After walking forward, Mark arrived at a crossroads.
Behind him, stood Light and Fiery.
'Three different tunnels. They're all pretty large, but the middle one is the biggest.'
Mark turned back and looked behind his new Underling.
'Maybe these guys can take care of a tunnel. Light, Fiery, you two come with me through the middle one. The ants can take care of the other two.'
As if on cue, two hundred and fifty fully grown Mutated Fire Ants were divided into two groups before they entered the tunnels.
'Oh. Tell them to bring me the corpses of the dead Monsters.'
Mark entered the central tunnel with his Underlings.
Growl-
Immediately, the presence of multiple Monsters could be felt.
'It's dark, but my Night Vision Skill coupled with Advanced Kinetic Vision help.'
The next instant, 8 spheres of purple liquid flew towards the three at great speed.
Mark laughed inwardly.
'Ah. That takes me back. Venomous Bombs, right?'
He, who could easily dodge, did not.
Instead, Mark activated his "Impenetrable "Barrier Magic Skill to protect Fiery.
But just before the spheres were about to hit his barrier, a second barrier appeared.
It was larger than his and encircled both him and Light.
Made of blazing flames, the Venomous Bombs evaporated upon contact.
'Ho. Already using your new Skills, huh?'
It was Fiery's new Magic Skill, Fire Barrier.
As the Monsters got closer, they were easier to see.
Giant spiders, as big as tigers.
All of them were pitch black with one purple stripe across their bodies.
'Spiders? Appropriate. I guess this is what this Floor is about. Insects.' Mark thought as he raised his right hand towards the Monsters.
A second later, he lowered it.
'Fiery, there's still one Skill you haven't tried. Get rid of them, the Experience Points are yours.'
The Mutated Fire Ant Queen took steps forward.
As the Spider Monsters advanced, they were finally in range.
Fiery opened her mouth, and a ferocious stream of fire lit up the whole tunnel.
The Spider Monsters, so used to the darkness, tried to step back, but they were still caught by the blazing flames.
Seconds later, their dark bodies resembled burnt coal more than anything else.
'Good. Let's continue-'
The ground started shaking.
'Looks like they're coming to us instead.'
A giant swarm of Spider Monsters, alerted by the fire, filled the tunnel.
Once again, a stream of fire lit up the place.
But this time, most of the spiders continued advancing.
'Why aren't they dying?'
[Most Insect-Type Monsters are naturally weak to fire.]
[Therefore, some have developed Fire Resistance.]
Looking at the giant wave of different types of spiders in front of him, Mark's eyes widened.
'This isn't some of them... Fiery, we're going to need some more ants. Light, dodging is a priority for you.'
The next instant, Mark launched himself forward.
He jumped into the swarm of Spider Monsters.
With his Advanced Kinetic Vision and Night Vision, Mark easily saw their attacks.
With his claws, he pierced their exoskeletons one by one.
With his sharp fangs, he tore their heads off when his hands were busy.
With his Sonic Tail-Flick, he could launch away, if not annihilate, at least 5 Spider Monsters at once.
Mark grabbed the Monsters with his hands and tore them in two thanks to his high Strength Stat.
All kinds of Spider Monsters were part of the swarm.
And so, Mark received all kinds of System Notifications.
[You have defeated a Mutated Venomous Spider. 4000 Gold Coins and 8000 Experience Points earned.]
[You have defeated a Mutated Paralyzing Spider. 3000 Gold Coins and 6000 Experience Points earned.]
[You have defeated a Mutated Black Widow. 5000 Gold Coins and 10000 Experience Points earned.]
[You have defeated a Mutated Poisonous Spider. 3000 Gold Coins and 6000 Experience Points earned.]
Some of the Monsters were long-range fighters, while others like the Mutated Black Widow were close-range fighters.
Light, on the other hand, was using his "Shadow Betrayal" Skill to end the already wounded Spider Monsters.
After more than five minutes of tearing dozens and dozens of spiders apart,
'Jumping in the middle and tearing them apart seemed like a fun idea, but now...'
Mark's tail touched the ground.
'It's getting repetitive.'
A huge amount of Mana instantly exited his body.
The next second, the ground, the walls, and the ceiling, were frozen.
The tunnel, along with all the Spider Monsters, was frozen solid.
[You have acquired the Magic Skill "Frozen Land[C+]"]
As Mark looked around him, hundreds, maybe even a thousand Spider Monsters were completely covered by ice and unable to move one bit.
A wicked smile appeared on the Monster's face.
'They're not dead, but their Health Points are slowly decreasing.'
He turned towards Fiery.
Around her, stood about 30 Mutated Fire Ants.
'Tell the ants to grab the remains.'
As Mark walked deeper inside the tunnel, he flicked his draconic tail left and right, destroying the many frozen Monsters as if they were nothing more than branches in the way.
'Strength in numbers? Is that this Floor's theme? Insects and numbers...'
After walking for about five minutes, the group finally left the frozen area.
'Mana Manipulation. It allows me to control my own Mana, and therefore, to add more fuel to my existing Magic Skills. Perfect.'
On the Mutated Fire Ants' backs, were mountains of remains.
Mark looked at them with disgust.
'They were so weak. Should I even bother devouring them? Tsk. Fiery, tell them to put them together.'
All the unmoving bodies were placed one on top of the other, forming a massive mountain of corpses.
Mark laid his hand on it, and the mountain turned into a sphere of condensed green energy.
After swallowing it,
[You have gained 929'000 Evolution Points.]
Mark shook his head sideways before walking deeper into the tunnel.
'I want quality, not quantity. These are... Tasteless.'
Suddenly, Mark felt a gigantic presence.
He walked forward.
More and more spider webs appeared all over the tunnel.
Finally, Mark arrived at a huge circular room.
Lying on a wall, a spider so big it made Fiery look tiny in comparison.
'So I guess this is the queen, right?'
[Mutated Spider Queen: [B+] Rank Monster.]
'That's one Rank higher than the Ant queen. Even though it's about five times bigger ...'
Thousands of eggs were lying on the ground below the Mutated Spider Queen.
Mark raised his hand and a black javelin appeared.
'It's been a while since I used this.'
It was his Magic Skill "Corrupting Javelin[C-]".
He threw it with all his might at the giant Monster.
The javelin hit its exoskeleton, before turning into the black corrupting liquid that it was made of.
A chuckle escaped Mark's monstrous mouth.
'Didn't even damage the shell, despite my high Strength Stat...'
Not only that, but the attack wasn't even enough to catch the queen's attention.
Mark forgot about the huge Monster for a second.
'I didn't use it, ever since I got the "Mana Manipulation" Magic Skill...'
A second javelin appeared.
'This "Mana Manipulation" is also what allowed me to raise "Freeze" to a whole other level...'
Mark stared at the black javelin for a bit.
He tightened his grip around the Corrupting Javelin.
The next instant, a huge amount of Mana was imbued into the javelin.
In fact, it was practically all of Mark's Mana Points.
The javelin grew in size many times.
It became darker.
Much darker.
Mark stared at it.
The darkness felt deep as if it had no end.
It truly felt like staring into the abyss.
The weapon was now too big to be called a javelin.
It looked more like a pillar.
Therefore,
'Condense.'
The infinite darkness shrank.
[You have acquired the Magic Skill "Dark Corrupting Spear[A]"]
'I did just use all of my Mana Points to make it. It'd better be good.'
Mark raised his gaze towards the Mutated Spider Queen.
'Let's test it.'
Mark held the black spear tightly.
'Since it's a spear, it can be used as a weapon instead of a projectile, right? It'll come in handy in the future, for sure.'
Red Aura covered both his arms and legs.
With one leg forward and the other one back, Mark firmly planted his feet.
Cracks appeared on the ground below him.
'Let's hit the same spot as before...!'
Mark raised the weapon up.
The black spear covered in Aura pierced the air.
The Mutated Spider Queen screeched loudly as the spear entered and exited its body.
'So it went from not being able to scratch its shell to piercing its body from one side and exiting from the other. Mana Manipulation sure is a scary Skill...'
The giant Monster's twelve eyes were now fully locked on Mark.