Chapter 32

“Looks like the descriptions of the floor weren’t wrong,” Stephen said with a complicated expression.

Since he’d joined our party, the reclusive archer had become a lot more open. He said it was because he finally felt comfortable and welcome amongst others, which I understood.

“Yeah, this is definitely hilly grasslands,” Cora said with a frown. “I think I can see the next closest safe zone. It should be that clusters of trees off in the distance.”

The twenty-first floor was estimated to be somewhere between ten and fifteen miles in diameter, with the boss at the center. It was easily traversable for a party in a single day, though most stuck to the perimeter until they were strong enough to defeat the stronger mobs closer to the center.

Like the floors of the Realm Dungeon in Neohim, the weakest mobs stuck to the outer edges of the floor and grew stronger as one moved further inside. Everything was between level 200 and level 220, with the boss sitting at level 225.

The next floor was supposed to be similar, though the levels ranged between 200 and 245, with the boss reportedly at level 250. It was also a grassland, and was supposed to be very similar to this floor.

There were rumors that both floors now had hidden challenges – a variable that hadn’t been present in the dungeon prior to its evolution into an Ascender Dungeon.

“The hills make it hard to tell, though,” Cora admitted as she squinted in the direction she’d indicated.

“Do you want to head in that direction to find out?” Mike asked.

“We might as well,” Cora said with a shrug. “We’d probably be wandering blindly, otherwise.”

“I can teleport into the air and get a better view,” I offered.

“Or I could shift into my mirror falcon form and recon a bit more covertly,” Stephen countered. “There’s no reason to draw attention to your ability to teleport, after all.”

“It’s listed on my profile, so it’s not like it’s a secret,” I replied.

After a bit of friendly back and forth, I conceded and let Stephen handle the information gathering. He hadn’t gotten to use his falcon form very often on the first twenty floors because of the layout, and I knew a part of him was itching to spread his wings and take to the skies.

“I only saw two other parties,” Stephen informed us once he’d shifted back into his Dian form. “One was working their way around the floor. It looked like they were staying about two miles away from the boss, while the other group was actively fighting the boss itself.”

“Did it look like they’d been here for a while?” Mike asked.

Unlike beginner floors, where it was always morning when you entered a floor, only the first party to enter a particular instance was guaranteed to appear in the early morning.

Looking at the false sun in the sky, it appeared to be either late morning or early afternoon. That meant at least a handful of hours had passed since the first group had entered, though it could have just as easily been days if there weren’t a lot of delvers heading to the floor.

“It’s hard to tell,” Stephen answered. “I can watch both groups for a little while if you want more information before we explore the floor.”

The Earth Magi shook his head. “No, there’s no need to do that. It was more curiosity than anything.”

“Can we see your Void Bear form?” Cora asked Stephen.

“Oh, and your other forms, too,” I added. “Your Mirror Falcon form was different this time than before. Maybe because of the evolution?”

“Yeah. It’s stronger and faster than before. It’s still nowhere close to what it was before I ascended, but there is a definite improvement.”

Stephen shifted back into the Mirror Falcon momentarily before moving on to his Mist Leopard form and testing his new limits.

“We should all probably test our evolved skills before we start our hunt,” Mike suggested, like the responsible leader that he was.

“We can take turns after Stephen is done,” Cora replied, though her eyes remained fixed on Stephen’s feline form. “I can’t believe the people of his old realm were afraid of a skill like this. They were all probably jealous.”

“Are you?” I asked playfully as Stephen shifted into his Flame Herald form. It reminded me of a gryphon, but with a fiery mane and the ability to breathe fire.

“Definitely,” the rogue answered without missing a beat. “If we ever acquire a shapeshifting skill, I absolutely want it.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

After testing his Flame Herald form, Stephen shifted into a Voltmander, which was basically a salamander with a very strong lightning affinity. Cora was practically bouncing in place by the time he finally shifted into his newest form.

“A Void Bear,” the rogue said breathily. “It’s like his fur soaks in the light.”

Stephen let her get a good look at his new form before he stepped away to test its capabilities against a pair of grassy stalkers that had been hiding in the tall grass nearby.

Mike’s ridiculously strong Earth Manipulation skill now allowed him to sense vibrations through the ground or anything connected to it, so finding the creatures had been easy for him.

Seeing how effective the skill was made me miss my old Spatial Sense skill all the more, though I knew I’d need to either earn the skill as part of an evolution or find a skillbook for it.

The reason for that was simple: such skills required specific physiological changes. Like Echolocation, Spatial Sense required a receptor of sorts – one that did not naturally occur within Dians.