Jujitsu was an art developed around the principle of using an attacker’s energy against him. On the other hand, spearmanship was a martial art that hurt the opponent regardless of whether the spearhead had a blade or not. As such, my family also passed down a jujitsu technique to neutralize opponents without hurting them.

In truth, it was a modified version of Japanese judo, and thus shared many similarities. Although our technique also took other moves from several other close-combat martial arts, judo was the base.

Of course, even though jujitsu could neutralize opponents without hurting them, that was when it was practiced on top of padded mats. If an inexperienced opponent received a hip or shoulder throw on concrete, their back and spine would undoubtedly break, and it was questionable whether they’d still be alive. Thankfully, I didn’t need to worry about that with the boss fight.

“Hap!”

The lizardman growled, “Hmph, what are you trying to do by grabbing me? Don’t tell me, you’re trying to throw me…!?”

You think I can’t? If you believe that I can’t pick you up with 9 levels of mid-rank martial arts, you’re mistaken! I grabbed the arm it tried to strike out with and proceeded to do a hip throw. With its awful stance, I did not need to work hard to ruin its balance. The only slightly hard part came from the fact that the Floor Master was much taller than me.

When its body hit the ground, it was as if a meteorite had struck and a thundering roar boomed out. After I saw the giant crack in the ground, I realized this guy had potential as a weapon. Maybe I should carry him around instead of my spear!

“Urgh!”

I taunted mercilessly, “Your head’s going to ring! Especially with that hard head of yours!”

Dragon Skin was most likely a skill that maximized the outer skin’s defense. However, that did not mean it protected the internal organs. Instead, I had a hunch that if enough force struck the hard outer layer, the impact would travel inside and hurt everything there. It was the same concept as when one got hit by a bullet while wearing a bulletproof vest. The bullet wouldn’t penetrate the skin, but the force from it could break one’s ribs.

By picking the boss up and throwing it down on the ground, I essentially pitted the Lizard Knight and the hard ground against each other. Although I would have preferred to follow up with a joint lock, I knew it wouldn’t work on the Lizard Knight whose entire body had been hardened by Dragon Skin. If it wanted to continue lying on the ground, I could only leave it be.

It clearly was lacking in the brains department as the Lizard Knight got up and sent a kick toward me. Unwavering courage, undying vigor! I didn’t hate it for that. In fact, I liked it.

“Hook kick!”

“Kuhuk!”

“Shoulder throw!”

“Kuaaak!”

During the entire five minutes when Dragon Skin was in effect, I used the Lizard Knight as a guinea pig for my jujitsu techniques. Every time it fell, it got up, without knowing it was better to stop. Eventually, it coughed out black blood and collapsed after I used a two-handed grip shoulder throw on it.

“Kaaaaak!”

At the same time, its reddened skin turned back to its normal color. The duration of Dragon Skin must have run out. I once again picked up my spear. Its once fierce gaze was now blankly chasing the tip of my spear. Apparently, the effects of Dragon Skin ending must have also overlapped with the intense head banging session he had on the ground.

I announced proudly, “I’ll show you what real spearmanship looks like.”

I was showing it some mercy. After all, my skill, Heroic Strike, activated so quickly that no enemy could see through how it worked. As such, I did not use the skill, but manually concentrated my body’s energy and mana on the tip of my spear. With this, I was positive that even this idiot could see ‘real spearmanship’. Real spearmanship wasn’t some cheat like hitting the ground with a large amount of mana and strength; it depended on actual technique.

The Lizard Knight sputtered, “T-That’s…!”

“Well, you’re going to die soon anyways!”

I shot my spear toward his face while I glared at it. With a rather unpleasant sound, the light in its eyes dimmed. Like Loretta said, the Lizard Knight really was easier than the Dark Ratman to solo. Though, my Dark Thunder Explosion did play a big part.

Immediately afterwards.

[Amazing! You are the first in the First Dungeon’s history to succeed in soloing the Lizard Knight on the first try! The dungeon will remember you as a Great Explorer. You have obtained 2 skill points as a reward. You have obtained a Special Mansion Free Purchase Ticket. Remaining skill points: 6]

[You have obtained the title, ‘Lizard Knight Master’. All stats have increased by 2. This effect will apply even if the title is not equipped.]

[You have defeated the Lizard Knight alone. You have obtained the special reward, ‘Lizard Knight’s Scale Armor’.]

[You have obtained 10,000 gold.]

[You have received the only reward left hidden for the First Explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat has increased by 1.]

[Secret. Divine Speed Magic Book]

When I looked over the rewards I received from defeating the Lizard Knight solo, I found it hard to calm myself.

The ‘first’ that Loretta had hinted about was not disappointing in any way. I had gotten 2 skill points, which was the amount equivalent to creating two new skills or completing two quests. There was also the Special Mansion Free Purchase Ticket, but I honestly had no clue what it did.

The title was also different from the ones I had gotten before: Lizard Knight Master. It gave 2 bonus points to all stats instead of 1. If I had defeated the Orc Lord, Wraith Queen, and Dark Ratman in the same way, then… No, there was no point in thinking about meaningless things. I needed to focus on now and the future.

The gold and the scale armor were a given at this point, so what interested me next was what came after. The only reward left was Divine Speed Magic Book. Just the word ‘secret’ made it sound extraordinary. I was about to look closely at the description when I heard a fanfare notification.

[You have reached level 21. You have obtained the qualification to climb to the 21st floor.]

[You have reached Silver Rank 9. You are no longer an apprentice explorer, but an official explorer.]

[You can appoint one person as a First Dungeon Explorer. This is a right given only to Bronze Rank explorers who have explored the dungeon for 20 years, or to explorers who have been promoted to Silver Rank. When you become a Gold Rank explorer, you can appoint an additional person as a dungeon explorer.]

[As a Silver Rank explorer, you have obtained the right to enter Event Dungeons. You can enter Event Dungeons by hunting monsters or finding hidden areas while exploring.]

[You have obtained the right to participate in Event Raids! Event Raids are created when specific Event Dungeons are cleared, or when the necessary conditions are met. The Event Raid’s creator becomes the host and can invite others to participate. An explorer can join a raid by accepting the host’s invite. An explorer’s levels or qualifications may prevent him or her from participating, and the host maintains the right to enter and exit raids.]

[You can buy a residence in the dungeon by going to the dungeon’s Residential Area. The residences of explorers from various worlds are located there, and support and recreational facilities exist to ensure explorers can make the best use of their leisure time. Explorers can privately meet with other explorers, and a market exists where various foods are sold. However, to enter the Residential Area, an explorer must use a Residential Area Entrance Ticket, which is dropped by monsters above the 21st floor. Other dungeons’ explorers cannot enter the First Dungeon Residential Area.]

…Eh? I had been an apprentice until now? I suddenly felt irritated. I had been strutting about, self-satisfied with the fact that I was a dungeon explorer, but now I learned I had been acting like a baby who was proud about learning how to walk! The pride I felt from being the First to defeat the Lizard Knight suddenly shrunk.

“No, this is where it begins!” I rallied myself.

There was no point in being so hard on myself. After all, I had only been a dungeon explorer for 5 years. Not to mention, I spent 3 years of that period stuck on the 5th floor unwillingly. By all measures, I was doing well, and I knew I could continue to do well! It was not like I didn’t know how much I had left to travel. There was no need to be down. I just had to keep running and keep getting stronger. Someday, I’d be even stronger than the superheroes I dreamed of being when I was young!

Perhaps it was because I was now considered an official explorer, but I found out many things about the dungeon that I did not know before. The first was the Event Dungeon. I already knew about the existence of Event Dungeons since I had heard from Ellos. Apparently, I could explore a unique dungeon using an Event Dungeon Entrance Ticket, which only had an extremely low chance of dropping from monsters. Naturally, any Event Dungeon I cleared would give me incredible rewards.

There was also the Event Raid, which happened at a fixed rate when an Event Dungeon was cleared. A minimum of 50 explorers could gather to fight a boss monster that was even stronger than the Floor Masters. Just thinking about it made my heart beat with excitement. I wanted to quickly participate in an Event Raid, but I had a hunch that no one would willingly include me due to my low level.

This was the first time I had heard about the Residential Area. I had never expected something like that to exist in the dungeon either. Based on the description, it looked like I could just stay there without ever going back to my own world. At this point in my life, I would never do so as I was a college student and Yua’s older brother. The Residential Area also seemed like the place where I could use the Special Mansion Free Purchase Ticket. Special Mansion…I was curious, but I had no way of going there as of yet.

In summary, there were four benefits I gained from becoming an official explorer.

1. Authority to appoint one person to be a First Dungeon Explorer.

2. Ability to find and join Event Dungeons.

3. Ability to participate in Event Raids.

4. Right to enter the Residential Area.

After I organized the info, it did not seem so complicated anymore. With that, I finally checked the Divine Speed skill I received.

[You have learned the active skill, ‘Divine Speed’. By using 20 percent of your mana, you can quintuple your speed for 0.5 seconds. The skill duration and speed increase goes up with increased skill levels, and the required mana decreases with increased skill levels.]

“Whoa.”

I let out a deep breath, and focused on the fact that this skill was a growth type skill. Although it only increased my speed for 0.5 seconds after using 20 percent of my mana, a 400 percent speed increase was amazing. Since every aspect of the skill increased with increased skill level, I eagerly anticipated its growth.

[Master?]

“Peika, it was thanks to you that I could beat the Floor Master. Thanks.”

[Hu, Huhu! Now you realize my true worth!]

My mind was focused on reading and retaining all of this information, so I randomly replied to Peika’s murmur. Thankfully, she seemed extremely satisfied with whatever I said as she crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. Seeing her cute reaction, I couldn’t help but pat her on the head and ended up being scolded again.

Divine Speed quintuples (x5) your speed, which is a 400% increase.