"An underground forest? Really?" I remarked with twitching eyes as I looked at the gigantic underground cave we found ourselves in after finally reaching the end of the tunnel.

"It looks like we'll need to forget everything we learned about the dungeon from the townspeople," I added while rubbing my forehead in frustration.

"And we need to finish exploring this damned dungeon as soon as possible too," Briar remarked from the side with a frown. "We don't know how much it will change or how fast," she added, not wasting any time as she began moving deeper into the dungeon.

'I guess crazy bitch doesn't equal stupid bitch, at least." I followed behind Briar, smirking as she turned to look at me, giving me a sharp look. "You just thought of something utterly rude, didn't you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in bemusement.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied with a shrug, putting on an innocent, confused expression as I kept moving, walking past her as she scowled.

...

"What the hell is going on?" I wondered with a frown as Briar and I both flew above the underground forest's tree line. "There's no end to this level, and the monsters are all over the place, too," I added while looking down, seeing several monsters like orcs and lizard-men roaming the place.

"It looks like the dungeon is changing at a quicker pace than we thought," Briar remarked while flying next to me, looking down and gazing at the same sight.

"Look out!" I exclaimed, quickly moving to push Briar out of the way as soon as I sensed a sudden surge of aura from below, shooting towards her.

I luckily made it in time, pushing her aside, frowning as I watched the giant purple frog that tried to ambush Briar by jumping all the way from the ground fall back as gravity did its work.

The purple frog looked at me and opened its mouth with a croak, launching an equally purple tongue with many spikes dripping with a green liquid towards me.

I quickly maneuvered myself into the air, twisting my body to avoid the tongue, causing it to fly right past me as I materialized an aura sword, immediately cutting the disgusting thing in half.

"I fucking HATE reptiles!" Briar exclaimed with a disgusted expression as she flew towards the falling frog incredibly quickly and cut it in half with her arm blades.

"It's actually an amphibian, not a reptile," I said with an amused tone while watching Briar's disgusted expression as she frenziedly swung her arm blades to the side, trying to get rid of the blood.

"Still equally disgusting," she replied with a scowl as she looked down, spitting towards the frog's carcass on the ground.

...

"There's something ahead," I remarked while pointing towards a stone structure in the middle of a clearing with no trees ahead of us. "Let's check it out," I added as I began flying my way there.

The structure looked like a pyramid built with stones whose edges were naturally turning black thanks to the passing of time with stone stairs in the middle of it, leading to an entrance at the top of the structure.

"A temple of some sort?" Briar wondered with a raised eyebrow as we landed in front of the structure. "Looks like it," I said with a thoughtful expression, inspecting the stone structure.

I Flew into the air again, circling around the temple to get a better look at it from all possible angles, and concluded that it looked like those Mayan jungle pyramids from my past life.

"What do you think?" Briar asked as I landed beside her, with my eyes still glued to the structure. "This could be the passage of the dungeon's second level, or possibly the second level itself," I replied while rubbing my chin in thought.

"Should we go in?" Briar asked again. "Absolutely not..., is what I'd like to say, but it looks like we don't have any other choice, despite our lack of preparations," I replied with a sigh.

"I would have preferred to go back and purchase more supplies, but the dungeon could change again while we're out," I explained as I made my way towards the base of the pyramid.

"So we might as well just finish the dungeon in one go," I concluded as I began inspecting the pyramid stones with my hands, taking a step back and launching an aura-powered punch towards the temple's stones.

"I thought as much," I said with a sigh as the dust began flying everywhere, settling down to reveal the pyramid's unscathed base.

This pyramid was more than likely chock full of traps inside, and so I was hoping to open up another entrance to avoid some of the said traps but was merely wishful thinking on my part.

"It looks like we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way," Briar remarked with a smirk as she flew towards the pyramid's entrance, and I quickly followed behind her.

...

"Here goes nothing," I remarked, taking a deep breath as Briar and I both entered the pyramid at the same time.

I immediately activated my aura shield as soon we set foot inside as small darts began flying towards us from all directions, bouncing harmlessly off my shields.

And I turned around to see how Briar was doing, only to raise an eyebrow at how quickly the blonde moved, dodging all incoming darts by twisting her body while standing her ground with her feet planted on the floor.

"Like what you're seeing?" Briar asked with a smirk as she bent over forward, dodging the last dart and exposing some of her cleavage in the process.

"Not particularly, no," I replied with a deadpan expression as I turned around and resumed moving deeper into the temple, causing the blonde to chuckle in amusement.

"There are probably many more traps, so stay sharp," I remarked as I slowly moved forwards while being mindful of my steps and surroundings, but I still ended up triggering another trap despite my caution as a metal spear shot out of the wall beside me.

The metallic spear hit my aura shield with an incredible force, with its tip bending and breaking on impact as I stood there unscathed by the trap.

"So much for staying sharp," Briar commented from the side, smirking in amusement. "I don't think I've triggered anything," I replied with a frown as I began inspecting the surroundings.

"If I stepped on something like a pressure plate or a tripwire, then I would know," I added while shaking my head after failing to find any possible triggers.

"Sensors of some sort, maybe?" Briar asked as spikes shot out from the floor beneath her, causing her to jump back, dodging the trap. "Whatever the method of activating these traps is, it doesn't look like we'll be figuring it out anytime soon," I replied while shaking my head.

...

"A trap," I stated with a deadpan expression while looking at a golden chest, suspiciously sitting at a corner of a dead-end corridor. "A trap indeed," Briar added with a smirk.

"Might as well see what's in it," I said with a shrug as I activated my aura shield, slowly approaching the chest, and I made it there without any incident.

'I swear to god, if this is what I think it is, then there will be hell to pay.' I kept a neutral expression as I reached for the chest, immediately materializing Bloodsport and bashing it the damned thing as it suddenly opened itself, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

"Everybody hates big chests!" I exclaimed with a scowl as I began furiously bashing the damned mimic monster, causing it to loudly shriek as I turned into nothing but a heap of scrap wood and mangled flesh.

"What's all that about?" Briar asked with a raised eyebrow, seemingly confused at my words. "You wouldn't get it," I replied with a sigh, wishing I had a cigarette just about now as I reminisced about a novel where the main character is a sentient mimic monster. (Author's note: Novel: Everybody Loves Large Chests on Royal Road)

"Whatever," Briar remarked while rolling her eyes at me. "It looks like it dropped something," she added while gesturing towards the ground where the mimic's body dissolved into light particles, replaced by a ring.

I picked up the ring, frowning in concentration as the system went to work, showing me the ring's information.

[Silver Ring Of Fire Protection: Increases fire resistance by 10%]

'Not terribly useful, but I'll take it' I shrugged as I wore the finger, immediately feeling a warm sensation flood my entire body, starting from my finger and coursing through my body.

"Oh, it looks you got yourself a nice souvenir, while I only got a bottle with some suspicious purple liquid inside," Briar remarked while pouting her lips a she looked at the ring in my hand.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something you like sooner or later," I replied with a shrug as I stood up, walking past her and moving deeper into the dungeon.

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