The light being emitted from them warded away many of the smaller and weaker monsters. As Jacob and his team walked through the large empty halls of the dungeon, Jacob took a moment to survey the scene.

The hallways seemed to stretch upwards into the darkness, but when he shot a small ball of flame up to the ceiling, he found it was nearly 50 feet up by his estimate. Also by his estimate the floor was equally wide, ‘What the fuck is on this floor that could require this much space?’

As that thought crossed his mind he was unsettled, so he turned to his friends for more information on the dungeon. From what his friends told him of what they knew about this dungeon. He surmised that every floor of the dungeon had the same patter to it.

On level one, they would encounter monsters of level 1-20. On level two the levels ranged from 21-40, on the third they ranged from 41-60, and so on. At the end of every floor was a boss room that you had to pass through to proceed to the next floor.

Creatures toward the entrance of the floor would be towards the low end of the spectrum. Those close to the entrance to the next floor were closer to the other end of said spectrum.

The farthest anyone had reportedly been was the fifth floor. The man who had ventured down that far was the great hero that had succumbed to his injuries after slaying the demon lord long ago. He was the last to fall of his team. The hero reportedly had a level of 136 when he died, while his party were in all in the low hundreds.

“They say that he slayed the boss and earned access to the sixth floor but having been injured and running low on mana he wisely chose to retreat. He always claimed that he felt the greatest evil yet lied on the sixth floor.” Hellen finished recounting the tales of the hero whose name was lost to time.

Jacob heard the rattling of bones and the clanking of metal plates, “Be ready.” Jacob said. Jacob spoke up once more, “Hands please.” They hesitated for a second before complying with his request. “By the power vested in me by the great mother bear, I grant you our strength that we may win this fight. Tread forth my children!”

Jacob spoke as one with the spirit of the great mother bear, he held within him. Light poured forth from him. Each of his companions felt as if something that had been lost was restored within them.

The Battle smiths once more were enveloped by the light of the astral bears, as their forms manifested around them. As it had been before.

From each of them came forth their own bear, each smaller than Jacobs but formidable in their own rights. They seemed to have grown since the last time he had seen them.

Hellen’s bear form was dyed all the colors of a forge. Her bear form covered in plate mail. With a great sword at its side. At its heart stood Hellen, great sword on hand surrounded by a shell of pink energy.

The bear form of Archival was more or less the same as it had been. His bear was dyed in all the colors of spring. Where the astral form placed down its feet the stone turned to dirt and from the dirt rose plant life. Spurred forth by the servant of nature.

Thomas’ bear had grown to stand as tall as Jacob’s own. From his brownish emerald bear form horns protruded from its temples, just like his own. In its hands it too held a great axe. This one dyed in shades of crimson, as too seemed the paws that wielded it.

Around the head of the bear orbiting it was a relatively small sphere of golden light, similar to the stone that orbited his own head. A wisdom stone he had picked up back in the shop Carthus owned.

No sooner had she been enveloped by the bear had she become one with the shadows, vanishing from sight.

From the darkness ran several skeletons clad in rather clean looking armors of varying types. Two had leather armor similar to the kind a rouge like Calista would wear. Three wore light armor, such as chainmail. As the thinner nimbler skeletons rushed them Jacob felt thumping in the ground like the falling of mighty feet.

From the darkness strode forth a giant in ebony plate mail. At first, Jacob was not certain what it was holding in its hands, but as the giant drew closer, he was horrified.

Beneath the helm of the giant all he saw were two red points of light, an undead giant. And the sword it wielded seemed like a great sword made from a plane of darkness itself.

Jacob waited for the skeletons to mob him and his friends, but they did not. What must have been two dozen skeletons had skirted the walls of the hall in order to get by them. They were now trapped as the skeletons behind them formed ranks. Each wielding a weapon of its own.

Jacob waited but they advanced no further, leaving a sizable birth between them and his party. The undead giant continued its march forward, Hellen began to turn pale as she realized what it was. She pointed a shaking hand toward the undead giant in plate mail.

“Guys…that’s the floor boss…”