After the fruitless nearly three months-long detour I make my way back to floor 50. I have nowhere else to go. I may have gotten a bit stronger from that but clearly not enough to overcome the wall's regeneration... maybe next Wizard level when - or if? - I gain an element to hit its weakness. But given how little exp I gain from reading and single target damage that may be hundreds of days... shit.

I walk through all the floors I've cleared so far and as before no monsters have respawned. That only bodes well for my success chances...

I arrive back on floor 50 and have myself prepared mentally for the incoming disappointment - only for my disappointment to be disappointed? Why's there a different boss now? I mean I'll definitely not say no to that lifeline but how? Why?

(Elly? I agree with that name. Bring on the tubular bells. Just... leave Walter home.)

(With pleasure!)

I try to shoot an ice spell from the distance but it again disappears once it crosses the boss door. Seems like it'll be another trap room fight. Please be just a dumb puzzle.

I step through the door and they close behind me then some walls rise from the ground. It is a fricking maze. Except that the minotaur is so huge I can still see its horns over the walls.

I start walking through the maze and soon lose track of the horns, crap, one advantage gone.

Moooo!

Eventually, I hear it from behind me. I turn around and see the boss looking around then walking down a different path - it didn't see me? Guess my [Stealth] finally did come in handy.

I follow it silently and wait until it is about to turn around a corner then shoot a spell at it.

[Appraise] tells me that it already loses 0.8 HP per second. This will be over in a hurry.

After getting hit the boss turns around and starts chasing me so I run away around the corner. After a few seconds, it also follows me into the passage and then just stands there confused then continues walking and searching like before. Seems like the room is poorly lit enough to keep me hidden once he loses sight of me for a second.

I take another few potshots and even land a critical headshot once.

And the best part? Every single attack successfully inflicts the cold status.

After a dozen hits total and the boss dropping below about half health, it seems the boss has had enough of hide and seek. It casts a fire spell on its axe to set it aflame as a makeshift torch. I guess with that sneak attacks are now out.

At least it already loses 11 HP per second by now.

I continue running away around corners to lose it for a moment and land another five spell hits.
During that I mess up once and take an axe to the face.

With how quickly it is losing HP I don't need to risk my neck in melee range so I don't.

After another 15 minutes of hide and seek the boss collapses.

"Send master Aquila my regards, you dumb cow."

The regular mobs of floors 49 through 41 are still nothing to write home about. This leaves me at... 13259/13906 for Wizard 15, so close, yet so far.

The boss on floor 40 is the most bizarre encounter yet. Before me stands another monster that looks completely human, like a woman in her forties to be precise. The only thing that gives away her monsterhood is the extra class, everything else - race and classes included - is normal. No off-color skin tone, no weird movements or spasms, everything is normal, suspiciously normal even.

The seemingly older woman invites me with a smile to a cup of tea - at least I think that is what she wants. She is still a monster and I don't understand their language if they even have a proper one.

"5̶̞͆7̸̍͜6̴̥͝f̴̺̉7̴̖̋5̵̝̈́6̸͑͜c̵̣̐6̵̳̈́4̷͍̓2̵̰̊0̸͖͛ ̴̖̑7̵͕̓9̵̡͘6̶͔͐f̴͘ͅ7̸̩̓5̸͕̿2̶͙̎0̴͉͠ ̷̲̚6̶͕̀c̶̯̐6̴̘͌9̷̖͛6̸͖̒b̶̯̒6̷͇̌5̶̟̍2̶͎͝0̷͕̏ ̷̺͆7̷̤͒4̷̨͠6̴̙̅f̶͙̒2̸̎͜0̷͈͝ ̸̥̂6̴̢̍b̴̤͋6̵͓̚5̷̡̽6̶͈͐5̸͇͒7̴͈̐0̴̢̍2̸̭̀0̸̪̓ ̴̜̽6̵̭͋ḑ̸̉6̶̝͒5̸̄͜2̴̫͛0̷͉̇ ̸̖͗6̶̝̆3̶̯̽6̷̛͚f̷͚͝6̶̯͒ḍ̷͆7̶̞͐0̸̡̄6̴̼̒1̴̱̏6̶̾ͅȩ̸̾7̶̧̅9̷͔͑2̸̤̇0̶̨̄ ̸̢̎6̸̛̣f̷̩̃7̷̯̎6̷̘̚6̷͔̌5̴̱͆7̷̭̈́2̴̗̓2̸̞̏0̷̤͑ ̸͚̋7̸̬̎3̸̩͒6̵̣̈́f̸̜̐6̷̹́d̷̲͘6̵̳̄5̴̛̻2̸̣̃0̶̻̋ ̵̳͊7̵̡͒4̸͎͑6̵̭̎5̷̬̔6̸͚͒1̶̛̥3̶̳́f̴͍̓ ̷̞͘"

I try to be polite and drink some of her tea but it tastes like nothing. Not even like water. It is completely devoid of taste.

She 'talks' on and on but I don't understand what she is saying. Even when I try to interject she just continues. Seems like she just needed someone to listen to her, kind of like the goddamn tree boss at the beginning.

At one point she seems to ask why I don't drink the tea and I gesture to her that I can't enjoy it because I'm a vampire. Despite me being unable to understand her she does seem to understand what I say to her.

Then she takes out a knife.

It seems I upset her with my remark. I guess I failed this event. I mentally prepare myself for battle. Not that I have a clue how strong she is. All [Appraise] gives me on her are question marks.

She... uses the knife to draw some of her own blood and add it to my tea...

What the hell is wrong with these people... I mean, I know she's a monster but still. I'm just a random passerby. Why would you go that far just for a little bit of conversation when the other party can't even participate in the first place?

Have I unknowingly stepped into the afterlife and am just here to help her life out with her last regrets?

I sit down, shut up and drink my goddamn tea. I can taste the faint trace of blood in it, clearly human in nature. Didn't Elly say I can't taste or enjoy monster blood as a higher-ranked vampire? So why does it work here? Is it something in the tea itself that makes it palatable?

I have no idea anymore what is going on here. Or did I ever? Ever since the meeting with Eva and Jeff, everything's been just a mess where I feel completely misplaced.

After a while of 'talking' with Stella, she stands up while still smiling like she did the entire time. Then she bows and vanishes in a puff of smoke as if she was never real in the first place.

"5̴͚̇4̷̮̈́6̶̗͐8̸̲͆6̷̓ͅ1̷̢͝6̵̠̔ẹ̷̕6̷̤̈b̵̪̒7̶̳̊3̴̺̕2̴̜͊0̵͚͒ ̴̱́6̶̰̓6̵̱̋6̷͓͛f̸͕͌7̷̦͌2̴̣̄2̷̘̀0̶̢̅ ̵̛̩6̷̫͗c̸̢̊6̷̞̓9̸̡̐7̴͎̒3̵̪̚7̷̩̈́4̸̖͛6̴͎̒5̷̮̋6̷̹̄e̸̤̊6̸̽͜9̸̨̎6̷͉̈e̷̡̚6̴͉́7̷̜̅2̴̰͐0̶̨͌7̶͔̀4̶̟͂6̵̳̅ḟ̵̡2̶͎̓0̵̹͛ ̴̰͋6̸̖̄d̸͎̓7̵̤͛9̸̡͝2̵̨̃0̶̣̀ ̶̱̉7̸̺͛3̵̪͐7̶̙̈4̵̨͋6̵͎͊f̸̟̾7̸̞͌2̴̬͛7̴̎ͅ9̵͇͠2̷͚̀e̸̢̒2̸̟̀0̸̺̾ ̶̥̏4̵̺͒9̴̮̓2̶͓̎0̴̖́ ̶̘͌7̵̺̌7̷̢̐6̷̪̾9̵͎͗7̵̢͊3̸̖̾6̶̢͌8̶̲̈́2̷͚͝0̵̛̝ ̴̙̂7̸̢͗9̶̫͘6̵̂͜f̴̧̑7̴̡̉5̶̞͐2̶̹̾0̵͚̄ ̷̥̿6̷̹̌1̶̯́2̷̩͝0̴̧̏ ̸̗͆6̴̡̎6̴̫͘7̷͈̚2̴̗͌7̵̼̄5̵̣͌6̸̻̒9̸̼̑7̶̟͋4̴̜̄6̴̹̓6̸̨͒7̶͙̿5̷̼̎6̷͈̋c̴͙̅2̸͎̽0̷̼͗ ̵͓̌6̷̟͝å̸̘6̴͖̈́f̶̪̓7̶̬͠5̴̹̚7̷͇͝2̵̖͛6̶̩͋ě̴̹6̶͎̈5̶͕̽7̴̎͜9̶̹̄2̸̨̈́ë̵̗́2̶̻̄0̴͉̏ ̸͙̕5̸͕̆5̶̳̐6̶̫͝ę̵̎7̸̣͑4̵̩͛6̷̦̓9̷̩̓6̶̺̕c̶͚͝2̷̪̃0̴̨̉ ̷̳̈́7̸̗̌7̵̨̃6̵̥͂5̴̩̎2̴̮͒0̸̘̃ ̵̪̇6̵̮̃d̴͙͂6̷̮̑5̶̉ͅ6̸̝͆5̵̱̓7̸͕̾4̸̣͒2̴̻͠0̵͔̍ ̶̨́6̶̭̈́1̸̦̔6̸͠ͅ7̵̤͑6̷͙̑1̵̞͐6̴͉̔9̵̩͠6̶̫̈́e̵͈̊2̸̼̀e̸̖͆"

That was certainly a... unique experience. I hope that wasn't important because I literally understood nothing.

I also need to double-check my blood packs aren't spiked with some drugs.

Floors 39 through 37 are again business as usual, except that I finally have enough exp for the next level! Time for the new skill!

(Damn, I would've wanted fire but I guess that is not an option.)

(Why fire specifically, Jared?)

(Three reasons. One, so far way the blatant majority of monsters were weak to fire including the entire undead family branch. There's a small subset of that I have a pseudo super effective damage against via [Vampire Hierarchy] but not the stereotypical high profile undead like death knight, lich or draco zombie. Given that all undead are automatically weak to fire as well I think that holy would be pointless for me even if it was an option.)

(Makes sense so far. And the other two reasons?)

(Two, so far I'm under the impression that every element has one associated status effect and I can't imagine what fire's would be besides burn damage over time. So far damage over time was very powerful, even frighteningly so. If you don't have super high health regeneration and by that also status damage clean up that is a death sentence. Point is, so far cold works well, yes, but I want an alternative for something that is immune to cold like the Ice Scream Cones nearly were.)

(Poison could still fill that need if you have no better idea.)

(Yeah, possibly. And finally, I have hopes that I'll eventually be able to take the 'Enduring Soul' title. If I had also fire that'd allow me to get rid of at least that weakness.)

(Yeah, that is something we need to work on long term. If you want you could imitate B2 from earlier and take pyromancer.)

(What did it have?)

(Not too shabby. Put it on the maybe pile. Summons have priority and I still have only one Class Core.)

(Gotcha. So which of the three elements will you take if fire is out?)

(No idea. I want to hazard a guess and say that the... flight mage class, what was the name again?)

(Aerial mage?)

(Yeah, that one. I want to guess that it comes with wind magic. Flight is already a very powerful tool, wind is thematically appropriate and I don't see it coming with three powerful skills. So just a 'throw away' type element is well within reason. If it isn't - I don't think I'll care much about losing, or rather not gaining, wind magic. This whole magic system lacks the option to use ranked magic for non-combat purposes-)

Elly interrupts me mid-sentence, (stop, I have to cut you off there. Did you already forget Chloe cleaning you with water magic? She definitely didn't have any magic skills herself.)

(That is just like cantrips. Sorta magic but not really. Household magic. Everyone with enough MP seems to be able to use that.)

(Right, fair enough.)

(Back to wind - I can't imagine it having an important status effect and the weakness to it seems to be rare as well.)

(I have no data to refute that so I have to agree with that assessment. And for water or poison?)

(Poison would be fifty fifty whether it is another damage over time effect or a stat reduction like earth. Maybe half and half. I've seen both variants in games.)

(True, but just boring damage is more common there.)

(Maybe but that does little to tell us which is true in this system, Elly.)

(Right, and water?)

(No idea what its status would be. Drowning damage over time? Movement hampering? Mild inconvenience due to wet clothing? Could be a lot of things.)

(So both have a chance to be the status you're looking for though it may as well be neither.)

(Yeah. Aside from that... I think water is the winner here. If our missing boss returns I'd have a much better chance with that damage type. If not - fire is still a big weakness of mine and fire elemental types should be weak to water. I may not able to negate that weakness yet but I can at least proceed to a more even playing field with both sides having super effective damage.)

(So that's your pick?)

(...yes. Yes, I think that is my best option right now.)

After locking in the affinity choice I enter floor 36.

rumble

The entrance to the floor is suddenly closed, a wall sprang into existence. Fuck.

To my surprise, no monsters storm at me. In fact, this doesn't look like a dungeon floor at all. In front of me... is a medium-sized town, it is even populated by humans? Did I drop into a different universe here?

...[Appraise] reveals that these 'humans' - and elves and dwarves and others - are monsters just like the previous boss. They are walking around seemingly living their life like real people. Children playing, women gossipping, grumpy old men haggling on the market.

If it wasn't for the clearly monstrous language this would be a perfectly average human settlement. Surreal.

As I walk a few steps closer two men who look just like village guards notice me, wave me hello and... that's it. What is wrong this time?

(Elly? Can you quickly confirm for me that I haven't lost my mind or gotten that [Mindless Monster] skill as well?)

(Uh, definitive negative on the skill. As for the former... truth be told, I ask me the same about myself. This... makes little sense.)

(Good, so I'm at least not alone in my madness.)

I check again with [Appraise] but nothing changes. All of them are 'human' just with monster as extra but still behave like regular people. Highest I saw was level 8.

Why do I feel like I've entered a horror movie but am watching it from the point of view of the bad guy...

(You know what, Elly? As long as they behave I'll do nothing to them either.)

(Are you sure this is wise, Jared? We have no idea when they turn around and attack us.)

(Maybe but it wouldn't feel right. Technically I'm a monster as well. I'm more or less sane despite that so why shouldn't they be able to overcome their nature as well. I think all of us deserve this chance.)

(Fine, if you wish.)

I walk a bit through this monster town. Everything is normal. Too normal. I feel just like a tourist who never learned even the most basic sentences of the language of the country he visits.

Now, where's my tour guide...

Despite the language barrier I manage to check out the armor shop. They carry 'monster' variants of regular helms and armors but they provide no bonuses. What's the point of that?!

The weapon shop next door sells 'monster' weapons and shields. The former come in +50 STR and +100 STR variants and the latter in +25 or +50 VIT and WIL variants. Stupidly the weaker and the stronger variant carry the same name.

I try to buy a 100 STR spear - I have the necessary skill after all - but they don't like my type of money and I fail to find anyone that wants to buy the crap loot I carry around with me. Well, there's a good chance I can't even use 'monster' gear in the first place, so... moving on.

To my surprise, the day actually changes to evening. Everywhere else in the dungeon time seems frozen at noon. The clock in my menu still does not move so it seems this passing of time is only for this floor exclusively.

I can see some of these fake people preparing some kind of feast and festivities.

...I decide to take my leave now before they decide to have me as the main meal or guest, not sure which is worse. If they are as 'human' as they seem me revealing to not eat human food but human food would only cause trouble.

I search a bit around the outskirts of the town and eventually find the stairs towards the next floor - which closes just like the entrance did when I get too close. Is this really happening?

"You shitty dungeon, you can't be serious!"