I'm such a fool! I have grown overconfident from what I did on the last floor. All my slaughtering of the trolls and goblins on the first floor made me think I was invincible. My ego grew too big to allow me to believe I could possibly be taken down by any monster in this dungeon. Now look at me. On the floor, desperately trying to heal my shredded leg, while I am woozy from the blood loss I have experienced. I have barely damaged this massive wolf, and it looks like I might just die here. Oh crap, I have to hurry. It's coming!

"LIGHT HEAL!!"

That one did the trick and my muscles have healed enough to hold my own weight. The wound still looks like I was mauled by a bear and is bleeding everywhere, but I don't have any time left. I pick up my remaining dagger and hold it in both hands, as the other one is still by the overgrown mutt.

It focuses in on me again. Its eyes contain murderous intent. Like I didn't fucking know that already! It's looking at me like I am a delicious bowl of Alpo.

"Let's go Cujo! I got something for you!"

The wolf charges me again. I'm not dodging this one though. The wolf opens its mouth wide, still dripping with drool and my blood. I dive straight for that mouth, reaching in as far as I can, and then I plant the dagger deep into the soft tissues in the roof of its mouth. The wolf clamps down on my arm, its razor-sharp teeth sinking into my arm. I let out a scream of pain, but the bite of the dog helps my dagger sink deeper into its head. My arm is already weakened and starting to go numb as more of my blood flows out of the beast's maw. If I can't slice through its outside, then I'll get it from the inside!

"EAT THIS! TORCH!!"

A blue glow emanates from its maw as a blazing hot flame travels from my hand up the length of my dagger, searing straight into the wound it created. The wolf let's out a powerful yelp in pain and tries to let me go. I grab the fur above its snout and hold myself steady, keeping the dagger planted deep in its head. The smell of burning flesh, blood, and drool is strong in the air.

I pour more and more mana into the spell, making the flame grow hotter and larger. The wolf thrashes violently, this time trying to shake me off, but I won't let go. I'm holding on to its head fur and my dagger with all my remaining strength. I can feel exhaustion really setting in as my mana, HP, and Endurance are quickly approaching 0.

"Come on Cujo! Is that all you got?!"

"AAAAAAAGGGHH!!!" I scream and I pour vast amounts of mana into the spell, everything I have left in the tank. Suddenly the massive wolf slows its thrashing, and then stops completely. I see a glow on the top of its head, and soon my flame bursts through its skull, the powerful flame vaporizing what remains of the wolf's brain. The massive wolf falls over lifeless, its mouth opening as its jaw muscles relax in death. I thud to the ground with the hulking beast.

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

New Level Acquired!

I stop my spell and carefully pull my bloody arm and dagger out from the wolf's mouth. My arm is completely shredded to match my left leg. I'm amazed it's still attached, but barely. My dagger clatters to the floor as I can't retain my grip on it any longer.

"Fuck, what level was this thing?!" I say seeing the massive numbers of levels I received.

I gained as many levels as I did with that first troll when I was first dumped outside the first floor to this dungeon. Is every floor of this dungeon going to be this much more difficult than the previous one?! This wolf was FAR stronger than the Minotaur boss from the first floor. It seems that even if I become strong enough to easily beat the boss of the floor I am on, I might not be strong enough to even beat the first monster of the new floor. That's some nasty level gap there. It is almost absurdly unfair. I seriously consider the high possibility that I am going to face an enemy that's going to significantly overpower me, and that will be the end for me. I can't get complacent here. This place is far more dangerous than I thought. Lesson learned!

I take a seat next to the wolf that's being absorbed by the dungeon, and I concentrate my remaining MP on healing my shredded left leg and right arm. I took a significant amount of damage this fight. That could have easily gone the other way, and it would be me being absorbed by the dungeon right now. After I finish healing my wounds, without so much as a scar to show for what I went through, I picked myself up, glance at the large mana stone on the floor leaving it where it fell, retrieved my dropped daggers, and turned toward the dense forest again. I can't stay here. I don't want to be anywhere near this place when Cujo respawns.

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I begin wandering through the trees and walk for what seems like an hour, still not a single wall to this dungeon to be seen. I walk and walk until I hear something amazing.

"Is that... WATER?! Running water?!!!

The sound is coming from somewhere off toward my right. I start running toward the sound, it is getting louder the closer I get. I emerge into another clearing where I see a large pond, probably 300 feet in diameter and as blue as a sapphire, with a tall waterfall off to the right. There is a stream off to the left of the far end of the pond from where I'm standing, where the pond water empties off to God knows where. Maybe if I follow that stream it will take me somewhere.

There is a large flat rocky outcrop to my right that gently slopes into the water. It's not that tall, about 6 feet or so. I climb up to the top and survey my surroundings. It's a beautiful scene. If I could build a house here, I would spend the rest of my life as a happy guy... err... girl... I forgot I'm a girl. I still have the mentality of a... how old am I now? I count on my fingers, 27-year-old man. That's still some bullshit.

Anyway, the pond water is crystal clear. I can see the pond is shallow but then it appears to have a sharp drop off about 40 feet off the shore. I walk over to the water's edge and test the water with my hand. It's nice and cool. I cup my hand and bring some up to my mouth and I take a sip.

"Mmmm, now that's what I call high quality H2O!" I say in a particular accent.

I walk back up to the flat part of the granite rock and strip off all my gear. This is going to be great! I don't remember when the last time I went swimming was. I take off at a dead sprint and dive straight into the crystal-clear blue water. I glide through the water, taking a large gulp of the refreshing water as I swim. I float on my back looking up toward the sky, or whatever is up there that is simulating the sky. I know it's not the real sky as I don't feel any heat coming from the light as you do from standing under the real sun. I still have not seen the sun at all, so this place must be artificially lit somehow. The water feels amazing against my skin. It actually feels like I'm being rejuvenated by the water, as though my HP and MP are being slowly restored. I wonder if there is actually something to that, or if I'm just imagining things since the water feels so good.

I decide to swim out to the drop off and see what's out there. I take a deep breath and dive straight down. I go down about 30 feet and look around. There are no fish in this pond or any other monsters as far as I can see, though I can see what looks like a structure about 30 feet further down where the deepest part of the pond is. I head back up as I start to run out of air. I float face up on the surface like a log and think of a way to get down there. Already at 30 feet down I was already feeling really uncomfortable from the pressure. Not to mention the problem with holding my breath that long.

"Wait, holding my breath?!" An idea poops into my head.

I place my hand over my mouth and activate a spell.

"Breeze!"

I feel air rushing into my mouth. I dive under the water and take a breath. I chuckle as the air from my spell fills my lungs. I'm my own scuba tank! I dive down and slowly swim straight down. Well, that's a downside to this. With only one arm available, I lose a good deal of propulsion. I swim deeper and deeper as I approach the mysterious sunken structure. The further I go down, the greater the pressure is on my body. Luckily, my Breeze spell seems to add a bit of positive pressure and negates a bit of the exterior pressure, making breathing only slightly uncomfortable.

I finally reach the bottom and I'm looking straight at the mysterious structure. It looks like a shrine built straight into the side of the steep underwater cliff. I swim over toward the door, and I see a shimmering surface just inside the door. I touch the surface and it feels like nothing. I reach my hand through, and I feel air on the other side. How is this possible?! I think to myself, completely forgetting that I'm in a dungeon, on a different planet, possibly in a different universe, using fucking magic to breath underwater. That's a stupid fucking question.

I place my feet on the floor of the doorway, and I just take a step right in through the shimmering doorway. I cease my breeze spell as I confirm there is actually air inside of the temple. Well, more like an underwater Grotto. I turn around and glance back at the shimmering surface. That's crazy. I wonder how the water is being kept out of here. I turn back toward the hallway and lanterns on the wall begin to illuminate with a soft bluish-green glow. I continue on down the hall until this hallway stops and splits left and right. I choose to go right and continue to walk down the hallway that has a gentle curve toward the left, when suddenly something comes out from around the corner up ahead. Is that a fucking shark!! It's a shark, "swimming" in the air!! What the fuck is up with that?! I just stand there slack jawed, completely perplexed by what I am seeing.

Suddenly the shark spots me and starts swimming fast toward me. I jolt back to reality, and I reach for my dagger on my hip. However, I only feel my bare thigh. Shit I'm still naked!! Oh, this is not good!

"Ooooohhh shit!" I yell as I about face and sprint away.

I hear the gnashing of teeth close behind me as the shark is determined to have some Chris filet for dinner. I have to go faster!!! I hook a quick left into the hallway leading back to the pond. I am not liking how much slower I am without the stat boosts from my gear. Soon I see the shimmering surface in the doorway. I don't even slow down as I approach the door.

"Breeze!" I yell as I slap my hand over my mouth and dive full speed through the shimmering surface. Back in the pond I kick and use my other arm to swim as fast as I can, but I'm MUCH slower in the water. There is no way I am going to get away from that shark now! I'm going to end up as shark bait! FUCK!