Fenrir

Hmm, well that wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it certainly was unorthodox.

The intruders need a way to kill the monsters, or at least survive, but I was mostly just expecting them to figure out a way to get around the barrier with an attack.

Then again, I don’t think they saw the scy-wolf’s spider limb spinning in circles to keep up the barrier.

After all, it’s not hard to figure out how to stop the barrier if they did. But then again, it’s probably not all that likely that in intruder would just casually walk up to the barrier and try to peek around it.

But all they really needed to do to stop its barrier was to stop its spider-like limb from tracing the barrier for more than ten seconds.

Anyways, this is a pretty innovative group, so I doubt the others will think of something like bringing the entire roof down on it. So the setup for the mini boss should still work fine.

My current thoughts grind to a halt as I watch the group of intruders eventually make their way into the stairs towards the tenth floor.

Okay, now this is what I’ve been waiting for.

This one is just like the previous floors in its scaling strength of the monsters, except that the higher leveled monsters in this floor are Tier 2, and there aren’t as many higher leveled monsters as there are in the previous floors.

That said, I’m still very curious as to how they’ll deal with the Tier 2 monsters.

The end of the staircase to the tenth floor

A collective shiver runs through each of the members of the group as they open the door to the tenth floor, letting some of the cold air enter the staircase.

“That’s not a pleasant sight,” Elizabeth mutters as they pass through the door into the web-infested taiga that is the tenth floor.

“I guess the main monster of this room is pretty clear,” Roland mutters to himself as he tightens his grip on his staff and looks around.

The others all nod their heads in agreement before tensing up as a hissing sound can be heard coming from a snow-covered patch of bushes.

Not even a few seconds later, a group of three level nine arachnids burst out, spraying snow along with them as they skitter quickly across the ground towards the group.

Elizabeth immediately nocks an arrow to her bow and shoots at one of them, scoring it in the abdomen and making it fall to the ground with a screech as the others continue until Faraek swings his axe at one of them, bisecting its head in half. Meanwhile, the last remaining arachnid arrives at Roland right before getting a knife tossed into one of its eight eyes.

Loud screeching echoes from the two surviving arachnids, only for it them to be silenced as the group finishes them off.

Roland glances at the corpses for a second while they’re disappearing before looking ahead and saying, “Let’s move, but be careful of possible Tier 2 monsters. This is the tenth floor after all.”

The others all nod at his words before starting forwards through the floor.

Over a dozen minutes pass as the group continues to slay arachnids and the occasional arachnae before they run into a small cave entrance.

“Well, that’s interesting…” Roland mutters as he reads the words inscribed above the cavern entrance.

Puzzle Cavern

“At least the dungeon’s warning us,” Sophia says with a slight shrug.

Faraek looks between the two before focusing on the cavern entrance as he adds, “The dungeon probably just doesn’t want people wandering lost through its floor, killing off the weaker enemies and wasting its mana in the process.”

Roland nods at his interpretation. He then begins walking into the cavern itself with the other following close behind him.

After not even a minute of walking through the dark cave, with nothing to rely on besides the minimal night vision granted to them by their cultivation, the group pauses at the sound of skittering.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Roland raises his staff and uses a fireball spell at the direction of the noise, causing it to blast out and burn several arachnids alive.

Elizabeth winces slightly at the loud sound of the spider’s screeching before the entire group turns forwards again and continues making their way through the cave system.

Eventually, after dealing with over a dozen different groups of arachnids, the group finds themselves entering a large cavern, with a mana infused, Tier 2 arachnae standing guard at the back of the cavern, and several dozen cocoons scattered throughout the area.

“This…” Roland begins before pausing as a few dozens of the cocoons suddenly shatter, letting out small spider monsters with them. “Might be a challenge.”

Fenrir

Now this is interesting. The very first cavern they entered was the one with my new little monsters.

Although all they are really are just miniature arachnids.

My thoughts are suddenly interrupted as Dawn says from near my core, “Oh, by the way. Did you start working on the portals yet?”

I immediately turn my attention towards her before asking, “Portals?”

Dawn freezes in place, her flame going yellow in surprise.

What’s this about…

Oh.

“How did you manage to forget that you could make portals at Tier 2?” she asks, with her disappointment clear in her tone.

“Well,” I begin, turning away from her as I speak, “you only mentioned it once not too long after we first met, so…”

I feel Dawn’s attention practically burning a hole in my core before she lets out a sigh – which I didn’t realize was possible, considering that she’s a wisp that doesn’t breathe – and says, “I guess you have a point there.”

She then continues while turning her attention towards the party of intruders as they begin to combat the monsters within the cavern whilst having their own Tier 2s deal with the arachnae, “So when are you going to get to work on the portals, then?”

A rush of excitement runs through my core at the thought of making portals and I immediately answer, “Now!”

Dawn turns her attention towards me again, with her flame glowing a greenish blue color that I’ve learned meant exasperation as she says, “And what about the intruders?”

“I’ll focus on them again once they reach Fang,” I say, turning back and forth between her and the intruders, “but for now, I want to make portals!”

After all, I’m starting to have more and more boss floors, and I can’t have intruders going through the entire dungeon during each run. It would just be a waste of mana to have Tier 2s wipe through my first ten floors with ease.

And while I’m at it, I might as well make something to tell the intruders up above whether an instance is free or not.

Maybe some sort of wolf head for each instance, where their eyes glow when the instance is in use?

That could work.

I glance at the intruders one last time before focusing on Dawn and asking, “Please teach me how to make portals!”