Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 174

"This place seems familiar..."

I peer down the long narrow hallway at the grey spinning portal near the back edge. The place feels oddly similar to the small dark hallway that I crossed to get to the Boss room during the C-Class exams.

It's just like the Boss room portal at the top of the Labyrinth.

I open my link with Ember and hear the Dragon's voice in my inner ear.

"It seems we've made our way to a Lower-Floor Boss. You did say this was the 20th right?"

I nod, walking down the hallway while I reply.

"It should be the 20th, yes... I wasn't exactly expecting this... What's a Lower-Floor Boss?"

Ember's flames fill the narrow room, illuminating our surroundings as he explains.

"In larger Labyrinths, levels of difficulty are usually split into 20-floor segments. Each segment has a floor boss, protecting their assigned portion of the Labyrinth. It allows the Demon and Dragon up top to safely continue absorbing mana, while hunters face the bosses below."

I grin, coming face-to-face with the portal at the end of the long hallway.

Ember continues.

"These boss rooms are usually pretty big and intricate. There tend to be more monsters to farm inside, you'll be able to train before the fight if you wish. I'd like to do some hunting myself."

I step through the mass of spinning mana, motioning Emebr to follow.

"Sounds good to me."

Moments later both of us slip through into the 20th Floor. Or rather, the 1st Lower-Floor Boss' Lair.

Immediately, I go back into attack mode from the extreme heat that shocks my system.

It feels like I've been thrown into a pit of flames.

In fractions of a second, sweat beings to drip from my pores as my body attempts to cool itself.

I hit the floor with a thud.

The black-scaled Dragon and I both land on a hard dark grey rocky surface.

It's a fairly flat stone that juts out about 20 meters in all directions. The exit portal spins right behind us, and the view before my eyes leaves me in a state of shock.

For as far as I can see in all directions, there's a bubbling pit of lava. It's dark red and orange, with hot steam coming up in the air. It makes the atmosphere waver in my line of sight.

Small boulder-like islands just like the one we're standing on peek through the molten rock every couple hundred meters for as far out as I can see.

It'd be near impossible to navigate this dungeon without a flight ability...

I can't picture any normal hunter making it far into this hellscape without burning to a crisp.

I gulp, but grin soon after, opening my link with Ember.

He's the first to speak.

"The Floor Boss isn't far, the one you call the Behemoth. It's about 3km in that direction."

Ember points a front claw off into the distance. I nod with appreciation, but I could have easily figured this out myself... There's something else he wants to say.

I look up at the Dragon, who seems to be deep in thought.

"What is it...?

"..."