"Why is that guy standing there?"

  It had been good seeing Gran and his team again in action. Starting on the first floor was strange, and I went closer to find out what was happening. This "Searider" character was a bit perplexing. He was an Assessor, as he was addressed as one by the group. Had the Guild replaced Elian as the assessor for my Dungeon?

  Gran and his team found the fifth floor difficult. Although they had cleared it several times, the Guardian still tested them. Things changed when they left the assessor at the stairwell. They ascended the stairs, and the assessor took more notes.

  I had looked over his shoulder a few times as he worked, and I had to admit that the floor plans he produced were rather good. Each floor was reproduced in detail with notes on the traps and minions. Resources and rewards were listed as well. He seemed to be competent, at least.

  I looked over his shoulder as he did tests with different crystals and made notes. That is when I realised Puck was coming down the stairwell.

  "Puck! Get your backside up those stairs!"

  He quickly turned around and fled up the stairs, but the assessor had seen his glow. He looked up the stairs, trying to identify what he had seen. Thankfully, Puck was long gone.

  Gran and his team had left, and the Minotaurs returned. This was going to be interesting. The fight with Krag was highly entertaining the last time they were here. They quickly moved down to the fifth floor to meet the assessor. When they reached him, the team captain greeted him in the human language. I had learned her name was Minvar.

  They continued to the sixth floor. I was not interested much here. This team relied on brute strength to get them through. This floor annoyed them as it was all speed and camouflage. I turned my main focus to my attempts to create a new bat for a future floor. It was not going well.

  If you make too many changes, the bat cannot fly. I had increased its size, and its bones became too heavy to allow it to fly. Adding different mana also failed to take hold. Shadow and Illusion were the only ones that showed any promise. I had tried various ideas and concepts, but everything was not working. Most of the bats I created were forced to crawl across the floor and were slow and too weak to beat anything.

  I was still investigating the bats, but I was looking to abandon them for now. What would I do now?

  On the floor, I checked the adventurer's progress. They were moving forward slowly but were advancing. The assessor's reaction was interesting, so I watched him. When they were not looking, he was not keen on them. His facial expression was one of disgust. I had a feeling it was the fact they were not human. The assessor gave off an air of arrogance as if he were from a wealthy family or just a racist, or was it speciesist? Was that even a word? I could be wrong, but I do not think so.

  I go back to my lists and start thinking again. I need to think about two minions who work synergistically when they are together. I am leaning towards boars and something else. From my list, it looks like rats will be the second choice. They were far more flexible when I was experimenting with them, and they supplied better results.

  Boars and rats. Boars and rats. How will I play this?

  The adventurers pushed through the second room, and the assessor looked at the silver vein. He was taking his time recording everything.

  Numbers or quality. The rats would be easy to produce, and the boars could be more resource-intensive in their creation—a fast group of minions combined with a tough one. That was interesting in concept, but would it work?

  Then, there was the environment to think about.

  Looking at the adventurers, I knew they would clear the floor, so I went down to the seventh. Krag was sitting on his throne, watching the doors with a finger up his nose. He was digging around good for something up there.

  "You will have visitors soon."

  "Good! Krag smashed the last!"

  I looked over the hall and noted the seven bodies now covered in moss. Two teams of eleven in total had taken runs at him, but five of them had not made it out as the others had run. They had come full of swagger and quickly changed their minds when he started killing them. My essence total got a nice bump. His was close to the next level.

  "It's the Minotaurs again."

  "Huh?"

  "The big man bulls with horns."

  "Krag no remember."

  "You knocked the biggest out with your knee."

  "Krag remember! Krag wants to kill them for killing him!"

  "That's the spirit!"

  I watched Krag more as I noticed an interesting thing about him. Queen above was one of the few who varied her attack patterns. The others followed a near-set routine in all their fights. Krag adapted as he went on, even after dying. At first, he was getting closer to batter his opponents down, but now was using his shield and mace more proficiently. It had to do with his Demi status. What would be the end result?

  Krag withdrew his finger and leaned over to pick up his mace. His shield was still leaning against the throne. He looked over the mace and was waiting. As soon as they came down the stairs, he would know. The floors from five up had reset, and another team was working to get through the first.

  Having two teams in the Dungeon was another good thing. This allowed me to rake in more essence passively as they used their skills and magic while fighting my minions. It was not a significant amount, but every little bit helps.

  I moved over to the bodies. They had been stripped of everything worthwhile, but I had left anything broken and their clothes. The moss was stained a dark brown in many places from the blood they had lost. Being smashed by a heavy mace has destroyed their bodies, causing them almost to explode.

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  I could set the environment for the next floor to another moss-covered setup, but this would not help the rats that would need to get close. So, I'd need another long grass environment. It worked for the snakes upstairs.

  "Need to make a new boar or maybe use the Guardian as the template."

  "Huh?"

  "I am not talking to you, Krag. Just thinking out loud."

  "Thinking hard. Smashing easier."

  "Yes, that's good for you."

  I turned my back to thinking about my next floor. The lion was an option that I had considered. After thinking about them, I devised an idea for the ninth. I will investigate that later on.

  The boars needed to be changed. I had the Shadow-infused boar as the Guardian. I did not want to recreate it but wanted to do something new. That then led me to the Guardian. So, much to plan out!

  I sensed the Guardian above dying. I shifted to the cavern to see what was happening.

  "… this pillar has no other function?" Searider was talking to Minvar.

  "That is correct, Assessor. No other team has any idea why this pillar is here."

  "Well… Every Dungeon has its quirks, and it seems this is one with more than a few."

  They were standing looking at the pillar with the mushrooms growing on it.

  "Shall we proceed?" Minvar asked.

  "In a few moments, I just have to make a few more notes."

  I went back downstairs to Krag.

  "They will be here soon."

  "Good. Need to smash." He grunted in reply.

  It was not long before they came down the stairs, and Krag stood, collecting his shield. This was going to be fun.

  The doors were opened, and the team entered. Krag was standing, ready to meet them. The tallest of them looked at Krag with a look of pure hatred. He bellowed a war cry/challenge and charged forward.

  Krag smiled and triggered his [Charge] skill as he went to meet him.

  The two collided, each bracing behind their shields. The impact was loud, and I even felt like wincing. The big minotaur lost the momentum impact fight and was knocked back onto his back.

  As soon as he charged forward, Minvar began yelling in their language. The others followed him to try to support him in his reckless charge.

  Krag swung down with his mace glowing with another skill. His name seemed to be Brutun, and he rolled away. The mace impacted the moss-covered floor, causing earth and moss to erupt from the crater that was made.

  Krag was forced to defend himself from the others as Brutun got back up. Minvar was near him, yelling. He seemed to be ignoring her. Krag backed up using his limited ability to move to get his shield before his attackers. He was doing better than he used to.

  [Shadow Arms] was triggered, causing one of the attackers to stumble as they wrapped around his legs. Krag used the opening with another [Smash] to take him out of the fight. His shield took the blow, but he was knocked aside and fell.

  The other stepped up to take Krag's attention. Their scout/rogue was flanking him to strike at his back. He attacked Krag from the back when he thought he had an opening. Krag had learned from many trying this. He turned and thrust the hilt of his mace into the face of the one attacking from behind. His opponent scored a hit in return but was knocked back with his snout bloody. His shield covered him from the one in front of him.

  Brutun then crashed back into the fight.

  He knocked his comrade aside and made Krag focus on him. His eyes had a red tint to them. Was he frothing?

  Brutun's attacks were coming in fast and sloppy. He was leaving too many openings as he overextended, which Krag exploited. He turned, rolling with a strike, causing Brutun to overbalance and fall forward. Krag uppercuts him with his mace-holding hand, snapping his head back. Krag boots him right between the legs as a follow-up.

  Brutun lets out a high-pitched shriek/scream and goes down hard.

  Even I wince at that one!

  The other two shield holders in the group save him. They collide with Krag, pushing him back and stopping him from delivering a killing blow. He snarls and pushes back. The group's healer rushes to Brutun's side.

  A fire spell of some kind impacts Krag's back. Flames swipe across it, and he grunts in pain. Minvar turned out to have some offensive magic that she had not revealed yet.

  Krag cannot turn to face her as the other fighters are pressing him with attacks. She seems to be gathering her mana for another spell. The scout is back on his feet, ready to follow up after the spell. Krag is blocking and striking back at the two before him.

  Another spell is cast, but Krag senses it and triggers [Harden]. He is hit again but suffers far less of an injury. The red health bar above his head was still far from empty, but his blue mana bar was dropping. His green stamina bar also showed a healthy amount.

  Krag was fighting three opponents now. Minvar was circling, looking for another opening. Krag was manoeuvring to prevent this. He was taking hits but giving them back. Loud impacts reverberate around the room as shields take hits that would have wounded or killed.

  [Shadow Arms] again is cast. It ensnares one of the shield bearers, allowing Krag to move more to get more room to swing. The other receives Krag's mace, and the impact is joined by a crack as the shield splits but does not break. The warrior had triggered a skill of his own when Krag hit him, lessening the blow's power.

  Brutun is in a fetal position, holding his privates. He might be crying. I know I would be.

  The rogue dodges another strike, but it is close. He stabs back and scores another glancing hit. Krag's health bar is still over half full.

  Krag swings at the rogue again, which is a mistake, as he is opened up to one of the warriors. With a blur, Krag takes two strikes from him, each cutting deep. Krag grunts loudly and hits the warrior with the flat of his shield, knocking him back.

  Krag is forced to the defensive again as they try to get around him. He backs up to a pillar and uses it to protect his back. He was learning and trying different things.

  The fight went on, with Krag worn down, but not without cost. More spells were exchanged, and skills triggered, but the fight ended when a fire spell hit his face. That was enough to injure him badly and blind him long enough for the group to score several telling blows. His red health bar dropped fast and emptied as he died.

  "He did a lot better that time."

  The reward appeared, and the assessor entered the room where he stood watching the fight. He had a silk handkerchief over his face.

  "By the Gods! The smell is terrible in here." He exclaimed through his face covering.

  "Ogres find the smell of their rotten kills invigorating," Minvar told him, pointing to some of the bodies.

  "Gods! There must be seven bodies here!" Searider was pale and looked like he was going to be sick.

  "All adventurers too arrogant to know when to avoid a stronger opponent." She spoke as she looked over the bodies.

  Minvar addressed the healer in her language as the group collected the reward and waited for the assessor to record the room.

  "Team Captain Minvar. Is this the extent of the floor?" Searider asked.

  "Yes, Assessor Searider. Nothing more just the stairwell and this room."

  "How very odd…. but not unheard of. And there is the Moonlight Rose I have heard about." As he spoke, he walked around the throne and saw the rose.

  "Yes, that alone makes the floor worthy of being visited." She was trailing slightly behind him.

  "Indeed, it is quite the prize for those who can best the beast here." As he spoke, he made notes to the floor plan. "Have you located the Core?"

  "No, assessor Searider. The last time we were here, the injured amongst my group needed to be evacuated for healing."

  "Again... odd." He was looking up and around now. "Please do not let me hold up your activities or investigation. I can see you have much to do."

  "On that… We are satisfied and wish to withdraw if you are ready?" The rogue was collecting the rose as she spoke to Searider.

  "What? Wait! You are… very well let us be away." It seemed he was unhappy but relented, not wanting to cause a scene.

  They picked up Brutun and left the Dungeon.

  "Cheeky bastard tried to get them to search for my location. Why? I thought the guild was getting its people not to do that."

  I followed them out, wondering what problems this assessor would cause me in the future.