"Let's try to stick to the path. Avoid the water; we're not sure what it holds. But first, let's bump the cubs' level up." She said, looking at the Beast Bank, where they had gained an additional 10k XP. The dim light from the bioluminescent moss reflected off the water's surface, throwing eerie patterns on the stone walkway.
So they took a quick pause to level the cubs up to Level 4. They gained Shadow Stalk, a significant damage skill. Essentially, it was similar to Silent Step, letting them stalk their prey from the shadows, but it dealt 25–35 damage when they successfully pounced on a foe. Their new passive was Claw Durability, which kept their claws strong and razor-sharp.
She used their STP to raise their Strength and Vitality and their SKP on raising the skill level of the ones gained at Level 3, then they started down the walkway.
The enemies were slow but relentless. Stone bodies layered in soggy, clinging moss and dusty fungus lumbered from alcoves, shedding spores with every dragging step. The air smelled damp and earthy, and the ground vibrated with each heavy strike, small stones cracking beneath their feet. Their strikes landed with a wet, concussive thud that shuddered up through the slick stone tiles beneath her feet. Sam learned quickly that speed was their ally here—dancing in, carving quick strikes, and retreating before the slam could land.
By the fifth room, the golems began to coordinate, shielding one another behind tangled, rope-like vines that grew back seconds after being cut. Sam's Mana Hands became vital for mid-range strikes. Tempy's lightning didn't seem to have any effect, much to her disappointment, while Iggy's flames just made the humid rooms ring out the air, turning the breath in Sam's lungs thick and heavy. Syn's Vine Lash shot forward, twisting and snapping the regrowing vines, giving the cubs their chance to pounce once Sam whittled the golems' health down. Still slightly below her level discrepancy, she let her tames finish them off.
The mini-boss, an Ancient Moss Sentinel—a towering ruin of roots and rubble—waited at the end. Its vines lashed the water into walls that boxed her in, forcing Sam to think like a crafter, not a fighter. She broke through by targeting the supports—cutting its binding vines instead of the golem itself. It collapsed in a geyser of foul-smelling water and crumbling rubble. The force sent a chilly, polluted spray over Sam, leaving her skin slick with dungeon residue. Sometimes it paid off to work smart, not hard.
The next descent was less a drop and more an immersion. The air instantly grew hot and thick, smelling of sulfur and wet lizard hide. Below her boots, the stone was no longer rough but slick with an oily sheen. Then came the sound: low, guttural croaks that echoed off the unseen walls.
The Lizardfolk waited in ambush.
This floor tested teamwork more than endurance. Three stood in a shield line, while an archer and a poison caster worked in coordination—actual tactics. Sam had Tempy Chain Dash around the rooms to break their formation while Syn, Iggy, and the cubs picked off the stragglers.
The War Captain, with its ability to summon five of its own Warrior Lizardfolk, nearly broke her line, summoning reinforcements mid-fight. But Sam learned to bait the summoning chant, interrupting it with a well-timed Tempest Blade strike that disrupted his focus with a crackle of static. The fight ended with the Captain falling to its knees, dissolving into mana particles.
By the eighth and ninth floors, the air turned fetid—a choking blend of stagnant water, decaying plants, and musk. Here, the dungeon ceiling vanished into a low, yellow-gray mist, and Sam's boots sank into the slurping mud with every hesitant step. No more Lizardfolk, no ruins—just swamp. The fog hung low, sticky and oppressive, scenting the air with decay and mud. Beasts ruled here: crocodiles, serpents, and silent panthers that struck from nowhere.
Each battle forced Sam to fight like a predator instead of an adventurer. Visibility was near zero, so she relied on Syn's Floral Camouflage and her instincts.
The eighth-floor Alpha Bog Panther came unseen—a whisper of movement, then blood. It bled her from shadow to shadow until she used Photosynth Shield to bait it, letting it strike first and impale itself on her reflected barrier.
When the ninth-floor Swamp King Hydra mini-boss rose from the mire, its five heads snapped in perfect unison. It unleashed fire the color of pitch-soaked sulfur, poison a sickly emerald green, and electric lightning. It wasn't a monster; it was an army unto itself.
The victory was a testament to Sam's skills and Jarvis's tactical genius. They used everything in Sam and her tames' arsenal to counteract the boss's elemental skills. Jig really showed his worth by neutralizing the poison effects. Syn was better off, relying on her natural resistance from Nature's Endurance. Her skill Alpha of the Grove also got a workout, providing an added 15% boost to poison resistance.
Just like on the other floors, Sam opened the loot chest and let her Auto-Loot enchantment collect what was inside. She planned to follow the same habit as in the dungeons and just check everything in the comfort of her own home. Plus, the dungeon didn't really give a lot of idle time.
[Ninth floor cleared. You may now proceed to the Tenth floor. The tenth floor boss and his minions await.]
At the back of the floor were two trees covered in vines that created an arch. A portal lit up inside of it, the portal to the next floor. From Jarvis's advice on The Lab, every tenth floor held a main boss. Each boss was accompanied by twenty-five monsters in total: five Warriors, five Ranged, five Rogues, five Mages, and five Clerics. They were a variety of creatures from the floors above, plus the Boss itself.
The minions ranged in levels from seven to fifteen, the same levels as the mini-bosses from the floors above, with the main boss at Level Seventeen. It would be a struggle, to say the least. Thankfully, there was a small prep area before the real action. Just as they left the portal, they had five minutes to plan their attack. Then the weakest of the guardian monsters would come forward, then the next, and the next. Each round would have one of each class.
The tenth floor was a single room, more arena than room, really. The Boss stood at the back with rows of monsters arrayed in front of it. The guardian monsters at the front were the weakest, and the ones at the back were the higher levels.
Thankful they didn't attack all at once, Sam and her team made preparations. Sam didn't waste a second of the five-minute buffer. She knelt, the rough stone cool under her armor, and called Jig forward. His translucent, gelatinous body quickly administered the patches—a cool, slightly sticky film that adhered to the base of her neck and her tames' flanks, guaranteeing steady, low-level healing. Anything above moderate would be handled by Sam's Bond Healing skill, and anything potentially lethal would have her sending the tame into its beast space, where Sam would be able to heal them within a few minutes at a cost of 100 MP.
Hopefully, that event wouldn't occur. Between their armor and Jig's individual healing skill that was much stronger, everyone should be able to hold out until the end.
Sam activated her six sets of Mana Hands to give them a little extra help and armed half of them with knives and daggers. She had three sets use her bow: one to work the bow itself, one to hold the quiver and supply the arrows, and the third to retrieve the arrows shot. She only had so many arrows after all.
"Let's do this," Sam said after laying out the plan.
Syn went first as their tank. She used Overgrowth Surge and her roots to slow the progression of the monsters and lower their defense. Her shield activated when arrows got too close. Tempy unleashed her AOE skill, and the cubs disappeared, one to take out the cleric, the other the rogue, assisted by the Mana Hands that aimed for the archer and cleric both. While Iggy set anyone flammable on fire.
This plan worked pretty well for the first group. The first wave fell swiftly. The clang of weapons, crackle of fire, and hum of lightning echoed through the arena, punctuated by splashes from the swampy floor.
The second wave watched, waiting. The cubs snuck to ambush the cleric, joining the ongoing battle.
Sam, on the other hand, used the chaos to sneak behind the boss, a monstrous chimera of Bog Panther, crocodile, and multiple Mud Eel tails, standing over seven feet. Its scales glistened wetly under dim light, the eels writhing menacingly. She struck with her poison pike and Necrotic Touch.
While successful in both applications, and using her shield to protect her from the eels, apparently attacking the boss too early triggered the other monsters to join in. Sam quickly ran to gain some distance. Using her shield to block the arrows and attacks from the mages, she used Beast Command to send the cubs to attack the archers and clerics.
When they were hidden back in the shadows, she told them to wait while she quickly leveled them up. She had plenty of XP saved in the Beast Bank, so she leveled them up from their original Level Four to Level Eight, bringing them on par with her other tames. The eight Stat Points were divided between Strength for added damage, Vitality for added health, and Wisdom for added mana.
They gained the active skills:
Dread Howl: Emits a bone-chilling roar that reduces enemy morale or focus.
Mana Cost: 10MP | Duration: 10 Seconds | Cooldown: 30 Seconds | Range 6 Metres
Territory Mark: Fear aura triggers minor stun debuff.
Mana Cost: 15MP | Duration: 10 Seconds | Cooldown: 10 Seconds | Range 6 Metres
Along with the passives:
Agile Leap: Their natural agility gets a 50% boost when trying to jump distances that are naturally larger than them. Also has a 50% boost to attack strike to their enemies if used in attacks.
Tandem Kill: When paired with another of their kind, whether mate or sibling, their damage increases by 35% and defense increases by 20%.
Confident, she sent them to harass non-warrior monsters and rogues. Their coordinated attacks sliced through shadows, pairing attacks seamlessly. She made sure to tell them to work as a pair to take advantage of their Tandem Kill passive. With their new skills, the boost to their stats, and the additional boost from upgrading their skills with the added Skill Points, Sam concentrated back on her other tames.
Deflecting strikes with her shield that inflicted the damage the monsters dealt back on them, Sam used her own attacks to poison and damage most of the monsters that got close. With their clerics dealing with the cubs, there were no life-saving buffs to assist.
Tempy, true to form, jumped from one monster to the next, inflicting lightning damage as well as using her claws. While Iggy did her best to set anyone getting close to Sam on fire and disappearing in a cloud of ash before the monsters could retaliate.
Syn released Vine Lashes and Root Snares to reduce her opponents' defenses and inflict damage, while Symbiotic Link increased her aggression against the monsters going after Sam. Her Thornfang Pounce dealt with them quickly.
It took almost twenty minutes before the Boss's support was finally dealt with. By then, Sam's poison and Necrotic Touch had whittled away its health by half. With Sam and all her tames focused on one enemy, it wasn't long until the Boss's health was reduced to nothing, thanks to Tempy's Tempest Coil.
[Congratulations! You've cleared the tenth floor! You may collect your loot and proceed to the safe zone.]
{Ding! Congratulations! By clearing the first ten floors of The Lab, you've completed a hidden quest: Conquer The Lab (1) – Finish the first ten floors of The Lab.
Reward: +2000 XP
Reward: S.I.S.T.E.M. Upgrade: HUD (Heads Up Display) – This upgrade allows for a convenient view of critical S.I.S.T.E.M. information. Displays map, Current Stats, Experience Amount, Loot Acquired, Tame Status, Cooldown/Duration Clock, and Notification scroll. Note: HUD can be deactivated when not needed.}
"I don't know about you guys, but I think it's time to leave. Let's go back to the inn, have a hot meal... well for me anyway... maybe a bath, and then go home in the morning. I think this is enough for an intro to The Lab," she said. She collected their armor and sent them all to their beast space to rest and recover.
Her enchantment collected the loot lying around the room. Shimmering items floated gently into her bag. Walking toward the iron chest, it opened at her approach, and Sam waited as the items dematerialized and entered her bag. It looked like quite a few things. She'd take the time needed to check them out once she was safely at home.
Walking through the portal, the safe Floor looked more like a small village. Soft lantern light glimmered on cobblestones, the faint sound of chatter drifting from taverns. Rest areas, healers, and stalls lined the streets selling items adventurers might need to replace.
To the left was a blue portal; to the right, a red one.
"Welcome, adventurer! Wow, did you do those floors alone? Did you lose your whole party? Do you need healing?" The young woman asked quickly, looking Sam up and down for wounds.
Sam just laughed. "I'm fine," she said, then pulled her beast space pendant from her armor. "I'm a Beast Tamer; my 'party' is just resting. But thanks. So which one's the exit?" she asked, pointing to the portals. Exhaustion and relief softened her tone. "Not that this hasn't been fun, but I need to sleep for a few days," she laughed. "Trying to direct and keep everyone alive is more exhausting than I thought."
The woman looked shocked. Even most Beast Tamers arrived in parties. Their groups were sometimes smaller, but she could understand how having to direct an entire team's actions, especially on that last floor, would be mentally exhausting.
"Blue is for leaving the dungeon; Red is for leaving the floor," she said.
"Thanks," was all Sam said before making her way toward the blue portal.