The last standing Monster roared weakly, before its body hit the ground.
'And that's all of them.' Mark thought to himself.
Around him, a little over 100 Monsters lay unmoving.
Many of the bodies were covered by purple spots.
The effect of Mark's "Venomous Wings" and "Venom Regulation" Skills working together.
'Good thing I can use it even though I only have one wing. The fact that I could hinder their movements while lowering their Health Points was really helpful, although...'
Mark looked around him.
'Is this really all there is to the Fifth Floor? While these guys were kind of strong, not one of them was even close to a challenge. I'm barely injured.'
He crossed his legs after sitting on the ground.
On the other side of the room were huge doors.
'Am I really supposed to leave and go to the next Floor? I mean... Mm?'
Light stood in the middle of the room.
He stared at the ground profoundly.
His ears twitched every couple of seconds.
A moment later, Light started scratching the ground with his sharp claws.
'Can you hear something? Coming from there?'
Light stared at his Master before tapping the ground with his foreleg.
'Really?'
Mark lowered his head.
He put his ear against the floor.
THUMP-
The sudden sound made his heart skip a beat.
'Is there something below? Tsk...'
Mark felt a bit frustrated.
After all, his Underling had detected sounds he couldn't.
'Losing the Skill "Demon Senses" sure is a drag... Although "Advanced Kinetic Vision" saved me a good number of times. I basically sacrificed all my other senses to better my sight...' Mark thought.
He stood back up.
'Light, Fiery, go outside the room.' Mark ordered before conjuring up Aura around his arms.
After waiting for his Underlings to leave, Mark raised both his arms up, before slamming them down on the ground with all his strength.
A small crater appeared below him.
Cracks spread all over the floor.
A smile appeared on Mark's face, as he noticed those cracks.
Cracks, that appeared due to his strength.
A strength he was happy to display on every occasion.
Mark's second hit was enough to break through the ground.
As the floor below him broke, Mark started falling.
Below the main room, seemed to be a second one.
And as Mark fell, his "Advanced Kinetic Vision" Passive Skill activated.
The ground was less than 10 meters away, but thanks to his Passive Skill, Mark had all the time he needed to study the different Monsters.
All the Monsters that had been fighting a second ago stopped to look at the falling ceiling.
Mark's heart started beating faster.
Below him, were at least 5 Royal Minotaurs that looked exactly like the 8th Floor's Guardian.
Behind one of them, was what looked like the 9th Floor's giant Guardian, a Chimera Monster.
While falling, Mark also noticed new Monster Species he had never seen before such as Inferior Drakes.
'So this is where the real party is at!' He thought as he landed on the ground.
Without missing a beat, the Royal Minotaurs started attacking.
Mark dodged with great care while counterattacking whenever he could, making full use of his "Sonic Tail Flick" Passive Skill.
The Monsters were a lot stronger than those previously encountered.
But if anything, Mark felt like he was having fun.
'One misstep and I'll receive some serious damage...' He thought before lowering his body and using his claws to pierce through a Royal Minotaur's chest.
The difficulty was high enough that Mark couldn't relax, but low enough that he could try using his various Skills in different ways.
'Tail Lengthening really is amazing, too bad my tail isn't sharp enough to pierce through their skin... Oh, let's try that one, using more Mana of course...'
[You have developed the Magic Skill "Heavy Stone Armor[E]".]
'The Royal Minotaurs are the strongest Monsters around, especially if their size is taken into account. When it comes to Agility though, the Sixth Floor's Guardian was far beyond them. These aren't bad, but nowhere that level...'
Mark rushed towards the Chimera.
'Yep. Sturdy shell, but even the Eighth Floor's Guardian could break it. So, of course, I can break through easily.'
The Chimera used the Skill "Protective Thunder", which had given Mark lots of trouble back on the Ninth Floor, but with his Advanced Kinetic Vision and much higher Agility, the thunderbolts' movements seemed slow and predictable.
While he slaughtered the Chimera, a different Monster caught Mark's attention.
The Monster had dodged the successive attacks of both Royal Minotaurs and Inferior Drakes with ease.
It was nimble and quick.
As a thunderbolt came flying towards it, the Monster bounced off the wall.
Before it landed, Mana engulfed its tail, and an ice spike was shot towards an approaching Royal Minotaur.
Mark followed the action on the other side of the room, even though he was in the middle of fierce battles himself.
The ice spike pierced the approaching Royal Minotaur's leg.
The next second, the ice started spreading, and the Royal Minotaur's entire leg was frozen solid.
That Monster's nimbleness amazed Mark so much, that he ended up getting punched.
He was launched away.
Mark's back hit the wall and cracks appeared all over it.
Fierce red Aura spread through his entire body.
'That guy is small compared to the others, but so fast, so swift... Yeah. I definitely want him!!'
During the next few minutes, an absolute massacre took place.
Limbs, wings, and tails were torn.
Skulls and spines were crushed, until only Mark and one other Monster remained.
The Monster Mark desired.
On his hideous and monstrous face, was what looked like a smile.
Mark stood in front of that lone Monster.
It stared at Mark with its slit pupils.
Behind the Monster, was one of the room's corners.
Both stared at each other.
Mark bent his knees, preparing to swiftly rush at the Monster.
Sensing that, the enemy tried escaping, but Mark moved extremely quickly, blocking its way.
The Monster tried bouncing off the wall in the other direction, but it found Mark standing in its way once more.
Feeling threatened, it could only step back.
Since the enemy had stepped back, Mark stepped forward.
An ice spike flew towards him, but it was easily dodged.
The Monster stared fiercely, even though it was obliged to step back over and over.
But, once its back hit the wall, it knew it could not escape.
The four-legged Monster lowered its body to the ground submissively.
What else could it do?
After all, it had witnessed Mark's carnage.
'Good...' Mark thought as he raised his fist.
[A Monster has lost its will to fight.]
[The Monster would like to act as your Underling.]
[Do you accept?]
'Underling...? What?'
Surprise overtook Mark.
After reading the messages, he slowly lowered his fist.
'You mean... I don't have to kill it?'
The messages had left him in utter shock.
It was the first time, that killing wasn't necessary.
Or at least, the first time it didn't seem like it was.
'I guess...'
Mark did not have any real desire to hurt the Monster in front of him.
[A Moonlit Feline[B-] has become your Underling.]
[As your Underling, it cannot hurt you.]
While it was a Monster, the Moonlit Feline looked like a cat.
Its fur was white as snow and its eyes shined a piercing blue.
The Monster stood back up, before circling around Mark.
It jumped onto his tail and climbed up his body.
Once it stood on his right shoulder, the Moonlit Feline sat down comfortably.
'What the... Hell?' Mark asked himself, as his new Underling licked his cheek affectionately.