Level fourteen was supposed to be a scaled-up version of a wooded ecosystem. Someone had mentioned during the briefing that the flora and fauna had been enlarged at different scales. The plants were all doubled in size, while the animals— the monsters— were anywhere between four and ten times the size of their natural counterparts.

It wasn’t at all apparent to me. The trees were big, sure, but not as big as the giants on floors eleven and twelve. How do you tell a giant small tree from a normal tall tree? I guess there was always…

[Identification]: - Giant Witch Hazel - Properties: Irritating Sap

Well there you go, it’s a giant, I thought. It didn’t actually look that big, about six meters high, but I guess the regular version was shorter.

As for the animals, I didn’t have to go far to find them. There was a crowd of them just past the initial burst of undergrowth— giant undergrowth— that screened the entrance. It was a collection of animals that wouldn’t look out of place in an American or European forest. Bears, wolves, dear. Something that I wasn’t familiar with…

[Identification]: - Giant Wolverine - Threat 37 - Properties: Armoured fur, extra attacks

I gulped. It looked meaner than the one in the comics, and it stood about five feet at the shoulder. Like all the others though, it didn’t seem to see me, and it wasn’t engaged in any activity. It was… just standing there. They all were.

That was not what they were supposed to be doing. They were supposed to be spread out all around this level, getting hunted and hunting in return. This floor was another long spiral leading down to the exit. Unlike the floor above, the ground was a ribbon, twisting around under itself in a helix. As I moved past the crowd of monsters, I got to see it for myself. The ribbon was about a kilometre wide, maybe a little more, and I could walk to the edge and get a good look at the level as a whole.

It was an incredible view, like something out of a computer game. The ground curved down and around, ducking out of sight underneath me. I could see all the way across the lower forest to the outer wall.

And I could see the monsters.

It looked like the entire population of the floors below had grouped up and was marching forward. Not in formation, but in waves, as if each of the monsters of each floor were being driven out by the monsters of the next lower floor.

First were what looked like a collection of animals from an African wild game hunt. Lions, tigers, elephants and others. Most of them slipped effortlessly through the trees, but the elephants just crashed forward through them. Watching a giant tree get effortlessly crushed made me realise just how big those creatures were. Ten meters, twelve meters high? It was hard to tell at this distance.

The ogres were next. In any other dungeon, I would be happy to call them giants, but that was a pretty overused term here.

[Identification]: - Ogre - Threat 39 - Properties: Berserk, Armoured Skin

They stood a little shorter than the elephants, but that was far too tall for my taste. If it wasn’t for the relative lack of hair and the horns, I would have thought them to be giant gorillas. Giant, hulking, naked humanoids, they stumbled forward, mostly keeping to the trails created by the elephants. Some of them would absently strip the branches off trees as they passed. Not for clubs, but for something to chew on. They’d take a bite of the leafy end, and then throw the rest away.

In this way, the elephant trails were widened for the ogre’s betters to pass through.

[Identification]: - Greater Ogre - Threat 40 - Properties: Berserk, Armoured Skin, Skilled

The Greater Ogres were more organised. They wore skins for clothing and carried simple spears and clubs. They had a leader, and someone else…

[Identification]: - Greater Ogre Shaman- Threat 42 - Properties: Armoured Skin, Skilled, Caster

[Identification] Level 5 acquired through use

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

I wondered idly if [Identifying] bigger monsters gave me more skill experience. It seemed like it should. Dismissing the distracting thought, I turned my attention to the monsters from the next floor.

[Identification]: - Dorsan Giant - Threat 41 - Properties: Adamant Skin, Skilled

There weren’t many of these, less than twenty. But there didn’t need to be many. Standing fifteen meters tall, they were armed and armoured in steel. They laughed and called out to each other as they marched up the ramp, diverting out of their way to cut down the few trees that remained. A single swipe of those swords was enough to cut a tree down.

I almost mistook the penultimate monsters for their slightly smaller brethren, but [Mana Sense] made them look different enough to be worth an [Identify]

[Identification]: - Giant Lord- Threat 42 - Properties: Adamant Skin, Skilled, Caster

Caster wasn’t the only difference, though. [Mana Sense] was showing me a glow running over their equipment. It was too far away to lock [Identify] on their swords, but I could make out their armour clearly.

[Identification]: - Steel Chainmail of Elemental Resistance - Quality: Excellent - Properties: Enchantment (Elemental Resistance)

That was a nasty little joke. An enchanted item that no one else could use. And it was steel, so the enchantment would degrade over time. If it had been made out of mithril at least— but that would have been a lot of mithril.

Finally, there was the Forsaken Giant. He was easy to pick out. At thirty meters tall, he more than stood out. It wouldn’t do me any good, but I [Identified] him anyway. How often would I get the chance?

[Identification]: - The Forsaken Giant - Threat 43 - Properties: Adamant Skin, Skilled, Call of the Forsaken

Could Finley fight all this? I didn’t know, but I didn’t think so. Maybe back where Kaito was, they could manage some sort of defence. Most of the larger monsters here would need to go up that ramp in single file. Could the monsters climb the cliffs to get around their positions? I found the idea disturbingly plausible.

The real problem was those [Skilled] monsters. Skills were a multiplier for monsters, just like us. When they were multiplying those enormous Threat values, they generated immense skill totals. I had been feeling pretty safe with a four-fifty skill total in my [Invisibility] spell. Monsters weren’t renowned for their intelligence, so having one generate a higher [Perception] total than that seemed unlikely.

However, with a skill, a Threat forty monster would only need a skill and intelligence of four each to see past my spell. That was much more likely.

The same went for combat skills. Kaito and her company were already being pressed by Threat thirty-three monsters. Taking the Threat up to forty would be nasty enough, but even a low skill would double the skill total of a rampaging monster.

If your crazy plan works, they won’t have to fight, I reminded myself. I started heading down again, staying fairly close to the edge. The horde below was mostly concentrated in the centre of the ramp, so with a bit of luck, I might be able to sneak past them. I didn’t stay right on the edge though, in case I could be spotted from below as I approached.

I wasn’t running now. Even if it made no sound, I was too nervous about what was ahead to run towards it. When the first of the giant cats slipped out of the forest ahead, I nearly pissed myself.

The giant tiger that paced its way toward me wasn’t that tall. Not compared to what was to come. But it was still taller than me, and it was built to be much closer to the ground than I was. Now I knew what a mouse felt like.

It didn’t register my presence, though. I moved to the side, and it just kept on walking, its tail lashing from side to side. You can bet I steered well clear of that.

The other animals were close behind, though I didn’t come close enough to see an elephant. The ogres too, I was able to avoid. They made so much noise, it was easy to keep my distance.

The Greater Ogres though, were organised enough to have scouts, and they were Skilled.

“Enemy sighted! Pursuing!” The shout came from ahead of me, I couldn’t see from where. I’d been out-stealthed by a giant, how embarrassing. I didn’t stop to try and find him. Nor did I pause to note how, again, even monster languages got translated into intelligibility for me. I just ran, as fast as I could, for the edge.

How many Skills does he have? I thought to myself. I didn’t have any way of figuring it out, but my brain apparently needed something to worry about while I fled. Monsters didn’t normally have many skills, but monsters weren’t normally this powerful. Three, five or maybe even more?

He had [Perception], that was clear. And he probably had a weapon skill. But did he have [Run]? That was the question of the next five seconds. I wasn’t far away from the edge, but the Ogre scout had legs that were longer than my entire body— if I stretched my arms out. He had to be faster than me. I might have startled him by running, that might have given me a seconds head start.

I heard a crashing from behind me, but I didn’t turn around, didn’t even jink to the side. There was no time. If I heard a swoosh of a club, I’d try [Jumping], but I didn’t think I’d get the chance. There was—

There was clear light in front of me. I jumped. I heard a swoosh behind me, and then I was in the open air.

Jump before you hear the swoosh, that’s the way to do it, I thought, crazily. There was a lot of open air below me, but I took the time to glance back. The ogre hadn’t followed me. His head was about the same level as mine now, as my [Jump] had reached the top of its arc. I was already falling though and he would soon be far above me.

I took a second to concentrate and materialised a potion into my hand. It wouldn’t do to mess up and drop it. Plus, I wanted to get a bit of distance from that ogre. Hitting the ground would hurt, but maybe not as much as getting hit by that club.

He watched me frowning. Actually, that might have been his default expression. It was barely a moment before I was out of reach of anything he might do, so I drank the potion of Feather-fall.

Twenty-five gold down the drain, I thought sourly, but it was better than being pulverised into mush. As the magic took hold, I stopped accelerating downwards and started to coast. I wasn’t exactly like a falling feather. I stopped accelerating, but the velocity I’d gained from my few seconds of fall stayed with me. I made a note for future usage. If I took the potion before I fell, then I’d drift down slowly, but if I took it while falling at terminal velocity, I would still be boned. Maybe I’d slow from air resistance?

This… wasn’t too bad. I had a kilometre or two to fall, so doing it at a decent speed would save me some time. And my current speed wasn’t so high that [Jump] couldn’t absorb the landing. Probably.

It looked like I wouldn’t make it all the way to the bottom, anyway. At least, not uninterrupted. I still had my sideways velocity from my jump, and it was taking me slowly across the central shaft. Like dropping something down a stairwell, you had to be careful that you dropped straight down, or you’d bounce off the railings.

In my case, I gently impacted the cliff under the ramp at about two turns down. That wasn’t too bad. I used [Jump] again to push myself off. It gave me a bit of a spin, but I managed to correct it before hitting the ground.

I tried for a proper heroic three-point landing, but it’s more difficult than they make it look. [Jump] doesn’t help with looking cool. Instead, I absorbed the impact with a slightly embarrassing tumble and another fifteen hit points.

I looked over at the exit. It was easy to see. There was no sign of a boss chamber, just a gaping hole big enough for the Forsaken Giant to crawl through. If my speculation was right, there should be nothing between me and the final floor.