After a couple of hours, the Underlings and Mark made their way back to the Boss Room.
Mark was armed with a longsword made by using the bones of different Weretigers.
More specifically, the weapon was made using their fangs.
Kalès had a huge mace in his hands, made with the bones of an Elite Mutated Gorilla.
Additionally, all the Underlings and Mark had armor made with an Esteemed Crab King's golden shell.
'It's golden, but it's not shiny. Guess it works. Sturdiest in this Floor...'
Mark looked at Kira, the Ninth Floor's Ex-Guardian.
'You don't need armor thanks to your shell. Feels weird to use you like a carriage though...'
On Kira's shell. lay 4 pouches full of bones that came from various Monsters that inhabited the Ninth Floor.
'This way, I can use those bones to attack right away. Although after killing a few Monsters, they won't be necessary anymore...'
After the complicated battle against the Guardian, Mark now felt a bit better.
'The more Monsters I kill, the more bones I can manipulate. The more Monsters are defeated, the more weapons I have. Losing an arm is a huge disadvantage, but it doesn't have to be the death of me...'
Mark and his three Underlings walked towards the huge doors that led to the Eighth Floor.
He had decided not to fill out the two remaining spots with random Monsters.
'I'll revive the first strong Monsters we beat on the other side. No reason to get weak Underlings.'
Just when Mark was about to open those doors,
'Oh. Any new Skills or Body Modifications?'
[New Skill available.]
'Show me.'
[ Available Skill:
1) Thunderbolt. Grants the ability to shoot thunderbolts. Mana Cost: 100 Mana Points. Cost: 10.000 Gold Coins.
]
'Mm. Sounds good. I'll buy it.'
Mark stepped back.
'Kalès, you open it. I only have one arm after all.'
The Underling put his huge mace on the Floor and pushed the doors open.
They entered the Eighth Floor.
As Mark looked around, the space reminded him of the corridor he had first appeared in.
It was extremely dark inside, but Mark could see well thanks to his "Demon Senses" Passive Skill.
An eerie atmosphere reigned, as not one sound could be heard.
The floor, ceiling and walls were made of rocks.
They walked deeper.
'Huh...'
Numerous skeletons covered the floor.
The skeletons of dead Monsters.
Mark recognized some of them.
'That's the skeleton of an Orc, right? That's a Wererhino...'
One seemed unfamiliar.
'What is that though?'
It was the skull of what looked like a bull.
Except that the skull was big.
Too big.
'It's large enough for me to get inside...'
Mark walked towards that skull.
Once he got a bit closer, he noticed something was inside.
'Hiding?'
A small creature that resembled a black lizard stared at him.
It opened its mouth.
Mark stopped approaching.
'It's small, but it can't be weak since it's on this Floor.'
The next instant, the lizard let out an extremely loud screeching sound.
Mark jumped back as he covered an ear with his remaining hand.
'What... The hell was that for??'
His Underlings immediately positioned themselves in front of him.
The floor started shaking.
A couple of seconds later, loud thumps could be heard.
Mark looked in the direction the sounds came from.
Three huge Monsters appeared through the darkness.
Each one was about ten meters tall.
Before Mark could even study their bodies, the bones he had stored in the pouches that Kira was carrying started levitating.
They turned into sharp spikes.
'Let's start with the closest one!'
The spikes made from the bones of various Monsters flew towards the closest Monster with great speed.
More than a dozen spikes penetrated the Monster's body.
Even though it had raised its arms defensively, the damage was not negligible.
As it lowered its arms, thinking that the attack was over, a black javelin pierced its chest.
The next instant, the javelin turned into a black liquid that entered its various wounds.
The Monster fell to its knees as it threw up massive amounts of blood.
[You have defeated one Lower Minotaur. 500 Gold Coins and 1000 Experience Points earned.]
[You have leveled up!]
'Using the bones to wound them and the Corrupting Poison to finish them off... It's a pretty good combo.'
Only after the first one was defeated, did Mark take a closer look at the incoming Monsters.
Their bodies were extremely muscular, their chest and shoulders were covered with thick brown fur.
Their heads resembled those of bulls.
'Minotaurs, huh? Why are their horns broken? It's like they don't have any...'
[Lower Minotaurs are Minotaurs who have lost their horns.]
[They are weaker than regular Minotaurs.]
'Alright. Light, you'll do great in this obscure place. Kalès, Kira... You two can chill for now.'
Part of Mark wanted to prove that he could fight despite losing an arm.
Of course, that meant heavily relying on Magic Skills.
But why would that matter?
Following his Master's orders, Light disappeared into the darkness and only reappeared to bite the approaching Lower Minotaur's ankle.
The surprise attack made it fall to the ground.
'I'll leave that one to you then.'
Mark used his Skill "Bone Manipulation" and raised his arm up.
Above him was a huge javelin.
It was made using the Minotaur's skull that had been lying around.
The javelin flew towards the third Lower Minotaur.
It penetrated its stomach, but that only stopped it for a second.
It continued its approach.
'Right. Let's try that then...'
Mark raised his arm.
The next instant, electric sparks appeared all over that arm and a thunderbolt was shot toward the Monster.
As it was struck by the attack, the Lower Minotaur's muscles started twitching uncontrollably.
The Monster could not move as it pleased anymore.
Electricity permeated throughout its body.
'Oh. Right, Kira's Skill is Piercing Thunder, not Thunderbolt. It looks like this one doesn't do much damage, but it can stop the movements of such a huge Monster... That's pretty good too.'
Mark lowered his gaze towards the sword he had entered the Eighth Floor with.
'This will be useless. These Monsters are so big that this sword is closer to a toothpick than anything...'
Meanwhile, Light had been slashing the fallen Lower Minotaur's neck with his claws.
The Lower Minotaur stood back up and looked for its enemy, but that opponent was far gone into the darkness.
Before it could realize it, its neck was slashed again.
Before it could react, its back was slashed.
Before it could turn around, its leg was bitten.
Before it could bend down, its arm was wounded.
That was the way Light, an Elite Abyssal Dark Wolf, fought.
Slowly but surely, the small and shallow injuries became more numerous.
The Monster bled more and more with every passing second.
It couldn't do a thing against its small, agile and stealthy opponent.
The next instant, while Mark was about to finish off his enemy,
[Your Underling has leveled up!]
[Evolution is available for your Underling.]
[Possible Evolutions:
1) Great Abyssal Dark Wolf.
2) Unique Abyssal Dark Wolf.
3) Shadow Wolf.
]