None

  Yeah, reduced perception. He only had his ears remaining functional, other senses got gutted to just a small sphere around his meditating spot. Unless …

  He broke out from meditation and tried to feel ambient magic. No longer the dark sky dotted with illuminating orbs, now he sat in a corner table in a rooftop bar, where a ballad of hundred stimulations swarming him: background EDM music, dancers showing off their moves in the middle ring, screams from all the drunkard, and a plethora of other provocation to his senses. Less effective! Focus or introspection is a no-go.

  He entered again. The sedate, drifting airspace was back. His grasp on magical affinities became much better.

  Did meditation enhance his cognition due to fewer distractions? It had to be.

  He tried lifting a rock using sound affinity, the cube stone became weightless and pliable under the invisible threads. Easy-peasy.

  He did the same using other magic, even with the affinity-less, and found it a bit harder, but still miles ahead compared to him doing so outside of meditation.

  Guess he just needed to practice this way, then. With his Sound Sense and the other three present, this action just carried negligible risks.

  ***

  They spent the next day digging deeper into the dungeon. Four pangolins and three swarms of rats later, and Zalanir earned just a single level. To be fair, he had gained four levels since coming to this place four days ago, so on average a single level each day, which was massive. But out of that, two came from defeating a Seseguri 17 levels higher than him at the point of the battle, so he felt like cheating a bit there.

  If he was to ignore that one-off situation, these pangolins were about 10 levels higher than him, and the rats weren’t at a low level either, so he had kinda expected more. At this rate, with the debuff for killing the same monsters again and again likely kicking in soon — he had learned that lesson slaughtering all the bats — and with the shared experience being in a group, it would take a while to get even a single level-up.

  “You don’t look good. What’s wrong?” Shinnya asked. He and she were still the backliners of the group, trailing behind Wanyi and Seseguri.

  “Oh, nothing. Just lost in my thoughts a bit. So how far is this Diorite Mine that we are heading toward?” He looked to the right, the two flames on her shoulder crackled, hiding her face behind their warm aura.

  “In about two days’ time if we maintain the current pace.”

  “What’s the deepest place you have explored here in this dungeon? How’s that compared with the Diorite Mine?”

  “On the right path? The mine. Once a major source of diorite for the city, now because of overexploitation, it had become the domicile of monsters down there, namely pangolins, snakes, and occasionally meahli. As for the main direction on the left? The Oasis of Misfortune. Been a while since anyone have gone past that, for the gain is too … unpredictable compared to the risk. Over time, it is where the dungeon ends for all the adventurers,” Shinnya said.

  “What’s the risk? Strong monsters? Also, what’s beyond the oasis? Any idea?” Now didn’t that scream adventure?

  “A late C-grade meahli. Some claimed that there were two of them, but we have only encountered one on our last three visits. Strong, slippery, and a menace to deal with. If it’s just that one, not a guaranteed kill, but we can push past it. The problem is the entire community of meahli down there. We had formed a raid before — thirteen of us — but they still outnumbered us at least two to one.” He didn’t see her face, but her voice had come down a note. No longer the clear and confident tone. “As for what’s after, Clotserinn came down once, but after returning, they mentioned only rubble and desolation.”

  “They might be hiding something there.”

  “There are some rumors, but nothing confirmed. Some said that there is a group of human inhabiting there, another mentioned an early B-grade monster taking that part of the dungeon as its lair. Heck, there is even a gossip of the place being one of the secret training hubs of Clotserinn, where they make dangerous experiments to the trainee.” Shinnya shrugged, hand creating a flame and then snuffing it out after it was too big to fit inside her palm. “Though whatever there is, it isn’t worth the danger and hassle to confirm.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Any idea where the Bone Hill is? To be honest, that’s my primary target coming here.” He had wanted to goad them into taking him there, but this group wasn’t bad or malicious by any means. He had fun being one of them, so it wasn’t worth it to hide his goal. Shinnya, especially, had been rather calm and helpful in answering all of his questions.

  “Bone Hill? It’s to the left. See those passageways? They connect some major areas together inside this dungeon. Here is a bit far away from that area. You can pick one about one day before the Diorite Mine. That would be my suggestion. But what are you looking for there? It’s like, a trash place where the moles gather all the leftover carcasses inside this dungeon?” She turned toward him and threw a puzzled look.

  “Yeah, I know, nevertheless, there’s a reason I have to get there. Don’t worry, the Diorite Mine takes priority. I just want to ask that on the way out, we stop there for a moment.”

  “Sure, I guess? Won’t take too much time.” She shrugged.

  “Thank you!”

  Without anything else to say, he spent a third of his mana to feed the soul kitten — an activity that he had been putting on autopilot for a while now. Its size had grown a bit compared to its original state after that battle, but no sight of consciousness yet. It just absorbed his mana like a child inside the womb and care of her mom.

  He also spent time digging through all the books to supply his knowledge about this world and continued practicing his control of ambient magic. Together with some fights along the way, time passed inside this dungeon, and soon he arrived at the Diorite Mine.

  ***

  “I’m surprised you can keep reading among all these yells and songs of battles.” Wanyi turned to him, her hands still scrubbing some tainted smears on her golden shield.

  “I’m used to all these noises now haha. Would feel kinda lacking if the atmosphere is too muted.”

  “With how you approached us, and then immediately manhandled Ses, I thought you would be a ‘rougher’ type. You know, the one charged face-first into the battles.”

  “Nah, I’m past that already. No need to over-pumping myself with these stimulations all the time. Better to manage burnout for the long-run.”

  “You an old man? How old are you, by the way? I don’t think I ever got to that, do I?” Shinnya butted in from her resting spot near the wall. A small black pile of charred stones lay nearby.

  “29 or 30, I think. Lost track of time after leaving the fighting pit.”

  “6 months ago? I would expect you to be younger, by the way. You are almost my brother’s age.”

  “Now that hurts, but can’t help it. Your background is just that good, being born in a big city like Yebin.” He put down the history book. The approaching steps and hums meant resting was almost over.

  “No, the fact that I am from Yebin, with all the resources and advantages, and I am just 10 levels ahead of you means that you are no pushover. In contrast, you are really good, and that annoys me.” Another stone joined the ash pile, its fate no different. Her fire magic just melted everything.

  “Yeah, you are strong, and that’s what matters. What would a couple of years do if you waste it on mundane things?” Wanyi re-inserted herself into the conversation.

  “Haha. Just lucky. Oh, looks like someone is having fun.” He stood up and signaled the other two on the sight of Seseguri just emerging from the contest in the central area.

  “Look at this!” The Carrier teased a pangolin core. “You should have joined me. Their faces were a masterpiece at the end.” His crackling laughs soon followed.

  “Great job as always. So I’m assuming we got the same area?” Wanyi took the core and once again put it inside her spatial pocket.

  “Do you even have to ask kaka? Give me fifteen minutes, then we go.” Seseguri sat down and closed his eyes.

  Apparently, the Diorite Mine ahead was a popular spot for adventurers to come farming for cores and on the rare occasion getting their hands on freshly formed silvery stones. Though the over-exhaustion of those stones had left the structure of the mine unstable. Thus, only a maximum of four adventurer groups could get in at the same time, with the absolute agreement of no in-fighting inside.

  Lucky for them that they came here just in time for the next round of selection, and Seseguri — chosen by the group for his experience and notoriety in the obligatory contest in such a fast manner that Zalanir had no chance to even voice his own nomination — had just net them one ticket.

  After having to bend his back to pass over a short tunnel, Zalanir finally had his eyes on what used to be a major point of conflict between powers in Yebin — at least, that was what the history book had written. His first impression was the frigid atmosphere inside this decrepit excavation site, not just because of the actual low temperature, but also because of the silvery hue reflecting from the dark, moonlight-silver. Both Wanyi and Shinnya had snuffed their light sources out. Why did they need to waste mana when each of the stones had already done their parts with their glittering aura?

  But it wasn’t the warm, bright light from the sun or fire. Here, it turned his mood sour. His energy was being sucked out by this soundless, unsavory, and sleepy vibe. He just wanted to place his back down, relax, cup his eyes, and let the dreams take over.

  “Keep yourselves together. Dangers could be lurking at any corner, so don’t let the environment charm you.” A heat source entered his body from the back, melting away his unexpected and overwhelming submersion. What a powerful sensation. He had almost indulged himself in that peace just now.

  “Thank you!” Zalanir nodded at the red-haired girl whose hand was still placed on his middle trapezius.

  “That’s the magic of this mine. But once you know what to expect, it is easier to protect your mind from it.” Shinnya said, then pulled her hand back. Though what she had given him stayed, occasionally pulsing and filling his body with warmth.

  Their formation had also changed. Wanyi and Seseguri stayed within an arm’s length now to the backliners instead of venturing far forward to scout.

  And that proved to be effective, as after just a couple of steps, his ears picked up a distinct sound of something skidding on the surface to the left. Faint only, with slow movement, like a predator sneaking around their meals, waiting for the right moment to strike.

  But like hell would he give them that. In this noiseless environment, no matter how small the sound was, Sound Sense would pick them up with no trouble. He signaled the others to continue like they had been doing, but right at the moment the enemy had become a bit too eager for their stalk, Zalanir lurched to the side with both a barrier and a bubbling bundle of bolts ready to fire in hand.

  We all have 24 hours a day. Thank you for spending some of that with me!