To everyone who writes to me private messages and what to have reply - please first check the option in your rrl profile that allows to receive messages, cuz I am pretty much always writing back; I have wrote a massage almost as long as chapter… just to get notification that “user has private messaging disabled. You cannot send private messages to this user.”.soooo…. guyz change that option if you don’t want to receive private replies at the top of the chapter… like here… ;)

Gisele somehow managed to get into lover floor. One thing off the list, just 48 more to go, piece of cake! Hm? You probably think, that it should get easier for her, do you? The lower floor, the easier it gets… Well… technically “yes”, in reality “not necessarily”. The monsters are indeed bit weaker here, but dragoness’s condition isn’t even close to her optimal capabilities. Plus minotaurs are fully intelligent creatures can just walk few floors up and down… Yeah, they are not restricted in any way.

She moved from shadow to shadow trying to stay as stealth as possible… which she did clumsily, horribly and beyond any critic. She wasn’t trained for that, but as it proved the statement that “stupid one is always lucky” – she did not encounter any enemies. Yet.

Her shoulder was dislocated, she dragged one of her legs and her battle capability was vanishing with each passing minute. She still could beat one more minotaur in one on one combat… maybe. Safe room. She needed to find a safe room. And that meant that she needed to head into unexplored part of the floor. Not like she had any different option.

She waited another minute gathering strengths and moved into unknown.

Zari’s POV

Sinister sound followed me – the sound of huge body sliding through the narrow corridors. Here and there some pile of bones would raise forming a guardian, which would try stopping me. Yet as I stopped holding myself back the 2nd floor monster proved to be no threat at all. Driven by most primal and savage desirers of feasting on enemy flesh, clumsy, loudly monster without any balance in their stats. Those were classic monsters which tried focusing too much only on one branch of ability. Big monsters were strong but slow. Small were weak but moved in large groups. Completely unoriginal scheme that allowed you to drive them off by using most basic tactics… Well, I didn’t bother using any tactic at all. I simply overwhelmed them.

You have slain [Shadowling Creeper Level 16] You have gained [100 exp] Because of the distance your party member will not receive any [exp] You have slain [Shadowling Creeper Level 16] You have gained [100 exp] Because of the distance your party member will not receive any [exp] You have slain [Shadowling Creeper Level 16] You have gained [100 exp] Because of the distance your party member will not receive any [exp]

Hm? Oh. Yes.. the difference between 2nd and 1st floor was that here the whole ground was filled with bones. Some of them were enchanted with magic, some were just ordinary bones. If you would come to close to those enchanted, they would raise in semi ambush.

… I didn’t notice that at first and simply rode over them, crashing and crumbling over my mass of flesh. What a…. what a…

~Disappointment?

… yeah. Where is my challenge? My blood is boiling… My senses are screaming…

~We are here to save someone…

IT’S NOT LIKE I FOROGT THAT!

~You are yelling, so most likely you did…

NO I DIDN’T! Just… I was told… is one of the hardest dungeons in the continent so…

~ We are on the 2nd floor kid! 2nd! It those first floors has any purpose, it is for lowering awareness of adventurers! You want to feel a trill of the fight? CLIMB FASTER DAMN IT!

I do everything I can! Where is that bloody warp trap?!

~How much floor have you explored till now?

And how can I know that?

~Kid… this is a tower. Usually each floor of tower has pretty much same surface with only layout of walls, doors and stairs shifted… You have the map on previous floor in head?

I do

~Can you make three-dimensional model of tower? Just lay map of this floor over the first one and compare the size. The lacking part between those two maps will be uncovered arena. And now… just got into uncovered places!

Hey, hey, hey, hey! That’s two completely different things! I am a nerd with nice memorization, not a computer collecting and analyzing data in every moment of my life! Give me a break!

~Just try it!

Duh! Curses on you! Let’s see.. previous floor had 72 rooms, 7 of them were empty trap rooms and one was giant, colossal room – the one from which Gisele disappeared. Now, the stairs were located directly after that room, so the stairs that are going “down” on this floor are in same place… directly above. Now, let’s put map of this floor starting from same place. This one has bit weird shape, it’s more like room, inside room-like corridor, inside the room, inside of room like corridor and so on, and so on… I am getting headache…

On the first floor, we were mostly moving from edges to indies of it, which makes stair located in the center of the floor, if we would reverse the pattern, stairs to yet higher floor shall be on the edges… then in center, then in edge, then in center then in… no. I don’t have enough data. Those are only speculations… not that we have anything better.

INT >50 [Y] Mapping skill in possession? [Y] Requirements have been met Via special actions skill [Map mind] has been created [Map mind] Type/Level [Toggle [on/off]/ NA] The ability that allows visualizing surroundings in 2d or 3d models.

Various additional skills [like [Predatory] may be used together with [Map mind]Once explored areas will be forever added to [Map library] and may be viewed by willPay in mind, that areas may change

PS I couldn't keep looking at your struggles like that doing nothing PPS Friend of yours is badly hurt. Move your ass! Quickly! PPPS

Love ya! xoxo

~Aira

“Which time have you saved my ass?”

I said smiling at a lone weed growing from the small crackle in the wall.

~ What would you be without gentle touch of mother?

~ Probably a corpse….

Shush you two! Now… [Map mind]!

In my mind, indeed, a model of two floors one atop of another appeared, first fully explored, second one with black “holes”, yeah, I was right. The pattern of first floor was more than easy, barely any crossroads.

I headed into uncovered areas to…

Another abomination start coming closer. I saw it with both, echolocation and within model of map. It stopped for a seconds, sniffed the air and start walking faster in my direction.

Normally I would try avoiding those weaklings to save as much time as possible… buuuut… he was walking from the direction of unexplored area… sucks to be you, meaty-kun.

“Meeeeeaaaaat…”

Monster yelled as I appeared in its see sight.

“Not that again… can you learn another word or two? Would made our conversation much more educational… Like… who is your favorite writer? Have you ever read Paul Hoffman?” I said without slowing down preparing sickles to “Smaaaaaash… Teaaaaar….. Eaaaaaat….” “… Did I make you develop your inner cunning? Is this beginning of our new, mentally exhausting conversation? What new philosophical secrets will you tell me?!” “M…M…M…” “What is it?” “Meaaaaat.” “…disappointment.”

Monster charged, sickle moved, head rolled.

You have slain [Corrupted Abomination Level 19] You have obtained [180 exp]

My irritations… damn it… damn it…

~Doing what only we can!

I know… it’s just…

You have triggered [Warp trap]! You have been transported to [Floor no. 11]

Magic embraced me, I felt as if my guts were changing places when I was being dragged through the “tunnel”.

When I got my senses back together, I noticed that once again I was standing near the stairs to lower level. So to 10th…

I slowly turned back and start walking down. Yes. Down.

~… I may not be sure… but… we should walk… you know… up…. Gisele is… up…

And do you know what is on lower floor?

~Nope

A boss. A Keeper of 10 levels is on floor below us. Probably in very room behind us…

~Aira told ya that Gisele is hurt…

Lust. I am walking timebomb. Either do your job or I will lose my shit. I long for a worthy opponent… I want to feel… the thrill… And I want it… now!

~Lust… Wrath…

~Sorry…

~Just do it quickly

Stench of decayed meat turned to be unbearable. My mind went dizzy, heart started pounding. And I grinned, baring rows of sharp like needles teeth.

The sketch of the room start appearing in the [Map] and then, one after another – silhouettes of creatures living there – Corrupted abominations… but bigger. Except for one.

“Intruder…”A deep voice could be heard “… from… above? Weird. Intruder. You. Weird.” “Was I just insulted by a walking corpse?”It’s even more… insulting…” “You… monster? But not. From tribes.” “Tribes?” “Many. Lives above. Strong.”

The monsters start growling.

“No talking. Eating!”Another snarled “Yes…” small one said “…Me… stupid. You food. We eat. You meat.”

Really? That again? Tsh, he had higher intelligence yet still is dummy, so I thought I could get some information about next floors… But, in the end, it was not the very main reason why I came here.

For this whole time, my grin never vanished. Not even for a second.

“It’s sad that our conversation ends here…”I started “We will talk… we kill… we eat…. You die… hoods come… raise you… then… we will talk…”

I like his spirit… Abominations here held a huge axes or maces, yet the small one some kind of blade. Maybe even a katana. He slowly took it out from a sheath, the blade let out evil hiss.

“Now… we eat…”

And then it begun. The leader simply stood there, even more he put his sword down supporting his whole body on it. Four of eight guardians rushed at me.

First – from the left, I glided in his direction in zigzag pattern, in safe distance from him I stopped, moved in small circle making my tail to build as spiral under me.

I waited for the creature to get closer, before it get close enough to perform a strike, I used my body to raise higher above it and dropped my whole posture on it. Even if creatures were stronger and smarter, they weren’t much less clumsily, I took my time slowly tying its body while shutting my grip tighter and tighter. Within a moment I heard bones snapping, muscles gave up and splashes of rotten blood got all over me.

I left the corpse and prepared myself for another encounter. Two creatures came in same time.

One of them swung his axe from the side, I parried it with one of my sickle, while I used another to bury it in enemy side, it grunted yet didn’t stopped swinging his weapon. All this time I kept my other side safe by raising wall of fire. The 3rd monster wasn’t happy about that.

I caught my previous opponent in grip and burrowed my teeth in his neck, the horrible taste filled my mouth, I spited lump of meat with sickened expression. I swallowed my pride and sense of hygiene and once again bite the creature’s neck till it stopped moving.

Coating my hands is mana I began to pound my enemies again and again turning them into a pulp. Each strike kept splashing pieces of Abominations around the room.

When the slaughter was done, I raised my head pointing my empty eye sockets at the leader of abominations

You have slain [Corrupted Vanguard Level 23] You have obtained 250 exp You have slain [Corrupted Vanguard Level 23] You have obtained 250 exp You have slain [Corrupted Vanguard Level 23] You have obtained 250 exp You have slain [Corrupted Vanguard Level 23] You have obtained 250 exp

Pulverizing his subordinates didn’t leave any impression on the keeper. He just raised his sword, moved it around couple of time as if trying if his muscles were still working in the right way. Apparently, they did.

Dance macabre started another time.

That it. I don’t know how to feel about it. Again, personally, I don’t like it. It feels empty. One could ask, why then I bother writing those chaps?

For sake of exp! To push the story Zari has to get stronger – aka level up... at least to 20... Aaaand as my personal skills in writing and describing battles is lacking… well, you just have to bear with it. Till next time.