The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 7 - Chapter 45 - Stick

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Wolf

Not long after I enter the four hundred and ninety-third floor, a notification appears in my vision. One that has me narrowing my eyes.

Beta Administrator Dungeon Notification

Congratulations on arriving at the four hundred and ninety-third floor!

This is a message from the Centurion Boss of the Centurion Floor.

“You are getting more and more on my nerves as the days go by. The longer you drag this out, the more painful I’ll make your death. So if you know what’s good for you, throw yourself at the monsters on this floor and lie down like a good mutt on the chopping block.”

For the four hundred and ninety-third floor of the theme, you must clear the following five requirements:

The first requirement is to defeat all five bosses of the floor.

The second requirement is to find the exit to the floor hidden somewhere within the ocean of lava.

The third requirement is to find the key hidden away somewhere within the floor.

The fourth requirement is to find and open five different Pandora’s Boxes on the floor.

The fifth and final requirement is to find and destroy the Fire Temple on the floor.

The key will only be made usable once the five bosses are defeated. After which point it may unlock the exit.

However, throughout the duration of this floor, you will be constantly burnt by the fire energy filling the floor.

Should you fail any of these, you shall be burned for the rest of time.

Assuming you survive the process.

Are you kidding me?

Five Pandora’s Boxes?

Seriously?

Then there’s this Fire Temple thing…

These floors really are just getting more and more dangerous with each floor…

As for the floor itself? It’s actually not an ocean of lava this time.

Instead of the lava ocean, I find myself in some sort of underground tunnel with molten rock making up the walls, floor, and ceiling of the tunnel. Along with some lava leaking through the rock and dripping down the walls. And even from the ceiling.

As for the amount of fire energy in the floor? It’s far higher than how much fire energy there was starting out in the past two floors.

Not quite as much as there was later on in the floors, but still a lot.

Enough that the air is pretty much red everywhere except for around me. Where steam is rising from the lunar ice energy leaked from my body cooling down the air that’s heated up by the fire energy.

There are also a lot of monsters in the tunnel. Specifically worms and moles digging their way out of the walls, floor, and ceiling, along with serpents and the like swimming in larger pools of lava when I travel through the tunnel a bit to find caverns from time to time.

And the monsters themselves are even higher level than the last floor.

Honestly, at this point, my own level is higher than any mortal in the universe outside of the dungeon.

I can’t help but feel weird about that.

Even without my power as a Progenitor, I’m still far stronger than any mortal in Grim’s universe. Enough that any of the enemies I used to have outside of the dungeon other than Progenitors are all terrified of me now and doing everything they can to help my family and the church.

Honestly, it kind of makes me wonder just how high my level will be once I finally leave the Beta Dungeon. Considering that I’ve been rapidly rising in level far faster in the past couple hundred floors than I was before that.

All thanks to the Progenitors.

Their floor themes are just straight up trying to flood me with levels.

Even Phoenix’s floors are flooding me with levels because of how high level the monsters on the floor are.

She needs to send high level monsters at me if she wants any chance at killing me before I reach her after all. But at the same time, once those monsters fail to kill me, they just end up raising my level even more.

I let out a sigh at that thought as I continue slaughtering said monsters while making my way through the tunnels of the floor. Ignoring the heat in the process.

As for the Progenitors’ own levels?

I don’t even want to think about that…

Anyway, time begins to pass as I slaughter monsters, with the fire energy in the tunnels growing thicker and thicker over time. All the way until the air begins to light on fire again.

Just like with the previous floors.

And eventually I end up finding a cavern with a random door. One made out of obsidian and with a phoenix’s head as a handle.

I open the door to reveal a Pandora’s Box in the middle of a large cavern.

My eyes narrow a little at it before stepping into the room. And hearing the door slamming shut behind me. Locking me into the room in the process.

Although it doesn’t exactly work when I simply freeze the door with my Domain and shatter it. Opening the room again.

But I still have to deal with the Pandora’s Box. Considering I have to open five of them to leave the floor.

Which is a ridiculous requirement, but whatever.

I slowly walk up to the box before taking a deep breath and touching it. Making it open to reveal something… unexpected.

The thing floating above the box makes me stare blankly at it for several seconds before glancing at the chat.

[Did he just…]

[huh]

[I didn’t even know this could happen…]

I try to identify the thing, but nothing happens.

Meaning the thing floating above this Pandora’s Box is literally just a regular every day stick.

Just a stick.

A normal stick.

“Huh…” I mutter out loud before eventually shrugging and leaving the room and the stick behind.

Better a stick than a trap.

Now back to hunting monsters.