22 Ocelot.

There was a chase on the 32nd floor. The mud-stained adventurer moved his feet on the soft soil, thick tree branches breaking against his body. The eyes were periodically closed briefly so that the thorny vines would not damage them. Shichika's goal wasa strengthen species in the form of an ocelot.

Typically this monster is dark green in color, has four ears and a tail with a poisonous sting at the end. Even when meeting a group of adventurers, he hides in the foliage and waits for the uninvited guests to leave his territory. Truly a sensitive creature living in the dungeon. If he still has to fight, then he uses a killing weapon on his tail and claws that inject an anticoagulant liquid, causing the victims to bleed.

The strengthened species was dark blue in color, slightly smaller than its counterparts, and was capable of extending its tail twice as long as its normal length. All this was accompanied by extremely disgusting behavior. The beast attack any prey passing by. It was during this activity that Shichika discovered him. The running Bloodsaurus received a puncture wound in the thigh, after which, writhing in agony for half a minute, he left this world. A dungerous monster will become much stronger if he doesn`t destroy it.

Soon the ocelot ran into the hollow of one of the horizontally growing tree trunks. At first glance, it might seem that the monster had driven itself into a trap, but the red veins on the bark indicated that a special type of plant monster was growing on the inside.

In a calm state, rafflesia with a radius of two meters secreted a sweet, hallucinogenic nectar that was sprayed into the air. As soon as something other than the monsters living in symbiosis with them came closer, the flowers showed their true appearance. Like the jaws of some monster, 4 toothy petals slammed shut, tearing out pieces of flesh from the unfortunate victims. There were usually 4-5 of these plants in a colony, but groups of close to a dozen individuals also appeared.

After hitting the Landform a couple of times, Shichika looked inside. The ocelot hid in the far left corner on one of the tree ledges, waiting for the moment.

- I'll have to use a little trick.

Having taken a couple of steps, the adventurer seemed to stumble and step to the side, towards one of the red buds, which immediately closed. At the same time, the blue cat jumped onto the nearest wall and attacked with its elongated tail. All attacks landed in the air; after fully mastering his style, the teenager was able to use an illusory step when moving to the sides.

The left hand, clenched into a fist, sent a clot of energy into the flower, and the right hand, grabbing the monster by the tail, sharply pulled it to the side. The ocelot, leaving deep scratches on the wood, collided with the floor under terrifying force.

- What if... - wrapping a "live" rope around his hand, Shichika began trying to hit the remaining rafflesia buds with the cat.

It didn't work out very well at first. Too strong and the plant will die from the collision, too weak and the blue monster will be able to twist in the air, avoiding the blow. With each new swing, the monster's aggressive growl changed to screams of pain, and then they were replaced by a plaintive whine.

Then success happened: the ocelot's body barely touched the core of the flower. The closed petals divided their target into 4 parts, pouring blood on the surroundings. A truly brutal death.

To his dismay, the adventurer felt satisfaction from the bloody massacre. In any case, his path now lay to a place known as the White Palace.

At the same time, somewhere in the alleys of Orario, the wounded elf lost consciousness and was saved by a silver-haired girl in a green waitress uniform.

The 37th was the first of the Deep Floors, this level is so large that it can contain the entire Orario. If you imagine it as hoops nested inside each other, then the White Palace was divided into 5 zones. Counting from the entrance to the floor, they were called: the Beast's Room, the Soldier's Room, the Warrior's Room, the Knight's Room, and finally the Throne Room, where the exit to the next level and the Monster Rex Udaeus appeared once every 3 months.

The Colosseum, specified in the contract with Venera, is located in the eastern part of the Warrior`s Room. Since there was no need to rush the matter, Shichika intended to fully explore the two zones before trying his hand at non-stop combat. This will also allow him to raise his status values.

The first opponents the adventurer encountered were a mixed group of humanoid Loup Garou and Lizardman Elite. Dog-headed monsters 120-130 cm in height used short one-handed weapons and their agility in battle. On these floors, Lizardman's scales were blue, instead of the usual red of the weakened versions from the middle levels. Both creatures were rated as a threat to 4th-level adventurers.

As the distance between them closed, the adventurer punched the closest of the armed monsters. The green blast tore a hole through the short creature's chest. Those few who were given a shield by the dungeon at birth were shielded by them. While the crowd of humanoids was approaching melee range, a third of them died.

Those who were behind the shield bearers were lucky to survive. By the 37th, the Landform, strengthened many times over, was capable of taking on multiple Shichika`s attacks, after which dents formed in them.

Contrary to the monsters' expectations, the situation only got worse. Clumsy weapon handling allowed the adventurer to see through their attacks, which meant receiving a fatal blow if they missed. The shields also lost their effectiveness, mysteriously causing the hands holding them to burst into a bloody mess when colliding with an enemy's limbs. Only a couple of Loup Garou were able to squeeze through and scratch the adventurer's legs.

Less than a minute passed, most of the monsters were injured or killed. The few remaining with all their limbs turned around and began to run in different directions. Each of the inhabitants of the deep floors had a certain semblance of intelligence, allowing them to understand obvious and not so obvious things. And now one thing became clear: only death awaited them here. No one began to catch up with them; you can leave the floor only from a place located behind Shichika's back.

Further exploration of the floor proceeded at a ragged pace. It was all due to Skull Sheep. The monsters, completely made of bones, showed the world only their head, the rest of their body was hidden under a black piece of skin. In conditions of extremely limited lighting, the human eye easily lost them in the darkness. This made them extremely dangerous opponents in close combat for the average adventurer.

Shichika, who can see them well, began to hate them for another reason. They are calculating. Seeing how the teenager mowed down monsters in huge groups, they hid behind turns at a great distance, and when the moment arose, they approached and fired a volley of bone charges, after which they could either engage in close combat or try to retreat. Such fragments can pierce even hardened flesh. This behavior led to the fact that this type of monster was at the top of the priority list for destruction.

The second were the Peludas, four-legged dragons capable of climbing on any surface, releasing extremely poisonous needles growing on their backs and apparently breathing fire. These creatures are eager to fight and almost never retreat.

- *Sigh* It's time to go back, - the teenager, surrounded by magic stones, began to throw them into a black piece of rolled leather. Robe of one of Skull Sheep.

On the way back, Shichika left a large bag of loot in empty Xenos camp, this sales option was unique to him. Although the money arrived with a delay of a couple of weeks. But there was no need to drag them to the surface. Honest creatures, one of the few whom a teenager could call friends, reported to the guild about the food they received; after confirmation, the reward was credited to the account. To ensure that others would not have any questions, the magic stones wrapped in the robe were kept.

In the Pantheon, the half-elf Eina stood behind the counter; at the moment she was having a conversation in a raised voice with a girl adventurer.

- Maris! How many times must I tell you, an adventurer should not indulge in adventures!

A highly controversial statement that would later become the guild councilor's motto. Of course she didn't mean it that way. Rather, she insisted that every person descending into the dungeon knew by heart what he encountered and had a status corresponding to, or better yet, superior to the recommendations.

Maris was the first person whose training the Guild entrusted to Eina. Each of the workers who do their job properly will soon receive the right to be mentors for adventurers. Small and medium-sized families use the services of such teachers; large ones take the training of recruits into their own hands.

The red-haired werewolf Rose earnestly asked her not to become attached to her charges, since they often die in the dungeon. This can happen either a day after the start of their career or many years later.

Initially, the relationship between the two did not go well. Maris did not want to trust her fate into the hands of an inexperienced worker. However, over time, their relationship improved, and this trend has continued until now. Right now, even though Eina was scolding her friend for her rash actions, deep down she was happy

- Shichika! Come, we're already finished, - the half-elf who noticed the teenager had arrived called him.

A makeshift bag was perched on the counter. Good quality magic stones glittered inside.

- It seems to me or is it...

- Stones from deep floors, also a dropped item from Skull Sheep and one crystal of a strengthened species. Please calculate their price.

- Okay....

While Eina was counting, Maris, who had not yet left, stood with glowing eyes.

- From deep floors?! So you're in a high-level group?

- I am from Loki's family.

- Wow! What do you think about a talented newcomer like me?

- Take your time, train, don't underestimate the dungeon, gather reliable allies around you.

- And I will become like Senki?

- Like Ais? - in Shichika's head, the figures of the girls overlapped each other.

- No. Then you simply won't die on the upper floors.

- That's not very polite!

- Just advice. But compared to her, you have a huge advantage.

- Is it true?

- Yes. You are confident in your abilities. It's worth a lot. Don't forget about safety and you will go far.

- 4.02 million, - Eina returned with the calculated amount. Most of it was due to the dropped item and the agreement to destroy anomalies in the dungeon.

- Thank you very much. Transfer to my account.

When the business of the two-day raid was completed, Shichika left the Pantheon, leaving the aspiring adventurer with wide eyes.

- Of course, I understand that they will divide this amount between the group, but 4 million valis...

- Not every team is able to return with so many valuable resources, we can say that it is a special case.