I was Born in the Final Demon Realm of a Dark Fantasy

The name of the man who conversed with us was Carb.

He explained dungeons in detail.

Here, on the continent of Feyrn, numerous dungeons were continuously being created, conquered and disappearing, only for new ones to form again in a repeated cycle.

As time passed and the number of people conquering dungeons increased, people gradually began to systematically classify dungeons based on accumulated experience and information. Thus, 72 major dungeons were established, each assigned a unique rank.

He explained that whenever one of these 72 dungeons was conquered and disappeared, a new dungeon would replace it, as if filling the void.

The reason for classifying only 72 main dungeons in this vast continent was clear.

It was to more precisely control and manage dungeons, which were spaces of chaos and danger.

“Many people think of dungeons merely as targets to conquer, but in truth, dungeons are inherently very dangerous spaces. This doesn’t simply mean that failing to conquer them puts your life at risk—the very existence of dungeons poses a great danger to us.”

Carb said that if dungeons were left unattended for too long, magical beasts from inside would backflow and spill out into the outside world.

After hearing that, I recalled the Seven Sinister Caves that Arnen had mentioned before. These were seven dungeons that had never been conquered since ancient times—I wondered if there were magical beasts that had backflowed from there as well.

When I asked without hesitation, Carb answered with something of a bitter smile.

“You know about the Seven Sinister Caves? You must be quite interested in dungeons. Or perhaps… you have connections with high-ranking adventurers.”

Carb added only a brief comment before closing his mouth.

“Magical beasts that have backflowed from there… certainly exist.”

He clearly seemed to know more, but appeared unwilling to say anything further. So I didn’t press the issue.

After that, I headed to the apprentice dungeon with the Arnen sisters, following the instructions on the parchment Carb had given us.

Carb had said that the apprentice dungeon could be conquered without much difficulty, even by novice adventurers.

The dungeons not included among the 72 major dungeons were managed by adventurer branches scattered throughout the continent and were utilized according to the objectives of each branch. The apprentice dungeon was one such dungeon.

Carb’s words about being able to conquer it easily were accurate.

In truth, I had thought dungeons were places crawling with monsters like the forbidden zone.

That was half right. There were unfamiliar monsters living there. More precisely, they were called “magical beasts.”

According to the contents of the parchment Carb gave us, the first magical beast we encountered was a goblin. It had green skin, was as small as a child, and carried what looked like crudely made weapons.

But their strength wasn’t as great as I had imagined. No, they were much weaker. Even weaker than the contaminated beasts that lived in the Monster Forest.

Was it because this was an ‘apprentice’ dungeon?

Thus, the initiative in battle naturally passed from me to Arnen and Elia.

I stepped back and watched the two of them make their way through the dark cave.

Arnen and Elia had skills refined through beast hunting. The ways of moving stealthily and shooting arrows. Sometimes they used daggers as well.

Though different from the method of swinging fists, after watching several times, I gradually became familiar with their flow.

So, somehow, I ended up giving the kids feedback on their movements. After every goblin they took down, I pointed out what approach might have been better.

The dungeon itself wasn’t very long.

Arnen and Elia did fairly well facing the goblins and advancing forward.

When defeating magical beasts in a dungeon, one could obtain what was called a mana stone, but in low-tier places like the apprentice dungeon, magical beasts rarely possessed mana stones.

Indeed, we checked each goblin’s chest we dealt with, but found none.

When we reached the end of the cave, we faced a magical beast called a hobgoblin. Usually, in dungeons, a powerful individual called a boss would reign as the leader.

The boss of the apprentice dungeon was a hobgoblin.

Certainly, it was larger than regular goblins, and the weapon it carried was somewhat more sophisticated, but in the end, there wasn’t much difference.

Arnen and Elia, working in familiar coordination, took down the hobgoblin. Whether due to bad luck, no mana stone was found on the hobgoblin either.

I had heard that adventurers make money by selling treasures hidden in dungeons or mana stones obtained from magical beast corpses…

However, since our purpose wasn’t money, we weren’t greatly disappointed.

When we returned to the adventurer headquarters carrying the hobgoblin’s head, Carb gave each of us a gray token. In the center of the palm-sized round token was engraved the same emblem as the flag hanging on the exterior wall of the Adventurer’s Guild building.

“It’s an apprentice adventurer badge. Carrying it proves you’re an adventurer affiliated with us.”

“Are there different guild affiliations?”

“Yes. We’re a guild primarily active in the central continent. Well, affiliation doesn’t significantly change how you’re treated, but when conquering higher dungeons, various guilds collaborate, so having a clear affiliation makes many things more convenient.”

After finishing speaking, Carb took out a bottle of alcohol from the shelf behind him and subtly pushed it toward me. Since he seemed to be asking if I wanted to drink with a glance, I shook my head, and Carb returned the bottle to the shelf with a flat expression.

“If you conquer the apprentice dungeon a few more times, you can become a lowest-rank adventurer. If the three of you form a party and travel together, your ranks will rise together, but I don’t recommend it. A rank not matching your abilities can be more of a poison.”

Though Carb didn’t explicitly say so, he seemed to think I had led this dungeon conquest. Looking around, there weren’t many with as robust a physique as mine, so it wasn’t incomprehensible.

“Ah, for those with outstanding skills, such a process might feel cumbersome. If you, Bell, feel that way, there are methods.”

“Methods to quickly raise one’s rank?”

“Yes, it’s quite simple.”

Carb bent down and took something out from under the bar.

It was a blue crystal orb large enough to require two hands to hold.

“If you infuse it with mana, your skills can be promptly proven, and it’s possible to elevate you to an appropriate rank. Would you like to try?”

“…”

Mana?

The unexpected term momentarily stunned me. Do they judge strength by mana here?

With a glimmer of hope, I carefully placed my hand on the crystal orb. Although Arnen had told me that the power I possessed was different from mana, it wasn’t definitive.

But once I placed my hand on the crystal orb, I had no idea what to do or how to do it.

When I summoned ‘intent’, it was always with a clear purpose. The desire to kill, to defend, or even to evade. There had to be some emotion for it to materialize.

But placing a hand on a crystal orb required no will. What mindset was needed to infuse mana?

Of course, I could forcibly summon it.

As I thought of killing intent, a red aura concentrated in my hand.

But that was it.

The crystal orb remained silent. No reaction, no light, no trembling. As if it couldn’t detect that power.

“…It seems you haven’t learned to use mana. But this red aura…”

Carb trailed off with an unusually perplexed face.

His gaze lingered on the red aura swirling around my fingertips, but realizing it wasn’t mana, I withdrew the red energy.

Carb, who seemed lost in thought, soon raised his head.

“Since there’s no reaction from the crystal orb, I’m afraid it’s impossible to upgrade your rank.”

“Interested in raising your rank?”

Clink. The sound of armor metal colliding was heard. When I turned my head, I saw a man rising from his seat at a nearby table.

He was wearing armor that was much denser than the leather armor worn by most adventurers around, with small metal plates embedded in it.

As he brushed back his blond hair and approached, leaning against the bar beside me, Carb spoke.

“Mr. Chamber…”

Carb seemed to know him. When I gave a puzzled look, Carb noticed my gaze and turned back.

“This is Mr. Chamber, a high-rank adventurer belonging to the party called Blood Blade. …And this is Bell, an apprentice adventurer.”

“I know he’s an apprentice adventurer. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but sitting nearby, I naturally overheard.”

He looked me up and down, then said with gleaming eyes:

“If you want to raise your adventurer rank, I think I can help. As it happens, I need a lot of manpower for a job. Of course, I also have the authority to raise the rank of an apprentice adventurer.”

“Mr. Chamber… that authority is not yours but Estel’s, the party leader.”

“I say this because she delegated this task to me.”

Chamber brushed off Carb’s words and smiled leisurely. He had an somewhat relaxed demeanor.

I was familiar with people who exuded such an atmosphere. It was a demeanor often displayed by special-class warriors who served in the king’s royal guard.

“So, are you interested?”