That's right, that's what adventure is like!

Underground city.

Thanks to its unique monster system, generous rewards, and peculiar respawn mechanism, it has always been regarded as a treasure by countless adventurers.

The origins of the earliest dungeons are lost to history, but existing dungeons can be roughly categorized into three types: divine dungeons, natural dungeons, and man-made dungeons.

The Ember Dungeon is a typical man-made dungeon. It not only spawns monsters periodically, but also contains treasure chests that hold wealth, and even has a clear distinction between levels of danger.

Nevertheless, exploring dungeons still carries risks, and the association takes measures to ensure the safety of adventurers.

"Traps and monsters won't kill you; you need to be careful about every choice you make."

The inscription on the stone tablet was slightly blurred, but it was stained with a lot of indelible bloodstains, which left a deep impression on Roland when he read it.

To his even greater surprise, the association had also set up a small market at the entrance to the underground city.

Before the arched doorway, which was over ten feet high, a crowd of adventurers had spontaneously gathered. The shouts of bargaining, the rhythmic hammering of the blacksmith, and the adventurers' vulgar boasts and laughter echoed between the rock walls.

The stalls were packed tightly together. Bundles of rope and durable leather goods were displayed under simple wooden sheds and open oilcloth umbrellas. There were also food stalls offering hard bread and salted meat jerky that could be preserved for several days, but the prices were much higher than in the town.

Every now and then, weary adventurers would emerge from the doorway, heading to the nearest stall to treat their wounds. But most of them were newcomers like Roland, wandering among the stalls, excited and nervous, selecting equipment.

Even without guild quests, dungeons are great places for adventure and are quite popular.

Roland glanced at the adventurers present, his gaze lingering for a moment on a few familiar figures he had seen yesterday, before heading towards the entrance.

He was well prepared and naturally wouldn't linger here.

Entering the underground city felt like entering another world.

The sound waves behind me seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, leaving only a dull, blurry vibration, replaced by a silence that seemed to freeze the air itself.

The bluestone slabs underfoot were covered with a thick layer of black ash, making a faint "rustling" sound when stepped on. The stone walls on both sides were full of tool marks and slight weapon scratches.

The passage was fairly wide, enough for three fully armed adult men to walk side by side, but the light source behind them disappeared completely after a few steps, plunging them into deep darkness.

It's time to take your medicine.

Roland took out the bottle of watered-down night vision potion from his bag, pursed his lips, looked at the floating, fluffy substance, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

The girl was right. It was thick and cold at first, but then a granular, sweet and fishy substance went down the esophagus, like swallowing fermented humus soil with mushroom-like growths.

A strong dryness and a slight burning sensation came from his throat. He suppressed the urge to vomit and stuffed the empty bottle into his pocket.

The taste was a little strange, but the effect was remarkable.

Absolute darkness spread like diluted ink, the rough texture of the rocks, the undulations of the black ashes on the ground, and the outline of the distant corner gradually appearing before one's eyes in shades of black, white, gray, and pale purple.

A strange, infrared-like "temperature difference sensation" also began to emerge; the cold rocks were dark gray, while the palms were light white.

As long as it works.

After adjusting slightly, Roland took a step forward and plunged into the bottomless darkness.

The black embers were everywhere, like a soft blanket enveloping everything. Whether it was the rock walls or the ground, they were covered with a layer of varying thickness. Occasionally, the drifting trails pointed to deeper places, like signs leading to the abyss.

Fortunately, it didn't hinder his movements; he just needed to cover his mouth and nose to prevent the stuff from entering his body. Roland didn't want to excrete such a monstrous thing.

He took out the map he had bought for 3 silver coins. The raised texture, combined with the effect of the night vision potion, clearly pointed him in the right direction.

"The Black Ash Dungeon has eight levels. Although there are no monsters of formal professional level, there are more traps to watch out for compared to the wild, so we still need to be careful."

Following the patterns on the surface, Roland successfully navigated several intersections without encountering any monsters.

This was naturally intentional on his part, since two bottles of potion were only enough for thirty hours of use, and there was no need to waste them on the low-level monsters whose activity range was fixed at the beginning.

But despite this, some things are still unavoidable.

hum-

As Roland passed a depression filled with sewage, a high-frequency vibration sound made him stop and lean against the wall to look over.

One glance was enough for him to gasp: "What a huge cockroach!"

Six legs with fine barbs protruded from the edge of its brown carapace, two tentacles on its head trembled constantly, sharp jaws were attached to its mouthparts, and it had a huge body the size of a wild dog—Roland instantly determined the type of this monster.

Giant cockroach!

It can be considered a mutated version of the common cockroach. Its most prominent feature is still its amazing reproductive capacity. They can be found in almost every dark corner, and occasionally they even form "swarms" to actively plunder human villages.

In contrast, the lone giant cockroach Roland encountered was naturally easy to deal with, but he still had no intention of approaching it.

Not only is it disgusting in appearance, but the sticky fluid that giant cockroaches splatter when they are physically attacked is highly corrosive and very troublesome if it gets on your body.

But he had no reason to avoid it, because this was the only way to the lower levels.

"Why not use it to test out a new weapon?"

With this thought flashing through his mind, Roland hid around the corner, gripped the brand-new light crossbow, nocked an arrow, and pulled the trigger.

call out!

In the dense darkness, the metallic arrow emitted a sharp whistling sound, covering a distance of more than ten meters in the blink of an eye, and piercing the giant cockroach that was gnawing at the ground, its flesh and blood mangled.

when--

It's understandable that the shot missed, as Roland rarely uses such long-range weapons, but that doesn't matter; his objective has been achieved.

The metal arrow struck the giant cockroach's solid carapace, instantly sending up a tiny spark, which, though extremely faint, was exceptionally bright in the boundless darkness!

Nourishes—

A slight vibration came from the ashes on the walls and floor, and Roland felt a pricking sensation on his skin that made his hair stand on end.

The giant cockroach also sensed a strong sense of crisis, and its wings began to vibrate rapidly as it tried to flee to a nearby location.

Unfortunately, it only takes two seconds for the black embers to go from being ignited to exploding!

Boom—Bang!

A huge, suppressed thud came from the other side, and a powerful shockwave brought up a shock wave that spread out in countless black dust spheres, and the scorching air swept up like a storm!

Roland pressed his body against the corner of the rock wall, yet the lingering shockwave still made his robes rustle, and the scalding air, mixed with a pungent acrid smell and a strong metallic odor, assaulted his senses.

A second or two later, the muffled thud of the impact and the rising heat quickly subsided, replaced by the faint sound of dust falling.

He then peeked out and found the giant cockroach lying in the center of the explosion, its carapace torn open and its internal organs charred black.

It died, leaving only residual nerves that caused its tentacles to twitch from time to time.

This is the power of what adventurers call the "Ember Storm".