Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 655 DanMachi: Is it a mistake to seek out an adversary who can bring adversity in a dungeon?!

"That's the only way I can deduce it. Of course, half of the adventurers in Orario are stuck at a certain level because they're afraid to take risks. As for someone like you, I've never seen anyone like that before."

When Broly asked him the question, Hephaestus told the truth.

"Lord Hestia, would you like me to level up?"

Broly then asked Hestia.

"I'd like to, but I don't want you to take the risk."

Hestia's expression was somewhat complicated. Which god wouldn't want to have a high-ranking child? Although rank doesn't completely represent strength, it's like a status symbol.

Can a child who gets into Tsinghua or Peking University be compared to a child who only finished elementary school?

But Hestia is the kind of deity who doesn't want to see her children suffer. However, if Broly doesn't level up, his terrifying talent will be wasted.

With levels stuck and ability values ​​unable to improve, the God's Grace became useless after less than three days of being effective.

Thinking about it, Hestia felt that she gave the boy too little, while the boy gave her too much.

"Lord Hestia, may I enter the Deep Zone today?"

"I don't know, but I respect your decision and I won't stand in your way..."

The loli goddess gripped the boy's sleeve, wanting to say she would refuse Broly, but she knew that she couldn't just say whatever she wanted. Broly was her kin's child, but not her private property, and the boy also had the right to choose his own life.

“Okay, I understand. Well then, Lady Hestia, I’m going to the labyrinth to try to upgrade.”

"Broly, you must come back safely!"

"Yes, I promise I'll come back safely."

At the entrance of the Hephaestus Familia's stronghold, a human and a god from the Hestia Familia are staging a scene of raising a flag.

If this were a story full of drama, Broly might have died in his attempt to level up, but unfortunately, Broly's adventures in this world are anything but dramatic.

He donned a black robe and, taking an unconventional path, crashed into the labyrinth floor. Faster than free fall, he rapidly penetrated the labyrinth, searching for an opponent capable of troubling him with a fierce battle against adversity.

17, 27, 37, but even after reaching the deeper floors, he still couldn't find a worthy opponent. Broly was like a speeding airship, crashing into any monsters he encountered as if they were speed bumps. His only goal for the day was to level up, and he ignored magic stones and loot.

41, 42... Broly made his way to the 52nd floor of the maze without any obstacles. With a loud bang, a huge pillar of fire exploded on the ground. It was the sniping of the cannon dragon from the [Dragon Pot] on the 58th floor of the maze that made him pause for a moment.

But soon, Broly fell down the blasted passage to the 58th floor, a floor filled with a large number of dragon-type monsters.

Like the flying dragons Broly dealt with in Orario, and the fire-breathing dragons, they were densely packed, both in the sky and on the ground, surrounding the falling Saiyans.

[High-Pressure Areas]

An invisible force field unfolded, and all the dragon-type demons were crushed and fell to the ground, dying as the magic stones inside their bodies shattered under the pressure.

"roar~"

Only one large, fiery red cannon dragon, somewhat resembling the floor master, was still alive. Flames gathered in its mouth, and it raised its head to spew a huge pillar of fire at Broly. The air was scorched and distorted, and the ground seemed to turn into lava.

However, when the boy reached Broly, the protective aura around him became an insurmountable, transparent barrier to the massive pillar of fire, splitting the stream of flames in two like a rock.

"It will worsen."

Broly raised his hand, and an even greater pressure enveloped the entire 58th floor of the labyrinth. The giant cannon dragon's body began to crack, and along with it, the ground of the 58th floor of the labyrinth itself also cracked.

"Bang~"

The ground collapsed, the underground city shook, and the structure of the floors was severely damaged, causing strange changes to occur in the underground city.

Broly could sense an energy gathering, and a special life form whose entire body was made of magic stone gradually emerged from the rock above his head.

Zagnat is a type of dungeon monster that appears when the lower floors are extensively destroyed. The deeper the floor is destroyed, the stronger the Zagnat that are spawned in the dungeon and used specifically to kill invaders.

The formidable foe Broly had hoped to encounter—well, not at all—was not present at this moment. The powerful killing monster, Zagnat, was forced down from the dungeon ceiling and was rendered immobile by the terrifying pressure surrounding it.

With a series of cracking sounds, the creature covered in magic stone shattered like porcelain after the pressure field increased seventy times. The floor of the entire 58-story maze also shattered along with it, which was already showing signs of collapse.

The 59th level of the labyrinth, exposed by the collapse, is a lush forest environment where a creature, whether plant or insect, shivers and curls up.

It sensed a dangerous aura emanating from the black-robed figure floating overhead, an aura that could easily plunge it into nothingness and death.

As the person's gaze fell upon them, the creature huddled inside the flower bud uttered a muffled voice: "Don't...kill me..."

Broly, who had intended to continue his attack on the next level of the labyrinth and the stronger monsters there, stopped because of this voice.

"So, the monsters in this dungeon are also intelligent beings capable of communication?"

Broly pondered for a moment, then floated down.

"Hey, I want to ask you something. Are there any powerful guys in this dungeon?"

Broly began gathering information from the local monsters that could make sounds.

"You are the strongest, please don't... kill me..."

The still-developing Fallen Fairy clone trembled in fear, driven by instinct by the black-robed monster that had utterly crushed 58 levels of the maze.

"Don't be afraid. I'm a Saiyan, not a demon. If you have any sense, I won't kill you arbitrarily."

Broly reassured the monster, who was trembling with fear, and indeed did not continue to attack.

"Sigh, as expected, I must have made a mistake in trying to find an opponent who could give me a tough fight in a weak dungeon."

"Sorry for damaging your ceiling. But this maze can self-repair, so I suppose your ceiling can heal itself too?"

"can."

"Don't be afraid, you can continue living on your floor. I'll leave now."

After Broly finished speaking, he really flew upwards. He hadn't encountered a decent opponent since he came down here, and coupled with the fact that the local monsters were rated as the strongest, he felt that continuing to delve deeper into the labyrinth would just be a waste of time.

Also, if the monsters below could speak, then my behavior would be a bit inappropriate.

Broly encountered a talking monster and was stopped on the 59th floor of the dungeon. He quickly returned to the upper area.

Due to the strange tremors that had just occurred in the dungeon, many adventurers who had only recently entered were now withdrawing from it.

Not for any other reason than that if something goes wrong in the dungeon, it could bring about some terrible disasters, just like the monster sacrifice caused by the dark faction 6 years ago, when only one adventurer who entered the 27th floor survived.

No one dared to gamble on the cause of the anomaly in the dungeon, but all the adventurers who could come out were retreating out of the dungeon.

However, Broly did not retreat. He had thought of something when he flew up, and now he wanted to verify it.

After changing back into his leather armor, Broly found a rare and powerful little dragon monster on the 10th floor of the labyrinth. He began to suppress his aura, making it much weaker than the dragon monster there, before grabbing his short sword and charging in.

Without any numerical bonuses, Broly and the little dragon engaged in a thoroughly enjoyable battle. Broly only managed to defeat his opponent after taking a tail swipe and being slightly injured in a very low-energy state.

Is deliberately suppressing one's morale to achieve a hard-fought battle and then winning it a great feat?

Broly guessed that a group of green-skinned orc monsters were gathering in this direction because of the fighting.

Broly didn't know the answer to his guess, but it was worth trying. Without raising his aura, he maintained his extremely low aura and actively headed towards the orcs surrounding him.

"Bang~"

Avoiding the white tree trunk that swept across the monster—a weapon provided by the surrounding terrain—the short sword moved like a snake, slashing towards the exposed neck of the monster. The neck was severed, and the first orc monster fell, but soon other orcs began to fill the gap, continuing their attack on the boy who was standing on the scattered corpses of his kind.

This battle, which wasn't particularly high-level, was actually more exciting than Broly's fight against the giant cannon dragon that seemed to be the floor master on the 58th floor.

To give an example, it's like comparing action movies and special effects movies. Special effects movies don't have all the special effects, but action movies have all the action.

The Saiyan boy, deliberately suppressing his aura and being surrounded and beaten by a horde of monsters, seemed to be in a bitter battle against adversity. His attacks and dodges had to be clean and swift to avoid being hit by the orcs' attacks.

But even the strongest fists can't fight off a large number of hands, and some attacks were unavoidable. Without any stat boosts, Broly was also injured after he wiped out the entire orc army. This is what it means to create adversity.

If he can't find an opponent who is better than him, can't he just lower his own level and endure the hardship?

An unusual disturbance occurred in the dungeon, and a large number of adventurers poured out. The guild also sent staff, who, together with the Ganesha Familia, maintained basic order at the entrance.

The half-elf Eina is also one of the guild staff members maintaining order. Due to the tremor, the monsters in the dungeon suddenly became more aggressive, and many adventurers were injured as a result. She is in charge of distributing the potions that the guild has gathered to the injured adventurers.

When Broly emerged, he was covered in blood, and even among the injured adventurers, he looked to be in relatively serious condition.

Eina spotted him from afar in the crowd, grabbed the potion, and ran over. Only when she got closer did she recognize the boy as the adventurer she was in charge of.

"Broly, did you go down into the dungeon today too? It's great that you're alright and came out alive!"

The half-elf lady breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the boy was not missing any limbs.

"This is a healing potion. Where are you injured? Do you need me to apply it to you?"

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Eina, but I'm fine. These are just minor injuries."

On his way back, Broly ran into a swarm of killer ants. Already creating difficulties for himself, he immediately began fighting the ant swarm.

Finally, maintaining his extremely low spirits, he managed to break through the encirclement of the killer ants in a rather disheveled state.

When he left the dungeon, he didn't pay attention to his condition. Now it seems that Miss Eina in front of him is treating him as a seriously injured person.

“Even minor injuries should be taken seriously, Broly. You need to take better care of your body.”

As Eina Zul spoke, without waiting for a reply, she unscrewed the bottle of healing potion and poured it onto Broly's injured arm and shoulder.

Broly's injuries began to heal slowly, and the guild did not use inferior potions just because they were free.

Of course, it's not very advanced; it's more like a potion for novice adventurers.

After pouring the potion into her hands, the half-elf girl checked the boy to see if he was poisoned. Only after confirming that he was not poisoned did she feel relieved.

"Broly, I have other things to do, so I won't stay with you any longer."

Also, the lecture scheduled for tomorrow will probably have to be postponed for a while.

I will let you know the specific time later.

Because there were other adventurers who needed her care, Eina quickly left.

"So, what happened?"

Broly looked at the square, which seemed to be quite crowded, with some confusion.

After getting closer to the other adventurers and listening for a while, Broly realized that the dungeon had inexplicably shaken, causing a large number of adventurers who had entered the dungeon to evacuate.

"Uh……"

Realizing that the misunderstanding might be caused by the commotion he caused in the Deep Zone, Broly was about to find the guild leader to explain the situation, but he stopped on the way. Broly remembered that he needed to keep a low profile: "If I attract too much attention, it will make Lady Hestia feel uneasy. Oh well, it's not a big deal anyway."

Broly turned and went up to the second floor of the Tower of Babel, rented a shower room, washed off the dirt, and then changed into a clean set of new clothes.

He looked at the leather armor he had taken off. When he was in the dungeon labyrinth, he was so focused on creating adversity to level up that he forgot about protecting his equipment.

Now, his leather armor was tattered, his arm guards were broken in a small section, and even his short sword was chipped.

[If I go back like this and Lady Hestia sees me, she'll probably be worried about what happened to me in the dungeon today...]

With that in mind, Broly decided to get the beginner's gear repaired before heading back.

"Boss, I need my equipment repaired. Do you take jobs here?"

Broly went upstairs to find the shop where he bought the equipment and went straight to the counter to ask the dwarf shopkeeper.

"Go to the weapon shop or blacksmith to repair your equipment. I only sell equipment and don't do repair work. However, your equipment is in such bad condition that you might as well buy new ones instead of repairing them."

The dwarf shopkeeper, seeing the badly damaged equipment, kindly offered a suggestion.

"Is there an exact replica of that equipment?"

Broly thought for a moment and then asked directly.

"We'll have to look for it."

Broly was lucky; there were still extras of the same style of equipment, so he bought a brand new set that was exactly the same.

"By the way, boss, do you have any recommendations for weapon repair shops or blacksmith shops?"

After Broly paid, he asked again.

Didn't you buy a new one?

The dwarf boss looked over with a puzzled expression.

"These are the beginner equipment that my god bought for me."

Broly offered an explanation.

The dwarf shopkeeper understood and nodded, saying, "If I were to recommend something, I'd say the weapon shop of the Hephaestus Familia. Their repair skills are renowned, though they are quite expensive. But if you're looking for value for money, the blacksmith shop run by the Gubney Familia is more affordable and offers good quality at a reasonable price. The arm guard you're wearing was made by their blacksmith."

"Does the blacksmith shop run by the Gubni family have a branch on the Tower of Babel?"

"Ha, that family isn't that wealthy. It can't compare to the scale of the Hephaestus family. You can go to the Northwest Street to find their shop."

The dwarf shopkeeper gave Broly an address, and Broly thanked him before leaving.

"These equipment are too badly damaged; it's better to buy new ones than to repair them."

"I've already bought the new ones. These are the beginner gear that my god gave me."

"Twenty thousand fares, pick up the goods in three days. If you can accept that, then pay."

Broly paid the money, took the receipt, and then left.

As noon approached, we found a restaurant on the street to eat. When we were about to return to the dungeon to continue our battle, we discovered that the dungeon entrance had been temporarily blocked by the guild members.

I found out that the guild was worried that the tremors in the dungeon might indicate unknown dangers, so they temporarily prohibited adventurers from entering, but those who came out were allowed to.

He felt a little embarrassed, but Broly didn't bother to explain. He prepared to return to the Hephaestus Familia's encampment.

However, as he passed through an alley, he heard a familiar voice again: "Mr. Seth, you took more than 14,000 Fali from me, saying you could recommend me to join the Familia. I believed you, but you can't just end it with me not being chosen. At least, please let me see the God."

"Ha, you think you can see Lord Soma with this little bit of money? Who do you think you are? Fine, I might as well tell you, you country bumpkin, that recommending you to join the clan was all a lie. My purpose was just to get your money. Now, do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)