I watched the carnage brought forth by Boltar in what could best be described as awe. In twenty seconds he'd turned four of my ten skeletons into piles of bones, taking hit after hit without seeming to care at all, all the while letting out a cry of furious anger like I'd never heard before. After the second one went down he took a sword to the left arm, cleaving it down to the bone and rendering it useless, Health be damned. The man didn't even slow down. He just clubbed the skeleton in the head with the hilt of his sword using his good arm, then kept on fighting with one hand dangling limply down by his side. One slash wasn't nearly enough to take a skeleton down, but he managed to hit three for every one he took, so he was gradually lowering my creature's numbers at the same time as his own health. He didn't care about his injuries, but that didn't mean they didn't happen. If he didn't manage to win before he got reduced to zero Health, no amount of angry screaming would let him keep fighting.

Behind him, next to the wall, Tyree was busy fending off the two skeletons not currently occupied by Boltar. Despite the man's best effort and even with the insane buffing Skill he was using, he couldn't fight more than four at the same time due to simple geometry; One on each side and it was difficult for him to stop the ones behind from passing behind them.

Tyree didn't have a [Skill] akin to the one Boltar's Glyph gave him, but she was an expert defensive fighter, focusing on minimal movement and delaying tactics rather than dealing any real damage. Even using Mirielle's discarded shield with almost equal proficiency to the [Guardian Paladin]. Not that she couldn't deal critical damage if she had the chance, I could see the Skills and stats she had, but at the moment she was focused purely on defense. Aldrick had managed to pour one of Seraphina's potions into Mirielle, who was swiftly regaining... not her Health or Mana, something less 'official' than that. Some kind of internal energy? Stamina? Something akin to that anyway. Her barrier was powerful, but seemed to have a cost beyond simply draining her Mana. A cost I couldn't see for some reason. Not because it wasn't within the System, but because it was less interested in keeping track of it? Because it didn't want to keep track of it? Because it would be detrimental for some reason to keep track of it? Or maybe the detriment came from the amount of things being kept track of, rather than specifically what those things were?

At least that was what my instincts were saying.

That was weird. Interesting, but definitely weird. I'd have to look into that more once the Challenge was over, to see if there were any other things in the System background I hadn't realized.

While I was contemplating Boltar crushed the skull of another skeleton, taking a severe hit in his stomach in return, while another rammed into his side with its shield. Which turned out to be a lucky break, as that was the only thing that kept him from being impaled completely. As it was the stab slashed deep, then carved out through his side. This time his scream was filled with pain. At least from my limited experience that was what pain sounded like. His Health plummeted down to less than fifty, and for the first time since his Skill activated he faltered, missing with a wide swing comparatively devoid of power. It was still enough to knock aside the attack of the last remaining skeleton though, and bought him enough time for Waldemar's fireballs, normal ones this time, not the exploding ones, to come flying past Tyree before Seraphina's now empty mana potion had even hit the ground after he dropped it. He blinked and wobbled unsteadily on his feet, but the Skills still hit their targets, crashing into the skeletons around Boltar and forcing them back, even taking off one of their arms completely.

"Don't overdo it!" Seraphina yelled from beside him as he had a particularly dangerous wobble. "What's the point of the potion if you collapse right after I get you back to your feet?"

While she'd spoke she raised her own hands and a beam of light shot out from her palm and into Boltar, and I could see the wound in his side stitch itself shut. His health didn't go up much at first, though it did stop dropping further from the bleeding almost instantly. At the same time it seemed to energize the enraged man, and he leaped back into the fight with renewed vigor. Seraphina kept the beam focused on him the best she could while he fought, moving off to the side to keep as clear a line between them as she could. It was still blocked intermittently either by a skeleton or Tyree as they fought much closer, but while the beam was Boltar his health kept slowly climbing back up even as he fought.

Mirielle and Aldrick got to their feet then, and I knew the fight was over. Mirielle leaped forward to join Tyree, and Aldrick sent out a light akin to Seraphina's towards Boltar, though his was significantly stronger than hers. It even weaved across the battlefield, leaving him free to remain standing where he was. It did require him to drop the concentration he had on most of his lights though, but the fight was small enough that the entire room didn't need to be lit anymore for the humans to see.

It took another minute before the final Skeleton died, crumpling to the floor with the now familiar rattling of bones and clang of steel on stone. With it, Boltar lowered his sword, then collapsed onto his knees. Then he fell prone as consciousness left his body.

I was a bit concerned at that - this had been one of the most engaging Challenges I'd ever had, at least in the sense of the combat, and I was concerned the rest would give up if their leader died. My concern was heightened because there was nothing on the man's [Status] that showed why he'd collapse. His health wasn't full by any means, but it was closer to half than zero, and the same was said for his mana. And I couldn't sense any flows going through the man either to indicate a [Skill] backlash effect that would explain it either. At least not one caused by Mana, anyway.

Once I saw that his teammates didn't share my concern however, mine shifted to frustration. It had to be a consequence of his [Skill], again. What was the damned point of me being able to see what [Skills] people had if I couldn't see what they did!?

No that wasn't entirely true. I could see his status page. See his name, stats, and a full list of what [Skills] he had learned just like I could my monsters. I even had a basic idea of what the effect of most of those [Skills] were, thanks to my instincts. I felt that [Enhanced Strike] was less costly than [Holyfire Bomb] in terms of mana for example. Though I couldn't tell what the exact cost would be, nor how much damage it would do before it hit my creatures.

But both Boltar's [Berserker's Fury] and Mirielle's [Luminous Barrier] were complete mysteries to my senses. I couldn't even tell they were powerful, like I could with Waldemar's bombs, I only knew that now from having seen them being used.

Which was bugging me to no end.

I was interrupted from my internal mutterings by the sensation of mana flowing down towards the Challengers. They had gathered around Boltar and were discussing the fight, seemingly while waiting for the man to just wake up on his own. Before that could happen though the next thing happened. The bonus room had been cleared, and now it was time to see how they reacted to my reward.

"Woah..." Seraphina said, holding the ring up to one of Aldrick's lights. I felt a surge of pride at that. That's right, it's the ring of the Tower's Peacekeeper. Of Krazad the Necromancer. The one who stood up against the Aberrant.

Supposedly anyway. I'd made that up to better tie Krazad in with Morrígan's Story. Though Morrígan had said the Tower did have a Peacekeeper, he hadn't joined their fight, and more to the point Krazad had never actually existed to the best of her, and Krazad's own, knowledge. It wasn't ideal, but since I hadn't really known what I was doing when I was making my first few Floors and just kind of stumbled into the Story with my Third and Fourth, some sacrifices had to be made for continuities sake. Besides, this was my Story, not history, I could afford some inaccuracies here and there if they allowed for a good narrative.

"It's definitely powerful." Aldrick said. "Though I'm not sure any of us would be its best users considering what it buffs. Might be better to trade it in once we get back."

"I recognize the pattern from the tombs earlier." Seraphina said. She turned towards Aldrick. "You think that's the sigil of this Floor or something?"

"Could be." Aldrick said with a frown. "Definitely something worth noting down, even if the item itself hadn't been strong enough to make the Bishop want a regular supply."

"He did want us to be thorough." Tyree said.

"I'm writing it down." Seraphina said. After a moment she handed the ring over to Aldrick. "You use it for now. You're right that the effect won't be that great for any of us, but a slightly increased mana regeneration is still something. And your lights are the Skills we use most often."

"Good thinking." Aldrick said.

That's it? I thought confusedly. That was the sigil of the Mages Tower... They should already know tha... Belatedly I realized the reason for the confusion. They hadn't ever been to the first Floor. At first I hadn't thought that was a big deal, after all every other party had showed some kind of familiarity with both my layout and enemies during their Challenges. Taking advantage of information from their peers was... fine. It definitely wasn't as bad as outright help, and being properly prepared for a Challenge was a skill in itself.

These ones had been the first ones to Challenge the second since the invaders, and so I hadn't been surprised that they didn't seem to know anything about the Floor. The golden man would have been the only one able to tell them anything, and Morrígan seriously doubted he'd risk something like that, especially with the shard in my possession. So their comparative lack of knowledge towards the second Floor hadn't come as any sort of surprise, but now that I thought about it they hadn't really seemed to know anything about the first either. This meant they either were kept from learning anything, or they didn't bother learning it themselves. Which it was didn't really matter to me, but it did bring up a worrying thought. With the portals making Floor skips easier, there would probably be others like them in the future, who started in a later Floor without any prior knowledge from the earlier ones. They would then be dropped straight into the Story with no context for why anything mattered, making reactions like this one completely understandable. More importantly though, it made them unable to piece together clues that would impact the process of the Challenge itself. The secondary puzzle in this room for instance... They wouldn't even know to look for it without the note found in Stalker's cavern, let alone be able to solve it. A full bonus reward, and a large piece of the Floor's narrative, just missed completely because it wasn't explained properly. It wouldn't even be the Challenger's fault. Without prior information, there was no reason to even suspect or look for anything else in here. The room had an obvious function, which they had already cleared.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

At least I caught this now, and there weren't any puzzles that were requirements to clear the Floor that needed outside information. Not on purpose either, I was just lucky I hadn't accidentally made the Challenge unbeatable for anyone skipping ahead.

This would have to be fixed. The Story had to make sense to the ones it was being told to, otherwise there was little point in its telling.

The Challengers were resting for now, waiting for Boltar to recover. I had some time to think.

**

Eventually I'd come up with two solutions. One a goal that I wanted to reach but didn't know how to, and one that was a possibly acceptable alternative that I'd rather avoid. The latter was simple; I'd just remove anything in my Floors that needed knowledge from the earlier ones, make each Floor as isolated as possible, only connected via the pieces of the narrative that weren't used for loot or puzzles. I didn't want to do that, since it lessened the impact of the Story and made it less important to the Challengers' success. I'd already seen what would happen then. Sure some people would still explore and maybe even find stuff, but most would just ignore it and take the most direct route to my Guardian or bonus room, ignoring anything else. It made the Challenge functional while keeping the Story understandable enough, but it wasn't anywhere close to my ideal.

That would be coming up with some way to force everyone to complete all the Floors in order, even if they were higher Tier. The simplest way to do that would be to just remove the portals and connect the Floors manually, but that wouldn't really solve the problem. Higher Tiered Challengers would just blitz through the Floor without paying much attention, since they weren't even being Challenged at all until they reached the Floor they were supposed to be on. They might learn some of the previous Story, but even then most of it would almost certainly be missed or actively avoided.

No what I wanted was to find a way to make them have to Challenge the Floors in order. Not just pass through them, but complete the Challenge fair and square. That would solve everything. It just didn't seem possible. That would work with those who started here, like the discoverers, but they were a minority of parties in existence, had to be. I couldn't just ban everyone else from participating. That felt wrong in a profound sense. Not the same feeling as the Aberrant, but about at the same level of instinctual revulsion. I was supposed to provide a Challenge to everyone who sought to improve themselves. Not just those who happened to be at Tier 1 when they got here.

So two solutions, and both were... disagreeable to say the least. But I'd have to think more on the matter later. Boltar was awake, and so the Challengers were on the move again. I settled in to watch.

They moved with the same tactical slowness and careful awareness as they had done before. Their Health was back to full, though they still seemed more sluggish. Not slow, just a bit... drained. Especially Mirielle and Boltar.

Still even with that normal packs of skeletons were no match, and with Seraphina's potions they were able to stay clear of most of my traps. One triggered that caught Tyree in the arm, forcing another short break and costing some mana to heal, but other than that they moved through my Floor without issue. And they were being thorough. Cataloging and discussing everything that even had the slightest chance that it would be important with those [Recorders]. Which explained the reason for their meticulousness. They were thorough to the point that even without the information from the first Floor, they managed to find and trigger the mechanisms that made the Guardian fight easier just from pure deductive reasoning. They didn't find the second bonus reward, but it was still damned impressive.

Soon the six stood in front of the final Challenge of the Floor, and for the first time Krazad spoke with a tone that indicated approval.

"You have proven yourselves resourceful." My Guardian said. "You're strong, yet you act with cunning and thoughtfulness. Something that would have been much sought after in the past, and will no doubt serve you well in the future." He paused, probably for dramatic effect. "If you pass this final Challenge."

Then he slammed his staff into the ground, and activated both [Darkness] and [Raise Skeletons].

"Ready!" Boltar cried out. "Defensive positions. Aldrick you handle the dark. Mirielle protect the casters. Tyree you're with me."

"Got it Captain." A chorus of voices said in unison, and they started acting, smoothly flowing into what had to be a practiced formation. Not as fast as they had previously, but not overly hindered by the darkness either. Not that it lasted long. A bright flash from Aldrick burned through it mere seconds after Boltar had spoken. But those few seconds had been enough for Krazad to fall back behind his minions. The fight always had at least two skeletons with it, though it could be up to six if the Challengers went straight to the Guardian fight, and Krazad had just summoned an additional two. The four charged in and blocked Tyree and Boltar, while Krazad himself activated a string of [Mana Bolts], that fired off in rapid succession towards Aldrick. Mirielle raised her shield to block, crying out in pain despite the protection the shield offered by the end of the barrage. Seraphina was on her in a second, light pulsing and a potion in her hand, and the [Guardian Paladin] quickly roused herself as her health shot back up to full.

Together Boltar and Tyree cut down the first pair of skeletons without much issue, only to have it be replaced by two others as [Raise Skeletons] was activated once again.

"Waldemar! Focus fire on the boss!" Boltar cried out. "Stop him from summoning!"

Without speaking the fires that had been supporting the two front liners shifted focus to the back of the room. Krazad tried to dodge, but agility wasn't exactly the strong point of a skeletal caster, and a majority of them hit their target. He growled, then cast [Death Mark]. Waldemar screamed in terror, and the newly conjured fireballs winked out before they were fully formed as he collapsed down to his knees. The mark wasn't a highly damaging Skill, but it wasn't supposed to be. It had a steep cost that needed to be paid consistently to keep it active, but in return it would disable an opponent with visions of their own demise and nightmares from beyond the grave. Honestly I didn't really like the Skill, but I couldn't deny that it was effective. Especially since it couldn't be countered with normal healing, something Aldrick soon found out.

"Seraphina!" He yelled. "Mental effect!"

"On it." The woman pulled out a potion and scurried towards Waldemar. Krazad wouldn't just let that happen, however, as he summoned several skeletons in her path, as well as directing the ones fighting Boltar and Tyree to ignore the fighters and rush past. Two of them fell to the ground as piles of bones in the attempt, but that didn't matter. Screeching to a stop, the [Alchemical Priest] had a stunned look on her face where for a moment she didn't know what to do. Suddenly there were enemies on all sides.

That moment proved too long, as three of four swords hit with a squelching sound and a shout of pain. Then an empowered [Mana Bolt] struck her back, and she crumpled to the ground. Not dead yet, but not far from it either. And Krazad's Skeletons were eager to finish the job. Several screams came from the throats of the Challengers.

A beam of light from Aldrick hit the downed priest.

A shield came flying, knocking a skeleton back.

Tyree and Boltar came charging back into the other two.

Under the combined assault of four of the Challengers the Skeletons wouldn't normally last long at all, let alone have the ability to inflict any serious injuries.

But in that moment of panic Krazad was forgotten. A [Necrotic Aura] spread throughout the cavern, covering skeletons and Challengers alike, buffing one and crippling the other. It was a massive drain on the necromancer's mana; in less than a minute he was down to below half, but it was a risk he was willing to take at this moment to have the chance of eliminating a key member of the attacking party. All out aggression wasn't what I'd been expecting from Krazad, but it seemed to be working so far. One way or another this fight wouldn't last much longer.

A series of [Mana Bolts] rained down in concert with the skeletons raising their swords, oozing a black haze. Most were blocked, either by sword, shield, or arm. But one managed to connect, severing the throat of the downed priest in one smooth motion before hitting the stone below with a clang.

For an instant everything seemed to pause. Then Boltar screamed in anger.

I hadn't thought he could activate his fury so soon, and apparently neither had Krazad. Nor his own team mates. They looked at him with a mix of worry, understanding, and fear.

And then the instant was over, and Boltar charged my Guardian, faster than he'd ever done until now.

Krazad conjured a skeleton to block, but it was cleaved through with ease. A [Mana Bolt] was just ignored, and then the raging lunatic was in range. His health was being constantly drained by a source I couldn't see. Couldn't even really feel. Krazad couldn't either, but he seized on the moment, activating a second [Death Mark] as he retreated.

Boltar stumbled, but only for a moment. He shook his head as if to clear it from an annoyance, then swung at Krazad before he managed to get far enough away. Once. Twice. Thrice. He swung without abandon, heedless of the strikes he took in return. Both magical and from Krazad's staff. Each hit he took drained considerably less of his Health than it should, and each of his own took almost a fifth of Krazad's considerable health bar. In seconds he was down to less than half, and the man showed no signs of stopping. A fourth hit crashed down, splintering Krazad's arm into a thousand pieces of bone that dissipated into motes of mana and caused him to stumble. A fifth swing was started, then abruptly ended. Boltar stood frozen, his face contorted in furious anger and his sword held high.

Dead.

A ball of fire and a beam of furious light came shooting from the other end of the room, as Boltar's teammates had managed to kill the remaining skeletons. Even Waldemar was back on his feet, as Krazad could only focus on one mark at a time. They hit the necromancer one after the next, a berserker's rush of a different kind, yet equally as relentless. It didn't take long before my Guardian's health dropped to zero and he dissipated into motes of mana.

All in all the fight took two minutes and twelve seconds.

It felt longer. And judging by the sudden silence in the cavern the remaining Challengers felt something similar.

A surge of Mana flowed through the room, and through my Core, as several things happened in sequence. The Challenge was won, so the Challengers received their reward allowing them to Tier up and giving them each a magical item. Then they were teleported back to the entrance so suddenly even I barely felt the mana ahead of time.

And finally I received a ping from my Status.

My Quest was complete.

The mana swelled as my restrictions were removed, and I was finally able to step into level 5. They continued to surge, taking up all of my senses as my experience increased more and more until I reached level 6. Then finally it stopped, and I was left in silence.