I got to know some interesting things on a previous floor, but they didn’t really help in climbing further up, now that my mana sensing got disabled, so I decided to ignore them similar to the rest of the things I had difficulty coping with. But even if I ignored them, I had a feeling that knowledge that came with them would eventually come in handy, so I made sure to not forget them.

Now let’s return to the matters at hand, and let’s start thinking how are these floors even fitting inside this tree. Another weird thing would be why almost none of them actually fit the theme. I mean why were there mountains inside? Wouldn’t some tree related things be better?

And why after all these open lands we ended up in a cave? My spider senses are telling me there is almost no end to this place, and I didn’t have a feeling like that even in open areas. That would mean we ended up in a floor that’s far larger than previous ones.

I checked the cat that landed on my back after being thrown, and to my great surprise, she was actually asleep. She seriously doesn’t care does she? Well not that it matters since we’re on a far higher floor than she should be able to handle, so if a threat appeared I would chuck her into the shadow anyway.

And it seemed like the occasion for that would come right away, since I could hear a rather loud rustling sound coming from the one direction. It sounded almost like something slithering on the floor.  And by something I mean something huge. Why do I know it’s huge? Well, that because it’s coming right at us! A huge worm, with few rows of teeth sharp enough to mince a boulder! If that thing is as strong as it’s scary forget about fighting it, even escaping would be a struggle.

Fortunately I found a small space in one of the walls possibly made by its erosion.

[Proficiency reached. Gained skill [Stealth lvl. 1] ]

That’s helpful. I was afraid to even peek at the worm to appraise it, but fortunately it should pass right by us without noticing. Even if it’s just a weak monster, I absolutely decline to fight it. It’s just plain gross, well, scary too if you look at its teeth, but mainly gross.

I really hope this is the only individual here, I really don’t want to have to face a horde of them. The cave isn’t big enough to house a big number, but there is no guarantee that it doesn’t become wider in some places.

Phew it slithered right past us without causing any problems, and that meant either us being good at hiding or the worm’s senses being a bit dull. Either way we managed to get out of this situation without having to fight the gross monster.

I was relieved, but also a bit anxious about what enemies on this floor looked like and what was their average strength. If every monster was as big as this one, then I would have to worry about my damage output, because bigger mass usually meant higher health pool.

It was possible that the only benefit the monsters of this floor had from the bigger size would be more health, while still retaining lower defense, but there was a possibility of sturdier monsters appearing too. I didn’t even know if it was true that monsters were relatively bigger here, that was definitely one of the things I had to check.

I peeked out of our little hiding spot, and when I saw no enemies I got out from it while still having Felicia sleeping on my back. I wonder if she will wake up in real danger, seriously this cat. I made sure to move in the other direction that the worm went and then proceeded further into the darkness of the cave.

…

That cave sure is long, because after about an hour of marching at steady pace I still didn’t find anything worth noting. It was just straight tunnel going further into darkness, with no intersections or splitting path. I started to slowly get bored as I strided through this weird place.

Why weird? Because there was no sound at all, even my steps were making no noise at all, to the point I wondered if there was something wrong with my ears. Fortunately I could hear soft breathing of Felicia still sleeping on my back, so I was somehow saved from going insane.

I would appreciate her waking up though, because even with all my strength it was still a bit harder to walk with additional weight.

[Proficiency reached. Gained skill [Endurance lvl. 6] ]

Well, if it’s all it takes to gain a skill level, then I actually don’t mind her riding on me.

[Conditions fulfilled. Gained title [Cat’s steed] ]

Okay I changed my mind, get off! I made some web and then forcefully yanked Felicia off with thread control. I made sure she lands safely, but still I made her wake up quite forcefully. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked at me with questioning look.

[“Did something happen?”]

I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I just stayed silent and continued marching. She must have come to her own conclusion as she joined me quickly, jogging leisurely beside me. I never noticed, but my walking speed could be considered quite fast by two legged standard.

Still, I didn’t slow down, firstly because she had a lot of stamina for her small posture, secondly because she simply didn’t get enough exercise. Even in this supposedly deadly dungeon, she mostly slept through the day, and that was unacceptable.

I didn’t want to have a fat lazy cat, I wanted one of these lively ones. Hmm, maybe I am wrong seeing her more as a cat than human, but I simply can’t force myself to do otherwise with how catlike she’s acting. Wait, did I ever see a real cat? Never mind, I don’t remember.

How long will this tunnel go on? I’m not yet tired, but that doesn’t mean I’m not bored. This cave surely was unlike the rest of the floors I’ve seen, but going by the fact I skipped about forty of them, maybe it wasn’t really that different?

Not that I would get to know if I didn’t dive into this dungeon again. Maybe I should ask the dungeon master if this was the case, but for that I would have to get up to her and that will take time. I was slowly starting to think there was something seriously wrong with this tunnel.

I mean it was inside a tree, and I easily travelled more than ten kilometers in straight line by now. The mountains seemed a bit logical… no they didn’t, but still if a single path on this floor is that long, what about the other ones? Does this floor spread for hundreds of kilometers in every direction?

Wouldn’t that be pushing limits of how big a single one could be? Not that I knew if they existed, it just seemed logical. After a second hour, I seriously started giving in to the insanity. If I was alone, I’m sure I wouldn’t last that long, and surely by now I would be trying to claw my way out through the walls.

Through the walls…

I quickly made another thread, as strong as possible, without focusing on cutting power, and rather on the bludgeoning side if it even existed for something like a spider web. I charged the string with mana, and then used [Thread slash] on the wall.

Well, it was worth trying. The lack of any effect on the wall at all was a bit disappointing… shattering… depressing… but still that’s one of the possibilities to cross out. But if it wasn’t the walls, and just the tunnel being extremely long was very unlikely, then where was the catch?

Then suddenly I heard slithering sound, the exact same kind that the previous worm made. I quickly started searching if the walls had any hiding places, and fortunately I found one that looked weirdly similar to the one we hid in the first time.

We waited some time, and the exact same looking worm came by us, again without taking any notice. It was looking exactly as gross as before, and again I was glad that I didn’t have to fight it.

Déjà vu?