While I wasn't an expert at creating formations, the spark of inspiration definitely helped me to organize Lilith's squad of twelve into two ranks of six, although it wasn't hard to begin with. Not all of them had shields, but the idea of it was more than enough to get their minds whirling, as the few skeletons from the E.P.T. that were sitting inside the room were more motivated to find shields along with everything else.

With the new formation, arrows and some less powerful spells would be ineffective against us, and we'd be able to bring down much more dangerous foes despite not being nearly as strong as them. Lilith was ecstatic at the idea of keeping herself and her comrades alive in this way, and thus, wanted to join the E.P.T. members who were heading out. They didn't begrudge the extra help, and soon, the rest of the Combat Team had filtered out of the room as well, leaving the Sentinels, Rivena, myself, and the newer skeletons inside.

I found myself more and more impressed with their initiative, although I'd never let them know that. I was thinking about what we might end up facing on the lower floors. The goblins on the third floor hadn't seemed too hostile to us, but that might not be the case on the fourth floor and beyond. The thought of meager skeletons facing endless enemies didn't sit well with me, since we couldn't readily replenish our numbers unless we pulled from the second floor, and then trained them, and even then, the more dungeoneers that died, the more likely it would be that we'd be discovered.

I need to level up more.

I decided to continue strengthening my somewhat savage fighting style, as it was working well enough for me at the moment, and if I could add enhancement skills on top of it, then I just might be able to start handling small groups of dungeoneers on my own.

Of course, I didn't have enough skill points for any enhancement skills that would have much effect, considering most would simply boost only one aspect of myself by a tiny amount, from what I guessed about low level skills. It would be better to hold off on acquiring anything until I hit level ten at the very least.

I stood up, deciding that if I was going to fight like a savage, I'd have to practice with others more often. I started working on breaking down another bed, since the recruits would need some practice weapons for what I was planning on doing.

I could only assume that I was being watched with some confusion as I dismantled the bed, and started shaping the old wooden boards to my liking. While spears weren't the most effective training tools, they were better than nothing, and I didn't want the others to get into the habit of using bone weapons, despite their better durability compared to old wood. Bone weapons were too short, and wouldn't provide any valuable experience for practice, at least for me.

After using my short sword to carve out another spear, two of the recruits joined me, shaping spears for themselves with the knives that nobody else had claimed. I didn't bother coaching them, as creating a spear wasn't easy, especially since I was using a truly awful material to do it. It took most of my concentration just to make sure I didn't make it too thin, and thus too weak.

We had some extra bones for the fire, which helped for hardening the tips, although the meat and blood didn't help in regards to the decor. It felt more like I was in a slaughterhouse than a barracks. At this point, I was already wishing we had a fortress instead of this hole in the wall. At least then I could have a dedicated room for this sort of thing.

In the meantime, I figured I might as well think of other ways we could capitalize on our advantage of numbers in the dungeon. I still wasn't sure about how I felt about the other monsters. I could definitely try to take the other floors by force, but then I'd have to exert my own dominance again and again, whereas if I tried to negotiate, I might end up on the losing end if I failed to have enough pressure. Of course, if I didn't do either, it could come back to haunt me later as I assumed that the monsters of the lower floors would always be stronger than the floor above them.

Even if I tried to negotiate, there might not be anyone to negotiate with. The skeletons definitely didn't have a unified leader, and it didn't seem like the goblins did either, although we hadn't interacted with them too much. In turn, that also made taking the floors by force a dangerous and potentially ruinous idea, as it might cause entire floors to rebel against us, like we were doing against the dungeoneers. I definitely didn't need either of those headaches.

If I did nothing to interact with them, I might end up finding a group too large for us to fend off coming to kick us out of their floor, or just coming to wipe us out. Either way, also a bad idea.

Before I knew it, the spear I had been working on was finished, and the others were nearing completion on theirs as well.

Guess it's time for a bit of practice.

I stood up, and tossed the spear to one of the others that was sitting around, staring off into space. It smacked him in the forehead, before he scrambled to take hold of it.

"You can use that miniscule amount of damage as motivation while we spar. If you aren't ready at all times, you'll die out there. Now come at me. I want to see if you can break one of my ribs like most dungeoneers seem to do."

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Lilith was a bit surprised that Broken Skull had actually acquiesced to her advice, but she had to admit, the formation that he had introduced was something that capitalized on their numbers, and the narrow spaces. However, the same couldn't be said about open spaces, unless they had the numbers to completely surround their enemies.

She had joined a member of the E.P.T. named Elvax, who seemed to be slightly skittish, but a good sort. Alongside her, was also Horts and Kel, two skeletons from the Combat Team who had wanted to come along. Horts was a bit of a hothead, whereas Kel was very quiet, but not timid in the slightest. Both of them seemed to compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses. They were currently debating on the pros and cons of the new formation. Overall, Lilith felt that she somewhat enjoyed their company, as they looked for potential recruits, and chests full of equipment.

"But if we're hiding behind shields, there's no telling who'll end up getting stronger! It could unbalance the front lines if we have one weak skeleton, with a really strong one beside them! That's why we shouldn't let the two ranks mix! It'll destabalize the whole formation!" Horts spoke adamantly, enough so that it seemed like the top of his head would fly off from the force of his words.

"The strong can make up for the weak, who can in turn grow stronger without getting hurt." Kel shot back, absentmindedly turning his dagger over in his hands, looking for notches and rust. He had been very thorough in the maintenance of his weapon, having seen Broken Skull sharpening his own sword often. He wanted a sword of his own, but the rusted ones seemed almost unsalvageable, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't manage to restore them.

"Who's to say that the stronger skeleton doesn't overshadow the weaker one? He gets stronger, and the other gets weaker! This leads to that strong skeleton dying at some point, and the weak can't pick up the slack! That's why we can't have the ranks of skeletons mixing! It's like Broken Skull taking on that axe guy earlier! If he had lost, we might have been wiped out! If you can't understand that, how about I beat some sense into that rock you call a head!" Horts drew closer to Kel, shaking his fist at him menacingly.

Kel hid behind Lilith, who paid the two no mind. She wasn't worried about what they did, so long as they didn't try to attack each other. "That's offensive to Lilith. She's our team leader, and she's plenty strong on her own. You're calling her a glory hound." Kel shamelessly twisted Horts' words.

Lilith listened to the two bicker back and forth, occasionally stepping in to keep Horts from blowing a non-existent blood vessel. After an hour or two, Elvax had found two equipment chests, which held a shield and some extra equipment, which were all stuffed into the pack he had on.

They had gotten rid of the worst of the weapons and armor, leaving them for dungeoneers to find, while staying mobile, and quiet. Lilith was glad that nobody else could hear Horts and Kel bicker back and forth, otherwise they'd have been discovered five times over at this point.

Lilith found herself wondering about how many skeletons they would need to recruit before Broken Skull finally decided that they could head down to the next floor. While she definitely wanted those above to suffer for their actions, she also wanted to see more than just the endless halls that filled their daily lives. If the other floors were different, then she'd be able to at least be content for awhile with that.

This was why, after five hours, Lilith was carrying a total of two shields, while Horts and Kel were both holding shields of their own. They had met up with two of the other E.P.T. members, and had collectively picked up fifteen new recruits, who were being led back home.

Lilith couldn't wait until she saw the day when massive amounts of the dead marched through the lands of the living, trampling over their bodies. She'd be able to satisfy both her desire to see the world, and also her desire to punish those who slaughtered her people.

For now, she would try to be content with the fact that they were getting stronger and stronger as time progressed. They still had to avoid dungeoneers on the second floor, but those days were numbered. Lilith promised herself that she'd make the Combat Team strong enough to be the tip of the spear on that day. She couldn't stop thinking about a force of skeletons, moving outward inexorably.

Lilith felt her bloodlust rising at the thought of it.