3-M

The magic circle flashed, and Ace's group appeared in the safe room for floor 3-M, but before they could leave, the mage stationed to operate the magic circle stopped them. He looked a bit ragged.

"Hey, didn't the other group report what's going on?" He asked, hands trembling a bit.

"Uhh, we didn't see anyone," Ace replied, but he could already hear the distant roars and sounds of explosions, "What's happening?"

"No idea, one moment everything is calm and the next every monster on the floor lost their damn minds, started throwing spells left and right as if they were trying to fight some invisible thing. The group I just sent up only survived because the monsters attacked each other as well. You should go back, and once everyone comes back or twenty minutes pass, I intend to get out of here; I don't know if they'll try to break into the safe room en masse," the mage explains, looking between the group and the three exits warily.

Valentina gathered herself and was the first to speak up, "I think we should go back. We can always go to a different path, or come back when the mages figure things out," she stated, clearly not wanting to venture into an unknown situation.

Christoph nodded in agreement, "The monsters on this floor are solely magic casters, we can handle them normally, but if they are acting erratically, then the chances something unexpected can happen is too high."

Toki seems of another mind, "But if they're attacking each other, then that means fewer monsters to deal with, and we'd be able to get to the new treasure rooms without too much hassle, right?"

Ace agreed with Toki, "Them casting spells everywhere probably also set off a bunch of traps, so we can go in fast and get out fast, we can go for ten minutes and come back to go back up with the mage," he offered, smiling at the mage.

With two votes to stay and two to leave, the party was at an impasse, but Toki simply laughed, "It'll be fine, just stay behind me. A stray firebolt won't have as much kick as a deliberate one."

Ace nodded, "We can always run if things look dicey," he added.

The group continued to discuss while the mage looked off into the distance of the halls. Something seemed to gaze back, but only for a second before the presence vanished, leaving the mage uncertain if he was just seeing things under stress.

Christoph was adamant in his stance, but Valentina was always weak to peer pressure and eventually caved with Ace and Toki trying to convince her. Once they convinced Valentina, Christoph couldn't help but sigh and relent.

The group double-checked their gear and set foot out into the middle hallway, "Twenty minutes, if I see you, I'll wait, but if I don't, you'll have to leave the normal way unless one of you can operate the circle," the mage reminded them before going to sit on the stairs, his staff laying across his knees and a flask in his hands.

Thankfully a pocket watch was included in their preparations, you never knew when keeping track of time was important after all. It was set to send a signal to the group through energy, except for Ace; he didn't have any magic prowess.

The group set off, and it wasn't long until they encountered the first monster, a lizard-man wearing robes. Generally, the lizardmen who spawn from dungeons are feral, unlike their sentient lizard-folk counterpart originating from the Asdea continent. Lizard-men mages are less feral but still don't pass the bar of sentience, so they're still considered monsters by most. Unsurprisingly, hunting monstrous lizardmen has been banned into the Lizard-folk home cities unless they cause problems; many lizard-folk scholars hope to enlighten their feral brethren.

Of course, this had no importance to the task at hand, and besides, the lizardman mage in front of them looked quite feral, screeching and casting spells at the walls and floor for seemingly no reason. It didn't even seem to notice the group until they got closer, but by the time it could, there was already an arrow piercing one of its eyes. The lizardman collapsed into a pile from a single shot from Christoph.

"They definitely are acting irrational, but if they're all as clueless as that one, this will be a cinch," Christoph commented, feeling a bit better about the odds.

"P-please don't lower your guard," Valentina nervously stated, "It feels like it was looking for something, and something that can drive an entire floor of monsters crazy can't be safe."

Christoph nodded, keeping an arrow knocked in his bow, ready to draw at any time. Ace and Toki only got more emboldened as they moved, and Ace was right about the traps; the random casting of spells had already triggered several mechanisms. Some had even caught and killed the crazy monsters. Some were still alive but stuck in gears or pits, some even still alive despite being skewered to the wall by stone spears shot from the opposing wall.

Valentina had to look away; in addition to not being able to cast too many spells without getting motion sickness, she also had a weak stomach. But the thought of people getting hurt when she could be there to help didn't sit right with her, so against her better judgement, she kept being an adventurer.

Christoph was assigned to carving out the monster cores and useful parts; his knowledge of biology far surpassed Ace and Toki's. He was able to cleanly and efficiently collect what was needed without slowing the party down. The monsters that died from traps were also harvested. Who would pass up free money?

They mostly only encountered a single monster at a time. With two monsters, they usually went at each other before the party, and Valentina couldn't shake the feeling that they were searching for something and kept nervously checking the pocket watch, checking how much time they had left.

They soon came upon a gruesome scene, a swarm of monsters, most dead and trampled over as they tried to get to the door of a side room. Four monsters remained but were currently fighting each other in front of the door; they seemed to have run out of energy and slashed each other with tooth and claw. Valentina again looked away while the other three prepared to take out the remaining four.

Christoph started by shooting down the monster that seemed the most intact, a goblin that kept ducking and weaving while stabbing with the makeshift shank that used to be its staff, broken and splintered from being used as a club. The goblin wasn't expecting an arrow and went down cleanly, and the other three monsters seemed to regain a bit of clarity and turned to stare down the party.

As they had no energy left to cast magic, they charged at the group. Another lizardman was swiftly dispatched with another arrow right between the eyes while Ace and Toki each cut down the remaining pair of skeleton mages; their bones were already brittle from the goblin breaking their staff on them. Mages with no energy to cast spells were as good as chaff, simple distractions for the average adventurer.

"We should check out that door. Whatever's driving them crazy might be in there," Toki suggested.

"Do... Do I have to?" Valentina was hesitant, trying not to look at the monster corpses she'd have to walk over.

Toki laughed and began to push the corpses and make a bloody path with his tower shield. Christoph quickly collected what he could before they reached the door, then knocked an arrow in preparation. Toki took up the front with his shield at the ready while Ace opened it from the side.

Everyone braced as the door opened and out came... nothing.

The inside was just a normal side room with an unmarked chest; it was just one of the new treasure rooms the auto-pilot dungeon was designed to make alongside the traps, more risk more reward, y'know?

"Huh, maybe it's a mimic?" Toki questioned and advanced into the room after Ace assured there were no traps inside.

Valentina nervously rechecked the watch, "It's almost been ten minutes; let's grab what's inside and leave, please," she pleaded. The whole situation was setting off alarms in her mind.

Toki shrugged and carefully tapped the chest with his shield, no reaction; it wasn't a mimic. Ace checked for traps, but the chest was safe and not even locked, generally signs that whatever was inside wasn't worth much, or the dungeon decided that it wasn't worth protecting.

Toki opened the chest, and his eyes widened, "Now ain't that something, but it's got cracks in it, isn't this just a bauble?" He reached in and pulled out the single object sitting inside.

"Hey, it could be cursed; we should check with magic first-" Christoph started but trailed off as he looked at the fist-sized object in Toki's hand.

"It's so pretty," Valentina perked up, "It looks like it has silver in it. It should be worth something."

"It's not giving off any energy. It shouldn't be cursed; if it's just a big cracked marble, then why are the monsters trying to get it?" Christoph pondered and started to feel uneasy, "Maybe we should leave it; we don't know what it is, it could be dangerous."

Ace shrugged, "You yourself said it's not giving off any energy, so it should be fine, right? We're almost out of time, Toki, you'll hold onto it, and we'll trace our path back, agreed?"

Toki and Valentina nodded, Christoph relented and nodded as well, and they left the room.

Back at the safe room, the mage got the uncomfortable feeling of something watching him again and took a swig from his flask to calm his nerves, "It's only another ten minutes, then I can leave. Everything will be fine."