99: Entering the Second Floor

Throughout their venture into the first floor of the Leafair dungeon, it was clear that the monsters here were a lot tougher and more durable than usual. It was obviously due to their increase in levels, but it was more than that. Each of the monsters here specialized in using their environment to their advantage.

For instance, they spotted Grassy Primates, monsters that specialized in stealth and camouflage by using the greenery of the jungle around them, due to Aidan’s support. They were small and slick, easily missable and hard to catch due to their high Agility. They struck with small claws that were numerous and annoying, but what really made them dangerous was their coordination with each other to take down their group.

Van desperately fought back, but the dozens of little scratches on any visible skin were proof that he was having a difficult time. Even Haley, who was using wind magic at the time had a hard time aiming at them with her arrows. Suffice to say, they needed a little help in that regard. It was even worse when, even after Van managed to land a hit on them, they survived long enough to get away due to inflated levels.

He wondered just how much this was considered stepping in and taking experience points, but he figured that as long as he didn’t deal damage to them, he wouldn’t gain as much experience under the system compared to Van and Haley. All he did was craft the vines around the trees and wrap the Grassy Primates around their legs, trapping them in place and leaving Van and Haley enough time to deal fatal damage.

While the primates coordinated well with each other, it looked like they didn't plan on taking any revenge for their trapped comrades, even going as far as abandoning them. That still didn’t stop Aidan from trapping all the primates he could sense, leading Van and Haley to do the rest.

After killing off the group, Van and Haley said that they both gained a single level, which was proof that Aidan didn’t take as much experience as he hoped. They continued on like this, aiming for more open plains where Van and Haley could fight easily.

Nina stayed to the side, mostly beside Aidan as she scoured the surroundings. When she said she had an idea in mind, it was clear that it wouldn’t be done in this place.

“Humid and uncomfortable. Too much noise from the early morning. The stench…”

Nina covered her nose with her hands, to which Aidan could only silently agree. The scent of feces and animal fur was rampant around here, not unlike the rocky natural scent from the Crystalfang dungeon. Perhaps Perception was the one at fault for him smelling this much in detail, but it was also thanks to it that he managed to spot the damn primates hiding away.

On they went, eventually passing into an open plain where Aidan finally looked beyond the canopies, showing an open space for him to look above. Despite the lighting being so close to daytime, there was still a cavernous ceiling hanging over their heads, though far enough that it would take Aidan quite a while to reach even if he flew at max speed.

That was where he spotted their next target too.

“Scatter!”

Aidan roared, getting everyone to do just that as a gargantuan figure landed on the open plains, the heavy weight exploding the ground and releasing a shockwave all around.

The figure in question was quite furry, and chunky beyond reasoning. Its rotund shape only added to the danger when one saw various scars and muscles hiding beneath the fur. Large floppy ears swung from its head as it swiveled, its eyes the representation of a hunter looking for prey.

Mountain Rabbit Chief, Level 39.

Another pure example of the level recommendation being shit as Aidan scanned it. From what he felt from its soul, the damn thing only landed here because it was just going around doing exactly that. It must have jumped from one place to another, eventually landing to where they were.

The rabbit chief turned to where they were, sniffing profusely like the rabbit it was. Then it opened its mouth and gave out a shrill roar before pouncing straight towards Van.

Van, knowing exactly how this would pan out, lunged to the side rather than taking it whole. The rabbit whipped past him and crashed into the nearby trees, breaking them in the process and leaving scattered bits of nature behind.

“Aidan, we might need to help them,” Nina said, though her tone implied that there would be no arguing.

“Yeah, not feeling good from this either,” Aidan agreed as he let out a few swords into the air as Haley shot arrows straight at the rabbit.

If there was anything obvious about this battle, it was that the Mountain Rabbit Chief was expectedly tough as fuck. The arrows Haley shot barely made a glancing blow while Van’s strikes hardly made a dent. It took Aidan’s precise strikes with his literal flying swords at odd angles that got the rabbit chief to actually respond, jumping up as high as a building and collecting momentum for a finisher crush.

Thankfully, those were easy to predict, as all they had to do was to get out of the way. When it landed, another blast of air ensued that would be similar to a meteor crash, but that didn’t deter the party. Right now, the only ones dealing significant damage were Aidan and Nina, with Nina herself using whatever means she had to deal damage despite having shorter reach with her daggers. The way she swiped across the large rabbit’s body and clearly made a long red line couldn’t have been more obvious that she was using some kind of magic at play here.

When Aidan remembered that she could use space magic, it made sense that she was using some form of magic that allowed her to bypass defenses, similar to how Aidan used his Phase spell to do the exact same thing.

“Haley, focus your wind at the tip of your arrow. Make them pierce!”

Aidan shouted to his comrade, getting her to nod in return. She had plenty of arrows to spare in her spatial bag, but she used them sparingly against the foe that could barely get punctured by them. This time, she took her distance and collected herself, mana churning within herself through his senses. Wind gathered around her, eventually flowing all the way to the arrow she nocked on her bow at the tip.

She seemed to struggle a bit as Aidan and Van took the frontal attacks from the rabbit, becoming more enraged and trying to bite after the speedy Nina. Soon enough, Haley’s eyes popped open, the wind becoming fiercer as she let loose.

The arrow flew faster than anything prior, and Aidan ensured that the rabbit wouldn’t move out of the way by forcing his swords straight into the body in the direction where the arrow would land. The arrow pierced right through the tough hide, and the wind exploded and made a small bloody hole, causing the rabbit to screech into the air in pain.

“I-I did it!” Haley shouted with glee, preparing another arrow strike rather than continue to be in awe.

It kept going like this, eventually reaching the point where Van rushed in with his enchanted sword, glowing bright blue as he took on the rabbit’s head with an upward thrust. The rabbit cried out one more time before finally landing on the ground, blood pooling underneath as it took its last breath.

And from its defeat, levels were gained.

Level Up! From Level 50, you became Level 51!

You have gained:

+1 Free Attribute point

+3 Free Stat points

+2 Intelligence

+1 Toughness

+1 Endurance

+1 Speed

+1 Dexterity

+2 Vigor

Aidan let out a breath. If he had fought it on his own, perhaps he would have gained a whole whopping two levels from it. Then again, he was just glad he gained anything at all considering its level. He spent his points on Agility, wishing for it and Strength to reach as high as his Vitality before increasing his Intelligence further.

It was better for the siblings as they looked ecstatic about their gains, Haley having gained more due to her learning another spell from her wind magic. At this rate, it was possible that her next Class Upgrade would involve her having some kind of mix between an archer and a mage, or just being a wind mage as a whole. Was that even possible?

From what I saw, it looks like people gain class upgrades depending on what kind of abilities they chose and what they have learned so far.

Though that didn’t seem to be the case for Miko, who had taken a Samurai upgrade, probably from first gaining the Warrior Class as her base class. Considering her talent that could control those super cold flames, it might just be more simple than complicated.

After they took their rightful loot from the rabbit, getting a crap ton of high-quality hide and fur from its massive size, they continued on through the first floor.

Hours passed, surprising Aidan a little as the first floor of this dungeon was vastly superior in terms of size and depth compared to the one in Crystalfang. The monsters spread all throughout the floor were also decently superior, some aspects of their hunting style capable of taking down an elite team of adventurers stemming from Forontia.

Though thanks to Aidan’s mind-bogglingly powerful senses, ambushers were barely a problem. The Grassy Primates were one thing, but there were more ambush-type predators than he expected, making any party that considered going here have a priority of having at least one member specializing in scouting out enemies. He wondered if Archers were those types of specialists, though he couldn’t really put down the idea of some mages specializing in some type of magic for this sort of thing.

Even Haley had those qualities, as while she didn’t pick any abilities from her Archer Class that would help scout out enemies, her wind magic allowed her some semblance of surveillance over a small radius, sort of like lending a part of her senses out to the air to feel out the monsters. It was bearable at best, with her making right guesses over 50% of the time when Aidan decided to test her on what type of monsters surrounded her. That even gained her another spell, which was just nice in general.

All the while, he kept tabs on Van throughout this time. It was obvious that he could sense Van’s internal envy towards Haley, and Aidan considered that a good thing. Human beings just aren’t perfect, so no matter how illogical it might seem, it was only natural for Van to be jealous of his sister’s inherent talent with wind magic. But the feeling of pride was even stronger than the feeling of envy, something that Aidan would respect. He knew that out of most siblings, Van would be the rarer type to actually foster good positive emotions towards his little sister when it came to her successes and achievements.

That was why he kept pushing Van harder throughout their first floor, making him fight the ambushers by taking advantage of their unawareness of them knowing where they were. It was easy enough for Van to kill them, using his enchanted sword to extend the blade and outright kill an unsuspecting spider that hung on the tree, completely invisible to the eye.

Ghost Spider, Level 34.

Completely weak in terms of durability, only useful for their special magic of making themselves invisible, though it was through the use of camouflage of a higher degree than the Grassy Primates. Their real talent was using venom, which some tried to spit out at Van when he got too close for their comfort. That was where Van’s training came in, pulling out a shield in reaction before ending their lives for good.

That didn’t mean he ignored Haley’s own progress. Using her new type of monster locator spell, she landed shot after shot with a wind-enhanced arrow, also killing monsters in one shot. Their levels rose slowly but surely, making them assured of their own progress before eventually finding the way down to the second floor.

Upon entering, the notification was sent to his vision as soon as he saw the light above flash brightly.

You have entered the Leafair Dungeon’s second floor. Level recommendation: Level 35-45.

Unlike the last one, there was a significant boost in level range for the second floor, and unlike the last one, there was a clear difference.

There was an actual sky hanging over them. They found themselves in a large forest, though the feeling of strong humidity and dry air was gone, replaced with a breezy scent of nature and a tangible amount of wetness that clung in the air.

Aidan tried, he really did, to see just how far this floor expanded, but he couldn’t. To his shock, when he let his swords fly, he found out that the forest expanded even larger than any forest he came across before, and that was saying something considering the long trek between the Forontia and Palestorm. But what truly surprised him was the fact that the sky above was actually real, yet at the same time, it wasn’t.

Through Vibration Sense, he could even sense the atmosphere having some kind of soul, though it was large and encompassing and didn’t have much of a will. He ignored it for the most part, considering that he couldn’t even feel anything from the sky unlike how he could feel from the people or monsters around him. This one was different. Like entering into the dungeon, it contained the will of the dungeon itself, just in a more passive state than actively entering the dungeon.

If he had to say anything, it was that the dungeon made the entire floor with the sky involved for the sake of the monsters, perhaps having some kind of effect on them that would work differently than how the actual sky worked in the real world. It was still an incredible thing to witness, as both Van and Haley just watched with gaping jaws at the sight.

“T-There’s an actual sky here?” Haley asked. “There’s even a sun! How is this possible?”

“I… I heard about this, but I didn’t think I could actually see it,” Van muttered. He shook his head as if to shake off the wonder. “Something about making an atmosphere for the monsters or something.”

“Aidan, just how big is this place?” Haley asked.

“Big enough that we could actually get lost,” Aidan answered simply, surprising the two. “So, uhh, don’t separate from me, okay?”

Not that he would actually lose them in the first place. Even if they did get separated, Aidan could easily find them, but his words were enough to prove that the forest was just too damn big to even comprehend.

Though the only one who looked more than pleased was their leader Nina.

“Now this… is perfect.”

Nina stepped forward, her gait smooth and confident as she peered around the vicinity. She looked above to the sky, her smile so splendorous that it could match the brightness of the sun, though there was not a hint of light in that smile.

“This is definitely good enough for our plan to succeed.”

“I’ll say,” Haley said, covering the top half of her eyes from the sun beaming down on them. “But I’m surprised how early we found it. I thought it would be deeper. Do we know how deep the dungeon goes?”

“I heard it goes up to 10 floors, just like Crystalfang,” Van said. “But you’re right, it is kinda early. Is that a good idea, Nina?”

“For the first time, it’s better that it’s early. We’ll find more customers willing to spend some coin to get away from the first floor’s horrors. I heard about the type of floor it was, but seeing it for myself was another thing.”

“If it wasn’t for Aidan, it would be hell to go through,” Haley let out a tired sigh. “So many hidden dangers at every corner.”

“So, where do you want us to settle?” Aidan asked, prompting Nina to turn to him.

“Let’s explore a little bit first, then we’ll place our first base of operations,” Nina said with a captivating smile. “Our first Raining Treasures Hotel must be in a place that everyone would fight to the death for.”