"You know, I really thought there would be stairs," Austin's voice echoed off the cave walls we were traveling down.

We were in the process of making our way down to the fifth floor after defeating the fourth floor guardian and it was taking longer than usual. The tunnel extended on for quite a while without a monster to fight leaving us alone with only our footfalls echoing off the tunnel to accompany us.

The fourth guardian was a massive lizard the size of a car that had an earth affinity to help it out. Well, the affinity didn't do much to us but to anyone else, it would be a difficult fight.

We were a great distance below ground and were surrounded by stone and rock on all sides. The thing literally ripped chunks of it out of the walls and ceiling to use.

It was a touch unfair in my opinion but the thing died all the same.

"Like in games?" I questioned, "Yeah, I can see it. Maybe some dungeons do have stairs? Not all of them are the same apparently."

Our conversation broke the silence we were in and carried through the open tunnel. The quiet was odd at first but quickly became normal after traveling through four floors.

"Where do you think the monsters come from?" Austin asked, "What do you think's wrong with them?"

I just turned and gave him a dumb look. His ball of light illuminating the area made the face I was making at him visible even if he didn't turn to face me. He knew what I was doing.

"Man, you are asking the wrong person. You just had a chance to ask the two most knowledgeable on dungeons and you waited to ask me?" I joked.

We both chuckled at that but Austin continued, "That was different. We were being told what to expect but now I've actually seen it. I've fought them for four floors and have experienced it myself.

"It just made me curious where they came from."

"I don't know, man. Do you remember the Demonic Leopards from the tutorial?" He nodded, letting me continue, "They kind of remind me of them with the feeling they give off."

"Huh, you're right." Austin replied, "But it's different somehow."

"I know, but I don't have anything else to compare it to."

We lapsed into comfortable silence after that until Austin brought up a different subject.

"You know we're probably some of the richest people in the world right now!" He said with a laugh.

That brought a smile to my face but I just shook my head at him. The first floor rewarded us with a few copper coins and a chunk of low-grade metal.

The second floor gave a few more coins and a square of leather. The third gave a few more coins and a different bit of material and by then, I was sensing a theme.

The only difference on the third was the coins were shaped differently. The coins rewarded on the first and second floors were small rounds of copper of a similar size to nickels but the ones on the third floor were a touch bigger.

Not as big as a quarter but in between two in size. They were also a touch thicker. While the tutorial didn't give us any coins it wasn't hard to figure out what our new currency would be from the store.

The smaller, thinner coins were only a single copper while the bigger ones were worth 10. There was also one worth 25 and it went as large as a half piece but we didn't have any of those yet.

Those different sizes stayed constant through the different metals so it was the same for copper, silver, gold, and whatever was above that.

We were still getting used to the new currency but it would quickly become familiar in time, as most things did.

Between us we barely had 30 copper to our name yet he was already claiming riches.

"Think about it. How many people do you think've been in a dungeon yet and received a coin? I'd say less than 10% of the population has a coin. Maybe less than 5%. So, technically, we are the top 10% now!" He said excitedly rubbing two of the coins together.

"That's a stretch, even for you." I shot down.

We joked back and forth as we walked but it was never about serious topics. Mostly stupid jokes as we descended further.

Neither of us received a level, which was unfortunate, but we were looking forward to what the lower floors would offer. If there were lower floors.

The fifth was the last floor before E-ranks started to populate the tunnels and the boss was the first one with a Law, but it was only a Least one at that.

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The rewards continued to be a mixture of coins and materials which was a tad disappointing. We knew some dungeons could reward skill shards but this one seemed to be a material dungeon.

While it would be a boon to any crafters that settled nearby, it wasn't the exciting finds that we were looking forward to.

The sixth was when it finally started to get good. I could have blazed through quickly on my own but we took it slow to explore everything and be a touch cautious.

Neither of us had trap-detecting skills and had no way to discern if any were there. This dungeon didn't seem to favor them but we couldn't rule them out outright.

We bulldozed through the few that populated the higher floors like they were decorative paper rather than the lethal traps they were supposed to be. We kept that stance as we descended but we were trying to be more careful.

My stats were high enough, my Fortitude especially, to walk through most of them and my armor added to that capability. Both my armor of Ice and the plate I wore under it.

I felt confident enough to walk through them for at least a few more floors. After that, things would get iffy and a new tactic would need to be found.

This was only supposed to be an initial survey of the dungeon for people who would come in after us. We wouldn't be staying here for long but there would be enough time to get people down in here a few times.

Maybe I could take Allison with me?

She had the best trap detection skill being a Rogue turned Trapper herself but that depended on how many floors the dungeon had. If it capped at 6 or 7, I could brave them myself. Any higher and I would have to get help.

Going face-first into a trap meant for level 80s was pushing it, even for me.

The sixth floor took a touch longer since the monsters had evolved again but they went down quickly. Especially with Austin here to help.

We had fought together a great many times and we ended the tutorial on nearly 30 straight hours of it. By this point, it was instinctual to account for what he would do in the fight.

Gabriel babbled on about combination moves we could use together but we hadn't tried any out. The attempt at using my Ice as a magnifying glass for his light didn't work as well as Gabriel planned.

My Ice wasn't crystal clear and the small imperfections ruined the effect. The Water Mages, though, were perfect for the effect. Any [Solar Beam] that passed through the water got a moderate power boost from the effect. The range was diminished but it was still stronger than before.

We relied on good old-fashioned teamwork. His spear blurred as he thrusted through the beasts while I smashed any and all in front of me.

By now, [Momentum(R)] had built up since the first floor and was nearly full just from walking through the floors.

As we reached the end of the sixth floor, we finally reached monsters that were higher level than us. Well, higher level than me, Austin was over level 60 already.

"Please be another floor! Please be another floor!" I chanted under my breath as we closed in on the floor guardian.

It was just starting to get good and I didn't want it to end yet. There hadn't even been a decent fight yet nor had I received a level.

The guardian was a step above the rest but still only had Least Law to defend itself and no other Path was present. No Anchor or Body Refining to help it defend against my hammer.

Beasts didn't have the same exact Paths as us but they were similar enough to be called the same things. The techniques were certainly different but it was still referred to as Anchors and Body Refining.

One cool tidbit we read was certain territorial beasts could make a place their Anchor. There was an example of a Giant Anthill that nearly every ant made their Spiritual Anchor.

The army fielded to conquer said Anthill all died spectacularly even though they were all of a higher level. The power an entire Anthill could bring to bear with their combined Spirit was too much to handle.

It happened long ago but was used as an example that places could also be used as Anchors, even though beasts used them more commonly, humans could as well.

Laws were the same regardless of race, those were the guidelines of the universe, they didn't change whether you were a mouse, bear, or human.

After Austin speared the guardian through the heart causing it to slump over dead, I ran around the room looking for the way down and nearly jumped in joy when I found one. I left Austin to gather the rewards and forced him to pick up the pace as we went down a floor.

The level 70 monsters were where my challenge lay, I could feel it.

I relegated myself to only my Law and physical stats during the fights and they became the challenge I wanted. Some of the beasts even had more stats than I did! Agility was my biggest challenge handicapped as I was.

With Austin here to help, it wasn't too bad but I could see that getting out of hand if I fought too far up in level. A slow skill with my Ice would be a great addition to my powerset if I could find one.

That would counter any who tried to beat me using speed.

The fights leading deeper into the seventh floor started to get my blood pumping again. My hammer shook off the rust and danced through the air again.

It felt like it had been months since my last good fight.

Even though I was restraining myself, it worked to loosen my limbs and get into it again.

[Mighty Blow(R)] came down on a skull, exploding it in a shower of gore while Austin stabbed out at a monster behind me. I marched forward to meet the next monster and he stayed a step behind me.

As the monsters started reaching above level 75, they became a touch stronger. They received a second path and had either a tough body or greater magic. It seemed like the midpoint of E-rank was another power jump for the dungeon.

It would have been a challenge to stay handicapped as I was, so I began to use my Anchor as well. It was especially necessary for the groups of them around the tunnels.

They were a good mix of tough brawlers, swift assassins, and powerful magicians. Or at least that was what Austin and I came up with for naming them.

The tough brawlers were the monsters with powerful bodies that liked to get up close and maul you. Going blow for blow relying on their defenses to ward off attacks.

The swift assassins were the flighty ones who danced around while looking for openings to exploit. They usually had sharp claws or talons they used in quick slashes before leaping out of range.

I compared them to mine and Austin's fighting style respectively.

The last were the 'mages'. They stood back while the others fought and used magic, launching whatever skills they had. Those were the most annoying to deal with and I usually focused on those with a vengeance.

A Law and Spirit infused [Ice Arrow(Un)] or something similar sent their way was usually enough to either kill them outright or put them out of the fight.

Even dealing with the annoying ones, it was nice to fight again. To wade through enemies and come out the other side.

I even got a chime to push my good mood even further.

Congratulations! You have leveled up.