i've noticed that my jumps in difficulty are starting to outpace my actual abilities, so i've decided to slow my advances in difficulty, instead of jumping from D to C from floor, i'm going to drop the difficulty back down to solidly in D, and we are going to dedicate the next couple floors to the D ranks. This will allow me to have more floors, more creatures, it will take longer for the people coming through, and I'll be able to have way more of everything.

Eli

The next morning we walk back to Amelia's house, and pick her up. Similarly to Milo when we took him here, she brought a horse, and a sleeping bag, and everything, which she wont need, but, whatever.

We bring her out to the carts, and she gawks in amazement at how big they are. We show her the loft, sleeping area, and tell her, we can curtain off a spot in this wagon, or she can get her own wagon, but she will have to share it with the coal.

She opts to share a wagon with the Coal, and we help get her set up. We then bring her back to our wagon, and we set off, while we play a dice game, on the floor.

Amelia is kind of a scary young lady, but very intelligent, and not mean, just… intimidating… And very good at gambling. Which I learn after I lose more copper than I’d like to admit.

At some point in time, during the second day of travel, a small band of bandits try to intercept us, but as soon as they are close enough to see our guard force, they wheel around, and disappear into the forest we are travelling through.

Milo

My horse trots along slowly besides Tom, who trots along just as slow, his halberd held behind his head, and over his shoulders.

As we walk, Tom's chains play a soothing melody from the bells interlocked throughout. The bells hit the coins, which hit the chains, which hit each other, which hit the bells, and what resounds around him is a sound similar to birds chirping in the morning accompanied by the soft noises of church bells in the distance.

I smile, and nearly fall asleep while we walk. At some point in time, while I was sleeping early the next morning I heard Tom's bells ringing aggressively as if he was moving fast, then he heard a sort of bleat, and wet chopping.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I poke my head out, to find Tom skinning, and prepping a goat. He cooks the goat in a pan he brought with, and seasons it with a variety of things, packed away on his person.

Once he's done, he shares a small portion with me, but the lion's share he ends up eating.

DC

As I sit I decide that it took me way too long to make that gateway with Gairy, so I look into my reserves of souls to try to find exceedingly intelligent minds that I can revive, and force to research for me.

I find two goblins from different floors, as well as a frostlin who was very adept in magic theory, I find a rat who died young as a slave in the rebellion but who had a lot of potential, I couldn't find any others, but I decide to keep a eye out for any exceedingly intelligent people, or souls.

I quickly reform them, I do use my magic to relax the rat a little so it's less treacherous, and can speak easier.

As soon as I form them, in their little luxury underground mansion, with a lab attached I explain what I've done to them.

At first they panic, and even try to fight each other, but I calm them all down, and explain. Most of them even seem pretty okay with it.

I quickly set them on the task of A; making, and discovering new weapons, and traps, and B; I want a way to speak with the adventurers without putting out signs. Maybe an Item of some sort?

Then I return my attention to floor eight, where a party is nearing the end. One of them acted as the tank, and his entire body is just covered with bites from the air snakes. He must be in excruciating pain.

They did have an experience with an earth snake, but no fire snakes, or dark snakes.

As they near the exit of the floor they spot the amber wall blocking the tunnel. As they draw near they begin to try to break it, but their weapons have no power, so they do eventually, read the sign.

“A fuckin key!” The man covered in bites cries out. “I don’t wanna go get a fucking key!”

One of them drops to the ground, and holds her head in her hands. “God… Dammit… All…”

They sigh, and they turn, and venture back into the prairies looking for a key. I specifically put keys in inconvenient places, like buried, within the trunk of a tree, swallowed by an earth snake.

I chuckle. In fact the earth snake they killed earlier had a key inside, but they didn't bother to try to process it, so it melted away as soon as they left the vicinity.

I also decide to work on my tenth floor. I won't release it to the public yet, but I'm bored. I begin to expand it, and all of a sudden my brain just sort of expands. I can make it double the size of my current ninth floor.

I turn my attention to Gairy, and I begin to sputter, and speak quickly. “Why is my tenth floor twice the size!?”