On the way, I told Tizmilly the story of a Hero from a far-off land whose sword was our current target.

​"About thirty years ago, before the Dungeon City was fully established, a Hero named Ranvirr came to this land to challenge the rumored Dungeons," I said, narrating like a seasoned storyteller. In truth, I was just repeating what I had read in the game. "His might was undisputed. He even challenged the most difficult Dungeon in existence, the Darkness Hall, and conquered the Boss of the fiftieth floor. At the time, he was the strongest among all Dungeon Divers. Everyone knew his name—until he met a tragic end in a low-level Dungeon called The Drowned Pit."

​"What happened to him?" Tizmilly asked curiously.

​The story of Hero Ranvirr had been purposely hidden by his home country, so it was only natural that she hadn’t heard of him. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

​I continued. "Overconfident in his own power, Ranvirr dismissed the idea of buying an Aqua Rune—which could cost up to a million Gold coins back then—and dived into the Drowned Pit with his party. He believed his Magic Sword, said to be capable of wielding an entire ocean, was enough to shield him and his party from the deep-sea pressure and the lack of oxygen within the Dungeon. At first, everything went well. Until they fought the Floor Boss of the fifth floor."

​Tizmilly’s eyes widened as she leaned in.

​"According to a survivor of his party, the Hero couldn’t get close to the Boss. He was forced to defend his comrades from a massive water vortex until his Mana was depleted. In the end, he met his end right there."

​"He... drowned?" she asked. I responded with a nod.

​Her face clouded with a mixture of disbelief and pity. I understood her. When I first heard his story after clearing a side-quest and obtaining his Magic Sword, I was stunned. Who could be that reckless? To drown to death as a literal Hero with a superhuman physique and a weapon that controlled water?

​But whether Ranvirr was foolish or not didn’t matter now. What mattered was his sword. His story was just a lesson for me: never underestimate a Dungeon, no matter how low its level.

After some more walk, we arrived at the Dungeon Post of The Drowned Pit. I opened the door and entered the building with Tizmilly.

Once we stepped into the place, a salty, oceanic scent immediately enveloped us. At the center of the wide room, a ball of water floating. It looked like a dark glass ball because of how still it was. The smell was coming from that ball—the entrance of The Drowned Pit.

The two of us were the only ones inside except the receptionists and some other Dungeon Post’s employees at the moment. Because only people who has Aqua Rune could dive into this Dungeon safely, it was not popular around Dungeon Divers.

"Welcome. New here?" The lady receptionist greeted us as we approached her.

I nodded in response. "Yes. We wanted to enter The Drowned Pit."

And before the Lady could ask, I immediately showed my Aqua Rune to her.

"A real Aqua Rune!?" The Lady gasped. Her comrades immediately shifted their attentions toward us, their eyes widened when they saw what I had in my hand.

"T-to think a young man like you could have it..." The lady muttered with a lost expression.

Their reactions made Tizmilly pull hers out as well. But fortunately, she didn’t show it to them, only holding it like she just realized that it was a true treasure. And it was indeed a treasure. While not as expensive as before, Aqua Rune still could be sold for more than ten thousands to fifty thousands gold coins.

’Wait. Now that I think of it, wouldn’t I be rich if I sold it?’ I thought inwardly, but quickly dismissed the idea.

At least I need to hold the idea until I obtained ’that’ item first. Otherwise, my life would be ended the moment other knew that I had a way to obtain it certainly.

The Lady Receptionist immediately approved our entrance and noted down our names on the list of people who came to dive into the Dungeon today. She briefed about the requirement we needed to fulfill before we could advance in The Drowned Pit. And that was to reach the silt surface: the deepest point of every floor.

With that, we went to the front of the ball of water, extending our palms to its surface. Ripple ran through its surface once our palms touched it. The world before our vision melted, but after we blinked, it back to normal. However, now we were standing atop a small island with a massive hole at the center of it. The hole was filled to the fullest with water, its surface as dark as night sky, spoke volume of how deep it was.

We need to drop our blood on the Aqua Rune to activate its effect, so we cut a little slice on our thumbs’ skin and let a drop of blood fell onto its bluish surface.

The Aqua Rune shimmered after it received our blood. It then evapotated into bluish mana that spun around our bodies, enveloping us. The mana gathered on the back of our right hands, forming a raindrop symbol.

Tizmilly looked at the symbol, tilting her head. "I didn’t feel anything...?"

"It only worked when we entered the water," I said, approaching the end of the hole and gestured her to follow me. "Let’s go. Aqua Rune will be back to its original form in two hours. We have to be quick."

Tizmilly nodded in response. After taking a deep breath, we jumped into the water.

With a loud splash, we submerged into the dark water. We wouldn’t be able to see now normally, but with Aqua Rune, the underwater world looked as clear as day before our eyes.

"Umm!" Tizmilly closed her eyes and mouth instinctively when she entered the water, but then she realized that she could breathe normally. She opened her eyes abruptly, her lips opened to take some more air while her eyes were opened wide with astonishment.

Not only that, but our bodies also felt stronger now compared to before we submerged. At least 1.5 times stronger, in my calculation.

I clenched my fists, grinning. "With this, we can still handle this Dungeon even without a weapon!"

Tizmilly stopped looking around and turned at me after she heard my words. "T-that’s right, Mr. Roost, we didn’t have any weapons!" She yelled panickedly.

’She just remembered it now?’ I chuckled inwardly.

"Don’t worry," I said, tapping her shoulder to calm her. "The Drowned Pit is just a low-level Dungeon. Its monsters are not that strong. We have our Magics, so we can still fight."

Her tense shoulders relaxed as Tizmilly sighed relievedly. "Y-you’re right," she replied softly, looking at her own palms.

I led her dive further into the water. We swam past

underwater plantations like sea anemone and corals. They grew sporadically on the wall, filling the face with various colors that made it looked like a forsaken underwater paradise. However, the absence of fishes and sea creatures made what was supposed to be a paradise felt more like a grave.

It didn’t help with the impression when the only living beings there were rotten fish monsters that looked like zombie fish.

Tizmilly extended her palm toward the monster that was heading toward us while shooting water bullets toward us. A small bud formed on her palm. "Ice Rose: Rose Bomb!" Tizmilly chanted, launching the bud toward the monster.

The bud launched like a mini red bullet, landed squarely on the monster’ forehead and pushed the monster several meters away. At first, the attack didn’t look that strong, but a second later, ice rose vines erupted from the place where the bud was landed. It envelloped the monster instantly, destroying it from inside and crushing it with its thorns.

I clapped at her. "Woah, what was that? That’s amazingl!" I praised.

Our Miss Villainess had invented new spell after spell that easily. I was the one who told her to expand her way of using her Magic, but her quick growth still astonished me. It was straggering.

With a light blush on her face, Tizmilly smiled and flashed a peace sign. "I followed your advice, and it worked!"

I could only laugh in response, shaking my head. "As expected of our Miss Villainess."

We continued our dive like. Tizmilly used her Rose Bombs to clear most of the monsters, while I occasionally crushed one or two with my bare hands. My body was tougher than it looked, and with the enhancement from Aqua Rune, my fists were more than enough. Still, if I ever thought of seriously conquering this Dungeon, I’d need to bring Boulder Thrust or that Gemgun with me. Fighting like this was fun, but too far from efficient.

Every time we reached the silt surface, we immediately advanced to the next floor, each one leading to a bigger, deeper abyss. We repeated the cycle until, finally, we reached the fifth floor.

​The hole wasn’t as deep on this floor. However, it was no less dangerous—this was the exact spot where Hero Ranvirr had lost his life.

​"There it is. The Deep Clam," I muttered, pointing toward the center of the silt. A massive clam, as large as a small house, rested there silently.

​Tizmilly’s gaze sharpened with determination. "Can I fight it alone, Mr. Roost?"

​I was taken aback for a moment. I opened my mouth to voice a warning, but seeing the look in her eyes, I swallowed it. I grinned instead. "Alright. Show me what you’ve got!"

​Tizmilly responded with a confident smile. "Of course!"