The atmosphere inside the briefing room was relaxed as Erik, Glosil, Rugrat, Egbert, Niemm, Roska, and Domonos studied the map that was in the middle of the table. It was a map of the second floor, the Metal floor.
“From the information that I was able to gather with the activated formations, the creatures in the second floor have been whittled down greatly with our use of the battlefield dungeon, though with their lower numbers, it seems that the boss of the level has been able to remove his challengers and control the floor completely,” Egbert said.
“The boss is the Metal-attribute beaver that lives on top of the mountain, right?” Niemm asked.
“That is correct. There is a lake of lightning that has been created at the top of the mountain, in a sort of basin. It lives there, using the power of the floor and the lightning to increase its strength. Not even the battlefield dungeon would be able to pull it in for us to fight it,” Egbert said.
Everyone’s expression was solemn.
“How many of the levels have we cleared out by challenging the battlefield dungeon?” Rugrat asked and then turned to Erik and Glosil. “And do we know what will happen if we take over a level?”
“We can still only control a small percentage of the formations on the Metal floor, so we can only make educated guesses at this point. I would say about forty percent of the floor beasts have been killed so far,” Glosil said.
“Only forty?” Niemm said.
“When in the battlefield dungeon, there are also beasts from the other floors included. Forty percent is much higher than I thought we would achieve at this point,” Egbert said honestly as the others fell silent.
There are still four more floors after the Metal floor. Glosil cleared his throat.
“Look, I’ll be perfectly blunt with you all. Taking the Metal floor is not just about taking the floor. It is about completing a promise that we made to the Alvan people. Many of them aren’t able to go to Vuzgal to see what we did there. We promised to protect them and to make their home safe. If we can take the Metal floor, we show them directly the strength we’ve gained; they can see why we increased the military’s strength,” Erik said.
“I suggest that we continue to have Yui’s platoon working in Vuzgal to deal with training there. When not training to clear the lower floors, Domonos, your platoon will be training those wishing to join the military from Alva and assisting in creating the training program for the medic, engineer, and mage squads. Niemm and Roska will assist and work on creating the training regime for the close protection details.
“Niemm, your special team will be split into two to protect Erik and Rugrat.”
Erik and Rugrat started to make noise but waited for Glosil to explain himself.
“You are the heads of Alva and Vuzgal. You are personally strong, yes, but are you strong enough to take on people who are level sixty? We have had to fight those people before. Now that you are bigger targets than ever, you need protection. When moving between cities, one of the special teams will be with you at all times.”
Erik and Rugrat stopped what they were going to say and agreed reluctantly.
“Good. Now, for the Metal floor, what we need to do is first we need to go and establish a beachhead. There needs to be a position that allows us to bring in supplies and reinforcements. It will also provide an escape route, if necessary. We need to train going through that teleport pad. Then we create a camp on the other side. With that camp, we can organize combat operations that will advance into the floor. We will go from objective to objective, capturing command formations. Unless there is a change in situation and we can find a way to speed up the process without taking unnecessary casualties. Once we have the command formations repaired, we will use them to exert control over the floor, and move to the main formation that controls the entire floor.
“Once we secure that, we have the floor. We have ideas of the strength on the floor as we have heard from Egbert but otherwise, we are going in there blind, so we’re going to drill again and again until everyone can do this in their sleep.” Glosil looked around the room.
“Won’t be fun trying to sell that to the troops,” Domonos said.
“Well, blame it on me then, but get them to do it,” Glosil said. “Now, before I go over the plan, does anyone have any questions?” Glosil scanned the room.
“Okay, well then, let’s figure out how we’re going to take this floor back and show the people of Alva just how strong their military is,” Glosil said.
***
Elan Silaz was covered in sweat as he jumped to the side, just avoiding a tentacle that had shot past him. A boxing octopus? Of all the creatures, an octopus that uses melee attacks?
The danger his mind alerted him to was stronger than the ridiculousness of the situation he found himself in as an octopus bobbed its large head out of the way. Yuli’s ice spears missed as it lashed out with a hidden tentacle and struck at Tian Cui, who had to use a spell combined with a special technique to avoid the attack.
Setsuko fired her heavy repeater while running. A tentacle covered in mana was thrown backward, unable to escape the arrows that seemed to predict its actions.
Storbon dodged under one attack. He let out a yell and his body glowed with a golden energy. As Storbon threw his spear, a golden spear superimposed itself upon Storbon’s spear, the two becoming one as a golden energy danced around it. A tentacle rose to block it but the spear’s speed had increased too fast for the boxing octopus to stop it.
The spear hit the octopus. It staggered and Yuli took the opportunity, casting a control spell to restrain the injured octopus. Setsuko and Yawen, who had been looking for a weakness, pounced; their repeaters glowed as they buffed the weapons and their projectiles.
Tian Cui slashed a nearby tentacle. Red curses spread from her blade into the octopus as everyone piled on their attacks.
The octopus didn’t have time to react as the attacks landed, claiming its life as it fell into the water. A tombstone appeared above it.
Elan was still crouched, looking at it all in shock.
Instead of celebrating, they all checked their weapons and armor, reloading what they had as Storbon retrieved his spear and inspected it.
Elan got up, looking at them all. Monsters, monsters in human skin! How did they train to be able to work so flawlessly together?
“Mister Silaz, did your level increase?” Storbon asked.
Elan smiled dryly and checked his notifications. “I’m now level thirty-one.”
“Good, that’s two more levels. We should be able to level you up in another two or three beasts now we’re into the high thirty monsters,” Storbon said.
“Why do I feel that you’re not even trying hard?” Elan muttered.
“Well, it would be boring to finish them off so quickly and it’s good for us to train our different skills by handicapping ourselves,” Tian Cui said.
Elan nearly jumped out of his skin. He didn’t realize she was so close.
“Really?” Elan had been joking, but as he looked at the sheepish smiles and shrugs from the rest of the group, he could only shake his head.
***
Hiao Xen sat up in bed, holding a light stone in his hand, just letting out a little bit of light so that he could read the report in his hand.
“You work more now than you did with the Blue Lotus,” Nuo Xen, his wife, complained. The light caught her eyes as she looked up at him with a pouting expression on her face.
Hiao Xen stored the light stone away quickly. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Is something worrying you?” She sat up and moved his arm around so she was nestled up against him. She yawned as she closed her eyes.
Hiao Xen smiled happily.
She poked him in the side, making him twitch and focus on her words. “Aren’t all of the sects trying to set up places to recruit crafters from?”
“Yes, though I can’t help but feel uneasy,” Hiao Xen said.
“It will sort itself out,” she said sleepily.
“It looks like that on the outside, but inside it means a lot of work to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Even against the Expert-level crafters, we were able to make it out okay.” Hiao Xen relaxed slightly and then let out a tired laugh.
“Something else wrong?” She opened her eyes to check his expression.
“No, just thinking about it all. We have people buying up land from all across Vuzgal. I took the advice of Erik and have started to auction off land, piece by piece. The prices people are willing to pay is incredible. There are no less than ten Expert-level crafters in the city, hosted by the different associations. The crafting sector is being quickly built up. The first tier-three building has been completed and the other buildings are not far behind. I am not sure where Erik got the blueprints from.
“There are new buildings going up every day. We’ve already sold off all of the materials that we have remaining. The Alchemist Association has taken over running the admittance of people to the different dungeons in order to protect their growing lands.
“The associations have had to rebuild their facilities and it seems that they’re competing with how big they can make them. The Sky Reaching Restaurants have all been doing a quick business, with the Wayside Inns hosting hundreds, if not thousands, of people who wish to visit the city. Vuzgal is booming. It—it, well…”
“It feels like something will go catastrophically wrong? It feels like if you let go of the reins even a bit, then it could all come crashing down?” Nuo Xen asked.
Hiao Xen let out a laugh and kissed her head as she’d been able to put his worries into words in just seconds. “Since when were you able to read minds?”
“Since I married you,” she said with a happy smile. “Don’t worry. You have built everything up to this point. Now it is time to see if it truly works. Erik and Rugrat placed their trust in you. They wouldn’t leave you in the city alone if they didn’t.”
“It would be easier if I knew where they were,” Hiao Xen said dryly.
“Everyone has their secrets, but they trust you for this position, the leader of Vuzgal. Now even the elders of the Blue Lotus in the Fourth Realm have to treat you with respect,” she said.
Hiao Xen nodded.
“Now, go to sleep. Otherwise, you won’t be able to do anything tomorrow!”