James’s vision flashed in and out. He was on the floor before he knew it. James could not focus and kept his eyes closed. He wished for a loop reset but the time didn’t come. He was aware that the novices were speaking and around him, but he gave no acknowledgment.

His arms were covered in burns up to his elbows. He could not feel anything but the pain from them. Ian tried pouring a health potion into his mouth, but James coughed it back up.

“Healing won’t work,” James rasped before fading out of consciousness.

This continued for an unknown amount of time.

“The potion didn’t work,” said Ian.

“Of course, it didn’t work. He said it himself and you can see the injuries yourself,” said Naomi.

“What should we do?” asked Wes.

“We can only wait and see if he regains consciousness,” said Ian. “He is in a lot of pain right now, but his wounds are not fatal. At least we can wait as long as we need, and we shouldn’t run into any problems.”

“Except for running out of food,” said Derek.

“That shouldn’t be a problem for 24 hours at least,” said Ian.

“Those look like curse burns. It fits the look and the fact that it can’t be healed by our basic potions. We would need an above-average healer to fix his arms and even then they wouldn’t work right for at least a month. I might not be correct but that is my guess,” said Derek.

“So what? Do we just wait? When will he be awake again? Will he wake up?” asked Naomi.

“Let’s check back in an hour. If you want to kill some time you can try and figure out what we did wrong with the puzzle,” said Derek.

The group sat in silence, watching over James as he lay unconscious on the floor. They could only wait and hope that he would recover. Ian checked his pulse every so often to make sure he was still alive. Derek and Naomi tried to brainstorm what could have gone wrong with the puzzle, but they were unable to come up with any answers. Wes sat quietly, looking worried.

After what felt like an eternity, James finally stirred. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned in pain.

"James, can you hear me?" Ian asked, his voice full of concern.

"Yes, I can hear you," James croaked. "Everything hurts?"

"That would be the burns," Derek said. "We can’t fix them now. We have just been waiting and looking over the puzzle."

James nodded weakly. "I'll be fine soon. The pain is still a constant, but it has lessened," he said, but his voice was shaky and full of pain.

Ian looked at him with concern. "You need to rest," he said. "We'll figure out what to do next once you're feeling better."

“I have rested for too long. Tell me what ideas you have for the puzzle while I was out.”

“My best guess is that we only gave half an answer,” said Naomi. “That is because we must have been partially correct or else you would have died. I think we needed a longer answer explaining more of our thoughts especially because it is a single question.”

“Ok. So, our statement could be ‘Your poem is not ancient and therefore has affectation which is not interesting.’”

“That is what I would do.”

“Assuming that is correct what should we be doing on the next floor? How are we going to move you? Why shouldn’t we just leave you at the floor entrance?” asked Ian accusatorily.

“Ian!” said Naomi.

“No, he is right,” said James. “This next floor will suck for me at least. Naomi take my bag off me. You will be the one responsible for holding it and rationing its supplies. Give me a few minutes and I can at least walk around. This next floor will luckily be less about fighting but strategizing around unavoidable objects. We will need to ration the rope and knives to climb the rock beasts that roam the hills on the floor. The beasts can’t be defeated especially by our group so we will need to follow them and maybe trap them. On their backs are gems of different types. We will need to collect one of all four kinds. Our main worry besides myself will be how to effectively climb the beasts, mark which ones we have taken from, and the eagle's nest near the center of the floor. They will be the only enemies we have to face head-on if we are not careful.”

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“Collecting the gems seems more time-consuming than dangerous. What are the abilities of these eagles?” asked Naomi.

“They are ten feet long and have a comparable wingspan relative to normal eagles. They occasionally perch on the rock beasts to scout for prey. Along with a deadly set of talons they have some wind-aspected mana that they use to gain speed in the air and stumble their prey. Usually off the rock beasts. Watch for them as you climb.”

The group continued to discuss their plan for the next floor, taking into account James's injuries and their limited supplies. Naomi took charge of James's bag and began rationing out the supplies they would need for their climb. While the novices discussed James’s thoughts fell back on the time loop.

“This loop should end soon to stop my pain if nothing else,” James thought. “I just need to confirm what the answer to this puzzle is or die trying. Even if they can get everything without my help the problem will just compound against the drake. It will target me and end me. I at least know some of the things I need to try different and stuff I can improve on. While we have gotten the farthest this time I have exhausted myself the most. At this point, I don’t know how long I have been in the dungeon. It has definitely been a week but a month. I don’t know.”

It soon came time for James to answer the question the dungeon had presented. He didn’t bother standing up and only adjusted his body, so a hand was touching the wall.

“Here goes nothing. Your poem is not ancient and therefore has affectation which is not interesting.”

James felt his arms numb a little bit and he looked up and saw the same floor. The dungeon started to shake. He looked to the side opposite the entrance and a new door was forming. The arch came together from both sides. Once they connected the familiar glow of a portal blinked into existence.

“Floor 24 everybody,” James said with no enthusiasm. His arms stayed glued to his sides and hung there.

Wes and Derek each grabbed an arm and helped James up. Once he was standing he was able to walk on his own. He still grimaced in pain but fought through it as he passed through the exit portal.

He almost fell back down once through, but Wes caught him. The ground shook a little under their feet. Not too far away from them was a towering rock creature. It walked on four legs and a wide body. James estimated that just from the bottom of its legs to its chest was about fifty feet.

Spinning around he spotted a few more. They all looked to be the same size or larger than the first.

“Let’s start heading towards the first beast. We will need to be quick to grab on and be careful. Despite their size, they will all be moving much faster than we can all run. We will need to time it perfectly. Once we are at the top we can catalog the first gem we get and use the beast as a ride to the next one and scout out where all of the rock beasts are. Depending on the randomness of the dungeon there will be twelve to fourteen of the beasts running around.”

They began their walk towards the first of the rock beasts. James was able to move his legs easily, but his motions moved his arms which caused some pain. He gritted his teeth and kept walking. Even though he was nearing the end of what he could do this time through the loop he could gather more information if nothing else. James’s walking became easier the more he did it. The pain started to fade while lingering in the back of his mind.

Getting James onto the beast was a team effort. Once they neared Nami used some of the rope to tie him down so that she could hold him should he fall. The beast’s leg rushed towards them as they prepared. All of them lurched as they held on and were pulled upward with the leg. James gritted his teeth but stayed on. He could not grip much of anything, so he wrapped his arms around the leg and used his feet to stay on.

The climb was slow for James. He used his chin as support as he adjusted his legs and moved them upward before sliding the rest of his body upward. He bit his tongue as he climbed and promised himself that it would be over soon.

The others were already at the top when he arrived. He looked around and was able to see most of the dungeon floor. In the distance, he saw a few more of the rock beasts he had missed while so close to the ground. James also spotted where the eagle's nest lay. The rock beast was not moving any closer to it.

“Did you find the gem?” asked James.

“Yeah I grabbed it,” said Ian. “It was placed by the neck of the beast. It took me melting a bit of the rock to pry it out. I am not sure what kind it is.”

“It is purple and white so that is an amethyst. It is the most common we will spot on the backs of these things. We will want to head to the nearest beast next and keep searching. We will eventually need to head toward the eagle’s nest, but I will avoid it this time around. It has been nice, but it has been painful. I will see you all soon.”

James forced mana through his hand despite the pain and the pure mana cut the rope tied around his waist. Without letting the novices get close he jumped off the rock beast with an empowered leap. The wind caught on his clothes, and he focused on cutting out his external senses as he fell and then returned to the 17th floor.