Ajax wished that we could keep Oliver’s betrayal under wraps but unfortunately that would be too much of a security risk. Without the option to descend back down to lower floors they would have to exit the dungeon or follow Ajax and exit together to make sure they all came out at the same time. Since following him past this floor was clear suicide for the both sub level thirty casters they all just chose to exit now and deal with the consequences of a more public betrayal.

Ajax quickly shook his head and turned away from the exit, the public perception and politics would have their turn but for now he was to be focused on getting this dungeon over with. The biome of the fourth floor wasn’t all that great for him, a dark shadowy landscape filled with jagged edges. It was what he imagined hell would look like if someone extinguished all the fire and just let the place fall to darkness.

None of this matters to Ajax however as the strongest monster to be found on this floor would only be level forty-five, unless he did something monumentally stupid like activating the obelisk the risk to him on this floor was minimal. More than that he didn’t even have to care about the theme of the next floor since he would be going one above that so all he needed to do was find the first arch, kill the mini-boss defending it and push forwards.

Much like Ajax expected it didn’t take him all that long to find the first arch, the only problem was that he could feel just how much curse mana was in the ambient mana so for once he wouldn’t have all that much time to use [Mana Syphon]. Unwilling to suck in curse mana he would have to rely purely on his own reserves to kill his enemies this time.

The shadowy creatures turned out to be very similar to cephalopods, the only difference being that they were pitch black and they had a massive maw in the center of their head they could use to swallow a dog in one bite.

Ajax’s fist hit on them quickly got him to switch his weapons from the more defensive heavy hitting shield and hammer to his axe and sword. The slimy shadowy fiends all but shrugged off his initial hammer blow, the heavy metal gliding off their skin.

His attempts with a bladed edge turned out much better as he quickly cleaved through the small minions as the main boss stumbled to create some distance with three of the tentacles sliced off. Despite their speed and resistance to blunt attacks the small wind mana blades his swing released had gone through them like a hot knife through butter.

“This is why an adventurer always brings different weapons to a fight.” Ajax muttered one of the rules Hatchet had drilled into his head all those years ago, “specializing in one area means opening a weakness in another.”

Ajax passed through the arch without another thought after he sensed an odd combination of metal and lightning that he shouldn’t have any problem fighting against. He was going to have to spend some time on the fifth floor as he hunted for a good arch from which to enter the sixth and final floor he planned to step on.

As he took in his new surroundings Ajax could only stare slack jawed as he carelessly dismissed the screen informing him of the extra stat points he received for clearing another floor.

How was this possible, was it because of him? Is it the gods playing a prank on him? Standing in front of him was a droid, one that very much reminded him of the ones he had seen in the Star Wars prequels if they were made a bit more solid, complete with a blaster and everything.

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“Intruder! Intruder!” The droid turned on him and opened fire, real blaster fire actually coming out from the rifle.

Thankfully Ajax could only thank whoever was playing this sick game with him that despite the somewhat clear resemblance to the droids fighting in a galaxy far far away, this droid not only had a level of forty-eight but his blaster fire lacked not only in accuracy but also in power, the two shots he had taken when caught by surprise had done barely more than heat up his armor and give him a small circular second degree burn on the exposed skin it hit.

“Is this because this is the first time I am truly alone on a floor?” Ajax couldn’t help but mumble as he brought his hammer and shield back out. The droid didn’t even have a chance to recover for a response as Ajax vaulted over his cover to come rushing towards the droid shield first pinning it to the wall before a well placed hammer swing left it without a head.

Ajax wasn’t done there though as he wasn’t taking any chances as he separated every limb from the torso of the droid before he could finally relax, and even that proved to be a moment too soon as [Danger Sense] howled at him.

“Chances of success 0% initiating self-destruct” the bashed in head of the droid got out before every piece exploded, fortunately Ajax was quick enough to get away without being hurt any further.

“You’re fine, you’re fine” Ajax kept whispering to himself as he started to explore the labyrinth of tunnels that, surprisingly enough, were nice enough to open the doors for him.

His moment of peace and quiet was very much short lived as the rolling ball of death he knew as a droidicar rolled out from the next door only to spring up from the ball shape, snap on its force field and begin blasting at him.

Despite the novelty of his new enemy Ajax was more than ready for a fight to break out this time, he wasted no time blocking the blaster fire with his shield as he approached the droid. Much to his surprise the droid had no issue with the insignificant damage it was doing to the shield and even refused to back away.

His answer as to why that was was made clear when he felt his hammer swing lose close to a third of its momentum the instant it made contact with the force field. Even that wasn’t enough however as the force field proved to be good enough that the droid simply bounced four times off the walls like a pinball before turning to return fire.

“Too overconfident” Ajax was quick to mumble as he once again close the distance from behind his shield with the droid doing nothing more than scratching at the shield Ajax was using to protect himself.

As Ajax swung the hammer a second time, unlike the first however this blow completely stopped the moment it made contact with the force field. Not only that but the hammer’s dark purplish radiance vanished at the moment of contact as well only for the droidicar to crumple to the floor in a pile of bent metal as the void blow finished it off in one swing. “I’ve got nothing to hide if there is none to see it” he said smiling as he examined the half-crushed round droid.

Much to Ajax’s pleasure the rifle from the first droid he had met on this floor was still very much in a working condition as Ajax picked it up and fired off a few practice shots. Despite the first one going relatively straight the second third fourth and fifth all went far astray as the blaster clearly had some severe recoil that also came in from odd angles on every consecutive shot.

“I take back everything I said about bad aim in the movies.” Ajax silently begged as he still carried the blaster everywhere with him. “If they were shooting with anything that even resembles this it’s no wonder they can’t hit anything.”

Four doors and three basic droids later Ajax was once again carefully exploring the layout of the dungeon floor. “Easy does it, just don’t run into a Jedi or a Sith.” Ajax tried to encourage himself as he continued looking for the next arch.

Ajax’s bad luck seemed to continue as he made his way through the tunnels as he left behind a pile of scrap metal, surprisingly his [Mana Syphon] had no effect on the droids at all, it seemed despite their clear use of magic that presented in the way of magically enhanced short from the blaster. The same couldn’t be said for his lightning as more than one or two droids were sent into a sporadic seizure as he shot them with a lightning arrow.

The droids fragile nature being only displayed further when the jerks from the current passing through them leads to them breaking their own limbs off as they hit them against the floors and walls.

It takes Ajax two more hours to finally find an arch he is happy with as he senses a balance of Earth and Life in the arch as well as a bit of water. Instead of entering the next floor however Ajax decides to rest here for the night before heading into the new floor soon.