Chapter 24: Floor 2 Pt 1
We waited for Kate to finish inspecting what she got for her first clear of the first floor. She missed out on the enhanced reward but I wasn't sure how big of a difference that would make.
I wanted to ask what she got but decided against it as it might be taken as rude.
I looked at everyone and got solemn nods in return. Walking forward I touched the portal that would take us to the 2nd floor.
'Proceed to the 2nd floor?'
'Yes'
And with that everyone was notified with a 1 minute timer to proceed to the 2nd floor, or be forcefully ejected from the dungeon with an Ethereal density penalty.
'Well that's new, apparently going further in the dungeon doesn't require a vote. Good to know.'
Everyone was a little shocked but only because they expected a vote, they were ready to conquer the 2nd floor, well except for Kate who I had momentarily forgotten about.
"WHAT! THE SECOND FLOOR?!"
"Well ya we already beat this one before and if we don't want to have to clear out these losers again we have to clear the 2nd floor." Mick said.
"And we want to get the enhanced first clear rewards before someone else takes them." Jenna said.
"And no one was injured and no one is exhausted so we're as good to go as we're going to be." Isabell said.
"You're serious? And this calm about it? No one has ever attempted the 2nd floor, most can't even clear the 1st." Kate countered.
"And yet we did it without any losses or injuries, also no one had attempted the dungeon at all when we cleared the 1st floor for the first time." Ren said
"You can choose whether or not you want to keep the position full time when we get back, but these guys are full throttle, never let up kind of people." Isabell said gently to Kate "If I thought it would work I would try and talk them out of it as well, but it won't do any good and it's too late anyway. Just stick to the back, they won't let you get hurt."
Kate slowly nodded as we all walked through the portal as the timer crossed the ten seconds mark.
'I don't know what would have happened if she would've refused and stayed behind. Would the whole party have been penalized or just her?'
When the environment of the 2nd floor came into view however, all thoughts exited my mind as my brain tried to comprehend the stark differences. Now instead of being in a well lit, daytime, jungle/forest environment I was in a Savannah lit only by the moon and stars.
A sudden cool breeze made me shiver.
'Even the temperature is different on this floor.' I thought as I took in what was essentially a whole new world.
"Alright everyone, look around see if there's a path."
Unfortunately after several minutes of searching no one could find any kind of path in the area.
'Host, while most dungeon floors are pathway floors like the previous one, others are open world floors like this one.'
Everyone seemed to get some kind of similar message as they all groaned externally the same way I did inside.
"Travel formation! Let's move, we have a lot of ground to explore. Be ready for ambush, this environment is perfect for it." Jenna called out.
Jenna seemed to be taking up a second in command type position and she was doing it well. Everyone formed up again with Ren, Jenna, and Isabell forming a Wedge with Ren at the point. Kate was inside the wedge while Mick was going to bring up the rear about 15 meters behind while I was going to lead by the same amount.
I stayed in my human form as my wolf form had run out while recuperating from killing the first floors boss.
Bow in hand I snuck as stealthily as I could in a straight line in search of the edge of the dungeon floor. I also made sure to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
'There has to be some kind of hidden opportunity here!' I thought eyes gleaming with greed.
At the same time however, this moonlit Savannah gave me the creeps. It felt more like we were the prey instead of there to hunt. I made sure to keep an arrow nocked and my bow ready to be drawn as I led the party forward, scanning for any signs of movement.
We made it a decent distance with nothing seeking out of the ordinary until suddenly there was a roar from the back of the group. I turned to look and Mick was being ambushed by 3 relatively large lions. It was 4 but Mick managed to kill one while he escaped from the pouncing Lions.
I was 60 meters away as Jenna had the herself and Isabell 15 meters behind and away from Ren while Mick was 15 meters behind them. I watched Ren take off running as fast as he could while yelling something about onion breath.
I'm not really sure what he actually said but it pissed off on off the lions which let out a loud roar in response to Ren and charged at him. Isabell was unleashing bolts of magic at the two still surrounding Mick, but the lions were able to avoid any life threatening injuries due to the distance between them.
I took aim with my bow from 60 meters away and let an arrow fly at one of the lions around Mick, that was currently broadside to me. The dark arrow streaked through the sky blending in with the dark environment making it much harder to dodge than a glowing magic bolt.
The arrow struck the lion forcefully in the lungs knocking it off balance just as it was taking a swipe at Mick with its claws. Mick seized the opportunity slicing through its neck with his machetes causing a waterfall of blood as the lion collapsed.
The remaining lion facing Mick roared in anger and pounced at Mick who barely managed to roll out of the way, just as Ren and Jenna clashed with the charging lion.
Ren managed to time his swing just right uppercutting the lion with his hammer as it punched at him and Jenna speared it from underneath, suspending the lion like an impaled victim from a mad king.
Meanwhile, Isabell had closed the distance between herself and Mick unnoticed and blasted the final lion with a quick succession of three magic bolts to it's chest just as it landed.
The magic bolts pierced deep into the chest of the lion and it collapsed on itself as the night descended back into silence. I signaled everyone to regroup back around Kate what had frozen in place during the battle.
Once everyone had gathered and Isabell assessed everyone for injuries it was revealed that Mick has received some shallow but painful scratches on his left shoulder from the initial ambush when he was unable to dodge entirely.
It was unfortunate but we should still be able to make it through the dungeon.
"Ren go with Kate as an escort while she gets the cores and anything else that looks useful. Let's sit tight for a minute and have a snack while Isabell treats Mick a bit. If they want to come to us let's see if we can get them to do it on our terms." I said.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone