A single man walked through the floor boss portal and ended up surrounded by stone. His eyes, now enhanced due to a spell, could see everything perfectly. Every shade of gray, green, and brown were easily seen by him.

“A cave system? A bit annoying.” He rubbed his pale hands together, warming them up. Blood still covered his body from slaying a very large lizard. With a single push of his intent, the blood flowed off of him and fell to the ground, leaving his body perfectly clean.

It was laughable how easy the first floor was to him. Everything had blood, and thus he had complete control over them.

Once the portal closed behind him, he started to walk around in search of his next victim. The Novice floor was annoying. He didn’t acquire a single level! A few of his succulent powers did improve, yet that was to be expected.

Now with stronger foes, he could only envision the numbers on his menu blasting upwards.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, the man bathed in the new aromas. “Yes.” He moaned slowly. “New flavors to taste!”

The man followed the scent of fresh new samples for him to enjoy. He soon came to a group of tiny green men. With a wave of his arm, he sliced open his own forearm with a small knife he kept on his side. Blood didn’t drip out of the open wound. Instead, the blood coiled outward and floated in the air.

The man grabbed one end of the blood as if it was a whip, and swung his arm in a wide arc. The end of the blood whip snapped and sliced one of the goblins chests open. He ran forward and more blood flowed toward him.

In mere moments, all the goblins were dead. A large source of blood floated around the man. “Good quality! Much better than the beasts on the previous floor. I suppose it makes sense, these are Beginner ranked creatures.”

Hours went by as the man went from tunnel to tunnel. In that time he found only a single Challenge, and no Dungeons. It was a boring one. All it did was request him to craft something. Bah, what does he need physical objects for that his blood can’t mimic!

Yet he did what was requested of him. He made a crude potion and left with the somewhat acceptable rewards. Having a recipe for a potion that granted him increased strength was welcomed. The downside was the ingredients. “Something I can sell, or force someone to make for me.”

He was walking, not really paying attention. With all the blood that stained him, the goblins and kobolds kept a very very wide berth from him. The blood of their kind was a threat. If they come near him, their blood will join the ocean of their fallen brothers and sisters.

A sudden heavy thump brought him back to reality. As a golem slowly moved toward him, the man frowned.

“Really? A golem? Bloodless. Mindless. And I bet you don’t even give good experience!” The man really hated his new opponent. The blood formed into a solid weapon. It was crude, as he preferred slicing weapons. It makes bleeding people so much easier.

A modified hammer was the best he thought given the situation. He sent the weapon flying forward and it slammed into the golem. Blood splashed everywhere, but a noticeable crack was seen on the golem.

“Wasteful! Do you know how hard it is to get good quality blood? I can’t keep using my own!” He was venting to the mindless creature. Deep down he understood it couldn’t hear him. This was the third bloodless enemy he had fought. Each one was just as annoying. At least this time, he had a new upgrade to his ability

[Blood Weapon] was now Apprentice ranked. He could shape it into any weapon rather than only a certain kind.

Another blood hammer came crashing down. Soon the thing was a crumbled mess. The bloodmage walked over and kicked one of the rocks. “Stupid thing.”

He sat down with a huff of annoyance. “I expected to find more fun down here. Not a single challenging foe! Nobody to really spice things up. I thought I found a group worthwhile, but they were just weak teenagers. Didn’t even put up a fight! Whatever scent of power that wafted off of them was from whoever they were working for.”

He reached into his favorite item. A storage bag. He looted it from some military person before he came to this floor. Another weak foe.

He pulled out a piece of paper with a sketch of a face. “Now, this is the kind of man I want to find. Whatever control he had on those kids was outstanding! His nose is a bit off for my liking, but I’m sure he will taste delicious. After all, the lingering taste of him on those three reminded me of another man I bumped into.”

He pulled out the head of the aforementioned man. “Now Benji, tell me. Do you think I’m still a coward?”

The head’s jaw continued to remain slacked. The person it belonged to is forever dead. Its blue eyes have started to fade due to age.

“Not so talkative now are you? I knew it was a good thing to find you for revenge! You were one of my favorites. Now if I can only find someone who has blood like yours. It just tastes divine.”

He showed the paper to the head. “Look at this young fellow here. Do you think he will call me a madman? A serial killer? What about someone who deserves to die?” Now that he held the paper and head next to each other, he could have sworn they almost looked the same. “Damn kids. They can’t give an accurate description of someone. Now I'm extra glad I drained them.”

As he continued to talk to the head he heard a muffled gasp. He looked over to see a group of five people with torches. One of them was a woman who had her hand over her mouth. Another one was a man. He had a gun aimed at the bloodmage and fired.

A bullet pierced through his chest, knocking him on his back. The head and paper fell to the floor as his grip let them go.

“Think that got the weirdo?” The gunman asked.

The bloodmage sat up and blood pooled around him in the air. “Excuse me. I was busy talking to Benji! It’s rude to interrupt others. I think I’ll be teaching you this lesson you bastard.”

The blood formed into a giant arrow. With a single flick of his finger, the arrow zoomed forward and impaled the gunman. Screams of battle soon stopped echoing through the cave. A man covered in blood walked down the twisting tunnels. “Now then. I think we should find less rude friends to talk to. Someone with manners.”

Mathew walked out of his second Challenge on the Beginner floor. After this one he could confirm they might have a pattern.

The Challenge he just completed was profession related. More specifically, guarding. He was forced to kill monsters and prevent them from going past him and through a door. The first one had him looking for a flower.

He was surprised at a combat related Challenge. Mathew assumed Dungeons would be combat based, and Challenges more on fundamentals. Which, technically, held true. Guarding a door was technical based.

If he had a profession related to protecting or guarding something, then he would have a skill set that complemented that challenge. He would need to be careful going into Challenges. He couldn’t strong arm them all.

If he was forced to craft something, or worse, perform medical or a specific field of science or math, he might be stuck forever inside a Challenge.

After an entire day, or as close to Mathew’s guess, he had yet to run into or see signs of other people.

By now, he expected to run into someone. Either a nice group of friendly people like that first group he ran into, or people who were like those with the prisoner. Mathew almost felt bad for the guy.

Forever stuck looking at that wall until he wasted away. That was no way to die. He didn’t care that he was a prisoner, just that it was a waste for him to die. On the other hand, if the man was able to complete an Axiom and walk out on his own power, then he would be stronger.

Mathew was a bit grumpy; he couldn't use the wall. There was something there that he resonated with. Agnox tried to tell him about his own, but that wasn’t it.

It was something familiar, but not like any of his own Axioms. Something from a long time ago. Mathew was stuck with his own thoughts as they traverse the tunnel system. Thus, he kept himself focused by coming up with plans for the future.

Rituals to try and create. Combative plans with his current summons, and possible future ones. Plus he really wanted to turn a ritual into a spell. He could do it, there was just a low chance of doing so.

He needed to be careful, he only had so many slots. Agnox mentioned at the Student rank he could learn to remove spells, or perhaps combine certain ones. That was something he would love to do.

“Boss, another group of kobolds.” Agnox said, elbowing Mathew.

“Good. Let’s clear them out.” Mathew summoned his spear and soon he was charging in with Jeffery and Agnox.

Every new group of enemies, Mathew had the three of them practice different fighting styles. Mathew goes into the melee with Agnox supporting with his ranged spells. Jeffery going in alone. Just Agnox and Mathew fighting. Mathew fights alone, but without his melee weapons. Never did they push themselves to the point that anyone would be in danger.

Mathew was really enjoying fighting with the spear. Even if he at first learned to fight with daggers and knives, the reaching weapon fit him better. He could fight at a safe distance, and the piercing aspect remained firm in his mind.

There were more kobolds here than before. Around twenty. Mathew had a hard time keeping up with them. The fact his wisps kept moving to stay near him made the light bounce in weird ways.

“One of them is getting away!” Agnox shouted and threw a bolt of fire. He missed, but the flames still licked at the kobolds back.

“It’s fine. We don’t need to kill them all.” Mathew said while breathing heavily.

“What if he brings back more?”

Mathew thought about it. “You think he’s going to a Dungeon?”

“It’s possible. Where else would the thing run off to?”

After thinking about it, Mathew and the crew chased after the kobold. It had a head start, but Mathew let it keep it. He wanted to see where it was going.

Mathew came into a narrow tunnel. At the end was a glowing and swirling portal. “Well color me surprised Agnox, you were right.”

“I was?” Agnox asked in confusion. “I mean, of course I was!”

Mathew swatted his familiar away and his antics. “MMmhmm, I’m sure you fully believed in yourself. Come on, I want to clear this Dungeon out.”

“Wait a minute Boss. That’s a Beginner ranked Dungeon. You think we can clear that out ourselves?”

Mathew looked up at Agnox. “Yes. Yes I do. I’ve barely been pushed hard enough to worry. The hoard night was the only time I was truly worried. The snake was annoying, and we killed it easily. It was Beginner ranked, but stronger than any group of kobolds. I’m several levels higher than when I fought the Infernals. Don’t forget, your group was more than just a simple Beginner Dungeon. Your leader had an Axiom and other advantages your clan bought. This is a simple kobold Dungeon in a World Dungeon. Worst case, we just leave.”

Agnox chewed on that for a moment before relenting. “Fine, fine. This better be worth it.”