The Unwanted Tamer

The next morning came sooner than any of the group wanted. They all awoke groggy and still exhausted. It seems today would be a rest day. They stayed where they were for as long as they could, Gaia and Fergus even fell back asleep. Griff and Stephanie decided to get up though, since they weren't nearly as tired, and figured they should grab food for their tired friends. Gaia's bonds were cuddled up with her making their usual pile of creatures and trapping Gaia from getting up even if she had wanted to. While Their companions slept more, Griff and Stephanie went to eat and relaxed. They made sure to grab some food for the others as well, but took their time.

The pair had gotten closer while their friends were on the mission. They spent more time together now and Griff had even helped her with some enchantments she was having trouble understanding. This was something they had bonded over while waiting for Gaia and Fergus to get back. They had been trying everything to keep their minds off the worry and had started working together. Stephanie still had trouble with enchantments she didn't use often or didn't know the use for, while Griff was excited to experiment with magic.

They had been working together for most of the mission's length using the teaching and experimenting to keep themselves from worrying. Griff was teaching Stephanie about some more enchantments he knew while they grabbed the food and Stephanie listened attentively to his impromptu lecture. He knew the other two weren't overly interested in magic and would usually not pay attention whenever he rambled about it. They still tried to listen to some of it since they knew he loved the topic, but he knew they weren't really interested. Stephanie on the other hand would listen attentively to most of his rambles or lectures and even ask some questions, if she could understand what they were about. She seemed more knowledgeable about the basic enchantments and hadn't really experimented past them since she liked to master or at least understand something before moving on from it.

Stephanie enjoyed the lectures since she learned something new about magic. She usually worked on something until she had a good understanding of it then moved on to something else. Griff's knowledge on magic was extremely valuable for her. He would try and slow down to help her understand something or even demonstrate something, if he could. She also enjoyed how passionate he was about the topic. It was similar if not equal to her love of forging and tinkering. He would also listen to her questions and answer them as best he could while also listening to her rants on smithing.

They continued talking and picking each other's brains as they returned to the inn with their companions' breakfast. They returned just in time for the cuddle pile to disband as Shadow hopped up as soon as she smelled the food, knocking the other bonds over and standing on Gaia, before hopping to the floor. When the pair opened the room's door, they found a large shadow-hound sitting there with her tail wagging, and an annoyed Gaia with her bonds scattered on the bed and across the floor. Malachite had even landed upside down on his shell.

Fergus had woken up due to the commotion and helped Malachite get back on his feet. Stephanie laughed at the sight as did Griff. If there was one thing the wolf loved more than someone petting her, it was food. She's always ready for mealtimes and was always more energetic when it was time to eat. The food was swiftly passed out as Fergus' stomach rumbled a moment later, and Shadow was obviously holding herself back from launching at the food.

The rest of the day passed quickly. Stephanie and Griff spent the day pursuing their own projects in the portable forge. They mostly paid the other no mind unless they were curious or wanted to pick the other's brain for ideas. Gaia and Fergus were lazy that day and slept for most of it. They only woke up once more, this time for dinner.

The next morning, they all woke up and got breakfast. They decided to check out the seventh floor today. They once again checked all the stalls and shops for any supplies they figured they could need. They planned to only be there for the day but brought a couple days worth of food just in case. While they could survive without food for longer than a regular person, it wasn't by much.

They also needed to eat more on average than a regular person, so it kind of evened out. They were only bringing around three days worth of food and water for the entire group. They figured that, if anything happened, they could either find a way to leave or clear the floor within that time period. Worst case scenario, they could live for a month without food, so a few days to a week without food wouldn't affect them much.

With their supplies purchased, they moved towards the ruins and stopped by the Guild Master's house on the way. Once again, they wanted to check if any scouts had been sent in. They arrived and the Guild Master quickly informed them that there had been one group sent in, but they hadn't exited or communicated since entering. The only things the knew were that, according to the myth, the next guardian was likely the basilisk, and if so, the floor was called the Toxic Swamp. It would probably be an area with poison being a major concern. This wasn't as concerning since Gaia's aura had been able to reduce, if not outright nullify, most poison's effects on the party. They hadn't tested if that feature still remained from the previous Mana Field. They decided to test it by having a hunter that had poison abilities use them on the group with Gaia's aura out.

The poison's effects were lessened, but not negated. They hoped this might be due to the fact the hunter was bronze rank, and not that her aura didn't have the same protections as before. They were given two of the bracelets from the sixth floor's rewards. Gaia gave Fergus hers while Fern and Douglas gave Stephanie and Griff theirs. They wanted to help Stephanie as best they could and since they couldn't explore the ruins nearly as much, due to their strength and the increasing monster attacks. Everyone hoped the bracelets would negate a harmful effect after use instead of only working once before crumbling after a certain period.

With this, the party moved towards the ruins and the seventh floor. They quickly went straight to the sixth floor using the shortcut that appeared whenever a floor was cleared. This was when they realized they weren't sure where to go to find the tunnel down. They looked around the central pillar, but didn't find any indication of a way down so they moved towards the Wendigo's den. They figured they should check there before heading to floor's wall and following it.

Luckily, the way down had spawned where the Wendigo's altar had been. This was different than before since the way down had either spawned beside the central pillar or been on the floor's wall. They weren't sure why this one was different, but didn't have a way to find out. They moved down the tunnel which was more of a stairwell. They followed it as it spiraled downwards until becoming a long corridor. They continued down it to find another spiral staircase until, finally, at the bottom of this stairwell was the seventh floor's entrance.

The tunnel and stairwells didn't change in the slightest the entire length of it which was also different than the ones before. One more thing that was odd, was that the entrance to the floor completely blocked any view of it. No light passed through it, no sounds, and nothing seemed to block the entrance either. It was almost like a portal; in that it felt impermeable and was pitch black to the ones that could see it. They wouldn't get any hints from the entrance this time, so they all got behind Gaia before moving forward.

Gaia went first since, if it immediately had something poisonous, she could have her aura out before the others entered it. This she could at least lessen the poison's effects if not make them immune to it. It was more a precaution than anything else. As she stepped through the entrance she felt a sensation similar to when she pushed through a portal, but to a much smaller degree. As she exited the other side, she immediately smelled a multitude of scents. Many smelled sweet while others smelled like sulfur or rotten eggs, due to this she guessed that the environment was likely toxic. She remembered that poisons could have a variety of aromas from nothing to sweet smells like mint.

She wasn't effected by the poisonous aspects, but the scents definitely made it hard for her breathe. Her companions entered not long after her and were all struck by the same scents. Shadow was nearly gagging from the strength of the stench. It made all of them hesitant since they hadn't expected the environment to make it difficult outside of things being toxic. The stench and intermingling of aromas made everyone reel and it was hard to concentrate.

This was when Gaia finally paid attention to what she sensed with her aura. As usual it didn't permeate the ground or things with high mana density, but it did make her senses dulled in liquids. She sensed that they were on a thin line of land surrounded by pools of what she could guess were toxins. Ahead of her, around forty feet from her, she could sense a few smaller pools with land in between them. The weirdest thing was that the ground seemed spongy and sunk when she stepped. It was almost like they were on a thin layer of ground that was floating on the surface of the pools.

This gave her a terrifying thought. What if the Basilisk was some kind of aquatic creature and swam inside the pools? If so, it could easily knock the ground that was floating on the surface and cause anything on it to fall into the pools of poison. If they didn't die from the poison they were submerged in, the Basilisk could easily kill or eat them. They also weren't sure of the creature's size so it could be the size of a squirrel or even the size of a leviathan. As these thoughts passed through her brain, a screen appeared in front of her, and from the sounds her companions made, in front of them too.

Floor Trial: Survive for one week or kill the guardian (Venomsea Basilisk). 0/1

Time remaining: 8 days, 23 hours.

The floor shall be sealed for you, during the duration of the Trial.

The screens removed any hope of leaving the floor. They had to either survive on the floor for an entire week or try and kill the Venomsea Basilisk. These were their only two options. They didn't know what the basilisk looked like or where it could be, so they started preparing to survive for a week. They started moving towards the center of the land. They hoped it would be thicker or stronger so it wouldn't be difficult to stay on their feet, but the land was exactly the same.

They hunkered down in this area where there weren't as many holes close to together. This allowed them to take inventory of what they brought with them. They had planned for this to be a short check but got a week long struggle to survive instead. They had a few days worth of food which they planned to ration to spread it over the week. They started to make a plan of action, it wasn't complex but straightforward.

The plan was mainly to get a look at the basilisk, since they needed to figure out what they were supposed to kill. Next was determining if the ground was truly safe, they weren't sure if the ground could be pulled underwater or even flipped over. This would make the ground less safe than they initially thought. It would also cause them to be on guard constantly, since they weren't sure if they would be thrown into the sea of poison or not. Lastly, was to find out which option they wanted or needed to choose.

They stayed in the central area of the floating island and were on lookout for the basilisk. There weren't many plants on the ground aside from grasses or shrubs. There weren't any large plants like trees, but the biggest bushes were high enough they could crouch behind or in them. They crouched in this area to try and stay hidden while trying to catch a glimpse of the basilisk. They had been like this for a few hours before they spotted something.

Gaia wasn't able to sense it since it was in the distance, but Fergus was able to see some ripples on the liquid's surface. Then, a moment later, he saw something gigantic spring from under the surface. It was the basilisk, at least he hoped it was from its sheer size and intimidating appearance. He could only see what he guessed was its head above the surface. It was nearly forty feet long, with at least six eyes on the side he could see, with each looking in different directions. About a minute later it sunk back under the liquid where he couldn't see it.

"I don't know if I want to fight that thing. It's massive and I think I only saw its head. It reminds me more of the leviathans we're told that are in the ocean, rather than a basilisk." Fergus stated a bit shakily through their telepathic link from Griff's ability.

"I don't know if we'll have a choice. The ground's not fully stable and it can probably flip it or cause a tsunami of the poison to cascade over it. I don't think we can survive a week in here without fighting it." Griff replied back.

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As they discussed what they should do, they didn't notice that the Basilisk had swam to the other side of the floor and was looking directly at them. It didn't move as it watched them until one of them spotted it. Then, to their horror, it sunk under the surface. Only it ducked under the surface and they saw the creature's immense size as for nearly two minutes they saw its scales above the water until its back end did the same.

"It knows we're here now. So, everyone get ready for a fight." Fergus stated.

Just as he finished this statement, the Basilisk came flying back to the surface and flew into the air. This was when they got a good view of it, in its entirety. The monster's head was actually much bigger than Fergus had guessed. He had only seen a portion of the guardian's skull and it was nearly twice that length at one hundred feet long. Then came its body, which was long and serpentine in nature but thick and muscular. It had odd tendrils along its length that stuck nearly straight out from it and when it's nearly mile long body completely exited the poisonous lake, it flew. Well, it actually started gliding around, its body wrapping around and in between itself as it did. This was also when they realized it had eyes at random points all along its body. It was a couple hundred feet above them and slowly descending as it glided.

Then, the party heard it roar. The force behind the sound was similar to an explosion as it nearly knocked them off their feet from the wind pressure. It also caused Gaia and Shadow to be deafened from the volume of it. When it had descended most of the way down, Gaia finally got a sense of the thing. Only what she sensed was its head, mainly its mouth, as it roared again. The mouth was on a snout that was around fifty feet long, and its lower jaw had two parts. The jaws two sides opened diagonally outwards making its maw terrifying. Along the insides of the maw were rows of fang and hook like teeth with a few feet between each row.

This was also when she realized it was diving towards them and Stephanie had grabbed her to run. She had been stunned by the creature's immensity and its appearance, but her companions had been able to grab her and escape the guardian's bite. When its head hit the ground, the land was forced downwards into the poisonous lake before its force punctured it and it slowly slid up the length of the basilisk. It got caught on the tendrils and pulled downwards a few more times before it returned to floating on the surface, only with a massive new hole where the basilisk had bitten.

With this experience, the party held little hope of surviving for a week on the floor. They knew that it could attack whenever it wanted and remove the ground completely through its sheer size. They were either going to have to somehow kill the monster or survive a week-long battle with it. Neither of which they were confident in completing successfully, let alone without major injury. Thankfully, Gaia's aura seemed to reduce the poison's effects majorly and the bracelets had just activated due to the momentary dip in the lake.

They were now called Bracelets of Toxic Protection. They completely nullified all poisons, so they wouldn't be hurt by the environment of the floor. For Gaia, she was truly immune thanks to her bound poison attribute which they had guessed and were thankfully correct in that assumption. With the bracelets working on the environment, they weren't as worried about any poisons now and instead started planning while Fergus kept watch over the lake.

The guardian seemed to ignore them for a while after its initial attack. They had a few hours of uninterrupted time to think and prepare for the upcoming battle. Since they now knew what the monster looked like, it was time to see if they could hurt it. If they could deal some damage to it, then they had a chance at killing it. They planned to attack the next time it rose above the surface, since they couldn't see it through the liquid, it was their best chance to attack.

They waited a few more minutes, but nothing happened. They couldn't spot the monster and Fergus confirmed he hadn't seen any part of the monster since it returned underwater. He moved closer to say this, and Gaia could feel the ground wave after each step. A moment later the monster's head could be seen in the distance scanning the area. It seemed to rely on vibrations through the water to tell if something was moving on the surface.

This information could be useful to them. If it truly relied on vibrations for this before rising to determine whether something was there, they may be able to use this to distract it. This would, however, put whoever was making the distraction in danger. They had to determine who would be the one in danger, but they first decided to try and figure out whether this was the case.

They first had Fergus fire a few arrows out into the lake, they figured this wouldn't work but needed to test it. They waited a while to see if it would react, but it didn't. Next, they took a few things out of their space bag, they were trying to find something heavy that they didn't care about to throw and make a splash. They didn't have a whole lot in the bags, but did find Fergus' old sword and Griff's old chest plate. They decided to tie them together and have Malachite lift them over the lake and drop them using his telekinesis skill.

They did so and soon saw the Basilisk's head above the surface. The weight seemed to be enough for it notice, but it seemed too small for it to see very well. It soon dropped under the surface again and the party had their plan. They next tried to find something that would be around their size to test if it would pop up and then spring into the air. They ended up using Stephanie's multi-weapon to cut one of the bushes and once again had Malachite drop it in the lake.

Then, they waited. A few moments later they saw the Basilisk shoot directly up, engulfing the bush in its massive maw before going back under. They saw the eyes along its body looking around whenever they popped above water. They guessed it also had decent sight while submerged due to the amount of eyes. They now knew that the Basilisk could sense vibrations and see well enough to decide whether to outright attack or check if it was worth eating.

They made their plan with the new information, they would have Malachite float over the water with Telekinesis. Then, he would drop himself onto the surface of the lake, and go into his tattoo, which he could choose to do, before the basilisk attacked. While it was above the liquid, the party would attack it and see if they could actually damage it.

Thus, the plan was enacted. Malachite floated himself over the lake's surface before dropping himself onto it. Then, he transitioned into an incorporeal mist that rushed towards Gaia. When it reached her, she immediately knew he was in the subspace of the tattoo. She quickly brought him back out and he appeared next to her immediately. It seemed that if they were further away from her they would turn into mist and beeline towards her.

A few moments later, Gaia heard the sound of water splashing and air rushing as something displaced it. Then, she heard the twang of Fergus' bow string as he fired arrows, and muffled gunshots coming from Stephanie's rifle. She could also sense this, but couldn't sense the Basilisk as it was in the air beyond her range. Malachite fired some water shots at it along with Antonio firing some of his spikes at it too. Liv was integrated with Gaia's armor and figured her poison shots wouldn't help. Gaia couldn't tell if the attacks were hurting the monster or just uselessly hitting it.

The only indication that it had been hurt before was within her aura's range was a pained roar it released before diving down towards the party. Gaia was once again helped by Stephanie in order to escape as the guardian's roars were extremely powerful and deafened her. She was able to sense that two of the eyes along its length were closed and seemed to be bleeding as it dove back into the lake. It had once again pierced the thin floating island making another hole and making the terrain harder to navigate safely.

With this, they had discovered they could injure it. Most of its body was covered in hard scales or skin which made their attacks bounce off of it. The eyes seemed to be the weak points and caused some damage to it when struck by an attack. It also seemed to be somewhat resistant to Malachite and Antonio's attacks, so it either just decreased the strength of magical attacks or was completely immune to them. This meant Stephanie and Fergus would be their best bet to injure it, they planned to try the same thing again to see if it would spring back out and they could aim for the eyes.

They tried it and it surprisingly worked. It was once again in the air, but it did something different this time. Fergus and Stephanie were aiming and striking the eyes with their projectiles. After a few more were hit, it let out another deafening roar before everyone gathered together and Stephanie raised her shield above them. Griff told Gaia to use her Immovable Object ability once everyone was there and she did so, along with putting a shield on each of them.

Then, as she melded with the flexible ground, she felt the wind rush outward and Stephanie brace for an impact. She didn't know what happened next, but suddenly there was a stream of some kind of liquid slamming into Stephanie's shield and spraying outwards. She could barely hear Stephanie grunt as she held strong against the force. Soon the shield was slowly corroded and she could sense a few holes that were made. Then, the liquid flowed through these gaps and started to corrode their defensive barriers. The liquid was some kind of acid.

Luckily her shields were still up on everyone, so they had a bit before they were truly hurt. Stephanie was forcing mana into her shield to regrow the sections that had been burned, but the acid was strong enough to keep the parts from regrowing. The shield still gave them more cover from the acid, so they weren't directly hit with it. The bad part was that as they defended they couldn't move, and so, something they hoped wouldn't happen did. The basilisk while using this attack dove down, maw open wide, and engulfed them.

The only thing Gaia sensed was the acid, then suddenly the Basilisk was above them. Finally, she sensed the monster's throat as it slammed its jaws shut after completely swallowing them. They had been eaten by the enormous beast and would now either die from the strong acid within it or have to kill it from the inside out. They were nearly weightless when they were swallowed, but soon found themselves falling towards the side of its throat. This would have been good since most creatures weren't protected from inside, but Gaia sensed something as they were about to slam into the wall. It was also covered in teeth, just as large as the ones in its maw.

Seeing this, Gaia quickly tried to put her shield on her companions, but realized they were still under the effect of her ability so they should be safe. Only for Malachite to use telekinesis on them and grow as her other bonds entered the subspace of their tattoos. They floated inside the monster for a few moments before they found themselves in its stomach. Gaia could tell as they got closer from the acidic stench.

The situation only got worse as the monster was swimming around and the acid was sloshing around. The area they had was large since the monster was massive. The stomach had enough room for them to float above the acid semi-comfortably, but with the movement of the creature it wasn't safe. The area had acid constantly sloshing around essentially making it rain acid.

Stephanie formed her shield and stood in the center of Malachite's shell holding it above everyone. This kept most of the acid from directly landing on anyone and allowed them to think. Since they were inside the creature, they didn't have many options. Either attack it and see if it's as tough inside as it was on the outside or wait and hope they survive the week. They chose to attack it. Fergus fired a few arrows at the stomachs walls. They landed and pierced it easily, so they had Malachite move closer. Once close enough, Griff used his tentacles to launch some kicks and slash the wall.

They slashed into the flesh and Gaia did the same with her vines. They also seemed to work as the wound bled, but she wasn't sure if her aura would do anything to the creature. She at least knew that she could cause it to bleed, so they started whaling into the creatures stomach lining. They didn't know how long it would take, but they continuously slashed, cut, and bled the same area. Malachite eventually got tired and could not stay afloat, but they had already cut deep enough for them to stand in the wound they made. This allowed him to rest, and Liv could now join the fight with her appendages.

She slashed with her sharpened sword-like appendages from the armor, as Gaia's vines bled the creature more. Fergus was using his arrow dagger to cut and stab, while Griff was hanging back using the barbs on the tentacles to cut the flesh. They were continuously cutting and making the creature bleed internally. It was eventually to the point that they were completely covered in its blood and were about knee deep in it as it flowed back towards the stomach.

They stopped a few times to eat or drink, using Malachite's water shots to clean their hands as best they could. Eventually, they got far enough in that Stephanie could join instead of using her shield to block the acid. She used her multi-weapon to attack as she could slash it then extend the pole into the flesh making deep cuts. Then, Gaia had Shadow and Antonio join as well. Shadow used her claws to slash and bit into it, while Antonio used his mandibles to slice as well.

They could still feel the creature moving. They had to retreat a few times when it would move and cause the muscles to tense, nearly crushing them once. They continued their attack and eventually felt the creature start to slow. They always felt like they were moving and had to focus in order stay on their feet, but it had noticeably lessened. The damage they were doing was truly starting to stack. They increased their pace with this revelation. They had been starting to lose morale since they had cut a tunnel that curved for a while, with no noticeable way to determine if it was truly hurt.

Now, they slashed with reckless abandon. The monster continued moving and got slower over the next couple days. Finally, after what they could only guess was about five days after being swallowed, the monster stopped moving altogether. By this point they had cut nearly a couple hundred feet of flesh out and had blood continuously flowing. They moved back to the start of their tunnel and started cutting directly out from the stomach.

It took a few hours, but they finally reached its hide. This took much longer to cut through and when they finally did they were free. Only for them to be forced back by the poisonous liquid flooding inwards. Gaia grabbed Malachite and the others did the same. They were all safe from the poison thanks to the bracelets so Malachite swam everyone to the floating island. When they stepped on it, a screen appeared for each of them.

Floor Trial: Survive for one week or kill the guardian (Venomsea Basilisk).1/1

Time remaining: 3 days 16 hours remaining.

Venomsea Basilisk has been killed. Rewards generated.

A chest appeared a moment after the screens disappeared. Griff quickly went over and opened it, finding an item inside. He grabbed it and put it in a pocket to analyze later, they were covered in the basilisk's blood and just wanted to return to camp. This was when Gaia had a realization. This had been the second time they had killed a giant serpent or worm like creature from within.

"Again?! Why do we always get eaten by giant serpents?" She exclaimed to no one as they returned to the seventh floor's entrance. When her companions realized the same thing they all just let out tired chuckles.