Draiss grinned, knowing his kitsune well enough to know she might be humorous about it, but she was also completely serious.<br/><br/>He had been expecting the spike, now well into his several hundred incursions into The Cave, most beings doing a few handful, made a couple dozen at most, and he had seen the betting board in the tavern, with bets on how deep his next incursion would be, how long it would take, and if he would come out. Him coming out had damn good odds, not surprising considering he was pretty much the expert on The Cave now. He fought, not as hard as he could, going for speed, but instead focusing on winning each battle as if by a hair's breadth, often taking minor hits he normally wouldn't just to make later levels easier. Not that he expected it to work past the 450s, but it would keep him in a better position overall. He found several gems this time, none worth converting into companions, but a couple were PERFECT for another idea, and just what he had been hoping to find. He grinned and pocketed them, before heading deeper, not stopping until he got to the 500th floor.