He broke off from the majority of the Adventurers that were heading for deeper levels and headed off on his own. The first floor was well-mapped and Bell had hand-drawn his own copy just yesterday in his notes. He had a fairly good idea of where he was going. As he was walking he took two turns through the corridors and entered into a much larger area. It was there he spotted his first Dungeon monster.
"A Goblin!" Bell noted the green creature. It was short, maybe half of Bell's height, had clawed hands, sharp teeth, and deep-red eyes with no pupil. A Goblin being his first monster almost seemed fitting to Bell. Not only were they the weakest monsters in the Dungeon, but he'd almost been killed by one when he was just a little boy. His grandpa had saved him back then, but now Bell was an Adventurer and he'd take out this Goblin himself!
'Remember what Miss Eina taught you yesterday.' Bell thought to himself as the green-skinned monster noticed him and started growling. 'A Goblin's Magic Stone is in the center of its chest. If worse comes to worst, a single stab in that area will instantly kill it by destroying the stone. Their other weak points are the same as any humanoid creature, the head, the neck, and the stomach area.' He drew his knife and held it at the ready.
The Goblin snarled as it rushed at him with claws raised to strike. Bell answered its charge with his own and the shorter creature quickly lost out. The new Adventurer only had to pivot out of the Goblin's line of attack and slam his knife into its head. The blade stabbed through the thin skin and bone and directly into a vital area. Bell yanked his knife out of the monster and let it fall to the ground.
Taking a moment to breathe and collect himself, Bell smiled at his first successful kill in the Dungeon. Sure it was only a Goblin, the weakest of the weak, but it was the start of his journey to be a Hero! Now all he had to do was retrieve the Magic Stone. It was a shame that Goblin Fangs, the Drop Item of Goblins, didn't drop too often; the fledgling Hestia Familia could use the extra Valis. A quick slice with his knife opened up the Goblin's chest and there, right next to the heart, was the tiny purple Magic Stone. It wasn't anything impressive at all, you couldn't even see the swirling magic energy inside like you could with larger Magic Stones, but to Bell, it was the start of something great! He popped the stone out of the corpse with the tip of his knife and placed the fragment into a small leather pouch on his hip.
"I want one of those nice leather backpacks." Bell sighed as he thought about the small shop he'd seen across the street from the Guild building. He'd be able to store an extra weapon, potions, and some food in one of those sleek backpacks. But the one that had caught his eye was 800 Valis. He didn't have that anymore. With only 200 Valis to his name and all of Hestia's paycheck going to their food budget, Bell would need to succeed in the Dungeon if he wanted better equipment.
'That's what a Familia does though, right?' Bell thought to himself as he briefly watched the Goblin's body disperse into an ash-like dust and fade away now that its Magic Stone had been removed. 'A Familia takes care of their Goddess or God and works to enrich their lives and expand their holdings!' Sure he was taking part of that from the stories of Heroes of old that served the Gods in ancient times before the Gods had actually descended to Gekai, but Bell still thought it was appropriate.
A cracking sound broke Bell from his musings and he watched as another Goblin emerged from the Dungeon wall. The new Goblin's eyes snapped open and it pulled itself free of the wall and faced Bell. The Adventurer and Goblin stared at each other for a moment before the Goblin charged at Bell with a growl. The same pivot and stab tactic that had felled the first goblin worked again and the new Goblin was stabbed in the head. Bell removed his knife, marveling that such a basic weapon was so well-made in Orario. He set about extracting the tiny Magic Stone just like before and then continued on his way through the Dungeon.
His leisurely stroll didn't last long as he was blindsided by a Dungeon Lizard dropping down on him from the ceiling. The large lizard and the teenager rolled around on the ground, fighting against each other and trying to maintain the position of control. Bell bridged his body and grabbed his knife. A quick stab made the lizard hiss in pain before Bell yanked the blade sideways. He threw the flailing lizard off of him, noting its dark-red blood was splattered on his clothes and armor. Bell finished the monster off with a stab to the head and it went still. He was scuffed up from the tussle, but he'd won fairly quickly.
"Now, where was a Dungeon Lizards' Magic Stone located again?" Bell thought over his notes before remembering the location. He sliced through the skin and freed the stone with his knife. That was another small, purple stone for his little pouch and some more Valis for the Hestia Familia.
In this way, Bell spent his first day in the Dungeon working on his skills and collecting Magic Stones. Unfortunately, not many monsters on the upper levels had Drop Items. Once he felt ready, then he'd descend into the second floor. He was going to listen to Eina and her advice. She was a Dungeon Advisor and had already taught him so much. It would be foolish not to listen to her.
-Guild Exchange-
"Miss Eina, I'm back!" Bell smiled at the Half-Elf. He'd done his best to wipe the blood of the various monsters he'd slain off at the entrance to the Dungeon. The Guild had a cleaning station set up there for Adventurers to wash off any excess grime or gore they got on them while in the Dungeon.
"Good to see you back safely, Bell." Eina grinned at the young man.
"I'm here to turn in my Magic Stones." Bell informed his Advisor with a happy grin.
"Right over there, Bell." Eina pointed to a long set of windows that had Adventurers in front of them.
"Thank you." Bell nodded as he walked over to a free window. Seeing the tray pushed out onto his side, Bell untied the pouch at his waist and carefully dumped the various stones into the tray.
"Hmm?" The man on the other side of the exchange noted the amount of small and tiny Magic Stones. "Aren't you Eina's newbie? You collected this many Magic Stones on your first day?"
"Uh, yes sir." Bell nodded with a slightly confused look on his face.
"Not bad, kid." The man behind the glass chuckled as he placed the collection of Magic Stones on a scale to weigh. The man noted the weight, checked another piece of paper, and then wrote something down in the ledger in front of him. "All total these're worth 4,600 Valis. Not bad for your very first day, kid. Keep it up!" The man encouraged the newbie as he placed the various Valis coins into the tray and pushed it back onto Bell's side.
"Thank you very much, sir." Bell nodded to the man as he happily took the Valis from the tray and put them in the small pouch. He couldn't wait to tell Hestia about how much money he'd made today!
-Abandoned Church ~ Evening-
"Goddess, I'm home!" Bell called out as he descended the stairs into the hidden basement.
"Bell!" Hestia smiled brightly at him. "Are you okay? I was worried because it was your first day in the Dungeon."
"I'm fine, Goddess." Bell smiled back at her. "I followed Miss Eina's advice and stayed on the first floor. There were plenty of weaker monsters to fight and get Magic Stones from, so I didn't have to worry about going to the second floor."
"That's great, Bell." Hestia congratulated her only Familia member. "How much did you make?"