“Mmm, this would be better with some kind of seasoning, probably something like salt. Jessica, do you think this desert would have a salt deposit?”

Jessica bites down on some recently cooked monster meat. She frowns at the surprisingly bland taste, a far cry from the food she consumed yesterday. It clearly shows the difference skills make in the preparation of food.

“I don't know,” she answers slowly, looking at the dozens of fires blazing all at once within the cave system. The sixth floor, as she has grown to know, lacks any form of plant life. The only available sustenance is meat. As for cooking meat, well, many of the monsters here have a type of liquid gland that holds a certain variation of inhibiting liquid. This liquid has the interesting ability to neutralise acid. Its main function is for monsters to consume acidic flesh without causing internal pain.

“Yea, the elemental composition of these floors vary greatly. Especially with metal. I could really use some metal.”

The periodic table. He had explained to her the idea, but the general concept is something she can barely comprehend. Her levels and class let her understand bodies, but anything further is completely out of her purview.

Finishing his bite, Quasi frowns and gazes at the slowly dimming fire. He stands up, grabs one of those sacks that neutralise acid, and then pours it into an exoskeletal bowl. The liquid ignites immediately.

The Gejan have figured out that the liquid, once set on fire, will burn until fully consumed. A surprisingly far more efficient way than fire, which, depending on the wood, can barely last. For example, half a gallon of liquid had so far kept the fire going eight hours.

“Well, I have to admit, this is kind of boring,” he says, eyes turning towards the fight continuing on. The [Spike Queens] size has dropped to half of what she was and her body looks weak and malnourished. Aldonis continues to move and fight, his expression is bored while he dodges, slashes, and takes a bite of meat. The [Spike Queen] continues attacking, but with far less fervor and strength. Her attacks no longer cleave stone and her regeneration has slowed considerably over these eight hours.

Yes, the main battle still continues while two thousand undead monsters wait in an orderly fashion under Quasi’s control. The rest were too damaged to turn into undead or are currently being consumed by about five hundred Gejan, all of which are still alive and in great spirits. This battle had proven that it is possible to attack [Queens] and suffer no losses.

Of course, that is only because Jessica had been healing those injured, most of which were Gejan without the [Soldier] class. They have no proper training or tactics to fight in an army. Many would overextend or position themselves in such a way that they limit their mobility. Of course, the biggest issue was that they didn't fully understand how to take a proper hit. Instead of trying to avoid an unavoidable attack, they should be willing to sacrifice flesh and scale. Healing flesh and scale is simple and fast. Her skill is able to transfer flesh from other parts of the body to fix the damaged part. Sure, the individual is weaker, but a strong diet can quickly regain that strength. Especially with Gejan, who can pack weight very quickly.

The problem lies in the loss of limbs. Her skill does not create a new arm. It merely closes off the wound, but if she has the severed arm, then she could heal it back in place. Such a thing she never dreamed of if Quasi had not explained to her the process.

Seven arms, three legs, six tails, and two entire waists had been severed in the recent fighting. She had healed and repaired it all. Gejan which would have bled out or become permanently maimed now gaze at her with fervent respect. At least, she hopes it’s respect. Their eyes are similar to the Centaurs’ that called her the tyrant healer.

*Schreeeeeeeeeeeeee*

She frowns as her gaze turns towards the [Spike Queen]. It continues to scream in either pain or anger. She’s not sure which, and neither is Quasi.

“So, what's the plan, commander?”

Jessica looks up, finding Orlan coming near. The Gejan’s scales have been slowly becoming bluer and bluer. His gray scales seem to become less and less numerous as time goes on.

The commander yawns and points, “The [Spike Queen] should die any minute now. Its internal resources are probably extremely low. Once that's done, I can resurrect it and then we can go back to Shinypuke.”

“I know that.” Orlan says, “What I am curious about is the relative plan for this floor.”

Quasi points at a seat near him and Orlan takes it.

“Well, currently I need more information. Primarily about the four [Great Queens]. Those seem like the largest obstacles in our attempts to descend to the next floor. How much do you know about them?”

Orlan raises his hand and scratches some older, grayer scales on his arms. “A decent bit. The four [Great Queens] are believed to be in the level three hundred range, or at the very least, in the two hundreds. Their bodies are somewhat similar in the sense that they all have originally been born from the floor boss's body. In that sense, they are nigh unstoppable and dangerous.”

Quasi nods, “And their unique aspects?”

“The [Greater Queen of Flight] has massive wings and all of her myrmeke share the same aspect. They are able to fly through the air while spitting dangerous poison that burns everything it touches. The [Great Queen of Magic] is an arguably far more dangerous one. She is able to wield magic and her myrmeke can do the same. These two have their nests near the entrance to the next floor and they defend that entrance viciously.”

“And the last two?”

Orlan looks at the fire, his gaze lingers momentarily before he continues. “The [Great Queen of Swarms] has the most numerous army. Though she is not positioned near the entrance, her army is so large that the territory she poses is exceptionally large. We believe she even has several nests available. The final [Great Queen] has the ability of size. We do not know that much about her except that her head alone is far larger than this entire rock structure.”

A smile forms on Quasi’s lips.

“It has no bones,” Jessica quickly says.

His smile falters, “Fuck. Shit. Dammit. That would have been such an awesome minion.”

He shakes his head, chuckling after a moment, “Alright. No super minion then. Seems like any of these will be a difficult undertaking. The best plan I can think of right now is to continue what we are doing. Kill [Queens], build an undead army, level up, and then pick a fight and hope we win.”

*Thump*

Eyes turn towards the battle. The [Spike Queen] had fallen on the floor. Her fresh wounds are no longer healing.

“Finally,” Quasi says. He stands up and begins heading towards the corpse.

____________________________________________________

“[Advanced Analyze]”

Spuntone- [Myrmer Queen] Level 167

Spuntone have six powerful back legs and another six heavily armored pincer-like arms. They are incredibly resilient thanks to a thick exoskeleton and are exceptional at grasping and ripping prey apart. Few monsters are able to fight a Spuntone in direct combat.

This monster has been transformed into a [Myrmer Queen]. This [Myrmer Queen] is capable of creating external spikes.

I read the explanation again, frowning that nothing has changed. For some reason, this [Myrmer Queen] is considered a monster instead of an actual person with a class. It begs the question of why Nighmora is considered one. Does it have to do with her exceptional intelligence? Is it based on having a humanoid type body? Lots of questions, no discernable answers.

“Great job, Aldonis. I’m proud of you.”

He snorts and begins walking away, “It was easy.”

I chuckle inwardly, knowing full well that he is quite exhausted. Fighting eight hours straight is not something most could do. I even offered him a break at some point but he refused and mentioned it was for training.

A training that has gotten him two whole levels.

“Well, I’m still proud,” I say, listening to his uneasy footsteps and the significant fatigue he is suppressing.

I raise my hand and call up my mana.

“[Raise Undead].”

My mana flows from my grasp and enters the dead body. Its eyes begin to glow a dark purple as the body lifts itself from the ground. A very weakened and malnourished body, but dark magic cares nothing for that. Mana alone is fuel enough.

I turn around and begin walking, my new undead following behind.

“Pack up, we leave immediately,” I yell.

______________________________________________________

Arecia hammers down, the chitin bending at each impact. Her muscles expand between strikes, her skill [Strong Arms] activating before the impact. Her other skill, [Melding Strikes], activates, fusing the three chitin pieces layered on top of each other together. As they meld, she adds more and more chitin, increasing the size of the piece until she has a three meter wide section of triple-layered chitin available.

She lays her hammer to the side and then takes the chitin and places it over a fire. This will allow the monster chitin to slightly dry, but will also make it malleable. From there, she will have a short amount of time to bend it into a piece of chest armor. If she takes too long, the chitin will fully dry and then harden. Once hardened, it can no longer be changed. Thus, her time is limited.

She waits as the chitin slowly heats up, her [Minor Heat Resistance] skill allowing her to endure the heat without a problem. Granted, Gejan are already resistant to heat, her skill just gives her practical immunity.

Once the chitin begins to smoke (a sign of water evaporating), she begins bending it slowly, allowing the material to accept its new shape. If she attempts to bend quickly, she risks causing small fractures if not breaking it in half. If she does it too slow, then it will fully dry and harden before she finishes.

With an experienced hand, she moves quickly, bending the chitin in a circular form. She rushes to one side and then the other. Folding, twisting, kneading. Only after a good five minutes does she finally finish. She steps away from the chitin chestplate. Though most Gejan males prefer to wear practically nothing on their chests, the new Gejan are more than happy to ask for chest armor. Even her idiot of a son asked for it.

She taps her finished product, eliciting a little chime. “Much stronger than scales,” she says approvingly. Now, she needs to work on some protections for the hands and legs. That should be much simpler to do.

“Arecia!”

She turns towards the sound and finds a fellow [Smith] entering her workshop.

The man is younger than her, but no less skilled. His specialty is in the creation of bladed weapons whereas she can do everything.

“What happened, Dimitri?”

The Gejan looks around, his eyes stopping on the chitin armor before turning back to her.

“They're back and it looks like a huge success. There's over a thousand undead with them too. I even think they didn’t lose anybody!”

Arecia can see his excitement as his tail flicks around erratically. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel the same way. She expected some dead, but for all to survive is a miracle.

“Where are they?” she asks.

He turns and begins walking out of her smithy.

“They're coming now. We can see them from the wall.”

She quickly follows him out of her smithy and through the city. As she nears the wall, she begins to hear music. Eventually she makes it to the top and gazes down towards the incoming army. The Gejan walk in front, their bodies seemingly bouncing and moving to the rhythm of the music. Her own tail begins to move outside of her control and bounce to the melody.

Behind the Gejan is a swarm of monsters walking and moving in sync. Their bodies bend and twist in unison. At the center of the monster army is the undead [Myrmer Queen], and on her back is a shiny purple piano.