Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Before diving inside the dungeon, the expedition army made sure to buy every potion available in the elixir shops in the capital and in Mountmend. Hence they had a large stock of it.

So no matter how lethal or trickier the traps got, as long as they weren't too seriously injured, any wounds could be healed. The most the traps and the monsters could achieve was slow down the march of the primary unit by a minute amount.

Floor 36th, a vast valley filled with loess. It was the territory of pterodactyls, the next evolution of Anemodactyls. They were as fast and powerful as the mutated Pyrodactyls. The pterodactyls were predators that hunted from the skies. Their eyes can easily look far into the distance and the claws were sharp enough to even threaten these adventurers who were all above level 450.

What made them problematic was their speed and the height at which they fly. The 36th  floor unlike the other floors, had quite a high ceiling. This allowed the pterodactyls who were a natural born predator of the sky to use the advantage of their wide wings and fly very high.

Not to mention when they dived from that height, they were a force to reckon with. That was not all, the pterodactyls were pack hunters, so when they hunted they did it in groups.

The 36th floor was filled with numerous colonies of pterodactyls and their numbers far surpassed the primary unit.

To make matters even worse, the trap that was set on this floor was quicksand. So if you are only looking up at the sky, you were up for a surprise that lay underneath.

Of course, the primary unit suffered some injuries when they first entered the floor, but there were no casualties. These people even if they got caught off guard, they weren't ordinary people, they were the best of the best adventurers from the kingdom of Ellesmere.

If a teammate of theirs was in a pinch, the group around him would make sure to cover him until he recovers. With time, the adventurers got used to the attack patterns of the pterodactyl and the situation transitioned with them taking the initiative now.

A small number of adventurers who could use the [Mana Wings] took to the skies and cleared the space for others. Since they were flying, they didn't have to worry about the quicksand and they stopped the monster's dive from the sky.

It took around four hours for the primary unit to explore the entire floor and find the entrance to the next floor.

The 37th floor was similar to the 36th floor in that both were canyons and housed the colonies of pterodactyls. However, the 37th floor was bigger and had more powerful monsters. The entrance to the next floor was also located in a tricky place that was difficult to find.

While the adventurers suffered fewer injuries and casualties this time, they took more than five hours to find the entrance to the next floor simply because of the sheer number and size of the monsters.

After resting for an additional hour, the expedition army proceeded with the exploration.

The 38th floor and the 39th floor took eight and ten hours respectively to explore. The floors were big and the monsters there were troublesome. The Moth Spiders and the Fire Spitting Worm may not be as powerful as the pterodactyls, but they were a difficult opponent on their own.

On these floors, the expedition army had to heavily rely on the antidotes and medicines that cured poison. The moth spiders and the fire spitting worms, were all poisonous monsters and coupled with the fact that the air contained poison gas too, it was not an ideal exploration for the primary unit.

They had to clear the air with wind magic, take potions to nullify the effects of the poison and fight the monsters with some caution. Because of this, the march of the adventurers had slowed down to a crawl.

The poison resistance skill was an unusually rare skill and you would only find a small number of assassins and warriors in possessions of said skill. Thus it could be said that the floors were troublesome even if they weren't filled with powerful monsters.

Nevertheless, the primary force comprising of the elites still did not suffer any casualties. Though they did have to replace a few with the ones on the secondary unit because of how badly they were poisoned.

After some tedious hours of exploration, the expedition army found the entrance to the 40th floor.

Two days, counting the time since they left the 34th floor, it took them around two days to reach the 40th floor. Of course, since there was no concept of time inside a dungeon, they had to rely on their own sense of time.

The expedition force climbed down the stairs and arrived on the 40th floor. A vast jungle with towering trees, lay in front of them. The visibility here was very low because of the all encompassing dense mist shrouding the place with a layer of mystery and danger.

An eerie silence covered the place and it felt like anyone who entered the mist, would just disappear without a trace. A challenge lay in front of the expedition force.

After all four thousand people gathered at the entrance, they charged inside the mist.

----

Brutus who was leading the group, stopped in his tracks after exploring for a while. He turned towards the man donned in the finest assassin gears and asked—

"Cassius, what do you think? Are there any traps around?"

Cassius Grey, the guild leader of the Assassin's Guild and also the ranger of this unit. His extreme sensory skills which have been polished to their limits, was indispensable during situations like this. That is why even Brutus felt it prudent to ask his advice.

"Other than the mist that obstructs ordinary navigation skills, there are no other traps in the vicinity that I can see off. But that is just on the surface, we cannot let our guard down".

Cassius said, he gestured with his hands and the members of his guild immediately used some items to illuminate their surroundings. A small bamboo container was thrown in the air which burst apart to release a piercing green light.

Immediately, the fog within a few meters surrounding was dispersed. But it was only temporary, the dispersed mist started moving once again and returned back to its place. Nevertheless, the objective was achieved. T

The reason behind using that bamboo container called the flare flash was to disperse the mist around them and ascertain their position.

"It's as I thought, we are moving in circles. This is the work of a monster that is born in the mist" Cassius stated coming to a realisation.

"Monster born in the mist? Could it be the Epsiloths? But aren't they monsters that could only be found in the deeper region of the ghastly winding forest? What are they doing here" the guild leaders asked.

"I don't know, but don't fall asleep or you will die" Cassius cautioned. The Epsiloths were small tree dwelling creatures that looked like sloths. They were harmless creatures and do not have any offensive abilities.

But make no mistake, these cute looking monsters were able to survive in the western region of the ghastly winding without having any offensive abilities because of their racial trait.

The Epsiloths have a special defensive ability that protected them from the other predators. It was the special pheromone that they released from their yawn. The mist around them was just an ordinary trap yet it was able to fool the senses of even the guild masters and the elites from the top guilds of the kingdom.

There could be only one reason for that, and that was the doing of the Epsiloths.

One of the reasons why the ghastly winding forest was so dangerous was because of the existence of monsters like them, whose abilities lie in deranging one's mind. The Epsiloths were creatures that had the ability to tamper with one's mind, the yawn that they release have a powerful hypnotising effect.

The reason why Eplisolths are called the creatures of the mist is because they can only be found inhabiting places with a high density of mist. Without the protection of the mist that hides their bodies and carries their pheromone, they are pretty much defenceless and any monster can hunt them.

This floor which was filled with a dense amount of mist, was the most ideal habitat for them. What these guild masters didn't know was that the master of this dungeon, once had to go through a lot of trouble because of these creatures.

That is why, Simon went through all the trouble to go to the western region of the forest and bring them here a few days prior before the top twenty guilds arrived. He wanted to share this experience he had in the western region of the ghastly winding forest, with these guests of his.

And it had paid off,  these adventurers who could be considered a powerhouse in the outside world, were held off and slowed down because of this ability.

"If it's the Epsiloths, this makes things a little troublesome. We do not have any elixirs that can counter this effect. Plus I believe the Epsiloths aren't the only danger here, we must be extra careful when exploring this floor".

Brutus suggested looking around the trees for any signs of Eplisloths. However, how could it be so easy to find them? A creature with no offensive ability, would always hide itself in the most safest place.

The other guild leaders nodded their heads and cautioned their guilds behind them. The expedition team proceeded with caution. But unfortunately, their exploration speed had reduced to a snail's pace.