After seeing the system notifications, Maya decided to test things out. She began by first opening [Party Help] and saw the following:

[Welcome Tribute, you may use the following commands to view more details regarding the Party system: "Party Status", "Add Party Member", and "Remove Party Member."]

Maya mumbled under her breath. She flicked her wrist as she navigated the menu to check [Party Status], curious to see the specifics of their current situation.

The system notifications appeared promptly:

[Displaying Party Status]

Tribute 1: Maya

Level: 12

Physique: 3

Dexterity: 7

Divinity: 2

Tribute 2: Sophia

Level: 19

Physique: 9

Dexterity: 6

Magic: 4

Sophia looked at the notifications up and down. "Seems like there really isn't anything about limiting the Party size."

Maya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but let's try and see what [Add Party Member] does next."

[Please read the below instructions carefully]

[To add a Party Member, you must make contact with the other Tribute you wish to add to your Party such as by a handshake]

[The other Tribute will then be given an system notification to join your Party, which they may choose to accept or reject]

[Once a Tribute is accepted into a Party, information regarding their stats will be visible to other Party Members through the "Party Status" command]

[Party Members may share certain restrictions and rewards while doing quests]

[But note that a Tribute may only join one Party at any given time]

"Alright, let's try [Remove Party Member] next." Sophia said.

[Any Party Member can choose to initiate the process to Remove a given Party Member once every 24 hours]

[To do so, a Party Member can simply use the "Remove Party Member" command which will initiate a vote to all living Party members]

[The duration of the vote will last up to 24 hours from the moment it is initiated]

[All living Party members may then choose to accept the removal of a given Party Member or reject their removal and allow them to remain in the Party]

[However, should you find this process to be too tedious, terminating a Party Member will also immediately remove them from the Party]

Sophia couldn't help but smirk. "That's one hell of a line."

"It's…good to know I guess." Maya said.

Sophia glanced around. "I'm very curious about this floor though; I'm guessing collecting those golden branches requires a lot of people."

Maya began to walk ahead. "One way to find out."

***

The two began walking deeper into the forest. Though they were tense at first, Maya and Sophia soon found themselves gradually feeling more relaxed. The forest was pretty nice and quiet all things considered. With the only sounds that filled the air being that of the occasional small animals, insects, and curiously enough: a loud snore

Maya glanced at Sophia. "You hear that?"

"I do." Sophia replied.

"Sounds like a person." Maya said.

Sophia placed a hand on her ear to hear better before letting it fall to her sides again. "It does, yeah, might be worth checking out considering we're a bit lost."

"We should be careful though, just in case we end up meeting someone dangerous."

"Definitely."

And so, Maya and Sophia cautiously approached the source of the sound. Eventually, they spotted a lone beastman laying on the ground who was in deep sleep. He had short black hair that matched the color of his canine ears and tail, all of which contrasted against his tan skin. He was dressed simply and only wore sandals along with a brown tunic and pants. Though notably, his hands were wrapped in weathered looking bandages. His chest heaved rhythmically with each loud snore.

"Wow, this floor must really be peaceful." Sophia muttered.

"Hold on, it could be a trap." Maya said.

"Right, so what's the plan?"

"I'll try to get closer and wake him up; if he ends up being trouble: we make him sleep for good."

Sophia nodded. "Alright, I'll be back here if things go south."

Maya slowly crept up closer to the beastman, making sure she was as silent as possible as she moved. Once she was next to him, the Shapestealer spoke in a louder voice than usual. "Uh, hello?"

The beastman didn't respond. He seemed blissfully unaware of his surroundings completely.

"He's not waking up." Maya said, turning back to look at Sopia.

The Paladin decided to break out of her hiding spot and walk closer to the beastman. Her armored boots stepping against the ground would have certainly woken up most people, but the beastman still just kept sleeping. "How is this guy not dead?"

"Guess he just got lucky."

"Either that or this floor is massive and we're in a spot that's away from all the action."

Maya breathed out a sigh. "Alright, I'll try to get him up one last time."

Sophia nodded. "Go for it."

The Shapestealer knelt down and nudged the beastman a couple of times on the shoulder. When that didn't work, she decided to pinch his nose.

As the beastman gasped awake, Maya backed away quickly and got back to her feet. She placed a hand close to the dagger she kept in her cloak as the beastman glanced around.

"Who…are you people?" The beastman asked, still drowsy.

"We're adventurers that just got to this floor." Maya said.

"Huh, makes sense, never seen you two before; my name's Valor."

"I'm Maya."

"And I'm Sophia."

Valor leapt back to his feet with surprising agility. He then started doing some stretches as he spoke. "So…you going to relax your hand from that dagger or what?"

Maya took a step back and glared at Valor. "Is there a problem?'

"Nothing, just wanted us to get started on good terms."

Sophia crossed her arms. "He's fine, Maya, probably."

"Fine." Maya relented, allowing her hands to fall to her sides.

"Listen, I just don't like talking to people who want to stab me." Valor shrugged. "And as you can see, I'm not armed."

The beastman raised both of his hands and slowly turned around before facing Maya and Sophia again. It was true, there didn't seem to be a single weapon or spell book on him.

"How…did you make it up this far without a weapon?" Maya asked.

Valor smirked and flexed both of his arms. "These are the only weapons I need."

The Shapestealer rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yep, I'm a monk." Valor said.

"That explains it." Sophia said with a light sigh. "Though your bravado isn't something I'd expect from a monk."

Valor shrugged. "I get that a lot."

"So you're a monk, fine. Why were you just sleeping on the ground? Are there no monsters on this floor?" Maya asked.

"There's definitely monsters in this floor, not near the starting area though. As for why I was sleeping, it's a funny story actually."

"Go on." Sophia urged.

Valor let out a light chuckle. "Well, I got kicked out of my Party for stealing the boss's booze."

Maya just gave out a blank stare at the beastman. "You…what?"

"I know right? Booze should be shared, can't believe those idiots kicked me out for something so petty."

"Hold on, so from what I'm getting so far: you've likely been on this floor for a while, and you were in a party before."

"That's correct."

"And then you got kicked out because you stole some alcohol?"

"Well, to be fair. It was some pretty good quality wine, in hindsight, probably something the boss wasn't keen on sharing."

Sophia coughed to catch Valor's attention. "Hold on, you keep mentioning a boss, so you were working under someone?"

Valor nodded. "I did. To be completely honest with you all, both of you will probably want to join a Party sooner or later. And if you can, try joining a Party that works for one of the four families."

"Care to explain?" Sophia asked.

"From what I've heard: some big shots from the tenth floor send people down here to scout promising new recruits."

"Wait, there's people on the tenth floor?" Maya asked.

"A whole city apparently; but I've never actually been there, so can't say for sure." Valor said.

"Huh, why would they bother with recruiting people from the eighth floor? Can't they just pick people up on the tenth floor who are probably stronger anyway?"

"Think I recall some of my…former Party Members saying that they wanted to get a hold of strong people earlier. The four families aren't exactly on good terms I'd imagine."

Sophia nodded. "So, are all the Parties on this floor affiliated with the four families?"

Valor shook his head. "Nah, not all, but the biggest and strongest parties probably are. The whole reason I joined my old Party was to get a leg up you know?'

"Can you tell us the names of these Parties?" Sophia asked.

"My old one called themselves the Black Talons, forgot the rest." Valor said with a light shrug.

The Paladin "So…do you have any plans or?"

Valor eyed both Maya and Sophia and smirked. "I was just planning on laying low until I could find some promising folks; speaking of which, you two could probably use an extra hand."

"I guess? But we're not exactly desperate either." Maya replied.

"Sure, but you'll want someone to guide you around, no?" Valor suggested.

"We could always just go to the Black Talons or another Party too." Sophia said.

The beastman nodded. Though surprisingly, his composure didn't diminish in the slightest. "That's also true, but then you'll lose out on having me on board."

"And what can you do exactly?"

"I escaped the Black Talons alive, for one. And also, I may or may not be desperate to get out of this floor."

Before Sophia could reply, Maya breathed out a sigh and interrupted. "Fine, you can tag along with us."

The Paladin gave Maya the side eye. "We're actually taking this bum with us?"

Maya looked Valor in the eye. "You can join our Party only if you make yourself useful first."

"Depends, what do you need?" Valor asked.

"I want you to lead us to a strong monster close by."

Valor's expression shifted to one of confusion. "I mean, I could. But why?"

"No reason, just want to test you," Maya responded, her gaze steady.

Valor let out a snort, seemingly amused by the challenge. He then pointed to the northeast and said, "I was run-down by an ironhead bicorn a couple of days ago. They're probably still grazing not too far from here."

"Lead the way then," Maya instructed.

Sophia, however, lowered her head to Maya's ear and whispered, "You're sure about this, right?"

Maya nodded in response. "I am."

***

Maya and Sophia followed Valor closely as they trekked through the dense forest. The underbrush rustled beneath their feet, and the occasional bird call echoed overhead.

As they walked, Maya asked. "By the way, could you tell me about what ironhead bicorns can do?"

Valor stretched his arms and turned his head back towards Maya slightly before replying, "They got metallic heads and can sometimes coat parts of their body in metal too."

"Interesting," Maya smirked.

Valor turned his head back forward and then warned, "We're close to a herd now, best be careful, they're quite aggressive."

"Got it," Maya replied.

The trio eventually stopped behind some thick bushes at the edge of a large clearing, which featured a serene lake at its center. Valor pointed forward and said, "There they are."

Maya leaned down and squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the creatures in the distance. She saw a herd of what she presumed were the ironhead bicorns. Their heads were made of silvery metal while their bodies were covered in pitch black fur.

Among the herd, Maya noticed two bicorns engaging in a fight. They butted their metallic heads against each other with a clanging sound that resonated through the clearing. Until suddenly, one of the bicorns attempted to strike the body of the other, but the target bicorn managed to shield itself by coating that part of its body in metal and causing it to only be knocked back slightly.

Just as Maya was absorbed in her observations, Valor interrupted her thoughts by asking, "So, what did you want to do again?"

"This." Maya replied. She glanced at one of the ironhead bicorns and activated [Copycat]

[Target Identified: Ironhead Bicorn]

[Knowledge threshold sufficient]

[Displaying Status]

Level: 18

Physique: 10

Dexterity: 7

Magic: 1

Unique Skills:
1. Metal Coat

[Initiating Transformation]

A bright light consumed Maya. Her form expanded and reshaped, her limbs elongating and morphing into the muscular legs of a bicorn. Her skin took on a pitch-black hue and her head transformed into a silvery, metallic sheen.

[Copycat Successful]

[Tier 2 form unlocked: Ironhead Bicorn]

[Updating Status]

Level: 18

Physique: 10

Dexterity: 7

Magic: 1

Unique Skills:
1. Metal Coat