The << Dishonorable Samurais >> were tough. Drifter's spear dug into the crevice between the helmet and armor of one, and Merida cleaved at its side with her broadsword, but the mob still managed to parry Ran and Yuuki's swords.

"Ugh!"

The spearman grunted as a second of the creatures took a shot at him, bringing its katana down on the shaft of his spear. The impact left his arm shaking and his fingers hurting, but he didn't let go of the weapon. Instead, Drifter pushed forward, slamming his spear into the throat of the << Dishonorable Samurai >>.

Seeing as the mob was undead, the expected critical hit didn't appear. But the force Drifter put behind the strike was enough to cause the << Dishonorable Samurai >> to stagger, and Yuuki ran it through the side with her sword.

The relentless offensive from the party soon brought two of the mobs down to 60% of their health. The third managed to sneak a blow in, however, the two-hit skill cutting a nasty gash across Drifter and Ran's front.

"Agh! There's a bleeding effect! Try not to get hit!"

"You don't say!"

The sudden spike in difficulty on this floor was unnerving. Clearers and frontliners could still deal with the << Dishonorable Samurais >> pretty safely, as long as they were in a well-formed party. But these were just the first types of mobs they found, and this wasn't even the tower yet.

As those thoughts crossed Drifter's mind in a flash, his body didn't stop moving. Without even bothering to drink a potion, he took a step back to put some distance between himself and the mobs, before spinning his spear in a circle around himself. << Tornado >> blew away the three undead, and the spearman followed up with a << High-kick >>, stunning the << Dishonorable Samurai >> with the lowest health.

"Hyah!"

Not a moment too late, Merida ran past him and chopped down with a << Power Cut >>, pushing the mob down to the red. Nautilus held back the other two << Dishonorable Samurais >> with a << Serration Wave >> - giving them a taste of their own medicine with the applied bleeding debuff - while the twins finished off the first mob.

Since they were still in combat mode, the notifications about the slain mob, experience, and rewards didn't pop up. Sparing the fallen creature only a single glance to confirm it was already breaking down into shards, Drifter immediately rushed at the now weakest << Dishonorable Samurai >> with a << Rage Spike <<, impaling it through the abdomen. Then, he used << Edge Vaulting >>. Since the mob was still skewered on his spear, what the skill did was swing it around and throw it towards the second undead when it slipped off.

Caught by surprise, both monsters fell down. Not ones to let go of such a perfect opportunity, Ran, Merida, and Yuuki made quick work of the two << Dishonorable Samurais >>, not even allowing them to get up. It was not bullying if they were trying to kill you.

After the group of mobs was killed, the party took a brief moment to cool down. While the battle wasn't exactly hard, it required a lot of concentration, mostly to make sure they always interrupted or impeded the << Dishonorable Samurais >> before they could launch their skills. If the mobs were allowed to use their sword skills as they wished, it would be very easy for the situation to take a turn for the worse.

"Haa... Huff! Anything from Kirito's side?"

Wiping his forehead, Drifter asked without stopping scanning the surroundings. While the terrain was pretty open with a clear line of sight, mobs could literally spawn right next to you. You could never be too careful.

"They were luckier than us. There's apparently a small lake to the west and they found an NPC giving out quests. Seems to be run-of-the-mill ones according to Kirito, though. They have to gather drops from << Funayūrei >>."

"Boat spirits? So this floor's theme is ancient Japan and undead?"

Yuna shrugged.

"Seems likely."

Drifter tapped his chin in thought. Then he sent Argo a message.

[ Drifter: We found mobs called << Dishonorable Samurais >>, little rat. Skeletons with Samurai armor and katanas. Small groups, at least 2 sword skills. One is a 2-hit combo, the other's at least the same, probably a 3-hit, we didn't let them finish it. They don't hit that hard, but their skills got a bleeding debuff and they have good cooperation. Drops are nothing impressive, but the exp is good. Kirito apparently found a quest and boat spirits, you can ask him about it. We'll keep updating you. ]

Along with the message, he sent screenshots of the drops and rewards from the mobs. He didn't ask for payment for the information - he knew Argo would evaluate its value on her own and send him the cor.

"Alright, let's go. Now that we got a feel for it, we'll take the other << Dishonorable Samurais >> we come across slowly. Try to draw out all their skills and patterns."

Once he was done sending Argo the message, Drifter gestured towards their main target, the bamboo forest. His map was still just fog with a line cutting across it, but it was easy enough to spot the bamboo forest with the naked eye, so he wasn't worried about getting lost.

It took the party over an hour to get to the bamboo forest, despite the fact each floor was smaller than the last one. But the enemies were much harder to deal with, and each group of << Dishonorable Samurais >> they encountered took at least a few minutes to be dispatched.

They also came across a handful of clearer parties on their way. Most were at the very least familiar to them, and they greeted the six Reavers before going about their business.

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"Uhmm... Anyone else got the chills?"

As soon as they stepped inside the bamboo forest, Yuuki mumbled and stepped closer to her sister. She wasn't the only one who suddenly shivered. The temperature inside the forest had dropped at least a few degrees, and the light and shadows were playing games with their perception. They had barely taken five steps into the bamboo forest, and yet Drifter was having difficulty pinpointing where they came from.

"Drifter, the map..."

"Is there a problem?"

Suddenly scared, the spearman swiped his fingers and opened his map. To his relief, it was still working, but he soon noticed the issue Nautilus had spotted.

"It's shrinking."

The others nodded. While the map still showed their position and the path they took outside of the bamboo forest, the small stretch they had cleared inside said forest was slowly being filled back in by the fog. Drifter guessed that, in less than ten minutes, the path they had taken would have vanished completely.

"It's a damn maze. Not a maze maze, but it functions as one."

"Yeah. Getting out shouldn't be a problem, we can just zoom out and make a beeline for the city. But navigating inside the forest will be stupidly hard."

"No doubt this is where the entrance to the tower will be. What a pain in the ass."

"Language, Yuuki!"

Ran's quiet scolding of her sister's choice of words brought some needed levity to the group. While the bamboo forest's mechanic wasn't dangerous per se, it could and would be a constant bother.

"Forget mapping then. Let's try to get to the border of the floor and follow it. If we can't find anything noteworthy by nightfall, we'll go back and leave finding the labyrinth to the clearers. And watch out. New map means new mobs."

One day Drifter would learn not to tempt fate. But it was not today. No sooner had he finished speaking, the stalks of bamboo next to him rustled and moved, and a wickedly sharp scythe chopped down.

Unprepared and caught by surprise, Drifter never saw it coming. He was cut on his back, a thin and straight red line that went all the way from his left shoulder blade to his hips. His HP instantly plummeted by 30%.

Instinctively, Drifter crouched and rolled, narrowly avoiding a slash from a second scythe. He swept his spear upwards, knocking aside the offending weapon, then rolled again and jumped to his feet. Only then did he manage to see what the enemy looked like.

"Ugh, why is it insects again?!"

Yuna grumbled as the party put some distance between them and the mob, and took a good look at it. It was a giant mantis-like creature, over 3 meters tall, with thin and long limbs ending in sharp curved blades not dissimilar to scythes, explaining Drifter's first impression of what attacked him. The monster was lithe and green, with a ring-like color pattern that allowed it to hide so well that even << Searching >> hadn't spotted it. Even now that they knew where the enemy was, it was still incredibly easy to lose sight of it if it stood still.

Luckily the red cursor above its head gave away its position. Drifter only wished the icon had shown up before he had been wounded. Squinting his eyes at the << Cursed Mantis >>, Drifter frowned.

"High attack low defense mob. Yuna and Merida, you two have to be especially careful. And I don't like its name. Watch out for some special ability and debuffs."

While mob names could often be misleading, they were rarely lies. Drifter saw nothing unusual about the mantis, be it in its physical appearance, camouflage, or attack. But the word 'cursed' hinted at something else.

With a silent shriek, the << Cursed Mantis >> jumped forward and slashed at Nautilus with both arms in a cross shape. The ash-haired player blocked the first limb with his shield, and the second glanced off his blade, creating sparks, before grazing his arm. Even just that slight contact took away a tenth of Nautilus' HP. But at the same time, the mob lost 20% of its health from a << Sharp Nail >> Ran managed to sneak in while it was distracted, proving Drifter was right about his high attack low defense theory.

Shaking his spear, Drifter stepped around Nautilus and swung it horizontally in, well, a << Horizontal <<. In response, he got a cut to his chest. The << Cursed Mantis >> was absurdly agile. But with just this hit and another two normal attacks from Yuuki and Merida, it had already lost over 60% of its HP. Just a couple more hits and it would die.

Tense, Drifter decided to trade blow for blow and end the battle quickly. While this strategy was reckless, he had a really bad feeling. He wanted to finish the mantis as fast as possible.

Ruthlessly allowing the mob to cut open a gash on his side, dropping his health to yellow, Drifter swept his spear up in a << Vertical >>, cutting off one of the scythe-like limbs of the << Cursed Mantis >>, before immediately dragging down his weapon and smacking the creature on the head. He then spun his spear and stabbed the mantis in the face before hitting the butt of his weapon with his knee in a << Dirty Play >>.

That was enough to wipe out the last of the << Cursed Mantis' >> HP, but, as Drifter feared, something unusual happened.

Instead of shattering instantly like other mobs, the << Cursed Mantis >> raised its head a shrieked, a high-pitched noise that almost made Drifter drop his spear and hold his head. Then, to the absolute shock of the players, the mob raised its sole arm and stabbed itself in the chest with it, only then bursting into a million flickering polygons.

"What the hell was that?!"

Drifter wasn't the only one spooked by what happened. Of the players in the party, only Yuna and Merida were unharmed. The others had all suffered small injuries, with only Drifter's HP dropping below the green zone. The mob was already dangerous as it was, and the way it died was unsettling.

"Huh?!"

Better safe than sorry, Drifter quickly drank a health potion. It was the most advanced and expensive type of potion you could find on the 9th floor, and it should have been enough to heal him almost back to full. But when he looked at his health bar, he had barely re-entered the green. A quick glance at his HUD showed a black skull icon next to the HP gauges of everyone in the party, and Drifter swore.

"Fuck! We've been cursed! A 20% debuff to healing efficiency. And it's stackable! God dammit!"

This was really bad. Drifter had seen curse debuffs before, but none as bad as this one. And it applied to all healing, not just potions. That included Yuna's << Rest >>, and turned the tune practically useless.

"It lasts for an entire hour. What the hell?! First the map is useless, and now this. Is this forest supposed to be impossible to clear?!"

Nobody faulted Drifter or Yuna for their language this time. The situation really seemed absurd. Did this mean they had to wait an hour every time they hunted a mob here? Then they would never level up. But if they continued recklessly, they would soon have so many debuffs applied to them that a party wipe wouldn't be out of the question.

"Humm... I'm not disagreeing with you, Yuna, but have you looked at the drops? Hunting << Cursed Mantises >>... Might be worth it."

Ran hesitantly spoke up, and Drifter narrowed his eyes at what she was holding. It was a yellowish, shiny rectangle, very similar to something he had seen before, albeit a lot smaller.

A << Paralysis Heal Crystal >>. Drifter snorted in annoyance. He hated when video games made sense, but this was a clear case of high risk, high reward. The << Cursed Mantises >> were deadly, but they dropped crystals worth thousands of cor each on the NPC shops - and that was only if you could find one who sold it. Sighing, he started composing a message.

[ Drifter: Come to the bamboo forest, Kirito. We'll meet you at the entrance. There are some mobs we have to farm. ]