As James cleared the next floors he thought mostly of how he could optimize his runs and improve his power as well.

‘Improving my power is the clearest way for me to go about going further in this dungeon. It could also mean seeing more of how this dungeon has changed now that I have been in this loop. Information is vital. And while I improve my powers and abilities I need to find a way to bring the others up with me as well. Even if in the future I can one-shot the floor 40 boss it will mean nothing if they can die from one hit from a swarm of enemies or environmental trap I can’t defend against. In order to train I am going to need to do it though. Fuck. Am I actually going to do this?’

James waited until the traps were set for the spiders to enact his plan. With the right mix of weeds found in the swamplands of the forest a paralytic could be made. One which could become an aerosol if burned at high temperatures. Ian didn’t even know what hit him before he dropped to the cave floor. The gas seeped through the mask he had made for himself as he breathed.

Next was Naomi. She was the remaining ranged fighter after all. One shot put her down with a second dealing with a shocked Derek. James had already positioned himself to hit Wes and took him down in two shots. One went to the shield which broke. After staring at it a few times he had found its weakest point especially while it wasn’t being reinforced by abilities. The second hit his heart. James walked quickly and dealt with the paralyzed body of Ian before leaving the cave. While everything would be reset he did not want this Ian to die at the hands of the spiders. Not on purpose at least.

James stepped out of the cave and avoided the spiders who would swarm around the dead bodies of his teammates. He tried not to think about it, but his hands were shaking, and his heartbeat was racing.

‘There is no turning back until I die and this all resets.’

James left the immediate area and began searching for possible targets. During this loop, he planned to work on a few things. First was his perception and trapmaking abilities. This floor was perfect for him to try and do that. He began gathering materials to test a few possible designs.

Next, he needed to improve the power of his skills and push his limits. That could be done more effectively by challenging the queen solo and doing the same with the demon. Some of the things he needed to accomplish included maximizing his power with charged shots, increasing his dual shot up from three to four, and improving the piercing damage of his arrows. He knew that he couldn’t do it all this run but hoped he could gauge his progress and make further adjustments as necessary.

Finally, he needed to improve his magical abilities. While boosting his arrow's creation would give him some headroom he would hit a wall if he avoided training his magic. By infusing different magic during the summoning of his arrows he could not only create piercing or blunt arrows but add elemental effects such as the lightning ability he had trained with up until this point. He needed to add to that arsenal and boost its power.

James cut down the tree branches and started assembling his traps. The process was slow by himself and nothing he did could speed it up. Once he put the pieces together he did a dry fire of the test before resetting it and looking for the spider monster who had been wandering nearby.

The spider-man had come close to his spot but had not noticed James if he made no noise. The patrolling spider monster made the perfect test because it was by itself, and this area was clear of any other monsters that could come in the short term while James took it out.

“Hey, big guy. You want to kill me don’t you?” shouted James as he stepped into the cleared path the spider was walking down.

It immediately spun around and focused its spear on him. James started running. James’s vision adjusted and he could see the trap he set clearly. He jumped when he needed to and grabbed hold of a tree branch above him. James spun in the air briefly before twisting to face the spider approaching him. He rested his feet in the branches and began preparing his shot.

The spider was far enough away that he took his time to summon four arrows. His problem with the skill didn’t come from the ability to summon the four arrows but the time required to summon them in succession or all at once and the practice required to aim them perfectly despite the adjustments needed. And it was the practice he was getting now.

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James released his arrows shortly before the spider monster got to the trap below James. Three of the arrows hit the spider doing a little damage while the last went off course. He started summoning his next batch of arrows. James planned to kill the spider using four arrows at a time or nothing. If he didn’t challenge himself then there was no point in continuing the time loop. Either he would succeed and improve, or he would die and improve a little less.

The trap activated and James jumped back further and released the arrows midair. His jump altered the trajectory of the arrows causing two of them to miss. The spider monster hit the trap causing it to slow down. The packed mud turned to liquid for a few moments before solidifying again causing the spider to become trapped and trip on the trap. There was nothing dangerous in the trap itself, but the fall caused the spider to drop its spear and left itself open to another round of attacks.

This time all four arrows hit though James was only a few feet away by this point. James kicked away the monster’s spear and took advantage of the struggling enemy. He took his time this time around to summon specialty arrows and lined them up on his bow. The hardened arrows pierced holes in the bleeding spider and its life drained from its body.

James looked over the trap he had made. The composition of mud-like material had already adjusted and was used up enough that it could not easily be used again. James moved on from the dead monster in search of other prey to take down.

He worked on his plans for the next trap as he searched for more spider monsters. He had already over-collected most of the materials he needed so the setup was the main thing that took up time.

James decided to set up his trap near one of the secondary entrances into the cave tunnels. A spider was waiting for him at the entrance on guard. He began setting up. The trap he decided upon was a version of the original trap he had made in the caves using a spring-loaded trip wire but this time around it would be double-layered and wrap around at ground level and the height of James’s eyes.

Once his trap was ready he alerted the guard spider, and it came to attack him. James fired off his arrows and started running. One of the four he shot missed once more. James started running and got past his trap before he let it activate. The spider was a bit weary, so the full effects of the trap did not hit it.

Tightened rope released and sprung back towards the spider wrapping its legs with one set and its arms with the other. It started to wriggle immediately and was slow to walk. James prepared some more arrows. This time they all hit the spider. Wounds covered its body at this point and it roared for help.

James looked to the cave and back to the spider and realized that he had set the trap too close. As he enhanced his hearing more James heard the sound of another spider leaving the cave. James charged up his arrows and they cut through the weakened spider monster killing it.

He looked up and checked how far away from the spider he was. It wasn’t enough time to prepare four arrows and aim them properly. James lowed his bow and ran closer to the spider monster. It thrust its spear forward, and James sidestepped it. He rolled under the next attack and waited until his quiver was ready.

Even if he couldn’t gather and aim four arrows at once he pushed mana into his quiver to summon more of them and keep them ready for his attack. The spider performed a large sweeping motion which James anticipated and jumped at.

He was in the air when he felt the arrows in his quiver. James didn’t care exactly where the arrows would go because he was so close to the spider. Once he got them in place he pulled back and let go.

With the arrows being so close overcharging, the bow didn’t change much of their destructive power. Because he had to wait to fire anyway James let two of the arrows become blunt power arrows while the other two were set to armor piercing. The result was the spider being pushed back and the piercing arrows cutting through the armor causing massive holes to form in the spider’s body.

His attack wasn’t without retaliation. As he fell the spider changed the arc of its spear until it was moving upward as James fell back down to the ground. James couldn’t adjust his fall very much, so his right leg took the hit opening up his leg to the bone.

James hit the ground harder than he expected and tried to roll but was inhibited by his injury. He gritted his teeth with the pain and pulled the half-drunk health potion. James had to duck under another attack from the spider as he drank. He winced along the way. The injuries he had made from short range allowed him a little more time to avoid attacks.

James threw the empty bottle at the spider monster hitting it in the eye. It screamed and swung wildly despite being blinded. James moved and avoided a few near misses. He stepped around the spider moving to its back. Its bleeding was affecting it more and more.

It would have bled out eventually if he didn’t do anything, but he needed to rest and let the potion work its way through his body and wounds. James counted to ten and then grabbed the four arrows. The spider died a few seconds later.