If Valens had feet he would be tapping his foot on the ground with impatience he was so close. He had almost finished the nineteenth floor and after that, he just had to wrap up the twentieth and then he would be tier three. He couldn’t wait to see what new creatures he could gain. The core looked fondly out over his swampy environment, the crocodiles were dragging screaming goblins into the water, the aquatic snakes were feasting on the corpses of adventurers, and the mosquitos hummed through the air, life was good.

He was starting to get a few more tier two teams than before which was good, although not many had actually made their way to his tier two sections yet. He was looking forward to a more widespread exploration of his deeper floors and the various challenges it might bring. He was going to eventually have to figure out how to let his creatures move more freely between floors, the current setup was not ideal, but he wasn't spending every drop of mana he had to speed up his floor growth. He just didn’t have any to spare for any widespread modifications, maybe in a few more months.

Valens checked in on the group of chi users who were currently deepest in the dungeon and sighed. They had avoided burning down any of his floors so far but they had grown increasingly unpleasant the further they had to travel. He had nothing personal against them, not really, so why did they insist on cursing him out every time they made a wrong turn. It was ridiculous, it wasn’t his fault they couldn’t be bothered to keep track of where they were going and couldn’t find the stairs to the next floor. Actually, that was an interesting idea, maybe he should start hiding the stairs between floors or at least start putting them in different locations, as long as someone could walk in a straight line they could pretty much find their way through his dungeon right now.

Anyway, the group lost, as he had decided to call the directionally challenged bunch, was just making their way into his ice floors, this should be entertaining. The group wasn’t really dressed that warmly, Valens figured the area above him must be relatively temperate based on what most adventurers wore, he was looking forward to seeing how they dealt with the cold on the next floor. Maybe they would freeze to death, probably not, they were tier two chi users after all, but still, the cold might slow their reactions and make them vulnerable to the denizens of those floors. The core smiled grimly to himself, one of the lost group had already bit the dust when he wandered too close to an innocent-looking log, which happened to have teeth and was not a log.

The adventurers had gotten quite a bit more cautious after that and had stayed well clear of the water, which was disappointing. Though he was kind of hoping they made it to Sora, his boss needed some leveling and humans were the easiest way to do that. Sora was hovering just below level 80, Valens hoped she would be ready to evolve when he got to the third tier but things weren’t looking great for that. Maybe he should try and find a way to speed up her level growth?

Hey, Magnus.

There was a small pop and the drake coughed slightly as the spell he was working on came apart right in front of his face. What do you need Valens?

Why do you assume I need something? Maybe I just want to talk to you? He just chatted with Magnus sometimes, right?

So you don’t need something then?

Well… He would like to know how to speed up the growth of his bosses.

Just spit it out already, it's not like I really mind answering your questions but maybe try not to interrupt me when you ask.

That’s a little tricky Magnus, you’re either asleep or constantly fiddling with one spell or another.

The drake paused, looking thoughtful. You know what, fair enough, so again what’s up?

I wanted to know if there is any way to speed up Sora’s leveling or Aspen’s too I suppose for that matter. I’m almost to the third tier but Sora’s kind of lagging behind in her levels.

What level is she at again? I can’t actually keep an exact track like you can. It's more me guesstimating based on how dangerous or in this case weak someone feels.

She’s tier two level 79 right now.

Let me check something real quick.

Magnus flipped open his book and began to rifle through the pages, the core was still a bit curious about the little book as the drake almost always had the thing close at hand. What’s the deal with that book by the way? You always seem to be reading it or consulting it on something.

The drake glanced up for a second. Oh this it's called a codex, and I humm liberated it some years ago. Its previous owner was wasting it. This little thing can hold an almost endless number of pages despite not looking that large. I've added every book I’ve come across directly to it, and there was some rather interesting information in it, to begin with. Ah, here we are, just as I thought. Magnus stopped flipping pages and carefully read through the information he had found.

Right, I did remember correctly. Valens you’re just going to have to get used to your bosses lagging behind you in advancement for a while. The humans and your ecosystems are giving you a frankly ridiculous growth speed. You might have forgotten but Sora has the potential to evolve to tier three right now, and once you get to tier three she’ll be able to evolve to tier four.

The core had forgotten about that and he could feel a headache forming, and he didn't even have a head. So that means she’s even further behind than I thought. I hate to say this Magnus but should I delay getting to the third tier to let her catch up some?

The drake shook his head vehemently. Absolutely not, leveling on deeper floors will be a good bit faster than on the upper floors. You should also take into consideration that once she evolves, Sora won’t have anything to hunt and level off of. It would be best to get started on your third-tier section now, rather than wait for later.

You’re right, I had forgotten about the experience restrictions for lower tiers. I’m still hoping Sora can get at least close to evolving before I get to the next tier. Do you think I should stick her on the higher floors and have her pick off humans?

The drake snorted in amusement. Only if you want the humans to stop coming altogether, they’ll figure out quickly enough that something is killing off their low tier parties, and adventurer parties might stop altogether until they can figure out what’s going on. Also, give Sora a little credit, she’s gained an insane amount of levels in a short amount of time. She also doesn’t have humans boosting her levels too much as you and Aspen do. Speaking of the fairy, what level is she at? She’ll be able to evolve once you tier up as well.

The core did a quick check not having kept as careful track of his second boss’ levels. She’s at level 60, still trailing behind Sora even with more humans to fight. It's because she doesn’t really go out and hunt outside her room much I think. It’s going to take her a little while longer until she reaches the next tier, what did you say she would evolve into by the way? The core asked as innocently as he could manage. Magnus was still refusing to tell him much about the future evolutions of his bosses, something about ruining the surprise.

Not going to tell you that, but there’s something important you’re forgetting about.

Really what?

You need to pick out a new boss of course.

Valens' thoughts stuttered to a stop for a second, that was right, he had almost forgotten one of the most important aspects of getting to the next tier. Right, any suggestions, Magnus?

The drake had already picked out his first and second bosses, but this time he shook his scaly head. Nope this is all on you, pick out whatever you want.

The core glared suspiciously at him. Really? You didn’t pick out what my next boss is going to be?

Magnus shrugged. I picked out the first two bosses, but did not plan it out any further after that. The early bosses are the most important anyway, and I don’t think you’ll make a good choice for the next boss. So on that note, what are you thinking of for the next boss?

I haven’t thought about it much to be honest. He had frankly expected Magnus to pick out the third boss as well. I’ll probably pick a wolf or a goblin but I need to think this through a little bit.

Make sure you pick something that you think will be strong in the long run. That’s a rather important aspect for bosses. Then again most monsters grow to be rather formidable eventually, it's rather unusual to have any that have a tier cap like the lizards do. I’ll let you know if you’re about to make a big mistake with a boss but other than that go wild. The drake sprawled back down onto the core room floor, laying his head on the ground.

Goodnight then Magnus. I suppose I’ll just get to work then. The core couldn’t sleep, not like other beings anyway, the only way he approached that state was when he was knocked unconscious from mana depletion. Which was not a fun experience and from what he had gathered from the drake, not at all similar to the actual experience of sleep. Shaking himself out of his musings, Valens got back to work, his floors weren’t going to build themselves and he couldn’t wait to pick out a new boss. He’d just have to think about it a little more while he worked.

Vance was having second thoughts about how he had arrived at the dungeon town. At the time he had thought he was being discreet, but now he wondered. Usually, it wouldn’t have mattered too much but now there was another noble around, he wished he had been a little more dedicated to concealment. With a deep sigh, the young noble picked up his training sword and went out onto the training field.

Most of all he did not want to get caught up with politics right now, he was here to train and hopefully tier up in the dungeon. Not spend his time dancing around with polite words to people who hated him. Well, not all of the noble houses hated his family but enough of them did to make it feel like they all did. Most noble houses were ancient, most of them having five or even six generations since the kingdom’s founding and for high humans who could live for millennia, that was a very long time.

Vance took up his stance with the great sword held before him in both hands, he had been taught a variety of fighting techniques as a child, both armed and unarmed along with his siblings and cousins. Even if his family had expected them to become mages, it paid to have a way to surprise an enemy, and stabbing someone in the face didn’t cost any mana.

Beginning his first kata of the day, as he followed the familiar motions his thoughts turned back to his family. House Storm was only a third-generation noble house with Vance’s generation being the third, but despite that, they were considered a powerful family even by the standards of the old houses, many of whom had fallen far from their original heights. Their house was young even for a third-generation family, his grandfather was only around two thousand years old which wasn’t even halfway through the natural lifespan of a high human.

Vance shook his head ruefully as he continued his exercises, it wasn’t his problem right now, he was far away from all of that nonsense. His arms burned pleasantly as he continued to train with the heavy great sword, as much as he wished he could have been a mage Vance couldn’t deny he enjoyed the training. The feeling of his chi slowly seeping through his flesh and bones, making him stronger one swing at a time was an almost intoxicating feeling of gradual progress. Caught up in his training the young noble didn’t notice another set of eyes on him, and he wouldn’t have been pleased to notice Gary squinting at him with suspicion as the other noble tried to fake training as much as he could.