Limitless Path

Heading out of the room, the two made their way up to the lounge, finding most of the senior emblem holders sitting at various tables. For a surprise change of pace, Tazeen was actually in the lounge, while Elana was absent, presumably forced to cover front desk duty for once. Beth walked over to Baelvyr's table and sat down, leaning back in her chair with her arms at her sides, not even feeling the weight of the gauntlets dragging them down.

Beth waited again for Baelvyr to finish breakfast before they proceeded to the far end of the arena, taking up the farthest dueling rectangle. She failed to mention her extra attempt of the previous night, and Baelvyr didn't seem to have noticed, or care. Not as if she had done anything wrong, either, just that she felt rather embarrassed at her performance. Likely a better idea to sweep it under the rug than have her instructor laugh at her for it.

The morning and afternoon went the same as the day before, Beth still struggling just to last a minute before getting diced up. She was a little frustrated at what she was now considering her lack of stamina, not having enough energy to do more after an entire day of training in the dueling arena. She hadn't seen the other girls for a while, and she wanted to do a dungeon clear for the convenient couple silver, so she showered and ate quickly in her rented room before heading out with Blood.

The two of them made rather quick time getting back to the neighborhood, circling around the back of the development before Blood quite easily leapt the ditch and berm. They landed in the Bell back yard after the sky had already grown dark, the area lit by the back porch lights and the light coming out of the kitchen windows. There was nobody outside tonight, and Beth entered the house through the mudroom, leaving her equipment therein.

She meandered into the kitchen, finding it also empty. She wasn't really hungry or thirsty, so she wandered back down the hall to the living room, finding it deserted as well. She made her way upstairs, sticking her head around the corner to see both her sisters' room doors closed. The office was open, and she looked in as she passed by, seeing both her parents at their desks working. Neither one looked up and she continued into her room, shutting the door behind her and Blood.

There was no lovely lady in her bed tonight, and Beth changed into a set of old clothes before checking the two seeds she had planted. Seeing no changes after watering, she set her phone on the nightstand and rolled into bed. She fell asleep rather quickly, still rather tired from her full day of training.

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Beth woke up early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to get light. She rolled out of bed, frowning a little on feeling that her bed was just that noticeable bit worse than the one in her rented suite. She made her way over to the bathroom to get ready for the day, powering through her morning routine before making her way down to the kitchen with Blood.

She followed her typical breakfast routine for when she was at home, which namely consisted of some meat cooked up for both her and Blood along with some juice, though the juice was soon to be in short supply. After they had eaten a little, Beth cleaned up quickly, leaving it for someone else to actually put the dishes in the dishwasher after she rinsed them. She headed to the mudroom to get geared up, followed closely by Blood.

She enjoyed sitting outside a little in the morning when it was still a little chilly. She wasn't sure if it was the increased STR or END, or maybe it was the increase in mana in her body, but she had become far less sensitive to harsher temperatures. She also felt like she was always a little bit hot in 'normal' temperatures, and being in the cooler air was a nice change. She sat on one of the larger chairs at the left-hand table and waited for the rest of the group to be up and about.

It took another hour for everyone to be up, fed, watered, geared, and ready for the day. Soph took the chance early to hop on top of Blood, riding her from the house all the way to the ant nest. She hopped down once they were there, the girls heading inside and making their way through the first few floors quite quickly.

They started to run into problems when they hit the third floor. Well, perhaps problems was a little bit of a stretch, but they certainly ran into unexpected changes. They found three level nine ants in the very first room of the third level, which was a bit of a difference as compared to the last time they had gone through the dungeon a few days ago. Beth and Blood let the girls take care of this group, as it was at their level, and they needed to actually use the skills they had been training in the CRA Hall.

They found even more differences further in, however, prompting Beth to grow a little concerned. She wasn't too worried about herself or her group handling the dungeon, she was much more worried about the implications of what it meant for her home nearby. Where the boss room was supposed to be was instead a regular room. It had two level ten and two level nine ants in it, and a passageway that was clearly leading down to a fourth floor below.

Beth didn't really feel like wasting any time today, and she charged into the room ahead of the group. The four ants were standing about thirty-five feet from the entryway, and Beth reached them in three powerful stomps, each thrust of one of her legs propelling her forward a dozen or so feet. She slammed into the level ten ant on the left like a freight train, her accumulated speed and massive STR stat causing the ant to literally blow apart upon impact.

She quickly pivoted on her foot after the first ant died, taking a step and smashing apart the second level ten with a quick jab. Another three quick steps, one forward and two back, as well as two more quick, sharp jabs later, all four of the ants lay dead. Beth moved back over to the group at the entryway, noting the lower leveled girls' eyes were a little wide after she displayed just what pumped up stats could do.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Kim suddenly. "Hold on. When did you get to level twenty-eight?!"

"Blood and I have been busy training," Beth replied blandly, waving aside the question. "We need to see what's changed in here and try to figure out what that means. I doubt Blood or I will have trouble with whatever's down there, but you guys need to keep your heads on straight. Got it?"

"We'll be careful, but I really don't think we need to worry about it," Kim replied calmly for the group.

Beth led the way down the new ramp towards the brand-new floor of the dungeon, finding the curve of the ramp to be much sharper. They arrived on the fourth floor, about the same distance down as separated the previous floors, in a much quicker time than previous floor transitions. They found a room ahead of them that was similar to the ones previous in the dungeon, but with one rather critical difference Beth noted immediately. There were four doorways.

The room was a circular area of packed dirt with the familiar glowing moss on the walls and three ants standing idly in the center. The doorways were the key difference here, with there being one centered on each 'side' of the room, as much as a circle could have sides. It looked like the dungeon had not just grown in the past few days; it had grown substantially.

Beth did a quick inspection of the three ants in the middle of the room and found all three to be level ten. She figured today would be a bit of a babysitting day, these ants able to actually provide good experience for the other girls while not being too challenging. She took her old place, leaning against the tunnel wall near the doorway and crossing her arms over her chest. She lifted her left arm to gesture at the other girls before re-crossing it on her chest and watching.

The three girls performed their standard strategy for a dungeon like this, having Soph start off with a freezing blast before Kim and Sabs dashed into the room. While not enormous, the improvement brought about by the training of the instructors at the CRA Hall was quite clear to see. Kim and Sabs both moved with surer footwork, charging confidently at the outermost two ants of the group before engaging them with their blades.

It was also clear that they had probably each gained a level in their skill proficiencies in working with their instructors, both of them handling their weapons more nimbly. Soph had improved as well, though it was harder for Beth to tell, since Soph had improved a little in the mana efficiency of the spells she created. She had also improved in her targeting of the magic she threw, but against beasts at low levels, this wasn't something that was much of an issue.

It was less than a minute for the three girls to kill the three ants, their increased skill and improved equipment versus when they had first started out making even the level ten enemies pose little challenge. They regrouped, and Beth led the way down the leftmost tunnel going from where they had entered the room. This tunnel was straight, unlike the ones of the previous three floors, and let out into a room similar to the one they had just been in, other than it only had one other tunnel entrance. This entrance was to their right, leading deeper into the dungeon away from the direction of the third-floor ramp.

The room was home to another three ants, the group all having it well ingrained by now to check any enemy they saw as soon as possible. The ants were all level ten, and fared no better against a massive cold blast, mana copper blades, and targeted lightning bolts. When the other girls had made short work of the room, Beth gestured to them and led the way back through the same tunnel to the starting room.

She had a little bit of a hunch as to how the layout of this floor was currently arranged, but she was going to take it a little slow and be methodical in her investigation of these changes. They took the opposite entryway, what would have been on their right the first time they walked onto the fourth floor, and headed down the hallway behind it. It was little surprise to her to find a room the mirror of the one on the far left, with the only other tunnel branching to the left of where their tunnel connected.

The room was indeed a mirror, and the girls easily cleaned out the three level ten enemies before following Beth back to the starting room again. They moved on from there to the central tunnel, opposite the one they used to come down from the third floor. They found a room containing four ants, identical to that first room of the floor they had just left, as it also had tunnels leading out in each direction. The ants, however, were somewhat stronger, being one level eleven and three level tens grouped together.

Beth stood back again, letting the three girls do all the work, and also take almost all the credit for the kills. Four enemies, and one of them being two levels higher, proved a bit more of a challenge for them, but the skills they had been honing the last week didn't let them down. The fight was a little longer, the increased toughness of the level eleven slowing them down a little, but it still went from taking just under a minute to a little over two.

The rest of the group asked Beth for a short rest after that, only a little bit tired but having leveled up, thus wanting to distribute their points immediately. Beth and Blood walked around for a minute while the girls checked their stats, Beth killing a level five ant that had been generated as a replacement. That ant had walked out from the center tunnel opposite of where they entered, providing further evidence to verify her suspicions.

When the others had rested and were ready to set out again, Beth led them through the tunnel righthand to where they had entered from. They found a room at the end of this tunnel with three ants within and two tunnels branching out, one to their left and one to their right. The group quickly identified the ants, finding them to be one level eleven and two level tens. The three level ten girls took care of them in short order, putting the level eleven down still being the longest part of the fight.

They returned to the second central room afterwards and made their way down the lefthand tunnel next, finding a room identical to the one they had just been in. Everything being the same, including the number and level of ants, the three lower leveled girls confidently conquered the room in only a few minutes.

Next, they returned to what seemed likely to be the central room of the floor and turned to head down the central tunnel, opposite from where they had originally entered. They arrived outside the new boss room after a few moments, noting another tunnel to either side, but no tunnel opposite that would lead further into the dungeon. The boss room itself contained four level eleven ants and a level twelve ant princess.

"Uh, that's a little much," said Kim after all the girls had used Identify on everything in the room.

"Blood and I will kill one of the level elevens each. If you're in trouble, we'll step in and help. I think one level each is fine for the day," Beth said.

"Alright. Soph, blast the left half of the room with your frost. Sabs, you and I will move into that half after the frost blast. Beth and Blood can kill the two ants on the right," Kim said, laying out the plan of attack.