For the first time in a long time, it felt like life was going Bunty’s way. He managed to put his shock and frustration from the day before behind him and focused on the present. Now that Gwyn wore the FTF’s colours and they had Oss in the party, he didn’t have to peek over his shoulder every couple of minutes. Instead, he took comfort in the idea of having a reliable party.

Baba had taught Bunty to take his time when trusting people. It was one piece of advice Bunty had always taken to heart, but he felt it didn’t count with Oss. He wasn’t human, after all. Besides, if Explorer could trust him, there was no reason for him not to do it too. The Child of Gaia had given Bunty what now he felt was the perfect spirit for him. He had guided him through Core selections too. There was no reason for Bunty to question his judgement.

Oss had used his downtime to work all the tortoise bone into his outfit. Compressed sheets of white joined together to form his vest. Bunty was sure the Frost Blade would struggle to cut grooves into it like with the last version. The insides of Oss’s coat were now lined with palm-sized, interlocking segments. It provided an extra layer of protection around the shoulders, abdomen, and forearms. To round off his defence, Oss added similar bits to his boots too. The weight would’ve most likely brought Bunty to his knees. Oss didn’t feel it at all, thanks to his power. His focus during construction had been flexibility, and he appeared pleased with both.

The FTF didn’t have any settlements on the tenth floor. Bunty had read that no one did outside of the floor’s hub, and he soon discovered why. It was a barren wasteland of all white. While the ninth had vegetation buried underneath the snow, the tenth mainly was ice. Frozen ground and glaciers surrounded the settlement as far as the eye could see. The shifting landscape made it near impossible to settle down, and the well-adapted fauna drove away anyone that tried.

“It’s presumptuous of them to assume we’d share one sledge,” Bunty said, sitting behind Gwyneth. The FTF had arranged the vehicles and beasts for them but only provided two. The two of them were forced to squeeze into one while Oss had one to himself. “Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being squeezed up against you, but it’s just not comfortable.”

“What is it you do for them again?” She asked, adjusting her bottom so it fit comfortably against him.

“Well, they have an ice spider farm, thanks to me. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for other resources—”

“You haven’t since I met you.” Gwyneth squeezed Bunty’s forearm. “We’re almost through the second interval, and you haven’t found any worthwhile resources since the first floor. Yet, they consider you as one of their own and continue to look out for you. In my opinion, Bunty, they’ve been more than generous. We should be thankful.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Bunty sighed.

Despite the weather and terrain, Bunty soon grew to enjoy his time on the tenth floor. He believed it was the company and new security that came with the FTF’s backing. The guidebook didn’t have enough information regarding the floor and only showed a general map of the topography. There weren’t any permanent doors for the trio to utilise, so they had no choice but to explore, and Bunty loved exploring.

The local fauna was much better adapted to the ice and snow than any of them. As a result, they had no choice but to rely on traps. Since every creature they encountered could dig their way out of pitfalls, Bunty had no choice but to get creative.

Oss’s senses didn’t do the party much good on the tenth floor. He occasionally sensed old bones but required them to be mostly stationary. According to the guidebook, the local fauna was in constant search of food sources and safe dens. As a result, they never stayed in one place for long. There weren’t any seasons on the floor either. As a result, none of the beasts hibernated. Fortunately, Oss could still sense spots where a set of bones had paused for a long time and estimate how often they visited a specific area. As Gwyneth questioned him, it became apparent to them that Oss didn’t truly understand his powers either.

After two days of travelling the wastelands, the party figured out that most of the older beasts travelled between the floor’s rare hot springs. Instead of sticking to set territories, they stuck to routes carved out over centuries. Oss sensed that they occasionally deviated, and Bunty guessed it was for food. The hot springs were beacons of light in a frozen wasteland. They provided food for herbivores, and the predators picked them off while they travelled between the steaming bodies of water.

It was on their third day that Bunty found the perfect spot. Oss claimed several well-aged predators frequented the stretch between two mountainous springs. They both sat atop a frozen plateau, and Climbers rarely scaled them due to the brutal climb. Bunty helped his party, the pack animals, and vehicles scale the plateau and then set up near a cave surrounded by tall ice shards.

The tracks and Oss’s senses suggested that the pillars forced all passing beasts through a narrow bottleneck. Judging by the fresh deer droppings, Bunty guessed the prey creatures had passed through the area mere hours before they found it. Oss didn’t sense a recent trace of old bones passing through the site, so the party assumed a predator would pass through the area sooner or later.

“Intelligent nomadic beasts often pick herds and stay a day or two behind them until they’re hungry,” Oss had explained. “That’s how your lot do it. They follow prey until a predator shows up. If they take down a powerful enough foe, Gaia rewards them for their bravery.”

Bunty considered a pitfall first but, after some thought, decided against it. The guidebook didn’t have enough information on the floor’s beasts, but the artist renditions suggested that the beasts were adept climbers. As a result, Bunty turned to the fountain pen for his trap building. He had started counting the days until he fixed Alexander, so he could use the Spiderlegs to return to trap making. So, he let his imagination run wild.

The lamp’s latest upgrade had given it the ability to grow metal spikes. Gwyneth had played around with it plenty during their recent travels, but she hadn’t tested them or the accompanying spell in combat yet. Bunty liked the thought of using them for his traps, so he had her create a dozen for the image in his head. Gwyneth was sweating by the time her spirit fulfilled his request, and the party got a clear picture of the spell’s limitation.

First, Bunty set up a series of tripwires and connected them to Slimeskin boards that wound swing down on whatever activated the trap. Next, he planted the created spikes in the Slimeskin. The Spiderlegs would’ve fulfilled the same purpose, but Bunty wanted to conserve his ink to add fail safes.

Oss detected a variety of older predatory animals that used the pass. There was no telling how fast or durable their target would be. Relying on a dozen spikes alone didn’t make a lot of sense. They’d act as lightning rods for Gwyneth’s attack spell, but Bunty didn’t want her to use them unless necessary. So, he created two Slimeskin nets and connected them to skinny tentacles so they could entangle the beasts too. The fountain pen produced them in white, and he buried them in the snow too. Only the bordering spikes stuck out of the ground, and he hoped their unlucky pretty would step on them.

“I see why Explorer likes you,” Oss commented when Bunty restored the pass to a near untouched state. “He knows how to fight but refuses to draw his weapons unless necessary. Traps and tricks are his preferred tools, and he knows how to use them damn well.”

“I think he taught my brother how to make the best of them, and he passed Explorer’s teachings onto me,” Bunty said, leafing through the trap designs. His set up had combined a jungle and desert trap. Neer hadn’t listed any traps for the frozen wastelands, leaving Bunty to wonder how he had traversed them.

“The tenth floors are often extra complicated,” Gwyneth told him when he voiced his concerns. “Gaia treats them like bottlenecks and trials. When you add the stress of a frigid level to the mix, it’s understandable why your brother didn’t fill his journal with stories of them. Perhaps he joined a party hunting an extraordinary beast and took it down the traditional way. Maybe he got lucky and made it through with no trouble at all.”

Bunty nodded along, picturing his brother. He wondered when Neer had given in and taken help from the nobles. Bunty was sure they had hidden resources to help fast track their Climbers. It was dark by the time he pushed thoughts of his brother out of his head. He applied the finishing touches to the traps and hoped they’d be as effective as the diagrams. Pendulum traps traditionally required a lot more weight, but he hoped the variant would function just as well.

Unlike Bunty and Gwyneth, Oss wasn’t tired and volunteered to take watch duty. His physiology differed from a human’s, after all. Thanks to the bones, he didn’t need a fire to stay warm and ushered them away. Bunty and Gwyneth retired to the discovered cave’s depths and bundled up in whatever was left of Bunty’s Slimeskin. They ate and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

When Oss woke the pair the following morning, the first lights of dawn were intruding on the cave mouth. He signalled them to remain silent and follow him. Bunty sucked the Slimeskin bedding into his bedding and repurposed the ink for a snow-white coat. The inkwell was almost empty, but Bunty managed to squeeze a gauntlet out of it. He didn’t worry too much about having any reserves. If an emergency arose, there were plenty of ink constructs for him to reclaim.

“I sense something shuffling just outside the pass,” Oss whispered to them. “It might have picked up our scent and is stalling.”

“Can you tell what kind of beast we’re dealing with?” Gwyneth asked.

Oss shook his head. “I know the target is light-boned and hops around a lot.” He leaned closer to the pair, keeping his voice low. “What if we use the beasts as bait?”

Bunty turned his attention to the deer standing just inside the cave mouth. Their previous owner had shaved the beasts’ horns down so they could fit into the low-ceiling tunnels through the glaciers. The mane running along the back of their necks and spine were standing on end. Oss had hooked their speedbags around their faces, though, and it appeared to have calmed the beasts.

“I don’t know if that’s a smart move,” Bunty commented. “If the creature kills them and then doesn’t open a gate, we’ll be stuck on foot.”

“Then let’s just use one of them. As long as I have sufficient food and rest, I can follow you on foot. It’s not ideal, but it’s a risk worth taking.” He exhaled loudly and looked out of the cave at the snowed-over ground outside. “You two might enjoy the cold since it lets you bundle up together, but I don’t.”

Bunty found himself on the fence and looked to Gwyneth to make the final decision. “Fine,” he said after she nodded. “Let’s do this your way.”

Oss took one of the deer by the reins and guided it out of the cave. It was the muscular beast that dragged his sledge. The creature's companion glanced at the pair before shying away. The two males had never displayed any companionship towards one another. According to the guidebook, the species was predominantly female, and the rare muscular males led herds of them. It made sense why the two creatures weren't friends.

After tightly tying the second beast's reigns to a rock, Bunty followed. He worried the beast would panic and follow if their plan worked, resulting in injury and death.

"I'll stay here, Gwyneth," declared from the cave mouth as he left. It stood twenty feet above the trap site. Prior to her recent upgrade, she would've followed them. Now, thanks to the summoned lightning rods, she didn't need to. Bunty wondered whether she needed to use the attack spell at all. If the metal spikes got stuck in their target, her lightning enchantment would result in a constant damage source. It was much weaker but would still hurt the trapped beast and hopefully stun it, letting Bunty and Oss finish the job.

The deer resisted its new position once Oss removed the food bag. It became wary of its place in the open, and since they were downwind from the predator, the prey animal probably smelled it too.

Unwilling to waste the tortoise’s bones, Oss had fashioned several of them into hooks, spikes and picks. He focused until his right arm and one such spike glowed red and green. Then he thrust it into a neighbouring frozen boulder before tying the beast to it. The beast’s beady eyes widened when Oss stepped away. It started grunting and pull at the bindings straight after. The sight and sounds pulled at Bunty's heartstrings, but he considered it a necessary evil. They were only two floors from their goal, and he didn't like the update Baba had shared with him.

When the deer's panic got louder, Oss joined Bunty in his hiding place atop the boulder. Not long after, Bunty heard a chuffing in the distance. He tightened his hold on his axe and stayed low.

If everything went according to plan, the beast wouldn't get to the deer. If either of the pendulums didn't get it, one of the nets would. Bunty had Slimeskin ropes in hand to manually trigger the traps or reclaim the ink if necessary.

It wasn't long before a grey-spotted white beast appeared in the distance. Oss spotted it before Bunty. As a resident of the tower, his senses were keener than the pair's unenhanced ones.

"It's a leopard," Oss whispered.

The earth versions of the beast were fast but physically weaker than most cats. In the tower, such frames of reference didn't work. The feline almost blended in with the snow, but Bunty could tell it was five feet tall and at least twice as long.

The leopard stalked towards the goat, staying low while its eyes darted all over the place. It likely smelled the Climbers, too, but the trapped deer was probably too tempting a target.

Bunty worried their plan would fail. He doubted the aged beast was stupid enough to fall for the trap. Self-preservation likely trumped hunger. Fortunately, when the deer broke free of its bindings, the leopard abandoned all sense of caution. It chased the hoover beasts, running into the first trap.

The first pendulum missed the leopard. Bunty had set the trap such that there was no delay between triggering the tripwire and the release. However, by the time the pendulum reached the creature, it had long already moved on. To compensate, Bunty released the following Slimeskin log full of spikes straight away. His heart jumped into his throat as the beast blindly chased its prey. Age hadn’t beaten the old hunting instinct out of her. Bunty was sure the spikes were going to miss the beast altogether, but they ended up striking the leopards hindquarters.

The yowl that followed had the crystalline boulders shaking, and snow cascaded off them and the caves above. Bunty couldn’t believe his luck. He was sure that if he tried to time it, the trap would’ve failed. The pendulum lacked the weight a log would’ve carried, but it got the beast to stagger and slow. Bunty used the opportunity to tug the Slimeskin rope attached to the net, and the creature hissed as the Spiderleg spikes wrapped around it.

Oss took the lead. He leapt off their hiding place and slid down the slope towards the struggling beast. He rotated his club, so the tapered end pointed outwards and swung it into the beast’s head. Bunty expected more of a fight—they were on the tenth floor after all. The lack of a proper battle almost disappointed him. Bunty held the pen to the leopard’s skull as soon as he was within reach. Much to his surprise, a Core didn’t form.

“I thought you said it was an old beast,” Bunty said.

“It is,” Oss answered, furrowing his eyebrows. “This sometimes happens, though. Proper Cores don’t form occasionally. Sometimes, killing the beast destroys it.”

“Gaia should’ve given us a gate to the next floor, at least.”

“What’s going on?” Gwyneth asked, sliding down the snow on her bottom to join them. “Why can’t we move on?”

Bunty shrugged, looking around for an answer. The plan had more or less worked, and the second deer was now long gone. Unfortunately, he had nothing to show for it. He hoped that Oss could help him figure out their next step. Much to Bunty’s surprise, the strange man’s back had stiffened. Before he could ask what was going on, several chuffs and growls sounded in the distance, just beyond the path.

“I was wrong,” Oss said as the hair on the back of his neck stood on their ends. For the first time since he’d met him, Oss didn’t appear particularly human. His face and form reminded him of the frightened monkeys sold in cages around the Climber’s Market. “There are more of them out there.”

“Can we fight them?” Gwyneth asked, looking between the pass and the cave above them.

“No,” Oss answered. “There is one much older than the pair among them.”