I decide to wait to see how long the respawn rate on this floor is.

Based on what I've experienced in labyrinths before, every 20 floors there's a major boss room fight, separating the floors and protecting the Dragon and Demon up top and limiting the number of hunters that can travel in.

If this guess is correct, and another Guardian is placed there, defeating the 39th floor boss may trigger a cooldown clock just like the Lower Floor Boss does.

So, just to be safe, I won't challenge the boss room here until I'm certain I'll be going up much further. I'm pretty sure whatever is on that next floor is going to be above level 1000, so I'd like to get as close as I can to that level too beforehand, and farming these minotaurs will do just that.

I start dungeon walking to other floors and clearing them out in the meantime to farm MCP and extra MP crystals to find that it takes just under half an hour for the 11 mobs to spawn back in.

Out of the 11, 10 are normal base-level mobs and 1 is a mutant with extreme fire magic again at level 985.

I go through the same procedure, taking out the base mobs with pure mana based attacks, and using a Qi-infused strike to subjugate the final mutant. The fact that I'm not having to send slashes out of my blade leaves most of the Qi in my possession, so I'm barely using any, but still, it is some.

The small % of my Qi base being used up each time is worth it as far as I'm concerned even if my level gains are slow, the mutant drops another fire stone, making me wonder if I am just extra lucky today, or if its drop rate is seriously 100%.

My level hits 959, and I continue to farm on floors 31-38, collecting loot, elemental stones, mana crystals, and continuing to gain MCP while I wait for the 30-minute-long respawn timer to reset.

I even check on Arie a few times, letting him use my absorption skill to farm MCP from the 30th Floor boss room. He's been farming there for high-level kills and has reached level 790. To my surprise, each time I come back, the Wyvern Boss is a different kind of mutant, dropping many unique Element stones such as red Earth Stones, and a greyish-brown tinted Water Stone.

Once I go back, 9 mobs spawn on the 39th floor this time. 8 of them are base level while one is a mutant at level 992.

It seems the levels and number of them vary. The fewer there are, the higher the mutant's level will be, but overall, it is pretty consistent.

I clear the floor again, reaching level 963, and the mutant drops a 3rd element stone. I come to the conclusion that I've really hit a gold mine here...

A nearly A-ranked unique element stone drop every 30 minutes. These stones are priceless treasures, and I'll be able to farm a nearly endless amount of them.

I repeat this process 7 more times, boosting Arie's mana control by over 100 million MCP, and raising my level to 988 while collecting even more rare element stones. I hold 9 in total in my item storage.

Even so, it's been a little over 6 hours since I left the town back in Sector 2. If it was worth the time spent, I would continue farming for levels, but even the strongest mutants hardly pass level 991-993 while the weaker ones range from 985-987. It's not guaranteed that I'll even gain a single level if I come back to farm after waiting upward of 30 minutes and the mutants are a lower level than I am.

I should be wrapping things up soon, and the fact that I haven't heard any word back from my body doubles about the situation in Valor city, retrieving my teammates before they face off in the arena doesn't settle well for me.

They're either taking their sweet time coming back, or something is not going exactly to plan. My body double would have killed itself if there was anything urgent, so whatever is happening, it's being handled just fine.

My best course of action now is to just challenge a higher floor and reach level 1000 before another Dark Guard shows up. So, that's exactly what I decide to do. Trying to grind out more levels on this 39th Floor will take far too long for my liking, a little push is exactly what I need.

I dungeon walk down to meet Arie one more time to let him know my plans, and we both agree this is a good time for him to end his training session and go back to the Town in Sector 2.

My body double transfers the millions of MP worth of crystals and loot it's farmed over the last few hours to me, and I place it in my item storage for safekeeping. Then, it brings Arie back to the dungeons in the Canyon to wait for my return after I finish with this final floor.

Minutes after they leave, I feel the memories of my double flood back into me. My other two are busy, so I'd still like to have one as backup.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

This makes me think. Although I could ask Ember for assistance moving forward, and we'd most likely wipe the floor with any opponent using his Soul Energy cleansing flames, I'm determined to reach level 1000 on my own. Relying on my allies is a great backup plan if needed, but ensuring that my own strength is enough is more important to me.

With this in mind, I dungeon walk back up to floor 39 and jump through the boss room portal.

Wasting no time at all, I imbue my sword with Qi and slice the level 996 Minotaur Boss in half before it's even able to activate its Ranked Up buff.

[Level Up]

I hit level 989.

"The mutants on the actual floor put up more of a fight."

I chuckle to myself and store its massive mana crystal along with two shimmering silver axes with +170% Strength buffs on them into my item storage and wait for the transfer magic to bring me up to the next floor.

Once the white flash fills my vision and ceases, leaving me in an endless dirt pit with no exit portal in sight, I activate my perception skills and confirm that this is a Boss Room just like the 20th Floor...

The sky above me is dark, almost black, and the dirt pit I'm stood in slants upward at a very slight incline for about 500 meters on all sides around me. It's a very plain and simple Boss room, but it tells me whatever monster guards it relies on its own strength and battle strategies rather than any environmental advantages.

A single Status pops up in my mind's eye as the figure of a human walks toward me with his arms crossed. He seems to be a bit taller than a normal human, roughly 2 meters, but the proportions are not oversized like the human form of the Colossal I faced before.

He has black boots, blue jeans, a worn-out white T-shirt, and bulging muscles that look like they're tearing these pieces of clothing at the seams.

His skin is light brown, his hair is dark black, and his sideburns are trimmed up almost as sharp as his stare.

Static electricity ripples around him with every footstep he takes closer to me, and I see a shimmering gold collar made of Soul Energy wrapped around his neck.

The arcs of electricity grow larger and larger the closer he gets, and the golden collar gives off an eerie glow similar to an item I've only seen one time before.

It feels just like the golden ring I saw around the Vice Region Director's Finger.

The depths of this power are evil and seemingly limitless.

I do a full inspect and appraisal scan.

___________________

[Lv. 1101]

Active Items:

[NONE]

Active Skills:

Combat Magic [Extreme Lightning Summoning]

Intimidation [Legendary Grade]

Bloodlust [Special Grade]

Buffs:

Domain Of Terror [Hidden Ability]

The Sun God's Curse Mark

________________________

A middle-aged man's confident and arrogant voice echoes through the boss room as the figure walks closer at a slow and steady rate.

"Well, well, well... It's been ages since I got a challenger. Who are you? A rogue hunter, an Association plant testing to see if I haven't gotten rusty, or..."

The energy collar around his neck glows bright golden yellow, and Soul Energy flows off of it, covering the man's eyes as a red aura of the bloodlust skill he has activates and turns a shade of orange when it reacts with the golden aura that leaks from the collar.

"A Demon...? With two cores?"

He smiles and starts to laugh, letting the golden energy from the collar envelop his whole body to create a veil of shielding around him.

The shape of the energy deforms around his hands and feet, shaping what look to be claws and paws of soul energy.

"Whoever, or whatever you are, it doesn't matter to me. I am the Guardian of the 40th Floor. You will not defeat me, I guarantee it."

He continues to walk forward at a slow and steady rate, then finally stops about 10 meters in front of me.

The golden glow around him gets denser and charged up with more and more Soul energy, until its shielding becomes difficult to see through.

His aura increases to shine brightly, and the manifestation of sharp wolf-like claws grow more defined on his hands as he points them at me in a fighting stance with intent to strike.

I stare back at him, boosting up all my Buffs to their full potential to match his intensity, imbue my sword full with hot Qi, and prepare for the being to make a move.

A bright wave of golden light bursts outward, increasing the size of his aura by many times, showing the activation of his intimidation skill erupt and run rampant through the entire Boss room.

The arcs of yellow and white electricity grow larger and larger as well, expanding with this display and searing black holes into the dirt ground every time they hit a concentrated point.

I clash back with an intimidation and confusion skill barrage of my own, igniting my body in flames that burn dark crimson, making a wall of heat surround me.

The instant I do, the man lunges forward and I match his movements.

I swing my Qi-infused sword across my body but don't hold back or test my limits and go all out from the start.

There's only so many times I'll be able to confuse and surprise my opponent, so I activate stealth and disappear before my opponent's eyes.

Then use earth and water magic along with advanced mana manipulation to their highest potential to make the ground below the golden man running toward me turn to a pool of liquid mud.

As he falls downward, I solidify the pool of liquid into hard stone, locking him in place.

At the same instance, I waste no time and go in for the kill. I dungeon walk behind him with extreme speed and all my agility and stat-boosting buffs burning through MP at a rapid rate while following through with my Qi-infused sword's strike, aiming for his heart through his back.

As soon as my blade touches his golden aura, arcs of electricity begin to climb up my sword, and even while in full stealth mode, the man's head and body turn with ferocious speed. He breaks free from my stone trap with ease, and blocks my sword with one of his hands covered in golden aura making it look like sharp claws are gripping my blade.

Despite this, I grit my teeth and continue to follow through with the strike, watching my Qi slowly burn through the golden aura the more I push into my sword. The man's eyes widen at this fact as the blade makes contact with the actual skin of his palm and draws bright red blood.

Another eruption of his bloodlust and intimidation aura follows, and I'm hit with a point-blank brute force blow in the chest with his other free clawed Soul Energy manifested hand.

I feel it rip through my Qi barrier and mana shielding, tearing my chestplate armor to shreds and leaving 3 deep gashes on my chest and throwing me backward.

My body lights up with electricity, and I feel every cell of my being begin to heat up faster and faster.