The descent was going as everyone expected.

Thrum walked down the stairs with his team, followed by Assessor Searider. There were many gold-ranked teams in the city now. They talked with the other teams when the Dungeon had closed for the creation of the next floor. They debated amongst the groups on who would be the ones going down to the new floor. The Guild would make the ultimate decision, but they would consider the teams' advice. Many wanted to crack first on the new floor, but others voiced that it should be a team with the most experience with this Dungeon.

Thrum and his team were this.

The Guild had offered, and they had received an agreement from them. They would be the first team on the new floor.

The biggest problem from their perspective was that they had to deal with Assessor Searider.

Thrum was from the clan of Deep and Stone. Unusually, the clan of Deep and Song headed the diplomatic mission here. The people typically had the clan of Deep and Salt handle the diplomatic side, as they were the most mercantile and diplomatic of all the clans. But not here. They learned of the Seasiders' extensive merchant network from the mission contact, as they were a significant influence in a city with a Dungeon. They had also learned that this particular scion had no great love for nonhuman races.

Unfortunately, he had gotten the job here through his talent rather than family connections, which made him even more of a problem to deal with. A group of high-ranking teams complaining about him would be enough to get rid of him, but as he was competent, they had nothing to use against him.

So, on missions like these, they had to grin and bear it.

One thing he had come to appreciate about this Dungeon was the stairwell running the length of the space it controlled. At first, he was deeply unsure of it and suspicious, but over time, he had come to realise what a boon it was. He did not have to wade through countless floors with lesser monsters to reach the new one. Several other team members had also expressed similar views on the stairwell.

It is quite a pleasant experience to walk down to the new floor without the threat of attack. They all agreed it was pretty considerate of the Dungeon to build an effective way to get up and down it.

They were passing the 6th at the moment. It would not take them long to reach the 8th floor, where they would stop and make the final preparations. The whole group had come to understand that this Dungeon did not play by the same rules, so they had no idea what they would face on this new floor. Veteran adventurers always found this exhilarating and concerning in equal measure.

"Ten copper on it being an undead floor." Tyrax had been trying to get other group members to accept the bet. There was quite a sizeable betting pool in the Adventurers Guild to see what the floor would be and what monsters would inhabit it. Grass-filled caverns were the most popular in the betting pool for the environment, while the real money was on what monsters would be there. A mixture of monsters was expected, heavily leaning towards the undead.

"Be silent, you disgrace! We will not be gambling here; it is disrespectful!" Val'nira snapped at him.

Thrum was sure that was not something they had to be worried about. He had placed a few wages into the Adventurers Guild betting pool and hoped for a healthy return.

Val'nira had been given an opening, so she continued her tirade against the [Grand Looter]. They knew she would not let up and, over the years, had learned to drown out her tirades.

She continued until they reached the 8th floor, where she fell silent. Things will get serious from here on in.

"Final checks! We enter the unknown once we go down to the next floor." Thrum's tone brokered no tomfoolery or horseplay. His team nodded and got to work, ensuring everything was where it needed to be and that all their weapons were ready.

Assessor Searider waited at the back of the group. His task was to record everything but not interfere. A good assessor would ask for the team's thoughts and opinions on the floor as they went, but Thrum was sure he would not.

"Let's go." Thrum indicated to the new stairwell. Gornax, Stonus and Snortax led the way. The fighters had their shields up and weapons out.

They walked down the stairs into the familiar, partially constructed stairwell room. An open doorway was to the west, and a reinforced door was closed to the east.

"Well, we know where the exit from the Guardian room is." Gornax pointed to the door with his hammer.

"Stay alert. Head through the eastern doorway." Thrum needed to have them remain focused.

The group entered the first cavern, and the environment was noted. Tall grass with blue moss covered the walls and ceiling, and large stones were scattered around the space. The grass was far taller than anywhere else in the Dungeon. But something was off. Thrum and his team had survived by studying their environment.

"There's frost in the cavern." Gornax pointed out the problem here.

"Watch the grass. The frost is not killing the grass, so the monsters are likely hiding in it." Thrum ordered his team. They were all on edge, and he knew his words were unnecessary, but he felt he needed to speak to them.

They moved forward cautiously with the three fighters up front and the three supporters in the back. Everyone looked into the grass in different directions, wondering when the monsters would appear.

They went into the grass, and Thrum realised the danger.

"Back! Back! Out of the grass! "He yelled. His team acted on his order and pulled back.

"What is wrong, Thrum?" Stonus asked, still with attention on the grass.

"The grass is far taller. We will be too vulnerable to an attack. Look, some areas are nearly head-high with us." Thrum pointed out the danger. They realised what he was saying and that they would have been slaughtered if they were in that grass.

"What do we do?" Snortax asked.

"Fire." Was Thrum's reply.

He reached into the satchel at his side and dug out his runes. He quickly found the ones he wanted and put the rest away. He chose the first one, placing the rest into a pouch at his belt.

He placed the other hand over the rune stone in his hand. He channelled his mana, and a glow began forming between his hands. His team had repositioned themselves and was ready for the spell.

A ball of flame began building in his hands. He separated his hands as it grew, focusing on the building ball of fire. It was building past the point that he would typically release it. The heat and light grew, melting the frost and pushing back the soft blue light from the moss. He was about to release it.

With a grunt, the fireball was thrown into the air just above the grass.

The ball of flame sailed through the air, and with a bright flash, the fireball exploded. A wave of fire swept over the grass, causing smaller fires to break out.

There was a response.

Multiple loud growls came from the grass. They braced for the attack.

Four blurs erupted from the grass in different directions but in a staggered formation. This allowed his fighters to block them as they approached. Several triggered some skill as they came, and he suspected a [Charge] or similar skill. But as they approached, they leapt into the air, crashing down on the fighter before them. Thankfully, their low centre of gravity, stubborn nature, and heavy armour allowed them to stay standing.

The crash of impacts was soon heard, and Thrum got his first look at them.

They were lions that he was sure of, but some elemental infusion of magic had enhanced them. He quickly identified it as ice, as one of them breathed out a breath attack that froze everything it touched.

"Ice-infused lions. Let's take them down." He called out.

"Bloody ice breath ignores armour!" Gornax called out as he was the recipient of most of the breath attack.

Thrum had picked out another rune and was fast casting. The fourth lion moved around the fighters to get the team members behind. Nev'Tanra was positioning herself to block it, but she was far weaker in these battles than the fighters stopping the others.

A [Firebolt] shot past her from Thrum, colliding with the flank of the lion, causing it to yell in pain and jump away.

Thrum quickly turned his attention back to the fighters and found them holding their own and slowly grinding down the lions. The lions were tough and fast and did not give up easily. They were agile and used it to their advantage over the slower Dwarven. He felt the wash of several more ice breath attacks and knew a protracted fight here would be bad for them.

He had to trust in the others while he helped kill the fourth.

It was coming in, triggering its attack skill as it leapt. Nev'Tanra swung with her hammer, hitting it but not stopping it. They collided, and she was knocked over. The lion could not take advantage as another [Firebolt] hit its face. It jumped off the prone engineer, who was now yowling in pain again.

Thrum rushed over and helped his teammate up. She had a deep gouge in her armour—a testament to the danger of the lion's claws. She looked over his shoulder, and her expression changed.

"Thrum! Behind…"

He spins around and comes face to face with the lion. It opens its mouth, and he sees briefly white and light blue mist. The breath attack hits him straight in the face.

Pain and cold sweep across his face, stinging his eyes.

He staggers back with a cry of pain, his eyes closed, and falls over.

As he cleared his vision, he started to see the blurry vision of Nev'Tanra fighting. The pain vanished, and his vision cleared. Val'nira was beside him, her hands still glowing gold as she was getting ready to cast another spell. He stood back up and looked around.

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The fight was going their way, but not quickly. The lions were wounded, but his fighters were not untouched. He turned back to Nev'Tanra, who was still fighting the fourth. Both were sporting wounds. Val'nira cast another spell at her, and she glowed, healing her wounds.

Thrum gathered his mana while holding the [Firebolt] rune stone in his hand. He focused on the lion and unleashed another spell at it. The lion saw it coming and jumped to the side, but not fast enough. The spell impacted the lion on the flank and exploded with a flash and fire. It was distracted by the spell, giving the Nev'Tanra an opening that allowed her to crack its skull with her hammer.

The lion collapsed, but Nev'Tanra had not yet turned her back to it. The other fighters were bringing down their opponents. Thrum could see the fight was ending. Gornax and Snortax put down the last lion in a fury of blows.

The flash of the rewards' arrival confirmed that the fight was over.

"Check yourselves and gear. See Val'nira for all injuries." Thrum did not give them a chance to rest. Tyrax entered the cavern and began to get to work. Assessor Searider followed shortly after.

Thrum went over to the closest lion's body.

It was the one that he and Nev'Tanra had killed. Its death was not as violent as the others, which was ironic, and the body was less damaged. Thrum knelt to get a closer look at the beast. It was the same size as a typical lion but infused with ice mana. Yet, he heard tales of such beasts in frozen climates. Some of the clans of his people had to deal with them in the high mountains when they were on the surface. He had never encountered one before and was quite interested in this one.

Assessor Searider had also approached to view the body. Thrum could hear him as he came, muttering notes into a speaking crystal and taking more on parchment attached to a board he was holding. Thrum wondered if he would ask his opinion of the beast and continued inspection.

"An ice-infused lion. It appears to be a variant of the local Mountain Lion species." The assessor said into the crystal. "Reliant on speed to close the distance to its prey and has a potent ice breath attack."

Thrum agreed with everything he heard. It was a fair and accurate breakdown of the beasts and how they attacked. The ice breath attack was a nasty surprise, as it was not as common as people thought.

Thrum was satisfied with what he had seen and got up. Tyrax had collected the reward and was eyeing one of the bodies. Thrum knew that his [Grand Looter] wanted to strip the corpse.

"Not today, Tyrax," Thrum told him in passing, his shoulder slumped in disappointment. "Val'nira?"

"The lion's claws did some damage, but I've healed everyone."

"Excellent." Thrum took in his team.

The team gathered around him, looking at him for the following orders. The group was battered but not beaten and ready to continue. Assessor Searider was lurking in the background. He took a breath and then began giving them orders.

"Right then. This was not an easy start, but we took them out." Thrum said. "We'll continue through this cavern into the next. I don't know what we'll face there, but we will take it out and continue to the Guardian. Stay aware, look after each other, and you will get home."

They walked across the space, looking around for dangers or interesting things. It didn't take them long, and the doorway out of the cavern was to the northeast. The fighters took the lead as they reached the exit and moved onto the next part of this floor.

They crossed a short walkway into the next cavern, and the environment was similar to the first. This time, however, instead of frost, they found a light coating of ash on everything.

"Hold," Thrum called out. "It looks like we're about to fight something based on fire. Be ready."

This was annoying. He put the [Firebolt] rune away and dug out all the water and ice-based runes that he possessed. The others made preparations if they were able. He and his team knew how to fight fire-based monsters as they were common in the underground and Underlands around their clan holdings.

The grass was tall, and Thrum did not want to go into it. The problem was that he had no area-effect spell like the fireball. His options were limited.

"Gornax?" He asked a question of the [Hammer Guard].

"Unless you have a rune to draw them out, we must go in." His voice was heavy with the knowledge of how dangerous this cavern was.

Thrum thought. He went over every rune he had on hand. He was thinking fast…. And he might have an option.

He went into his satchel, looking for a rune he had created years ago as a means to deepen his understanding of his rune crafting. It was at the bottom of the bag, almost forgotten.

"This might work, but if I use it, I will exhaust my mana." Thrum looked at the rune stone now in his hands. "Gornax take over."

The fighters got into position, ready to face whatever came from the grass. The others got ready behind them to support them where they could. Thrum focused on the rune stone in his hand and began channelling his mana into it. The stone was absorbing all of his power at a terrifying rate. It wouldn't be long before he was fully drained and forced to release the spell.

He looked up at the ceiling and focused on where he would release the spell.

The pain from the mana drain was building, and he bit his tongue to help him concentrate.

The power was building in his hands, and he released it just as he was about to collapse. A ball of shifting coloured energy flew into the air near the centre, rotating between white, grey, and blue. But a rain cloud appeared halfway into the cavern and exploded as it did. It covered the cavern for a brief few seconds and released a light drizzle upon everything and everyone below.

They had expected this but had never seen their captain use such a spell before. However, it had a cost, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious, suffering from mana drain backlash. Val'nira was already next to him, checking on his condition.

The growls from the grass took everyone else's attention.

Creatures that were infused with fire mana did not like two things: water and ice.

Four lions charged from the grass in different directions. Nev'Tanra joined the fighters to face them. The other lions they had fought were pale blue, almost white; however, these were far darker, leaning towards a burnt colour. Like the lions before, they charged in but jumped at the last minute. This time, however, they were ready for them.

The fight was soon joined, and it was as savage as before.

Instead of using an ice-based breath, they attacked with fire, intense and hot. Against these attacks, they were far better prepared and could ignore most of the damage they caused.

Val'nira soon helped them with her magical abilities to heal. She prayed to her goddess loudly as she sent spell after spell to strengthen and heal her teammates. Tyrax had pulled out his large knife and was ready to help if needed. Out of all of them, he was the worst in a fight but would throw down when needed.

These fire lions were tough and fast, maybe even quicker than the previous ones, but they fell to the relentless attacks of the Dwarven part. As soon as the last one fell, the team quickly rallied and sought to tend to injuries while checking their gear.

Thrum had recovered somewhat and was soon back on his feet, but was still rather unsteady. He would not be able to cast any more spells for a while. He drank a potion to help restore his reserves. He hoped that that would enable him to cast at least one or two spells in the next cavern.

Now that he was back in the world of the awake, he walked over to the corpse of the neatest lion. It was very similar to the ice ones he had fought in the previous cavern. It seemed that the Dungeon was using lions as the main monster for this floor, and they suspected that they would fight some much larger and dangerous version for the Guardian.

He was not looking forward to it.

He gathered his team together and looked them over.

"Do we continue?" He asked the question bluntly. The fights were not one-sided and were all pretty banged up now. From what they knew of the floor and the positioning of the Guardian's room, the next cavern would contain it. The eight lions they had fought so far had been quite the handful, and their gear and supplies had been equally taxed.

His team was veterans; you become a veteran in this line of work by not being stupid and knowing your limits. This led them to all look at each other with the question he had asked in their eyes.

"Continue." Came from Gornax, and the others all nodded in agreement.

"Then we must be ready. We rest before continuing. Eat and drink. Yes, stamina potions or tonics are available if you have to. Ensure you're ready because we all know that the next cavern will have the Guardian, and one hell of a fight." Thrum gave his team their instructions, and they nodded as he spoke.

They quickly broke up and began to rest, with most pulling out food and canteens. This gave Thrum time to provide them with a good look.

All of them were healed now, but they also carried the signs of the battles. Claw and bite marks were now engraved across their shields and armour. Snortax had taken out a sharpening stone and was working on the edge of his axe.

He didn't tell them he was concerned about what was coming next. This Dungeon didn't hold back. When it created a new floor, it upped the danger and threat level. Unlike most other Dungeons that increase the danger slowly, this Dungeon does it on every floor. The Lions were things that they could fight and were probably high silver-tier dangers. It was the Guardian that had him worried.

It was here that the Dungeon seemed to excel. You never truly understood what you were up against. This made the Dungeon dangerous, not because of that calibre of monster, but because you never truly knew what you would face.

He wouldn't be surprised to face a lion that was a combination of fire and ice mana. He did not know how such a creature could exist due to the opposing nature of these two elements. If it were to exist, he suspected it would be in this place.

He could feel mana building up his body again, but it was still a fraction of what he started with. He gave his team half an hour.

"Let's go."

Assessor Searider had not interacted with his team but had been making notes the whole time. The only person he had spoken to was Tyrax, and that was on the amount of rewards gained in each cavern. Thrum was focused on clearing the floor and would worry about such things later.

They entered the last cavern.

The environment was the same as before. This time, however, there was no sign of the sort of monster element in the grass. They looked around, trying to find out what was out there, but it was hidden.

"Thrum," Val'nira spoke quietly to attract attention. He turned and looked at her as she indicated with her fingers. There was a fine, almost sparkling powder on the robe she wore. It was only visible when he looked at it at certain angles. He stopped and checked the grass around him, finding more of it.

"Hold." He called, and with that, the whole group came to a halt. "We are up against something new now."

His words raised the tension that they were already feeling. He didn't have the magic to cast another wide-range area effect spell and didn't even know what sort of monster they were up against to choose one. They were going to have to go into the grass.

"Burn it." Stonus suddenly said.

"Burn what?" Thrum asked.

"The grass. We can burn some of it to force out whatever is in there."

Thrum now paid more attention to the plants and realised they could have a large fire or many small fires. Stonus was right; that might draw out whatever was hiding in here.

He looked around, knowing that they had only travelled so far into the cavern, but they were pretty close to one of the large stones littered around. Each had several stones in it, and he suspected they were to help the Lions gain a height advantage as they leapt.

The problem was that whatever the Guardian was, it was not just waiting for them to act. As he looked at the stone, he saw the movement of something jumping up onto the stone, but it was somehow distorted.

"Right! Right!" He yelled, warning his group. Gornax was the furthest to the right and quickly turned, but not fast enough.

The lion pounced from the stone, impacting the warrior and knocking him to the ground, but it did not slay him. The lion continued. As it ran to them, it shimmered and distorted, causing reflections of the lion to form. Stonus struck out at one but realised it was a mirage image too late. Nev'Tanra was the target of the attack.

The lion raked its front claws across her as it reared up on its hind legs. Her armour was torn asunder, causing a dark jet of blood to erupt from the wound. She collapsed with a cry of pain.

Stonus ran in to help her. He charged and collided with the lion with his weight behind his shield. It was knocked back slightly, but that did not stop it, and it was on the offensive again.

It passed the warrior and ran towards Thrum and Val'nira. He stepped in front of the healer, as she was more important in this fight than he was. Snortax was running to join him and arrived just as the lion did. Another spell was released, hitting Snortax in the face and causing him to cry out. Thrum was unable to see the damage as he held a sword ready.

The lion leapt at him, and he dug his feet in, holding a sword forward. The two collided, and Thrum collapsed under the weight of the lion as it impacted him. The lion yowled in pain as it pushed off him. Its claws raked him, tearing into his thin armour and through to the flesh behind. He uttered a curse at the pain and was covered in blood. Nearly all of it was not his.

Snortax blocked the lion before it reached Val'nira.

Snortax struck but missed as it dodged away from the axe. Stonus joined him, and the two pushed it away from Val'nira. It was highly agile and dodged most of the blows. A few connected, causing wounds. The lion was not just defending but striking back.

Skills were triggered, and spells were sent back. Thrum was back up, holding his sword ready again. The lion was no longer casting spells by then. It was slowing. Gornax had joined the fight, and Val'nira was working on Nev'Tanra.

The fighters were all now sporting wounds from this fight. They were pushing it away, but slowly. Their shields were holding but showing more and more signs of damage. The lion was sporting more wounds as well. Thrum believed the fight had swung in their favour.

Two more strikes, backed by connected skills, and the lion died. The fighters collapsed in relief and exhaustion from using so many skills. The reward's appearance confirmed that the fight was over.

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