Maybe because she came from modern times, seeing the rge tower that pierced the clouds, a symbol of peak architectural brilliance in this world, Light only felt slightly underwhelmed. She had thought the same when she first saw the Tower of Babel while approaching the city. Compared to skyscrapers in the real world, it cked a certain elegance. So much so that she never even gave it a second thought, simply thinking, At least I am going the right way.

  Instead of caring about the market district located inside the tower, Light's only focus was on what y beneath it.

  The Dungeon.

  After joining the Loki Familia yesterday, Light had struggled to get much sleep due to nerves about fighting monsters. She knew the only way to overcome this weakness was to face it head-on, so at first light, she rolled out of bed and marched towards the dungeon, fully prepared.

  With her sword sheathed in hand, as she had yet to purchase a belt to rest it on, Light took one final breath and walked towards the entrance. Although there were still some people around even this early in the morning, compared to yesterday, when she had coincidentally walked past while exploring the city, it was much quieter.

  It seemed that most of the people present were actually supporters, probably trying to secure a stable party before rush hour. For better or worse, none of the supporters even considered asking Light if they could join her. From her nervousness to her basic gear, she currently painted the perfect image of a newbie.

  Not someone dependable who they could earn a lot of money with.

  Meanwhile, Light had not noticed the disdain some people were fshing her. Her mind was entirely focused on her trembling hand, the same one holding her sword.

  "Come on already," Light muttered. "The first floor is just some dumb goblins."

  [Spoken like someone who has never watched Goblin Syer.]

  Light furrowed her brows in disbelief. "Can you not right now?"

  [You also forgot about the fearsome kobolds.]

  "You are unbelievable."

  However, in her frustration with the system's random remarks, she failed to notice that her trembling had stopped. Although it was hard to say if this had been the system’s intention, it had strangely benefited her by forcing her to focus on something else.

  "Right, let us just get this over with."

  Swallowing the st of her nerves, Light marched down the spiral staircase leading to the dungeon. The dimly lit, cave-like walls created an oppressive atmosphere, one that, in her past life, would have made her nope out long ago.

  Eventually, Light reached the first floor of the dungeon. The green walls reflected in her gaze. The entrance was already occupied, even this early in the morning. With little choice, Light walked deeper in.

  Finally, she had reached deep enough that there were no other adventurers around. Instead, Light came face to face with a green, humanoid creature wielding a small stone dagger.

  Perhaps instinctively, the goblin had sensed someone’s presence, so the moment Light id eyes on it, the creature turned to face the intruder.

  While Light hesitated to move, the goblin had no such reaction. The lone monster charged towards her with a straightforward goal—to kill, to butcher, to survive.

  Snapping out of her daze, Light drew her sword and tossed the scabbard to the side. Carrying both the sword and the scabbard was too much with her current stats.

  Watching the monster charge towards her, Light took a deep breath and announced in a calm tone, "Tempest."

  As soon as the word left her lips, wind swirled around her from feet to head. The wind was strangely comforting, the sensation simir to being in a mother’s embrace. This magic was none other than Ais’ Ariel, an enchantment-type magic that could be cast with a single word.

  Focusing the wind on her sword, she swung it towards the rapidly approaching monster with a simple ssh. Despite her form cking any technique, her skill instinctively operated as she intended. Sending out a wind ssh through the air, empowered by Fairy Canon, it comfortably sliced through the distance before reaching the goblin and effortlessly bisecting it.

  Light had expected the monster to turn into mist upon death, as she had seen in the anime, but for some reason, it did not. Instead, she watched as discoloured blood squirted from both halves of the goblin’s body, spraying across the floor and walls alike.

  Despite trying her best to suppress it, Light instinctively dry-heaved, lucky that she had not eaten yet today.

  [Are you okay?] The system asked worriedly, a tone Light had not known it was capable of.

  "Yeah," Light answered with feigned confidence. After using a single spell, her magic reserves were just above the halfway point. The ck of magic caused her to feel slightly lightheaded. "I need to get used to this. Anyway, do you know why the monster did not turn into mist and leave behind its core?"

  [Despite what the anime showed, in this world, the monster’s corpse remains until the core has been extracted.]

  "Is this a light novel thing?"

  [It is.]

  "I guess that expins the point of supporters. I always thought it was just incredibly zy to hire someone to basically bend over and pick things up. But if they have to find the core too, it expins a lot."

  [Forgot about that. Congratutions on winning your first fight!]

  "Hmmm."

  Light nodded, but she was not pleased with her performance whatsoever. She had stiffened up and betrayed her original intention. She had wanted to fight the monster using nothing but her own strength—no skills, no magic—but she had panicked, resorting to magic without even knowing how many times she could cast it before suffering from Mind Down.

  What would have happened if Airel cost more mind than she had? What would have happened if the attack potency was less than it was? The only answer Light could come to was her immediate death.

  Although she was delighted to have won, and pleased by how effective her magic was, this fight was nothing short of a failure in her eyes.

  [You are being too hard on yourself. You won, and that is all that matters in a fight to the death.]

  Light paused, not entirely convinced but still replying with a short, "Thank you."

  She begrudgingly dug through the goblin’s body, searching for the monster core. If she had spoken to someone from the Guild beforehand, they would probably have told her to prepare a secondary knife or at least expined where the monster core was located.

  However, that level of foresight was not found in the one named Light. She had not even known the body would remain after death.

  Afterwards, Light ventured deeper into the dungeon and soon came across a lone kobold. Thankfully, on the first floor, it was uncommon for monsters to travel in groups. This made it the perfect training ground for someone as inexperienced as Light.

  This time, with one victory already under her belt, Light went to draw her bde but realised she had forgotten to pick up her scabbard, meaning her sword was already unsheathed. Frowning at her own idiocy, she quickly refocused and charged forward to meet the monster head-on.

  Pnning to attack first, Light brought down her sword in an exaggerated overhead strike, her poor technique giving the kobold more than enough time to dodge. Fortunately, her opponent cked intelligence. Its dog-like brain worked purely on instinct.

  Although the kobold successfully dodged, it unnecessarily dived out of the way, leaving itself completely exposed.

  Seizing the opportunity, Light charged forward and impaled the kobold on the end of her sword, piercing it through where a human’s heart would be. Blood spttered from the wound, nding on Light’s cheeks, adding a little red to go with her pink.

  Feeling the kobold struggle on the end of her bde, Light dragged her sword across to the best of her ability, slicing the creature open. The ck of sharpness of the sword and her own strength, making the task more difficult than it had any right to be.

  [Not to tell you what to do, but from now on, do not open a fight with such a rge strike that leaves you completely exposed.]

  "I know, I know." Light nodded as she bent down to dissect another monster. "I do not know why I did that either. My body just moved on its own, and for some reason, that was what it chose to do."

  Light knew that if she had been up against a monster with a little more intelligence or better instincts, she might have been the one lying on the floor right now.

  [That is why experience is important. Your instincts and muscle memory are practically non-existent.]

  Light spent the next few hours inside the dungeon, roaming the first floor and fighting monsters. She suffered her first injury when a goblin evaded her ssh and nicked her thigh with its stone dagger.

  Gradually, she began to feel more comfortable with fighting, gaining a better understanding of what this new body could pull off. However, the system once again appeared to ensure she did not grow compcent. Light felt as if the system was acting strangely today. Although it was only her second day with it, so her frame of reference was not exactly detailed, it seemed unusually proactive in nurturing her.

  Keeping her ego in check.

  "Was there not meant to be a reward for entering the first floor anyway?" Light questioned as she once again cut open another goblin, the action becoming strangely comforting. Compared to fighting with her life on the line, this little downtime, where she could rex her mind and body, was a much-needed relief.

  Instead of answering straight away as it usually did, the system remained silent.

  What Light did not know was that the system had deliberately held off on giving her the reward. It had noticed that she had finally entered the right mindset before coming in. Throwing a reward at her at that moment would have only served as an unnecessary distraction.

  Eventually, the system answered.

  [All Sign-in rewards will be distributed upon leaving the dungeon.]

  "Ah, kind of like how you did not give me the Hostess of Fertility reward because I was busy. Makes sense." Finally finding the monster core in the goblin’s torso, but before pulling it out she paused.

  "I wonder..."

  With a sudden idea, she pulled out her gaming console and immediately withdrew a Phoenix Down. She wanted to test its capabilities, to see if it could truly bring back the dead. And what better way to experiment than with a monster that could not report her actions to others?

  "Tsk."

  However, just as she opened the lid, she stopped. Looking upwards, she frowned and decided to give up. Annoyingly, this dungeon had a god who could observe practically everything that happened inside it, meaning any action she took would fall under his gaze.

  Fortunately, she caught herself before doing anything that could gain her unwanted attention. To better sell the act, assuming he was even watching the first floor right now, she downed the Phoenix Down herself, unsurprisingly feeling no effect.

  Moving past her failed experiment attempt, she spent the rest of the day in the dungeon, but eventually, Light grew too exhausted to carry on. She could have entered her domain and fully rested, but again, her system advised against it.

  [Pain is the best teacher.]

  Or so it said. Apparently, her aching muscles would be a great reminder of which areas of her body she needed to improve going forward.

  Light begrudgingly accepted her system’s teachings and dragged her tired body to the surface. The moment she left the dungeon, she was greeted by the dazzling light of the sun. Compared to the dark, dimly lit dungeon, the burning star was a delight for the eyes.

  [Congratutions on surviving your first day as an adventurer!]

  [Sign-in location: Floor 1 of the Dungeon has been met. Reward: Cleanse spell.]

  Cleanse – Removes all mess from a chosen target or area.