"Look out!" Jade yelled at him.

Han looked up to see a spider dropping towards him, likely crawling on the ceiling and waiting to ambush them, while Jade and Han were fighting off a group of armored skeletons. Quickly, Han looked around and saw a slight opening amongst the creatures slowly closing in. Diving towards the space between two of the armored skeletons, he rolled on the stone floor and quickly got back up.

A loud crash was heard, as the spider hit the ground and crushed half of the armored enemy. Using one of its front legs, it swept the remaining enemy away, destroying their bodies. It was twice the height of an average individual, taking up nearly half of the hallway.

"We have to also pay attention to these things crawling on the ceiling?!" Han yelled.

"I'm thinking that at some point we'll be seeing enemies that appear out of the ground, not just dropping from the ceiling...," Jade said as she faced the spider.

The creature lifted both of its front legs threateningly, looking like it was getting ready to attack them.

"Great. Thanks for putting that image in my mind." Han said. As they went deeper into the second level, there were additional types that were appearing. He thought about what else this floor had to offer.

As the two of them faced the spider, Han tried to see if there were any weaknesses they could exploit. He did wonder if it was necessary as he looked at Jade. Traveling in the second level and fighting against monsters seemed to have improved her strength. Switching his hammer he had been using to his sword, he got ready for the fight.

"Han, I'm going to need you to distract the monster, while I aim for its eyes," Jade called out to him.

Nodding his head, Han made his way towards the spider with his sword behind him. Rushing towards the creature, Han tried swinging his sword at the creature's legs. Instead of cutting through two of the legs, Han blade was only able to damage it enough to break the shell. The blood of the spider oozed out from the impact.

Han felt a strong force striking him, flinging him to the wall of the hallway. Crashing into the stone, he realized that he paid too much attention to the attack and not the spider. Getting up, he noticed the monster running over to him.

"I'm guessing that stung, huh?" Han grinned at the Spider.

Behind the spider, Han saw Jade jump and land on the creature's back. It didn't seem to notice Jade, likely with how angry it was at towards Han for injuring its legs. She carefully walked on the monster's back as she made her way to its eyes.

Not wanting the spider to notice Jade, he charged towards the spider. Swinging his sword, Han aimed for the same place he had hit. On cue, the spider quickly moved its legs in reflex. With it trying to avoid Han, the monster's body was tilted and exposed its underbelly.

Redirecting his weapon, there was a spray of blood as Han cut into the monster. "I guess the shell is thinner down here?" Han surmised as he saw the difference compared to when he attacked the legs.

With such a large wound, it began moving around erratically. It tried to half run away and half attack him.

Just as it was trying to get away, the movement of its legs changed.

"Too late!" Jade yelled out as she began slashing its eyes.

The spider lifted its body to try and get Jade off of its back. Using its front legs to attack Jade, there wasn't much success as she continued to blind it further.

"You really shouldn't leave yourself open like that!" Han bolted towards the monster and slid his sword into the spider's belly. He was drenched in the monster's blood, as he twisted the handle of the blade.

Yanking his sword out of the beast and creating distance between himself and the spider, Han watched as its legs lost their strength and the spider crashed into the floor. As the spider was falling forward, Jade jumped off of the monster's back and landed in front of it.

"Good job," Jade complimented him as she looked at the dead spider.

Han casually flicked his sword to get rid of the blood. All over his suit, there was a cloud of mist emanating from it as the suit got rid of the blood. As he was placing his weapon back on his back, Han said, "I was surprised by how thick that shell was. My weapon barely did anything to it. If you hadn't been where you were, I don't think I could have ended it so smoothly."

"I'm just surprised how we're able to take down such a powerful monster that used to require so much time and manpower." Turning to look at Han, she continued, "There wasn't even a guarantee that we could defeat such a creature." There was amazement in her voice as she looked at her hands. "It feels like my abilities are improving as we are making our way through this place. I wonder if we were going about this all wrong?"

"How are the people that solo this game doing?" He asked.

Jade shook her head. "Getting through the first floor may take time, but eventually we began to be able to clear the area faster. The problem is how much the difficulty increases from the first to second floor. The key was staying away from the skeletons and other enemies and see if you could find an easy enemy on the second floor."

He was surprised to hear such things from Jade. Going through the game and being restricted to the first level, Han felt sorry for the other people that were training.

"But now that we are a better idea of how we're meant to play this game, I'm confident that the others won't be restrained. The only problem is the boss that may come up from the lower floor." Jade said.

"The Enforcer," Han said.

Jade merely nodded her head at Han's words.

Going over to where the spider was as it disappeared, both of them looked through the objects left behind. There was a decent amount of gold and silver remaining. Dividing up the items they were interested in the two soon continued to head deeper into the floor.

Expecting to see more skeleton types, Han grabbed the hammer he had gained earlier. There was a substantial feel to the weapon. Its blunt head had performed well when going up against enemies that needed to be smashed instead of being slashed.

----------------

As they walked, Han was amazed at how the dungeon differed and was never the same. There would be long hallways but also areas that were open. Currently, there was one side that had a wall while the other side was open. Looking, Han saw how massive this floor was. Walking over to where the floor ended, he viewed the various paths. Some were covered while others were exposed. In the areas, without a path, only a void could be seen.

"It makes it seem like you'd fall forever," Han muttered.

"This is the first time I've seen this area," Jade said. "Though this place is dangerous, there is a certain amount of beauty to be seen. If there weren't monsters roaming about, this place would be perfect for a dating site."

Han could hear the sorrow in her voice, stopping him from asking her what had happened in the past.

"Let's continue," Jade said. She walked away from Han.

Not wanting to argue, Han followed after her. His footsteps on the stone floor echoed.

After walking for several minutes, Han started to hear clattering and scraping noises. At first, he thought that this noise was coming from his steps but soon the sound multiplied and became louder.

Jade looked at him, making him think that she had no idea what the sound was and where it was coming from.

He looked at both ends of the ceiling, thinking that something was heading their way, but it was completely clear of any monsters. It seemed like they could only wait until the sound reached them.

"Should we run?" Han asked.

Jade shook her helmet. "We could end up having whatever is coming towards us follow us and then meet up with another group of monsters."

Listening to the noise, Han had an idea. Walking over to the edge of the path, he looked down into the void.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked as she walked towards him. When she leaned over to look into the darkness, she said, "There's nothing there."

"Maybe...," Han answered. He felt himself holding his breath and after seeing nothing, he let himself sigh. "I guess I was being silly," Han laughed as he looked at Jade.

"No... you were right," Jade said out of nowhere.

Rushing to look down, Han swore. "Kind of wish I wasn't." Below them was a flood of monsters climbing up the cliff face. Grabbing his hammer, he prepared himself for the intense battle.

Jade pulled out both her swords and positioned herself slightly behind him.

After having fought against several groups, the two of them were synced with how to tackle enemies. Using his hammer, instead of his sword, Han would try and knock the enemies off the path. Not knowing how strong the enemies were, he thought about the spider and how little his sword penetrated its armor.

"They're almost here!" Han yelled. A clawed hand grabbed the top of the cliff, about to pull itself up. The moment a head appeared, Han ran up and pulled the hammer back. Swinging the hammer, Han connected with the head of the monster, flinging it into the void.

Two more heads appeared on either side of him. "I got the one on the left!" He yelled as he bludgeoned the creature.

Turning his head, he saw Jade use both swords to stab into the creature's eyes. She then jumped back to give him enough room. While the monster was in pain, Han finished it off. Spinning, Han slammed his weapon into another creature that appeared near him.

With the rate at with the creatures were appearing, Han knew that it was only a matter of time before they were fighting in a more traditional battle style. Kicking the jaw of a monster and slamming the weapon onto the head of another, Han yelled out, "They're coming up too fast! I'll try and hold them off! You should figure out a plan to help us survive through this."

"I think we should go deeper into the level!" Jade yelled.

Crushing the skull of a monster, Han looked back at Jade in confusion. "What about running into monsters?"

"We're going to have to chance it. After going through this level, I'm starting to think that fighting monsters are helping us to gain additional strength! If we're going to survive out there, we need to go as deep as we can!" Jade explained.

He continued to kick and smash monsters as they slowly made their way over the edge.

"Now, Han!" Jade ran further into the floor, going towards potential danger.

Seeing that Jade was clear of the monsters, Han ran after her. He dodged several swipes at him, and slowly picked up speed. The suit was doing a good job of boosting his agility. Trying to concentrate on avoiding the monsters, Han was only able to vaguely keep track of Jade and see in front of him.

"Make a left turn up here!" Jade yelled back at him.

Avoiding a swing, Han answered, "Got it!"

He saw Jade make the turn and he maneuvered himself in order to follow her. With how fast he was going, Han knew that it would be difficult to shed his momentum. He took his hammer and instead of attacking a monster close behind him, the head of the hammer was placed just behind the creature's head.

"I'll be borrowing you for a moment," Han said. Pulling on the handle, Han slightly swung himself and made the turn. He felt like a weight at the end of a string being swung around.

In front of him was Jade who positioned herself with both blades out.

"Hope I'm not late for the party?" He said.

"You're just in time to greet the guests," Jade answered grimly.

Digging his heels into the stone pavement, Han turned to meet the monsters. Putting his hammer away, he brought out the massive sword. Han didn't know whether the blade would be sharp enough to pierce the skin of these creatures but it would be more useful than blunt force.

"Welcome, guests! To build up your appetite, we'll be having a light dance!" Han called out to the slithering creatures. He saw their four arms and long serpentine body, picturing how they used their arms to move or scale up walls quickly.

Ducking under a swipe from the first guest, Han let his weapon slide against the skin, enabling the opponent do all the heavy lifting. He could feel the weapon wanting to be yanked out of his grasp, though his grip allowed him to hang onto it. Pulling on the sword, Han then jumped onto the arm of another creature that was aiming for him. Using the momentum from the attack to spring him up, Han looked at the monster he cut. Nearly half of the creature's arm was still dangling, his blade doing significant damage.

Flipping back, he landed on a monster and stabbed into it to help him regain his balance. An inky substance squirted out as he pulled out the blade. While still on the thing's back, Han increased his strength slightly and swung at the monster's neck. A spray of ink came out as the head toppled forward.

There were so many creatures that Han wasn't able to keep track of them all. A couple of times Han had to duck behind his weapon to avoid an attack. His sword rung like a bell, making him worry about how long it'll be able to hold up against such abuse.

Unable to see if Jade was still alive, Han stabbed another monster. Swinging up, using the handle as a pivot, he was able to land on the monster's shoulder. Tearing out the sword, he quickly decapitated another one.

---------

"You still alive?" Han leaned against the wall of the hallway.

"Whose idea was it to fight all those things?" Jade's voice was filled with exhaustion.

He looked at the sea of inky blood where the horde of monsters used to be. "If it wasn't for this hallway restricting those things, I don't know how we could have survived. Note to self, we're going to need to bring someone that can do mid to long range damage." He groaned. His body felt like it had done through a meat grinder.

"I feel like I could sleep for a week," Jade complained.

Thinking about how much more they had to travel in order to reach the end of this floor, Han muttered, "We're probably going to have to deal with more floods of monsters."

There was silence from Jade.

"What do you think?" He asked.

More silence met him.

"Seriously, we may need to think about heading back and getting more people," Han said. "Jade?" Han said to her when he still didn't get a response.

Just as he was about to head over to Jade and shake her, he heard a deep snoring sound.

Han just stared at Jade's body that was laying on the floor of a dangerous location and all he could hear was the sound of a chainsaw coming out from her microphone. "You must be kidding me," was all he could say.