Chapter 347: Chapter 345 – Power Leveling.

*Click*

“It was really there… How did you know?”

“There was a pattern in the dungeon.”

“A pattern? I’ve never heard of such a thing before.”

“Most people don’t do things like me so they wouldn’t be able to find it.”

Roland replied to Mary who was astonished by the opening secret door before them. Inside was a small room of around twenty square meters. Right at the end was a lone chest with unknown contents. It was a secret room just like the ones sprinkled in the other dungeon and the entrance was quite similar.

‘These dungeons aren’t connected to each other but they are very similar. I've heard a theory about it and this might confirm it…’

Back in his youth, Roland made an effort to go through all the books on this world that he could get his hands on. Someone once said that knowledge was power and he took the advice seriously. His arrival here was abrupt and he needed all the information that he could get his hands on. Thus even before becoming an adventurer, he made sure to study dungeons and what made them tick.

After starting his new profession he continued to gather more information. Now it allowed him to put a few things together to find this hidden chamber that opened through another runic lock. It was similar to the ones in the original Albrook dungeon but getting in would have been impossible without his new tier 3 class. The runes had increased in difficulty and now required more involvement from his skills.

Usually finding a room like this would have been impossible through normal means. It was behind some bones in what looked to be a burial chamber. Roland had an ace up his sleeve which was his mapping system. Through it, he was able to previously discover a pattern in the secret chamber location when he was going through the upper levels of the old dungeon. This same pattern in dungeon room creation existed here as well and somewhat confirmed the theory others before him came up with.

This theory stated that when two dungeons existed close to each other, the one with the lesser dungeon core would get affected by the other one. If it was true then the Albrook dungeon could have been affected by this one. The similar layout of the rooms and secret chambers locked behind runic symbols was the similarity. The undead flaming skeletons on the upper levels could have also been affected by this undead crypt.

‘I need to visit the lower and upper levels before anyone else can discover these areas…’

The hidden rooms and chambers usually had some bonus rewards for anyone that found them first. Other Times it would require a long waiting period for things like special bosses and chests to reappear again. Now was the best time to go through all the levels and grab all the loot before the other adventurers made their way here.

While the runic symbols could be only activated by people that could affect greater runes, this didn’t mean that there weren’t other ways of getting in. He was able to drill passages through walls, it wouldn’t be strange if someone could blast their way through if they knew that something existed on the other side.

‘High-level adventurers usually have some items that detect hidden treasure chambers, eventually, they will find them and after the cat is out of the bag, others will begin scavenging for more.’

He could already imagine word getting out and Platinum adventurers pushing through to get the hidden loot. Perhaps he could spoil their fun, if he managed to discover the hidden rooms and take everything for himself, they would arrive at empty chambers. If the consensus arises that no items were to be found in these hidden rooms, then perhaps he could push others away from wasting time on entering them.

“Hey, is it safe?”

“Hm… it doesn’t seem to be a mimic… but I’m not sure my skills are high enough for a higher tier mimic…”

While he was having a look at the minimap, Armand asked Lobelia a question. For a moment he expected the meat head to just go for the chest. At least when it came to adventuring he had enough experience to know better. Chests could be monsters or boobytrapped, even the areas around them like walls or ceilings could hold hidden traps.

“I don’t see any traps or mechanisms, no weighted panels either, it should be safe… what do you think?”

Lobelia made her assessment and soon looked over to Mary. Both had classes that were good at discovering things and a lot of their skills overlapped. The maid dressed in dark leather nodded and performed a search herself before finally speaking out.

“It seems that it should be safe but I think it would be better if Sir Wayland opened it.”

“You heard that Sir Wayland? Go ahead.”

“...”

Roland just grumbled while the three of them cleared out. He intended to do it himself from the start but Armand made it sound like it would have been better if the chest blew up in his face than in theirs. His armor was equipped with a few discovery spells that could detect magical traps and the sorts. This was uncharted ground though and he needed to prepare for every possibility.

When it came to B-ranked dungeons and above he didn’t have that much hands-on experience. Reading through books and old adventurer stories gave him an idea of what to expect but safety was first. Thus the best way of tackling this matter was through ranged spells. Even if it was a higher-level mimic or a magical bomb, it wouldn’t get to him if he was out of range.

While his three party members stepped to the side he took a step forward. He didn’t enter the room but remained at the edge of the entrance. Sometimes entire rooms like this could be affected by things like teleportation traps or pitfalls. The safest way to go around this was using his mage hand to reach for the chest.

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Before producing this newly favorite spell, he activated his floating cubes to move forward. They were floating around in the chamber in the event of a monster being unleashed inside. Soon the chest was floating into his hands and it seemed that the safety measures weren’t needed.

“Hm…”

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s locked…”

“Locked? Can you bring it over here?”

“It’s not a mimic at least, I think it should be fine…”

After exchanging a few words with Lobelia he decided to use his mage hand spell to pull the chest out of the hidden chamber. Everything seemed to be clear and when it was outside they just needed to open it. Smashing a chest was always an option for getting items out yet it could damage the items inside. Not everything was resistant to shocks from the outside and this chest here was quite robust.

“Can you open it? This is a B-rank dungeon.”

“Who do you think I am? No problem!”

Lobelia seemed confident and there weren’t any obvious traps on this chest. Smashing it open was an option but he would have rather not damage potential rare materials. The rewards that could be found in B-rank dungeons and above were exceptional. It was possible for one of these to contain something special.

*Click*

“Haha, I knew I could do it!”

The lock popped open and he could see the lid opening up. Lobelia didn’t just remain in that spot but instead jumped right behind Roland’s large frame. Yet no explosion came of it and finally, the item that was hiding away was revealed inside.

“Eh? What is this slab of metal?”

“Ugh this thing is heavy, don’t just stand there and help me out.”

“Leave this to a real man! … What the… is this made of star metal or something? Why is it so heavy…”

Armand’s muscles bulged as he needed to use both of his hands to yank the object out of the large box. When it came out into the open Roland realized what it was. The shape was similar to a coffin but it was clearly a tower shield. After looking at the identification screen he understood why even someone as strong as Armand was having trouble with the weight.

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