In front of the portal was a massive goblin. It didn’t look like a goblin anymore, but more like an orc or something.

The creature had a massive club, two heads, and was fat as fuck. William and Matthew ducked behind a tree, seeing the beast from afar.

“That’s the creature protecting the gate that I talked to you about,” Matthew said, “it’s not that strong, so we can go there and kill it.”

Matthew was anxious to finish everything and move to the next floor. He had been on the same floor for quite a while, so he wanted to leave.

He got up, but William grabbed him by the arm. “Wait,” he whispered, “there are others here, waiting for dumb people to fight the boss.”

William heard from Matthew that some adventurers liked to wait near the portal to steal and even kill the people fighting against the boss.

So, with that information in mind, he paid attention the moment they got there just to be certain the area was safe. It was not.

“Really? I can’t sense anyone,” Matthew said, frowning.

The aura reading William had was far superior, especially with Asura with him.

“But they are here,” he said, “at least 5 of them. I think they are all from the same group.”

“So what should we do now?”

Matthew was not so experienced in situations like that one. William decided to stay put and wait.

“They didn’t realize we are here, at least I think so. For now, let’s wait.”

Fighting against the boss creature was not a difficult thing, but getting attacked by the other 5 adventurers during the fight, well, would make things bad for both of them.

The best approach was to wait for someone to fight against the boss, and then use the chance to go to the next floor.

Apparently, while the boss creature was alive, the portal behind it was locked, meaning no one could enter the next floor. But after it got killed, then anyone could go through.

William and Matthew waited for 1 hour. The group of adventurers was still in the same location. Then, another group showed up.

It was a trio, and they went straight to the boss, ignoring everything else. Perhaps they knew people were stalking them and just didn’t care, or they didn’t sense them.

The fight started.

William, for the first time, saw people from the demon kingdom fighting. They had powers similar to his! Black energy was around their bodies, increasing the power of their bodies.

That was not the demonic transformation William had, but they were using the demon energy all the same.

One of the people from the group was a muscular man with a pair of gauntlets. He jumped toward the boss creature, and punched it in the face!

The punch had tremendous force behind it. The boss goblin fell to the ground after just one punch.

Even William was surprised by that power. After the boss fell on the ground, the others from the group — who were also muscular men — all worked together to punch the goblin with everything they had.

The boss goblin died in less than thirty seconds. The group of five people who had been waiting didn’t even have the time to try something before the trio went through the portal, going to the next floor.

“This is our chance, let’s go,” William said.

He ran toward the portal. Matthew followed him. William was slightly faster, but Matthew was also going fast.

“Look, there are two others here!” someone yelled from behind the trees.

They hadn’t sensed William and Matthew before, only after seeing them running toward the portal did they realize they were there. But that was too late.

William and Matthew passed through the portal, arriving at the next floor.

The environment around them changed completely once again. This time, they were in a city packed with people.

“This is not what I was expecting,” Matthew said.

The city had people living in it, and a massive wall around it for protection. There were shops, people selling stuff, churches, and even a castle at the top of it.

“Where are we, exactly? Is this a city in the demon kingdom?”

Matthew had been living there for a longer period, so he certainly knew more things about the place than William.

“Not that I know of,” he said, “this doesn’t look like the type of constructions we have in the demon kingdom.”

The people in the city didn’t look like the typical citizens of the demon kingdom too, and the guards of that city weren’t using the dark plate armor that the demon army used.

So, because of all of that, they were certain that place was somewhere else. But how? Are they still underground?

“To make all of this someone has to be quite powerful,” thought William.

Matthew pointed at the trio who had just entered the portal, “That’s the muscular men who killed the boss. Maybe they know more about this place? I mean, they looked quite powerful.”

Judging by the strength they showed and how easily they defeated the boss, it was clear that they probably had explored deeper floors of that dungeon.

It was either that or they were just really before and decided to go there.

William and Matthew hastened their steps to get to them. The trio was moving through the city like they knew the place.

When they got close enough, William could feel the aura of those men. They were really powerful.

Also, their appearances were fierce. All of them were tall, muscular, and had some scars on their bodies too.

They were shirtless, making the citizens of that city stare at them from time to time. Some even avoided crossing paths with them because of their appearance.

William shouted, “Hey, can we talk?”

He was expecting to get ignored or even start a fight, but the trio turned around to face them, and with a friendly smile, one of them said, “You two are the ones waiting behind the tree, right? I can sense you are not the type to ambush others, so you were just waiting for the right time to go through the portal.”

The man was spot on. William was surprised by how smart he was.

“Indeed. We stopped there after sensing five others waiting to ambush us, and you came and provided us a way to come here. Me and my friend here want to know more about this place. Is it your first time here?” William asked.

“Not my first time,” the man said. “Do you mind coming with us to the tavern? There’s a good one nearby.”

William saw no reason to refuse the offer; a tavern was exactly the kind of place to grab a drink and chat. He wanted to gather more information about the area.

“Sure, why not?” he replied.

The muscular man slapped him on the back. “That’s my guy. Follow me.”

As they walked to the tavern, they conversed to get to know each other better. It turned out the trio consisted of one professor and two of his students. The professor had been the first to strike the goblin boss. He was a master in martial arts and had brought his students to the dungeon to learn and grow stronger.

William felt certain he didn’t stand a chance against the professor; the aura surrounding him was so intense it made it hard to breathe. However, the good news was that the professor seemed friendly and almost retracted his aura when he noticed that William and Matthew were uncomfortable.

The tavern he mentioned was bustling with a constant flow of people going in and out, some of whom collapsed right after exiting.

“The drinks work wonders,” William remarked.

“Oh, they certainly do,” the martial arts professor agreed.

After entering, the trio chose a table, with William and Matthew simply following along. Soon, someone arrived with drinks specifically selected for them; the staff was already familiar with the trio’s preferences.

“We always come here when we get the chance, so they know us well,” the professor remarked. “Now, what do you want to know?”

William’s first question was, “Where are we? I didn’t expect the dungeon to lead us to a place like this. I thought the areas were just filled with monsters.”

The martial arts professor placed a hand over William’s mouth. “First of all, don’t mention anything about coming here through a portal or something like that. People in this place don’t take kindly to it.”

“Why not?” William asked.

“There’s a story about someone who came through one of those portals and ended up destroying many cities. Because of that, they are wary of people who arrive from portals.”

“But didn’t they see us appear in the middle of the street?”

“No. There’s a special mechanism that makes us invisible right after we arrive, so somehow, they don’t realize we’ve suddenly appeared. I can’t explain how it works, but it does.”

The more William learned about this place, the more curious he became.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep