The fight against the gorillas ended faster than Edward thought it would. With the Damage potential of the three strongest fighters— Edward, Leila, and Ikarus— each monster only needed to be attacked three or four times. Markus proved to be a big help, as well, as none of the attackers had to worry about a gorilla attacking them while being covered in red and orange flames.
Occasionally, Markus would attack as well, but he always made sure his priority was to keep the attention of the monsters before him. This worked spectacularly, proving Markus to be a valuable member of the party.
Once all three monsters were dead, the party was given another 15% to add to their XP bars, bringing everybody even closer to level fifteen. Edward was only a few percent integers away from reaching 50%. He knew this floor would hold enough monsters to make that possible, but he was more hopeful about Ikarus's change after leveling up. The last time Ikarus changed was when they reunited after Ikarus reached level 10.
The dragon had expanded in size, but Edward didn't know whether that happened only at level 10 or if that was an occurrence that happened every five levels. Hopefully, Ikarus would become larger sooner rather than later, as Edward was incredibly excited over the idea of dragon-riding. Taking to the skies atop his dragon was a dream Edward had since he was little— ever since he watched an old kid's movie that approached the idea.
Of course, though, Edward knew he would eventually be able to become a dragon himself. He wouldn't always have to rely on dragon riding to get around, but that wouldn't be for a while. He still needed to get his Wisdom to 200. He was already halfway there, so he only needed to level up five more times— at the very least— to turn into a Dragon.
'Then again, if I do manage to unlock that ability around level twenty, I may not even need to wait until Ikarus is large enough to ride,' Edward thought to himself, 'If he does grow every ten levels, I may end up having enough MP to morph by the time I get a saddle made.'
—
The group explored the dungeon a little bit more and killed a few more groups of gorillas in the process. As Markus continued using his sapphire armor to distract the enemies, his worth in the party grew more and more. Eventually, Brandon managed to lead them to the floor's first treasure chest by the time the party was only a few more kills from reaching level 15.
There were five gorillas surrounding the chest, each of them level 17. By now, Edward knew that each time a treasure chest appeared it would be surrounded by enemies five levels stronger than the normal monsters found on the floor, though he still couldn't see the pattern deciding the number of enemies. Perhaps it was random?
As they approached, Edward made sure to appraise each of them.
︽
Frozen Skeleton Gorilla
Lvl 17
HP: 550 | DMG: 95 | DEF 127
︾
︽
Frozen Skeleton Gorilla
Lvl 17
HP: 575 | DMG: 92 | DEF 132
︾
︽
Frozen Skeleton Gorilla
Lvl 17
HP: 600 | DMG: 87 | DEF 137
︾
︽
Frozen Skeleton Gorilla
Lvl 17
HP: 625 | DMG: 82 | DEF 142
︾
︽
Frozen Skeleton Gorilla
Lvl 17
HP: 650 | DMG: 80 | DEF 147
︾
"Wow. Each of them has more health than the velociraptor boss," Edward whispered in surprise. He looked to his companions and relayed the information— as none of them could see the monsters from where they stood— and watched as each of their eyes widened in surprise.
"This will be a long fight," Markus sighed, "I'll try to hold them all, but there are more than I expected. I'll be able to hold four of them, but the fifth might slip out of my control now and then."
"Okay. I'll solo the one with the least health if the rest of you can keep the others distracted," Edward nodded. He looked at his target and grinned, "I've been getting bored anyway."
"That works. If you need help, just holler," Markus nodded.
As the battle began, Edward and the others ran into the room with as much haste as they were capable of. The five skeleton gorillas turned in their direction and roared, but before any of them could charge, Markus used his skill to lasso the four strongest enemies. Their eyes turned red and their roars were silenced while Edward used his thrusters to get to the opposite side of the room. As he flew over his opponents, twirling in the air to keep his gaze focused on his enemies, the fifth gorilla— the weakest— traced Edward with its glowing blue eyes.
As he landed, the gorilla immediately separated itself from its companions and slowly made its way to Edward.
"You ready to dance?" Edward asked with a smile on his face. For playful effect, he tapped his feet against the ground a few times, summoning small sparks as he moved. The gorilla roared, pounding its fists against its chest, before charging forward.
The gorilla wasn't fast at all. Edward thought its speed matched the weaker groups of gorillas they had faced earlier that day. As the gorilla came closer to Edward, he hopped only a few inches from the ground and summoned flames underneath his feet. Then, like an Olympic ice skater in the middle of a performance, Edward moved across the stone floor as he literally danced in circles around the gorilla.
He had been bored with the last few fights due to Markus's broken strategy, so he hadn't managed to fight any intense battles himself. Frankly, he wanted this battle to last as long as possible. So, while the others were fighting to finish off their enemies as fast as possible, Edward was playing with his opponent despite it being three levels above him.
"We're going to have so much fun, you and I," Edward smiled as he looked at the gorilla.