Chapter 1337: The Gym Dungeon

The Dungeon was only just a short walk away from the village and there were a few Amraps who seemed to also be heading there to dive into the Dungeon.

Unsurprisingly, all of them seemed to recognise Odeta and they greeted her with a hearty laugh and wave, asking when did she return and exchanging small talk.

Thankfully, none of them tried to challenge her to a fight as they must be itching to enter the Dungeon and didn’t want any complications to arise before that.

Speaking of which... Seems like Odeta was telling the truth about the clothes we’re wearing being the traditional attire for the Amraps to Dungeon dive here.

Or at least... All of them were wearing some variation of clothing that basically only covered a small part of their top and bottom while leaving most of their skin exposed.

Additionally, all of them had towels draped around their necks or were carrying bags that looked like they contained change of clothes and towels and only a few of them brought weapons with them.

The ones that brought weapons however, did also wear some armour to cover some of the skin as well... And also seemed to be more clothed than the others for some reason.

Maybe they aren’t from around here?

I figured that they were most likely trying to train their unarmed skills so I didn’t think too much about it.

The other Amraps then went ahead into the Dungeon and we followed after them a few steps behind, the entrance of the Dungeon being a literal doorway that was stuck at the base of a large tree.

When we finally entered the Dungeon, we already found ourselves in a large open space where I was pretty much stunned by what I was looking at.

"Isn’t this... A gym?" I asked.

Literally, the entire floor was filled with gym equipment.

I’m looking at racks of weights, barbells, exercise machines and even mirrors that were there for you to check out your exercise forms.

Odeta grinned at me, "Wahahaha! Isn’t that what I said, Sister Aster?"

Err... No? You said that this place was meant to test your strength? That’s fundamentally different isn’t it?

This is a gym where you go to train yourself and increase your muscle strength...

Look, look... I see the Amraps literally just working out at the exercise machines lifting weights and stuff.

"Is this really a Dungeon?" I couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course it is, Sister Aster! Doesn’t it look like a Dungeon?"

I turned back to her and gave her a pointed look, "How does this even look remotely like a Dungeon to you? I mean... As compared to the other Dungeons that we’ve been to? Aren’t Dungeons places where there’s monsters and you have to fight and defeat them?"

Odeta tilted her head at me, "Hmm? There’s a lot of Dungeons like that but there’s also Dungeons that aren’t like that, Sister Aster."

"Wait, really?"

"I heard from the others that you’ve gone to a Dungeon that was just about sex, right?"

Ah... Right... The one where I met Hiandoca who was posing as a succubus. I almost forgot about that.

"So does that mean there’s also other types of Dungeon where... There’s no monsters and have other things inside them?"

"Oh, they definitely have monsters, Sister Aster! It’s just that there might be different gimmicks about them!"

"Like what?"

Tsara was the one who spoke up, "Like there’s a Dungeon that basically has swee--"

Odeta immediately clamped her hand over the Trasif’s mouth, moving faster than I’ve ever seen her move before.

I blinked at her, completely taken aback by that since she was acting like Tsara was going to expose some big secret or something.

"Err... What was that about?" I asked.

"Nothing! Sister Aster! You don’t need to worry about it!"

Ok... If you say so...

Odeta turned to whisper something to Tsara that I didn’t quite catch before she turned back to grin at me, "Anyway!! Ahem... That’s right! There’s many different kinds of Dungeons, Sister Aster! You remember the other monster Dungeon where you end up needing to fight the Dungeon Master with the monsters you captured, right?"

"Oh... I thought that was something that was unique because the Dungeon Master was... You know..." I trailed off, trying not to mention that Verdam was an Off-Worlder...

Speaking of Verdam... I still remember his promise that he would help me create a monster girl as a companion... And I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest...

I wonder if he even still remembers that promise.

And the monster girl stone that I used ended up transforming the dragon into the egg that I still pour my mana into daily whenever I’m free which still showed no signs of hatching too... I wonder how long do I need to do this for?

Leaving that aside...

"So this Dungeon is just a gym then? Are you inviting me here to work out with you? Actually, is that why the both of you came along?"

Ira and Tsara unexpectedly averted their gaze to avoid answering my question.

Odeta immediately came over to wrap her arm around me, "This is just the first floor of the Dungeon, Sister Aster! In order to get past the first floor, you need to be able to lift that over there!!"

She then pointed to a large barbell with several circular weights attached to the two ends.

Right as she said that, one of the Amrap groups went over to the barbell and gathered around it as a dark skinned and muscular Amrap stepped up behind it.

They were one of the few Amraps who were actually armed unlike the others who came here unarmed and only brought change of clothes and a towel.

The one behind the barbell squatted down and grabbed the bar before lifting it up in a deadlift and dropping it back down on the ground.

A part of the wall behind them then slid open and they hefted their weapons before walking through the door, presumably to descend to the deeper levels of the Dungeon below.

The door quickly slid closed when the last member walked past, the Dungeon probably recognising the group as a party and only allowing party members to move through.

Now I figured out why most of the Amraps I saw outside were unarmed...

They were only here to use the gym equipment and had no plans on diving to the deeper floors of the Dungeon so they didn’t need any weapons...

And those Amraps were also dressed in armour too so this ’traditional clothing’ that Odeta was claiming to be their Dungeon diving outfit was just literally their workout outfit...

Wait a minute...

I turned to narrow my eyes at Odeta, "Are you planning for us to stay here or were we going to challenge the lower floors as well?"

"Wahahaha! Of course we’re going all the way, Sister Aster!"

"Then why are we dressed like this? We’re not even properly equipped!"

"Sure we are! What do you mean? Do you even need to wear anything more to fight at your full strength?"

Err... Ok... She got me there...

"Besides!! How can I pass up the chance to do that?" She chuckled, pointing at my legs.

I looked down, wondering what she was referring to.

That was when I realised that there was a gap in between the pants and stockings I was wearing that showed off my bare thighs.

Seriously? I didn’t know Odeta had a fetish for that...

I mean... If you wanted that, you could have just said so...

But maybe that was also just an excuse so that she could make Tsara and Ira dress the same way as a means to tease them or something?

I cleared my throat, "Ahem... Alright then... I suppose we should make our way to the lower floors, right?"

Odeta grinned, "After you, Sister Aster!"

Right, I guess she’s insinuating that I should be the one to lift the barbell.

I led the way towards the barbell at the end of the hall and took position behind it.

I wasn’t sure how heavy this was and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there were a couple of Amraps who had stopped their exercises to watch me.

I’m guessing they wanted to see if the person that Odeta acknowledges was able to actually lift this.

Guess I should just take this seriously then...

Or on second thought... Let’s do this slowly because I don’t want to make a fool out of myself and fall over thinking it was really heavy when it was not.

I lowered myself and grabbed onto the bar, bracing myself for a moment before I tried to straighten myself to lift it up.

And... Hmm?

What the heck?! This thing is heavy!!

I grit my teeth and put more of my strength into it, even resorting to using [Body Current] and [Strength] to buff myself as I tried to pull it up.

The barbell lifted off the ground slowly and I found that I was having trouble straightening up.

I tightened up even more and layered another [Strength] on myself and I finally managed to straighten my back before I let it drop back onto the ground with a loud crash.

The wall behind me then slowly slid open.

Why the heck was that thing so heavy?!!