The Sealed Dungeon

So, the dust is settling after the Goblin King showdown, and the adventurers are totally hyped about their hard-won victory. But Guildmaster Hugh is definitely looking rough, buried under a mountain of ominous paperwork, confirming that the fun is probably about to stop.

Because of the recent monster outbreak, the dungeon is completely sealed off for inspections. This leaves Ryo’s roommates—Nils, Eto, and Amon—scrambling for work, as the local market is saturated with monster drops. Luckily for them, Ryo is deeply focused on his new passion: alchemy. He needs magic copper ore, which is super expensive, around 50 gold coins per piece in town. Being the generous guy he is, and because he’s totally loaded from selling Wyvern stones, Ryo hires his friends to gather the ore from an abandoned mine nearby. He offers them a sweet deal: 4 gold coins each, plus a whopping 25 gold coins for every piece of ore they find. That’s enough money for them to take a decent break.

Meanwhile, Ryo confirms one of his classic quirks to Lyn, Abel's skeptical party member: he thinks spell incantations are basically just for show. He can cast without saying a thing, which leaves Lyn utterly bewildered, especially since she's still convinced his technique for conjuring thick ice walls at a distance (up to 40 meters) must be some mythical original spell.

Ryo, still out and about, witnesses a total injustice: corrupt Royal Knights trying to snatch a girl in broad daylight. He steps in, subtly using magic to make the knights instantly trip, fall, and lose their balance right in front of everyone. Just as the situation escalates, Phelps Heinline, the noble leader of the White Brigade, arrives on the scene. Phelps, whose father was a former Royal Knight Commander, forces the corrupt knights to back down. After the problem settles, Phelps approaches Ryo, noting he had already heard Abel boasting about Ryo's extraordinary, subtle magic. Phelps playfully mention that the knights probably tripped on their own, but then thanks Ryo before heading off (showing that he's aware of Ryo's abilities).

Ryo gets roped into some detective work by Abel, who needs help stopping more corrupt guards who are targeting one of the dungeon investigators. They spot suspicious, hooded adventurers, and when the group tries to ambush them in a dark alley. Ryo makes short work of them, knocking them out cold with quick ice magic. Abel notes that Ryo is seriously high skilled because Ryo feels like the ambushers didn't even try. It's revealed that the hooded figures were C-rank adventurers from Jeclaire, the capital of Handalieu. Abel decides to take them to town guard to look into the matter further.

Later, Phelps are ambushed by the same corrupt knights while walking home. They want to take revenge on him for embarrassing them earlier. Suddenly the knights can't move at all, frozen in place by Phelps' teammate, Shenna. She then takes things a step further and incinerates the revenge-seeking knights with paralyzing needles and fire magic.

The drama ramps up when a royal delegation arrives from the capital, demanding the dungeon be reopened for investigation immediately. Guildmaster Hugh is completely against it, warning that no one knows the true danger lurking below—citing a prior incident where an A-rank party led by an S-rank equivalent adventurer entered the dungeon after an outbreak and never returned. However, the head of the expedition, Clive, asserts his authority. Hugh reluctantly agrees, but not without making Clive personally bear the full responsibility for any disaster.

A girl named Natalie Schwartzkoff, a water mage from a famous family, delivers a request: Abel’s party, the Crimson Sword, must escort the researchers into the dungeon. Abel, convinced of Ryo's unparalleled power, warns his entire party and Natalie never to challenge Ryo, stating that even if they all attacked him together, they wouldn't win. He even tells Natalie to seek out Ryo if she finds herself in a bind.

Abel's team joins the researchers and descends into the dungeon. After three days, they reach the seventh floor without encountering a single monster. They stumble upon a mysterious new entrance, described as a black square set into the wall. As the researchers activate their equipment to analyze this anomaly, the moment the device touches the gate, the entire expedition—Abel, his party, and the researchers—vanish instantly.