"Time to move," Nimora called out.

The group quickly moved, with Xerack heading northwards. He led them into another cavern, the same as the ones before. He slowed as he entered, looking around for signs of the expected snakes.

They moved with slow, steady and careful steps. The grass around them was still with no signs of movement apart from the path they were creating. They were all on edge now.

Xerack was nearly halfway across the cavern and she knew what he was thinking. They should have been attacked already. Still, nothing was moving, disrupting the grass.

Two more steps later, he spun to his right, ready for violence, but the attack came from behind him. A massive snake shot out and bit into the calf muscle of his leg. He cried out in pain as he collapsed to one knee.

"Randle, help him! Be ready for more!" Nimora instructed her team.

The second appeared from the direction Xercak was facing. Fredrick met it and blocked its attack. It bit into Fredricks's shield, pulling him forward as it retreated. Kyle shot the snake, hitting its body with an arrow that penetrated deeply. The snake let go of the shield, entirely retreating into the grass.

Randle swung his sword, trying to decapitate the snake, but it let go of Xerack's leg, dodging away. Randle stayed with it, launching another attack, this time with the skill [Speed Strike], causing the blade to glow as it moved faster. The blade connected, slicing across the snake's body. He did not cut deeply, but blood did flow. The snake did not stop moving, trying to avoid another attack. Xerack was back on his feet, but not the fight yet.

The snake lunged forward, trying to bite Randle, but he kept his shield between them. The other shot from the grass avoided the arrow fired at it. Fredrick blocked this one, giving Kyle another chance to fire at it, hitting it again this time.

“[Air Blade].” Nimora unleashed a single spell against the snake attacking Randle. The mana-infused air sliced into the body of the snake, distracting it. This allowed Randle to step in and drive his blade deep into its body. The blow was fatal and the snake collapsed dead. Nimora turned to the other fight and this snake was collapsing from another arrow, this time in its head.

The sudden stillness from the violence was only disrupted by reward flashing into existence.

"Mealina, see to Xerack. Ator the reward. Everyone else, check yourself and stay alert." Nimora quickly issued her instructions. These snakes were different, and she was taking no chances. There were no more surprises around. "Kyle, look them over and tell me what you see."

Elain had entered the cavern and recorded as she had since they started. This cavern had sharply increased the danger level of the snakes, and she was beginning to regret her earlier assessment.

"Nimora." She looked to Kyle and he motioned her over. Elian joined them to hear what the hunter had found.

"Talk to me, Kyle." Nimora was in no mood for drawn-out conversations.

"It's a more evolved version of the other snakes." He pointed to the body sections as he spoke with an arrow. "Slightly larger head and fangs, along with a body to match. When it was alive, the scales reflected its surroundings better and a bit faster."

Now it was dead and she could see it. Its colour was the same dull green as the other snakes. She could see what he was saying. Everything he said made Nimora less happy. Improvements like this in a monster were not generally found on the same floor. It did not bode well for the boss when they reached it.

"Ator, what have we got!" She snapped.

"Thirty copper coins." He replied, putting them away.

"Mealina, how is he." She had Xerack lying on his stomach as she treated his wound.

"The fangs punched right through the leather. He is lucky it did not take a chunk out of his leg. He will be back on his feet in a few minutes." She never looked up as she spoke.

They waited for Mealina to finish with Xerack. Once she was satisfied, they continued to the next cavern to the north. After their experiences in the last cavern, they entered slowly. They were not taking any chances.

Xerack led the way through the long grass. The cavern was the second largest they had entered. The room is still apart from the team crossing through the grass. The tension only increases as the group is not attacked.

"Aaarrgghh!" Frederick screamed as he collapsed to his knee.

"What's wrong, Fredrick?" Randle called to him as the team stopped looking for an attacker.

"Something bit my leg. I am bleeding badly." Fredrick spoke through the pain of the wound.

"We have an unknown enemy in the grass. Stay aware of your surroundings," Nimora ordered her team. They are all watching the grass, looking for the thing that bit Fredrick.

"Watch ou…. God's damn it!" Kyle cries out as he clutches his leg, which is now bleeding.

"What happened, Kyle," Nimora demanded.

"There is a snake in the grass. It's fast and its camouflage ability is far superior. It barely moves the grass as it passes through as it is smaller than the others." He told the team.

"Flatten the grass around us. We need to remove its ability to get close to attack us," Nimora ordered, realising what needed to be done. They quickly started flattening the grass, creating a rough circle around them. They stood in a circle formation with Mealina in the middle of it.

They were all tense, looking out across the cavern. Dark blood trails were scattered around as only now was Mealina close enough to use her magic to heal them. Nimora would have liked to hold off on using her magic, but she could not risk having them out of the fight right now.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Now and again, there was brief movement in the grass around them, but nothing had attacked. Kyle had not released any arrows as the flickers of the movement were too fast for him to react.

"Where is it!" Randle demanded with the tension getting to him.

"Focus, everyone!" Nimora also felt it but knew this was part of the monster's tactics. "It wants us in the grass; we must make it come to us."

It was agonising waiting, but wait, they did.

Their patience paid off after a few minutes, but not in the way they expected.

"Hells, it's…" Xerack yelled but could not finish as a snake suddenly attacked him. Nimora spun to find him backing up desperately, holding off his attacker. Kyle was too close for his bow, switching to his short sword. Fredrick moved to help.

Nimora could now see the snake. No, that was wrong. She could just make it out as it shifted its scale pattern, blending with its surroundings far better and faster than the earlier ones they had fought. It was smaller than the earlier snakes but so much faster.

The snake darted forward, biting into Xerack's forearm. Kyle stabbed it with his sword, but it shifted away. Fredrick pressed it swinging with his blade, but again, it was not where the blade was. The snake shimmered, activating some ability.

"Casting!" She called out, alerting them. “[Air Blade].”

She dual-cast again, gritting her teeth from the mana drain. She pushed her mana reserves harder than she would have liked—the two spells shot from her wands, pointing at the monster. The spells crossed the short distance, but she watched incredulously as it dodged one as the second connected. The spell seemed to affect the monster hardly at all.

Fredrick followed right after the spell attack, but the snake could still avoid him again. It retreated into the grass.

"Don't follow it. Get back into formation." Nimora ordered and her team responded.

"How is Xerack?" The circle was smaller as he was with Mealina being treated.

"It's not good. The snake pulled back while biting his arm, aggravating the wound." Her hands were glowing as she used more magic to heal him. Nimora knew this was bad and did not want to exhaust her too soon.

"Kyle, thoughts?" She asked.

"It's small and faster than the other snakes. Its ability to blend with its surroundings is far superior. Also, it has other abilities. I am calling it the floor guardian." Kyle spoke to her and the team.

She cursed internally, agreeing with him. They had walked straight into the guardian's lair without preparation. For a group of their standing, this was embarrassing.

"My Air Blade did little to it. It's tougher as well. Stay in the circle when it attacks try to pin it in place." She gave her orders as Xerack rejoined the line. She trusted them to do the right thing when the fight restarted.

They return to waiting. The grass was still and she could hear her breathing. It had been many years since they had encountered a problem they could not quickly overcome.

Randle was attacked next. The snake had gotten close enough that it could attack. This time, Randle blocks its attack with his shield.

"Fight me, beast!" He glowed as he triggered his taunt ability. The snake seemed affected and attacked him again. This was their opening!

Fredrick moved to box it from behind. Kyle had his bow drawn but could not get in a shot. Nimora cast a single [Air Blade]. The monster was so distracted by Randle that it did not see the spell and was struck by it. This allowed Randle to catch it with his blade, wounding it more.

Its ability to blend in was compromised by its blood and wounds. Time to press and kill it!

Fredrick attacked, but his blow was avoided. The snake was trying to retreat but was impacted by an arrow. It shimmered and glowed as Randle stabbed with his sword. He connected but did little in the way of an injury.

Nimora cast [Air Dagger] instead of the more robust [Air Blade]. Her spell connected but did little apparent injury like Randle's sword.

"Don't let it get back to the grass!" She called out. It was moving fast to get through them and back to the safety of the grass.

Kyle loosed another arrow, but this time, it glowed slightly. It struck true, tearing through the snake's body and into the earth, pinning it in place. Fredrick finished it off with a skill-enhanced attack, decapitating it.

The flash of the reward marked the fight's end.

"By the Gods! That was harder than I thought." Randle exclaimed. The rest agreed with him. That was not what any of them were expecting from the floor boss.

"Ator! Come in and collect the reward." She called out across the cavern. He obeyed and was followed by Elian. She looked over her team. They were battered and tired but could still fight. The floor was far more challenging than she gave it credit for.

Elain was recording the surroundings as Nimora walked over to her.

"Elian, it appears my first impressions were wrong. This floor should be rated high copper tier." She knew when she was wrong and admitted to it.

"I agree, Nimora. The floor boss, what are your impressions of it?" She asked.

"It's smaller and faster than the other snakes. It has additional abilities, and against a lower-grade team, it could have taken them out." She reviewed the fight in her head as she spoke.

"You should take the body for the Alchemists Guild. I know the request has not been made, but I will arrange it when we leave." Elian was still looking around as she spoke.

"Thank you for that." Nimora was a bit surprised, but she thought it made sense, as they were one of the few teams that could clear this floor in town right now. "Ator, we are taking the boss's body with us."

He looks up from counting and nods his head.

"Nimora, look over there." Xerack was pointing to a pillar on the other side of the room. The group moved over to it.

Standing just past the exit going south was a pillar with… mushrooms growing on it.

"Thoughts?" She asked her group. Not one of them answered as confused as her.

"Grey skin mushrooms. Edible and quiet filling, just not very flavourful." Xerack said in the end.

"Good to know, but why is it here?" Kyle asked. Ator came over and joined them in storing the snake's body. He looked at the pillar with them.

"Eighty coppers from the reward drop. Do you want me to harvest these?" He indicated to the mushrooms.

"Are they worth anything?" Randle asked.

"For this crop… three, maybe four coppers." He said as he walked around the pillar counting the mushrooms.

"Not worth it, we will leave them." Nimora decided when she learnt the value.

"I can see the door from the stairwell." Xerack pointed down the short corridor at the southern exit. They walked out through it to the stairwell.

"Elian, we plan to move up through the Dungeon floors from here. Do you wish to remain with us or make your way out?" Nimora asked her.

"I will make my way out. Please come and see me when you are finished. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts." Elain said after thinking for a few moments.

She left them there as they prepared to travel the Dungeon in reverse.

Nimora had a thought and motioned Xerack over to her.

"Xerack, am I going blind, or have we missed the Dungeon Core completely by mistake?" She asked.

"No Nimora. We have not seen a single sign of the Core room." He confirmed.

"Another oddity. We might look into that later." She looked around the room before speaking again.

"Ator, how much more can you carry?" Nimora asked. It was time to take stock before continuing.

"A third of my bag is free. I can still carry more if needed." He answered quickly. She nodded at his words.

"Mealina?" The rest of the journey hinged on her.

"My mana is recovering. Supply-wise, I still have plenty." Her answer was no-nonsense, as Nimora expected.

"The rest of you?" The others all indicated they were willing to proceed up the Dungeon.

"We have learnt that this Dungeon does not follow normal rules. We will take it floor by floor. If I think we have had enough, we go, no complaints." She received nods or words of agreement from her team.

"Standard formation then. Ator, hold back until we clear the room. Questions?"

There were none, so she motioned that they start to ascend the Dungeon floors.