**Subquests.**

They range from monster-hunting quests to delivery tasks and various odd jobs.

The village I was currently in was *Banhol Village*, located on the outskirts of the *Verbeia* plains—the next stage of my adventure.

It was situated at the farthest edge of the *Do'ol Kingdom*, where War Chief Jeff resided.

Despite its small size, the village was surprisingly developed. The stone buildings, particularly their design and durability, rivaled even those of the empire's capital.

However, the subquest I was doing here today...

"Miss! Take this over to that table, please!"

"Yes, yes!"

Scurrying around, I cleared away empty plates from one table and hurried to the kitchen, where I grabbed a tray filled with food and beer and made my way to a table where customers were seated.

"Thanks for the hard work, miss. You're an adventurer, right?"

"Wow, my daughter just turned fifteen this year, about your age. Already out adventuring, that’s impressive."

"Oh, th-thank you…"

The two middle-aged NPC men sitting at the table smiled at me as they spoke.

Rain, they’re NPCs, not players. Don’t be scared.

Blushing, I quickly fled toward an empty table.

Scurrying away.

---

Most players skip these kinds of menial quests, which offer trivial rewards, preferring to stick with monster-hunting subquests. However, by doing odd jobs like this and getting closer to NPCs, you can sometimes gain valuable information.

"...Well, our village thrives on mining. From minerals with magical properties to durable stones used in construction, and even steel for making weapons and armor, we mine it all. Occasionally, we even unearth rare minerals like mithril, which can store powerful magic. Did you know War Chief Jeff's armor was made from mithril produced in this village?"

"Oh."

War Chief Jeff of the *Do'ol Kingdom*, the same one I encountered in the Tower of Training. It had been a while since I heard his name. So, his armor was made from minerals mined in this village.

Learning small details about this world through subquests like this was part of the fun.

"But all of this is thanks to the dwarves allowing us to mine here. Do you see the beautiful stone buildings in the village? When the village was built, the dwarves helped us construct them. Some of these older buildings are still standing strong."

Dwarves. A long-lived race known to live over 200 years, famous for their love of beards, beer, minerals, and construction.

They’re one of the playable non-human races for adventurers, though dwarf villages haven’t really appeared in players’ adventures yet. 

I briefly thought of *Ain*, the jovial dwarf from the hero's party.

I shook my head to clear the memory.

The lively conversation from the bar's patrons grew quieter as the man speaking to me grew serious.

"Since you seem like a good girl, here’s a tip. As an adventurer, you’d probably be interested in the equipment and minerals made by the dwarves, right? If you can get close to them, you might be able to get your hands on some gear that’ll help you on your journey."

"Where do the dwarves live?"

"To get into their territory, you’ll need their permission and guidance. There's a cave you need to pass through in the rocky mountains to reach the dwarf settlement inside the basin. The cave is like a maze, though. Only they know the hidden paths. Anyway, head north from the village, through the gap in the rocky mountains, and take a left…”

The man readily gave me the information.

Since the dwarves of this village interacted with humans, it seemed the route to their settlement was open. For a moment, I thought it would be easier for players who chose the dwarf race, but according to the man, the village dwarves treated everyone equally, regardless of race.

The early explorers focused only on monster-hunting subquests to level up, so this high-level information probably wasn’t known to many yet.

"Thank you, sir!"

Overjoyed with the valuable intel, I bounced with excitement.

---

I arrived at the entrance of the cave the NPC from the tavern had mentioned.

Beyond this cave lay the dwarf settlement.

The cave was probably a test of some sort, a way for the dwarves to assess the abilities of those who sought to enter their village. Systematically, it was likely designed so that players below a certain spec couldn’t proceed.

[Entry Level: 40]  
[Normal Dungeon]  
[Verbeia Rocky Mountain Cave]

As expected, it was a proper instance dungeon. But still, just a normal dungeon. It wouldn’t be much more than a passage.

Standing at the entrance, I took a deep breath and dashed into the cave.

*Leap.*

*Whirrr.*

A resonant sound accompanied my jump, signaling that I had entered the instance dungeon.

It wasn’t too dark inside. Torches were mounted along the walls. Did the dwarves set these up?

After walking for a while, I came to a fork in the path. Just as expected, the cave was laid out like a maze.

"Hmm…"

I stroked my chin, thinking.

The villagers probably received guidance from the dwarves when they needed to visit the settlement, but as an adventurer, I had to navigate this maze on my own. There didn’t seem to be any obvious hints.

However, I knew a simple trick for navigating mazes.

Whether you follow the right wall or the left wall, eventually, you’ll reach the end of the maze.

Would this work in this cave?

For now, I decided to follow the right path.

*Tap tap tap.*

---

After a long journey through multiple dead ends, I finally reached the end of the maze, emerging into a large chamber.

High ceilings, a wide space.

Across from where I entered, a massive stone door stood, likely the exit of the maze. It was firmly shut.

All around the chamber, piles of rocks were stacked. They looked suspiciously deliberate.

Even though this was just a normal dungeon, those rock piles were undoubtedly linked to some sort of monster encounter.

"Oh."

At the entrance to the chamber, there were five pressure plates embedded in the floor, which looked like they would sink if stepped on.

A puzzle, set by the dwarves? Perhaps stepping on the plates in the correct sequence would open the door. The proper way to clear this dungeon would be to figure out the right order through trial and error. Or maybe I had missed a hint somewhere in the maze.

What if I failed the puzzle? Those rock piles would definitely come to life. No doubt about it.

I grinned.

I had a pretty good idea what those rock piles were.

Golems.

Whenever you see a setup like this in a dungeon, there are always golems.

So, there were two ways to proceed: solve the puzzle or destroy all the golems.

I chose the latter.

"Yap!"

*Leap.*

I lightly jumped onto the center pressure plate of the five.

*Click.*

*Rumble.*

As expected, the sound of the plate sinking into place was followed by the rock piles around the chamber coming to life as golems. 

They were slightly larger than me, and three of them emerged. Their HP was low enough that one well-timed *One Slash* would finish them off.

It seemed I had gotten the first plate wrong. But solving the puzzle wasn’t my goal.

Standing on the pressure plate, I did a little tap dance.

*Tatatatata!*

*Click click click.*

As each plate was pressed, more golems awakened from their rocky slumber.

I didn’t stop dancing until every golem in the chamber had risen.

*Boom, boom, boom.*

Finally, with all the golems awake, a wave of stone bodies began lumbering toward me.

*Clang!*

At last, I stopped dancing and drew my sword.

And then, boldly, I shouted:

"Alright, come at me!"

---

*Rumble.*

Once I had defeated all the golems, the stone door of the cave opened.

As expected, there was no need to solve the puzzle.

The maze was simple, and the exit straightforward. It was a test, either of strength or intelligence. Just a way to prove the bare minimum of one’s ability.

*Clang.*

"Whew."

With one final *One Slash*, I finished off the last batch of golems and sheathed my sword.

[One Slash]  
[Cooldown: 1 minute]  
[Grants invincibility while casting]  
[???]

Since returning to the continent of Astra a month ago, I hadn’t been able to replicate the feeling of using *One Slash* like I had in the past. But I knew the condition required to unleash its true power.

The day Seulbi collapsed, when I was on the verge of death after being attacked by a chimera in *Aspiro Fortress*, I had used *One Slash*. It had been very similar to the version I used in the past.

"I'm sure it activates when my HP is critically low."

The condition was tough. Especially for someone like me, who felt every bit of pain.

During my solo attempt to clear the initial stage of *Aspiro*, I had likely met the condition several times by tanking the chimera’s wide-area attacks. I just hadn’t realized it back then because I had used *One Slash* for evasion, not for damage.

It was my ultimate skill, capable of piercing even the chimera’s strong defenses in the third zone. But it was hard to use intentionally. If I wasn’t careful, Seulbi could end up in the hospital again.

Still, it would come in handy as an emergency escape or final attack in dire situations. Better to have it than not

.

There was one thing I confirmed after taking down all the golems.

[Drizzle Rain]  
[Swordmaster]  
[Level 40 (99.17%)]

"Oh."

After just one run, my experience had shot up. From the mid-90s, it was now just a sliver away from leveling up.

It’s rare to find a place with monsters this densely packed. The only comparison would be the chimera hatchery in *Aspiro Fortress*, but those are gimmick monsters, not meant to be farmed with one-hit kills.

However, these golems could be taken down with a single *One Slash* at my current level. It was a perfect grinding spot. A place where I could gain a ton of experience in a short amount of time.

Chris would soon finish her backlog of work, and she’d be ready to start leveling up in earnest.

Feeling pleased with my unexpected success, I walked out through the open door, grinning.

I’d found the perfect place to power-level Chris.

 

 

______________________

TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!