Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Slime or hamster

Leander went down the sewer, after looking through the family's entire house. Each time he bent down to look beneath a piece of furniture, he told himself that he was building up muscles.

Each stair he took in the house was something he told himself, once again, that was towards building muscles. So, even though he was tired by the end of the investigation, he was also happy.

He was not as happy to go down the dirty sewer grate. As soon as he entered, he smelt something rotting in the air. He hoped it was the water, and not Pumpkin the hamster.

Honestly, how had the animal even made its way down a closed sewer grate? Something smelled about the entire situation, and it was not just the water.

Leander suspected one of the children into throwing the hamster down the grate. The lid of it looked recently moved, too. But the parents of the hellhounds had gushed over them and had not even said anything to suggest that they might be involved.

That was not to imply that Leander disliked children. They were some of the few people who accepted him. But these had named him Sir Piggy and had poked him every chance they got. So, he didn't exactly like them. 

With unsure steps, Leander raised his battle staff. It was nothing magical. Just a glorified branch that was free for the taking on the weapon's rack at the Adventurer's Guild. And, since Leander was short on funds, he had taken it.

He was looking where he was stepping, so he could avoid stepping into feces, if there were any on the walk. This place looked like it hadn't been maintained in quite some time. There was even moss growing on the walls.

Wait, what was moss doing down here? In the dark? That made Leander stop and look around. The moss looked healthy and was mana rich.

Was there something down here? Should he go back? But, if he couldn't even find a hamster, should he still consider himself to be an adventurer?

He would be a failure, nothing more. A fat loser who would give up everything he started. How long until he gives up his running in place routine?

Slime or hamster!

Leander roared into the nothingness and made a step forward. He heard a click, and looked down. There was a pressure plate below his foot and he began to sweat.

He had heard about such plates that exploded once you stepped off them. What was he going to do? He could feel the malevolent mana under his foot. There was definitely something down here. Something above his rank. Many times over, if the trap was any indication.

Leander began rummaging in his bag for something heavy he could put on the pressure plate. He took out a paper weight and placed it next to his foot. Then, he leapt away from the pressure plate.

Instead of an explosion, gas started to fill the sewers. It had been naive of him to think that the paper weight would have done something. Leander pulled out a scarf from his bag, wet it with water from his water skin, and placed it around his mouth and nose. It worked for smoke, right? Surely, it would work for gas.

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He continued on, this time quicker, calling out the hamster's name. Pumpkin was a ginger, so, Leander just had to look for something bright in the dimly lit sewer.

He did see something sparkle on the wall, but it wasn't fur. Instead, it was a sapphire. Leander blinked. It didn't look like glass. But, the F rank adventurer was not stupid. This was a trap.

An expensive trap, but a trap all the same. The wall behind the jewel would probably throw him in the water, or poison needles would come out of hidden holes. Leander passed by the obvious trap and continued on. His eyes no longer stinging from the gas.

He heard a hum from the left, and he walked in that direction. There, on a pedestal, was a small pearl-sized dungeon core. Guarding it was a herd of hamsters. All ginger. With one that was double the size of the rest.

"Pumpkin?" Leander tried, and, with squeaky roars, the hamsters charged. Only the biggest one did not move. Like a general supervising his troops, he sat and stared coldly at Leander.

Leander gripped his staff.

These were cute fluff balls, he had to remind himself. Sure, the dungeon core must have bread Pumpkin. And he couldn't turn his back on the possibility that the former pet was now a boss mob, as ridiculous as that sounded. But he had a job to do.

One after the other, he threw the adorable ginger hamsters into the sewer waste. They turned into nothing before his eyes, their mana absorbed back into the infant dungeon core.

Finally, Pumpkin charged. Leander bent down and picked up the hamster and did his best to keep it from biting him. Then, he went and took the core off the pedestal.

It was dangerous to leave dungeon cores in sewers. Sure, this one had chosen hamsters, rather than snakes, alligators or even bugs, for mobs. But Leander had the sinking suspicion that this was only because Pumpkin had made it to it first. 

Then, Leander took out his mana suppressing container, something he had thought that he would never use, and placed the core inside. Immediately, Pumpkin shrank and fell asleep.

"My first dungeon," Leander said, amazed. Yes, it was not the stuff of legends and his enemy had been a herd of hamsters, who had just chewed up his pants a little.

But it was his first mission and he, Leander, F ranked adventurer, was going to be coming back to the Adventurer's Guild with a charge rescued and a dungeon core.

"When you are in dire straits, who comes to the rescue? Leander!" Leander, with a bounce to his step, made his way back the way he had come from. He passed by the sapphire again, and when he didn't feel any mana behind it, took out a knife and took it.

No trap activated, and he even picked up his paper weight on the way back. He would report the dungeon because there could be more traps and treasure still hidden in the sewer. But, he would let the rest do the cleanup. For he was going back to claim the glory.

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