Living chaos. That was the only way to describe the seventeenth floor. Unlike the previous floors where those of the same kind worked together, here it was all out war. Throughout the swampy scenery [BUNYIP]s, [QUASIT]s and [QUAGGOTH]s were all at each other’s throats. From the moment they entered the floor both [MAX] and [ROGER] were fending off attackers. With having recently given up a fair few stats, the bunny was having slightly more trouble than usual. Earlier he had sacrificed a fair few [AGILITY] and [DETERITY] points but his mental and magical attributes had mostly been spared. This floor was giving him exactly what he needed after giving away those names, [LEVEL]s and skill levels. The constant rush of fighting and winning made him feel awake like never before as he triumphed over the monsters coming after him. They were all in a frenzy, only focused on the kill.
*DING*
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 88.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 89.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 90.
75 Attribute points have been distributed according to the natural inclinations of your race.
You have 74 Skill points and 15 Attribute points to distribute manually.
The surroundings were either muddy paths, overgrown trees all clumped together or tiny ponds which were murky and only showed a few sparkling ripples sporadically. As usual the monsters were all strange creatures. A [QUAGGOTH] was a bi-pedal creature covered in white fur, with long gangly arms, and a face that looked like a mishmash of bat and bear. The [BUNYIP]s were more ambush predators. They hid in the muck on the banks of the ponds and leapt out at their prey as it passed by. The monsters were warped versions of a [KELPIE]. Their front half was a shaggy black or brown with two paws and a doggish snout on an owl-like face. The back half matched exactly with what one would expect a dark grey seal to look like. The final beasts that had attacked them straight away were the [QUASIT]s. It had the basic structure of a monkey, but that was where the similarities ended. Their amphibious skin was covered in shades of dark yellow and green. Their tails were long and snake-like while all their digits ended in claws. It had the mouth and black compound eyes of a centipede, the ears of a bat and two curving horns like an antelope. The thing itself was terrifying, but when it started to shape change into an actual giant centipede, that when things got truly challenging. Its chitin was tough and a great defence.
The jackalope and the Fenrir fought back-to-back as the demon hung high above them looking on in a bored kind of curiosity. Shields and magical attacks descended from one side while shadows danced, claws tore and fangs punctured on the other side. As the largest lake they had ever seen came into view, a different kind of monster began appearing. The [LESSER TARRASQUE]s fought in packs making their jobs a lot harder. The lesser versions resembled a tyrannosaurus-rex with large spikes along its back and two large spikes sticking out the front of its head like horns. The only other difference was the front limbs, which were much larger and long enough to reach the ground, basically making the creature a four-legged t-rex.
All the monsters around them were quite terrifying, but the awe-inspiring creature sitting in the middle of the lake was monstrously huge. To put it in perspective, each floor down got larger the further they went. The current floor they were on was a very hilly habitat and their current view was from the largest mountain, which just so happened to be just before the largest body of water in the dungeon so far. The floor with water dinosaurs had basically been a small sea, yet the oceanic lake in front of them was even bigger. Only their high viewpoint let them see the bank on the opposite side. Taking up around an eighth of the surface was a massive tortoise with the head of a lion.
Elite Monster – [SUPREME AQUA BEAST TARRASQUE] – Dungeon Sub-Boss – [LEVEL 99]
With an end goal for this floor in sight they continued to level by eliminating the seemingly endless enemies.
*DING*
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 90.
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[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 91.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 92.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 93.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 94.
125 Attribute points have been distributed according to the natural inclinations of your race.
You have 104 Skill points and 40 Attribute points to distribute manually.
The jackalope felt his strength regaining as he progressed. More importantly his magically helpful attributes, which he hadn’t deducted from at all, only increased. To help along his feeling of growing power, the floor was absolutely drenched in mana. His sensitivity to the magic made movement feel like hopping about underwater, though it didn’t feel nearly as heavy. Assigning most of his free attributes to [INTELLIGENCE], [WISDOM] and [PERCEPTION] only heightened the sensation.
[STATUS]
KIND: [MONSTER]
RACE: [VAMPIRIC SOVEREIGN MONSOON JACKALOPE]
SEX: [MALE]
AGE: 0
NAME: [ROGER]
TITLE: [MARQUESS]
[LEVEL 94]
STR – 100
VIT – 100
AGI – 150
DEX – 150
CON – 100
INT – 192
WIS – 192
CHA – 120
PER – 160
Spare Points: 0
Channelling his own source of magic combined with syphoning extra from the environment made all his storm magic melt through the continuous hoard like butter. Even though these higher levelled monsters were more resistant to magical energy, they had still mostly invested in physical attributes. This showed that despite their much higher levels than anything else above, they weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. The way they just ran at the trio and each other displayed that they also hadn’t tried very hard to gain any attributes in [WISDOM] either. Even Mother, before her [INTELLIGENCE] had been increased, had made enough smart decisions to have a few of the smarty pants points up her sleeve. It was honestly embarrassing that these big, strong creatures were more idiotic than a dumb bunny. Though he supposed, with all their power, they didn’t usually have a need to think.
Carving through the monsters at a rapid pace by repeatedly harnessing surrounding environmental mana, the rabbit’s thoughts turned towards defeating the lion tortoise. Was he even strong enough to defeat it after losing all those stats? What would help give him a boost? He was already levelling. What about skills? He was already doing a sort of training montage as he tried to use as many skills as he could as much as possible during the fight. And boy were they levelling. But, he still needed something more. He had over one hundred skill points to spend now. Would something new help? He thought through the skills he had compared to the types he could maybe imagine having. Man, splitting his focus like this was really helping out [HONED FOCUS] and [SIMULTANEOUS MIND].
Scrolling through his skills he came to a realisation. Using his one hundred and ninety-two points of [INTELLIGENCE] he reached back through his memories to recall the original list of locked skills he’d been gifted. He was missing some. All he’d had to do previously to unlock the skills he’d been born with was to make an action that could use them. Opening his mouth, he screamed at his opponents while threading a touch of [SOUND] magic into his voice. Every monster in sight froze as if stunned and fell forward.
*DING*
[SONIC SCREAM] has reached Level 1.
*DING*
Skill: [SONIC SCREAM] upgraded to Skill: [RESONANT SONIC SCREAM].
They were still twitching, not dead, but it still did better than he expected for a level one skill.
The more durable creatures managed to get back to their feet. He rewarded them with full body slams that made their bones crack and break. The sensation beneath his paws at the action wasn’t exactly pleasant.
*DING*
[IMPACT] has reached Level 1.
More monsters appeared from over a crest to join in the squabble. Not liking the direction of his thoughts, the leporine jumped ahead before he could further process what needed to be done. He landed in front of a [QUAGGOTH] and it immediately swung for a life ending punch. A chant of ‘reflect, reflect, reflect’ went through his head, and to further cement his thoughts he ran a thread of [MENTAL] mana through his mind. The punch was less than a centimetre from reaching when its fist suddenly swung back, the monster hitting itself in the face.
*DING*
[REFLECT] has reached Level 1.
*DING*
Skill: [REFLECT] upgraded to Skill: [REFLECTION OF THE MIND].
High on the resulting adrenaline of his calculated risk, the young bunny grinned merrily at his achievements and acquisitions.
“Why’re you hitting yourself? Why’re you hitting yourself?” he mocked with enthusiasm while headbutting the monsters.
*DING*
Skill: [IMPACT] combined with Skill: [REFLECTION OF THE MIND].
Skill: [IMPACT] and Skill: [REFLECTION OF THE MIND] upgraded to Skill: [IMPACT OF MINDFUL REFLECTION].
This day just kept getting better.