Chapter 53 – The Tenth Floor

Cam knew the Tenth Floor would be a bigger challenge, but clearing it also meant gaining access to his first Augment; He had no idea what kind would be offered- maybe it would allow him to skip previously cleared Floors, or give him access to monster information ahead of time, or any number of things... but none of that mattered until he actually cleared the Floor.

Sharing a look with his clones, there was no need to question if they were ready. While this was a big step in his plans, it wasn't the final step... and there was no point in delaying it any.

Placing his hand on the glowing orb that would take him to the next Floor, Cam blinked...

The safe room of the new Floor was clearly a bathroom, though larger than any he had seen. To his left, past Mero, was a small nook with some sort of odd, off white chamber pot that held a small puddle of stagnant water- and Cam was glad it was just water... except the pot was larger, set up off the floor, and oval shaped, with a stone back... maybe some sort of fancy chamber pot that the Families and Guilds might use, he thought...

To his right, past Eron, was a tub large enough to hold all three of them, plus their three Bigger Bunnis, and still have room to spare. Looking across the dusty and cracked white marble floor, he spotted a counter with two sinks littered with dusty hand towels and an assortment of strange bottles a tubes, with a large mirror- dusty and cracked, as well- hung from the wall...

"I bet this is how those big shots in the Families live." Eron mused, looking around. "This bathroom is bigger than our whole apartment!"

"This is the Tenth Floor, so focus up!" Cam hissed, glaring at his jokester clone. "Mero, check the stuff on the sink to see what it is; Eron-"

"Scout ahead, Eron! Sit, Eron! Go fetch, Eron! Play dead, Eron!" The clone rolled his eyes as he laughed, already heading for the door across the room.

Shaking his head at the clone referring to itself as being a 'pet' once more, Cam quickly double checked the room around them; It was rare for a safe room to offer anything of use, but not impossible- technically nothing was impossible for the Tower, except for there being danger in the safe room. Or so he was told. But some things were far less likely, like finding something useful in the safe room...

"They're some sort of... cosmetics. Lotions, hair creams... isn't lipstick that stuff that fancy Innie women put on their lips like paint?"

"So, nothing useful..."

"Nope, though the fact that its all old and dried out tells us that its been here a while." She shrugged, setting down the useless bottles. "So... fancy bathroom, with fancy cosmetics... This Floor is probably in a town or something."

While Cam was mentally agreeing, Eron had already returned... and confirmed Mero's thoughts. "It's a city, and... well, you guys should see this!"

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Leading them into the next room- a large bedroom, by the looks of it, with an absolutely massive bed on a solid wood frame, and matching dressers along one wall- Eron gestured at the dark curtains hanging across two of the rooms walls, filtering the dim light passing through them but not blocking it completely...

"Don't pull the curtains open, just peak along the edges." He warned, taking position near the door out- the only other doors in the room leading back to the bathroom, or to an open closet with dusty clothes scattered inside- and waited for them to see...

"Oh fuck me!" Cam groaned as he ease the curtain open just an inch, already knowing that this Floor was going to be a nightmare- and it definitely wouldn't be a quick clear!

For starters, the apartment they were in looked down- way, way down- on a city that seemed to stretch out as far as he could see... and the building they were in wasn't even the tallest one! Roads stretched out like a maze in all directions, sectioning the city out into blocks of towering buildings- the shortest building he could see from there was at least four floors, with most being dozens tall... and some stretching up a hundred floors, like the building he was currently in, or even more!

Worse was that, despite the height they were at, he already had an idea of what kind of monsters existed on this Floor... because some of them could fly!

The small, grotesque looking red skinned creatures that were hunched over even as they flew were a known enemy: imps... and, if there were imps on this Floor, there was a chance of there being other types of demons. Hell Hounds, Succubi, Incubi, Chain Demons... and so many more, he wasn't even sure he could remember the entire list. While most were typically found at higher Floors, and it was rare to see them this low... It was also rare to have such a large Floor this low, and his climb had been abnormal enough already...

Cam silently cursed himself for his internal worries at the recent 'normal' Floors he had dealt with... because surely he had jinxed himself again!

"Ok, so we have a city of demons... but, if the demons live here, why is this room so dusty? It doesn't-"

"I'm thinking the demons took over." Mero cut in from behind him, causing Cam to turn to see her holding up some clothes from the closet... "While some demons are shaped like humans, they also have some inhuman proportions and features, like wings or goat hooves instead of feet..." She spread the clothes out on the dusty bed and gestured at them. "Some of these clothes wouldn't work with wings, and the shoes are for... well, normal feet and not hooves..."

"So, what? A human city taken over by demons?" Eron asked, moving closer to look at the clothes. "Or at least something close enough to human proportions, I guess..."

"I'm not sure the details matter." Cam sighed as he fell into thought. "The real problem is that the city is so large... and we have no idea where the Boss is, or the exit."

"That means we'll have to search the whole damn city!"

"Isn't it more likely that the Boss would be located near one of the more important buildings? One of the other tall ones, perhaps? Or maybe there is a Council Hall that the Boss took over?"

"We can't be sure of any of that." Cam said, cutting off their back and forth. "I mean, it makes sense to us that the Boss would be near one of those buildings, but the Tower doesn't always follow the same logic... and there is nothing to say that it isn't a Roaming Boss."

Cam had read horror stories about higher Floors with a Roaming Boss, constantly moving around such a massive area... Difficult to find, forcing the party to fight through an insane number of monsters as they search everywhere for it... Or worse, the Boss just showing up while they were already in the middle of a fight.

It could take them months to find a Roaming Boss, and possibly months more to find the exit!

Hopefully that wouldn't be the case... but, even if it wasn't, it was impossible for him to guess how long they will need to search before finding it. Or how many monsters they'll have to fight through in the process.