Fairy Tail: Igneel's eldest son in Anime Multiverse

Charles double-checked his belongings.

Since this was his first time entering the Dungeon, he didn't plan on venturing too deep. He only brought some water and food, along with a loot backpack provided by Hephaestus.

With everything ready, Charles officially stepped into the Dungeon.

The Dungeon was a mysterious place. Its full size remained unknown even to this day. The most advanced expedition ever—by the Loki Familia—had only reached the 59th floor.

Correction—would reach. That expedition hadn't happened yet. The Loki Familia would achieve that record some time from now.

The Dungeon's overall structure was conical—narrower at the top and wider below. The first floor was the smallest, roughly the size of a few rooms.

Charles remembered some basic information about the Dungeon, and combined with the material Eina had provided along with the map, he now had a clearer understanding.

First, the Dungeon was divided into tiers by every twelve floors. Floors 1–12 were the upper level, 13–24 the middle level, 25–36 the lower level, and anything beyond the 37th was referred to collectively as the deep zone.

The monsters within the Dungeon were much like animals in the wild—each had its own territory.

However, the deeper tiers didn't just reflect natural habitat differences—they also denoted power scaling. Stronger monsters were born in deeper floors.

These tiers roughly corresponded to adventurer levels. Upper level: LV1. Middle level: LV2. Lower level: LV3–4. Deep zone: LV5 and above.

In other words, the first 12 floors were suitable for beginner adventurers—those at LV1.

The monsters that lived here were roughly equivalent in power to LV1 adventurers.

Floor 12 was considered the "first death line." Only adventurers who had leveled up by achieving a "heroic deed" had a realistic chance of surviving below that.

Deeper floors not only had more complex and dangerous terrain, but also monsters whose estimated strength exceeded LV2.

"Estimated level" was a standard the Guild used to rate a monster's threat level in comparison to adventurer levels.

Some monsters even had intelligence or special abilities. These were enhanced types or rare variants, often much stronger than their standard counterparts—sometimes by one or even two levels.

Aside from those, there were also "floor bosses."

Every 12 floors or so, the Dungeon would spawn an exceptionally powerful monster—one far stronger than others on the same level.

In the source material, Bell defeated a Goliath—a floor boss in the middle levels. Normally, a Goliath was already two levels stronger than regular monsters in that area.

But the one Bell faced had been an enhanced variant, born because the Dungeon had sensed the presence of the goddess Hestia. That Goliath had an estimated strength of LV5.

These bosses generally only appeared once and in specific locations, earning them the nickname "Lords of the Labyrinth."

Ordinary adventurers couldn't face them alone. It usually took an entire team to take one down safely.

Still, these monsters also served as prime opportunities for talented adventurers to earn their "heroic deed."

Even moving cautiously, one could still encounter deadly threats within the Dungeon.

That wasn't just because the monsters were alive and capable of wandering between floors.

The greater danger was the Dungeon itself.

Both Hephaestus and Eina had emphasized—along with what Charles already knew—that the Dungeon was alive. It possessed its own will.

It would set traps when adventurers grew overconfident, and strike with devastation when they were at their weakest.

Summoning special variants was the least of its tricks—it could even cause massive monster outbreaks, a phenomenon known as a "Monster Parade," to purge adventurers.

Charles suspected that all the rules and patterns the Familias had discovered so far were just the Dungeon allowing them to know—nothing more.

But that wasn't his concern right now.

Today's goal was to reach the middle levels and return before nightfall.

Worst-case scenario, he might encounter the Goliath on the 17th floor—but even that wasn't a threat to someone with his stats.

Even if a Monster Parade broke out, Charles had full confidence he could retreat safely.

The first floor resembled a typical cave. There were glowing mineral deposits for light, but it remained dim and oppressive.

About five or six minutes passed before Charles saw his first monster.

A goblin—a low-grade creature found in many Western fantasy stories.

It stood less than a meter tall, looking like a malnourished child. Its sickly green skin, oversized ears, and jagged teeth gave it a grotesque and vicious appearance.

The strangest thing, though, was how it appeared—it literally "emerged" from the wall.

Charles had inspected the wall upon entering—just plain rock. How it managed to spit out a full-sized monster was baffling.

Then again, this was a Dungeon even the gods couldn't fully explain. Its ability to generate monsters was nothing short of miraculous.

All monsters were birthed by the Dungeon, inheriting its malice toward both gods and adventurers. As expected, the goblin pounced on Charles with feral aggression.

Charles stepped back, dodging its claws easily.

Missing its strike, the goblin didn't realize how outmatched it was and continued to attack.

But Charles had already analyzed its strength. No interest in toying with it.

It was a basic LV1 threat—no special traits, no abilities. Its speed and power were equivalent to an average human's.

Charles stepped in and delivered a single piercing punch.

Bang—the goblin exploded in midair into black mist. A small purple stone dropped onto the ground.

Charles swore he could almost see a "Magic Stone +1" pop-up in the air. This was his first Dungeon loot.

Its value? About 10 to 20 valis. To put it into perspective, Charles had spent 300 valis on pasta last night. So he'd need to kill at least 20 goblins just to cover a basic dinner.

Pocketing the magic stone, he continued deeper into the Dungeon.

Thanks to the map, Charles headed straight for the next floor.

Since the upper level was meant for beginners, the Guild usually provided basic maps for free.

Middle and lower tier maps had to be purchased, and deep zone maps were top-secret resources hoarded by elite exploration Familias.

Charles descended floor by floor—barehanded—until he reached the entrance to the 13th floor, the so-called "first death line."

Most first-time adventurers, even with help from senior Familia members, barely made it to the seventh or eighth floor.

Who would've thought Charles would make it to the middle level alone, and without stopping?

Along the way, he encountered many of the upper-tier monsters:

Tall, club-wielding brutish orcs.

Swarms of hard-shelled carnivorous ants.

Shadow-like warriors called War Shadows.

But none of them posed more trouble than the mist that started appearing after floor 10. Of course, all of them ended up as magic stones and crafting materials in Charles's backpack.

Unfortunately, he didn't run into the mid-level floor boss—baby dragons.

Their scales and fangs made excellent crafting materials. Charles had hoped to collect some.

Still, he didn't dwell on it. Without hesitation, he stepped into the passage leading to the middle levels.

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