Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 150

Gradually, my muscles loosen. All my skills deactivate, and I shift my focus to the peculiar surroundings. Meanwhile, the red-haired man maintains his pleasant smile, seemingly unaffected by my flashy arrival.

"My name is Rylan by the way. If you're making an entrance like that, this must be your first time on the 10th floor."

"I'm Jay. It is my first time..."

After I reply, the ginger-haired man begins to walk down the light grey stone pathway toward the small cluster of shops and merchant stands.

Curiously, I follow. He continues talking as we pass by the first vendor, an older gentleman offering to buy mana crystals from the floors below.

"Usually it takes Hunters at least 24 hours to make it up to floor 10. It doesn't matter your level or abilities, the distance is just way too far!"

I nod while eyeing the inventory of the next merchant stand we walk by. There's food, water, potions, clothing, and even basic non-magical medicines.

Rylan continues.

"Floor 10 is the checkpoint where most logical hunters stop before traveling up or down any further. It's the perfect place to rest."

We pass a few more stands buying and selling various goods, then my temporary dungeon guide grins while pointing to our left. There's 2 men and a woman training with swords, daggers, and shields in a field about 50m off the path.

"Those are my teammates over there. We're headed to floor 16 to farm High Ogres tomorrow morning. The 4 of us have been training pretty hard these last few months, we might even face the boss soon and take a crack at floor 17."

I use inspect on the man in front of me.

[Lv. 329]

Then turn to his teammates.

[Lv. 331]

[Lv. 327]

[Lv. 326]

I reply.

"Hey- uh- why exactly are you giving me a tour...?

Rylan laughs.

"I was a newbie once too! I'm just paying it forward, it's nice to have someone show you around the place, isn't it? Old habit, I used to be a teacher."

I smirk and roll my eyes, letting out a sarcastic response.

"You've got nothing better to do, huh?"

He throws his arm around my shoulder, ignoring my remark.

"Come on, this way!"

As we approach the Inn at the end of the long stone pathway I quickly turn my head to Appraise Rylan and his teammate to realize a few simple facts...

First, they have pretty decent weapons and armor. Some 30-50% stat-boosting items along with 300+ stat-boosting gear aren't anything to laugh at. The unfortunate discovery lies in their set of skills.

Among them, two possess the ability of Body Hardening, enhancing their physical defenses. The red-haired leader of the group has Swordsmanship. Then finally, the short-haired woman in their party possesses Dagger Mastery.

They're useful skills, but pretty basic. It makes a lot more sense now how training for months only allows them to jump one floor in the Labyrinth. There is nothing special about their squad....

I turn my head all the way around to get a full Appraisal of nearly a dozen hunters in the shopping area.

A frown begins to form across my face as I realize everyone here is just mindlessly farming for the Association. Taking into account their physical appearances, my guess is I'm the youngest one on this floor by at least a decade...