Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 167

"No need to use Mr, just call me Conway!"

"Right, Conway."

I look down at the wooden table, embarrassed that I forgot his name while mindlessly slashing at white walls for a month. I swallow my pride and carry on our conversation like that didn't just happen.

"Some food would be great."

He bows slightly, then begins walking to the back room.

"You got it!"

I exhale, taking in my surroundings with an odd eerie tension in the back of my mind.

Everything in the Inn looks just like it was... There are all the same familiar C-Class squads from the Association sitting around tables eating food and trading gear, but something feels off.

It's way too silent. I'm so accustomed to the low humming of mana in my ears and nothing else. This bustling environment is over-sensitizing me again.

My brain and body feel drained just sitting here... There aren't unlimited stores of mana to plunder from all angles and I'm craving MP already.

The sounds of people laughing and talking all around me begin to get muffled in my mind, all I can focus on is my foot tapping on the ground as I zone further and further out.

Then I hear the same cheerful voice of an old man in my ear.

"Here you go Jay! Hope your training goes well today. I think Fisher should be out here in an hour or two!"

The Innkeeper's voice snaps me back to reality and I gracefully accept the steaming hot plates of food and cold drinks.

"Appreciate it."

He smiles and walks away with a skip in his step.

I eat up, but a funny question does stick out in the back of my mind. When does Conway sleep...?

I chuckle to myself, as I can't figure out just how he does it, but decide to pay it no mind and relax.

Watching hunters come and go for the next few hours is pretty nice. Much more interesting than my month-long vacation of solitude in the void.

Eventually, a certain red-haired man pokes his head through the front doors of the Inn, locking eyes with me almost instantly.

It's Rylan.

"Hey, hey! Jay, you're up! I'm excited to see your progress with Fisher today. Maybe I'll actually get to watch the two of you train... or maybe even spar!"

He comes marching toward me with a smile across his face, then sits down at the opposite side of the table.

"You know that team I went to meet? They didn't even want to check out the Inn! The lot of them just headed straight off to floor 11 without a word."

I respond, vaguely remembering that Rylan was going to meet a new team from the same C-Class exams as me. I wonder who they could be...

"Oh yeah? Are-"

He cuts me off.

"Those nobles are really a stuck-up bunch, aren't they? Walking around in their gold and silver armor. The Association just gives them a pitty contract if they manage to pass the exam. It's more for the off chance that they rank to an elite on their own. Most of them have the funding to do so anyways."

I raise an eyebrow, remembering back to one of my first clashes during the C-Class exams. It was a group just like the one he's describing... A team of men all dressed in gold and silver armor. The leader had an odd barrier skill. We clashed briefly, but I didn't see him again after that.