Floor 3 began poorly and worsened until finally turning intriguing.

The first observation was lighting. Floors 1 and 2 featured evenly spaced runes along the walls providing adequate illumination to navigate safely while requiring minimal effort. Floor 3 also featured the runes but spaced farther apart, resulting in longer periods of darkness between runes making distance estimation difficult and listening more effective than sight.

The second observation was scale.

The Skitterers on Floor 1 were approximately dog-sized. The Skitterers on Floor 2 appeared to be the same species, just a bit larger with identical patrol routines. The creatures in the hallway ahead of me were definitely not Skitterers. The Enemy Analysis flag identified the creatures before I was able to get closer.

ENEMY ANALYSIS — THORNBACK RUNNER

Classification: Floor 3 predator

STR equivalent: 28

AGI equivalent: 24

Weak point: Throat joint – vulnerable during lunge attack

Recommended strategy: Melee combat – high STR or Ranged combat – precision timing

Caution: Group hunting – hunts in packs of 2-4 creatures

EXP gain: 14 per kill

Fourteen EXP per kill. More than three times what you get from a Skitterer. I studied the suggested method of attack and then studied my STR of 12 and then studied the corridor.

There were two of them. They were working together and their patrol was tight like none on Floor 2. Their distance apart meant that if you wanted to shoot one without warning the other, it would mean either a clean shot or quick repositioning.

I activated Pattern Recognition I and watched them move for two full minutes while remaining absolutely still.

Their patrol cycle was shorter than anything on Floor 2. From northeast to southwest, they turned and moved back. At the turning point, they passed a corner that blocked the sightline of the trailing runner for half a second. Half a second gap. Shoot the trailing runner, then reposition yourself quickly before the leading runner knew about the noise.

It was more precise than anything I had done on Floor 2.

I drew the bow and waited for them to turn.

The trailing runner rounded the blind corner.

I let loose.

The arrow nailed the throat joint right off.

+14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 14/1000

The lead runner turned. Heard the sound. Heard me.

And charged.

The difference between AGI 24 and AGI 17 was a rather uncomfortable margin in a tight hallway where repositioning wasn’t easy. I moved to my left, which was the wall, which was also wrong, and received a grazing blow on the shoulder from the charge that made me fall off-balance and caused the quiver to jangle. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Not from an arrow strike. From a claw strike. STR 28 claw strike.

It was considerably more painful than everything from Floor 2.

I had the wall behind me, pulled an arrow reflexively as fast as my hands were able, and was already seeing the runner turn to make the attack while the throat joint was open just as predicted, and I shot during its rotation.

The arrow struck.

+14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 28/1000

I was leaning against the wall and breathing heavier than I should have been after looking at the corpses on the ground.

28 EXP. Two kills. One claw strike that would leave me with a nasty bruise and had stolen my repositioning opportunity. The analysis had been correct on both accounts. They hunted in packs, yes, and two was the minimum pack size. Further down the corridor, there were others who shared the same patrol route.

I checked the shoulder again. Still moving. No breaks. It should have stopped the hit from getting through but then again, the tunic was just a tunic, not armor, and this was Floor 3, not Floor 2.

I looked at the overlay.

SYSTEM STATUS

Floor level: 3

Threat level: multiple — high patrol density

EXP: 28/1000

STR recommendation: 35

STR: 12

Risk evaluation: HIGH RISK — ongoing

HIGH RISK — ONGOING. Yes, that fit the bill.

I looked ahead to where I knew they would appear next. The patrol density was greater than that on Floor 2. The distance between each patrolling group was less, the dark stretches between runes were longer, and the margin for error on each encounter was smaller. With a strength of twelve, every blow would be harder for me to withstand than the equivalent blow dealt by anyone else in this dungeon.

Evasion I skill had already been earned from Floor 1 out of necessity.

I went to the next spot and observed the next patrol group.

There were three of them.

I watched them for three minutes. It worked. The Pattern Recognition flag allowed me to recognize the pattern of the formation, the pacing set by the leader, the synchronization needed to maintain formation. But there was always a leader.

The trick was to take the middle runner.

Use the same blind corner tactic, except that the middle runner had the half-second lag in its movement compared to the leader, leaving an unregistered space that the lead runner’s line of sight couldn’t cover. One shot to the middle runner. Lead runner registers and turns, creating the window of opportunity to lunge and get at the throat joint. The third runner breaks formation in the chaos, moving slower than the others.

This involved three fights in succession without any resets in between.

I drew my bow and ignored my STR 12.

The middle runner reached the pivot point.

I released.

+14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 42/1000

The lead shifted. Lunged. This time, I sidestepped into the wide-open hallway and changed rooms, and the throat joint appeared exactly as predicted in the attack arc.

+14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 56/1000

The third runner broke formation, headed left towards the far wall and then turned towards me. I followed its movements, waited for it to turn around, and struck the throat joint after it did.

+14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 70/1000

Three kills, no hits taken, sixty seconds total.

I stood in the hallway and felt something click in Pattern Recognition.

SKILL IMPROVEMENT — Pattern Recognition I → developing

New flag: Pattern Recognition II — threshold 40%

Forty percent. It was tracking formation and movement patterns, recording them in an effort to develop something. Another Fast Learner passive running in the background, as always.

I stared at my 70 EXP and considered what lay ahead of me.

Risk high. Not recommended.

In addition – fourteen EXP per kill, bounty system active, Ironback Crawler in the lower loop somewhere, giving between forty-five and sixty EXP for a weak point kill.

The calculations started taking on a new perspective from when I started looking at them from the quest board.

Next Position.

+14 EXP – Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 84/1000

+14 EXP – Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)

Total EXP: 98/1000

It was hurting me just to raise my shoulder. It really was hard to navigate the dark spaces between the rune markers. Everything was closer, everything was harder, and one wrong move here was going to cost me much more than a mere injury.

I took a break by the first rest marker I could see and brought up the complete set of my stats.

CURRENT STATS

STR: 12

AGI: 17

INT: 20

Skills: Friendly Conversation / Moral Support / Observe / Evasion I / Throwing I / Fast Learner / Precision Shot I / Enemy Analysis I / Pattern Recognition I

EXP: 98/1000

Rank: D

New estimated time at this rate on Floor 3: 10.8 days

The next time Vorn would make contact with Daren was two to three days away. I was only ten point eight days away from being C-rank. That time span wasn’t imaginary, and that time span made me uneasy, and none of those things had changed.

But ninety-eight EXP for one session on one floor I was supposed to be off of was something to pay attention to.

I drank my water, counted my quiver, and returned into the darkness.

CURRENT EXP: 98/1000

Ten point eight days was a projection.

I was starting to have opinions about projections.