Back in the hub, I had time to think. What the hell was a shop like that doing in a dungeon? There was no way that these random dungeon monsters would be able to develop a shop naturally. At least, not at this pace. If Luna was correct and the monsters would continue to grow both physically and mentally while still in the dungeon, they could technically get some higher intelligence, but this was almost assuredly too fast, at least as far as I knew.

It was possible that George Hissington II was a beta tester, but I didn’t think it was likely considering the blue rarity on the identified name. It was clear to me that someone had placed the spider there, and they also named him and stocked up his store with items and goods that adventurers would want or need. There didn’t seem to be any reason that a spider would use silver coins as a currency either, and considering the merchandise being web they were able to produce themselves and a robe, it was certainly placed there for adventurers. All of this was beside the point though.

The goal of the leader of this dungeon has always been in question, ever since I started my dive. Originally, I believed that this ‘Queen Elizabeth Cunningham’s only desire was to expand her territory, spread her monsters, or something else malicious. This shop started to tell a different story, though. It was helpful and unique, offering a reprieve from the constant fighting, and giving a reward to people who made it through multiple floors of the dungeon. Based on that, it seemed more likely that she was more focused on attracting more adventurers, though to what end I could not tell. Hopefully, if I could make it to the bottom layer, I could speak to her about it.

The next floor that I needed to traverse was floor ten, and as was stated in the original message sent to me on floor 6, that meant that this would be a boss. The last boss I fought was the massive knight spider, and it stood to reason that the boss of this floor would be comparable in strength. To prepare, I tightened the straps on my backpack, rearranged my potion bandolier, and positioned my sword belt in a comfortable place. The sign above the teleportation circle read ’Floor 10: Boss; Guardian of the Queen’s Hall’. After a deep breath, I closed my eyes and stepped into the magical array.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a carved stone hallway, similar to the one I saw on the fourth floor with all of the trials. This hall though was far more spacious, and it looked almost pristine in quality. Every stone in the ground was perfectly level, there were no chisel marks on the walls, and each corner met at a perfect 90 degrees.

I looked down the corridor and saw a set of double doors, almost certainly leading to the boss room. I braced myself and then marched down the way. At the door, I placed one hand on either side and pushed them open, forcibly making my way into what was obviously a boss arena. The circular room was identical to the one I fought the Skullback Knight in, except on each of the pillars, instead of a burning brazier, there was a bronze statue of an Arachne, each sporting an impressive gilded crown.

I moved to the center of the room just like before, looking above me at the circular aperture. When I arrived, it began to grind open. I quickly drew my sword and prepared to defend myself from attack, but even after opening, nothing happened. I waited on bated breath for anything, but nothing came from the hole even after fifteen minutes had passed. I was starting to get worried. Was it a stealth boss? Was it freaking invisible? What the hell was going on? WAS IT BENEATH ME?

As a test, I carefully walked towards the exit paying careful attention to my surroundings, and when I got to the door an alert pinged in my head.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the boss of the tenth floor is currently unavailable. If you would like, you can wait here for the boss to arrive in a few days, or you can proceed onward to the next location, the Queen’s Gardens.

I look forward to meeting you on the bottom floor, presuming you don’t die along the way. Good luck from here on! You’ll need it.

Thank you for your patience,

H.R.H Queen Elizabeth Cunningham, Mother of Spiders, Administrator under Labyrinth

Oh, come on! Luna, are you seeing this?

I have no words, Vic. I think you should just keep going.

Sounds like a plan to me.

I let out a groan. I was stressed for this fight, and they just went and ruined it all. What the hell was up with that? It’s a dungeon. What ‘unforeseen circumstances’ could there be?

Ahead of me, the exit to the boss room creaked open. With the sound of a bell, a small chest embossed with gold borders flashed into existence and fell at my feet. Opening it up, I found three large gold coins and a small folded piece of paper. Opening it up, it read ‘a small consolation prize’. It was more than I expected considering the ease of this floor, but it also helped to soothe my anger.

I jumped on the teleporter and moved back to the hub. Up next was the gauntlet. Considering the bosses’ name ‘Guardian of the Queen’s Hall’, I expected the next few floors would be a significantly more difficult experience. For now, though, it was time to sleep. I had managed to traverse five floors in only one day, albeit an extremely long one, and I was ready to be unconscious for a while. I laid out my sleeping bag in the corner, enjoying a meal of beef jerky and some trail mix. I plugged my phone into my portable battery and set an alarm for the morning. After lying down, I wrapped my newly larger wings around my body and drifted off.

I awoke feeling refreshed, getting my sleeping bag packed up even before the alarm went off. Standing here, I marveled at how convenient my body was at times. I no longer needed to worry about going to the bathroom and required less sleep than before. Every action was easier, every movement was stronger and surer. If only there weren’t killer beasts roaming the globe out for blood and evil gods up to nefarious purposes. If it weren’t for that, I might not look too poorly on the waves.

Looking around me, the hub was exactly as I left it, six teleportation circles, or seven including the exit, gently glowing with magic energy. Without further ado, I entered into the newly opened one on the far right.

When I regained my vision, I was standing at the base of what appeared to be a massive fortress. The size was unimaginably tall, as tall as some mountains I’ve seen. I was at the front gates currently, a large wall blocking the fortress from sight. The stone of the bastion was a light grey, and it was made with carefully carved and mortared bricks in an irregular shape. Multiple circular spires were rising into the sky, and in the very center of the structure, a large one rose far higher than the others. High above that, the sky was blue and clear, the sun high in the air. I stood in a gorgeous mountain basin, surrounded by surreal imagery reminding me of the rocky mountains which I had seen as a kid. Directly opposite the castle from my position was a large black canyon radiating orange energy. A road stretched from the gash to the front of the castle, and it was this path that I had appeared on.

I was most likely still in the pocket dimension, but what was up with the change of scenery?

Luna, what’s up with this? I thought we were going down? How come this floor is suddenly at the top of a mountain?

Well, dungeons aren’t required to make sense. Some high-level ones even have different landscapes every few floors, or they go between different forms of harsh weather. The appearance of the dungeon usually switches either every five or ten floors to a different theme. We thought it would be more entertaining if there was more variety in every location.

That was good to know. I almost thought I walked into the wrong dungeon for a second. I didn’t expect this place to become so regal looking but considering the name of the owner it makes sense. What kind of self-respecting queen lives in a boring cave, after all? The answer was, naturally, a boring one, and I didn’t get that vibe from someone with an army of spiders, a fortress, and multiple titles.

I moved forward, placing my palm on the massive wooden door in the outer wall. Once I did so, the doors began to open revealing an impressive garden stretching for miles into the distance at the foot of the castle. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I received another alert.

Welcome to the Queen’s Gardens. Get the three keys from the three guardians to proceed to the next floor. Good Luck!

H.R.H Queen Elizabeth Cunningham, Mother of Spiders, Administrator under Labyrinth

Oh? It was a kill quest and a rather specific one at that. I was sure if the formal quest system was up it would have appeared there. It was time to try my luck and find out just what kinds of monsters haunted these gardens. Unfortunately, I knew that answer was going to be even more spiders, but ideally, I’d like to find more varieties that I haven’t seen yet. I could do without another knight though.

First, I needed the get the lay of the land. These gardens seemed to stretch for miles. It was like a pristine nature preserve walled into the castle close, except swarming with giant arachnids. I flew 60 feet off of the ground, scouting around the castle. I was sure this quest would have me explore the whole area, but I was confident using my flight and uncanny sight I could find any irregular monsters quickly.

As I moved, I saw large groups of warriors, greater spitters, and a few rockback spiders. They moved about mostly by themselves but occasionally would clump up into small groups fighting amongst each other. I saw many spiders with scars and injuries from battling their kin.

After fifteen minutes of flight, I discovered my first irregular monster.

Guardian of Constitution (Rank 2) – lvl 30

It looked as unique and powerful as the knight did on the fourth floor, but it seems that this one was based on the rockback spiders. Where those spiders had rocks attached to the forelegs, this massive tarantula had rocks covering all eight legs, and a small mountain growing out of it’s back. There were even a couple of trees and a small spring trickling on it. It was the size of a house, and big enough that one could live comfortably just in the small grove on its carapace. I would leave defeating it for later, as finding this one a second time would be a simple task, and I didn’t want to tire myself out fighting the physically toughest of the three before I knew what the next ones looked like.

It took another half-hour of flight before I found the second suspicious spider, this one a warrior variant.

Guardian of Strength (Rank 2) – lvl 30

I didn’t know it was even possible, but this spider looked ripped. It had surging muscle hidden in each of its joints, and its legs were thick and powerful. It looked almost identical to the normal warriors otherwise, but unlike the ones I had seen up to now, this warrior had what looked like a set of clubs instead of blades in the front. If my predictions were correct, it would be just as deadly.

I hovered 100 feet in the air where the majority of the spiders were unable to reach me, save for the rare greater spitter, and thought about what I had seen. I had been trying to chart the castle as I went around it, and it appeared to be shaped in a perfect circle. The entrance of the castle faced due north, and I flew around the castle going counterclockwise. When I found the Guardian of Constitution, I was on the precise west side of the castle. Similarly, the Guardian of Strength was on the south side. It stood to reason that the final guardian would be located on the eastern side. I decided to finish my rotation around the structure, and try and take on the guardians in the reverse order I discovered them in. Naturally, though, that depended on how difficult the eastern guardian was to fight.

Hugging the wall of the castle I continued going around the circumference of the gargantuan structure. Considering I’d seen three distinct types of spiders in the gardens, it stood to reason that the guardians would represent those three sub-races. I’d already seen the rockback guardian and the warrior guardian, so all that was left was the greater spitter guardian. It could potentially be the most problematic to fight, but at the same time, my guess was it would have the weakest defenses.

Once I was facing due east of the castle, I began my search of the area, constantly attacked by greater spitters. It was so annoying that several times I was required to swoop down and cull their numbers, but that always proved relatively simple with my enhanced speed, agility, and lack of a ceiling. I searched throughout the whole area for the spider, but after an hour passed, I hadn’t had any luck.

The other two guardians were obvious to spot, but it seemed that this one was far more stealthy. As I pondered my next steps, I saw something flash out of the corner of my eye. Turning to look at it, I saw what appeared to be a small bush twitching back and forth with an irregular motion, clearly concealing something small. The whole plant would only go up to my thighs in height, and it was probable there was a unique spider there. I went ahead and used identify, trying to see if I could get lucky.

Guardian of Agility (Rank 2) – lvl 30

Agility? Considering its size, this thing was probably hella fast. Carefully, I approached. This would be my first target.