CH20

The gate to the second floor had three big bronze locks on it, turning our attempt to charge for the next floor into a slog. None of the drops were worth much; we stored anything uncommon. A door off to the side was our only way forward. Labeled above it were the words boss gauntlet. If we entered, we would be pitted against three bosses simultaneously, each with a key. All we had to do was defeat them to reach the next floor. Otherwise, we would have to search every room on the first floor for the bosses.

"Are optional bosses stronger than normal dungeon bosses?" I asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I've heard rumors that they drop uncapped treasure boxes," Azizi said.

"That would be what an adventurer remembers," Zeff said.

"Stop beating around the bush; if you know, fill us in," Hati growled.

This felt too familiar. Zeff seemed to be eating up the anticipation while he paused. Hati seemed to get angrier with every second that passed without an answer.

"From my observations, the optional bosses are more like boss prototypes designed either by the dungeon or someone working for the dungeon," I said.

"That has not been confirmed. Eye witness testimony of an adventurer is not academically viable. Outside of the strictly academic, there are many testimonies with similar takes. Due to how academia conducts research, I can't back your observations." Zeff said.

"So basically, we can look for the bosses and take them individually or try our luck with all three. Everyone check your stats; we must be in the upper 30s to even stand a chance." Azizi said.

Gold Fiber

Integration T1 2/5

All stats +0.1 to modifier per Integration lvl.

Spells cooldown time +5% more and have +5% more spell effect with each integration level.

At Integration 1/5 +2 Spell Slots

At Integration 2/5 +2 Ability Slots

At Integration 3/5 +3 Spell Slots

At Integration 4/5 +3 Ability Slots

At Integration 5/5 +5 Spell Slots

Cost:

1. Defeat 1 mana-rich enemy.

2. Defeat 10 mana-rich enemies.

3. Defeat 100 mana-rich enemies.

4. Defeat 1000 mana-rich enemies

5. Defeat 10,000 mana-rich enemies.

Vincent Hawk lvl2

HP 51/51

MP 36/36

SP 35/35

Stats Weapon MOD

STR 28 +11 x1.2

CON 32 +19 x1.2

END 25 +10 x1.2

DEX 30 +25 x1.2

PER 18 +10 x1.2

INT 26 +10 x1.2

WIS 25 +10 x1.2

CHA 30 +10 x1.2

LUK 26 +10 x1.2

Free Spell Slots: 1/3

Free Ability Slots: 3/3

Spells

Tier 1: Burst

Tier 1: Capture

"My highest stat is constitution, and it's 32. Sorry guys, but I'm not quite there yet." I said.

Technically it was more like 38 with his modifiers but thems the breaks.

"Going down to the second floor increases stat gain by 50% on top of our doubled stats, but it's not recommended with stats below 30. The monsters on the second floor are much stronger." Azizi said.

"Our equipment seems to be reaching its limits as well," Hati said.

"Maybe making deals with the dungeon didn't work out well," Zeff said.

"I have a spell that could turn the tables in our favor, but I can only cast it twice before I use up almost all my mana," I said.

"Capture could stall the other bosses for a few seconds allowing us to kill one of the bosses," Hati said.

"He told me about its purpose, and it isn't to stall bosses," Azizi said.

I nodded and looked back into the tunnel, where zombies slowly shambled toward us. They could run, given enough of the worms in their body to reinforce their movements.

"What are you implying?" Zeff asked.

"We will capture some mobs and use them as fodder." The wolfman shrugged. "What's there to figure out. They won't be members of our party, so the dungeon won't swarm us for using them." Hati said.