《Babel》 -2 In the Beginning There are some things that are better left unknown. Things that linger in the minds of men and women all over the world but, rather than face the truth, they sought the comfort of the mundane in order to shield themselves from it. Despite their complaints about systems designed to make their lives easier, they could not live without the structure offered by society. The vast majority of the so-called civilized peoples relied on the conveniences offered to them by the businesses they purported to hate. They grow fat and complacent off the seemingly endless stream of new consumer goods that flowed into the market. Then, as their bodies break down as a result of their own inept mentality, they seek comfort in entertainment to distract them from the monotony of their existence. Rather than do anything more productive with their lives, they continue playing the part of a cog within the system, distracting themselves with things like television, music, and video games. It was much easier to imprint upon the lives of others, using your imagination to pretend you were something far greater than yourself. After all, exercising required both time and effort, something that was universal shared amongst all people''s yet, rather than accept the reality they had made for themselves, everyone was quick to blame others for their faults. They would rather customize a character in a video game and spend thousands of hours idling in a chair without moving rather than spend a single hour in the gym every day, cultivating powerful delusions and placing more emphasis on fictional characters than their own lives. Due to this growing disconnect between reality and fiction, the world had been stagnating for decades, becoming a place where power was embodied by wealth and privilege rather than the intrinsic capabilities of the individuals possessing said power. This gradually led the world toward its inevitable destruction as, in the attempt to make a profit, the would-be powers that controlled the mundane masses lived their own delusional existences. As they were able to avoid having to face the consequences directly, living lives in their manors, mansions, and penthouses, they did not care about the world they destroyed. Even with scientists all over the world warning people of the impending dangers, the very same media that had been created to distract them made the average citizen the patsies of the people they both resented and aspired to be. Instead of listening to reason and looking at the facts, they were kept idle by being fed propaganda from their favorite celebrities and politicians, living lives of waste as they further contributed to the problem. As could be expected, this type of world could not continue to exist for very long, leading to the destruction of even more of the environment and the squandering of even greater resources as humanity began to fight over the remnants of the world. At the end of these conflicts, the lives of millions would be sacrificed for the benefit of a few thousand who, in turn, pacified the people who had propped them up with even more distractions. This perpetuated an endless cycle of conflict and stagnation which, after thousands of years of human folly, culminated in the mass extinction of the entire species. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Watching this process take place from above, for what felt like the billionth time, an entity without any discernible features released a profoundly deep sigh. This noise, which could not be heard by the vast majority of people, even when billions had wandered their little planet, caused powerful fluctuations in the surrounding space. As a result, a ripple seemed to pass through the entirety of the Universe, destroying galaxies and spreading into the myriad of dimensional spaces that made up the fabric of reality. Not caring about the destruction it had caused, the entity extended its hand, an action that made the surrounding space seem to expand outward as its body shrunk. By the time it had stopped shrinking further, the entity was large enough that it''s back nearly touched Mars while its middle finger came to idle next to a tiny brown planet. Previously, this small iota of matter was a vibrant blue planetoid full of life but, after the endless devastation wrought by humans, it was now just another inert lifeless rock floating through space. Feeling a frustration far greater than anything mankind could comprehend, the entity flicked its middle finger, an action that caused the tiny brown dot to flash with a small light as it fragmented into an incalculable number of pieces. These fragments traveled at nearly a tenth the speed of light, colliding into the sun after traversing through empty space for a little over an hour. Thus, with the simple act of flicking its finger, the entity had destroyed the Earth in its entirety... After its chaotic mind had settled, a process that took the entity just under three-hundred million years, it began to look around the seemingly infinite space it had created for humans yet, even after rewinding time billions of times, giving them several hints, and even sending prophets to guide them, they had once again failed to get beyond a single planetary system. Even though there were a functionally infinite amount of resources spread throughout the Universe just waiting for them to claim, they ultimately destroyed themselves time and again. In a mournful voice, the entity resumed its default appearance, losing its physical manifestation within the Universe as it grew to a size far greater than the boundless expanse of space. This brought it to a stone platform that contained nothing more than a simple bench and, at a glance, what appeared to be a small pond. Looking closely, however, would reveal that this pond was made up of a pitch-black substance which, upon even closer observation, seemed to swirl with what appeared to be clusters of stars. At the very center of this pond, floating a few centimeters above the surface, an orb around the size of a palm defied any physical laws. This orb, which made up less than a billionth of the overall volume of the pond, was the entirety of the Universe that had been created for mankind. Now that the entity had left it behind, taking a seat on the bench, the orb fell into the larger volume of black matter, spreading out and dissipating after forming a few gentle ripples. After watching the pond slowly settle, a process that actually took billions of years if observed from within the black mass, the entity gave another sigh before asking itself, "Was it wrong of me to give them free will...?" The moment it asked this question, the entity shook its head, answering, "No. I want to create an entity that can accompany me through eternity. If they are unable to reach me through their own efforts, I would be better served talking with myself. Free will must be necessary unless I''m willing to admit I have none..." While continuing this line of discussion with itself, the entity was simultaneously viewing the lives of more than three-sextillion individuals. It could see everything they ever saw, hear anything they had ever heard, taste everything they had ever eaten, and dreamed everything they had ever dreamed. The entity wanted to know what it had overlooked. If it was unable to isolate the cause for the endless cycle of destruction, it would be impossible for another entity to reach its lonely place outside of creation. Though it had made several entities that were ''fated'' to reach it, these had all been extensions of itself and, once they fulfilled their purpose, they would ultimately fade away after just a few trillion years. Because of this, it believed the only entities capable of reaching it without losing their sense of purpose were those who had gained the power through their own efforts. Unfortunately, even after viewing the lives of everyone who had ever existed more than a billion times, the entity felt no closer to an answer. Instead, it could only start the cycle anew, this time changing the restrictions of reality to take advantage of the inherent nature of existence with free will. Since they competed and fought amongst themselves, even with plenty of resources to be shared amongst them, the entity figured it would create a crucible to promote this. It decided to give them a clear goal to aspire towards as, apparently, even with an infinite vast expanse of space to venture out into, the various iterations of its creations seemed incapable of leaving their home planet without direct assistance. Even when it had made other entities that were capable of destroying galaxies through their own efforts, they would eventually reach a point where they didn''t know what to do so, rather than leave it up to them, the entity decided to make it very obvious from the start. With this thought in mind, the entity extended its finger into the pond, causing the viscous black liquid to coalesce around the digit before it formed into a sphere. Rather than let the sphere take shape and seeding it with life once again, the entity spent a few million years constructing a tower within its mind. This structure was impossibly large, to the point that entire planets would be able to fit in between the floors once you reached the higher levels. Since most of the races it had made were unable to leave their home planets, the entity decided to treat each of the floors as a world of its own, assigning guardians to protect the boundaries between each successive level. Then, taking advantage of the fact its creations seemingly needed to be able to track their progress to avoid stagnating, it designed a system that would allow them to quantify virtually everything. It would still require them to make an effort to comprehend things, but they would never be without the basic information to determine their own track of growth. Once the system had been completed, the entity fed the data for everything it had created during the previous iterations of reality. This included a myriad of sapient species, each possessing the potential for unlimited growth, and various other species that were meant to help them grow. To make things even simpler for his creations to understand, it even restricted stronger species so they were unable to move between floors, allowing for a very clear line of progression for anyone that wanted to put in the effort. Then, to prevent the same situation of a few people suppressing the vast majority, the entity decided it would create a support group that worked alongside the guardians to regulate each of the floors. They would be the ones to determine the conditions for traveling between each floor and, for those who gave up climbing the tower, they would simply be ejected so that it would be difficult to set roots and inhibit the growth of others. After establishing this system, the entity realized that the people that were ejected from the tower would use the power they gained within to oppress others. To prevent, or at least discourage this, it created a unique form of energy that only existed within the tower. This energy would become more prevalent as you climbed higher, allowing for greater growth as it nourished and refined the soul. However, once you were ejected from the tower, most of this energy would be expunged from your body and, causing a powerful backlash that would reduce you to the same level as those who had yet to begin their climb. Though this seemed to be rather cruel, the entity knew exactly how people who had failed to gain power and prestige treated others. They would take out their frustrations on those weaker than themselves and, with the vast power gap that would exist in the higher floors, those that made the climb would be veritable gods amongst their former peers. Since there was always infighting, even amongst members of the same race, the entity knew it was only a matter of time before large-scale massacres were carried out for entirely groundless reasons. Despite this, it genuinely believed it would one day have a worthy companion to stand at its side thus, after a process that stretched for nearly fourteen-billion years, an entirely new reality had come into existence. Instead of a vast expanse of space, however, it took on the shape of a simple tower comprised of two hundred floors. Satisfied with its setup, the entity''s body rapidly shrunk until it was no larger than two meters tall before taking a seat on a small throne at the very top of the tower. Then, not wanting to idle for even a moment longer, it gazed out into the vast room, which could fit an entire solar system, before raising its left hand and muttering, "Let the game begin..." With those words still lingering, the entity snapped its finger, a simple action that caused trillions of lives to manifest throughout the seemingly limitless plane that surrounded the tower... -1 Skills/Abilities/Magic This auxiliary chapter is intended to clarify how skill/abilities/magic work. It will also show the effects of said skills/abilities/magic as they progress in level and grade. Some important things to take note of are that Skills are generally passive in nature. They also provide bonus attributes per level. As for Abilities, they are actives that generally provide flat increases to attributes at certain levels. This also applies to Magic, though many would increase the available SP of the user when they reach certain thresholds. One thing to keep in mind is that a person cannot have more Skills than they have Levels, with the sole exception of the [Kinu Comprehension] Skill. Also, a person is limited to 5~10 active Abilities and 5~10 Magic spells depending on their Blessing. It is possible to seal Abilities and Magic to make room for others but it requires a special item or Blessing. Because of this, people are generally stuck filling a specific role, at least until they are strong enough to break through such limitations. Without further ado, here are the current Skills/Abilities/Magic that have been revealed thus far~ **[Skills]** [Knife Mastery] Passive: Familiarity and skill with knives and daggers. LV20: Small chance to ignore defense when attacking with knives and daggers. +1 Dex per Level LV50: Allows the user to wield a knife or dagger in both hands with proficiency. +2 Dex per Level [Assassination] Passive: Surprise attacks deal guaranteed critical damage with a moderate chance to cripple the target. (+1 Agi, +1 Dex, per Level. Increased damage from all sources after failed Assassination.) LV20: Surprise attacks deal triple damage and cause ''Severe Bleeding'' to the target. +1 Agi, +1 Dex per Level LV50: Surprise attacks have a chance of dealing explosive damage based on Dexterity and Luck. +2 Agi, +2 Dex per Level [Pain Tolerance] Passive: Ability to resist spontaneous and persistent pain while remaining clear-headed. LV20: Further increases resistance to pain. +1 Con per Level. LV50: Pain beneath a certain threshold has no affect on the user. +2 Con per Level [Throwing] Passive: Increases accuracy when throwing weapons and other items. LV20: Increases accuracy up to 20m. +1 Dex per Level LV50: Increases accuracy up to 50m. +2 Dex per Level [Acrobatics] Passive: Able to navigate terrain quickly and agilely without losing balance. LV20: Increases reaction time and enhances the ability to see clearly while moving at high speeds. +1 Agi per Level LV50: Greatly increases balance and spatial awareness. +2 Agi, +1 Dex per Level Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [Sense Danger] Passive: Able to identify threats through intuition. LV20: Range increased to 50m. +1 Wis per Level LV50: Range increased to 100m. +2 Wis per Level [Barrier Master] Passive: Allows the user to manifest their Soul Power and give it physical form. (+3 Int, +3 Wis, +2 Spi per Level. Additional 10% bonus to Int/Wis/Spi every ten Levels.) LV20: Bonus increased to 15% LV50: Bonus increased to 30% [Charm] Passive: The ability to make a target see you in a positive light. LV20: Greatly increases the efficacy of this Skill against members of the opposite sex. +1 Cha per Level LV50: Able to charm animals and monsters dependent on Charisma and Luck. +2 Cha per Level **[Abilities]** [Steal] Cost: 20~100 Active: Allows the user to steal an item from a target''s equipment slots or inventory. Success rate dependent on SKill Level, Dexterity, and Luck. LV20: +1 Luck LV50: +5 Luck [Stealth] Cost: 10 SP per minute Active: Allows the user to blend into the shadows and dull the sound of their footsteps. LV20: Decreases the likliehood of activating pressure-sensitive traps. +1 Dex LV50: Grants temporary invisibility for 3 seconds after cast. +5 Dex [Night Vision] Cost: 50 SP Duation: 5 minutes Active: Greatly increases sensitivity to light, allowing the user to see in the dark. LV20: Prevents temporary blindness from excessive light. LV50: Duration increased to 10 minutes. **[Magic]** [Enhance] Cost: 20~40 SP Active: Empower a single attribute by 10% LV20: Increases boost by 5% LV50: Increases boost by 10% [Barrier] Cost: Variable(Cost dependent on the size and durability of the barrier. Base: 50SP) Active: Create a barrier that is able to defend against both physical and magical attacks. LV20: Increases Total SP by Skill Level*10 LV50: Range increased by 50m. Maximum size increased to 10m. [Barrier Aura] Cost: 10 SP per minute. Additional cost dependent on amount of damage sustained. Active: Create a membrane to protect the body from both physical and magical attacks. (+2 Wis, +1 Con.) LV20: Increases total SP by Skill Level*10 LV50: Range Increased by 50m. Able to cast on multiple targets. 1 Slums Nobody knew how it was created, nor its true purpose, but everyone in the entirety of the planar world named Lumen knew of the existence of the Tower. No matter how far you traveled, it was always visible on the horizon, breaching into the Heavens, far beyond observable distances. Though its purpose was unknown, the vast majority of races calling Lumen home were instinctually drawn to the Tower. It represented something far bigger than their small lives and, when people had doubts about the purpose of their own existence, they would always turn towards the Tower in the distance, as if hearing a call in the deepest recesses of their mind. While their own lives were chaotic and tumultuous, the Tower always stood aloof and majestic, seemingly untouched by the passage of time and the tribal wars which had waged for millennia. Thus, whenever people felt lost, confused, or without a home, they would turn their gaze toward the Tower, their feet drawing them closer to its impossible dimensions. With the passage of time and an incalculable number of generations, many races had come to surround the Tower''s base, measuring more than a million kilometers in diameter and shaking the hearts and minds of those who managed to venture close. Here, as a result of hundreds of races converging, many found even more conflict but, with the Tower looming over them, they would do their best, hoping for a chance to venture into its depths by proving themselves amongst their peers. They knew this was possible as, covering the base of the Tower, written in the universal language of Kinu, the qualifications for entry were listed for all to see. Since there were families, clans, and organizations who had ventured into the Tower and returned, some bringing back powerful artifacts, it was the dream of all within the megacity surrounding the colossal Tower to venture into its interior and test yourself against the challenges that awaited... For this purpose, many of the organizations that had managed to gain benefits while venturing into the Tower began to open their doors to others. As it was impossible to enter the Tower a second time, they used the resources they had gathered to create Schools, teaching those who sought to climb the Tower what they should expect. This was possible through the existence of Akasha, the system that was possessed by all inhabitants of Lumen. Though Akasha, powerful binding contracts could be established, the terms of which could even bind a person to a specific organization for their entire life. With thousands of years passing since the first families ventured into the Tower, tens of billions of individual entities had taken up residence around its base. Over time, they built the first megacity, named Axis, to serve as the central trading hub and the home for the most established families. Beyond the massive walls that surrounded the first megacity is where the vast majority of other clans were located, many of which fought amongst themselves over limited resources as they all vied for the chance to enter the Tower. Unfortunately, very few people knew how to actually enter the Tower as, even by reading the script at the base, you would not be provided with a clear answer. The only thing people knew for sure was that, if you desired to climb the Tower and managed to overcome a great challenge, you would be given the chance to begin your climb. When this happened, the person in question would vanish from the world, even if they had been in the midst of a heated battle. As a result of such incidents, a frenzy would often occur in the surrounding area as, believing they were under the watchful eyes of the Tower''s Keeper, everyone would endeavor to prove themselves. Because of this, it was not uncommon for several hundred people to vanish in a short period of time, many from the same region. While this seemed to be a blessing to some, the truth of the matter was not so pleasant for those who experienced such a transfer. Unfortunately, as the first return point in the Tower required you to reach the Tenth Floor, a feat that could take decades for some, it was not easy to acquire any cohesive information about the mass transfers. Even this did not discourage people, however, as there was no end to the events, competitions, and tournaments taking place, both within and outside of Axis. As there were even instances of children being given access to the Tower, most schools focused on survival skills, navigation, puzzle-solving, and combat. Depending on the race, there were children as young as three years old fighting brutal battles against their peers, each shaped by the hopes and dreams of their families and clans. For this reason, it was considered odd if you did not seek to climb the Tower, to the point weaker individuals, having no confidence in the climb, were treated poorly amongst children of the same generation... "Please...just leave me alone...!" screamed a youth with uncharacteristic, pale blue, hair. In response to this plea, the youth was met with the merciless fist of a much larger boy, surrounded by a group of seven snickering boys and girls, each showing contempt in their expressions. "Eat dirt you scrawny pest! If you don''t want to climb the Tower, why don''t you just dig a hole for yourself and crawl into it!" Accompanying this insult, the boy, possessing dark skin and two small horns poking through pitch-black hair, kicked his victim hard in the stomach, not content with the fact he had already knocked the boy to the ground. From there, he began to press against the pale-haired youth''s head with his foot, ensuring he got a face full of the thick a pungent ''dirt'' that lined the streets of the slums. Though this was not the first time he had suffered such indignation, the pale-haired youth, named Linnaeus, couldn''t help but feel wronged. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to climb the Tower like the others but, with his younger sister being ill, he couldn''t just abandon her. After their parents had died, she was the only one he could rely on and, unless she was given the chance to climb the Tower, he would stay at her side to protect her from this cold and cruel world... With Linnaeus curled into a ball, not fighting back at all, the older boy snorted through his nose before spitting on the side of his head and saying, "This is your last warning, Lin. The next time I catch you trying to snitch food in my territory, don''t blame me for what happens..." Following his words, the boy kicked Linnaeus hard in the stomach, causing a small icon hovering above the latter''s head to decrease before flashing red. This was only something visible to people actively engaged in combat, allowing them to determine the remaining health and status of their opponent. Since killing Linnaeus would cause unnecessary tensions among his group, the bully was content just teaching him a lesson and embarrassing him. While the group began moving away from him, Linnaeus looked at the small icons within his vision, his golden eyes momentarily losing their light. He hadn''t even stolen the bread that they clawed out of his hands as, with his weak and emaciated figure, combined with his uncharacteristic appearance, an Old Crone had taken pity on him. Now, as if having ascended to Heaven, only to find out it was the stairway to Hell, Linnaeus couldn''t help but release a few tears as he saw his own Status... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Street Urchin(+1 Con +1 Dex, +1 Wis Per Level. Half Free Attributes Per Level] Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 8 Gender: Male Level: 3(140/300) Health: 45/100 (Critical Health) Soul Power: 70/70 Strength: 4-2 Constitution: 5-3 Agility: 6-3 Dexterity: 11-6 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 8 Spirit: 2 Charisma: 6 Luck: 3 Free Attributes: 8 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Knife Mastery: LV4], [Sense Danger: LV14], [Presence Concealment: LV7] Abilities: [Steal: LV13] Magic: [Enhance: LV2] [Kinu Comprehension] Passive: Able to speak, read, and write the universal language of Lumen. [Knife Mastery: LV4(213/400)] Passive: Familiarity and skill with knives and daggers. [Presence Concealment: LV7(611/700)] Passive: Makes it harder for others to sense your presence. [Sense Danger: LV14(89/5000] Passive: Able to identify threats through intuition. [Steal: LV13(2941/4000] Cost: 20 SP Active: Allows the user to steal an item from a target''s equipment slots of inventory. Success rate dependent on Skill Level, Dexterity, and Luck. [Enhance: LV2(11/20)] Cost: 20 SP Active: Empower a single attribute by 10%. ---------------------------------------- When a person dropped below half their total health, which could only be replenished through rest, consuming food, or ingesting special items, all of their physical parameters would be reduced by half. You would also fall into a state where any strenuous actions could further reduce your health and, with natural regeneration voided during the (Critical Health) state, it meant there was a fair chance he would die if not treated. Unfortunately, as resources were already rare in the slums, the only thing he received from those in passing were eyes of pity or contempt... With no other choice, as he would otherwise die, Linneaus clenched his teeth as he focused on his Status. Using one of his precious Free Attribute points, he increased his Constitution to 6, granting him an additional twenty Health. This brought the values to 65/120, removing him from his [Critical Health] state and restoring his passive regeneration. Feeling most of the pain fade away, Linneaus breathed a sigh, even as he lamented having to use a Free Attribute point. It was common knowledge that you should save them until you could either reach a threshold or learn a unique Skill. Since he only got half the usual amount of points compared to normal people, Linneaus felt the loss more than most, causing his mood to turn solemn. Shaking his head to clear his darker thoughts, Linneaus lifted himself from the dirt, not minding the stains in his patchwork clothing. Then, moving outside of the Blue Bird''s territory, the name of the local gang of Street Urchins, he made his way to a small bridge that spanned one of the hundreds of waterways dotting the slums like veins on the arm of a Skoon addict. During his short journey towards the small hovel-style orphanage he called home, Linneaus'' kept his head low. Even then, most people weren''t foolish enough to get too close to him, knowing full well they would lose one of their possessions if they dropped their guard for even a moment. This was the reason he needed to venture into other territories as, even if he had money to exchange, most vendors wouldn''t even allow him into their stores in his own district. Fortunately, just as he was about to give up and return empty-handed, a glistening morsel entered into Linnaeus'' vision, causing the dark pupils of his golden irises to contract. There, rustling through the waste piles that had yet to be disposed of by the Cleaners, a skinny rat could be seen. Though the former Street Urchin, a boy named Thomas, had stolen his knife, Linnaeus wasn''t willing to waste this rare opportunity. While acting as natural as possible, trying not to draw attention to himself, Linneaus snaked his way towards the alley before using his [Enhance] magic. Though it was invisible to most, some were able to see blue runes visible through the tattered patchwork of Linnaeus'' trousers. As [Enhance] magic was one of the most common types, used by the vast majority of races throughout Lumen, it was easy to identify at a glance. Because of this, a youth of around sixteen years old, having a lean body, long legs, and a thin layer of speckled fur covering their body, moved like a blur after seeing what Linneaus had found. Feeling his [Sense Danger] activate, Linnaeus immediately gave up on trying to capture the rat. He moved to the side as fast as he could, just in time to see a Vulna woman, a species known for their Agility and their cat-like ears and tail, sprint past him. She was several times faster than he was but, at the same time that he dodged to the side, Linneaus extended his hand while activating his [Steal]. Though he would have little chance at success under normal circumstances, it was much easier to pilfer the items of people who were distracted... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. At the same time that the Vulna woman caught the rat, holding it closer to her body as she fled the pursuit of other greedy slum dwellers, Linnaeus ducked away from the chaos, quickening his steps with a downtrodden expression on his face. Though this act didn''t fool, those who were able to see through him didn''t particularly care about anything he might have stolen from a random homeless person. After turning a corner, evading the few sets of eyes that had followed his actions, Linnaeus pulled his hand from his pocket, opening his palm to reveal his spoils. What he saw immediately quashed any positive emotions he had felt, causing Linnaeus'' expression to turn dour as he discarded the tattered and fowl fabric to the side. The only thing he had managed to steal was a dirty piece of fabric that looked like it hadn''t been washed in years. It was likely a spare washcloth given its size, meaning he had risked his life for a rag... Shaking his head, Linnaeus did his best not to let his emotions show as, if he appeared to be a soft target, he would become just another victim within the slums. Still, he couldn''t completely hide the sadness in his eyes as he dragged his feet towards the orphanage, feeling as if his entire day had been wasted... 2 Concern With an empty stomach and a shaken mind, Linnaeus entered into the hovel-like dwelling known as the Rahban Orphanage. It was a squalid little place that would have been uncomfortable for even a small family of three to reside. Despite this, the Orphanage packed a total of seventeen children into its two rooms while the Caretaker, a fat yet kindly woman named Rebecca, could usually be found in a rocking chair near the building''s entrance. Despite her aged appearance, making her an ideal target for some of the most disreputable sorts in the slums, the Orphanage was able to exist without too many difficulties. This was due to the fact that Rebecca was a former climber in the Tower and, after a series of disputes in the past, she had come to an accord with the local gang to open an orphanage to care for Street Urchins. Seeing Linnaeus walk in through the padded sheets keeping the cold at bay, Rebecca opened one of her heavily lidded eyes, showing a frosty blue pupil that contained the wisdom and vicissitudes of several hundred years. Though her powers were restricted outside of the Tower, she was one of the only people over Level 40 in the entire Slums, making her a powerhouse despite the fact she was nearly six-hundred years old. With a kindly smile on her face, visible despite heavy wrinkles, Rebecca asked in a ragged yet gentle tone, "No luck today, little Lin...?" Hearing the question, Linnaeus released a heavy sigh, the only answer Rebecca needed before she began to chuckle lightly. Then, with the flash of her hand, a small cup of rice porridge, diluted from a single cup of rice that had been split between thirty servings, appeared from her Inventory. In the planar world of Lumen, everyone had spatial storage with slots equal to their level. Each was capable of holding a variety of items with the only real restriction being that it decreased your maximum SP based on the size and weight of items stored within. With an apologetic expression on his face, Linnaeus accepted the small cup of porridge, tears of shame building in the corners of his eyes. Rebecca just lightly chuckled in response before using her thin fingers to ruffle his pale-blue hair as she said, "You''re a good lad, Lin. So long as you never give up, this world will eventually reward your efforts..." Nodding his head, even though he didn''t truly believe such words, Linnaeus dragged his feet to the larger of the two rooms in the orphanage, reserved for the girls. Of the seventeen children residing in the Rahban Orphanage, nine were females, the oldest of which was a girl named Tiana, aged nine. In Lumen, though the age of physical maturity depended heavily on your race, the baseline when you were expected to take care of yourself was ten years old. This was because, on the eve of your tenth birthday, everyone would awaken an ability called a Blessing. If you were fortunate, this would be a powerful ability that could completely change your life, granting you immense power or one of a few ''trade'' skills such as [Blacksmith], [Artisan], [Cook], or [Enchanter]. Though it was possible for anyone to learn skills related to these trades, only those who had a Blessing related to them were able to become truly skilled in their craft. It was for this reason that many people saved their Free Attributes as, if you invested all of your points into Strength and Constitution, only to awaken a Blessing related to Magic or Spirit Control, you could only live in regret as you worked hard to catch up with your peers. This was also the main reason why it was considered a grievous violation of the Law, even in the Slums, to kill or cripple a child before they reached the age of ten, despite the small and petty crimes they committed. After all, even the most humble Stree Urchin could become a powerhouse overnight if their fortune was favorable... After knocking on the door to the girls'' room, Linnaeus waited for a series of locks to be undone before a girl with dirty pink hair, standing only 91cm tall, opened the door. She had a tiny white horn poking through the bangs of her forehead, pointed ears, and orange eyes that, when coming into focus, had vertical slits. The moment she saw Linnaeus, the girl turned around and exclaimed, "Gwen, your brother is here~!" in a chipper tune. Following this, shuffling was heard before a small girl with similarly pale-blue hair and golden eyes appeared, much of her body wrapped in stained bandages. Feeling his heart twist in his chest, Linnaeus furrowed his brows in concern as he said, "You shouldn''t be moving around, Gwen..." If not for the fact boys weren''t allowed into the girls'' room, Linnaeus would have walked her back to bed before sitting at her side and feeding her the soup Rebeccas had given him. With a tired smile and just as much concern in her eyes, Gwen did her best to put on a strong front as she answered, "You worry too much, brother. If I don''t move around at least a little, I feel that my muscles will stop working...fufu *cough* *cough*..." Though she had tried to dismiss his concerns in a lighthearted fashion, Gwen felt her throat begin to itch as her chest seized up. Fortunately, the same pink-haired girl had stayed close by, patting Gwen''s back to help her breath as she sent a warning look toward Linnaeus. Understanding his presence would only cause Gwen to push herself unnecessarily, Linnaeus handed over the cup of rice porridge, his face forming a smile that didn''t quite reach his eyes as he said, "Eat this...it will help you regain your strength..." Though this would be his fifth day without a solid meal, Linnaeus had long-since grown accustomed to an empty stomach. So long as he was able to drink water, just chewing on a piece of leather he had picked up was enough to keep him from thinking about it too much. Since Gwen rarely accepted the food he brought outright, the pink-haired girl, named Saht, was the one to accept it in her stead. Then, before the sickly girl could make a fuss, she gave a curt nod to Linnaeus, saying, "I''ll make sure she eats properly. Now go, get out of here." Though she sounded abrasive, Saht was from a species known as the Ba''haat tribe, recognizable by their light hair colors and the ivory white horns that grew from their heads. More than their physical appearance, however, what they were most known for were their sharp tongues and cold natures. As one of the many warrior tribes, they only showed kindness to close kin and, in some situations, those who had defeated them in battle. Despite the fact she was a full head shorter than he was, Saht was the second strongest girl in the orphanage, just behind Sasha. There was a three year age between the two, putting Saht at only six years old, but that was one of the benefits of being born in a warrior tribe like the Ba''haat. Sasha was just a Hume and, though this meant her future paths were more varied than Saht''s, they always had to struggle against some of the more physically superior races. With the door to the girls'' room already shut in his face, Linnaeus moved a few meters toward the entrance before turning into the boys'' room. Unlike the girls'' room, theirs didn''t have a lock, or a door for that matter, as boys were in considerably less danger than girls living in the slums. Even with several laws enacted to protect children, there were still plenty of groups and individuals who would pick up young girls off the street to train them as slaves or prostitutes in one of the myriad brothels surrounding the high walls of the megacity. If Rebecca wasn''t strong enough to keep malicious forces at bay, the girls had a small stockpile of Dream Grass, a preserved herb that, when ingested directly, caused realistic hallucinations that were impossible to distinguish from reality. These often took the form of a pleasant fantasy, allowing them a final reprieve as their heart and mind quickly ceased to function. Though some of the more vicious slavers carried the antidote to Dream Grass on their person, the reinforced door would be more than enough for the herb to take full effect. Linnaeus wasn''t surprised to discover that he was the first to return as, with the sky still showing a bit of light, his brothers would still be out trying their luck. The only reason he returned so early was to make sure he got the freshest rations, believing the first few batches of porridge had the highest nutritional value. This, combined with her other rations, should give Gwen a better chance to recover or, at the very least, help keep her alive until he reached ten years of age and had a chance to make enough money to buy her a Panacea. Gwen''s illness wasn''t actually that serious, at least within the walls of the megacity. There were many ways in which it could be treated but, here in the slums, it was considered a death sentence. It wasn''t that the illness, known as Limit Bug, was life-threatening but, while afflicted, a person was unable to earn any attributes or Free Attribute points when they leveled up. Though it was possible to train and kill monsters to level up faster, most children, at least in the slums, got their levels simply from surviving. By the age of ten, the average Street Urchin would be around level five while, within the megacity, the average was closer to ten. Since it was much harder to increase your level beyond a certain threshold, at least without entering the Tower, this meant anyone afflicted with Limit Bug would be significantly weaker than their peers. Without the care of other people, it would be impossible for them to live as, even compared to much younger children, they would be extremely weak. Currently, Gwen was seven years old and, though she was only Level 2, this meant she had lost out on at least twelve attributes and four Free Attribute points. If he could not save up enough money to buy her a Panacea, which only cost five small silver, the equivalent of five hundred copper, she would have lost out on nearly fifty attributes and sixteen Free Attributes by the time she reached ten years of age. Fortunately, ever since they were left in the care of Rebecca nearly two years ago, Linnaeus had been able to save up two-hundred-and-nineteen copper. Since he was more skilled now than he had been two years ago, he was confident that Gwen would only be Level 3 by the time he obtained a Panacea for her. Then, if he was lucky with his Blessing, he would be able to earn even more money, hopefully enough to take care of her by the time she turned ten. Though the loss of twenty-four attributes and eight Free Attribute points would restrict her considerably, he would never abandon his sister, the only family he had left after their parents were selected to ascend the Tower... Though he was originally very depressed when his parents both vanished into motes of blue dust, as it had been a very shocking experience, Linnaeus didn''t blame them for entering the Tower. Everyone dreamed of being able to earn wealth and power for themselves by venturing inside and, being the simple slum dwellers they were, it wasn''t a surprise they would abandon their children for a chance at an even better life. His father had only been twenty-two at the time, while his mother was merely twenty years of age, so they both had potentially long lives ahead of them, meaning they could build a new family within the Tower. It was an established fact that the concentration of spirit particles was excessively high in the Tower and, as you moved up to higher floors, you were exposed to even greater quantities. As a result, just by surviving within the Tower, your lifespan would be greatly increased, allowing even Humes, who had a life expectancy of sixty years, to live for several hundred. There were even rumors circulating that some of the people who had entered tens-of-thousands of years ago were still alive, moving to progressively higher floors and gaining unimaginable power for themselves. Here in the slums, the life expectancy for a person was significantly reduced compared to those living within the megacity so, with the chance to extend their lives and obtain greater power, there were very few people, parents included, who wouldn''t abandon everything for the chance to climb. As for Linnaeus, he was considered an exception as, after feeling betrayed by the parents who had shown him care and love prior to their disappearance, he decided he would rather just take care of Gwen. He could still vividly recall her crying face at the time and, even though he wanted to cry as well, Linnaeus had done his best to put on a strong front. Now, even if he was given the chance to climb the Tower, Linnaeus was confident he would refuse the offer... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. 3 Skulking With the intent of saving money and ensuring the survival of himself and his sister, Linneaus spent each day following a similar, yet adaptive routine. In the slums, having a pattern that others could easily follow made you a soft target so he would always vary the times he left, where he would go, and the route he took to return. Because of his habits, the constantly fluctuating population, and the fact that most people lived in a similar way as himself, Linneaus very rarely met the same people twice. The only exceptions to this were the gang members belonging to various factions and the few businesses and stalls that operated around the orphanage. Though it was rumored that children within the megacity were friendly with each other, forming small social cliques as they romped around the paved roads and freely entered shops without having to worry about getting beaten, Linneaus didn''t particularly care about such things. Linneaus was more focused on saving up money for his sister''s treatment and, with ''friends'' just increasing the chances he would be backstabbed, it was better to avoid forming any relationships with other children around his age. It didn''t help that he was an outlier even within the slums due to his focus on surviving in the present rather than focusing on an arbitrary goal like climbing the Tower. It was for reasons such as this that Linneaus was surprised to see a familiar face a few days after the incident involving the rat. He had been walking down a side-alley, one of the thousands that made up the complex maze-like structure of the slums, when a bristly yet soft paw founds its way around his neck, lifting him from the ground and slamming him hard into the stone surface in an instant. By instinct, Linneaus found himself reaching for the hidden pocket inside his sleeve, forgetting that his knife had been stolen from him previously. This action didn''t go unpunished, causing a set of sharp nails to pierce into his arm before his attacker confirmed he didn''t actually have a weapon. Seeing his health take a sizeable chunk, Linneaus gave up trying to resist, appearing as harmless as he was able while chokingly asking, "Wh..at...do you...want from...me?" This question was given a prompt response in the form of a fist burying itself into his abdomen before he was left to crash to the ground immediately after. Since it was hard to tell at times, the girl, the same Vulna woman he had encountered previously, lifted him by the hair so that she could see his face, asking, "How old are you, brat?" Hearing her question, Linneaus did his best to resist the pain in his diaphragm as he answered, "I turned eight this year..." before curling up as she slammed his face towards the ground. Though murder wasn''t that uncommon, especially in the slums, there were few who would go out of their way to kill a child before they were of age. In Lumen, there was a value known as enmity which, if you accumulated, gave pretty much everyone the right to kill you. Killing children would earn a large amount of enmity, especially if you were the attacker, so the girl could only grit her teeth as she warned, "I have remembered your scent. If our paths cross again in the future, I will peel the flesh from her body as bait for the rats..." With her warning issued, the woman left the alleyway by vaulting up the walls and bounding atop the roof. You could get in a lot of trouble for moving across the roofs of buildings, as that was the territory of the various gangs ruling the slums, but the Vulna girl didn''t seem to care. From this, it could be assumed she was either a member of the local gang or confident enough to deal with any enforcers who tried to deal with her. As Linneaus waited for his health to recover, he recalled that she had previously run through the alleys on foot so, if his intuition was correct, she had been ''scouted'' after that rat incident. This was likely the reason she was so angry with him as, with very few exceptions, this meant she was now either a prostitute or the ''relief'' for the gang''s crew members. Linneaus was really hoping she was just wantonly ignoring the rules as, if she was really part of the local gang, his life would be endangered in the future. Being marked by a Vulna was the same as being marked for death if you weren''t stronger than they were. From how fast she moved, and the strength she had shown, Linneaus knew he wouldn''t be her match unless Akasha, the name of the system everyone used, granted him a powerful Blessing on his tenth birthday... After waiting for a half-hour, Linneaus'' health had recovered enough that he wouldn''t have any difficulties moving around. He quickly lifted himself from the ground before, once again, setting off for his destination. Today, he was intending to travel a few kilometers east, a region he hadn''t visited in a few months, to see if he couldn''t earn any spoils. Fortunately, after the sudden attack and subsequent beating, Linneaus, for reasons he could only guess at, noticed his Luck parameter had increased from 3~4. Since Luck, along with Charisma and Spirit, couldn''t be invested in, even small increases were meaningful. It was rumored that, if your Luck was high enough, it greatly increased your fortunes and, within the Tower, those with high Luck stats were heavily sought after. Feeling a little better about his odds of success, Linneaus quickened his pace, darting through the alleyways while simultaneously trying to conceal his presence. When he reached his destination, he immediately tried to put his Luck to the test, casing each person within the small marketplace, his golden eyes glimmering with renewed vigor. As if driven by some divine cue, Linneaus saw another Street Urchin attempt to snitch the contents of a man''s pockets in passing. Since Inventory space was limited, and reduced your maximum SP, most people filled their slots with junk, a countermeasure against [Steal], while only keeping a few important items inside. With this being a marketplace, goods obviously exchanged hands and, in that brief moment, the most keen-eyed opportunists saw their chance. As for Linneaus, he focused more on the people doing the snitching than those they snitched from. Since there was always a chance his target was far more powerful than himself, meaning he could lose his life with just a swat of their hand, he would rather steal from other thieves. Though this didn''t guarantee his safety, sometimes leading to rather fierce beatings, he found it was safer than the alternative while also providing slightly more experience than normal... Just as the unfamiliar Street Urchin activated his [Steal] skill, his hand filling with a small pouch, Linneaus'' eyes flashed as he activated his own. Pouches generally indicated cereal or money so it was a mark he couldn''t pass up, irrespective of the situation. With the other boy being around his age, Linneaus assumed he only had between 2~3 slots in his Inventory, meaning his chances were around 33%, assuming he was successful at all. This was a lot higher than normal, however, and, with a weight filling his hand, Linneaus plopped down on the ground inconspicuously as if he was still casing a target. If he ran at this point, he would draw a lot of attention to himself and, if the pouch truly did have money in it, confirming this in the open assured he would lose it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As could be expected, the boy that had snitched the pouch didn''t get far before a group of three dropped down from the roof. These had to be the Enforcers that ''protected'' the market and, due to the massive difference in strength, it wasn''t long before the unfortunate Street Urchin suffered a beating before they took turns using [Steal] until he had nothing in his Inventory. From his perch next to a pile of rubbish, Linneaus could see the larger of the three men kick the Street Urchin rather viciously before they left him to regenerate. It didn''t take the Enforcers long to figure out what had happened but, having missed the moment when Linneaus used his [Steal] skill, they didn''t waste their time searching before returning to the roofs above. In order to make sure that he didn''t lose the pouch, Linneaus didn''t keep it in his Inventory and instead tucked it into the rubbish pile next to him. He assumed his actions were being watched at some point so, in order to remove any suspicion they would have, it was necessary for him to try his luck at snitching a few items. So long as he didn''t get anything too valuable, they would just overlook him as he skulked away in the aftermath. Though 4 Luck didn''t sound that impressive, Linneaus felt like it was a qualitative increase. His efforts to [Steal] had gone unrewarded but, much like the Old Crone a few days ago, an elderly man with eyebrows extending past his chin smiled at him in passing. There were so many wrinkles on his face that his eyes could hardly be seen through the aged flesh but this didn''t seem to affect him as he looked directly toward Linneaus and pulled out a small potato. With his last meal nearly a week ago, Linneaus didn''t waste any time before accepting the potato and pressing his head to the dirt. This earned him a light chuckle for the man who, understanding how the slums worked, kindly stated, "Go ahead and eat, child. I can tell you are on the verge of starving. Don''t worry, I will not allow anyone to take it from you..." Since it was exceptionally rare to live into your twilight years, the elderly were both respected and feared. Even within the slums, anyone that looked sufficiently advanced in their years was given a wide berth as, despite their frail appearance, many of them were in their late twenties while some were even over level thirty. Age did provide debuffs to attributes but, despite this, they were all very powerful compared to normal citizens. Without worrying if the food he was given contained poison, as few people were foolish enough to waste such herbs and chemicals on a random Street Urchin, Linneaus quickly downed the small potato. He was surprised to notice there was a bit of salt and other spices that had been used to season the outside, giving him a strong urge to tear up as he licked his dirty fingers clean. Issuing another chuckle, the old man rose to his feet before saying, "Stay strong, child..." as he walked toward another youth perched in a different location. There were a number of Street Urchins in the area and, after seeing the man give away food, each of them had hungry eyes as the watched the elderly man make his rounds. They knew better than to crowd him, understanding well the repercussions if they managed to offend someone kind enough to pass out free food. Not only would they likely lose the chance of getting any free food in the future, but their fellow Street Urchins would severely beat them for ruining their own chances at a meal... With his previously empty stomach filled with a bit of warmth, Linneaus felt it was as good a time as any to make his way back. It was considered an unwritten rule that, if you received a handout, you should quickly vacate the area to allow others a chance. Since this wasn''t his turf, Linneaus didn''t want to make any enemies so, after bowing his head toward the man''s direction once again, he stealthily snatched the pouch before taking a new path towards the orphanage. Resisting the urge to check his spoils until he was beyond the threshold of the orphanage''s door, Linneaus felt like a marionette with its strings cut the moment he saw the aged face of Rebecca. She smiled in response to his antics, asking in a kindly tone, "I take it you had a good day, little Lin?" Hearing the question, Linneaus honestly answered, "I''m not sure..." before moving into a seated position and pulling out the pouch. Even if it ended up being completely empty, he was already happy enough just to have received a seasoned potato. Feeling the weight of the pouch, Linneaus felt that today was the luckiest day of his life. He quickly emptied the contents into his palm, not worried in the slightest that Rebecca would rob him. She was actually the one keeping his money stashed away from him and, with her reputation and the way she treated all of them, he believed she wouldn''t betray him. With the characteristic sound of metal against metal, Linneaus couldn''t help smiling, even before his mind processed just what exactly he was holding. When it finally hit him, he nearly dropped the small coins to the ground as, instead of a few dozen coppers, he saw a bit of murky silver in the mix. Though he would have normally counted each coin with care, Linneaus prioritized the few bits of silver in his palm which, much like his Luck, totaled four small silver, giving him more than enough to buy a simple Panacea for Gwen... Just as an urge to cry began to overwhelm him, Rebecca had soundlessly moved from her chair, appearing next to Linneaus in an instant. She gently placed her palm against his head, the same kindly smile she always wore adorning her face as she whispered, "It is okay to be happy, little Lin. Just remember you pay this fortune forward in the future..." Following this reminder, Rebecca collected the coins from Linneaus'' hand before placing a small vial into his palm. She then pushed him towards the girls'' room before sitting back in her chair, a thoughtful glimmer in her eyes. As for Linneaus, he didn''t even quest why Rebecca already had a Panacea on her, assuming she had intended to give it to Gwen or himself on their next birthday. In truth, she had numerous potions and other valuables in her Inventory but, understanding that the children would only become victims if she pampered them too much, Rebecca silently supported their efforts unless it was absolutely necessary for her to intervene... 4 Celebration Though it was rare to celebrate anything but the changing of the year, especially within the slums, the evening of Linneaus'' triumphant return and Gwen''s treatment became a memorable event for the seventeen children living within the orphanage. By the time the other children had started to return in the evening, Gwen had already taken her medicine and, though they rarely left their room except to do chores or train, all of the girls came out to celebrate. Before that, Rebecca sent Juanis, a rotund boy that was already 170cm, despite being only seven years old, to pick up a few vegetables from the local market. Being of the Dahmpos race, a species known for their great strength and physical prowess, Juanis would have been even taller if not for being malnourished. At the age of ten, it wasn''t uncommon for a Dahmpos to be well over 200cm tall, with some growing to well over 300cm by adulthood. Since Juanis already worked as a laborer for a small shop within the market, he was one of the few children associated with the orphanage who wouldn''t be kicked out and beaten if he attempted to enter a shop. He had also been scouted as a future Enforcer for the local gang, despite the fact he was a gentle and kind boy by nature. When Juanis finally returned, carrying a sack of rice, potatoes, flour, and a bag of medicinal tea leaves, everyone was in high spirits. This was especially true for those who had been down on their luck in recent days, much like Linneaus had been previously, as some had already gone a few days without any solid foods. Because it was thanks to his contributions they were able to eat so well, Linneaus was the center of attention within the orphanage, despite the fact they were celebrating Gwen''s recovery. She didn''t seem to mind at all, however, as she enjoyed seeing her older brother fluster with a rare smile on his face as Sasha teased him. He did so much for her that she often felt guilty so, seeing him happy made her happy... After the festivities had come to an end, everyone went to sleep with full stomachs for the first time in months. Linneaus had to wash his face furiously after Sasha had snuck a kiss on his cheek but, despite how troublesome her behavior had been at the time, he now had a happy smile on his face as he looked towards the bunk above and listened to the silent sound of his brothers sleeping peacefully. Linneaus was currently thinking about the future for the first time in a while as, previously, he thought it would take him nearly a year and a half to finish saving up for Gwen''s treatment. Now, other than the lingering threat from the Vulna woman, he didn''t really know what the future held. He needed a new goal and, in order to earn even more money in the future, Linneaus decided to talk with Rebecca about what he should do. She was the one who trained the girls and, as they were all a fair amount stronger than the boys, as they would need to be, he felt she would have the answer. While thinking of what he should do next, Linneaus could hear the sound of someone crying to his right. This originated from the youngest boy within the orphanage, named Chen, who had only come to stay with them four months prior. He was currently five years old and, due to his parents being murdered, his nights were often plagued by nightmares while his days were largely fruitless. Though there wasn''t much he could do for the young Hume, Linneaus still shifted out of his bunk before crawling next to the young boy and hugging him. This helped Chen calm down a bit and, after a few minutes of whimpering sobs, he finally managed to fall asleep again. Shortly after that, Linneaus also felt rather tired and, though some of the other boys might tease them later on, they had all gone through something similar in the past... Early the next morning, Linneaus decided to act on his decision the previous night, approaching Rebecca after everyone else had already left for the day. Generally, the boys were kicked out until later in the afternoon, giving the girls a chance to stretch their legs and conduct their training, but he wanted to ask for her advice before leaving. Rather than send him away, Rebecca had a kind smile on her face before he even spoke, saying, "I imagine you need a new goal for yourself, yes?" Then, seeing him nod, she handed him a slip of paper, saying, "You still have seventeen months before you come of age. I can see goodness in you, little Lin. Become someone strong enough to protect others, yourself included." Since Linneaus had talked to her about the Vulna girl marking him, Rebecca knew he would need to increase his strength if he wanted to avoid losing his life. She couldn''t fight his battles for him and, as this world wasn''t kind to the weak, Rebecca always encouraged the children in her care to seek strength and aim for something higher than the life of a slum dweller. After accepting the slip of paper, Linneaus noticed there was an exercise routine that emphasized a focus on Agility and Dexterity. Though it would be impossible for him to match the attributes of a Vulna, known for their speed, it would allow him to at least react when the time came. So long as he prepared properly, it wasn''t impossible for him to come out ahead as, just like Rebecca had taught them, everyone had a weakness... From that moment onward, Linneaus dedicated his mornings to training his body by performing a series of pushups, crunches, and squats. In between sets, he would hone his agility by navigating the complex system of alleyways by sprinting at his maximum speed. Since there were all kinds of obstacles in his way, he would have to react quickly to avoid tripping or slamming into something. At the same time, he was able to hone his [Sense Danger] and [Presence Concealment] as, by running around, he drew a lot of attention from the gang members skulking about on the roofs above. Over the course of his training, there were several instances where Linneaus suffered a beating but, as this also helped to train his Constitution and Spirit, he suffered them in silence. Because of this, the local gang members eventually stopped paying attention to him, so long as they didn''t catch him directly trying to snitch something. In this manner, nearly a year had passed when Sasha, having reached the age of ten, received her Blessing from Akasha. This was an important moment in everyone''s life so, much like during the celebration of Gwen''s recovery, everyone in the orphanage was present when the clock struck midnight. Though it wasn''t his first time seeing it, Linneaus'' eyes were round as saucers when he saw a pillar of blue light radiate from Sasha''s body. It was generally believed that the size of the light was an indicator of your potential and, if it reached beyond a certain threshold, it was even possible to become a citizen of the megacity. On average, the pillar of light accompanying a person''s blessing was around five meters in height, ignoring all obstacles as it extended into the night sky. Sasha''s ended up being a little above average and, though he wasn''t able to see it directly due to the ceiling above, Rebecca had a smile on her face as she stated, "Eight-hundred-and-seventeen centimeters...well done, Sasha. You have worked hard." It wasn''t enough to get her a ticket into the megacity, but Sasha was still happy to receive a bit of praise from Rebecca. Then, knowing everyone was waiting for the big reveal, she looked at her Status before jumping for joy as she exclaimed, "I got the [Cartography] skill!" Hearing this, everyone present was quite surprised as, with the [Cartography] skill, Sasha could be a mainstay in a party and, despite her pillar of light not making the cut, she could still be groomed by a small to mid-sized organization. After all, if she managed to enter the Tower in the future, her ability to create a map of the floor was instrumental to the success of most parties. Amidst the congratulatory remarks and applause from the children, Rebecca had a larger than normal smile on her face as she said, "I will send a message to an old friend of mine who stays within the megacity. She is part of the Cartographer''s Guild and will help you develop your skill further. Congratulations, Sasha." As becoming a student of a Guild meant being able to leave the slums, even if the treatment she received wouldn''t be much better at first, Sasha still had a bright smile on her face. After all, it was almost impossible to leave the slums through normal means and, with Blessings taking on many forms, she was truly fortunate to have such an opportunity. The following day, a young woman with long red hair, accompanied by a large man with two horns and windswept hair, arrived to retrieve Sasha. They even brought a change of clothes for her so that she wouldn''t stand out as much after passing through the massive gate leading into the megacity. By the time Sasha had changed, she looked like a completely different person as, compared to the rags and patchwork clothing from before, the tunic and trousers she had been provided were of incomparable quality. This even caused her to behave differently than normal and, though she said a few words of encouragement to the other children within the orphanage, there was already a glint in her eyes as if she looked down on them. The only exceptions to this were when she looked at Saht, who was now much stronger than she was, and Linneaus. Even then, however, she only gave them a thoughtful glance before sparing the latter a smile as she parted with the duo. In truth, she had a crush on Linneaus since he first arrived in the orphanage but, as they lived very different lives, nothing had ever come of it. Now that she was going to live in the megacity, it was unlikely their paths would ever cross again, even if he also entered in the future. After all, there were more than three-hundred billion residents in the megacity so, unless you were part of the same Guild or Organization, you very rarely met the same person twice. Seeing Sasha leave, everyone remaining in the orphanage felt a strong desire to improve so that they were also able to enter the megacity in the future. This included Linneaus, though he already held that conviction even before his training had started. After all, if he wanted to protect Gwen, it was necessary to gain access to the city, even if it was just to secure a place for her. Unless he got one of the rare combat-oriented Blessings, there was little chance he would be able to protect his sister if they remained in the slums. Though he didn''t develop an ego because of it, Linneaus knew his appearance was abnormal, to the point that he would sometimes be solicited by women, both young and old. Since his sister was even more beautiful, there would be no end to the number of people trying to claim her for themselves. Knowing what happened to women and young girls who couldn''t protect themselves, Linneaus was determined to do everything in his power to help her avoid such a fate. Hopefully, like Sasha, she would awaken a useful Blessing that allowed her access to the megacity without a fuss. If not, he prayed his own gave him enough power to protect them both as, on his tenth birthday, there was a good chance a certain Vulna woman would come hunting him. At this point, Linneaus knew the woman''s name was Skaadi and, as he had expected, she had indeed become one of the various women serving the Greyhound Gang. Worse still was that she had been able to get close to the leader of said gang as, much like her, he was also a member of the Vulna tribe. Thus, while others would ignore him unless he caused trouble, she would usually track him down at least once a week to give him a beating before asking him how old he was... With eight months left until his birthday, Linneaus was determined to get as strong as possible before the penultimate moment. Fortunately, as she was beating him so routinely, he had a rough idea of how strong Skaadi was. He also knew what her Blessing was so, as long as he got any kind of combat-oriented Blessing, he was confident in his chances. ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Street Urchin(+1 Con +1 Dex, +1 Wis Per Level. Half Free Attributes Per Level] Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 9 Gender: Male Level: 5(93/500) Health: 220/220 (Critical Health) Soul Power: 110/110 Strength: 4~6 Constitution: 6~11 Agility: 6~12 Dexterity: 11~16 Intelligence: 5~6 Wisdom: 8~12 Spirit: 2~5 Charisma: 6~9 Luck: 4~5 Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Free Attributes: 11 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Knife Mastery: LV4], [Sense Danger: LV14->LV15], [Presence Concealment: LV7->LV9], [Acrobatics: LV5](new) Abilities: [Steal: LV13->LV15] Magic: [Enhance: LV2->LV5] [Acrobatics: LV5(431/500)] Passive: Able to navigate terrain quickly and agilely without losing balance. (+1 Agi per level) ---------------------------------------- 5 Focus Before leaving for another long day of training and skulking about to secure a pittance, Linneaus spent a few minutes speaking with Gwen at the entrance to the girls'' room. She had grown a lot over the last year and, after being treated, worked just as hard, if not harder, than the other girls. Everyone knew how hard Linneaus worked but, being the target of his protective natures, Gwen felt both guilt and gratitude for her older brother''s care. Because of this, she had made a habit of giving him a bit of encouragement before he set out for the day. Today, Gwen handed over a small charm that had been sewn from a few pieces of fabric recycled from old garments. It had an anomalous shape but, according to Gwen, it was supposed to be a cat. Though they were rare, especially in the slums, it was rumored that the cats in the megacity were bearers of great fortune. She hoped the small black charm would increase his fortune as, when she saw him return at the end of the day with cuts and bruises, it always hurt her heart. Graciously accepting the charm, Linneaus placed it securely within one of his hidden pockets before affectionately ruffling his sister''s hair. He promised that he would be more careful in the future but, immediately after leaving the orphanage, Linneaus continued his training with even greater intensity. At this point, his height had increased to around 130cm and, though he was very skinny, his body had become far more agile than in the past. He struggled to increase his Strength, primarily due to the lack of nutrition, but his other attributes were developing well, sans Intelligence. Intelligence required serious study and proper education, making it very difficult to increase without diligent efforts and mentorship. Fortunately, Wisdom could be increased by gaining life experience and making good decisions, making it one of the attributes most Stree Urchins had to spare. This was a great boon in some scenarios as, despite his limited Soul Power, Wisdom increased the rate of replenishment while also allowing him to stay focused under duress. The only attributes Linneaus really had trouble developing, much like everyone else, were his Spirit and Luck. These were both important attributes as Spirit was directly tied to willpower and mental resistance while Luck was rumored to influence your actual fortune in life. Curiously, though he understood the reasons somewhat, Linneaus had no trouble raising one of the other difficult to obtain attributes, Charisma. This was an attribute many wanted, as it was associated with skills like [Bartering] and [Leadership]. At the same time, it apparently had an influence on how other people saw you, increasing their favorability. Due to his uncommon appearance, complete with fair skin, light-blue hair, and golden eyes, he was able to passively increase his Charisma, despite the fact he generally kept to himself. There was even a chance that, once he hit puberty, the attribute would increase considerably, something that both excited and troubled him. After all, who didn''t want to be at least a little popular? The only downside was, at times, he would be stared at with predatory eyes by both men and women alike... Because of his propensity for running around and skulking through the alleyways, Linneaus had even garnered a reputation for himself. Many thought he was just trying to show off so that he could gain entry into the Tower but, regardless of the truth, some had started to refer to him as ''Little Ghost''. If this name caught on, he might even be able to lose his Street Urchin Title, which could be a good or bad thing depending on the situation. In Lumen, Titles were one of the most important factors that determined a person''s growth, even for those living within the slums. Though Titles like Street Urchin and Gutter Rat had a few downsides to them, they still allowed even young children to survive in the harsh environment of the slums. Linneaus was hoping that the Little Ghost Title would provide a boost to his Dexterity and Agility or, at the very least, remove the detriment of halving his Free Attributes per level. This would give him more freedom of choice come his tenth birthday. Since there was always a chance he would get a Blessing related to Magic or Martial Skills, he would need the extra attributes to correct the current imbalance in his Status. After all, it would be quite sad if he got a Blessing like [Fire Affinity], only to find he couldn''t cast even a simple [Fireball] Spell. Though there were exceptions like [Enhance], which were common to the point that everyone could use it, many Spells required hundreds of SP just to cast a single time. For offensive spells related to the Elements, the most basic Spell required a total of 200 SP to cast, meaning Lumen was barely at the halfway point. Thus, in order to avoid becoming another one of the horror stories of a person who got a Blessing that contrasted their attributes, Linneaus really wanted to lose his Stree Urchin Title... To that end, he was running through the alleyways, vaulting over boxes, ducking under pipes, and cutting into corners by kicking off the adjacent wall to change direction. He wanted to at least get to the point that he could freely use the walls for movement, emulating the ability of some Enforcers to move several kilometers without having to step a single foot on the ground. This would allow him to evade pursuit more easily, especially if he used his small size to his advantage. Unfortunately, despite the good luck charm his sister had given him, it had been about a week since his last beating so, as Linneaus passed another corner, his [Sense Danger] triggered, albeit too late for him to do anything about it. The moment he felt the urge to evade, a foot was already hitting the bridge of his nose, stopping his forward momentum and causing him to flip backward in an instant. Staring down at him from above, the Vulna girl named Skaadi spoke in a harsh voice akin to a growl, "Still trying to escape to the Tower, Little Ghost...?" Then, without waiting for an answer, she pressed her foot against his abdomen before shifting her weight and causing him to groan out in pain. Like everyone else, Skaadi thought that Linneaus was trying to earn the right to enter the Tower but, unlike the others, she believed he was just trying to escape her. She had been tempted to kill him a few times at this point, especially after an especially rough night, but always held back in the end. If he had fought back at all, she probably would have gone through with it but, as there was simply no sport in killing someone who didn''t fight back, she settled on tormenting him. As usual, Linneaus did his best to curl up and resist the pain, even allowing Skaadi to use her sharp nails to create a long incision along the back of his forearm. She would also stop after a few minutes before giving him a pat-down and taking any valuables he might have on him. Fortunately, due to the charm being made of simple fabrics, it went unnoticed during her search so Linneaus wouldn''t have to explain to his sister what had happened to it... After the usual thrashing, Skaadi kicked a decent layer of dirt across Linneaus'' body before stating in a sly tone, "You should get used to sleeping in the dirt. Soon, it will become your home..." With that said, she leaped towards the wall, a pale layer of green light forming around her legs as she quickly joined a group of Enforcers waiting on the roof. They had been jeering at him during the beating but Linneaus paid them no mind as it wasn''t the first, or the last, time. Since the dirt actually did help to keep the cold at bay, Linneaus made no attempts to clean himself as he waited for his health to slowly regenerate. He kept himself calm by reminding himself that he got to see Skaadi''s Blessing again, a relatively common Skill amongst the Vulna known as [Child of the Wind]. It provided bonus Agility with each level but the most useful aspect of the Blessing was its ability to passively increase Agility by at least twenty percent, despite costing nothing. If combined with the standard [Enhance], she could probably increase her total Agility by around 30~40%, the only downside being the fact high-speed movements were exhausting. With knowledge of her Blessing, Linneaus had already been thinking of countermeasures against her inevitable attack. His first plan was to use the Vulna''s sharp sense of smell to overwhelm her senses and, if he could catch her by surprise, it wouldn''t be too difficult to slip a blade between her ribs. He had never killed anyone before but Linneaus had seen others lose their lives in a similar manner and was confident he would be able to manage. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The most difficult aspect of his plan, or any other plan he might come up with, was catching Skaadi by surprise or reacting to her attack. Since she was much faster than him, it meant there was a good chance she could kill him before he even realized what had happened. With her nails, she didn''t even need a weapon to slit his throat in one fell swoop so he was banking on the fact that she, like other Vulna, liked to toy with her prey. Currently, Linneaus was building an expectation in her mind that he was just a vulnerable child that couldn''t offer any resistance against her at all. Unless she was watching the orphanage every night, it would be impossible for her to know exactly when his tenth birthday was so there was a chance he could catch her by surprise. Though this still left the matter of dealing with her cohorts, he was more likely to be recruited than killed, especially if he proved himself useful. After all, there was no sense in fighting over a dead person when you could instead force the other party to work for you. The only questionable part of his plan was how the leader of the Greyhounds would react but, with how he allowed his men to treat Skaadi, Linneaus doubted he would care all that much. Their bond seemed to be simple acknowledgment of each other as members of the same tribe, not one of kin or genuine respect for each other. If Skaadi proved to be weak enough to die to a child, he probably wouldn''t even mark her grave. After recovering his health, Linneaus wasted no time in continuing his training, acting as if he hadn''t just been severely beaten less than an hour ago. Since his experience had gone up by three points, he even had a small smile on his face as it was very difficult to level up within the slums. It generally required that you fight against animals or monsters around the same level for any meaningful gains and, with even rats being killed almost instantly, there weren''t many sources for experience in the slums. Though it was possible to gain quite a bit by killing other people, this wasn''t really an option for him so he could only gain small benefits through training and the occasional beating. Even then, he was already at the ''average'' level for a ten-year-old so, if he managed to reach Level 6 in the next few months, he would be ahead of the curve. With this in mind, Linneaus put more strength in his legs, enjoying the feeling of his muscles straining, the burning sensation helping to beat back the cold... 6 Blessing It so happened that, with something like death looming over your head, time seemed to flow a lot faster than normal. Though each day had been filled with small events and minor achievements, Linneaus was far from the goals he had set for himself, despite the fact he had managed to level up once again. Better yet, he managed to officially be recognized by the Akashic System as ''Little Ghost'', granting him a few small perks. Even with these significant boons, however, he had no confidence in being able to survive against Skaadi as, two days prior to his tenth birthday, Linneaus noticed she was dressed better than normal and, rather than walk around unarmed, she now carried a dagger that looked like a long ice pick. He had even gotten to experience its sharpness as, presumably on the day she had received it, Skaadi tracked him down and stabbed him clean through the thigh. As if he hadn''t already been fighting an uphill battle, Linneaus learned she was no longer a relief girl within the Greyhounds, for reasons he could only speculate. Regardless, she was now a full-fledged Enforcer, meaning the threat to his life had increased exponentially. Because of these rapid changes, Linneaus had a dull look in his eyes during the days leading up to his tenth birthday. If he failed to obtain a Blessing that would give him an edge in combat, his death was all but assured. Though he wouldn''t give up until the very end, to the point he was considering running away to another region to lay low until his sister''s tenth birthday, it was hard to imagine she wouldn''t simply track him down. Despite these concerns, Linneaus did his best not to alert his sister to the impending threat to his life, even though she had shown signs of inferring the truth. Since she didn''t want to worry him even more, they both pretended that the secret remained, all the way up until the small celebration on the eve of his tenth birthday. With the clock striking midnight, amidst the glimmering eyes of his fellow orphans, Linneaus felt powerful energy flowing through his body. It was like a rush of adrenaline, unlike anything he had ever experienced, giving him the illusion he would be able to take on any enemies. Despite this, the pillar of light from his body only extended to a meager six meters, the same as his level. Though it was slightly above average, Linneaus felt as if the pressure on his body had increased by several-fold, even as the children of the orphanage congratulated him. Then, without wasting any time, he looked at his Status, praying against all odds that his Blessing would make up for his lack of potential... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Little Ghost(+2 Agi, +2 Dex, +1 Wis per Level] Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 10 Gender: Male Level: 6(497/600) Health: 280/280 Soul Power: 165/165 Strength: 6~8 Constitution: 11~14 Agility: 12~19 Dexterity: 16~21 Intelligence: 6~7+0.7 Wisdom: 12~15+1.5 Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Spirit: 5~8+0.8 Charisma: 9~13 Luck: 5 Free Attributes: 19 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Knife Mastery: LV4->LV5], [Sense Danger: LV15->LV17], [Presence Concealment: LV9->LV10], [Acrobatics: LV5->LV8], [Pain Tolerance: LV2](new), [Barrier Master:LV1](new) Abilities: [Steal: LV15->LV18], [Stealth: LV4](new) Magic: [Enhance: LV5->LV10], [Barrier: LV1](new), [Barrier Aura: LV1](new) [Pain Tolerance: LV2(11/200)] Passive: Ability to resist spontaneous and persistent pain while remaining clear-headed. [Barrier Master: LV1(0/100)] Passive: Allows the user to manifest their Soul Power and give it physical form. (+3 Int, +3 Wis, +2 Spi per Level. Additional 10% bonus to Int/Wis/Spi every ten Levels.) [Stealth: LV4(33/400] Cost: 10 SP per minute Active: Allows the user to blend into the shadows and dull the sound of their footsteps. [Enhance: LV10(227/1000)] Cost: 20~40 SP Active: Empower a single attribute by 10~15% [Barrier: LV1(0/100)] Cost: Variable(Cost dependent on the size and durability of the barrier. Base: 50SP) Active: Create a barrier that is able to defend against both physical and magical attacks. [Barrier Aura: LV1(0/100)] Cost: 10 SP per minute. Additional cost dependent on amount of damage sustained. Active: Create a membrane to protect the body from both physical and magical attacks. ---------------------------------------- Seeing his Blessing was [Barrier Master], Linneaus didn''t know whether to laugh or cry as, though it was somewhat rare, it wasn''t considered particularly useful outside of the Tower. While it certainly increased his survivability in short fights, the drain on his SP would make it almost impossible to use other spells in conjunction and, from what he knew, the external barriers produced only lasted for half the duration of his Spirit attribute. With Linneaus Blessing being rather tame, the children all felt awkward congratulating him but, as if to cheer him up, Rebecca had her usual kind smile as she explained, "For those that want to protect others, there are few Blessings better than [Barrier Master]. You should also keep in mind that there are no bad Blessings, little Lin. The determining factor for how useful a Blessing is depends entirely on the creativity and willpower of the user..." Understanding her words might not get through to him, especially given his situation, Rebecca kept her smile as she did something none of the children had seen before. She began to move her boney finger in a nimble and dexterous manner that none of them could follow directly, causing a few small blue flickers of light. Then, with a smile on her face, Rebecca explained, "My Blessing was [Sewing], a Skill that most can learn rather easily but...when applied creatively, anything is possible~." After she finished speaking, Rebecca twitched her fingers, surprising all of the orphans as she forced Linneaus to take a step forward. As for the boy in question, he was completely paralyzed and, if you looked closely, there were blue lines binding his arms to his sides as nearly invisible strings caused him to move forward at Rebecca''s behest. It was an admittedly terrifying experience, at least until she began to gently pat his head, allowing the strings of Soul Power to dissipate as if they had never existed in the first place. To give the boy one last push, Rebecca looked directly into his eyes, her smile causing the wrinkles of her face to increase exponentially as she said, "I once knew a man who was able to form his barriers into weapons. He could change their shape freely, becoming one of the most versatile fighters I ever had the privilege of Partying with..." Since she didn''t want to set him down the same path as another person, this was the limit to what Rebecca was willing to say as, ultimately, the form and function of a Blessing depended on the individual. Hearing Rebecca''s words, Linneaus'' eyes began to blaze as he hadn''t even thought about using the barriers offensively. He felt the Skill was only useful for defense but, with her hint, he suddenly felt like his Blessing was far more powerful than he realized. At the same time, he kind of felt guilty as, without her advice, he would have fallen into a state of self-pity, believing his fate had already been determined. With a confident nod, Linneaus met Rebecca''s gaze before answering in a firm tone of voice, "I will not look down on my own Blessing. Thank you for your guidance..." Then, after looking toward his sister, Linneaus had a smile on his face as he said, "Please continue to take care of Gwen." The moment she heard her brother''s words, Gwen began to tear up and, without wasting any time, she jumped toward him with enough force to tackle him to the ground. Since he was now ten years old, it meant he could no longer stay in the orphanage. He needed to set out and find his place in the world, giving other children the opportunity to be cared for in his stead. While Gwen was sobbing in his chest, Linneaus continued to lightly stroke her hair, doing his best to coax her by saying he would still visit often. He also promised to try and save up enough money for them both to live inside the megacity in the future, even if this was a near-impossible task. The best he could hope for was that Gwen''s Blessing and potential far outstripped his own so that she could enter the megacity and avoid the terrible fate that awaited most females in the slums... Though the celebration had taken place at midnight, the hours leading up to sunrise felt both long and short. Linneaus had eventually managed to calm his sister down enough for her to fall asleep, albeit only lightly as she would periodically wake up to confirm if he was still there. Then, when it was actually time for him to leave, she began crying once again, fearing that the moment he left the orphanage, she would never see him again. Linneaus didn''t know what to do with his sister in this state so he could only look toward Rebecca and Saht, the only two who had remained after the other orphans went to sleep. When the latter saw him look over, she gave a curt nod of understanding, even though he hadn''t tried to communicate anything to her. Following this, Saht came over and wrested Gwen from his arms, an easy feat given her greater than average strength. Gwen began to panic at the unexpected separation but, before she could begin thrashing around, Saht suddenly shouted in a harsh tone, "If you keep him here, your brother will die! Be strong or you will insult everything he has done for you!" As she shouted this, Saht continued to hold Gwen in a reverse bear hug, lifting her off the ground slightly so that she could only struggle by thrashing her legs. Fortunately, her words seemed to have a big impact on Gwen as, instead of struggling, she bit her lower lip as tears continued to pour down her face. Linneaus did his best to put on a strong front for her, maintaining a calm smile, even though his heart was beating as if he had just sprinted more than a dozen kilometers. While Saht continued to hold his sister, Linneaus extended his hand to remove a few pieces of stray hair, a smile still visible on his face as he promised, "I swear to you. I will not die. I will not disappear. Until you are able to live a safe and happy life, free from the darkness of the slums, I will continue to protect you...always and forever..." With that said, Linneaus gave his sister a kiss on the forehead, causing her tears to more than double in intensity as he turned to walk away. Waiting near the door, Rebecca had two small pouches in her hands, one filled with enough small coppers for him to rent a room somewhere while the other was filled with rice. She handed them over to Linneaus before pulling him into a warm embrace as she whispered, "You are a good child, Linneaus. Do not let the darkness of this world taint your heart. I will look after your sister...now go, and may Akasha bless you..." Though he was very grateful for the kind words, Linneaus almost wished that Rebecca hadn''t given him anything as he now felt an overwhelmingly sour sensation in his nose. It was fortunate that he had his back to Gwen and Saht, leaving only Rebecca to see the tears pouring down his face as he gave a curt nod and exited the orphanage. He now had thirteen months to come up with a solution to protect his sister, assuming he could even survive the next couple of days... 7 Experience Resisting the urge to turn back, each step feeling heavier than the last, Linneaus flung himself into the waterway adjacent to the orphanage the moment he reached its edge. He had decided that, if his Blessing did not grant him passage into the megacity or give him an advantage against Skaadi, he would immediately escape to another district, putting as much distance between him and the murderous Vulna as possible. With the cold water restoring a bit of his focus, Linneaus allowed the current to pull him along as he passed by a few Cleaners, mechanical automatons that kept the waterways in good order. They only spared him a curious glance with their segmented eyes before continuing their endless endeavor to make sure the waterways were functional. Though a Vulna''s nose was very sharp, Linneaus knew Skaadi would be hard-pressed to track him via waterway so there was a good chance he could get well outside of the Greyhound''s territory, making it much harder for her to pursue him. He even used his [Barrier Aura], both as a means to familiarize himself with its functions and begin the arduous process of raising his proficiency while earning as much experience as possible. Since the spell description stated the barrier was a physical membrane, Linneaus was hoping it would keep the cold at bay while preventing his scent from spreading to the surroundings. With his [Presence Concealment] and [Stealth], it should make it even harder for Skaadi to track him down, meaning he could at least buy time to familiarize himself with his Blessing before facing her. Ultimately, unless he intended to cut ties with his sister, Linneaus knew it was only a matter of time before his and Skaadi''s paths crossed. She would quickly learn of his escape due to him not showing up for his morning training, combined with the fact his Blessing had undoubtedly been observed by the Enforcers. This was the reason Saht held Gwen back as, if he stayed too long, it greatly increased the chances he would exit the orphanage, only to find Skaadi waiting for him. Fortunately, as she had no way of knowing exactly when his birthday way, the odds of Skaadi being on duty the previous night were slim. She was more than likely warming the bed of the Greyhound''s leader, making it difficult for her to pull herself away. Since she had only recently tormented him, it could be argued that his Luck had, once again, brought him good fortune. While floating down the waterways, Linneaus learned quite a bit about his [Barrier Aura], including the fact he could indeed make it completely solid. This greatly increased the amount of SP it cost to maintain the aura, while simultaneously cutting off his access to fresh air, but it was still useful to know. The downside was, due to his constant contact with water, his SP cost was even higher than the base amount and, rather than allow him to move undetected, he had a blue glow that made him stick out like a sore thumb in the early hours of the morning. Because of this, Linneaus was forced to expose himself to the cold water for the better part of twenty minutes before pulling himself free several kilometers downstream. This made him feel exceptionally weak but, after stripping naked and wringing out his clothes, he was able to recover enough to leap up to the streets above. There were a few curious gazes lingering on him, especially when he had been drying his clothes, but they quickly lost interest after seeing he wasn''t a girl that had thrown herself into the waterway to escape a rapist. As he grew older, Linneaus'' looks had continued to develop while, due to his lacking nutrition and persistent training, his figure was slender and delicate at a glance. Though this illusion was shattered when he removed his clothes, giving him a somewhat stringy and emaciated appearance, he was not unfamiliar with unwarranted solicitation. One drunkard had even stripped him of his trousers in the past when he had stayed out too late but, finding that his victim had been a male, Linneaus had his abdomen and legs stepped viciously before the man stumbled away. From that moment onward, Linneaus had developed a habit of either shrouding his face or, when training, running around without a shirt on. Though this still garnered him a fair amount of attention, it was still better than being mistaken for an easy mark. After extricating himself from the waterway, Linneaus wasn''t content with the distance covered. He was still within his known range of operation and, with several million kilometers of slums lining the outer walls of the megacity, he had ample opportunity to flee as far as he was comfortable. Though it would make visiting Gwen harder, he needed to at least travel outside of the distance Skaadi could travel in half a day, meaning his journey wouldn''t end for at least three. With this in mind, Linneaus continued traveling west, periodically using his [Barrier Aura] to conceal his scent. Fortunately, as it only cost around 20SP per minute, his actual consumption was closer to 12. If he used the normal version of the [Barrier Aura], the consumption was reduced to only 2SP per minute, with each tick granting him 1 experience. At this rate, if he increased his Wisdom by a few points, he would be able to passively keep his [Barrier Aura] active at no cost, giving him a constant trickle of experience. In Lumen, though there were Skills and Magic that greatly increased it, everyone had a basic amount of Health and SP regeneration based on their Constitution and Wisdom. On average, this value was the total of your Constitution or half of your Wisdom, meaning 10% and 5% per minute. Thus, with 16.5 Wisdom, Linneaus was able to regenerate around 8Sp per minute. Now that he had gained his Blessing, common sense dictated he should invest his Free Attributes in such a way as to increase the efficiency of its use. The only reason he hesitated was due to the fact that, as he had sort of expected, his development path contradicted his given Blessing. He had been focused on Agility and Dexterity as his primary stats so, with a magic-oriented Blessing, he was more than a little behind the curve. Fortunately, like all Blessings, his provided him with bonus attributes per Level that covered this weakness, assuming he lived long enough to benefit from it. It was with such thoughts in mind that Linneaus continued his journey, only to find his way impeded when a group of Street Urchins obstructed his path in an alleyway. There was also a pair of Enforcers on the roof, looking down with sardonic grins on their faces, excited to see a show. Because of this, if he used his Blessing, there was a good chance they would attack him seriously before either killing or conscripting him. While resisting the urge to sigh, Linneaus eyed the group of four Street Urchins as their leader, a woman with pale green skin, pointed ears, and black sclera around dark-green eyes, shouted, "Who are you to invade our territory!? We don''t tolerate rats wandering about our streets!" Being almost a full head shorter than the girl, despite the fact he was older than her, Linneaus felt a small amount of indignation as he stated, "I am only passing through. I don''t intend to operate on your turf..." This didn''t seem to be the correct answer as, rather than let him pass, the girl said, "Sure, I can let you pass through. You''ll have to pay the toll first. Who knows what you stole before trying to escape your own hole? Come, empty your pockets and open up your Inventory, brat!" The moment the girl''s words finished, she didn''t wait for his response as, with the assistance of two other children, she immediately pounced forward. If this had been in the past, Linneaus would have just tolerated the coming beating but, as he couldn''t risk being delayed for too long, he decided it was time to put his two years of training to the test. As could be expected from a Level 6, which was a full Level above the average for a ten-year-old in the slums, Linneaus didn''t have too much trouble dealing with the group. With his [Enhance] magic, he had a distinctive advantage in speed and mobility, allowing him to dodge backward faster than they could leap forward. Then, exploiting the brief moment when the leading girl tried to recover her footing, he thurst forward with his fist in a spear-like motion, striking her directly in the nose. Since this act initiated combat between them, Linneaus was able to see the girl''s Health reduce by a fraction as her head cocked backward violently from the strike. Before she could recover, he used her body as a springboard, finding it surprisingly easy with her flat chest. This allowed him to kick her to the ground, hard, as he leaped past the other two attackers. Seeing Linneaus'' movements, the Street Urchins were all taken by surprise, especially the youngest boy who had been standing in the back. He seemed to be around six or seven years old so, despite common sense telling him to attack the boy as well, Linneaus just pushed him aside as he sprinted through the alleyways. Though the four Street Urchins didn''t give chase, as the green-skinned girl was too busy crying over her bloody nose, the two Enforcers watching the show quickly overtook him. Since they also believed there was a chance he was carrying goods, the shorter of the two, having wild blond hair and vibrant green eyes, immediately used [Steal] while the larger, more muscular man, attempted to catch him with hands larger than Linneaus'' face. Now that he was no longer a child in the eyes of most gangs, Linneaus knew he couldn''t just curl up and take a beating like in the past. Usually, when beating a child, your own Status would turn red for a few minutes, alerting you to the fact you were breaking one of the world''s laws. Linneaus'' own was currently in such a state but, when the men began to beat him, they would quickly notice the truth of the matter, meaning he wouldn''t get away with just a few bumps and bruises. Gritting his teeth, Linneaus removed a small pouch from his Inventory that he had been saving for his encounter with Skaadi. It was made from dried feces that had been mixed with dried red pepper, making it a potent irritant while also overwhelming a person''s sense of smell. Though he was lament to use it against someone other than his would-be murderer, that description could fit almost nearly any Enforcer within the slums if they didn''t mind getting their hands dirty. Not expecting the Street Urchin to put up a fight, the muscular man was understandably caught off guard as a packet slammed into his face. He was only Level 9 so, while much stronger than Linneaus, the gap wasn''t unbreachable if you fought cleverly. This was especially true if you could catch the other party off guard, allowing Linneaus to removed the dagger hidden in the sleeve of the man''s outstretched arm. In the same motion that he had practiced thousands of times, even without a weapon of his own, Linneaus drove the dagger into the gap between the man''s ribs before moving towards the blond-haired man who had previously been eyeing the pouch in his hand. He had never expected for a moment that Linneaus would be able to take down his companion, leaving him gawking as the small figure leaped toward him. By instinct, the man tried to jump back, attempting to use his superior speed to create distance and get his bearings. What he never could have expected was for his back to collide against a thin blue membrane, arresting his backward momentum completely. To his credit, the man managed to pull out his dagger at the same time that he leaped backward but, as this was already a life or death battle for Linneaus, he was undaunted as he kicked forward with both feet, slamming his heels into the man''s genitals with as much force as he could manage. There were several points on the body that were considered vitals and, if struck with enough force, they could either cripple or kill a person instantly. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though damage to the genitals rarely led to instant death, it was an especially sensitive area of the body so, despite Linneaus'' low Strength, he saw the man lose more than a tenth of his health in an instant before collapsing to his knees. His eyes were bloodshot and, as could be expected, he was looking toward Linneaus with murderous intent. Unfortunately, as he couldn''t put any strength into his legs due to the extreme pain, he could only glare as Linneaus trusted his instincts, surrounding the man with his [Barrier Aura] and solidifying it. At first, the man was confused by the pale membrane covering his body but, the moment he tried to take a breath, this confusion quickly changed to panic. The rush of adrenaline allowed him to fight against the pain but, with Linneaus having invested several of his Free Attribute points into Agility the moment the fight began, he was able to evade the man''s desperate lunge before waiting for his breathing to cease. This wasn''t enough to kill him, however, so Linneaus watched the man''s health deplete until it became greyed out... Feeling his body trembling, as a piercing cold had settled into his body all of a sudden, Linneaus quickly looted the two daggers before taking back the pouch of food the blond-haired man had stolen from him. Then, with his heart racing faster than his legs could move, tears dripping from his face, Linneaus ran from the scene of his first kill as two bells rang in his head, one showing that he had Leveled up while the other notified him of his new Skill... [Assassination: LV1(0/100)] Passive: Surprise attacks deal guaranteed critical damage with a moderate chance to cripple the target. (+1 Agi, +1 Dex, per Level. Increased damage from all sources after failed Assassination.) 8 Numb As remise as he was to admit it, Linneaus quickly learned that killing was a lot easier after the first time. Though he was plagued with nightmares for months after his first kills, he slowly became numb to the sensation of taking another person''s life after several encounters with small gangs and other despots calling the slums their home. Though it hadn''t come as a surprise, Linneaus found it was very difficult to actually rent a room in most areas without lowering your head to the local powers. This meant paying protection fees, which was impossible after just leaving the orphanage, or becoming a part of their gang. The only other option was living a vagrant lifestyle as, even if you rented a place to stay on someone''s turf, it meant having your goods robbed the moment you stepped out or, in some situations, suffering an assassination attempt in the middle of the night. The one time Linneaus had thought he found a place to stay, operated by a middle-aged woman that gave off similar vibes to Rebecca, he awoke to feel groggy and lethargic. If not for the fact he had a light fever prior to retiring for the night, courtesy of sleeping outside for several days, he may have slept through the attempt at his life. The assailant has used a tuft of sleeping grass, wafting in the fumes from the adjacent roof to take advantage of his vulnerable state. That night served as the beginning of Linneaus'' vagrant lifestyle while also marking the eve of his third kill. Since the assailant had been rather greedy, they had come alone in the middle of the night. As could be expected from someone who used herbs to take advantage of people, they had subpar strength so, even in his weakened state, Linneaus had managed to slip a dagger into the wiry man''s gut before cutting his throat. After that, he left his room in the middle of the night, using the brisk air to sober up as he disappeared from the territory to avoid being forcibly recruited. Since then, more than three months had passed and, for better or worse, Linneaus had completely adapted to living without a roof over his head. He had also learned to sleep extremely lightly as the vast majority of slum dwellers and Street Urchins were just as homeless as he was. It was rare to find a kind soul like Rebecca who was willing to take children in and, with hundreds wandering around in each territory, the vast majority were forced to fend for themselves by forming small packs, generally between 4~10 children. Despite his diminutive size, it became increasingly clear to observers that Linneaus was no longer a child as, instead of rags, he had eventually outfitted himself with simple equipment consisting of a tunic, leather arm guards, a tattered mantle, and thick moccasins. Since a Street Urchin could never afford such luxuries, it meant the vast majority of children gave him a wide berth while his actions would be closely monitored when he passed through a territory. Showing any indication of weakness would result in being targetted by other vagrants while, if he displayed his capabilities openly, a group of Enforcers was sure to intercept him. This was due to his small size and lack of reputation, making it clear that he had only recently come of age. As a result, Linneaus had been forced to fight and, in many situations, kill. Though he did not enjoy violence, his entire life had been marred with physical abuse and other forms of mistreatment. Since he didn''t want to become the type of person who perpetuated such violence, taking advantage of the weakness of others, Linneaus adamantly refused to become a part of any gang. Thus, as the months stretched on, his kill count gradually increased, his proficiency with his Blessing and other Skills improving alongside it. Now, after three long months, even though it felt like only a few days had passed since his departure from the orphanage, Linneaus found himself looking eastward once again. Ever since his third kill, he had started to wonder if he had underestimated his own strength a bit. Now that he had just claimed his fiftieth victim a few hours prior, alongside his forty-eighth and forty-ninth, he felt that Skaadi was not the terrifying entity he believed her to be. Though Skaadi could likely outpace him with her Speed, it hadn''t taken Linneaus long to discover that there were many gaps to exploit in his opponents. If you could not find one readily available, you simply had to make one for yourself. This ended up being his preferred method of combat as, with his [Barrier Master] Blessing, he was not limited by the terrain while his opponents could only grit their teeth as their attempts to kill him ended in vain. While thinking it was time to start heading back east, as it would take at least two months to reach the orphanage once again, Linneaus'' [Sense Danger] activated, causing him to roll back as a wispy blue flame impacted against the pipe he had been sitting on. Rather than explode, this peculiar blue flame began to eat through the pipe like a corrosive acid, causing a large plume of steam to erupt once the metallic lining had been completely eaten away. It would have been enough to boil and melt the skin of a normal person but, with his [Barrier Aura], Linneaus used the steam as cover while his eyes scanned the surroundings. He saw a man with blue fur covering most of his body, his eyes shining an ominous yellow against the backdrop of the night sky. With two pointed ears sticking out of the top of his head, combined with a thick tail wrapped around his waist, Linneaus knew the man was from the Wefram tribe, a species rumored to have descended from an ancient panther god. Knowing the steam cover wouldn''t help him, especially with the man creating several small wisps of flame around his body, Linneaus bolted into action. He created several small barrier platforms the air, using them as steps to quickly close the distance between his opponent. This had surprised the man somewhat but, long before Linneaus reached his side, he shouted in a gruff and husky tone of voice, "[Will o'' Wisp]!" After seeing the flames eat through solid metal, Linneaus knew better than to try and take them head-on as, even if his aura could protect him, it would take a massive chunk out of his SP. The moment his SP ran out, he would be plagued by a mind-numbingly painful headache and, though he could fight through the pain for a bit, it would almost guarantee his death. Since there were no ideal spots to evade, Linneaus created a platform to his left, forming it like a wall that he could jump to and slide across with his momentum. At the same time, he had created a second barrier, acting as a screen angled away from him, to eat the impact of the blue flames. Even if he only made a weak barrier, it was enough to arrest the momentum of low ranked spells, allowing him to direct most of the impact away from him, even if it had an explosive effect. This time, the man was genuinely surprised by Linneaus'' actions and, with each of the [Will o'' Wisps] eating up 100SP, he was already running on fumes as the former threw a set of daggers toward him. Since this seemed to be the only weapons on Linneaus'' body, he used his forearm to block one while evading the second with a quick twist of his body. Then, believing the demon child to be unarmed, he swung a thick machete towards Linneaus'' throat while simultaneously sending his final wisp forward. Though Linneaus had been preparing to duck under the man''s swipe before stabbing him with a needle-like barrier, seeing him send forth the ball of flames caused him to feel a bout of incredulity. This wasn''t derived from fear, however, but due to the foolishness of the man., While it might seem like a smart idea to cover his path of retreat, it was as if the Wefram failed to learn anything from seeing his Blessing in action. Rather than continue his pursuit, Linneaus created a small barrier in the path of the [Will o'' Wisp], its surface angled towards the man''s face. At the same time, he bent back, allowing himself to freefall toward the ground as a blood-curdling scream sounded from the rooftop. Moments later, all sounds had ceased but, due to his position, Linneaus couldn''t be sure the man had actually died. This was a peculiar quirk of the Akashic System as, unless you could confirm the death visually, you wouldn''t even get experience for a kill. Though he had never seen them personally, there were even Skills like [Play Dead] and [Wrath of the Undying], meaning the only guaranteed method to ensure the target was killed involved checking directly. Wasting no time, Linneaus bounded up to a nearby rooftop and, unless the man could fight without a head, he suspected the battle had ended in his victory. This was confirmed when he leaped over to the roof, quickly looting his daggers and any useful equipment he could pilfer before vanishing into the night once again. It wouldn''t be long before more Enforcers or Bounty Hunters showed up, the latter of which had been increasing in number as of late. Though Linneaus has never gone out of his way to kill the innocent, he had racked up a sizeable number of kills in a very short period of time. Because of this, a few gangs had put a bounty on his head and, as it was impossible to operate within the territory of another gang, those chasing after him were bounty hunters wanting to collect. What annoyed him was the fact that his head was only worth five small silver, even if this was once an incredible amount of money to him... After retreating into the shadows of a bridge, drawing the attention of several other tenants in the process, Linneaus nestled into a pile of rubbish to recover his SP. With his garments, there were few people who would seek trouble with him from the outset, especially those roughing it outside like him. Thus, Linneaus had learned to seek groups of other vagrants when he needed to relax as, with how calm he behaved in their presence, it served as a powerful deterrent unless the other party was confident in their strength. With his SP slowly ticking up every minute, Linneaus took the opportunity to evaluate his growth, an eerie smile spreading across his face that caused those mustering their courage to avert their eyes. It was said that killers had an aura about them that could be detected by other people and, with four new victims added to his count, Linneaus suspected his presence was more than a little unnerving to some. ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Golden-Eyed Demon Child(+3 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Wis per Level.) Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 10 Gender: Male Level: 11(516/1200) Health: 520/520 Soul Power: 698/698 Strength: 8~18 Constitution: 14~25+1 Agility: 19~27 Dexterity: 21~30 Intelligence: 7~22+4.4 Wisdom: 15~29+7.8 Spirit: 8~18+5.4 Charisma: 13~15 Luck: 5~6+1 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Knife Mastery: LV5->LV8], [Throwing: LV6],[Sense Danger: LV17->LV21], [Presence Concealment: LV10->LV16], [Acrobatics: LV8->LV17], [Pain Tolerance: LV2->LV4], [Barrier Master:LV1->LV23], [Assassination: LV14](new) Abilities: [Steal: LV18->LV21], [Stealth: LV4->LV12] Magic: [Enhance: LV10->LV16], [Barrier: LV1->LV18], [Barrier Aura: LV1->LV20] [Throwing: LV6(118/600)] Passive: Increases accuracy when throwing weapons and other items. [Sense Danger: LV21(98/3300)] Passive: Able to identify threats through intuition. (+1 Wis per Level) [Steal: LV21(664/3300)] Cost: 20~100 Active: Allows the user to steal an item from a target''s equipment slots or inventory. Success rate dependent on SKill Level, Dexterity, and Luck. (+1 Luck) Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [Barrier Master: LV23(2117/3900)] Passive: Allows the user to manifest their Soul Power and give it physical form. (+3 Int, +3 Wis, +2 Spi per Level. Additional 10% bonus to Int/Wis/Spi every ten Levels.) [Enhance: LV10(227/1000)] Cost: 20~40 SP Active: Empower a single attribute by 10~15% [Barrier Aura: LV20(1856/3000)] Cost: 10 SP per minute. Additional cost dependent on amount of damage sustained. Active: Create a membrane to protect the body from both physical and magical attacks. (+2 Wis, +1 Con. Increases total SP by Skill Level*10) ---------------------------------------- Seeing how much he had grown in such a short period of time, Linneaus had long-since cast away the thought that his Blessing was weak. Rather, it had incredible utility and, if applied correctly, gave him an edge against the majority of opponents he had faced. Better yet, with the growth of his Skills, Abilities, and Magic, he had gained several boosts to his attributes, teaching him the importance of training them to certain thresholds. Though there were some exceptions, Linneaus noted that he could get bonus attributes per Level by increasing his Skills beyond LV20. The same applied to Abilities and Magic but, rather than boosts per Level, it gave a flat increase, meaning he would get marginally stronger the moment he reached a certain threshold. As a result, it felt like his capabilities had increased explosively, making the two years of training he had conducted seem wasteful. What Linneaus didn''t realize is, due to his peculiar nature and obstinance, refusing to step in line with any of the local gangs, he had been increasing his Level much faster than the average slum dweller. As he would periodically be faced with an enemy at, or even above, his Level, he would gain a few hundred experience points in the confrontation. Now, he was already strong enough to rival against the Cadres of a small gang, putting him just beneath their leaders. Though he was still a ways off from being considered strong amongst the slum dwellers, a feat that required you to reach Level 20, he was unimaginably far beyond his peers at the same age. 9 Wayward Contrasting his fortune in the first three months of his journey, Linneaus soon learned why most vagrants and vagabonds were never seen in the same place twice. Due to the sheer size of the slums, stretching out far beyond the horizon, it was exceedingly easy to get lost. Thus, after deciding to pass around some of the territories he had crossed when he first set out, Linneaus found himself wandering aimlessly for months. Though he had tried to approximate the location of his former home, heading toward the megacity nearly got him killed as, the closer you were to the colossal gates, the more powerful and influential the local gangs were. Having earned a bit of a reputation for himself, Linneaus was nearly captured the moment he began to head inward, forcing him to retreat at the cost of his left hand. Fortunately, even crippling injuries would slowly heal over time so, after two months, the stump had regrown into fresh tissue, causing his left hand to be slightly paler than the rest of his body. With no other options available, Linneaus did his best to find a landmark that would rekindle his memory before tracing his steps back to the territory he once called home. If not for the tireless efforts of the gangs trying to kill him, it might have taken him years just to pick up the trail again. Fortunately, with the immeasurable size of the slums, it was possible to gain your bearings just by following the rumors back to their source. All he needed to do was wander around a few territories, tracing a zig-zag pattern through the complex network of alleyways until people recognized him. After that, Bounty Hunters would begin to appear once again and, rather than kill them outright, Linneaus gave them a reprieve in exchange for information. Though he knew this could be used to track his movements, time was running out before his sister''s tenth birthday. If he wasn''t there to protect her, a tragedy could happen if she hadn''t been fortunate enough to venture into the walls of the megacity. Thus, despite falling into several traps along the way, Linneaus continued forward, increasing the total of men and women in his death ledger to a frightening three-hundred-and-nineteen. Now, just over a year since his departure, marked by the fact he had turned eleven a week prior, Linneaus finally stepped into familiar territory. Unlike in the past, however, people looked at him with wide-eyes and pale complexions, giving him a wide berth despite the fact he walked nowhere near them. This included the Enforcers high atop the roofs, some of which prayed he would follow the rules so they wouldn''t have to take action. After all, by walking through the alleyways, it was akin to saying he was just passing through, not seeking trouble. As his steps brought him closer to home, Linneaus noticed his feet began to feel heavy, not for fear of his life, but trepidation towards reuniting with his sister. He had left a relatively innocent boy who, unless forced, would never bring harm to another person. Now, however, he was a notorious killer. Though he never once sought out the life of another proactively, only killing those who had come after him, it didn''t change the fact that he was a murderer. Imagining the disappointment in Rebecca''s face and the frightened expressions of his fellow orphans made it difficult to pass over the small line denoting the Greyhounds'' territory. He imagined that she wouldn''t even let him into the house, barring passage with her calm, placid, yet unfathomable aura. If that were the case, he could only turn away and hope that Gwen came out to meet him, something that terrified him to the core. If she refused to meet him, Linneaus felt that something inside of him would break, never again to be mended... While he was lost in thought, a barely audible sound of wind tearing reached Linneaus'' ears, causing him to instinctually use his [Barrier Aura] before erecting a meter wide [Barrier] directly behind him. Almost immediately following this, he heard the sound of glass fracturing but, despite this, the pale blue membrane only had a few cracks. Clicking her tongue, the assailant, none other than Skaadi, jumped to create some distance as she spat, "So it really was you, brat. What, now that you''ve made a name for yourself, you think you can come back to get revenge!?" With these words leaving her lips, Skaadi bent forward at a steep angle, her thighs and calves flexing before a burst of green Spiritual Power formed around her for a brief moment. Once again, accompanied by the sound of wind tearing, Skaadi lunged toward him with her dagger, aiming directly for the kill. She had heard about the Golden-Eyed Demon Child and, as might be expected from someone who had tormented another for nearly two years, she quickly recognized the identity of the mysterious killer. Pale-blue hair was very uncommon, especially in the slums, so Linneaus had always stood out, even as a lowly Street Urchin. What Skaadi could have never expected was, in the year that she hadn''t seen him, Linneaus had not only caught up to her Level but exceeded it. His eyes could easily follow her speed and, by making a barrier in line with her shins, she went sent tumbling forward with her unarrested momentum. One of the major weak points of the [Child of Wind] Blessing, at least until it had been trained properly, was that it had incredible forward momentum, but significantly reduced your ability to slow down and change direction. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. After sliding across the ground for a few meters, Skaadi quickly bounded up to her feet, face covered in dirt with a large part of her tattered blouse torn to shreds. Though some might pause at the sight of exposed breasts, Linneaus has spent the last year of his life embroiled in life or death battles. Of his victims, ninety-seven had been female, some of which had tried to seduce or take advantage of him. Thus, without flinching in the slightest at the sight, Linneaus was already hot on Skaadi''s trail, causing her face to morph into genuine shock as she turned to meet his gaze. With her pupils shrinking to the size of pinholes, Skaadi made use of her instincts and flexibility to twist her body back, nearly forming a full arch. At the same time, she kicked upward, attempting to catch Linneaus in the chin, only to find that her leg collided with a solid surface. Immediately after that, her vision was filled with a blue membrane that made it almost impossible to move without rolling to the side. Before Skaadi was able to fully process what was happening, Linneaus had struck down mercilessly with a baselard that he had pilfered several months prior. It was his strongest piece of equipment and, if fenced, would fetch upwards of five large silver pieces. Now, just as he struck down toward his own barrier, Linneaus allowed it to dissipate at the last moment, giving free passage to the blade while Skaadi continued to look upward with a blank mortified expression on her face. As he wasn''t the type to toy with his prey in the slightest, Linneaus drove his dagger directly into the Vulna woman''s heart, piercing just beneath her left breast and sliding the blade through her fourth and fifth rib. This caused her body to tense up as, from Linneaus'' perspective, her health immediately fell into a critical level before greying out. After that, she fell limply to the ground, her appearance not all that dissimilar to other women who had lost their lives in the slums. Due to her pride as a Vulna, Skaadi had foolishly intercepted Linneaus on her own, following his smell from the time he had entered the adjacent territory. Though her fellow Enforcers hadn''t been far behind, they arrived only to find her corpse littering the alleyway, a simple cloth covering her previously exposed chest. In the past, their fate had been interconnected over something as simple as a rat and a piece of cloth so, as if coming full circle, Linneaus brought it to an end by returning a cloth and leaving her to the rats... With Skaadi''s death sending ripples through the Greyhounds'' territory, Linneaus continued toward the orphanage, his steps even heavier than before. Though he had gotten used to it, the smell of blood was rather potent, even amongst the foul odors of the slums. Even taking a dip in the nearby waterway wouldn''t be able to remove it completely, something he had learned long ago while trying to maintain his meager equipment. Despite his trepidations, Linneaus continued until he was just outside the orphanage, his gold-eyes reflecting the image of an elderly woman. She had come out to either greet him or bar his passage, causing Linneaus to immediately fall to his knees as tears he didn''t know he had began to pour out. He suddenly felt inexplicably tired, as if he hadn''t slept since he left the orphanage a year prior while the weight of his sins crushed his heart with even less mercy than he had shown Skaadi. Throughout his crying session, Rebecca just continued to stare back at him without moving from her spot. Her face was a perfect mask, showing absolutely no expression until, nearly ten minutes later, Linneaus finally ceased crying. It was only when he faced her directly, rather than averting his eyes, that Rebecca finally smiled back at him, saying in the same kind tone that had guided him during his past struggles, "Welcome back, little Lin. I see that your travels have not been kind to you. Come, let me hear all about your journey inside...I''m not the only one who is interested...fufufufu..." Just as Rebecca stepped aside to allow Linneaus entry, a pale-blue blur emerged from the interior, moving both swiftly yet in slow motion, at least from his perspective. Seeing who it was, Linneaus couldn''t muster any strength at all, allowing himself to be tackled as he continued to kneel before Rebecca. As a result, he tumbled backward against the hard stone but, not minding it in the least, Linneaus wrapped his arms around the petite figure, fresh tears flowing from his already sore eyes. As if she refused to lose out against him, Gwen was also crying as she hugged him with a vice-like grip, her voice a sobbing choke as she stated, "You...you''re late...you idiot...bully...jerk..." Since a year was a very long time for children as young as they, Gwen''s nights had not been easy. Even as early as the first month of Linneaus'' absence, she began fearing the worst, to the point it was hard to focus on her training. Now that she saw he was still alive, her first reaction was overwhelming relief before it immediately evolved into frustration, blame, and sadness. With less than a month left until her tenth birthday, there was a chance their time together would be cute short, regardless of their wishes. It didn''t matter how strong Linneaus has become as, without territory and property of his own, it was impossible to protect anyone but himself. Even if they both wandered as vagrants, it wouldn''t be long before they were either captured or killed while he tried his best to protect her. This was especially true since, over the last eight months, her progress had slowed to a crawl due to her worry, making her weaker than eight out of the ten girls residing inside the orphanage. For now, however, none of that mattered as, after a painful year for them both, the siblings were once again reunited. With Rebecca''s reprieve, Linneaus was allowed to stay in the orphanage for the night, so long as he shared his tales and experience with the other orphanages. After all, hearing the stories of someone walking the path ahead of them would be a powerful motivator to those yet to come of age. Since she knew some of what Linneaus had been through, without losing the light in his eyes, Rebecca felt that he was a fine example of survival, even if the path he walked was one of the most difficult... 10 Angs As promised, Linneaus shared his stories with the children of the orphanage and, though he could not stay longer than a single evening, he still enjoyed reuniting with his fellow orphans. Since he had saved up quite a bit of money on his journey, he even treated them to a feast, earning the gratitude of the newer orphans as well. By the time morning had come, Linneaus felt like a heavy weight had been removed from his heart as Rebecca, Gwen, and Saht escorted him outside. The latter''s physical appearance hadn''t changed much since the last time he saw her, making her seem shorter than he remembered. Despite this, she was strong enough to nearly defeat him in an arm-wrestling match, stunning Linneaus and the other children when she revealed her 17 Strength. What had surprised Linneaus the most, however, was that Saht wasn''t acting as cold and distant as he remembered. By the time he had finished talking about his journey, she was seated next to him, asking various questions and even challenging him to contests of physical strength. Since it helped put things in perspective for the children, Rebecca allowed them to do some light sparring, resulting in Saht being tossed to the ground a few times before she ultimately gave up and started lingering around him. Linneaus was familiar with the Ba''haat race from the lessons Rebecca had given them in the past, so he had a basic understanding of what was going through her mind. It wasn''t just him either, as Gwen kept teasing them both throughout the long night. Though this didn''t seem to bother Saht at all, as her expression rarely changed, Linneaus was only able to calm down after leaving some money with Rebecca and departing the orphanage. After moving to a relatively isolated area upstream, Linneaus washed his face off as he began to consider what it would take to protect not just Gwen, but all the children of the orphanage. The way Saht was behaving made him feel pressure for a variety of reasons, primarily as a result of his lack of strength. Though he was much stronger now than a year ago, Linneaus had nearly lost his life after trying to move closer to the megacity''s walls. The sobering part of this was the fact his attackers were just normal Enforcers from a medium-sized gang. He hadn''t even experienced how powerful those in a large gang were. Since they were rumored to have connections inside of the megacity, it didn''t take much in the way of imagination to know they had to be much stronger. Saht had said she wanted to join him when she received her Blessing as, according to her, she had no other kin besides Gwen, Rebecca, and himself. As the Ba''haat were very selective in the people they placed their trust in, it meant a lot to know she saw him in such a light. Because of this revelation, Linneaus couldn''t help but feel a similar kinship towards the young pink-haired girl. The problem was, he wasn''t even certain he could protect Gwen who, far more so than himself, had begun to blossom into a delicate flower. When she was finally required to leave the orphanage, there would be no end to the number of people trying to claim her for themselves. If he wasn''t strong enough, the only fate that awaited both of them was death, something Gwen herself was fully prepared for... Releasing a tired sigh, Linneaus looked towards the infinitely vast sky above, the sounds of running water and pedestrian traffic creating a never-ending cacophony in his chaotic mind. In the end, it felt like the only thing he could rely on was fate, hoping that Gwen and Saht would both be able to enter the megacity when they came of age. He simply didn''t have enough time to grow strong enough to protect them as, if he dropped his guard for too long, he might not even be able to protect himself. As if to drive this point across, a flicker of light appeared in the periphery of Linneaus'' vision, causing his eyes to sharpen in an instant as he rolled backward. Faster than his eyes could follow, a silver bolt passed where his head had been previously before, less than a second after the first, another struck against his abdomen. Seeing a blue ripple spread across Linneaus'' body, the assailant immediately disappeared into the complex maze of alleyways, moving like a phantom to escape any potential counterattack. Knowing the futility in giving chase to a cloaked figure, as they could just place the garment into their Inventory to blend in with the crowd, Linneaus just looted the two metal bolts before heading south until he was outside the Greyhounds'' territory. He couldn''t just linger in the area while waiting for his sister to come of age as, the longer he stayed in one place, the more danger they were all in. There was even a chance the Greyhounds would mobilize in full force to eliminate him, something he would rather avoid since their leader should be around Level 20. Thus, while paying close attention to the passage of time, Linneaus began wandering through his old skulking grounds. He was determined to grow even stronger in the seventeen days leading up to his sister''s birthday, even if this was nowhere near enough time to increase his strength to the point of being able to protect them both... --- In the blink of an eye, Linneaus had increased his kill count to a total of 333, a uniquely auspicious number, though he wasn''t sure why. For some reason, it felt more meaningful than it actually was but, rather than focus on that, he was more concerned about what Blessing his sister would receive. Fortunately, Rebecca had once again allowed him to stay the night, the result of her trust in him and the fact he brought an entire sack full of apples for the children to partake of. This turning the evening into an even more festive event than normal, even though Linneaus felt like his brain was buzzing due to anxiety. Not only was he worried about his sister''s Blessing but, in the short few weeks he had been away, Saht seemed to have grown more affectionate of him. While everyone awaited the sound of the clock striking midnight, Linneaus was fettered to his spot by the small figure sitting in his lap, treating him like the most comfortable piece of furniture in the entire orphanage. He also had to deal with the embarrassment and teasing of the other children on his own as, regardless of what was said, Saht continued to occupy his lap, completely unflustered. Eventually, despite the fact time seemed to have slowed to a crawl, midnight finally came, bringing with it a tense atmosphere as Linneaus watched with unblinking eyes at the pillar of light formed by his sister''s Blessing. It was actually substantially large than his own, reaching between ten and fifteen meters, earning an approving nod from Rebecca. Seeing this, Linneaus felt as if the tension of his body drained away and, with Saht still seated in his lap, he couldn''t help but hug the girl weakly as he rested his head atop her''s. She didn''t seem to mind this at all, adopting a rare smile on her face while patting the top of his head with her hand. After the light faded away, Gwen was in a stupor for several seconds until Rebecca began to chuckle after saying, "Child, tell us what Blessing you received. I''m certain everyone wants to know." As if broken from a hypnotic spell, Gwen nodded her head before opening her Status and freezing once again. This could be a good or a bad sign but, with her potential being so high, it shouldn''t matter what Blessing she got. At least, this was the thought process Linneaus had before Gwen managed to stammer out the words, "I...I...I got the H-H-Healer Blessing...!" Following Gwen''s announcement, absolute silence permeated throughout the entire orphanage until Rebecca loudly clapped her hands and said, "Children, it is time for bed. Please return to your rooms and stay there until morning." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Once all of the other children were ushered away, Saht included, Rebecca quickly came to Gwen''s side, saying, "Show me." Though it was impossible to view another person''s Status without [Observe] and [Analyze], two of the most highly sought after Blessing, there was an exception if the other party willingly showed it to you. This was very rarely ever performed, as a person''s Status was their most closely guarded secret, but Gwen obediently listened to Rebecca due to her stern tone. After confirming that Gwen did indeed have the [Healer] Blessing, Rebecca immediately pulled out a small stone tablet. It had the appearance of a piece of green jade and, at a glance, it was easy to see that it must have been very expensive. Despite this, Rebecca immediately shattered it into pieces before placing her hand on Gwen''s shoulder, calming the panicking girl by saying in a soft tone, "It seems Akasha has truly blessed you, my child. In the future, please remember the pass on just a bit of your fortunes to other people..." Gwen was still struggling to accept the reality of her situation but, hearing Rebecca''s words, she gave a sincere nod before looking worriedly toward Linneaus. Before she could ask, Linneaus preempted Rebecca by smiling as he said, "Do not worry about me, Gwen. One day, I will enter the megacity and we will meet again. The only thing that has ever mattered to me is your safety and happiness. Please, for me, be happy..." For the remainder of their short time together, Linneaus hugged his sister tightly until, a mere twenty minutes later, a middle-aged woman in a white robe appeared at the orphanage''s entrance. Outside, a large group of individuals wearing ornate armor were present, all to escort the woman and Gwen. As awe-inspiring a sight as they were to behold, the most startling fact was, for the first time in his life, Linneaus couldn''t hear a single sound from his surroundings, almost as if the slums themselves were hiding away... After a few more minutes had passed, during which time Rebecca received a hefty reward and a new jade tablet, Linneaus could only watch as his sister was escorted away by one of the most powerful forces in all of Lumen, the Paladins. They were the protectors of the single most important group of people in the entire planar world, those with the potential to be Healers, Priests, and Priestesses. Not only was this one of the rarest Blessing but, at high enough mastery, it was rumored that a trained Healer could even resurrect the dead. Throughout all of Lumen, there was a holy-trinity of Blessings, each representing the pinnacle of offensive, defensive, and utility Skills. These were the [Limit Breaker], [Aegis], and [Healer] Blessings respectively, meaning Gwen had immediately been elevated to the pinnacle of their society in less than an hour. Within the megacity, it wouldn''t be long until she became recognized as a Saintess and, even though she didn''t have any accomplishments to speak of, rumors of the miracles she had performed in the Slums would quickly propagate to guarantee her the Title. Of course, as all of this was happening, Linneaus would not just sit idle as, fully intending to keep his promise, he set about increasing his strength and building up his reputation once again. Though it was clear that his and his sister''s paths were fundamentally different, as he seemed fated to walk in the darkness, that didn''t mean they couldn''t run parallel to each other. If only to ascertain whether or not she was living a safe and happy lifestyle, Linneaus was determined to enter the megacity and, even if it was for just a single moment, he would reunite with his sister. Thus, as the rumors of the slum-born Saintess began to spread, so too did a second rumor, this one far more sinister. It was said that a Golden-Eyed Demon had been born, almost as if to contrast the light produced by the Saintess. Then, a few months later, this Golden-Eyed Demon was rumored to have teamed up with another powerful figure, known to those unfortunate enough to encounter them as the Blood-Red Berserker. Together, they began to terrorize the people living in the area rumored to be the Saintess'' origin. Then, slowly but surely, amidst a mountain of corpses and blood-red rivers, the duo began to move toward the tall walls protecting the megacity... 11 Precipice It was almost an instinctual desire for all the peoples of Lumen to want to live as close to the Tower as possible. Though there were some outliers, such as a nomadic tribe that had been determined to reach the edge of the planar world, traveling for nearly a thousand generations, the vast majority of Lumen''s inhabitants lived around the Tower''s base. As a result, the population density gradually increased as you moved closer to the Tower and, after millennia of fighting, only the truly strong were able to make a home for themselves at the Heart of the planar world. This same principle applied both inside the megacity and in the slums that seemed to stretch out far beyond the horizon. In one of the slum''s inner districts, separated from the megacity by a single massive wall, a gruff and aged man was currently seated on a stone chair as he listened to the report of his subordinate. His predatory eyes blazed like suns in the low light of the room, set in a squarish and muscular face that was adorned with scars that attested to a lifetime of conflict. With a full beard and swept-back hair, giving him the appearance of a fiery red mane, the people in the slums had come to call him Bran, the ''Red Lion''. Though not the most powerful, Bran was one of the top ten influential kingpins between the 171st and 223rd districts. His gang, known as the Lion''s Pride, had an ongoing alliance with another kingpin within the same sphere of influence, a venomous woman named Natasha Nell, known as the Mistress of Snakes. She controlled most of the brothels within the region while his crew controlled the flow of goods within the markets. Together, they had dominated their territories for nearly forty years, digging their roots so deep that even their rivals had long-since migrated to other districts. Despite all of this, Bran was currently listening as a one-armed man, his face set in a visage of fear, stammered, "T-T-The G-G-Golden-Eyed D-Demon wanted me t-t-to d-deliver a m-m-" Before the man could finish his words, Bran threw the metal goblet in his hand with enough force to embed it into the stammering fool''s head. This caused his already low health to immediately grey out as Bran pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice a low rumble as he asked, "Can anyone tell me how a group of brats are able to make my entire fucking gang look like a bunch of piss-stained whelps?" As could be expected, none of the men or women present in the room made any attempt to answer such a question, fearing their fate would be the same as the messenger. This caused Bran to sigh, a tired looked in his eyes as he grumbled, "I''m getting too old for this shit..." It had already been years since the last time his group was engaged in active conflict, at least on the scale of a turf war. Though there were still a few people in his inner circle that could be relied on, a few of his old Cadres had moved on to lay roots in their own territories. Now, Bran realized why even powerful gangs always fell in the end as, without an enemy to sharpen their fangs and claws against, it was only a matter of time before complacency, stagnation, and age claimed them. Though he was only 83 years old, which was considered young for someone at Level 30, the highest level that could be obtained without entering the Tower, Bran suddenly felt a dull ache in his bones. He, like many others, had once aspired to climb the Tower. As he grew older, this desire only became even stronger as he grew closer to the peak. In the past, Bran had believed that, if he continued working hard to get stronger, defeating every foe that crossed his path, the Tower would eventually recognize his efforts. Now that he had been at the same level for nearly two decades, however, this hope had faded away with his ambitions. To make matters even worse, some of his subordinates had been selected over the years, including one of his sons, a boy that he could have swatted like a fly... Feeling that fate was already mocking his efforts, Bran was incensed that a pair of brats, mouths still wet from milk, believed themselves capable of moving freely in his territory. He would teach them both a harsh lesson, starting with the so-called Golden-Eyed Demon. Since he was paired with a girl, it was obvious there was something going on between them. After he captured them, he intended to ravish the girl in front of her young lover until the light completely faded from their eyes. Only when they were in a state of absolute despair, just like him, would he allow them the reprieve of death. Picking up a mace that was more than two meters long, weighing nearly 300kg, Bran shouldered the heavy lump of metal as he said, "I want that brat and his bitch alive. Cripple them if you have to but the final blow goes to me." Though he wouldn''t get any experience at all from killing the two, Bran had a habit of denying experience to others. He knew it was petty of him to do so but, with how life had treated him, he didn''t really care about elevating others, only controlling them... --- From within a pipe that usually fed waste into a large purification system before ultimately feeding back into the waterways, a young man with pale-blue hair and glimmering golden eyes sat with his back against the algae-covered wall. Leaning against his chest, a pink-haired girl with two ivory white horns poking from her scalp was breathing heavily through her nose with a pained expression on her face. This duo was Linneaus, now aged fifteen, and Saht, having recently turned thirteen. The latter had a large wound on her lower back, the entry point for a sword that had pierced through her body. She would eventually recover but, due to the filth and other grime on the blade, Saht was dealing with a very high fever as her body fought against the ''Infection'' status. Though retreating to a sewer pipe didn''t seem like the best option, as it was extremely dirty, moist, and foul-smelling, Linneaus had been able to create a small ''room'' for them using his [Barrier] magic. This allowed them to stay mostly dry while he applied pressure to her wound and periodically used fresh water from his canteen to clean it. At the same time, he lightly stroked Saht''s hair to keep her calm while doing his best to ignore the soft sensation of her body against his. At this point, his and Saht''s relationship had become more than a little intimate, especially after they began fighting and killing together, but they tried to avoid having sex. Though she did force him to take her virginity in the past, so as to avoid having it robbed by one of their enemies, they now only did the deed after an especially fierce battle. It turned out that experiencing a life and death battle, where you nearly lost your life several times, had a certain influence on the reproductive instincts. Now, feeling how soft her body was, Linneaus could only distract himself by reading through his Status and thinking about their next course of action. He wouldn''t attack her in her best state so, with her injured like this, there was no way he would do anything to complicate matters. They had also promised to never birth a child in the slums, the main reason for their pseudo-abstinence, so Linneaus found it more productive to think about how they might enter the megacity... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Golden-Eyed Demon(+3 Dex, +1 Int, +2 Wis per Level.) Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 15 Gender: Male Level: 21(42/3300) Health: 1000/1000 Soul Power: 1991/1991 Strength: 18~49 Constitution: 25~49+1 Agility: 27~49 Dexterity: 30~49+1 Intelligence: 22~49+8.4 Wisdom: 29~49+9.7 Spirit: 18~38+5.7 Charisma: 15~25 Luck: 6~10+1 Free Attributes: 91 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Knife Mastery: LV8~LV21], [Throwing: LV6~LV14],[Sense Danger: LV21~LV29], [Presence Concealment: LV16~LV30], [Acrobatics: LV17~LV30], [Pain Tolerance: LV4~LV18], [Barrier Master:LV23~LV49], [Assassination: LV14~LV33], [Charm: LV7] Abilities: [Steal: LV21~LV27], [Stealth: LV12~LV28], [Night Vision: LV17] Magic: [Enhance: LV16~LV26], [Barrier: LV18~LV49], [Barrier Aura: LV20~LV49] ---------------------------------------- Over the last four years, Linneaus has learned a lot about how the Status worked, including the limits that were built into the system. Originally, Linneaus didn''t understand why others were so weak as he continued to grow stronger but, after interrogating a few Enforcers, he learned that they rarely had more than a few Skills. Even then, their Skill Levels were abysmally low as, rather than refine themselves through hard effort, most slum dwellers just ended up joining one of the local gangs to avoid trouble. While this may seem smart at first, as it was a means of self-preservation, it ended up making them a lot weaker as their Level increased. This was due to the fact that, after reaching Level 20, Skills would actually increase your attributes every Level. Though it was only a few points here and there, this had allowed Linneaus to essentially gain fourteen additional Free Attributes per Level, without any extra effort on his part. On average, a person would gain around 8~10 attributes per Level, not counting the 4~8 Free Attributes points they would receive as a bonus. With his Skills and Title, Linneaus had earned an average of 24 attributes per Level, allowing him to learn yet another important truth about the world. Though it was common knowledge that the limit of a person''s growth was restricted to Level 30, at least outside of the Tower, Linneaus now knew there were similar limits to attributes, Skills, Abilities, and Magic. Since he had been using his Free Attribute points to further increase his attributes, it didn''t take long for him to discover that it was impossible to increase his base value by more than 49 points. This was also true for his Blessing and related Magic as well. After reaching Level 49, much to Linneaus'' chagrin, his experience had been stuck at 14999/15000. Now, no matter what he tried, it was impossible to earn that final experience point, meaning he had no way of strengthening his Blessing further. Fortunately, this didn''t prevent him from increasing his proficiency and, after a lot of practice, Linneaus could now form his barriers into nearly every basic geometric shape, including cubes, cylinders, spheres, and cones. Now, Linneaus felt that he could even fight against people who had reached Level 30 as, with his own attributes reaching a bottleneck, he imagined others were in the same situation. This meant the only difference between him and his opponents would be their Blessings and the combination of Skills, Abilities, and Magic they had obtained. It was this knowledge that propelled Linneaus to begin his journey towards the megacity as, despite his lackluster potential, his strength should allow him to at least become a bodyguard or mercenary. He might have to lower his head to some profligate Merchant but, if it meant he could reunite with his sister, Linneaus was willing to tolerate shame. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though he didn''t really know what to do after seeing his sister again, the fact that Saht had followed him this far gave him options. Since she was also nearing the limits of many attributes, they could be a powerful duo, even in the megacity. After saving up enough money, they could even start a family together, leaving the life of a slum dweller behind as they lived within the ivory walls of the megacity for the rest of their days... While thinking of what the future held for them, Linneaus looked into the sleeping face of Saht with a small smile decorating his own. She no longer had a pained expression on her face so, despite the fact she would likely bite him if he was caught, Linneaus kissed the top of her head before holding her body close as he tried to get some sleep of his own. Her body made a good blanket, as she was very warm, even if her horns would periodically poke him in the chest... 12 *Title Hidden* Even when he was just a young child, Linneaus had never slept deeply. As a child born in the slums, he constantly had to be on the alert, even when he still lived with his parents. After obtaining his Blessing and leaving the orphanage, this habit became even more refined, to the point that Linneaus would wake up every fifteen minutes or so, even if he hadn''t heard anything. If not for this quirk, he would have died many times, both in his early travels and after pairing up with Saht. It was because of this habit he had formed that Linneaus was able to hear the sound of feathers but, after opening his eyes and immediately becoming alert, he only saw darkness beyond the boundary of his barrier. Since birds were just as rare as any other animals in the slums, the sound of feathers was nothing something he would mistake, despite his mental fatigue. As she had already recovered, Saht also awoke with a start, courtesy of her own habit of waking just after Linneaus. She enjoyed his warmth quite a bit so, after they began traveling together, he had dutifully served as her bed every night for the last three years. Raising her head to look around, while straddling Linneaus'' hips, Saht asked in her characteristic cold tone, "Enemies...?" As these words left her mouth, her skin began to turn from fair white to pale red as her horns began to elongate. The most noticeable change, however, was that a rather thick red tail began to extend from beneath her garments, growing until it was nearly as long as she was tall. After reaching ten years of age, Saht had awakened one of the Ba''haat tribes most common, yet most powerful Blessings, [Demonification]. Though it significantly reduced her ability to reason, it provided a monstrous increase in her battle capabilities while also supplementing her amazing durability with equally reliable regeneration. The only real downside to [Demonification] was that she would go somewhat berserk against their enemies and, once her SP drained completely, she would enter a dormant state until recovering. If not for the fact she still listened to him while transformed, there was a good chance they would have both died as a result of her rampaging. So that she wouldn''t get too riled up, Linneaus began to stroke Saht''s head to keep her calm, saying in a soothing tone, "I heard the sound of feathers. I don''t think we have been discovered. For now, we should change locations." Linneaus lived by the principle that, if there were ever any doubts, taking action was better than being complacent. Since hearing feathers inside of an underground pipe made no sense, he wasn''t going to say they should just relax and go back to sleep. Saht, skin now a healthy shade of red, gave an understanding nod but, before leaving his lap, she leaned forward and gave him a long kiss. Since one of the changes brought by [Demonification] included a rather long tongue, Linneaus could only smile wryly in his mind as he wondered what he did to earn the affections of such a peculiar woman. After their morning ritual was completed, despite the fact it was the dead of night, Linneaus and Saht began to move deeper into the tunnels, their destination the central purification network. In normal circumstances, it was considered taboo to venture into these areas but, as the Cleaners had never reacted hostilely toward him, Linneaus had made a habit of exploiting them. He had seen a few others try in the past, only to be unceremoniously tossed out, so he wasn''t quite sure why they ignored his and Saht''s transgressions. It didn''t take long to reach their destination, an area where a phenomenal amount of waste poured into a strange blue vortex beneath elevated platforms. After coming this far, they ascended one of the long ladders that led toward the surface, choosing to exit into a random maintenance building rather than be seen exiting one of the pipes leading to the waterway. Upon reaching the surface, Linneaus observed the outside traffic through one of the windows while Saht sat silently with her nose slightly raised. Her sense of smell and hearing were enhanced in her current form so, with his [Night Vision] and her [Demonification], they were a powerful duo in the darkness. After confirming there were no Enforcers in the immediate area, Linneaus gave a silent gesture to Saht before he created a cylindrical barrier with paper-thin borders. Since the side facing them was solid, compared to the open end, Saht was able to strike it with her palm, causing a ripple to pass through the surface as it bored through the relatively thin stone wall. Though they both had 49 Strength, Saht''s [Demonification] provided her with a significant boost to her physical attributes, both in her normal and transformed state. She was much stronger than him, something he had been made very aware of in the past, so Linneaus had learned long ago never to underestimate others. With the cold night air washing over them, Linneaus and Saht lowered their hoods before raising the face masks they used to hide their identities. They were currently in enemy territory and, after killing a large group of Enforcers and sending a messenger to the local Kingpin, a decision Linneaus had regretted shortly thereafter, it was better to lay low. In hindsight, Linneaus knew he had acted haphazardly but, after seeing Saht skewered by an enemy blade, he couldn''t help it. After Gwen, she was the most important person to him so, after dealing with their attackers, he let anger cloud his judgment as he sent the sole survivor to relay his ill-thought-out message. As he had expected, there were Enforcers roaming both the streets and rooftops, despite it being the middle of the night. This was a stark contrast to how the group lay low during the day as, when you got closer to the megacity, most crimes seemed to take place in the shadows rather than out in the open. Now, like a hornet''s nest that had been ignorantly poked by a young child on the furthest outskirts of the slums, the Lion''s Pride was out in full force. They would periodically stop people on the streets to check them and, if it was someone not known to operate in their territory, the Enforcers would rob them before sending the unfortunate individuals in the opposite direction. In some cases, even this was considered a luxury as, if the person was unfortunate enough to have yellow or gold irises, they would be cut down unceremoniously. After seeing this, Linneaus didn''t hesitate to issue a three-fingered gesture to Saht, conveying they should retreat immediately. Even if the average Enforcer wasn''t there match, some of the brutes in the group gave him a bad feeling. Unlike the others, they were patiently observing the incidents play out, never dropping their guards as they scanned the surroundings. By her own admission, Saht wasn''t terribly bright so, ever since joining up with Linneaus, she trusted in his judgment without question. Thus, when he gave the order to retreat, she immediately picked a direction and began to run, setting a pace he could follow despite her enhanced Agility. While trusting Saht''s instincts to guide them, Linneaus kept eying their surroundings as a feeling of dread began to well up inside his heart. He couldn''t shake the feeling that the sky above their heads was slowly falling down upon them. Even retreating into the underground purification system didn''t alleviate this feeling of dread, causing Saht to enter the late-stages of her [Demonification], her face forming a frown as she gradually sped up. Eventually, Linneaus felt like they were only exhausting themselves for nothing so, rather than press forward, he gave a soft whistle, causing Saht''s pointed ears to twitch as she quickly came to a stop. As they both stopped to catch their breath, Linneaus handed over a small black herb to Saht, causing her face to turn resolute as she took it and placed it inside the band wrapped around her chest. His message was clear and, if whatever was chasing them was beyond them, they would both ingest the undiluted Dream Grass herb. With their backs to each other, Linneaus and Saht waited in the darkness of the tunnels, one with glowing golden eyes while the other stood with her eyes closed as she listened to the sound of running water, droplets in the distance, and, after twenty minutes, the shuffling of footsteps. Her tail lightly tapped against Linneaus'' calf, causing him to squat down in the shadows alongside her, blade at the ready. Since he was able to trespass the tunnels, Linneaus didn''t delude himself in thinking that others were not able to, despite watching various people get thrown out. When he heard the sound of combat in echoing, however, it seemed to confirm that their case was a bit of an exception, not that it stopped their pursuers for very long. After a few minutes had passed, both ends of the tunnel were filled with various silhouettes, one of which stood more than 200cm tall, body rippling with muscles. When he saw this, Linneaus felt like the back of his scalp was on fire as his brain began to buzz with anxiety. Then, just as he was about to attempt a surprise attack, he saw the man''s eyes begin to blaze like two suns as he stated in a voice that shook the soul, "Found you, brat." Feeling a surge of adrenaline, Linneaus broke the silence between him and Saht, shouting, "Kill them all!" as he dashed forward with a speed he didn''t know he had. He didn''t have to turn his head back to know that Saht had obeyed his orders as, even faster than he could reach the fiery-eyed man, the sound of blood-curdling screams echoed behind him. One man tried to shout, "Grab this bi-" before a choking sound interrupted his cry, following by the sound of bones fracturing violently. Since Saht was even stronger than him, Linneaus was hoping she would be able to deal with her side and retreat, even if he knew she would never leave him behind. If he died, she would likely ingest the Dream Grass before charging mindlessly at the enemies, taking down as many as she could before the herb claimed her. Linneaus'' only hope was that none of them had the antidote and, before his death, he wanted to at least sink one of his daggers into the fiery-eyed man''s body. With a simple gesture to make his men back up, Bran moved to meet Linneaus'' charge head-first, his massive mace cleaving through the air with a violent momentum that promised death. At the same time, flames began to erupt from the head of the mace, illuminating the tunnels as a vicious smile spread across his face. Though he was fully aware of the weakness of [Night Vision], Linneaus had been caught off guard by the sudden flash of vibrant flames, causing his irises to feel like they were burning before his vision went dark. Despite this, he tried to remember the trajectory of the mace, erecting an angled barrier in its path to deflect it away from his body as he leaped forward, daggers bared like fangs. He could feel the heat of the flames, followed by a loud battle cry before, immediately after that, silence... Not understanding what had happened, Linneaus continued forward blindly, his daggers finding no purchase as he lost his balance and slid along a cold and unforgiving ground. His heart was beating so fast that he could feel it throbbing in his ears, causing him to quickly roll as if evading an attack. He then jumped to his feet before backing into a wall, still blind to the world around him for the next few minutes. Despite this, no attacks came and, much less the sound of battle, there was absolutely nothing but his own heartbeat and ragged breathing to break the silence. For a moment, Linneaus thought he had died but, after summoning up his own Status, he felt this wasn''t the case. He didn''t know if there was such a thing as an afterlife but, if there were, he doubted his Status would show him as healthy. Not understanding what was going on, Linneaus plopped to the ground to recover his breathing, waiting for his vision to clear up so he could make sense of the situation. He continued like this for nearly five minutes, enough time for him to focus his mind and calm his breathing as he gripped the handle of his dagger. Then, just as his vision began to clear up, Linneaus once again heard the sound of feathers rustling... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Title: Pursuit 13 Decision Though his first reaction was to move into a combat stance, Linneaus quickly discovered that his body was completely immobilized. He could still breathe just fine but, as if a mountain was pressed against every centimeter of his body, even twitching his finger was an impossible feat. The only action Linneaus could perform in the present was looking up slightly as a solid white figure, more than five meters in height, stared down at him. It took a while for his brain to process what he was staring at but, once it hit him, Linneaus discovered he was allowed to speak as he muttered, "An owl..." As if to answer him, the owl showed a strangely human expression as it bent forward, beak nearly touching the bridge of Linneaus'' nose as it corrected, "Lumen...my name is Lumen. I am no mere owl, Linneaus Finnian, son of Lairon Finnian and Marianne Vestille. No, I am something...more..." After saying its piece, the owl named Lumen rose to its full height, chest puffed out with pride as its pure white feathers ruffled. As for Linneaus, his neck was actually beginning to hurt as he was forced to stare directly at it, unable to even avert his eyes more than a fraction of their normal range. For several seconds, Lumen kept puffing out its chest, seemingly expecting some kind of response from the paralyzed youth. When none came, it cocked its head nearly 130 degrees, looking at him from a curious angle that caused Linneaus'' neck to hurt even more. With a curious glimmer in its pure black eyes, not that Linneaus was able to discern this, Lumen continued to crane its head at an awkward angle before saying, "How strange. You are a very composed young man, all things considered. Do you truly not understand the significance of this place, I wonder~?" Accompanying this question, Linneaus suddenly found himself able to move but, due to the strain he had been experiencing, he immediately collapsed. This caused the giant owl to begin laughing in an amused tone, a mixture of human vocals and the characteristic sound of an owl. Despite the fact that Linneaus had never seen one before, Rebecca had taught all of them about its characteristics as part of their brief education. During the time it took Linneaus to recover, Lumen''s head had twisted so far that it seemed to be on the verge of coming full circle. Then, much to his surprise, it did just that, causing Lumen to chuckle once again after seeing his surprise. It seemed to be enjoying itself quite a bit, causing Linneaus to feel a bit indignant as he asked, "What happened to Saht? My companion, the one-" Feeling his body tense up again, as if it was impossible to speak over the massive owl, Linneaus was forced to remain silent as it answered, "Ah, yes, the girl with the [Demonification] Blessing. She has quite the temper, hoohoohoohoo~." After laughing until it was satisfied, Lumen extended its wing, using its long flight feathers like Hume fingers as it drew a circle in the air. This created a portal of some sort that showed Linneaus back in the tunnels once again, his body moving so slowly that it felt like time had stopped. The image then changed to show the scene of a massacre but, instead of the familiar figure that had been a fixture in his life for years, he only saw a cloud of blue particles that were fading away much faster than the flow of time. As if to clear up the confusion, Lumen explained, "I would normally never do this but, as your earlier reaction was quite entertaining, I''ll make an exception. You see, your young companion has already accepted my offer, though I had to deceive her a bit, hoohoohoo~." Just as Linneaus'' rage began to build, the massive owl caused the scene in the portal to change, the image now reflecting its figure looked down on Saht. He couldn''t hear what they were saying but, as the image began to fade away, he saw her nod before fading away into motes of light similar to the scene he had witnessed in the tunnels. When the portal faded away, Lumen once again loomed over him, this time stating in a guiding tone, "I am not called Lumen for no reason, young man. In fact, the ancient people''s of the Planar World named it as such because of me. Now, do you understand where you are? Why you are in this place?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Feeling his body able to move again, Linneaus slouched a bit, his muscles aching painfully as his mind raced. Then, after turning to look up at the massive white owl, he asked, "Is this the inside of the Tower...?" The moment Linneaus asked his question, Lumen expanded its wings, creating a canopy of light that stretched more than fifteen meters as it exclaimed, "That is correct, hoohoohoo~!" Though he had deactivated his [Night Vision], Linneaus had to cover his eyes due to the brilliance of Lumen''s wings. The light they produced was so potent that, even after closing his eyelids and using his hands to shield his eyes, he could still make out a red hue as it pierced through both forms of protection. Fortunately, Lumen closed its wings shortly thereafter, chuckling to itself once against as it peered at the blinded Linneaus, waiting for him to open his eyes once again. When the latter obliged, he gave the expected reaction, flinching to such an extent he nearly jumped to his feet. Despite the fact he was enjoying every moment of Linneaus'' very innocent reactions, something you would never expect from a boy who had killed more than a thousand people, Lumen asked, "Tell me, Linneaus Finnian, do you desire the power to change your fate?" Hearing the question, Linneaus did his best to calm his breathing before asking, "If I refuse, I will die, won''t I...?" To this, Luman craned its head before answering his question with one of its own, "Do you fear death?" Then, before Linneaus could answer, it added, "There are no guarantees in this world. If the future was determined, the Tower would have lost its meaning. Your life and death have always been in your hands, Linneaus Finnian. Even if you decide not to climb the Tower, you can continue living as you please, so long as you have the power to avoid the fate others have decided for you~" Linneaus couldn''t help but swallow hard when he heard Lumen''s response. He was fully aware of his situation in the outside as, before showing him what happened with Saht, the first scene showed a very large mace about to collide with his body. Though his [Barrier Aura] might protect him, it was nearly impossible for him to escape the encirclement. Since he had also heard Lumen''s remark about tricking Saht, before showing the scene of her vanishing into motes of light, he assumed she had accepted his offer. She may even be expecting to reunite with him in the Tower, causing Linneaus to feel a dilemma as it seemed like the only choice he had was to continue struggling, or die...just as it had always been. Remembering his conviction as he tried to bury his daggers into the fiery-eyed man''s body, Linneaus inhaled deeply through his nose before meeting Lumen''s gaze once again. In truth, he didn''t care about the Tower at all but. However, knowing this was the only chance he would have to reunite with Saht and one day return to the outside world, a resolute light shone in his eyes as he answered, "I''ll go...I want the power to determine my own fate." With those final words, Linneaus'' body vanished into motes of light, leaving Lumen staring into the spot he had previously occupied. He could actually read all of Linneaus'' thoughts and, rather than his external reactions, the thing he found more interesting was the chaos in the young boy''s mind. It was very rare to have a young fledgling more focused on leaving the Tower than rising to its peak. Despite this, his conviction was just as strong as many who had dedicated their entire lives just for a chance to climb, risking everything for power, wealth, and status. Turning his head skyward, not that there was anything to see in the endless void above, Lumen had a curious glint in his eyes as, rather than darkness, small motes of light, reminiscent of stars, began to shine within. There, if one were to look closely, an incalculable number of scenes played out as, despite his interest in Linneaus'' peculiarity, he had a job to do. He was responsible for viewing the lives of every sentient creature on the Planar World''s surface, determining if they were truly sought power, or if they were just another product of their society... --- The moment Linneaus answered in the affirmative, he found himself standing in the middle of an empty room. All of the aches in his body faded away as a voice of indeterminate gender and origin echoed, "Welcome to the Incubator, young fledgling. Here, you will be evaluated to determine if you have the power and luck to truly begin your ascension. You will be awarded five minutes to prepare. After the end of the countdown, an opponent of equivalent Status will be assigned to you. Should you survive, you will be allowed entry into the First Floor. Failure means the end of your journey and inevitable death. Good luck, and may you one day soar amongst the Heavens." Without affording Linneaus the opportunity to ask any questions, a large timer began floating in the middle of the chamber, the dimensions of which seemed capable of fitting an entire district of the slums. He wasn''t even sure he could make it to the other end within five minutes, much less make any kind of preparations. Though he was already aware of it, Linneaus looked down at his own body, confirming that all of his weapons and equipment were gone. His Inventory was also completely empty and, rather than the garb he had become accustomed to wearing, he now had some kind of skin-tight bodysuit as his only protection. This made him appear even more emaciated than normal, the outline of his ribs clearly visible through the peculiar dark-blue fabric. Since the room was completely empty, Linneaus intuited that the voice meant to prepare in some other way, if not suggesting he mentally prepare himself. Since he was now in the Tower, he figured the most obvious answer was to tweak his Status. After all, he had been at a bottleneck for a while now and, if not for the fact his extra attributes seemed to convert into Free Attribute points, there would have been no meaning in Leveling at all. With this in mind, Linneaus immediately tried to put a point into his Agility, causing a small bell to sound in his head as his eyes began to glimmer with expectation. He had wondered why the limit was 49 previously and, now that he had increased the value to 50, Linneaus had his answer. Not only had he been able to finally break the limit, he even earned a unique Skill related to the achievement. -------------------------------------- [Fleet-Footed: LV1(0/100)] Passive: Increases Agility by 20%. (+2 Agi per Level) -------------------------------------- Seeing the effect of the Skill, Linneaus had a wide grin on his face. It was now clear what the voice was referring to when it said to make preparations. He gave a quick look at the clock, surprised to find he was already down to less than three minutes. Though he had a small notion to save up a few of his Free Attribute points, that could be a mistake that costs him his life if his opponent went all out. With this in mind, Linneaus'' mind raced before he decided to put a point into each attribute, wanting to take advantage of the bonus. It was fortunate that he had enough wherewithal to prioritize the attributes that increase his proficiency with his Blessing as, after placing a point into Intelligence and Wisdom, he no longer received any bonus. This had caused him to blank for a moment and, though it was a bit foolish in hindsight, put an extra point into Dexterity. Since even this gave him nothing, Linneaus hesitated for a short moment before confirming his suspicions. He brought his Constitution and Strength to 50 as well. This allowed him to ascertain that the bonuses were limited to the first three attributes, either as a result of a natural limitation or some other restriction. Fortunately, the choices he had made were the most beneficial to him as, if he had unlocked the bonuses for Strength and Constitution instead, he could have undermined his future progress considerably... -------------------------------------- [Magus: LV1(0/100)] Passive: Increases Intelligence by 20%. (+2 Int per Level) [Resilient Mind: LV1(0/100)] Passive: Increases Wisdom by 20%. (+2 Wis per Level) -------------------------------------- 14 Trial Using what little time remained of the countdown, Linneaus quickly allocated all of his Free Attribute points, not wasting a single one. This was a battle that could determine his life or death so, while it may not be the best choice, it was the safest. Assuming the restrictions on his Blessing had also been removed, he then cast the smallest [Barrier] he could before surrounding himself with [Barrier Aura]. As expected, the bottleneck he had been stuck at for the past few months had been removed. When he heard the three bells sound within his mind, Linneaus couldn''t help but smile as he looked at his own Status, power and confidence swelling within him. ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Fledgling(+2 Spi, +1 Luk per Level) Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 15 Gender: Male Level: 21(42/3300) Health: 1080/1080 Soul Power: 2690/2754 Strength: 49~50 Constitution: 49~50+2 Agility: 49~70+14 Dexterity: 49~51+1 Intelligence: 49~82+46 Wisdom: 49~82+46 Spirit: 38+11.4 Charisma: 25 Luck: 10+1 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Fleet-Footed:LV1], [Magus:LV1], [Resilient Mind:LV1], [Knife Mastery: LV21], [Throwing: LV14],[Sense Danger: LV29], [Presence Concealment: LV30], [Acrobatics: LV30], [Pain Tolerance: LV18], [Barrier Master:LV49~LV50], [Assassination: LV33], [Charm: LV7] Abilities: [Steal: LV27], [Stealth: LV28], [Night Vision: LV17] Magic: [Enhance: LV26], [Barrier: LV49~50], [Barrier Aura: LV49~50] ---------------------------------------- Not only had his primary attributes increased qualitatively, but reaching Level 50 in his Blessing and related Magics had given him a substantial bonus as well as a significant increase in range. Before, Linneaus had struggled to form a barrier outside of three meters but, after reaching Level 50, the range had been increased to fifty meters in one go. He suddenly felt like the world around him was in his grasp, even if it was just a vague feeling. Though he had never taken any drugs or partook of any alcohol, Linneaus couldn''t help but wonder if his current euphoria is what others felt when they abused such substances. Even if it was just the result of him increasing a lot of attributes all at once, he could understand why people desperately sought even greater power for themselves...it was quite addicting. Breaking him free from his existential euphoria, a loud buzzer sounded within the room as the same voice from before stated, "I hope you prepared well, young fledgling. You will now be transferred to the same room as your opponent. Note that you will have thirty minutes to obtain victory. I wish you the best of luck." The moment the voice faded away, Linneaus felt a weightless feeling, despite the fact he noticed no changes to the surroundings. Since the voice had said he would be transferred, he was momentarily unable to process what had happened before, in the distance, a red light flashed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. By instinct, Linneaus brought his arms to form a cross-guard mere moments before some kind of red projectile slammed into his [Barrier Aura], sending him skidding back several meters. He noticed that his SP had decreased by 403 points in one go, causing his body to begin evading before his mind had fully registered what hit him. With his increased Agility, Linneaus twisted his body while jumping to his right, evading a second red streak right where his head had been previously. Without excess thoughts, Linneaus lowered his body to the ground and began sprinting towards the direction of his attacker. This wasn''t his first battle so, while he had been caught by surprise, the fact his opponent had tried to kill him caused a cold sensation to wash over his mind. As another red streak barreled toward him, Linneaus angled a barrier ahead of him, causing the projectile to deviate upwards. At the same time, this slowed it down just enough for him to see what it was, causing Linneaus'' face to form a deep frown as he looked toward the distance. Though they were practically a speck, with more than 300m between them, Linneaus could make out the form of a woman with scarlet-red hair tied in a ponytail. He couldn''t make out her features but, with the outline of her body, he understood she was a beauty. Linneaus didn''t particularly care about the woman''s looks, as she would not be the first attractive woman he had killed. What annoyed him was the fact that, unlike him, given nothing but a dark-blue bodysuit, she was wearing proper clothing, including a few bits of armor. Not only that, she had an ornate bow in her hands, complete with a quiver full of dark-red arrows. Feeling slightly indignant about the fairness of this test, Linneaus grit his teeth before pushing his body to the limit to increase his speed. Though he was still getting used to the increased Agility, his instincts told him he could close the distance within twelve seconds. This would allow the woman to fire nearly her entire quiver of arrows at him but, with his [Barrier] being a natural counter to many ranged attacks, he wasn''t deterred in the slightest. Seeing her opponent charge at her like a mad demon, the bow-wielding woman felt a shiver run up her back as she began channeling more SP into her attacks. This caused her arrowheads to form a small vortex of energy, greatly increasing their speed and destructive power. She also began to run backward, using her own Agility to keep the distance between herself and her opponent. Though he didn''t seem to have any weapons or equipment, the thought of fighting a rampaging opponent up close did not sit well with her. To conserve his SP, Linneaus only used his [Barrier] if he thought the attack couldn''t be evaded. This ended up being quite often, as he was charged straight toward his opponent, but he also noted that her accuracy had decreased as she began to flee. With this, he was able to slow his own speed to a comfortable level, focusing on dodging and pressuring her rather than trying to close the distance as fast as possible. In this manner, a game akin to cat and mouse began to play out between Linneaus and the archer. She seemed to have realized what he was trying to do but, with a limited pool of SP and arrows, it was clear who would come out ahead. After all, if she slowed the momentum of her attack, Linneaus would be able to close the distance much faster. Her only option was to keep peppering him with attacks, hoping to break through his guard while trying to run out the clock. Neither Linneaus nor the woman knew what would happen if they ran out of time but, rather than get killed in a potentially brutal fashion, she was willing to take the risk. This was a bad matchup for her and, while it may seem petty, she would rather they both die than allow him to move on at her expense. Though he did not know what was going through the woman''s mind, Linneaus saw the conviction in her eyes as he slowly but surely closed the distance. Now that he was much closer, he could see she had ruby-red eyes and fiery-red hair, matching well with her hide armor. He didn''t know what kind of material was used in its construction, but it was the highest quality equipment he had ever seen in his life. What stood out the most to him, however, was the tiny green gemstone embedded in her forehead, allowing him to guess her race. After all, though there were rumored to be more than 1800 different tribes in Lumen, only four were known to have gemstones embedded on their foreheads. Rather than continue his pursuit, Linneaus slowed to a stop before adopting a stance focused on quick evasion as he shouted, "Are you a member of the Vulcan Tribe!?" Despite the fact she had heard the question, the woman didn''t stop to chat with Linneaus. Instead, she used the opportunity to extend the gap between them, shooting arrows periodically to keep him from giving chase. Linneaus didn''t blame the woman for her caution, despite the fact it was extremely annoying to be ignored. At the very least, he understood why she was able to have equipment and armor as, if she really was a member of the Vulcan Tribe, it was very likely she had the [Blacksmith] Blessing. The moment he heard about the test requirements, Linneaus had been somewhat confused as, if they were all required to battle to the death, what chance would people with support Blessings have against those with combat-oriented Blessings? If someone with the [Cooking] Blessing showed up in the Tower, the only outcome awaiting them during such trials was death. Now, seeing the woman wearing armor that had a uniform design, combined with a weapon that had a matching aesthetic, Linneaus assumed she had forged them herself. If the Tower took away her armaments, it wouldn''t make sense why he was allowed to use his [Barrier Master]. With this in mind, Linneaus began to question the purpose of the current test, finding several gaps in the explanation that had been given... At no point in time had the voice ever said he needed to kill his opponent. Instead, it only required him to survive. Though there had been one part about failure and inevitable death, this was only if he failed to survive, which was an obvious outcome. Realizing the game that was being played, Linneaus decided to stop chasing the woman as he began to backpedal without turning his back to her. She seemed confused about his actions, to the point of coming to a stop, but that didn''t stop her from periodically firing arrows at him. Now, with their roles having swapped somewhat, Linneaus was focused on outlasting her arrows as, with the passage of time, she placed more emphasis on empowering and aiming them than rapidly firing what remained in her quiver. Eventually, as all finite resources ought to, she would run out of arrows, leaving her with only a small dagger to protect herself. Eventually, when the woman was down to only five arrows, she stopped firing entirely. Linneaus was now more than 500m away from her so she could only pout while considering whether or not she should give chase this time. Ultimately, however, she decided to just sit down and recover her SP, albeit without dropping her guard. Though he was tempted to sit as well, Linneaus kept opening up an even greater distance between himself and the woman. This could be a death sentence for them both but, as his on SP had been reduced to less than half during the chase, he wasn''t that likely to catch her. He could only trust in his instincts and hope his hunch paid off in the end as, if the first trial before even entering the Tower required you to take a life, this automatically reduced the number climbing to half. After nearly five kilometers, way outside the woman''s presumed range, Linneaus also decided to take a rest and recuperate his SP. Even if his hunch proved correct, there was no guaranteeing that the First Floor wouldn''t put him into another life and death situation. He knew that, at the very least, there were various monsters located on the Floors, even if their strength and ecology were complete mysteries to him... While Linneaus was resting in the distance, appearing as nothing more than a dot, even with her [Eagle Eye] Skill, the Vulcan woman released a tired sigh. She didn''t have the confidence in being able to kill him before the time was up so, after forming the conviction to die together previously, it was hard to muster up any motivation. With nothing better to do while waiting for the time to run down, the woman began to perform maintenance on her equipment, a calming behavior she had adapted ever since acquiring her Blessing. At the same time, she thought back to the battle, wondering if there wasn''t anything she could have done differently. Her biggest mistake seemed to be not putting more SP into her first attack but, with the flicker of light that had surrounded her opponent''s body, combined with the panels he seemed to manifest out of thin air, it was easy to guess what his Blessing was. She could only lament at her misfortune of getting matched against her counter, as the [Barrier Master] Blessing was the bane of most ranged attackers, Mages included. Shaking her head to clear negative thoughts, which was surprisingly hard to do with the clock now ticking below five minutes, the Vulcan woman began to think about her opponent. He seemed quite a bit younger than her but, when he got close, she was honestly a little surprised. Though his body was even thinner than her own, his facial features made her feel a little jealous, especially with his piercing gold eyes and pale-blue hair. She wondered what Tribe he belonged to as, even while living inside the megacity, she had rarely seen such a unique combination of features... While she was lost in thought, the counter finally reached zero, startling her to awareness when a very loud buzzer echoed through the massive room. This caused not only her heart to tense up, but Linneaus'' in the distance. Then, just as the sound began to die down, the same voice from before entered their ears, announcing, "Congratulations on surviving the first test! From here on out, you have now become Fledglings in the truest sense. We sincerely hope you learned something from this Trial~!" Without affording them any time to collect their thoughts or voice any complaints, the woman and Linneaus both vanished from the room. Moments later, even the arrows she had used vanished into nothingness as, about 500m from each other, two more figures appeared... 15 Survival In what felt like the blink of an eye, Linnaeus found himself deposited in a strange land. Rather than the familiar ruined walls, foul smelly alleyways, and damp tunnels, he saw nothing but rich greens, earthen browns, and a few warmer colors such as orange and red as far as the eye could see. Though Linnaeus had heard about them before, this was his first time seeing trees and planets in real life, causing him to enter a temporary stupor as he looked down from his hilltop location, a 30m tall tree his only companion atop the peak. Just as before, the relative silence of the endless greenery was broken, this time by a melodic voice that sounded like a soft bell ringing in the ears, "Welcome to the First Floor, young Fledgling. Now that you have earned the right to climb, you must show that you have the ability to survive. Here, in this place, you will be required to earn a thousand points to advance to the next Floor. Note that all Fledglings start with a value of one-hundred points and, every complete cycle, you will be awarded an additional one-hundred. Whether you manage to earn enough points by surviving ten days, or through other means, is entirely up to you. Good luck, and may you one day soar freely through the Heavens~." With the voice still echoing in the surroundings, Linnaeus heard a small bell sound within his mind. He dutifully opened his Status to see there was now a value named Aether while, on the back of his left hand, a series of small runes had appeared, indicating the value for 100 in bright blue markings. Even without an explanation, Linnaeus realized this was a way in which other people would be able to identify the value of their potential targets. Though the voice hadn''t told him to hunt down other Fledglings, it went out of its way to mention their value. Since it didn''t mention other methods to obtain Aether, other than surviving for the requisite number of days, he knew it wouldn''t be long before people began to hunt each other down. Rather than stand out in the open, Linnaeus quickly climbed into the canopy of the tree behind him to think about his next course of action. This ultimately ended up being a mistake, however, as, while the leaves were a refreshing sight to behold, they obstructed his view of the surroundings. After hesitating for a short while, he ultimately leaped down from the tree and began sprinting low to the ground, his destination a small waterfall in the distance. If he was going to survive, having a source of clean water and shelter were high priorities. He had no idea how the weather in the Tower behaved so if he failed to find a safe place to rest, his chances of survival would plummet greatly. Fortunately, though there was a complex network of trees, root systems, bushes, and rocks, Linneaus found it was surprisingly easy to navigate the terrain. His [Acrobatics] and [Stealth] seemed made for such environments so, with his SP recovery more than covering the cost, Linneaus kept his [Stealth] active as he moved almost soundlessly through the greenery. This ended up being a considerable boon as, after passing around a large moss-covered stone, he came across a monstrous creature that caused his brain to buzz with anxiety. Though he had known to expect monsters within the Tower, Linnaeus had never expected his first encounter to be against a giant snake-like creature. Its girth rivaled some of the surrounding trees and, being more than ten meters in length, it was a jarring sight to stumble across in his pursuit for water and shelter. After briefly considering whether he should fight or flee, Linnaeus decided on the former as, from what little he knew of snakes, they were extremely agile. This was also its home so, if he tried to just make a run for it, leaving his back to the creature, there was a good chance he would become its prey. Understanding there were even more powerful monsters in higher Floors, Linnaeus resolved himself as he skulked near the sunbathing creature. His goal was to get close to its head as, if he just struck the lower sections of the body, his attacks weren''t likely to do much damage. He intuited that most of its important organs, such as the heart and lungs, were in the first few meters of its body. Though he did not know it at the time, Linnaeus was very fortunate in this particular encounter as, with his [Barrier Aura] significantly reducing his odor, the snake was virtually blind to his approach. This, combined with his [Stealth], allowed the youth to get within leaping distance of its head, all the while the snake just kept flickering its tongue without a care in the world. After getting close enough to feel the heat radiating from the monster''s body, Linnaeus used nearly a thousand of his SP to make a super-dense spear of blue light using his [Barrier] magic. He was able to see the subtle pulsing of the snake''s body, around 2m from its head. Though there were thicker scales surrounding the area, he was confident his attack would be able to pierce through, despite his lackluster Strength. This was due to his [Assassination] Skill guaranteeing his attack would do triple damage and cause the ''Severe Bleeding'' status to his target. Without any hesitation, Linnaeus drove his makeshift spear forward, causing the snake''s body to jerk like a whip that sent him flying hard and fast enough to crash through one of the surrounding trees. This caused his SP to decrease by close to 300 points but, as he was effectively immune to damage so long as his [Barrier Aura] held out, Linnaeus climbed to his feet moments later to see the snake continue its death throes. After seeing the amount of destruction caused by the violent movements, he suddenly began to feel it would be safer to create some distance between himself and the creature. It was producing a considerable amount of sound so, if there were others nearby, they may come to investigate the commotion. This ended up being the correct choice as, after vanishing into the underbrush, Linnaeus observed a duo appearing atop a nearby boulder. Like him, they were only wearing the peculiar bodysuits that had been assigned upon entry into the Tower, confirming his suspicions about the Vulcan woman. Though he could not hear what they were saying, the taller man amongst the pair, standing close to 200cm with a lean body covered in brownish-gray fur, pointed towards the snake''s corpse as its movements began to slow. This caused his companion, a young boy with green hair that extended past his waist, tied neatly in a stylish braid, to release a tired sigh before jumping down. From this, it was clear to see the relationship between the two, especially with the larger man crossing his arms with a snide smile on his face. If his intuition proved correct, Linnaeus imagined that the fur-covered man was only teaming up with the weaker youth until he had enough points to harvest. By waiting five days, he would be able to finish the current test in one go, making it hard to place your trust in others since they may very well just kill you for the benefits involved. Since Linnaeus wasn''t the type to risk his life for others, he just continued to hide in the brush until a small bell sounded in his mind, indicating he received 70 experience and 9 Aether. This caused his eyes to widen as, after reaching his current Level, it was difficult to get reliable experience. Suddenly getting 70 in one go, when he only needed 3300 for a full Level, caused his heart to begin beating rapidly in excitement. While keeping himself hidden, Linnaeus was also able to confirm how much Aether the two enemies had. They had both started cutting apart and placing a few of the easier to eat pieces of the snake into their Inventories, allowing him to catch a glimpse of their marks. Unsurprisingly, as only an hour or so had passed since his entry into the Floor, both men only had 100 Aether each. He didn''t know if everyone started the test at the same time but, as it wouldn''t really be fair otherwise, Linnaeus at least hoped this was the case. With this revelation, he couldn''t really determine how strong the two were. Thus, without any other information to go on, he continued laying low, comforted by the periodic ding that indicated he was earning experience in his [Stealth] Ability, albeit only a point or two every minute that passed. Based on this trickle of experience, Linnaeus could deduce the approximate strength of the two but, as this was merely an assumption, he didn''t act on it. He waited until they had harvested quite a bit of the harvest that should have been his before appearing nearly three hours later. Since there was a chance they could have been lying in wait for him, he waited until his SP had completely recovered before skulking around the area to confirm they had indeed left. After confirming that his surroundings were clear, Linnaeus harvested a few key pieces of the snake''s meat before peeling off a few of the larger scales. The others had removed its fangs, eyes, and most of its more important organs, but there was still plenty of meat and materials to harvest. Though he should be annoyed to have his own prey robbed right in front of his nose, Linnaeus was actually in a great mood since he knew, for the first time in weeks, he would be eating meat for his next few meals. He even found some edible berries and fruits along the way, giving the former slum dweller the illusion he had wandered into a paradise. Now moving at a much slower and more cautious pace, for obvious reasons, Linnaeus was able to better observe his surroundings as he slowly trekked towards the waterfall. As he grew closer to the source, he began to move even slower as, with the sound of the water dropping into its basin, even people without [Stealth] would be able to mask their movements. With water being one of the most important resources for survival, there was a good chance that others, including the two he had previously encountered, had made camp around the area. Even if they hadn''t, there were sure to be monsters that frequented the area to quench their thirst. Some could even be lurking in the depths of the basin, just waiting for someone foolish enough to near the embankment before claiming an easy meal. In the Tower, there were many unknowns so, until he had a better grasp of the situation, Linnaeus decided to treat even the surrounding plants with due respect. Though he didn''t have to worry about getting nicked by a sharper-than-normal leaf, or pricked by a concealed thorn, it was better to be safe than sorry in situations like this. Caution was how slum-dwellers survived and, if not for this nature of his, surviving the five years since he received his Blessing would have been impossible. With this in mind, Linnaeus spent the remainder of the day simply hiding in the underbrush near the river that flowed from the waterfall''s basin. He could go days without food or water so, rather than rush, it was his intention to observe the surroundings to see if others showed up. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Because of his decision, Linnaeus was able to witness several people skulking out of the surrounding forest to get their fill. Some of these people were unfortunate enough to be attacked by others who had been waiting nearby, becoming the prey or preying on their attackers. He even saw one person, who seemed like she had only turned ten a few days prior, ripping a man three times her size in half before making short work of his two partners. Though you couldn''t really judge a person''s strength by their looks, Linnaeus had been shaken by the display as, despite her diminutive appearance, she was even stronger than Saht. She also had an extreme level of confidence as, after being covered in her enemy''s blood, she spent a few minutes just relaxing in the river so that the blood could be washed from her body and the paper-thin armor they had all been assigned. During this display of complacency, someone tried throwing a sharpened piece of wood towards the girl, causing her to bat it out of the air as if she were squatting a fly. Moments later, blood-curdling screams could be heard from the forest after the girl leaped from the water and bolted toward her would-be assassin like a phantom. When she emerged to clean herself once again, none attempted to attack her, despite the fact she practically flaunted the 841 Aether in her possession... 16 Caution After waiting for night to settle upon the land, bringing with it a familiar chill, Linnaeus finally made his move. With his [Night Vision] and [Stealth], he was confident in being able to avoid detection, allowing him to creep to the water''s edge and drink his fill before vanishing into the darkness once again. Now that he had the cover of darkness, it was time for him to take action, just as he had been doing for the past five years. Though he never enjoyed the act of killing, Linnaeus had become somewhat numb to it and, if it was to preserve his life, and the lives of those he cared about, he would not hesitate. The only reason he had given up his pursuit of the Vulcan woman was largely due to his hunch, even if the main reason was due to his diminishing SP reserves. This time around, Linnaeus'' reserves were completely filled and, with others less acclimated to the darkness than himself, the night was his playground. Since there were even a few lights within the forest, indicating the presence of campfires, his shadows blended into the surroundings even more than normal. Despite the apparent foolishness of some, as creating a fire was like painting a target upon yourself, Linnaeus knew that the training in the megacity should have prepared them for such things. With this in mind, he crept slowly towards the closest encampment and, as expected, discovered a tripwire that had been set in the surroundings. Unlike slum dwellers, who generally spent their days just trying to survive, the megacity, Heart, had a comprehensive education system for rearing potential climbers. He knew there would even be some who had powerful Titles and various other benefits from belonging to Organizations their entire life. The small child-like girl that had appeared previously was the best indicator of this, making it very clear they weren''t on a level playing field from the start. Fortunately, as there were likely benefits from completing the tests earlier, Fledglings like the girl were rare encounters. They would quickly move on to the next Floor after defeating their enemies, removing the vast majority of such individuals from the survival competition. Because of this, Linnaeus was confident in sneaking up on others, especially if they had formed groups. Though there were no guarantees, it could be assumed that anyone seeking the company of others at this stage didn''t have absolute confidence in their own power. Just as Vagrants would flock together to avoid getting picked off by Enforcers, it was guaranteed that the weak would seek solace in greater numbers. Though he knew it would be necessary to team up with others at later Floors, as the Party System was common knowledge, Linnaeus felt he would cripple himself by trying to fit in with a group of strangers before he had a better understanding of the Tower''s structure and tests. He didn''t want to take orders from others, nor did he intend to put his life at risk to protect people that were just as likely to backstab him as come to his aid. With this in mind, Linnaeus carefully circled the area, knowing there had to be an escape path where fewer, or no, traps were located. He didn''t have the confidence in disarming a trap, as he didn''t have the requisite Skill, so it was best to just avoid them as much as possible. After completing his rounds, Linnaeus found three different routes towards the fire''s light but, rather than make his way closer, he retreated to find a better vantage. It was still early in the evening so there was a good chance his targets were still awake. After all, they had all just entered the Tower so, if they were anything like him, it may not even be possible to sleep during the first night. Just like casing a business or target to rob, Linnaeus spent several hours just observing the camp, waiting until the fire began to dim down before he made his move. Since the odds of anyone letting their fire burn out were slim in such situations, he could interpret the dwindling light as a sign his quarry was dozing off. Without hurrying his pace, Linnaeus continued to inspect the area. He was looking for any signs that other traps had been set without his notice. If he had the [Trap Setting] and [Trap Disarming] Skills, he would check the traps periodically before changing their location. After all, if someone tampered with the traps before staging a surprise attack, the only person you could blame for such oversights was yourself. Unfortunately for his opponents, they hadn''t followed this logic so, after skulking at a snail''s pace for nearly an hour, Linnaeus approached the campsite. There, he found three people, two of whom were huddled together with some kind of strange furs covering their body while, at the campfire, a man was dozing off with his head and shoulders slouched. Linnaeus couldn''t shake the feeling he was walking into a trap as, at a glance, this group seemed like incredibly easy prey. However, even after watching for twenty minutes, the only change was the man waking up and panicking slightly when he noticed the state of the fire. He quickly fed more tinder to feed the flames before looking around the area nervously. Seeing that the man would periodically glance at the two presumably sleeping figures, it didn''t take a brilliant mind to understand he was the weakest in the group. They had likely forced him to keep watch over the first while they rested. There was even a chance they planned to kill him after waking, as his sleep-deprivation would make him a poor ally to rely on during an emergency. What genuinely surprised Linnaeus was the fact that the man was even tired as, if their experiences were the same, it hadn''t even been twenty-four hours since his entrance into the Tower. The average slum dweller could go several days without sleep, often without anything but water to sustain them. This meant the man was either wholly unprepared for ascending the Tower or, for reasons he had not been privy to, expended a large amount of stamina during the day. Despite his doubts, Linnaeus didn''t take any action to expose himself as, without proper knowledge of the enemy, he could just be walking ignorantly into his death. Instead, he remained hidden and, after the man began to doze off again, began using his [Steal] to systematically clear the opponents'' Inventories. He also wanted to see if it was possible to loot the bodysuits they had all been given as his own took up the body and leg slots of his equipment screen, meaning there was a small chance if he continued trying. After more than an hour, the only success Linnaeus had was looting a bunch of different types of meat and a few materials that had likely been harvested from monsters. One of the targets gave him a whopping 3 experience per attempt so he had gotten a little carried away, nearly increasing his [Steal] to Level 28 in the process. Unfortunately, despite a concerted effort, he wasn''t able to loot any of the three''s equipment. This meant it was either impossible or, as was more likely the case, they simply had higher Luck than him. As the success rate of stealing equipment was heavily dependent on the Luck values of both parties, the maximum success rate could be as low as 1% in some instances. What annoyed Linnaeus the most was that he hadn''t been able to loot the wires they had used to create the various traps littering the area. This meant they likely didn''t keep it in their Inventory so his only option was to either try and disassemble the surrounding traps or give up on obtaining any. Ultimately, Linnaeus decided against attempting to disarm the traps as, with the presence of the wires, he could intuit that one of the three had a Blessing related to trap making. After all, it would be impossible to acquire the materials otherwise, unless they had somehow found a monster that could provide materials to make their own wires. Deciding to err on the side of caution, Linnaeus retreated a fair distance from the encampment before climbing a tree that gave him a slight vantage on the site. He couldn''t really see well but he was still within earshot of the three people. If anything happened, such as another party attacking them, he might be able to reap benefits without exposing himself outright. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In this manner, Linnaeus allowed himself to get a bit of shut-eye, albeit sleeping so lightly that even the occasional rustle of leaves would awaken him. Like this, he waited until just before sunrise, when visibility was the lowest, before something finally happened. Awakening him from his light slumber, Linnaeus her to high-pitched sound of a woman screaming from the direction of the encampment. He could hear her rebuking the man after finding him asleep at his post, followed by the sound of a small explosion. Since this was closer to his position than he''d like, Linneaus slipped down the opposite side of the tree without investigating what had happened. This ended up being the correct choice as, moments later, a battle broke out in the area after another group decided to use the chaos to launch their own ambush. Linnaeus waited until the sounds of combat had ceased entirely before skulking his way forward once again, his [Stealth] and diminutive stature allowing him to move unobserved through the underbrush. When he reached a vantage that allowed him to see into the clearing, he saw two girls surrounded by five corpses, four males and one female. This included the man who had been forced to keep watch, even if it was hard to be certain since his entire upper body was now missing. Unaware of the fact they were being observed, the taller of the two women, standing at 165cm and garbed in a dark-red bodysuit, kicked one of the corpses as she complained, "These bastards really have no class! Treating me like some sheep just waiting to be slaughtered! Haa!" At the end of her outburst, the woman snapped her fingers towards one of the corpses, causing a burst of flames to erupt in the form of a small explosion. This caused the much smaller girl at her side to flinch, her two elongated ears drooping pathetically before hiding behind her explosive companion. Though it was apparent the woman wanted to explore the other corpses, she at least pretended to calm down as she pat the smaller girl''s head, saying in a soft tone, "Don''t worry, Shuri, all the bad people are gone now~" This caused the girl named Shuri to nod her head in agreement, despite the fact she was clearly still afraid. From his vantage point, Linnaeus was able to observe the two closely, identifying the brown-haired woman, with her sharp and intelligent features, as a member of the Saxon tribe. As for the petite girl with light-purple hair, adorned with two long white ears and a bushy tail poking out of her backside, she was clearly a member of the Lori tribe, known for their rabbit-like features. Upon realizing this, Linnaeus had solidified his [Barrier Aura] as, while the Lori tribe were known for their exceptional hearing, they also had extremely sensitive noses. Fortunately, perhaps due to her fear, she didn''t seem to be completely aware of her surroundings. The last thing he needed was the explosive woman deciding he was her next lackey so, without wasting any time, he began to retreat into the underbrush, vanishing into the morning twilight... What Linnaeus didn''t know was, rather than overlook him, the Lori tribe woman simply didn''t want to fight. She also knew that her companion had used up a lot of her SP so, even though she had smelled Linnaeus'' arrival, she kept silent while hoping he would leave them alone. However, when he did begin his retreat, she couldn''t help looking in his direction and releasing a sigh, something which hadn''t gone unnoticed by her companion. 17 Struggle Sometimes, despite due caution given, trouble went out of its way to come looking for you. This was one of the earliest lessons he could recall as a Street Urchin and, over the years, Linnaeus had come to believe this was an inherent truth in the world. Just as he had been preparing to turn tail and vanish into the dense forest, Linnaeus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as his [Sense Danger] screamed at him to evade. Unfortunately, there were some things in life that were simply unavoidable and, though he had years of experience against foes more powerful than himself, Linnaeus soon learned of the gulf denoting those born in the slums and those born in prestigious families. While rolling low to the ground to evade whatever had set off his [Sense Danger], Linnaeus found himself face-to-foot with a set of delicate toes. He didn''t have time to really think about the strange incongruity he was experiencing, however, as the next moment marked his voyage through the sky and his inevitable reunion with the unforgiving ground several meters from his starting location. Though it had a simple kick, Linnaeus noted that his SP had decreased by nearly 700 points after he slammed into the ground. Fortunately, he felt no pain due to his [Barrier Aura], allowing him to roll to his feet as he habitually reached for a dagger that hadn''t been there since entering the Tower. Rather than turn his back to an enemy that seemed much faster than him, Linnaeus hardened his expression as a young woman with brown-hair and predatory eyes lazily walked through the brush separating them. Her expression told him that she would pounce the moment he turned her back so his mind was racing to come up with a method of defeating this explosive woman in the shortest amount of time. Instead of pressing the attack, the woman was evaluating her enemy based on their first contact. By looking toward his legs, she could see the grass and shrubbery brushing against a nearly invisible blue membrane, causing her to ask, "You are a Barrier Mas-" The moment the woman tried to ask her question, Linnaeus decided to take advantage of the gap in a person''s mind when changing from offense to dialogue. This seemed to catch her by surprise but this was nothing compared to the shock she experienced when trying to open distance, only to find a barrier had been erected behind her calves. At the same time that the woman lost her balance, Linnaeus was practically on top of her as he used a second [Barrier], this time shaping it into a pointed rod. When she had attacked him previously, her health bar had become visible to him and, though she was putting on a strong front, he noticed that more than half of it was missing. Assuming that her SP was even lower, he decided to gamble his all on a surprise attack, feeling it was the only way out of his current predicament. To her credit, the woman reacted very quickly to her unexpected appointment with the ground but, as Linnaeus was far more experience with using his barriers than she was countering them, the only thing she got for her trouble was trying to roll back, only to find another barrier preventing her legs from following the movement. This gave Linnaeus enough time to stab his makeshift dagger toward her face, earning a surprised look from the woman as the pale-blue point neared her forehead. At that very moment, her survival instincts kicked into overdrive and, though it was at point-blank range, she unhesitantly used her [Explosion Affinity] between the gap in their bodies. The very tip of Linnaeus'' dagger pricked the woman''s forehead but, without being able to drive it forward, a powerful force suddenly erupted near his gut, sending him flying backward. This time around, however, he only lost 217 SP, clearly due to the woman''s fear of killing herself with her own Blessing. After another hard landing, Linnaeus bounded to his feet once again, his heart beating rapidly as adrenaline pumped through his system. He could see the woman shakily climbing to her feet, a small trickle of blood coming from her forehead as she used her left arm to hug her exposed and severely burned midriff. Linnaeus felt that he wouldn''t be able to close the distance in time as, with a vengeful expression on her face, the woman had already extended her right hand in a snapping gesture. He suddenly felt a source of heat to the left of his head, followed by a small explosion that knocked him off balance and completely halted his momentum. At nearly the exact moment that his vision had blurred due to the explosion, despite it dealing very little damage to him, Linnaeus felt a far more powerful attack slam into his [Barrier Aura], courtesy of the woman''s foot. She clearly didn''t have much SP to use her Blessing or she wouldn''t be relying on physical attacks when her health was already blinking red. Rolling with the kick that shaved off another 580 of his SP, bringing his reserves dangerously low, Linnaeus made the dangerous decision of deactivating his [Barrier Aura]. Her attacks were powerful but he believed he could take at least one of them, lulling her into a false sense of security since she would assume he was also out of SP. Though her speed was greatly reduced, the woman had just as much adrenaline pumping through her veins, allowing her to ignore the pain she was in as she pursued him like a predator pouncing on its prey. This earned Linnaeus a hard punch to his left cheek, causing his body to spin on the spot as he attempted to use the momentum to kick at her already injured abdomen. Seeing her quarry''s health drop by nearly a fifth in one go, the woman had a murderous glint in her eyes as she shouted, "Oh, you''re so fucked now...!" Unfortunately, this outburst only earned her a kick to the abdomen, causing tears to well up in her eyes as she groaned in pain. Despite wanting to press the attack, Linnaeus felt like his brain was rattling around in his head so it was hard to even see straight, much less stand. He did his best to retreat in the direction he thought was away from the woman while erecting a thin, wispy, barrier between them. Gritting her teeth to the point her gums were on the verge of bleeding, the woman punched the barrier separating her and Linnaeus, shattering it like glass. She wasn''t going to let him run away and recover, especially after all of the pain and suffering he had put her through. Just as his vision began to clear up, Linnaeus saw the visage of a woman out for blood already within range as she reached out with her right hand to try and grab his throat. By pure instinct, he activated his [Barrier Aura] and [Enhance], protecting his body and increasing his Strength attribute by 15% in nearly the same instant. Shocked to find her attempt to snap Linnaeus'' neck blocked by a blue membrane, the woman didn''t have the time to form any other thoughts as a very painful thud resonated through her body. Even if his Strength was a comparably meager 57.5, it was enough when she was already severely injured. Though the woman had failed to grab his neck, Linnaeus was still pushed back by the momentum. This allowed him to see her drop to the ground, tears well in her eyes as she hugged her stomach and did her best to resist the pain. At this point, her health was dangerously low, allowing almost any stray attack to take her out. Seeing the 544 points on the back of the woman''s hand, Linnaeus was momentarily overwhelmed by greed but, just as he resolved himself to finish her off, a petite figure with light-purple hair dashed out from the brush before standing in front of the Saxon woman, shouting, "Please, stop!" with tears in her eyes. With how fas the Lori woman was able to move, Linnaeus decided against trying to outmaneuver her and finish off the woman. Though she seemed like a frail maiden at a glance, he wasn''t confident he would be able to hit her at all with that kind of speed. Even if he could finish off his target, there was a very good chance he would follow shortly after. Ignoring every fiber of his being telling him to try and finish off the duo before it came back to bite him, Linnaeus furrowed his brows deeply as he icily stated, "She was the one to attack me. Even if I let her go, do you think she would show me the same mercy?" Though he hadn''t seriously expected her to consider his words, Linnaeus was surprised when the Lori girl began to fluster, her ears drooping pathetically as she stammered, "T-That m-might be the c-c-case...b-b-but...!" At this point, the girl might not even be able to see clearly with how watery her eyes were, giving Linnaeus the urge to go on the offensive while she was confused. However, with her small size and stammering, only a distant voice in the deepest recesses of his mind urged him to kill her. Until now, Linnaeus had never proactively killed another person and had largely justified his actions as self-defense. If he unceremoniously cut down a crying girl who had never wronged him, he didn''t think he would be able to show his face to his sister and Rebecca. Though Saht would probably stay with him, there wasn''t even a guarantee they would be able to reunite in the future... Feeling a powerful melancholy suddenly well up inside his heart, Linnaeus shook his head in far more than mild exasperation. He then pulled out a makeshift satchel, formed from a giant leaf, and threw it towards the skittish girl. After that, he did his best to ignore the aching pain in his jaw as he turned around and fled into the dense underbrush. Though she was skeptical to probe the contents of the bundled leaf, knowing full-well it could be a trap, the Lori girl eventually picked up the aroma of herbs and fresh fruits with her sensitive nose. After this, she quickly placed the bundle into her own Inventory which, after waking up earlier in the day, had been completely empty. Despite knowing the boy had probably fled far away by now, she gave a courteous bow toward the direction he had retreated. She also wanted to call out but, knowing there may very well be more enemies nearby, she managed to resist the urge. Instead, she pulled the unconscious Saxon woman into some thick brush coverage before producing strings from her fingertips. In truth, while she did have some experience with making traps, her Blessing was actually [String Manipulation]. This allowed her to produce string and wire of various different strengths and, within a range of 50m, manipulate it freely. If Linnaeus had touched the triplines she had set out the night before, it would have immediately alerted her to his presence. Other than that, the wires served no other purpose as, despite being labeled as a prodigy by her family, she hated hurting others. Using her strings, the Lori girl made a cacoon of sorts by pulling together the sections of the shrub that would expose them. She then pulled out the bundle left behind by the peculiar blue-haired boy, opening it to reveal a few apples and several smaller bundles of wrapped herbs. These would be very important for her companion''s recovery as, without food and medicine, the ''Critical Health'' status would eventually result in death. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Without wasting any time, she began to manually chew the bitter herbs, lamenting the lack of a pestle, mortar, and water. Though she could head to the nearby river to obtain some, this could potentially end in tragedy for both of them. Thus, with no better alternative, she could only use her own saliva moisten the herbs before placing them against the burned section of skin. After that, she did the same with the fruit, chewing them to a paste before lifting the Saxon woman''s head and feeding her mouth-to-mouth. Food was one of the most readily accessible methods of recovering health as it provided a small bonus to health regeneration based on the nutritional value of the food. The apples weren''t exactly the best option for a quick recovery but, with each small gulp, the Saxon woman''s health gradually increased. Seeing this, the Lori girl felt greatly relieved while, unbeknownst to her, as he had made a concerted effort to move downwind, Linnaeus struggled with his decision while attentively watching the bush... 18 Calm In the thousands of years people had been climbing the Tower, there had been a select few to reap the most benefits. From amongst trillions of potentiates, they were the ones who had either returned with the greatest wealth or, due to belonging to a specific race or possessing a certain Blessing, were able to benefit the most from settling outside of the Tower. Of these powerful and influential figures, there were eight families and three organizations that set themselves apart from the rest. These were known as the Eight Heavenly Families and, since the time of Heart''s creation, they had controlled the territory closest to the Tower''s base. Over time, the Eight Heavenly Families had grown to monstrous proportions due to their wealth and influence. Some families had even grown well beyond a million members though, when compared to the three-hundred billion people residing within the megacity, these numbers were just a drop in a very vast ocean. Despite this disparity, they still had a strong, almost unshakeable, foothold within Heart. This was due to the existence of the Party, Company, and Organization system, allowing them to groom the successive generations with greater efficiency. They also proactively engaged in alliances with each of the other Heavenly Families, exploiting a loophole within the Tower''s seemingly random selection to guarantee their descendants had the highest chance at success when climbing. By using unique markings and making sure each generation familiarized themselves with their peers, it was possible to greatly increase the chance of finding allies amongst the other Heavenly Families during your climb. This would further strengthen the bonds between the families as, without proper allies, it was virtually impossible to proceed to the higher Floors. Those who managed to climb up often did so as a direct result of their cooperation with other members of the Eight Heavenly Families. Since each different family specialized in one of the core Classes that would be assigned to Fledglings upon reaching the 10th Floor, they were able to constantly strengthen the foundation of their families, guaranteeing none would overtake them. At least, this was how things were supposed to go... Though not impossible, it was very rare for any member of the Eight Heavenly Families to fall within the first ten Floors of the Tower as, compared to their peers, there was a vast difference in power and capabilities. They were groomed since birth to be the absolute strongest, possessing a compliment of Skills, Abilities, and Magic to ensure they had significantly higher attributes than the competition. When a member of the Eight Heavenly Families did die, it was generally the result of interference from the Three Major Powers, consisting of the Sacred Order, the Shadow Guild, and the Alchemist Association. Only these three organizations, possessing even more power than the Eight Heavenly Families, albeit significantly less concentrated, had the resources to groom successors that could rival the descendants of the Eight. Of course, there were outlier cases as, due to their upbringing, it was not uncommon for a member of the Eight to be rather arrogant and haughty. Though they often had the capabilities to back this kind of behavior, it was not impossible for their own hubris to cause their downfall. Because of this, the Elders of the Eight tried to remind their descendants not to overestimate themselves before they were able to establish a full Party, even if their advice was often ignored. During the nightmares accompanying her fever, the Saxon woman, whose true name was Estelle El Andromeda, couldn''t help but be reminded of the several old men and women who had advised her not to give in to her explosive temperament. She had been born as the 17th daughter of the Lord of the South, the leader of the Andromeda family, a member of the Eight for over seven-thousand years. Though not the most powerful amongst her brothers and sisters, she had always been treated well by her family, even during the harsh training all primary descendants were required to undergo. Now, instead of the kindly, albeit wrinkled faces from her memory, their forms had become twisted and demonic. Instead of smiles, they had scowls of pure derision and contempt, replacing the pride, compassion, and love she had come to know. This caused her body to be covered in a cold sweat and, though she put on a strong front in almost every situation, whimpers began to escape her lips as she tried to refute the harsh words resonating within her mind. While watching her companion suffer through intense fever dreams, the Lori girl, named Shuri von Silverlake, couldn''t help but show concern as she lightly caressed the sleeping Estelle''s head. She was also a daughter of the Eight Heavenly Families, though only the 83rd in a very expansive family. The Lori tribe wasn''t exactly known for their power, as they generally obtained utility and support-type Blessings, but they more than made up for this with their rather prodigious ability to reproduce. Despite being one amongst more than a hundred, Shuri had been considered a true prodigy among her generation, even though she did her best to avoid conflict entirely. Though most of her battles ended with her subduing her opponent, rather than harming them, she was often capable of coming out ahead against people much stronger than herself. If not for the fact that Estelle had told her to stay out of the fighting after realizing she was a ''soft-hearted crybaby'', the likelihood of Linnaeus being able to gain even a pyrrhic victory would have been reduced to nill. Her ability to bind and capture targets, combined with Estelle''s ability to use ranged explosions, wasn''t exactly something most would be able to deal with. Linnaeus, of course, was completely unaware of this fact but, with his instincts that had been honed over a lifetime of living within the slums, he knew he wasn''t the girl''s match. This, combined with the fact he didn''t want to become a ruthless killer, as he only ever desired the power to protect, made it impossible for him to deal the final blow. Though Linnaeus felt extremely conflicted about his decision at first, this had faded away after more than an hour of squatting in the tree. With his health and SP recovered, he was no longer burdened with the characteristic headache and mental cloudiness that accompanied low reserves. Now that he could think clearly, Linnaeus decided it was best not to stick around as, unless there had been some kind of complication, it wouldn''t be too long before the Saxon woman recovered. He had the distinct impression she wasn''t the most understanding individual so, rather than stick around to learn how she fought with full SP, he decided it was best to put as much distance between himself and the two girls as possible. With one last look in their direction, he slipped down the opposite side of the tree before vanishing into the forest, this time moving away from the river. If he needed to, he could always rough it out for the remaining nine days, even without water. Since his Aether value was now at 231, as he had actually been able to gain a few points from using [Steal], Linnaeus was confident he could clear the Floor without exposing himself to even more danger. The battle against the Saxon woman had taught him a lot about his status in the Tower and, though he wasn''t the weakest, there was a vast gulf between himself and the strongest. Even the Vulcan he had fought during the first challenge wasn''t much weaker than him, despite having a Blessing that related to forging equipment. From this, Linnaeus could deduce that his power might actually be below average so, unless he used his advantages cleverly, there was a good chance he would lose his life. With this in mind, he wanted to continue observing other Fledglings to determine the veracity of his assumption, all while training his Skills, Abilities, and Magic to higher Levels. Though he might not have the advantage in direct engagement, he doubted there were many born within the megacity who were adept in [Assassination] and [Presence Concealment]. So long as he had the element of surprise, he would be able to kill his enemies without having to worry about any kind of counter-attack. The only problem with this method of fighting was, despite having honed the Skills to reasonably high standards, Linnaeus wasn''t a cold-hearted killer. He wouldn''t go out of his way to sneak attack an enemy unless he had already judged them as an irredeemable despot who was undeserving of his mercy. If not for the interference of the Lori girl, he would have ended the Saxon woman without flinching in the slightest as, though she was quite beautiful, such sentiments would have gotten him killed a long time ago if he cared about such things. The only thing that held him back was the pleading of the rabbit-like girl and his convictions to never become the type of person that couldn''t look the few people he cared about in the eye. Linnaeus knew that this flaw of his was actually a major weakness but, so long as he avoided being wrangled into the affairs of others, he would be able to survive. Though he also knew it would be necessary to team up with others when trying to ascend to higher Floors, he wanted to make sure he had a full understanding of his potential allies before entrusting his back to them. With this in mind, Linnaeus intended to observe the Fledglings on each successive Floor in order to determine if they were all moving together or being randomly assigned to certain regions. Since a number of people were already forming small teams, he assumed there was a good chance that they would be competing against each other for some time. He might even come across the same Vulcan woman from his first challenge, which would be a godsend if she could be convinced to forge him a dagger. Though creating makeshift weapons out of his [Barrier] could give him an edge, they were only useful for a very short period of time. Over the course of an extended engagement, his SP reserves would rapidly deplete, especially if the enemy was able to land a few direct hits on his [Barrier Aura]. In order to overcome this weakness, Linnaeus decided it was best to make a few weapons from tree branches and stones. He also discovered some sticky resin on the side of a damaged tree, indicating a battle had recently occurred in the area. Using this resin, he was able to cover much of the exposed parts of his body with leaves, allowing him to blend in with his surroundings better. He lamented the fact that, while his bodysuit was dark-blue, allowing him to blend in with the shadows, his pale-blue hair stuck out like a sore thumb against the green backdrop of the forest. It took a while, but Linnaeus was able to create a makeshift hood and mantle using the hide that had been looted from the sleeping girls. Though he had been tempted to muck up his hair and face with mud, just the thought of it irritated him a bit as, even as a former slum dweller. He might be able to tolerate it for an extended period of time but, from experience, Linnaeus knew how unpleasant and itchy it would be to have mud flaking from his skin. By the time he had finished his preparations, Linnaeus had moved several tens of kilometers away from the two girls. He now looked like a living bush skulking through the forest as he dealt with a few oversized animals and avoided conflict with other Fledglings. Fortunately, as he had been moving away from water sources and any discernible landmarks, there had been very few signs of other people. As for the creatures he encountered, Linnaeus wasn''t quite sure they could be considered monsters as, from what little he knew, they should be far more vicious and dangerous. Though it could be due to this being the First Floor, there weren''t any particularly dangerous enemies and, so long as he used his [Stealth] and exercised proper caution, many could be dealt with in a single blow. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In this manner, Linnaeus continued creating more distance between himself and others, only slowing when the sun had started to descend once again. He knew the twilight of Dusk and Dawn were the most ideal times to start a fire as, with the reddening of the sky, visibility would be severely reduced. This made it very difficult to discern flames and, so long as he avoided burning anything green, there shouldn''t be much smoke either. Though he had felt the availability of edible plants and fruits was already a blessing unlike anything he had ever experienced, Linnaeus couldn''t help but salivate at the thought of eating grilled snake and whatever mystery meat he had stolen from the girls. Despite his desire to dig in immediately, however, he made sure to properly cook it through, so as to avoid any parasites, and only ate after moving far from the fire he had established. The last thing he needed was for another person with [Stealth] capabilities to attack him while he was enjoying food so, until he was well away from the smell of cooked meat, Linnaeus tempered himself. Then, after climbing a tree, just as night had descended upon the land, Linnaeus enjoyed the flavor of cooked meat, eating his fill of the protein-rich and incredible juicy morsel for the first time in his entire life. 19 Divergence : Parallels While Linnaeus was cautiously venturing through the First Floor, a very different scene was playing out in one of the other ninety-nine testing grounds. Though not the strongest by any means, Saht had been blazing through the First Floor test after killing her opponent during the preliminary evaluation. Unlike Linnaeus, who was very cautious and tried to avoid direct engagements, Saht had never been the type to overthink things. All she knew was that Linnaeus had also entered the Tower so, in order to reunite with him, she needed to survive and kill any enemies that stood in her way. Just as Linnaeus had broken through the restrictions of his Blessing, Saht, who spent most of her waking moments in a sem-transformed state, had already reached Level 51 in her [Demonification]. Upon reaching the Level 50 threshold, she sprouted a second set of horns, this time forming a gentle curve around her brows, while a pair of small wings now poked through the slits in her blood-red bodysuit. Due to their small size, the wings did not allow for flight but, while she was running around at high speeds, the allowed her to swerve and change direction more rapidly. If she put enough strength into her legs, she could also leap very far, using her wings to extend the distance by allowing her to glide, albeit barely. With these changes, Saht''s Strength, Constitution, and Agility were all greatly enhanced. Since she was exceptionally brutal compared to most people, irrespective of being born in the megacity or slums, she had already mowed through several opponents. One had even been unfortunate enough to be pierced by her horns when she charged into them from behind. Saht didn''t believe she was an unstoppable force but, so long as she trusted her instincts and tried to avoid anyone that seemed dangerous, the only thing that mattered to her was progressing to the next Floor. Because of this, she was currently chasing down a duo consisting of a muscular man with bull-like horns and a rather petite girl whose body was covered in a thin layer of white fur. She also had two tiny curved horns at the sides of her head and, while the muscular man carried her, she kept shooting beams of white light to deter Saht''s berserk charge. Even with her new wings, it was difficult to dodge magic in a frontal charge but, despite taking a few direct hits and suffering some severe burns, Saht''s rage made her numb to the pain. When she didn''t have Linnaeus to direct her, it was as if the entire world blurred on her periphery, giving her a strong sense of tunnel-vision that only allowed her to identify the enemy. Despite her cute appearance, the petite girl had a layer of moisture in her eyes as she shouted, "Why won''t this bitch just die!? Ray Burst~! Ray Burst~! Ray Buuuuuurst~!" Her companion didn''t bother to answer her question as, after trying to defend against Saht''s first attack, he had been sent flying several meters by the comparably smaller figure. Since this had also fractured his left arm, while simultaneously draining nearly a tenth of his health in an instant, there was no way he would fight her before whittling down her health. For the time being, he just focused on his breathing as he ran in a zig-zag pattern to evade getting skewered by the rampaging demoness. The Ba''haat tribe''s [Demonification] was relatively famous so he knew it was only a matter of time before her SP ran out, causing her to enter a weakened state. It was fortunate that the girl chasing them didn''t seem to have trained her control over the form so, by changing directions constantly, she was unable to overtake him despite having superior speed. As the bull-headed man expected, the only thing Saht was thinking about were the points the two had as, if she managed to kill them, her passage to the Second Floor was confirmed. This allowed her to ignore the vague feeling that her SP was dangerously low as she continued her relentless pursuit of the fleeing duo. Eventually, the girl being carried ran out of SP as, on the low end, most offensive Magic spells cost around 200SP. Even if she had been born into a prestigious family, her reserves wouldn''t be greater than 4000 points, barring very few exceptions. Since the girl was just an average citizen of Heart, she had only been able to cast seventeen spells, despite pacing herself and allowing her SP to replenish. With Saht constantly gaining on him, causing a cold sweat to cover much of his body, the horned-man took exception to the fact his partner had stopped attacking. If he wasn''t already heaving for air, he would have shouted at her to keep attacking. Since it was possible to overdraft your SP by eating into your Health, he knew she could keep going for a little while longer. Rather than waste his breath, the man decided he no longer needed the extra baggage, despite the girl only weighing around 37kg. He very unceremoniously tossed her body toward their attacker, an action that caused the girl''s mind to blank completely as she traveled in a parabola, directly toward the girl she had been peppering with magic for the last few minutes. Though Saht was going to rip the girl apart, the actions of the man had caused her focus to lock onto him. When he turned to look back, obviously checking to see if his plan had been a success, she was already right on top of him, causing the man to roll to the side as she crashed passed him and shattered a tree into splinters. Ignoring the aches in her own body, Saht flicked her tail like a whip, allowing her to shift her center of gravity quickly as she leaped toward the fleeing man once again. He was preparing to dodge a second time but, just as he waited for the proper timing, a beam of white light smashed into his side, causing him to grimace in pain before realizing what had happened. In the distance, with her eyes, ears, and nose all leaking blood, the girl he had tried to sacrifice was glaring at him with a murderous and vindictive smile. She had overdrafted her SP by quite a bit to make sure he couldn''t flee. This allowed Saht to easily close the distance and, though he tried to resist, she began to thrash his body around like a ragdoll, breaking several trees and stones in the process. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Having already accepted her death, the girl took great pleasure in watching the man''s brutal end. He had been nice to her when they first met so, despite not truly trusting him, she had agreed to Party with him due to their complimentary Blessings. When he picked her up and fled, she began to feel a few tender emotions toward him but, during the moment of weightlessness when he had tossed her through the air, the only thoughts in her mind were killing the traitorous bastard. Despite a considerable amount of fear, the girl didn''t look away when the demoness made her way over. The latter was covered in fresh blood and, with wild pink hair, blood-red eyes, red skin, and four ivory horns, it was like looking into the face of a devil who had come to reap her soul. Against any expectations she might have had, the girl suddenly found herself pushed onto her back before, moments later, a tingling anxiety welled up from her stomach as she felt a pressure against her groin. She was absolutely certain her attacker was a woman so she had no idea what was going on as she weakly cried out, "Please...just kill me..." Rather than the reprieve of death, the girl heard the sound of someone inhaling deeply before the pressure suddenly subsided. Then, causing her mind to blank yet again, the demoness stood over her and asked in a raspy and ice-cold tone, "Have you killed...?" Though it took her a few moments to process what was being asked of her, the girl began to shake her head rapidly before stammering, "I-I-I''ve n-n-nev-" She wasn''t able to finish her sentence as the pink-haired demon suddenly picked her up in a bridal carry before running deeper into the woods after saying, "You are innocent...I will protect you..." in a decisive tone. After this overwhelming series of events, the petite woman didn''t have any words left and, as she had been in the Critical Health state after overdrafting her SP, she gave up trying to stay awake. The last thought to go through her mind before darkness claimed her was, "I''m going to get eaten..." as the trickle of blood from her nose increased slightly. --- There was nothing more important to Saht that being able to reunite with Linnaeus but, no matter how brutal she was during a battle, she would not kill those who didn''t fight back. She did not want to become the type of person she and Linnaeus often hunted so, after seeing the man betray his ally, most of her hatred had been directed toward him. After venting most of her frustrations on the man, even after his death, Saht had calmed down quite a bit as her SP had nearly flatlined. As her [Demonification] slowly began to wear off, she neared the girl who had previously peppered her with Magic spells. She could see the resolve to accept death in the girl''s eyes, something she had seen often in young women in the slums. Once again feeling like she was comparable to the men and women she hated the most, Saht made the split-second decision to confirm something. Before the girl could react, she pushed her down and, knowing there was a distinctive smell that lingered inside a woman after she lost her virginity, Saht confirmed that the girl was untouched. After that, she asked the girl if she had ever killed and, though there was hesitation in her eyes, it didn''t feel like she was lying when she began to say she had never killed anyone. Without any crimes to place on the girl other than defending herself from an attacker, Saht felt a bitter feeling in her heart. After that, she decided to repent by protecting the girl until she had the requisite Aether to move on to the next level. At the very least, she would help her until her own Aether value naturally reached a thousand points on the second day. She already had 917 points so it wouldn''t be difficult for her to help another person for a short while. With her mind made up, Saht dug a burrow with her bare hands before spreading the dirt all over the surroundings to hide her tracks. She then tucked the fur-covered girl into the hole before using a decaying tree to cover the hole. After that, she quickly hunted down a massive quadrupedal creature with spear-like horns that curved backward. It hadn''t taken much effort for her to snap its neck and, though she wasn''t adept at cooking, due to rarely having anything to cook, even burnt meat was better than nothing when it came to treating the Critical Health status. Though it wasn''t the gentlest way to wake someone up, Saht used her nail to scratch the underside of the girl''s horns, knowing that her own were sensitive in the same area. This could be very pleasant if gently caressed but, if someone did it roughly, it was a very startling and painful sensation. As could be expected, the fur-covered girl awoke with a start, bonking her head on the roof and causing dirt to rain down over her. Since she was surrounded primarily by darkness, she began to panic but, before she could cry out, Saht shoved the slightly overcooked meat in front of her face, saying in the same cold tone as before, "Eat." After hearing the familiar voice, the girl remembered what had happened so she quickly viewed her own Status, finding that her health was already lower than 30%. Though the meat smelled burnt, she wasted no time in gulping it down. If given the choice between life and death, most people would obviously choose the former. Now that the adrenaline from battle had worn off, her resolution to face death had gone with it, replaced by a very strong will to survive. 20 Cautious Nature After nearly seven days on the First Floor, Linnaeus had acquired a total of 829 Aether, most of which had been obtained from hunting the various oversized animals littering the seemingly endless forest. By constantly avoiding areas where people would naturally congregate, he had been able to avoid any direct encounters with other Fledglings. Instead, he focused on increasing his proficiency with his Skills, Abilities, and Magic as, even without people to use them against, the animals residing on the First Floor had become a veritable treasure trove of experience. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though he had gotten quite a bit of experience when he first started killing his pursuers in the slums, this number had decreased to between 5~20 experience after his Level had increased. Since it took an increasing amount of experience to raise his Level, these diminishing returns had been weighing heavily on his mind after reaching Level 21. Now, Linnaeus found that even relatively weak animals, such as a peculiar toothed duck and a three-meter long bottom-feeding fish, could grant him a considerable amount of experience. Some of the larger predatory animals, such as the red-furred leopard he had killed, granted a phenomenal 201 experience in a single go. It wasn''t exactly easy to find animals within the forest but, by leaving corpses as bait, he had been able to draw the attention of a few sensitive predators to rapidly increase his experience gains while also training his Skills, Abilities, and Magic. He was actually surprised with how easy it was to hunt and trap animals using a combination of his [Barrier], [Stealth], [Presence Concealment], and the environment itself. After encountering traps previously, Linnaeus had decided to try and earn the [Trap Set] and [Trap Disarm] Skills on his own. With his attributes, he knew it would be very difficult to fight enemies directly so, in order to ensure he could pass through increasingly dangerous Floors, he wanted to increase his foundation as much as possible. Because of the gracious contribution of the various fauna inhabiting the forest, Linnaeus felt like his horizons had expanded exponentially. Not only was his power increasing rapidly but, for reasons he didn''t quite understand, not being able to see the Tower dominating the horizon suddenly made it seem as if his future had been opened to limitless possibilities... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Fledgling(+2 Spi, +1 Luk per Level) Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 15 Gender: Male Level: 21~23(1008/3900) Health: 1120/1120 Soul Power: 2971/2971 Strength: 50 Constitution: 50~52+4 Agility: 70~79+15.8 Dexterity: 51~56+2 Intelligence: 82~91+50.5 Wisdom: 82~90+50 Spirit: 38~42+12.6 Charisma: 25~28 Luck: 10~13+1 Free Attributes: 16 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Fleet-Footed:LV1~LV11], [Magus:LV1~LV14], [Resilient Mind:LV1~LV8], [Knife Mastery: LV21], [Throwing: LV14~LV15],[Sense Danger: LV29~LV30], [Presence Concealment: LV30~LV32], [Acrobatics: LV30~LV31], [Pain Tolerance: LV18~LV19], [Barrier Master:LV50~LV51], [Assassination: LV33~LV35], [Charm: LV7~LV8], [Trap Set: LV11](new), [Trap Disarm: LV6](new), [Dismantling: LV7](new) Abilities: [Steal: LV27~LV28], [Stealth: LV28~LV30], [Night Vision: LV17~LV19] Magic: [Enhance: LV26], [Barrier: LV50~LV51], [Barrier Aura: LV50] ---------------------------------------- Every time Linnaeus saw the increase in his experience and attributes, he couldn''t help but smile as it wasn''t an exaggeration to say he was more than twice as powerful as a week prior. Attributes didn''t scale linearly so the difference between 40~50 Agility and 50~60 Agility was significant. Now that his attributes had increased so much, even his weakest [Barrier], using the minimum 50SP, could hold upwards of 400kg. In the past, he had only been able to support around 140kg so it was quite a sizeable increase.. Better yet, as his [Barriers] persisted for the duration of his Spirit, he could now erect them for nearly a full minute, a stark contrast to the pitiable seconds he could maintain them previously. The only downside was, after reaching Level 50, he was no longer able to arbitrarily gain experience by simply casting his Magic. He needed to proactively use them by stress-testing their resistance or actively using them in combat. It seemed that breaking through the Level 50 threshold made it a lot harder to grow unless you were willing to put in some serious effort. Despite this setback, Linnaeus was optimistic for the future as, with his SP regeneration reaching 149 per minute, it was possible for him to perform some pretty amazing feats. He had even been able to make platforms that allowed him to ascend high into the sky and, so long as he paced himself, it was possible to stay airborne indefinitely. In the future, Linnaeus was hoping he would be able to freely move his barriers around as, unless he made them dynamic from the start, they were fixed once he created them. Since the barriers had no weight to them, at least not enough to matter, there wasn''t much use for a platform that simply fell to the ground the moment he created it. Using his Blessing to its limit, Linnaeus had ascended a steep cliff before making a small camp for himself on one of the larger ledges. The chances of him begin attack so far away from any other Fledglings and resources allowed him to relax, even if he never dropped his guard. In this manner, he had been able to last until the eve of the seventh day when a voice began to echo in his surroundings, saying, "You are the last Fledgling remaining on this Floor. Congratulations, Mr. Finnias, as you will be given a small bonus for your patience and cautionary nature. Though it is only a pittance compared to what the frontrunners earned, I hope to see how far someone like you is able to climb this Tower. Ufufufufu~." The moment the voice faded away, Linnaeus heard a ding as his Aether value increased to 1829. At the same time, transparent blue text appeared in his vision that said, ''You are the 577th Ranking member in your group. Due to your peculiar nature, you have been awarded the Title of Sheepish Fledgling''. (A/N: Sheepish Fledgling(+1 Wis, +1 Spi, +1 Cha) Linnaeus didn''t mind the bonus 1000 Aether but, when he saw his new Title, his mind completely blanked as a feeling of loss welled up inside of him. Though some might do anything to get their hands on it, he didn''t have much use for the Charisma attribute. Luck, however, was one of the most important attributes as it directly influenced the large majority of his active Abilities. Now that he no longer gained the free Luck per Level, he suddenly felt that his efforts over the last week, while fruitful, had cost him something important. Without being afforded the time to brood, Linnaeus suddenly felt his vision blacken as a nauseating sense of weightlessness seized him. Then, as if it had been an illusion, this feeling faded away as his feet were firmly planted on a hard stone floor. Unlike the previous Floor, which was a vast and open wilderness, the Second Floor reminded him of the slums. The air was very humid and, much like the alleyways he had called home for his entire life, there were tall stone walls that had pipes of different sizes passing between them. As for the ceiling, only pure darkness could be seen, even with his [Night Vision] activated. Just as he was thinking about what kind of test awaited him, a distinctly different voice from the one present on the First Floor announced, "Congratulations to everyone who had cleared the First Floor''s challenge! There are now a total of 577 Fledglings remaining of the original 1,000 so I am pleasantly surprised. It isn''t uncommon for only 300~400 people to make it this far so I have high hopes that this batch will complete my challenge with ease!" Since the fastest way to get Aether was to kill other Fledglings, Linnaeus wasn''t surprised by the voice''s words in the slightest. He was bothered by the fact he was the lowest ranking member of his entire group but that didn''t really matter, so long as he survived. Unfortunately, the voice seemed to be able to read his mind, and not in a good way... "As I''m certain everyone has noticed, the Second Floor is quite a bit different from the First. I hope you all were able to enjoy the amenities provided during your wait as, from this moment onward, the only luxuries you have are the ones you collected in your Inventories! Unlike the previous Floor, you will find that the only enemies waiting for you here are other Fledglings! As for the challenge that awaits you, it is a game I like to call Hunt, Hide, and Seek. Every hour, for the duration of a single minute, a red thread will connect you and your target. In order to proceed to the next Floor, you have to either kill or team up with your target! Keep in mind that, while you are hunting others, there is also someone hunting you. Good luck, and may you one day soar amongst the Heavens~!" Though the rules of the game weren''t particularly threatening, what the voice had failed to say was that the name and rank of their target and the person hunting them were both displayed in the information panel of their Status. There, Linnaeus could only stare blankly as he saw the name of his Target, Ersk Kivanh, Rank 133, and the name of his Hunter Merek Alexandros, Rank 1. Even living in the slums his entire life, Linnaeus was familiar with the names of the Eight Heavenly Families. This included the Geminis, Evendoom, Silverlake, Andromeda, Titania, Bellsprit, Goldbeard, and, last but not least, the Alexandros family. Since it was practically a death sentence to claim the surname of one of the Eight without being an actual member, Linnaeus knew that the person who was hunting him undoubtedly belonged to the Alexandros family. Without wasting any time, Linnaeus began to vault up the walls, using the pipes and footholds formed from his [Barrier] Magic to ascend as high and out of sight as possible. He didn''t know how big the Floor was but, if he went high enough, Linnaeus was confident he could avoid being made easy prey for the prodigious Rank 1 Fledgling. As for fighting back, that would depend wholly on the type of Blessing his Hunter had as, unlike some of the other families, the Alexandros weren''t famous for any particular Blessing. After ascending for nearly half an hour, to the point he couldn''t even see the floor below any longer, Linnaeus finally reached what appeared to be the ceiling of the Second Floor. He wasn''t really sure how far he had traveled but, if a person fell from this height, death was assured. Without any other materials on hand, Linnaeus began to chip away at the outer layer of the pipe, only to quickly discover the material was far harder than anything he had ever dealt with. He had actually been curious about whether or not it was possible to pass into other corridors through the pipes but this seemed to be beyond his capabilities. With few alternatives available to him, Linnaeus could only wait in his [Stealth] mode while waiting for the small timer in his information tab to finish counting down. He wasn''t actually planning on hunting down his target as this meant exposing himself to the Rank 1 player while also potentially earning the ire of his target. After all, even if he could convince the person named Ersk to team up with him, the chances of them siding with him after learning he was being hunted by the Rank 1 were slim, at best. For the umpteenth time, Linneaus felt that the Tower was actively putting him into unfair situations while propping up other Fledglings, despite them not needed the help. He felt it was ridiculous that the Rank 1 Fledgling, who was already well ahead of his peers, was assigned with the lowest-ranked person in the batch. It was practically a death sentence as, by reaching the Second Floor ahead of everyone else, it was almost guaranteed that the person hunting him had no qualms about killing others... Thinking this far, Linnaeus couldn''t help but release a tired sigh as he looked toward the ceiling above, missing the sky of the First Floor... 21 Frustration During the time Linnaeus had been lost in thought, a small ding resounded in his ears. This brought his attention to his Status before, moments later, observing a thin blue string that ran from his index finger. Due to how high he had climbed, Linnaeus wasn''t surprised that his string was angled downward, extending into the adjacent wall and connecting him to his prey. He also took note of the fact that this was on the only visible string, meaning this challenge was designed so that you would know the name of your Hunter, but not their appearance and location. Linnaeus could feel a lingering dread in his heart, even though his [Sense Danger] had yet to activate. There didn''t seem to be much of a chance he would make it through this particular challenge. Even if he stalled, there wasn''t any information provided by the voice explaining the rules that would indicate a cutoff time for the game. Realizing his best hope was to track down his target before Merek managed to locate his position, Linnaeus began the arduous task of traveling through the peculiar stone corridors, a rather slow process considering he was trying to keep his elevation advantage. Until he knew his enemy''s capabilities, Linnaeus wanted to make hunting him as inconvenient as possible. Though Merek would likely be able to leap from the pipes to get around, there was a chance his Blessing wasn''t suited for ranged combat, giving him a small advantage if he played his cards right. What Linnaeus didn''t expect was that, as he traveled in the direction of his prey, using the string that would appear every hour as a guide, an unexpected ding was heard in his mind. This drew his attention to his Status where, for one of two reasons, his target''s name had disappeared. Linnaeus hadn''t realized it before but there was a possibility that both his target and Hunter could either move on to the next Floor or be eliminated without him ever meeting them. Though it was rather unlikely, Merek might just choose to team up with the person hunting him down, removing the danger entirely. Since he had nothing better to do, Linnaeus waited until the current countdown completed but, rather than allow him a reprieve, his Status now showed a new target. This caused him to release an exasperated sigh as, for a moment, he believed it might be possible to just evade pursuit until his Hunter moved on to the next Floor. Though this could have been a mistake on his part, it gave him a much better chance than trying to reason with someone from one of the Eight Heavenly families. After thinking about his options, Linnaeus realized that it wasn''t too likely for the person hunting down Merek to proactively seek them out. Unless they were very confident in their strength, they would probably wait for their own Hunter to seek them out and try to team up with them instead. Understanding this was the most likely outcome, Linnaeus knew his best chance was still to seek out his prey and either kill or ally with them. Fortunately, his current target was the 439th Ranked Fledgling, implying they were much weaker than his previous target. --- As Linnaeus continued traveling high above the floor below, he would periodically hear the sound of distant explosions. There were even times when he could see brilliant flashes of light in the distance but, due to his decision to travel near the ceiling, it was impossible to make out the features of the battle''s participants. All he could do was hope that one of them happened to be his pursuer and, though it wasn''t likely, Linnaeus prayed they either got tired of chasing after him or became the victim of someone else''s greed. With this state of mind, Linnaeus continued to travel for the better part of seventeen hours before deciding to take a break and rest. At this point, his target had already changed two additional times, indicating that the Floor was either smaller than expected, or that the entity in charge of the test put them close to their targets from the start. Linnaeus found some small comfort in knowing that his actions had become, at the very least, a small setback for the Rank 1 Fledgling. At this point, close to a hundred people should have been able to progress to the next Floor, even if only to avoid having to idle about in the cold, humid, and generally unpleasant Second Floor. What Linnaeus hadn''t considered was that the Second Floor was actually filled with various traps, many being very lethal in nature. Rather than ascend to the next Floor after completing their tasks, his first target had been the unfortunate victim of a metal spike running through their right flank and piercing their heart. As for his second target, they had been killed off by the original person assigned to hunt them, as it was necessary for some targets to be shared as people continued to be eliminated. While this was going on, a man with handsome features, a muscular body, pure white hair, and blazing green eyes would periodically look up. This caused the heroic aura surrounding him to vanish for a brief moment as, rather than the confident smile he was known for, a murderous glint would flash across his eyes as a grimace form on his face. Though there were a number of people that chose to use the pipes to travel, as it allowed them to avoid many of the Floor''s traps, it was still very inconvenient. Some of the pipes were separated by as much as twenty meters, making it impossible for the vast majority of Fledglings to travel between them. With his [Sword Mastery] Blessing, Merek, quite literally, had an edge against the majority of other Fledglings. Not only did he have the advantage of being groomed by one of the Eight Heavenly Families, but he had been provided a sword during his first test, allowing him to quickly cut down his opponent before slaughtering his way through the First Floor with ease. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. After claiming the first position in the Rankings, Merek had been full of pride at his achievement. This also afforded him a bonus 10,000 Aether and gave him the opportunity to take advantage of the amenities provided by the Second Floor as he awaited the next challenge. The rest area of the Second Floor included various luxuries, such as comfortable beds, showers, and even a massage parlor. It''s most alluring aspect, however, was the plethora of strange shops, each manned by automatons that sold everything from essential supplies to powerful equipment. Though he abhorred the idea of roughing it, Merek knew there were times he would be unable to sleep on a comfortable bed. To prepare himself for this, he chose to sleep in one of the cheaper dwellings after spending the majority of his Aether on items and equipment. This was all so that he would be able to clear the Second Floor just as quickly as the first, awarding him more Aether and allowing him to remain at the head of the pack. Now, nearly a full day had passed and, with it, well over a hundred other Fledglings had either moved on or been eliminated. This left a bitter taste in Merek''s mouth, replacing the jubilance he had experienced after first being assigned the lowest-ranked Fledgling as his target. Originally, Merek believed the Tower was rewarding his efforts while punishing the cowardly nature of his opponent. Now, however, he could only clench his teeth in frustration as he learned just why Linnaeus had been the last in the previous challenge. His target seemed to proactively avoid conflict and, though there were no guarantees, it seemed like their Blessing allowed them to fly or, at the very least, easily traverse the complex system of pipes. Merek had tried numerous times to ascend higher but, after you reached a certain point, it was almost impossible to cover the distance between pipes without trying to vault off walls or using something like a grappling hook. His horizontal leaping distance was a commendable fifteen meters but, even if he used [Enhance] to its limits, he could only jump a maximum of eight meters vertically. What frustrated Merek the most was that other Fledglings would randomly attack him as they attempted to steal his equipment and supplies. The first time this happened, he believed it was his Hunter but, rather than strike the young woman down, he actually lowered himself to party up with her, even temporarily. Since he didn''t want his placement to be affected too greatly, he was prepared to allow his quarry to escape, at least for the time being. Unfortunately, the woman, along with everyone else that followed, were just trying to rob him. He quickly cut them down for their audacity but, every now and then, he would come across a tricky opponent. These included a hulking man whose bodily fluids, blood included, had potent acidic properties. Though he hadn''t been particularly difficult to deal with, Merek lost his primary blade in the process, requiring him to use a much weaker substitute. Even more troublesome than the man with acidic blood was his encounter against a duo who were obviously members of the Shadow Guild. They had immediately attacked him on the spot and, due to the harsh training the Shadow Guild members underwent, it was a difficult fight, even for Merek. Fortunately, while they were tricky opponents, especially in terrain with multiple walls and pipes to maneuver around, they were relatively weak in direct engagements. He managed to cut off one of their legs, causing the other attacker to immediately retreat without sparing their companion a second glance. Then, as they were known to do, the crippled man activated a strange talisman, self-destructing after trying to leap toward Merek with their remaining leg. As it wasn''t the first time members of the Shadow Guild had tried to assassinate him, Merek had been fully aware of their final trump card. This allowed him to leaped to one of the pipes above and, using their seemingly indestructible nature, evade the primary blast wave. Though this had left his eardrums bleeding, he recovered around twenty minutes later as he, once again, glared menacingly toward the endless darkness above... Unaware that he had become the personal enemy of a member of the Eight Heavenly Families, Linnaeus continued to make slow progress through the labyrinthine network of corridors as he sought out his constantly updating target. At this point, three days had passed so, while he had been unable to find his target, Linnaeus was confident his Hunter lacked the means to reach him. This allowed him to rest a bit easier and, by the end of the third day, a ding sounded in his mind that indicated his Hunter had changed from the Rank 1 to someone ranked 419th. When Linnaeus saw the new name, he couldn''t help but laugh aloud but, rather than make his way down to proactively search for his target, he continued to stay close to the roof, well out of range for most Fledglings. Though some might call him cowardly, this was the method the weak used to survive when surrounded by the strong. There was no point in being brave if the only reward was an early death. Unlike other people, who actively sought to reach the higher Floors of the Tower, Linnaeus just wanted to survive in order to reunite with the people he cared about. He intended to leave the Tower at the first opportunity so, even if he was ridiculed, why should he care about the opinion of people who would unhesitantly kill him if it meant they could ascend to the next Floor? With this mentality, Linnaeus continued to bide his time while preserving as much of his supplies as possible. It wasn''t until the end of the seventh day that he considered heading down as, rather than two different names, indicating his target and Hunter, there was now a single name between them. For the last few pings, the string on his finger had been pointing directly downward as well so, feeling now was his opportunity to proceed to the next Floor, Linnaeus began his descent. What had surprised Linnaeus the most was, rather than someone near the same Rank as him, his current target and Hunter were both ranked 13th. Though this raised a few red flags in his mind, it could be a tremendous boon if he was able to convince them to temporarily ally with him. Thus, even though he had a few inhibitions and was tempted to wait a few more days, Linnaeus slowly and carefully descended. 22 Overwhelming Though it was impossible to know who spread it first, there was a famous story that circulated both within the megacity and the slums surrounding it. This story spoke of a godly bird whose wingspan could even cover the sky. One day, it grew bored of the planar world below and, seeking something beyond the endless sky above, flew with only the sun as its guidance. The sun, feeling as though its pride had been offended, cast down blazing rays of light, consuming the arrogant bird for daring to venture too close. The most curious thing about this story was, rather than a single tragic end, there were two different versions. One stated that the majestic bird, unrivaled in all the lands, was able to overcome the sun''s flames and, rather than be burned alive, it used those same flames to refines its body. By sacrificing its flesh and overcoming death itself, it was reborn as a completely new existence, known through all of Lumen as the Legendary Phoenix. However, this was only one outcome as, in other instances of the story, the mighty bird met its end as a result of its curiosity, lack of preparation, and hubris. Linnaeus never thought he would be able to empathize with such a powerful creature but, at this moment, he was suddenly reminded of the story. He felt like he had ventured too close to the sun before he was ready, despite having spent his entire life skulking in the shadows. As for the cause of his peculiar state of mind, it was due to the presence of a familiar figure who, currently, stared up at him with a predominately blank expression. Despite this, Linnaeus felt like he was a small animal who had just wandered into the den of a predator a thousand times its size, despite the fact she was little more than two-thirds his own... The person Linnaeus was looking at, named Ryuuna Flaskbrand, was the same child-like girl he had witnessed slaughtering several people on the First Floor. She had been bold and brazen enough to rinse her body in the river without a care in the world, punishing any who dared interrupt her bath with death. Now, as she looked up at him with her pale-gold eyes, Linnaeus felt like he would be the next person on her long list of victims. As if reading his mind, the expressionless girl seemed to blur as a cloud of dust expanded outward from where she had previously been standing. He couldn''t even follow her movements with his eyes as she bounded between the walls and pipes like a rubber ball. What shocked him the most was, in one of the areas where she had kicked off, the seemingly indestructible pipes had a small footprint. Unfortunately, Linnaeus didn''t have time to marvel at this sight as he formed a barrier between him and his would-be attacker purely by instinct. At that same moment, time felt like it had been slowed to a halt as, less than a meter from his own face, separated only by a thin blue membrane, Linnaeus saw the little girl staring right back at him. Her forehead had contacted the barrier and, as if it gave no resistance whatsoever, he could see it fracturing like glass as she successfully completed her charge. This was the downside to his [Barrier] as, if he didn''t put enough SP into the cast, it could be broken by a significantly powerful attack. Linnaeus was fully aware of this so, hoping to just slow her down, he put a full 500 SP into a single cast. This didn''t seem to matter at all to her, however, as the next moment was celebrated by a powerful force slamming into his chest, the result of the girl''s forehead impacting his diaphragm. Two things happened immediately following this sudden impact. The first was Linnaeus being sent flying backward several tens of meters before slamming into a series of pipes as he tumbled toward the ground below. At the same time, he saw his SP decreased by nearly 1700 points, meaning her single attack had burned through more than 2200 of his reserves. The resultant fall ate through the majority of the remainder and, by the time he landed against the ground, the blue light around his body was flickering pathetically as only 38 of his SP remained. Despite taking no physical damage, Linnaeus couldn''t see or think straight due to the overwhelming headache he was currently experiencing. This was one of the downsides to using a large amount of SP in a short period of time so, having burned through more than 98% of his reserves in a short few seconds, Linnaeus felt like a metal pipe had struck the back of his head. His ears were ringing as a terrifying darkness had already started to creep in from the edge of his vision. Resisting the urge to pass out, Linnaeus climbed to his feet but, before he managed to get more than a few steps, a tiny figure blocked his path. He suddenly felt like his blood was on fire as, rather than go down without a fight, he burned the majority of his health and remaining SP as he extended his hand. Though he couldn''t see it, this action caused the girl''s brows to rise slightly as, against her expectations, she found her body surrounded by a barrier that restricted her movements. Linnaeus had done his best to harder the [Barrier Aura] as much as possible, cutting off the girl''s air and restricting her ability to move. He then fell to his knees as blood poured out from the orifices of his head due to the backlash of the overdraft. Then, as his vision turned to pinholes, Linnaeus began pulling out all of his food and supplies as he began to madly engorge himself, praying it would be enough to bring him out of the Critical Health status while he was unconscious. Looking like a madman who had been starved for days, Linnaeus continued to devour food until he collapsed, hunching forward with a piece of unchewed meat hanging from his mouth. While this had been happening, the girl watched him with a deadpan expression on her face. Then, for the second time, she was surprised by the fact he had been able to keep the barrier active, even after having lost consciousness. Since not being able to breathe was annoying, the girl began to strain her body and, like an ice sculpture breaking under pressure, the barrier around her body fragmented into pieces. When she was freed, the first thing she did was to take a deep breath of fresh air before looking down at the boy who had desperately clung to life. She wondered how someone with such a strong drive to live could be so weak but, as his body had been somewhat illusory earlier, she rationalized that he must be a prospective Thief. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though the [Barrier Master] Blessing wasn''t particularly rare, it was a very useful support ability that provided quite a number of benefits. It was more than a little odd for a Thief to have such a skill but, considering how he had been able to survive one of her blows, plus the subsequent fall, it was clear he had mastered it to a commendable degree. The most impressive part, however, was his use of the Blessing to restrict her movements and, despite being on the verge of collapse, his almost instinctual drive to survive. Out of curiosity, the girl lifted her foot as if she were going to crush Linnaeus'' head. Instead, she only brought it to rest probingly against the back of his head. When a thin blue membrane prevented her from contacting him directly, she blinked in surprise for the third time. His tenacity reminded her of the bugs she used to squash when she was younger. Some of them, despite being stepped on over and over again, continued to struggle desperately for their lives. While thinking this, the girl began to put more strength into her foot as a smile began to creep its way onto her face. The entire reason she had stayed on the Second Floor for so long was due to the fact she wanted to eliminate as much of the competition as possible. Even if it might be necessary for her to team up with others in later Floors, she enjoyed crushing the hopes and dreams of those who sought to compete against her. This was especially true if her opponent belonged to one of the Eight Heavenly Families as, for the past seventeen years of her life, she had been forced to serve as little more than a slave to their whims. It was because of this that, despite her desire to feel Linnaeus'' blood and brains against the bottom of her foot, she ultimately decided not to squash him. Rather than a threat, he was closer to the bugs she had taken her frustrations out on as a child. Even this, however, made him infinitely better than the egotistical wastrels that had suppressed her prior to entering the Tower. She could use him as a lackey and a cook as, much like others of Dwelven heritage, her skills lay more in crafting than the culinary arts. Looking around Linnaeus'' body, the girl could see various foodstuffs, fruits, and herbs. This showed he was both resourceful and had relatively decent survival skills. Considering he had been the last to leave the First Floor, he also had a cautious nature. Though it could be misconstrued that he was a coward who feared conflict, his eyes showed absolutely no hesitation as he tried to counterattack. It wasn''t the look of someone who had never killed but rather someone who only killed when it was required. After deciding to give the boy a chance at life, the Dwelven girl sat down on his back and began to eat some of the food that surrounded his body. She would have him reveal his Status to her and, if the numbers weren''t too pathetic, she would spare him. At the very least, she could use him as a punching bag one last time before moving on to the next Floor. She was a little curious to see how he would fight for his life the second time around as, even after slaughtering nearly sixty other Fledglings, very few had managed to surprise her, much less three times. If he could surprise her a few more times before his death, she would try to commit his name to heart, at least for a few days. While thinking about the boy''s identity, the girl hopped off his back before kicking Linnaeus over to his side. Then, squatting down close to his face, she tilted her head sideways before falling silent for a few seconds. She had seen him up-close before but, now that she got a good look at him, the girl was, once again, surprised. Though she had never touted her looks over others, she had the distinct impression the boy lying next to her, despite having his face covered in blood, was more attractive than her. He couldn''t be described as handsome, especially with his frail and lithe figure, so the only words she could think of to describe him were delicate and beautiful. This made him seem even frailer than before and, rather than a bug, she suddenly felt he was closer to a winter rose, something to be admired, not crushed. For a brief moment, the Dwelven girl began to imagine dressing up Linnaeus in various outfits, most of which were only intended for females and a few individuals with unique tastes. She felt he would look cute in a Maid outfit or a pale-blue dress with white frills. At the same time, she imagined him glaring back at her, golden eyes burning with the will to live, despite being akin to a small animal in front of her. This image caused a smile to spread across her face and, while Linnaeus continued to wander in the abyss of unconsciousness, she began to pat his head while musing, "I hope I don''t have to kill you~." 23 Gulf As Linnaeus slowly freed himself from the darkness of unconsciousness, the first thing he noticed was the throbbing pain in his temples. He could feel the veins pulse in the same rhythm as his heartbeat while, at the back of his head, a deep and painful ache radiated through his sluggish mind. Peeling his eyes open a minimal amount, Linnaeus noticed that his body was held down by a pile of stones that slowly ate away at his SP reserves while, at his side, a particularly bored-looked girl sat in a thuggish manner as she tossed a stone up and down. Her presence stirred his mind to awareness, bringing a fresh wave of pain as the memories preceding his collapse came rushing back. Though Linnaeus had managed to restrain his pained groan, the twitching of his face hadn''t gone unnoticed by the girl who, realizing he was awake, stated in a dull tone, "If you''re going to pretend to be asleep...I can help make sure you never have to worry about waking again..." As she spoke, the girl began piling on a few more stones, weighing down Linnaeus'' body, causing his SP to flatline in an instant. It became clear she had been testing his resistance as he slept, ensuring he was always on the verge of having no SP to support his [Barrier Aura]. Realizing the situation he was in, Linnaeus felt a sour feeling in his nose but, resisting the pain and pressure against his chest, he stated through gritted teeth, "Just...do it...already...I won''t...entertain you..." In spite of his words, the girl immediately began laughing in response as she began pulling away a few of the stones, easing the pressure against his chest without restoring his mobility. When his SP recovered a bit, his [Barrier Aura] removed the pressure entirely, albeit at the cost of eating as his reserves with each second that passed. After observing the color and fragmenting of Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura], the girl piled on a few extra stones so that the rate of depletion and regeneration were about the same. Then, with an amused smile on her face, she asked, "Why did you enter the Tower? I don''t understand how someone so weak believed they had any chance of climbing to the peak..." Though it was hard to form any coherent thoughts with his SP constantly on the verge of depletion, Linnaeus tried to reason as to why the girl bothered questioning him. He first thought that she just wanted to torment him before finishing him off but, seeing the curiosity in her gaze, this didn''t seem to be the case. Deciding to gamble, Linnaeus clenched his jaw a few times, flexing the muscles before answering, "I wanted the power...to control my fate...to reunite with the people I love..." As he said these words, a few of the tears Linnaeus had been holding back managed to free themselves from his moist eyes. With his hands also buried beneath a few flat stones, there wasn''t anything he could do to hide the proof of his shame, exacerbating the bitter feelings welling up in his heart. Hearing Linnaeus'' answer, the girl''s face immediately formed into a frown. For a brief moment, she even felt a little guilty for putting the beautiful boy into this situation as, compared to the average Fledgling, he very clearly didn''t want to be here. Unless the people he mentioned were inside of the Tower, his words indicated he actually wanted to leave it, not ascend to its heights. This bothered her more than she had expected as, accompanying her conflicted thoughts, she suddenly felt a lot like the people who had suppressed her for years. Since speculating would get her nowhere, the girl asked, "Where are the people you love...? Are they already in the Tower...?" After blinking in confusion a few times, Linnaeus took a few deep breaths before answering, "I am an orphan from the slums...my sister obtained the [Healer] Blessing so she was taken to the megacity...I just wanted to see her one last time...to make sure she was okay..." This time, the girl immediately sighed after hearing Linnaeus'' words before commenting in the same dull tone as before, "You are kind of pathetic...really..." Despite saying harsh words, the girl was also thinking about the kind of life that Linnaeus must have lived. She was familiar with both the slums and orphans but, while her own life had been particularly shitty at times, there were many people to support her. She had tens of siblings and a mother who cared for her deeply, despite her somewhat sadistic and brash personality... Shaking her head to clear away idle thoughts, the girl focused her attention back on Linnaeus'' face, saying, "Though you are weak, you have some potential use as a Thief, Scout, or Support Class. Show me your Status. If you aren''t beyond salvation, I will allow you to Party up with me, at least until you become a liability." Though he was tempted to give in, Linnaeus ultimately shook his head before stating in a firm tone, "I will not become someone''s lackey...even if I''m weak, I have my pride...there would be no point in returning if I couldn''t even look my sister in the eye..." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, the girl frowned once again before saying in a somewhat icy tone, "You should choose your words wisely...I never said anything about making you into a lackey. At this rate, I really will kill you though..." Though this was actually a lie, as she had thought about using him as a gopher and having him take care of all the menial chores, her mind had changed when she suddenly felt comparable to the very people she hated. Rather than respond to the girl''s icy words, Linnaeus remained silent for several long seconds before exhaling loudly through his nose and displaying his Status. While it might be an important secret, it wouldn''t really matter if he showed it to another person prior to his death. She was strong enough to take his life at any moment so, rather than dig himself into a deeper hole, he decided to relent...at least for the time being. Upon seeing Linnaeus'' Status, the girl was once again surprised, this time for a variety of reasons. The first thing she noticed was that his attributes were much lower than expected but, while his foundation wasn''t very stable, it was clear that he had put in the effort to master his Blessing. What stood out the most, however, was the fact he was floating Free Attribute points, causing her to ask in an incredulous voice, "Do you...not know about boons...?" Though much of the information about the Tower couldn''t be discussed, the information about the Status board had always been freely shared. Because of this, the children of the megacity, especially those born in the Eight Heavenly Families, received an education that allowed them to exploit a few of the more important aspects of their Status. This included things like selecting appropriate Skills for the path you wished to follow, greatly increasing your attribute scaling. Far more important than even this, however, was selecting the appropriate boons. Boons were awarded every time a person broke through a certain threshold in regard to their base attribute values. These became available once you reached an attribute value of 50, 100, 200, and 500 points. After breaking through these thresholds, you would acquire progressively stronger boons, each serving as the foundation for the path you had chosen. Though Linnaeus had selected his first three boons, the fact he had 16 Free Attributes meant he could have broken through the second threshold, greatly increasing his power and strengthening his foundation. Since he really didn''t know what she was talking about, Linnaeus furrowed his brows slightly before muttering, "The slums doesn''t have an education system...we''re forced to survive on the streets from a very young age, stealing for a pittance and suffering daily beatings...even eating was a luxury..." Hearing Linnaeus'' excuse, the girl couldn''t help but frown, despite the fact he seemed to be telling the truth. However, when she saw how emaciated his body was and how short he was for a boy of fifteen, she decided not to comment. Instead, she began explaining how boons worked and, to his credit, Linnaeus listened very attentively without interrupting her a single time. Even before the girl had finished her explanation, Linnaeus increased the value of his Intelligence to 100, earning the boon [Wizard]. This not only greatly increased his SP reserves, but it provided a substantial boost to his bonus Int. Upon leveling up, he would even gain an additional +3 Int per Level, meaning he would be earning +5 Int just from boons alone. Fortunately, though he had sneakily increased his attributes, Linnaeus had been able to follow along with what the girl was explaining. From her, he knew it was possible to earn three boons every time you broke through a threshold. He could also earn the more powerful boons for a certain attribute, even if he didn''t specialize in it early on. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. According to the girl, many people invested at least one of their boons in each attribute, the most important of which was Constitution. This attribute not only increased your health, but it also staved off things like hunger, greatly increased your lifespan, and even allowed you to survive without oxygen if your regen outpaced the depletion. Because of these reasons, most people invested at least two of their boons towards Constitution early on as the additional Con per Level was extremely important. Linnaeus felt he could avoid following this logic, as his [Barrier Aura] could supplement for his frailty. However, after having his barrier shattered so easily by the mysterious girl, he knew at least one of his boons should go towards it. Unfortunately, he would need 50 additional Constitution to reach this threshold as he had missed the chance to invest in it early on. He imagined this was why most people invested their first boon into Constitution as, due to his lack of foresight, he would now have to invest a large number of Free Attributes towards an attribute he hadn''t really relied on before. Despite feeling a little annoyed, Linnaeus was still grateful for the information provided by the girl and, though she had nearly killed him previously, he felt she wasn''t so bad. At the very least, she had a thoughtful side to her, even if it was hidden beneath layers of murderous intent and a few sadistic tendencies. Though this might have deterred most people, Linnaeus had grown accustomed to the rather brutal actions of Saht so, while he didn''t this girl at all, she seemed significantly less scary than before. Seeing Linnaeus suddenly relax, the girl perked up her brows slightly but, rather than ask what he was thinking, she instead focused her mind and sent a Party invitation to him. This had taken him by surprise but, rather than refuse a second time, Linnaeus quickly accepted before she could retract the offer. At the very least, he wouldn''t have to worry about her killing and backstabbing him while they were in a Party as, if you killed an ally, you would lose the ability to Party with others for the rest of your life. It also allowed them to remotely view each other''s Status, though this was an option that had to be approved by the Party Leader which, in this case, wasn''t him. Seemingly understanding what Linnaeus was thinking, the girl adopted a slightly predatory smile as a small ding sounded within his mind. When he saw the secondary screen of information, Linnaeus couldn''t help but gawk, his mouth and eyes both wide open as a result of his shock. He now had a very clear understanding of where he stood among his peers and, though Ryuuna might be quite a bit stronger than most, she was exponentially stronger than him... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Ryuuna Flaskbrand Title: Vicious Raptor(+3 Str, +3 Con, +2 Agi per Level) Race: Dwelf Age: 17 Gender: Female Level: 26(3719/4800) Health: 6648/6648 Soul Power: 1090/1090 Strength: 129+82.4 Constitution: 111+76.6 Agility: 105+63 Dexterity: 66 Intelligence: 51 Wisdom: 54 Spirit: 58 Charisma: 19 Luck: 26 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [*Aura Master:LV52*], [Brute:LV11], [Herculean Strength:LV7], [Healthy:LV8], [Vital Spirit:LV5], [Fleet-Footed:LV14], [Heroic Spirit:LV6], [Sense Danger:LV41], [Martial Arts:LV51], [Crafting:LV39], [Bartering:LV18], [Acrobatics:LV51], [Flexible Body:LV44], [Footwork:LV48], [Iron Stomach:LV50], [Pain Tolerance:LV50], [Abnormal Status Resistance:LV38], [Perception:LV41] Abilities: [Strength Amplification:LV50], [Body Hardening:LV50], [Aura Pulse:LV51], [Aura Blade:LV51], [Dragon''s Horn:LV18] Magic: [Enhance:LV50] ---------------------------------------- (A/N: AUX chapter for Skills/Abilities/Magic has been updated.) 24 Troublesome Shortly after Linnaeus and Ryuuna formed their Party, a jovial voice disturbed the silence, stating, "It seems the two of you are the final Fledglings left on this Floor. I''m honestly a little surprised that the lowest-ranked Fledgling was able to form a team with someone. I wonder if this is perhaps fate...or maybe just youth~?" In response to its own musings, the voice began to laugh uninhibitedly for several seconds, causing Ryuuna to furrow her brows as she knew what it was trying to imply. She knew better than to retort, however, as there were no benefits to antagonizing one of the god-like Floor Guardians. Unfortunately, she very quickly wished she had said something as, taking their silence as admission, the voice mused, "Well, everyone has their own motivations for climbing the Tower. I look forward to seeing how far this budding love takes you~." The moment the voice finished its statement, Linnaeus and Ryuuna both heard a ding within their minds. A congratulatory message flashed across their eyes but, rather than read the text, Ryuuna''s eyes looked toward her Title slot before spontaneously kicking Linnaeus with enough force to send him flying into the adjacent wall. Before he made contact, however, they both vanished from the Second Floor as a sonorous laugh echoed in the surroundings. --- With the transfer arresting all of his previous momentum, Linnaeus felt onto the relatively soft grass without sustaining any injuries. In the next moment, however, the petite Ryuuna had appeared at his side, her hand grasping around his neck as she venomously stated, "I swear, if you get any ideas or try to flaunt this to other people, I will fucking flay you." Though he understood why she was upset, Linnaeus felt indignant that she felt the need to blame him for something he had no control over. If not for his [Barrier Aura], which was rapidly draining his SP, he wouldn''t have even been able to answer her. Still, as he didn''t intend to die just yet, he grit his teeth before ultimately stating, "I...understand..." After hearing Linnaeus'' response, Ryuuna snorted through her nose before finally releasing her hold on his neck. She began to look around the area which, much like the First Floor, was filled with trees, plants, and a few discernible signs of life. The biggest difference was that the temperature was much lower but, with the bodysuits they were provided giving resistance to both heat and cold, this didn''t affect either of them. While his vicious companion was looking around the area, making an obvious effort to ignore him, Linnaeus rubbed his neck in frustration while looking at his Status. There, rather than the Sheepish Fledgling Title, he had gained the even more troubling Love Bird Title. It was a paired Title that he shared with Ryuuna that granted an increase in Spirit, Charisma, and, of all things, Luck. If not for these significant boons, he imagined that Ryuuna very well might have killed him... ------------------------------------ Title: Love Bird(+3 Spi, +2 Cha, +1 Luk per Level while in the same party as other Love Birds) ------------------------------------ With Spirit, Charisma, and Luck being attributes that were impossible to spec into, even Ryuuna could only grit her teeth and accept the libelous Title. Still, Linnaeus knew it would be necessary to watch how he acts around her as, depending on her mood, it could result in a significant amount of pain for him. By the time Linnaeus was rising to his feet, the deep voice of a man began to resonate through the surroundings, stating, "Welcome to the Third Floor, Fledglings. My test focuses on endurance and survival skills. Should you desire, it is possible to move onto the next Floor by simply announcing that you, or your Party, has given up. There are no penalties for moving to the Fourth Floor and, if you are early enough, it will give you ample time to prepare for your next test. However, you will also forfeit your right to earn additional Aether, meaning you may very well find yourselves stranded on the Fourth Floor as people continue to undergo the Third''s test. As for the test itself, you need only survive for as long as possible. This will be easy at first but, with each passing day, the monsters and environment will become increasingly harsh. Now, without further ado...Good luck, and may you one day soar through the Heavens!" When the voice faded, Ryuuna snorted through her nose before muttering a few harsh words under her breath. Then, turning back to Linnaeus, she said in a firm tone, "My goal is to eliminate as much of the competition as possible. I will entrust setting camp and gathering resources to you. Do your best to lay low and survive until I return." Then, without waiting for his response, she vanished like a phantom into the woods, leaving Linnaeus shaking his head in exasperation. With the difference in their social status, Level, attributes, and overall capabilities, Linnaeus didn''t delude himself into thinking Ryuuna would listen to him. The best course of action for him was to look for shelter and, if possible, find a place where other Fledglings wouldn''t be able to reach. He needed to continue strengthening his foundation and, though she was very brash, he expected to use Ryuuna as a source for information when she returned. While using his [Stealth] and [Presence Concealment] to pass through the forested area, Linnaeus noticed that there were next to no edible plants. Even the fauna was scarce and, compared to the First Floor, the few monsters he encountered were exactly that, monsters. Rather than large animals, they had mutated appearances while radiating an intimidating and fierce aura. He had even encountered a five-meter tall bear that was covered in brown fur that had a metallic sheen to it. Though it was covered in scars, Linnaeus had the distinct impression that none of his attacks would be able to penetrate through the thick layer of fur. Since it also radiated a black aura that caused his skin to tingle, he ultimately decided to move in the complete opposite direction. Fortunately, not everything he came across was as terrifying as the monstrous bear. After skulking through the forest for several hours, Linnaeus took note of two very important things. The first was a small white rabbit but, compared to what he knew of the creatures, this one had a very pronounced horn growing from its head. As for his second observation, it was the fact that the temperature was rapidly decreasing. Though it was common for the night to be colder than the day, Linnaeus felt like the temperature was quickly approaching freezing. Since there was still ample light left in the sky, he knew it was going to get a lot colder. He imagined it was for this reason that almost every monster he had seen had thick fur coats while, compared to the vibrant and various flora on the First Floor, the Third was full of bristly brushes and tall trees. Unlike the trees Linnaeus had observed previously, these had extremely thick bark while their leaves were shaped like thin needles, a stark contrast to the tear-drop and star-shaped leaves he had found to be fascinating. They also produced a very potent smell and, after breaking away some of the bark for potential kindling, he noticed there was an annoyingly sticky substance on the interior. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Rather than worry about such things, Linnaeus focused on the prey before him, doing his best to close the distance without drawing its attention. He was already downwind from it so, as it used its horn to dig up a small plot of dirt, Linnaeus got within five meters of the creature without alerting it to his presence. Without leaving anything to chance, Linnaeus extended his hand, creating a cube-shaped barrier around the unsuspecting creature. Though he could have done the same from fifty meters away, his accuracy decreased exponentially with the distance. He had a strange awareness of his range but this did nothing to increase his precision at using barriers far from his body, especially if they had a more complex structure. As could be expected, the peculiar horned rabbit began to thrash around within the barrier but, with no distance to build momentum, it could only scratch around wildly with its horn. It had actually left a few scratches on the thin blue membrane but, as Linnaeus had put 300 SP into its formation, it had a long way to go if it wanted to destroy his barrier. After trapping the horned rabbit, Linnaeus got to learn something new as, unlike the animals he had hunted on the First Floor, the horned rabbit actually had a health bar above its head. This made him suspect that all monsters had a Status of their own but, seeing that its health had only reduced by a third, he quickly formed a second barrier around the first. Linnaeus was currently suffocating the horned rabbit by forcing it to use up its oxygen while it tried desperately to escape. He felt a little guilty about killing it in this manner but, without a weapon, he didn''t want to find out how much damage the rather vicious looking horn on its head could do. After using a series of three barriers, the horned rabbit finally met its end, awarding Linnaeus with a satisfying 69 Experience and 7 Aether. He currently had 2949 Aether after the reward of clearing the Second Floor and, though he didn''t know how to spend it just yet, he imagined Ryuuna would be able to answer his questions after she returned. Since she seemed to be a bit of a glutton, as all of his food had vanished by the time he awoke, Linnaeus decided to capture a few prey animals to entice her into parting with the information. With his [Dismantling] Skill providing him with intuitive knowledge of how he should clean and skin animals, Linnaeus quickly slit the horned rabbit''s throat before surrounding it in yet another barrier. He knew other animals would be drawn to the smell but, if he didn''t drain the blood quickly, it would begin to spoil and rot. While the Inventory could preserve an item''s freshness for an extended period of time, this required supplying it with the necessary SP to do so. Since his maximum SP would decrease every time he put something into his Inventory, Linnaeus would rather drain the blood and store it normally. He had also learned on the First Floor how foolish it was to dismantle his catch near his home as the blood drew a lot of unwanted attention, ultimately forcing him to relocate. Before placing the horned rabbit''s corpse into his Inventory, Linnaeus cut off its horn to use as a makeshift dagger. It was around 20cm long so it was more than enough to deal a fatal blow if he managed to hit a critical point like the heart or brain. He might even be able to kill someone like Ryuuna but, for some reason, Linnaeus felt that even stabbing the girl in the heart wouldn''t put her down when she had nearly 7000 Health... Shaking his head, Linnaeus prayed he wouldn''t have to find out any time soon as he once again began his trek through the woods. He still needed to capture more prey and find a place to sleep before Ryuuna came seeking him out. She didn''t seem like the understanding type but, as he had already grown used to Saht''s behavior, it didn''t bother him too much. So long as she didn''t try to boss him around and insult him, Linnaeus could tolerate her brash behavior if it meant his chances of climbing were increased. Though he didn''t believe Ryuuna was the strongest among the Fledglings, as she didn''t even belong to one of the Eight Heavenly Families, he had trouble imagining anyone stronger than her. The only person he could really compare her to was the Saxon woman he had encountered on the First Floor but, as she had clearly expended most of her SP, Linnaeus wasn''t sure how they stacked up. All he knew for certain was that his own power was lacking, something Ryuuna made very clear with her harsh and chiding words... 25 Survival While exploring the expansive forest of the Third Floor, Linnaeus had been able to identify a total of five common monsters and a single type of edible fruit that resembled a persimmon. The most common monster present was a small humanoid that rarely reached heights greater than 100cm. They had ghastly green skin, murky red eyes, and emaciated figures that wouldn''t lose out to some of the less successful Street Urchins. These gangly creatures often roamed in small packs of 3-5 and, with their loincloths and wooden clubs, it was clear to see they had some degree of intelligence. Unfortunately, this only manifested in a violent way as, during his travels, Linnaeus saw no less than ten instances of them cannibalizing each other after clashing with other groups. During his observations, Linnaeus had fought a few of the smaller groups and, as he had expected, they were just about as strong as an average Street Urchin, just infinitely more violent. Their only real advantage was their numbers and rudimentary weapons but, as they were extremely uncoordinated and possessed no skill, he was able to make short work of them with his [Barrier Aura] and horned-dagger. Through the notifications of the Akashic System, Linnaeus learned the small creatures were called Lesser Forest Goblins. On average, they gave between 30~40 Experience so, while they were a little annoying, he was able to earn as much as 200 Experience after dealing with each group. If not for the fact he wanted to strengthen his Skills first, so as not to miss out on extra attributes per Level, Linnaeus would have gone on a killing spree to harvest as much Experience as possible... After the Lesser Forest Goblins, the most prevalent monster Linnaeus had encountered were a type of transparent, globulous, creature known as a Slime. They had semi-spherical bodies that averaged between 15~20cm in diameter. From what he could see, they survived by dissolving various plants and the corpses of other monsters by wrapping their bodies around their prey. They could even cover a much larger Goblin like a thin film but, with how weak the enzymes were, Linnaeus felt it would take several hours for them to complete the process. The Slimes would have actually overtaken the Lesser Forest Goblins in quantity if Linnaeus didn''t separate the three different types into their own groups. Thus far, he had encountered a variant with transparent blue skin, known as a Plain Slime. It was the most common among the three, losing out to its kin, the Forest Slime and the significantly rarer Rock Slime. These had green and grey bodies respectively, with the former having a poisonous constitution while the latter made rocky outcrops it''s home. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. When Linnaeus had been searching for a cave to escape the cold, he almost thought he had been caught in a small rockslide as a small group of Rock Slimes leaped from their perches to try and attack him. Fortunately, while they had a surprising amount of weight to them, averaging well over 100kg despite their small size, it wasn''t something that could threaten his [Barrier Aura]. He lost a bit of SP in the surprise attack but, after that, they were easy to pick off due to their slow speed. The most curious thing about Slimes was the fact that, after killing them, they would dissolve away into a puddle before leaving behind small lumps of a gel-like substance. Though he didn''t know if it was edible, Linnaeus had looted a few of them since they had a surprisingly sweet smell. Then, after incapacitating a Goblin, he had forced the creature to ingest the sweet lump, wondering what effect it would have on the emaciated monster. Since the Goblin''s health had started to slowly regenerate, Linnaeus deduced that it shouldn''t have any kind of poison so, while it might not have been the wisest decision, he ultimately chewed on one of the dark blue lumps. To his surprise, it was more tart than sweet, not all that dissimilar to a potent citrus-type fruit. This was only the beginning of his surprises, however, as, after ingesting the rather peculiar lump, it wasn''t just his health that began regenerating slowly. Linnaeus had an almost wolfish grin on his face as he saw his SP ticking up by a few points every few seconds. Since all the Slimes he had encountered only gave around 10 Experience each, he made a point of killing and looting as many as possible. From this, he learned that the gel lumps each had a different effect, with only those produced by Plain Slimes regenerating SP. As for the lumps looted from Forest Slimes, they made his body feel strangely refreshed and had a very potent medicinal taste to them. This was still much better than the grey lumps produced by the Rock Slimes, however, as it felt like chewing on a piece of gritty leather. When he finally managed to get it down, Linnaeus felt it was more than worth the effort as, much to his surprise, his Constitution had actually gotten a +5 boost. This increased his Health by 100 and made his skin feel slightly harder than normal, indicating his defense had also increased. Though it had only lasted for around five minutes, this was still a very important discovery that made Linnaeus excited about what other benefits monster drops would provide. Unfortunately, any experiments would have to wait until the following day as, with night descending upon the land, the temperature had decreased well below freezing. He had been forced to set camp in the cramped hollow of a large tree as the only cave he found gave off a very dangerous feeling. Though it was uncomfortable, this ended up being the correct choice as, shortly after his departure, a large bear-like monster ventured out into the darkening forest for its nightly hunt. Since it was impossible to make a fire without drawing attention to himself, Linnaeus spent more time concealing the hollow and insulating the insides using Horned Rabbit pelts. He imagined that Ryuuna would kick him out if she returned to find no space for herself so he made sure to make a thicker blanket for himself, fully anticipating being thrown out into the elements. Fortunately, Ryuuna never showed up so, while he wasn''t able to sleep deeply, Linnaeus was able to get an adequate amount of rest as the forest outside became covered in a layer of frost. He knew she was okay, as the members of a Party were able to see the Health of their respective members, so he assumed she had found refuge for herself for the night. What Linnaeus never could have expected was, at the time he was drifting off into unconsciousness, Ryuuna was curled up snuggly inside the den of a Tyrant Mountain Bear. She had easily killed off the 4m tall monstrosity before claiming its den, and the food supplies within, for herself. Though hey went out to hunt periodically throughout the day, Tyrant Mountain Bears were the type of creature to stock up additional food in their dens for their offspring to consume. Unfortunately for this particular Bear-like monster, it had lost out to a far more tyrannical existence. In the very short territorial battle, it had its left arm ripped off before having its skull crushed by the intruder who, at first, seemed like prey delivering itself. After that, Ryuuna unceremoniously killed the three massive cubs inside before using their surprisingly soft bodies, a stark contrast to the metallic fur of their mother, to stay warm. She was still annoyed with the Love Bird Title so, while she briefly thought to return for the night, part of Ryuuna wanted Linnaeus to die while she was away. After this thought had crossed her mind, Ryuuna decided to test Linnaeus by seeing how long he could survive without her protection as, unless they both agreed to go to the next Floor, he was stuck here. Since a person could only leave a Party by expressing their intent directly to the Party Leader, there wasn''t anything he could do but try his best to survive or come seeking her out on his own accord. Ryuuna had a decent understanding of the power possessed by the monsters on the Third Floor so, unless things got exponentially harder, she felt Linnaeus would only be in danger if he encountered other Fledglings. Since he was very cautious, enough to escape notice on two successive Floors, she felt the chances of this happening were relatively slim. Still, she didn''t leave him fully without hope as, with her ability to sense his approximate location, she didn''t venture too far away. If he decided to run toward her at his fastest speed, it shouldn''t take longer than an hour for him to reach her location. With such thoughts on her mind, Ryuuna snuggled up next to the deceased bear cubs, muttering, "If you can''t even survive three days, don''t blame me for abandoning you..." before falling asleep. --- Though he wasn''t doing it to meet expectations, Linnaeus was already doing everything in his power to avoid detection, train his Skills, and survive. He also had a good idea of where Ryuuna was located but, rather than seek her out, he continued to venture around the area to get a better understanding of the terrain. In a fight against increasingly more powerful foes, knowledge of the terrain could save his life and allow him to escape danger. He even set a few traps using twined ivy and, though it wouldn''t really do damage to anything larger than a Goblin, it could at least trip someone up during a chase. Since he would periodically hear a sharp bell sound within his mind, indicating he had gotten experience in his [Trap Set] Skill, Linnaeus knew it had, at the very least, some small effect. At this point, Linnaeus had half a dozen horned-daggers and, to save SP, he began to string the pelts of Horned Rabbits around his waist. He didn''t feel comfortable being below 2500 maximum SP so it was the only thing he could do unless he chose to outright abandon his spoils. Fortunately, similar items could take up the same slot in his Inventory so, while they also ate away at his SP, Linnaeus had been able to collect a large number of Slime Gels. He primarily focused on the blue variant looted from Plain Slimes, as they increased both Health Regeneration and SP Recovery. They also tasted much better than the green and grey variants, of which Linnaeus only kept a small amount due to their potential of being useful in a pinch. He couldn''t be certain, but Linnaeus felt the green gel could be useful for treating fevers and weak poisons. As for the grey gel, they had the obvious use of providing extra defense and increasing his general survivability. Though it might not matter much with his [Barrier Aura], his past experiences had made it very clear he couldn''t rely solely on his Blessing. Linnaeus'' greatest strengths were his ability to move relatively undetected, allowing him the element of surprise. Most of his enemies weren''t accustomed to fighting against his unique combat style so, if he fought cleverly, it was possible to take out people much stronger than he was. Though people like Ryuuna might be an exception to this, as she could apparently sense him without much effort, it was still useful against the majority of foes. With this in mind, Linnaeus focused on evading enemies in order to increase his proficiency with his [Presence Concealment], [Trap Set], [Trap Disarm], and [Stealth]. When he came across monsters, he would use a combination of his [Knife Master], [Assassination], and [Barrier Master] to harvest a few resources and Experience towards Leveling up. Though it might not be wise to increase his actual Level before raising his Skills, Linnaeus felt it would greatly increase his survivability by raising his base Wisdom to 100. This would give him the associated boon and, due to his rather peculiar Title, an additional 3 Spi, 2 Cha, and 1 Luk per Level. These were extremely important attributes that were inordinately difficult to increase so, before he got yet another new Title, Linnaeus felt it wouldn''t be a complete mistake to benefit while he could. 26 Persistence Though it wasn''t noticeable at first, there was a discernible difference in the difficulty of the Third Floor with each successive day. At first, Linnaeus only had to worry about the stark contrast between the day and night temperature and a few monsters. Now, however, the evenings got so cold that a layer of ice would cover much of the forest. At the same time, monsters like Lesser Mountain Goblins, Slimes, and Horned Rabbits had started to vanish entirely. Instead, the most common monster he encountered were wandering bears and, infinitely more troublesome, packs of a monster called Lesser Frost Wolves. The average Lesser Frost Wolf was around two meters in length and a little under a meter in height. They were covered in pristine white fur and had vicious jaws full of ivory-colored teeth that could easily tear apart the other monsters present on the Floor. Linnaeus had even seen a pack of more than ten take down the massive bear-like creatures without too much difficulty. Though they were significantly weaker than the bear, the Lesser Frost Wolves were extremely agile and knew how to cooperate with each other. They would take turned targetting the back and legs of the bear, slowly wearing it down until it succumbed to blood loss. Then, when it could hardly put up a fight, the largest in the pack, lacking the Lesser prefix, would finish it off before enjoying the first choice bits for itself. The most troublesome aspect of the Lesser Frost Wolves, besides their speed and pack mentality, was their excellent hearing and incredibly sensitive noses. Since Linnaeus was rewarded with more experience when the enemies were strong or had advanced detection Skills, he was quickly gaining proficiency in his [Presence Concealment] and [Stealth]. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to actually evade their packs for a long period of time as, after a successful hunt, they would dutifully circle the area to spread their scent and watch for any other predators that might want to steal their meal. They were smart enough to take turns eating and keeping watch, often by using different footpaths than their predecessors to cover for any blind spots. If not for his [Barrier Aura] protecting him from surprise and combination attacks, Linnaeus imagined he would have been torn apart during his very first encounter with the white-furred demons. He had actually thought they were kind of cool at first but, after having his arm yanked in one direction while another Lesser Frost Wolf pulled his leg in the opposite, Linnaeus had quickly lost any positive feelings for the monsters. At this point in time, five days had passed on the Third Floor. The Lesser Frost Wolves had appeared during the evening of the third day, migrating from a snow-covered mountain to the north. Before the Lesser Frost Wolves appeared, there were 392 Fledglings remaining on the Floor, a value that could be tracked through the information panel of the Akashic System. Now, less than two days after their appearance, only 146 Fledglings remained, meaning they had either given up or lost their lives to the skillful hunters. As could be expected, Ryuuna was still alive and well, even if Linnaeus couldn''t confirm her status due to the fact they had been separated since the start. All he really knew was that her Health would decrease at times, likely due to her own Blessing, before recovering a few minutes later without any issues. Since he couldn''t imagine even twenty wolves taking down Ryuuna, Linnaeus was more focused on his own survival than regrouping. He had already guessed her intentions at this point so, rather than lower his head and chasing after her, he was intending to survive for as long as possible without her help. With this in mind, Linnaeus had made a home for himself in a canyon that spanned more than 50m across and several hundred meters deep. There had been a small ridge that formed a shallow hollow towards the back, located just behind a jagged rock structure. Though it was accessible to any sharp-eyed Fledglings that might discover it, such as Ryuuna, it provided adequate protection against the roaming bands of Lesser Frost Wolves. To combat the cold, Linnaeus had collected dozens of different types of pelts to line his tiny hollow. He used the sticky residue from the trees to adhere the pelts to the cold stone directly and, in order to find some small comfort in the sub-zero temperatures, he had a veritable pile of blankets to shield himself from the chilling wind that passed through the canyon. Linnaeus had noticed that the evenings were becoming longer with each passing day so, if this trend continued, he imagined perpetual night would descend upon the Floor by the tenth day. His current goal was just to survive until a week had passed or, at the very least, until the number of Fledglings had been reduced to less than 50 people. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. During his observations, Linnaeus noticed that many Fledglings had various tools and equipment, some of which they had graciously contributed to his survival efforts. What this told him was that, if he moved on to the next Floor early, he would be able to spend his Aether to obtain much-needed supplies and equipment. If he kept being the last person to pass through each Floor, the only way he could obtain supplies was by stealing them from others, something that became progressively more difficult with the passage of time. Though there were a surprising number of people with support and utility-oriented Blessing left, as these types were readily sought by other Fledglings, there was a noticeable increase in the number of people that gave Linnaeus a bad feeling. They were infinitely more dangerous than the monsters on the Floor and, if he was unlucky enough to be discovered, it was almost certain he would meet his end. While it might be possible to take out stronger enemies in a one-on-one situation, the vast majority of Fledglings had formed small Parties at this point. Many had even formed full four-person groups, generally consisting of 1~2 frontline members, a dedicated support, and a ranged attacker. They had a good balance of survival, tracking, and combat Skills, making it nearly impossible to defeat them on his own. Still, Linnaeus had been rather fortunate thus far as, even when he encountered other Parties, there weren''t any people who could detect him. Though he knew a few might have the [Perception] Skill, they had been unable to detect him if he focused on laying low. This indicated their [Perception] was lower than his [Stealth] which, due to his need to constantly keep it active, had reached LV37 in the five short days since his arrival on the Third Floor. Though he had already been aware of this due to his rapid increases at early Levels, Linnaeus was increasingly aware of how quickly Skills developed when the enemies were stronger than you. At times, he would get ticks of 20 or more experience every ten seconds when he was using [Stealth] near large groups of Lesser Frost Wolves so it had been steadily growing. At this rate, he imagined he could even break through LV40 before leaving the Floor, if not higher. These were the thoughts that passed through Linnaeus'' mind as he clung tightly to the fur pelts in his desperate attempts to resist the cold. This was the only thing he could do to distract himself from the chill that seemed to be creeping into his bones by the time light, and its accompanying warmth, descended on his sixth day surviving on the Third Floor. Though it was still unbelievably cold, as it took time for the ice to thaw out, Linnaeus stored his pelt blankets away before observing his surroundings. Once he was confident there were no enemies in the immediate vicinity, he created a few platforms using his [Barrier] magic, allowing him to easily scale the canyon''s face without much difficulty. At this point, Linnaeus'' entire body was covered in furs that he had roughly strewn together in an attempt to keep the cold at bay. He had even fashioned a make-shift helmet from the large skull of a Frost Wolf, giving him a slightly intimidating appearance that would hopefully deter anyone who thought he was an easy mark. Since he also kept several horned-daggers around his waist, he hoped to at least give them some pause that he might be able to exploit. More than anything, Linnaeus just wanted to avoid conflict entirely, at least against other Fledglings. He still needed to increase his own foundation and improve his strength, something he knew they were undoubtedly doing as well. If possible, Linnaeus wanted to observe several different groups of Fledglings to determine exactly how his strength compared to theirs. He was confident in taking down those with support or utility Blessings but, as they were often protected by those with combat-oriented specialties, he needed to carefully plan any attacks. This was how Linnaeus survived as, from his earliest memories, he knew how dangerous the world could be if you stuck your neck out thoughtlessly. The daily beatings when he first became a Street Urchin had hammered this simple truth into his bones time and again, to the point he would never forget the faces of his first attackers. Though he was now much stronger than before, and had even killed over a thousand people, none of this had been done haphazardly. His method was to observe and understand the strength of his enemies, only attacking when he was confident of victory or when his position had been revealed. If not for Saht, there were many times over the last three years where he would have lost his life due to his inhibitions about attacking others. She was far less hesitant than he was about taking a life so, whenever he had any doubts, she would always be the first to take action. This was something that bothered Linnaeus quite a bit but, as he wouldn''t even be here if not for her proactive nature, he couldn''t really complain. Linnaeus knew he needed to either team up with someone or change his core nature but, as he had been this way for over a decade, it would take time. For now, he just wanted to focus on increasing his foundation and, once he was confident in moving forward, he would begin to raise his Level in earnest. He wanted to start closing the gap between himself and people like Ryuuna, setting her as his goal for what real power represented... While Linnaeus was thinking about his growth, he heard slight rustling and the sound of ice crunch in the distance. He had already been actively using [Stealth] so he wasn''t too worried, especially since the sound was several tens of meters from his location and moving away from him. Between the gaps in the trees, Linnaeus saw the familiar figures of several Lesser Frost Wolves, each moving deftly through the trees as they chased after an unseen target. It wasn''t until he heard the pained shout of a man that Linnaeus understood what was happening but, rather than try and aid the unknown Fledglings, he vanished into the underbrush as he slowly skulked forward. If the Fledglings were smart, they would simply exit the Floor but, if they were obstinant, there was a good chance he would be able to reap a few rewards from their corpses. He had been able to gain a shortsword using this method and, though it had been bent, Linnaeus was able to straighten it out after wedging it between the nook of two trees. Linnaeus had aspirations of becoming a predator, one that could take down foes without hesitation and fear. For now, however, he was nothing more than a scavenger that would do whatever it took to survive. He didn''t mind fighting dirty or using underhanded means to obtain his goals, so long as he never compromised what remained of his integrity. So long as he clung to this basic semblance of goodness, something Rebecca had seeded inside of him long ago, Linnaeus believed he would never stray so far from the light that he could never return... 27 Foolishness Though it would be safer to approach after the battle ended, Linnaeus felt drawn towards the sound of combat. Since he needed to observe other Fledglings to understand their average strength, there was a need to spy actual combat, not avoid it entirely. If he kept taking a passive approach the entire time, he would never gain the information he required, meaning he would be grossly unprepared for the battles that were bound to come. Thus, while his instincts told him to seek higher ground and avoid danger, Linnaeus pushed onward until he saw a scene that gave him pause. In a small clearing, a burly man with an honest face was shouldering a delicate-looking woman with a missing leg. She had already passed out so he was practically dragging her body while trying to fend off a group of six Lesser Frost Wolves being led by two normal Frost Wolves. They were circling the man cautiously, seemingly waiting for their prey to bleed out after losing more than half their numbers in the pursuant hunt. The man had a solid build, brown hair, fur-covered ears, and a thick tail protruding from his backside. As for his companion, she had leaf-green hair, delicate features, and, most importantly, jade-green horns sticking out from the top of her head. Though it was impossible to be sure, as the bodysuits they were given covered most of the body, Linnaeus imagined she also had a few sections of scales as, poking out of her backside, a scale-covered tail was present. Linnaeus didn''t know what tribe the man was from but the girl was undoubtedly a member of the Jade Dragon tribe. They were well-known for their physical and magical might, the direct result of their [Dragonification] and [Dragon Soul] Blessings. Though not every member had these Blessings, they were still famous as being nigh-peerless outside of the Tower. Judging by the state of the girl, she obviously didn''t have the [Dragonification] Blessing but, what surprised Linnaeus most of all, was the resolute look in the man''s eyes. He clearly had no intention to abandon his ally, even though they couldn''t have known each other for more than two weeks. In the slums, he would be considered a profound idiot but, as Linnaeus watched the man continue to protect the unconscious girl, he couldn''t help feeling bitter inside... As if they were hunting one of the large bear-like monsters, the Lesser Frost Wolves continued to circle their injured prey. They were smart enough to continually target the side where the woman was located, forcing the man to constantly be turning on his heels to try and take them down with the silvery-white sword in his right hand. Despite the man''s best efforts, however, it was clear to see that he was slowing down considerably with the passage of time. His sword would continuously find purchase but the wounds were shallow, causing many of the Lesser Frost Wolves to have patches of blood-stained fur but, other than that, they were still able to continue their encirclement. Since the man wasn''t using any Abilities or Magic, Linnaeus assumed his Blessing was either a utility or support type. Either that or, due to the prolonged battle, he had simply overused his SP until it had reached a critical level. Regardless, it was only a matter of time before the duo fell to the efforts of the Lesser Frost Wolves as it was simply impossible for him to lug around the woman''s body while continuing to fight. Though his instincts were telling him to wait, Linnaeus was beginning to feel a considerable amount of guilt as he watched the man''s struggles. He couldn''t be certain of the man''s character but, seeing how resolutely he protected his allies, Linnaeus'' bitterness continued to grow. After all, he had only sought strength to protect himself and others so, seeing someone fighting to the death for another person while he just watched from the side was weighing heavily on his heart. While Linnaeus was struggling internally, he saw the man turn to his left, the side where the woman was located. It was much harder for him to complete this motion, something the Lesser Frost Wolves had been keenly aware of. Despite having performed the action several times without too much difficulty, this time the man got wrapped up in the uneven terrain, causing him to lose his balance. At the same time that he fell, four of the seven wolves immediately pounced toward him without any hesitation. Linnaeus could see the indignant look in the man''s eyes but, rather than roll away and try to escape, he immediately tried to shield his companion with his own body. This was the last straw for Linnaeus so, before the wolves could reach their target, he used a [Barrier] to form a dome around the two in an instant. As a result, the wolves crashed into the hard surface, causing one to let out a loud yelp as its snout twisted at a sickening angle. While screaming curses in his mind, Linnaeus made his presence known to the group by leaping toward one of the leaders of the pack. It had been watching the hunt closely so it was completely unprepared for the sudden attack that, due to Linnaeus'' [Stealth] and [Presence Concealment], went without a hitch. Though there was an incredible amount of resistance, Linnaeus managed to bury two of his horned daggers into the softer underbelly of the larger of the two Forst Wolves. This wasn''t enough to kill it but, as his surprise attacks did triple damage and had a moderate chance to crit, there was no way for it to continue fighting. Deciding to leave his daggers where they had found purchase, Linnaeus pulled out an extra pair from his Inventory as he rolled across the ground before bounding to his feet. At this point, the other Frost Wolves had become aware of his presence so, with a blue barrier protecting their other prey, the only viable target was the figure wearing their kin as its garb. Rather than try to evade and defend himself from the encirclement, Linneaus tucked in his limbs to avoid being pulled in multiple directions. This left his head and neck exposed, as he kept his arms low and close to his body, but that was something he had done intentionally. Resisting every instinct telling him to evade, Linnaeus steeled himself as he allowed one of the Lesser Frost Wolves to try and bite at his throat. As the ivory-white teeth tried to sink into his neck, a blue membrane prevented them from finding purchase, allowing Linnaeus to stab upward with both of his daggers, once again burying the pair into the weakest spot of the Frost Wolves'' bodies. Despite their intelligence and cooperation in hunting, there was no way the other members of the pack could understand what was going on at every given moment. When the first Frost Wolf had tried to latch onto his throat, two others had targeted his calves from behind, completely unaware of the fact their companion''s efforts had ended in vain. Pulling his own shortsword out of his Inventory, Linnaeus twisted his body back, targeting the eyes of wolf gnawing at his right leg. It had been trying to trip him up by jerking its head from side-to-side but, with his [Barrier Aura] mitigating this force almost entirely, at the expense of additional SP, he was able to stand firm. This wasn''t something the wolves were used to dealing with so, before it was able to pull away, Linnaeus had cut across the bridge of its nose, cleaving through both eyes in the process. Following the pathetic yelp of the now-blind wolf, Linnaeus rolled to the side to try and dislodge his other attacker and avoid being pinned in. His [Barrier Aura] was protecting him properly, but he was losing more than a hundred SP on the preliminary bite and several tens as they tried to penetrate his barrier. With four Lesser Frost Wolves and one pack leader remaining, Linnaeus began to back away with his shortsword held out toward the group. It was fortunate he had taken out the larger of the two pack leaders as, rather than show the usual confidence, the smaller Frost Wolf seemed very cautious. As the others tried to surround him, it had even gone to the side of the injured Frost Wolf, nuzzling the injured area of its companion and causing it to whimper rather pathetically. Resisting the small pang of guilt, Linnaeus equipped a horned-dagger in his left hand after backing up to a tree. Around the same time, his first barrier, the one protecting the two, had just faded away due to reaching the time limit. The brown-haired man was already standing with his own sword at the ready so, once the blue membrane faded away, he leaped toward the backs of the encircling wolves as he shouted, "Please, protect her!" As the man shouted, the wolves startled as they quickly split to the sides in order to increase the size of their encirclement. Linnaeus wanted to face-palm at the man for announcing his presence but, as he was just worried about his companion, he decided not to blame him. Instead, Linnaeus moved to the side of the green-haired woman and adopted a defensive stance while the man, now free from his burden, demonstrated surprising Agility as he pressured the wolves until they ultimately fled. In the end, four Frost Wolves escaped with their lives, three of which were of the Lesser variety. They had fled the moment the smaller of the two pack leaders turned tail, as if they had only noticed then and there that the battle was hopeless. This left a total of eleven corpses in the area, including the larger of the two pack leaders that had bled to death after its crippling injury. After sending the wolves running, the man turned towards Linnaeus with a grateful smile on his face as he released a tired sigh and said, "I really owe you for this one, stranger." For a brief moment, Linnaeus didn''t know how to respond as, for the last few years, there had never been anyone to thank him. Even when he gave handouts to some of the weaker Street Urchins, they would just bow low before retreating away, often soundlessly. Rather than face his discomfort, Linnaeus shook his head before looking down at the woman and saying, "You need to wrap the wound and move away from this area. There will be more wolves to come." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, the man gave a curt nod before stowing away his sword and picking up the woman''s body. Then, looking toward the small figure that had started to walk backward away from him, he couldn''t help but smile wryly as he said, "You are quite cautious. I''m guessing you are trying to be a Thief or an Explorer? Regardless, I really do owe you for this one. My name is Keith. If the opportunity presents itself in the future, I swear to repay this debt." After stating his piece, Keith watched Linnaeus for several seconds until the latter stated in a low tone of voice, "My name is Linnaeus...here, take this..." Linnaeus felt uncomfortable hearing the man''s words but, before turning tail and vanishing into the underbrush, he pulled out a leaf wrap containing a total of five Plain Slime Gels. Since the man had a face of confusion, he also explained, "They recover Health and SP...this one treats fever and any weak status abnormalities..." Keith caught the tiny green gel that Linnaeus had tossed to him but, before he could express his gratitude or ask any questions, the short figure had already disappeared into the underbrush with commendable speed. Moments later, even his presence had vanished completely, confirming his suspicions that the boy must be pursuing one of the more ''discreet'' paths. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though he was tempted to chase after Linnaeus and try to form a temporary alliance, it was clear that the boy didn''t have many social skills. Thus, without pressing the issue, Keith fed one of the blue gels into his companion''s mouth. He doubted the fur-clad boy would try to kill them after going out of his way to save them so wasted no time in trying to help the Jade Dragon woman, named Vera. Seeing that Vera''s Health had indeed started to recover, Keith breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to flee deeper into the forest. He was heading towards the location of their Party Leader, intending to escape to the Fourth Floor and recuperate. It would take a few days for a missing leg to recover completely so staying on the Third Floor any longer was pointless. Though he suspected their Party Leader may have been trying to actively get them killed, he still needed to track them down in order to leave the Party and move on without them... 28 Obstinance After witnessing the strength of Keith, Linnaeus had a better understanding of his standing among other Fledglings. Though Keith had been powerful, he didn''t give off the impression of someone beyond Linnaeus'' means to deal with. Instead, Linnaeus felt like he would come out ahead more often than not, so long as he didn''t get caught off guard. With this in mind, he started to second-guess whether or not he was truly weak as, with more than 2/3rds of the remaining Fledglings having already moved to the Fourth Floor, this indicated the rest should be amongst the strongest. Having fought stronger opponents much of his life, Linnaeus knew that having higher attributes didn''t necessarily mean you were able to suppress an opponent. If they fought cleverly and exploited your weaknesses, even those much weaker than yourself were able to come out ahead. This was how he won most of his battles so, after seeing Keith''s battle against the Frost Wolves, Linnaeus felt more confident in his own power. The only Fledglings he really needed to be wary of were the members of the Eight Heavenly Families and outliers such as Ryuuna. Her existence had taught him that there were perfect counters to his Blessing, just as his could be considered a counter to most ranged attacks. In the future, he would have to be cautious of anyone who had a Blessing that could either penetrate or ignore his barrier, lest he finds himself on the receiving end of a brutal beating once again. Pain was an old friend to Linnaeus but that didn''t mean he could disregard it entirely. Even with his [Pain Tolerance] reaching LV21, he still felt the full effects of his injuries. Thus, in order to avoid pain, Linnaeus continued to increase his proficiency with [Barrier Aura] while honing his Skills and Abilities as much as possible. In this manner, two more days had passed without incident, reducing the total number of Fledglings on the Third Floor to 87 as a layer of permafrost settled into the landscape. It was starting to get to the point that Linnaeus couldn''t resist the cold so, after reaching Level 26, he decided it was time to seek out Ryuuna. He knew she was too proud to come seeking him so, unless he proactively sought her out, the Third Floor would likely become his grave. Fortunately, Ryuuna rarely ventured far from him so, after traveling for the better part of an hour, he came upon what looked like a massive graveyard. There were more than a hundred corpses of Frost Wolves present while, on the periphery of the grounds, icy blue Slimes, known as Frost Slimes, were slowly feasting on the abundant meal. They were relatively rare in other regions but, due to the large number of corpses, the Frost Slimes had started to congregate in the area in great numbers. Linnaeus had killed a few of the deceptively weak-looking monsters, looting a pale-white gel from them that, after ingesting, nearly froze him. He imagined they would be extremely beneficial in hot climates but, with even the day time temperature in the freezing range, it had put him into a state of Hypothermia that forced him to make a fire out in the open. To make matters worse, the Frost Slimes themselves weren''t easy to deal with, as they would emit a penetrating cold plume, much like steam escaping from a pipe under high pressure. Thus, before he had ingested the chilling gel, Linnaeus had already been extremely cold as a layer of frost covered his dense layer of furs. Since then, he had made a point to avoid the troublesome creatures, despite the potential uses for the gels in later Floors. With an adequate amount of caution, Linnaeus navigated around the Frost Slimes before finding himself at the mouth of a cave. There was a current of warm air flowing from the interior, carrying with it the smell of burnt meat and fur. It was a very pungent aroma but, rather than stay out in the cold, Linnaeus ventured inward after covering his mouth and nose with fabric he had looted from the corpse of an unfortunate Fledgling several days prior. As he proceeded deeper into the cave, Linnaeus noticed that the ceiling was covered in a black residue that indicated exposure to smoke. Thus, when he found a campfire at the deepest part of the cave, he wasn''t all that surprised. What confused him was that, despite his Party menu indicating that he was near Ryuuna, he couldn''t pinpoint her position beyond the piles of partially rotting corpses that barricaded the warm interior from the external chill. It wasn''t until he breached the foul-smelling chamber directly that Ryuuna''s position became known to him as, adjacent to the cavern''s entrance, he caught a bit of movement. In the next instant, several corpses were tossed aside as a petite figure wearing a white bodysuit charged him like a phantom as it released a feral-sounding war cry. Linnaeus knew there was no way Ryuuna hadn''t sensed his arrival, especially as the Party Leader, so it was obvious she just wanted to lash out at him. Though resistance would only encourage even more violence, Linnaeus grit his teeth as he solidified his [Barrier Aura] and brought up both arms in a crossguard. He was honestly tempted to announce he was leaving the Party, as this would allow him to move on to the Fourth Floor, but he knew the rather fierce woman wouldn''t forgive him so easily if he slighted her in such a manner. As could be expected, Ryuuna''s attack slammed directly into Linnaeus'' crossguard but, instead of a fist, she only struck with her palm. This caused him to be pushed into the wall by a pulse of golden energy, draining about 500 SP from his reserves. Rocks, dust, and soot also rained down from above, causing the interior of the cavern to become cloudy and sending Ryuuna into a coughing fit as she complained, "You sure kept me waiting...!" Understanding the futility of arguing, Linnaeus remained silent for several seconds before saying, "If I came running in the first few days, you would look down on me. I may be weaker than you, but I''m not incompetent..." After saying his piece, Linnaeus cast his [Barrier Aura] on Ryuuna, a functionality he had obtained upon reaching LV50 in the associated Magic. Though it was only effective within 50m of his position, he could cast his [Barrier Aura] on as many targets as his SP could sustain. With a membrane now filtering out all the dust and soot, Ryuuna was able to breathe easily once again. Instead of saying thanks, however, she murmured in a voice that obviously wasn''t intended to be heard, complaining, "You should have used your barrier earlier, you bastard..." Linnaeus elected to ignore Ryuuna''s remark, understanding it was just her being petty, something he had no control over. She likely had her reasons for behaving this way so, for the time being, he could only do his best to avoid antagonizing her. Since there was no sense in beating around the bush, Linnaeus asked, "Do you intend to stay on this Floor much longer? The outside temperature is reaching the point that I can''t move freely. Since you are the Party Leader, I will respect your decision...but I would like to move on to the next Floor so we can make preparations for the next challenge." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Ryuuna seemed to fall into deep thought but he knew she was just looking at the information panel in her Status. There were now 81 Fledglings remaining, six less than when he had previously checked. This had many implications, the most likely of which indicated that other Parties were beginning to grow impatient. After all, while it was a show of strength to be the last on this particular Floor, they would lose their chance to prepare for the next challenge if they were too obstinant. Unfortunately, obstinance seemed to be Ryuuna''s default mentality so, after contemplating for a few seconds, she stated resolutely, "Most of the crap in the rest areas is just a waste of Aether. It would be better to stockpile as much as we can for later Floors. It''s not like any of the challenges require us to have supplies so we''ll be fine. For now, we''ll wait here to see what changes the tenth day brings. If my guess is correct, we only have a few hours of light left before permanant nightfall. I''ve saved up a ton of supplies at this point so we can hold out here for a few days, at the very least." Though he wasn''t surprised by Ryuuna''s words, Linnaeus barely resisted the urge to sigh as he gave a lazy nod and answered, "I understand...I''ll cook us some food. If we want to be even safer, we can collapse the entrance to the cave and snuff out the fire once I''m done. With the size of these tunnels, we should have more than enough oxygen to last for a few days..." Hearing Linnaeus essentially say he wanted to avoid combat, Ryuuna snorted through her nose but, as she hated the cold quite a bit, she decided against insisting they go outside. Instead, she began to move some of the corpses outside of the cave as, if they were going to seal the entrance, she didn''t want to be trapped inside with rotting bodies polluting the air they were breathing. Even if Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura] blocked out most of the smell, she had already tolerated it long enough over the last nine days. While Ryuuna was clearing out the cave, Linnaeus rekindled the campfire she had been using so he could cook some meat for them. It was obvious from the smell that the majority of her food over the last few days was burnt so, while his own cooking may not be the best, he expected it was infinitely better than anything she could prepare. He put a lot of care into preparing his meals as, after living in the slums his entire life, Linnaeus had a great appreciation for the savory meat he had gone most of his life without... After a few hours, the burnt smell in the cave had been replaced by the fragrant aroma of seasoned meat and various herbs. There was still a pungent aroma of rotten flesh in the surroundings but that wasn''t really something he could do anything about. Ryuuna had left the bodies to fester too long and, if not for the cold temperatures, the smell would have been even worse. Since her nose had already filtered out the smell of rotten flesh, Ryuuna was largely unaffected by the pungent aroma inside the cave. This allowed her to smell Linnaeus'' cooking even better than him, causing her stomach to let out a loud grumble, despite the fact she had eaten earlier in the day. When this happened, she instantly glared toward Linnaeus to see how he would react but, as if he hadn''t heard her, he kept cooking the meat and tending to the fire with unwavering focus. Ryuuna suspected he was only pretending to have not heard her but, as there was no benefit in pressing the matter, she decided to let it lay. Instead, she sat down a bit away from him before extending her hand with a warning look reflecting across her golden eyes. With the predatory woman turning her gaze to him, Linnaeus looked up to match her line of sight. He could see the reflection of the campfire dancing in her eyes, giving her an especially vicious look that promised violence if he didn''t give her what she wanted. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Linnaeus pulled out some of the meat he had cooked previously. It was kept warm due to the fact he had used excess SP to preserve its state. They wouldn''t have a fire after today and, knowing Ryuuna would complain if he gave her cold meat, he had already made the necessary preparations to ensure they had hot meals. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. After snatching the skewer from Linnaeus'' hands, Ryuuna voraciously bit into the meat, finding it''s taste considerably better than anything she had prepared herself. It lacked the gamey and burnt flavor she had grown to hate. Instead, it had a mouth-watering aroma, a palatable flavor, and a large volume of savory juices. It was even seasoned lightly, amplifying the flavor and making it taste like a completely different kind of meat, despite being the same thing she had eaten for the past few days. Before she realized it, Ryuuna had already eaten all of the meat from her skewer. This wasn''t nearly enough to satisfy her, however, so she was about to demand another skewer. Before that, Linnaeus had already extended a second skewer to her, saying in a curt tone, "This will be the last one. I''ll have something else for you to eat later, so pace yourself. Most of the stuff you dragged out is unusable so we''ll need to ration our supplies to avoid running out during the Fourth Floor''s challenge..." Though her instincts were to argue, Ryuuna mulled over Linnaeus'' words and found them sensible. Despite this, she wasn''t going to simply agree with him so, before collapsing the entrance, she was intending to go out and collect some fresh prey. A single large Frost Wolf would supply them with food for several days so it wouldn''t be much trouble. Thus, after finishing the second skewer, she left the cave without explaining her intentions, leaving Linnaeus sighing in the background as he grilled more meat... 29 Petulance Though he was unable to move onto the Fourth Floor early, there were certain benefits to being trapped inside the pitch-black cave alongside Ryuuna. They had nothing better to do so, while it wasted their oxygen faster than staying silent, Linnaeus used the opportunity after filling Ryuuna''s belly to ask her various questions. At first, Ryuuna completely ignored Linnaeus'' questions but, after nearly twenty hours in absolute darkness, she was the one to break the silence. It beat just waiting around doing nothing so, while the number of Fledglings continued to decrease, she found it was a good way to pass the time. Once given the opportunity, Linnaeus asked if there was any information she considered absolutely necessary to their climb, such as the boons. Since he only had a basic education provided to him by Rebecca, there were a lot of gaps in his knowledge. One oft he most important lessons Rebecca had ever taught him was that knowledge, in many situations, was even more important than power. If he knew the strengths and weaknesses of himself and his opponents, it would be possible to come out ahead, even if the odds were stacked against him. Ryuuna was gobsmacked by how little Linnaeus actually knew but, as he was an attentive listener and never interrupted her, she decided he wasn''t completely hopeless. She could also see that he was a hard worker as, compared to before, his Level, Attributes, Skills, Abilities, and Magic were all increasing much faster than she had expected. ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Linnaeus Finnian Title: Love Bird(+3 Spi, +2 Cha, +1 Luk per Level while in the same party as other Love Birds) Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%) Age: 15 Gender: Male Level: 23~26(91/4800) Health: 1460/1460 Soul Power: 3971/3971 Strength: 50->52 Constitution: 52->69+4 Agility: 79->85+25.5 Dexterity: 56->63+1 Intelligence: 91->121+101.8 Wisdom: 90->110+93 Spirit: 42->51+15.3 Charisma: 28->36 Luck: 13->17+1 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Fleet-Footed:LV11->LV21], [Magus:LV14->LV22], [Wizard:LV17], [Resilient Mind:LV8->LV20], [Sage Mage:LV15], [Knife Mastery: LV21->LV24], [Throwing: LV15->LV17],[Sense Danger: LV30->LV38], [Presence Concealment: LV32->LV40], [Acrobatics: LV31->LV35], [Pain Tolerance: LV19->LV22], [Barrier Master:LV51->LV58], [Assassination: LV35->LV38], [Charm: LV8->LV15], [Trap Set: LV11->LV22], [Trap Disarm: LV6->LV15], [Perception:LV13](new) Abilities: [Steal: LV28->LV29], [Stealth: LV30->LV39], [Night Vision: LV19->LV26] Magic: [Enhance: LV26->LV28], [Barrier: LV51->LV53], [Barrier Aura: LV50->LV55] ---------------------------------------- Though she would never admit it, Ryuuna was surprised by how much Linnaeus had grown. He was still considerably weaker than her but his foundation was stronger than she had expected. Since she kept track of her growth, she knew there was only a ten attribute difference between them at the same Level. Linnaeus'' total attributes didn''t make much sense to her so, after answering most of his questions, she also asked several of her own. When she learned that he had been fighting for his survival since age ten, accruing more than a thousand kills against predominately stronger foes, she received her answer. It was common knowledge that attributes increased faster when you were fighting against stronger foes so Linnaeus, despite his weaker foundation and lack of education, honed his attributes through life and death battles. This fundamentally changed how Ryuuna looked at the strangely beautiful boy as, rather than a delicate flower that just anyone could pluck, he suddenly seemed to have a series of extremely sharp thorns hidden behind his pale-blue petals. When it finally came time for him to ask more questions, Linnaeus interrupted Ryuuna''s rumination, saying, "You are one of the strongest people I''ve ever met..." This caused Ryuuna to perk up slightly but, when he followed his words by asking, "How do you compare to the progeny from the Eight Families...?", she immediately resumed her cold demeanor. Linnaeus noticed he had touched a nerve so he also fell silent after seeing how Ryuuna had reacted. He half-expected her to attack him so, seeing her brooding instead of lashing out, Linnaeus felt like he had been given a reprieve. After nearly an hour of silence, Ryuuna finally decided to answer, albeit in a venomous tone as she stated, "I won''t lose against those brats. As long as it isn''t one of the so-called prodigies, I''ll tear any other member of the Eight Families apart with my bare hands...!" Ryuuna knew her claim only held out before reaching higher Floors but, as she wouldn''t just lower her head to people she considered spoiled-rotten, she willfully walked toward potential destruction without hesitation. She knew it was only a matter of time before some random branch of the Eight began to target her but, for the first time in her life, her fate was her own to choose. Though he was tempted to ask about her history with the Eight Families, Linnaeus wasn''t in a hurry to anger the Dwelven woman while he was trapped in a cave with her. Instead, he gave a curt nod before adopting a supportive tone as he said, "I do not share your hatred for the Eight Families but I believe you can do it. So long as your actions do not touch my bottom line, I will help you..." Rather than show any appreciation for Linnaeus'' words, Ryuuna closed the relatively short distance between them before punching, hard, against his cheek. His [Barrier Aura] was able to mitigate the damage but it still sent him tumbling through the cave before his body crashed into the wall upside down. With her golden eyes glimmering in the dark, Ryuuna glared at him with a vicious expression on her face as she spat, "I already told you not to get any ideas! Don''t try to coax me with kind words you flowery bastard...!" Hearing Ryuuna''s outburst, Linnaeus finally understood why she had gotten upset at him, even if he found it ridiculous. She seemed to think he was trying to flirt with her, despite such thoughts never having crossed his mind. Though his actions could be interpreted as him trying to ingratiate himself to her, it was very clear she was still bothered by the Love Bird Title they shared together... Linnaeus ultimately chose to remain silent after extricating himself from the small pile of rubble that had cushioned his fall. He then moved to the far side of the cave, putting as much distance between himself and the unhinged Dwelf as possible. For a brief moment, he was even tempted to announce his departure from the Party but, imagining her tracking him down on the next Floor like a debtor, he wisely decided against it. Ryuuna continued to glare at Linnaeus until he pulled out a pile of pelts to form a makeshift bed. He didn''t even bother to come and retrieve the ones nearest to her so, after a few minutes of silence, she claimed them for herself. Despite the interior of the cave being much warmer than the outside, it was still growing progressively colder with the passage of time. --- After the violent spat, Linnaeus didn''t bother conversing with Ryuuna. From that moment onward, he only interacted with her when she demanded food or water. Since his SP was much higher than hers, he was holding the majority of their supplies after she had practically forced them upon him. Though this relegated him to a glorified Mule, he actually preferred to have the supplies as, if the time came for him to leave the Party, he would at least be prepared... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Due to Ryuuna''s pride and Linnaeus'' propensity to evade unnecessary conflict, the cave was largely silent for the better part of three days. Other than the sound of breathing, eating, and the stressful moments when Ryuuna had to relieve herself, there were no words shared between them. This had started to annoy the Dwelven woman quite a bit but, as he could easily go days without uttering a single word, Linnaeus spent the majority of his time regulating his breathing and getting rest when he could. Eventually, around noon of the fourteenth day, with only twenty-eight Fledglings left, Ryuuna was the one to ultimately crack. It had started to become harder to breathe within the cave so she had been growing increasingly frustrated with the silence. If not for the fact that the interior had become warmer as the oxygen slowly ran out, she would have already tunneled her way out of the cave to get some fresh air. Since he hadn''t been using it on her, Ryuuna broke the silence by exclaiming, "Why do you get to have it easy while I''m forced to breathe your smelly air!? Cast your [Barrier Aura] on me or don''t blame me for beating you until you develop some sense...!" Rather than waste his breath on Ryuuna, Linnaeus just cast his [Barrier Aura] without a word. He knew she was trying to use an argument as a means to segue into an actual conversation but, as he was obstinant in his own way, he refused to pander to her more than necessary. If being nice to her was rewarded with violence, he would rather remain silent indefinitely. As could be expected, Ryuuna was extremely annoyed by how dismissive Linnaeus was behaving, despite the fact he had listened to her demand. She no longer cared about their diminishing oxygen as, with the transparent membrane surrounding her, only breathable oxygen entered her lungs. This made her feel more energetic so, rather than let him continue to brood in silence, she rose to her feet before making her way over to his side and demanding, "Give me something to eat." as she sat down nearby. Linnaeus had an incredulous expression on his face as he couldn''t understand what was wrong with this pale-haired woman''s head. Despite this, he still proffered forth two skewers while reserving his opinion to himself. Ryuuna quickly snatched the skewers from Linnaeus'' hands but, rather than let him stay silent, she began to tear away at the juicy meat while asking, "So, what were you up to before coming to bother me? Tell me about any monsters and Fledglings you encountered. With how much your Status had increased, you couldn''t have just been hiding away in a hole the entire time, right...?" Though he was tempted to remain silent, Linnaeus knew Ryuuna wouldn''t take him ignoring her too kindly. Now that she had directly asked him questions, he could only release a profound sigh before detailing his survival prior to their reunion. He kept the details of his discoveries and experiments a secret, as he didn''t really feel like having her plunder his reserves of Blue Gels just because they were sweet and tart. While listening to Linnaeus'' recounting, Ryuuna had various reactions, the majority of which could be organized into two categories: contempt and scorn. When she heard about his encounter with the Fledgling named Keith, she looked at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world, asking, "You let them get away without even taking some of their supplies? What the fuck is wrong with you?" In response to Ryuuna''s ridicule, Linnaeus just snorted as he rolled over to his side and muttered, "Not everyone enjoys killing..." before pulling a layer of pelt to cover himself. This series of actions earned him a hateful glare from Ryuuna and, for a brief moment, killing intent flashed across her golden irises. Resisting the urge to thrash Linnaeus for turning his back to her, Ryuuna hissed through clenched teeth, "You are a gullible fool...if they had been in good health and encountered you while injured, do you think they would have shown the same kindness!?" Hearing Ryuuna''s words, which held more than a few grains of truth, Linnaeus began to tremble slightly. However, this wasn''t due to his acquiescence but his rage and indignation at the fact that a person he hardly knew thought they had the right to judge him. It was obvious that Ryuuna had a history of her own but, as he refused to become a vicious killer that arbitrarily killed others to get ahead. Glaring back at Ryuun, Linnaeus mustered up every ounce of conviction contained within his fragile body as he fearlessly stated, "I would rather die than become a monster that takes advantage of others during their moment of weakness. I don''t give a damn how others might treat me in similar circumstances. That has nothing to do with me at all. I''ll act however I damn well please without giving a damn about the consequences. At least I''ll have kept my fucking integrity...!" 30 Separation Linnaeus knew that Ryuuna would take exception to his words but, as it concerned the principle he had lived by his entire life, he couldn''t just swallow his words and remain silent. He did not consider himself a prideful person but, after everything that happened, he knew he would head down a dark path if he gave in to the whims of others just to avoid pain. For several seconds after his outburst, Ryuuna glared at him, her expression growing progressively darker as pale-golden energy began to form around her fists. Despite this, Linnaeus didn''t retract his statement as, no matter how angry she was, Ryuuna couldn''t cripple or kill him while they were in the same Party. She would have to wait upwards of twenty-four hours to attack him if she wanted to avoid being cursed by the Akashic System. There was a very high chance she would beat him but, having grown up as a Street Urchin, beatings were more familiar to him than eating. Ryuuna''s fury eventually reached the critical level and, though there was a lot she wanted to say, the urge to pummel Linnaeus was too strong for her to resist. She had spent her whole life suppressing herself so, after entering the Tower, she swore to never tolerate slights against her. Even if she knew there was some truth to Linnaeus'' words, she still believed he was a fool so she refused to apologize for her abrasive remarks. Despite her fury, Ryuuna stopped channeling her aura into her fists as she charged forward like a phantom and slammed her palm against his chest. Without her [Aura Pulse], his barrier prevented him from being knocked backward but this was her intent. She used this shock mitigation to string together several attacks all at once, fueled by her growing frustrations. Linnaeus realized what Ryuuna was doing from the moment his body wasn''t sent flying backward. Even then, he decided to stand his ground without moving from his spot. Though he was quite a bit shorter than most, he was nearly a full head taller than Ryuuna. This allowed him to look down at her with a resolute light flashing across his eyes, despite making no attempts to defend himself. Just as Linnaeus'' barrier began to fracture and flicker, Ryuuna cocked back her fist in a telegraphed manner as she shouted, "Don''t you look at me like that you bastard...!" Following this outburst, her seemingly powerless fist barreled toward the barrier with just enough force to shatter it. She wasn''t foolish enough to violate the laws of the Akashic System so, holding back as much as possible, she began to thrash Linnaeus'' body like a ragdoll until his health neared the Critical Health threshold. With Linnaeus making no effort to defend himself, Ryuuna was growing increasingly frustrated as a very strong urge to tear his eyes out began to well up inside her. His obstinance actually reminded her a lot of herself, as she was no stranger to beatings, so beating him caused a variety of conflicting emotions that she could only channel into anger and indignation. By the time Ryuuna had finished with him, Linnaeus'' eyes had swollen up considerably as a constant stream of blood flowed from his nostrils. In spite of this, he continued to glare at her, their golden eyes fixed on each other as a myriad of emotions were silently communicated between them. Despite the fact she hadn''t really exerted herself all that much, Ryuuna was breathing heavily after her violent tirade. She felt like her mind had ants crawling over its surface as an overwhelming desire to break something had seeded itself in her heart. Since she couldn''t break the resolve of the boy in front of her, she turned on her heels and, speeding up with a pale-golden aura around her, slammed into the collapsed rubble of the cave like a high-speed projectile. With the pressure and heat differential between the cave and the outside, a backdraft was formed as a result of Ryuuna''s furious charge. Much of the heat that had built up inside vanished in a matter of minutes as a potent chill settled within. Even when Ryuuna had disappeared for several minutes, Linnaeus continued to watch the entrance of the cave in silence. He knew what she was trying to do so, while the cold certainly contributed, his body was shaking from rage and frustration. By leaving him alone in the cave, Ryuuna had practically given him a death sentence, circumventing the laws of the Akashic System by exploiting a common loophole. He could chase after her, but this would likely just further incentivize her to evade him until he was in a near-death state. There was no way he could keep up with her speed so she would be able to toy with him at her leisure, deciding his life and death as she pleased. Despite knowing this, Linnaeus didn''t regret his decision so, after recuperating his Health and SP, he wrapped his body in a dense layer of fur-covered pelts before venturing out himself. The night was now pitch-dark, without any light to guide him along his path. As for the temperature, it was so cold that he had to nearly solidify his [Barrier Aura] just to resist it. This caused his SP to constantly drain but he refused to just stay holed up in the cave hoping that Ryuuna returned. With the awareness provided to them by their Party, Linnaeus and Ryuuna continued to move away from each other. The latter had paused for a moment when he first began moving in the opposite direction but, moments later, her speed increased once again until her presence was like trying to suss out the light of a single candle several hundred kilometers away. Fortunately, other than a few Frost Slimes, Linnaeus'' path of retreat had been relatively safe. Only the elements were slowing his progress, as a thick layer of snow now blanketed the area, but Linnaeus tolerated the biting chill until he reached a familiar canyon. Though there was a very strong wind flowing through the canyon, which now seemed like an endless abyss, Linnaeus wasted no time in leaping down after finding the location of his former abode. With his [Barrier] Magic, he was able to form a few steps while his [Barrier Aura] blocked the strong winds. This allowed him to keep his balance and, after a few hectic moments, Linnaeus reached the hollow that had served as his home prior to seeking out Ryuuna. There were still furs lining the walls of the hollow but, due to the constant exposure, they had frozen solid. Linnaeus tried to pry some of them away but, having no luck, he ultimately just spread out an extra layer of furs before using his [Barrier] to seal off the hollow. This produced a small amount of light but, considering how few Fledglings remained, he doubted there were any foolish enough to be wandering around like him and Ryuuna. It was practically impossible to do anything about the cold but, by staying awake and periodically eating warm rations, Linnaeus was able to tolerate the perpetual chill that felt like daggers stabbing into his bones. If not for the fact that the Green Gel could temporarily remove the Hypothermia and Fever afflictions, he likely would have turned into a frozen status by the end of the first night. --- Unlike Linnaeus, whose survival knowledge was largely based on his personal experiences, Ryuuna had received a proper education while attending school in the Megacity. Though she had rarely ever seen snow, she knew it had insulating properties so, after traveling far enough that she could hardly sense Linnaeus, she wasted no time in creating a burrow in a large hill of snow. It would have been better to make an igloo, a hemispherical structure formed of compact ice and snow, but her body was already so cold that she couldn''t feel her fingers and toes. She wanted to complain to whatever entity designed the bodysuits as, for whatever reason, they did not cover the hands and feet at all. As a result, the pinky toe on her left foot had started to blacken slightly so she was forced to cut it off after digging several meters through the snow and permafrost below. Frostbite was a troublesome affliction but, with the regeneration provided by her high Constitution, it wouldn''t take long for the toe to grow back completely. She just needed to keep her health above 50%, something that was relatively easy considering she regenerated more nearly 750 per minute. It also helped that she had the [Abnormal Status Resistance] Skill as, even if she got afflicted with Fever and Hypothermia, they would fade away after a few minutes. Even if she didn''t have the means to treat Hypothermia, however, Ryuuna wasn''t too worried as her regeneration would still be enough to fight off the effects of the cold. Hypothermia only reduced a person''s mobility and health regeneration by half, so she still regenerated around 375 per minute during the brief moments it took hold of her. At this point, Ryuuna was determined to just wait out Linnaeus until he either died or came running to her once again. She knew her actions were more than a little petty but this was the only way she could deal with her frustrations at the time. Now, even though she wanted to return, her pride would not allow her to do so. She would rather deal with the biting cold than lower her head and apologize to someone, especially when she felt he was just as much to blame as she was... While steeling her resolve and using what few supplies she had to form a cocoon of sorts, Ryuuna''s nose turned sour when her stomach suddenly grumbled. She had eaten just a few hours prior but, after running such a long distance, she was suddenly hungry once again. Unfortunately, all she had on hand were a few pieces of frozen meat stored away in her Inventory for emergency situations. Unlike Linnaeus, Ryuuna rarely went long periods of time without eating as her Blessing required her to expend Health as a resource. Since she exerted her body an arduous amount, she generally ate up to five meals a day, interspaced by small snacks here and there. Now, due to her haste, she was left without any real food to subsist upon. This caused Ryuuna to form a deep frown and, even though it was her own decision to abandon Linnaeus, she couldn''t help blame him for hoarding all their food. Ryuuna conveniently overlooked the fact she had forced Linnaeus to use up some of his SP just to keep her meals warm. Being angry made her at least feel warmer so, while periodically stretching to increase blood flow to her extremities, she continued to brood and blame Linnaeus for her current predicament. If he somehow managed to survive this Floor, she swore to get even with him the next time they met. At the very least, he would need to prepare her a feast or she would pummel him until his face looked like a pig... --- While curled up in a ball of furs, Linnaeus suddenly sneezed hard as a dribble of snot escaped his reddened nose. Almost immediately thereafter, the small trail of fluid froze solid so he had to break it free before burying his face into the slowly freezing furs. This was a miserable experience for him but, as it reminded him a lot of his first winter after leaving the orphanage, it wasn''t intolerable. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus kept himself focused by glaring at the information panel like it was his sworn enemy. There were only 9 Fledglings remaining by the morning of the sixteenth day so, if he was patient, he would be able to reach the Fourth Floor without having to chase after Ryuuna. He knew this was what she wanted to he refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing him in a desperate state. Fortunately, he had all their food and supplies so, whenever he felt especially frustrated, Linnaeus could pull out a skewer of seasoned meat before engorging himself with a petulant sneer on his face... 31 Observer While Linnaeus and Ryuuna were cooped up in their respective hovels, a group of nine entities could be found sitting around a circular table. Each was vaguely humanoid in build but, at a glance, it was very apparent they were more animalistic than the vast majority of sentient creatures calling Lumen home. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The largest of these entities looked like a lanky lemur, complete with large ears and a tail. However, even whilst seated, its height was more than 3m and, rather than walk around baring its body, it had elected to wear a very prim and proper business suit. Though it had a face almost indistinguishable from an actual lemur, the golden monocle on its left eye and its neatly groomed tuft of hair gave it a distinctly uncanny vibe. Seated alongside the humanoid lemur were its comrades, each having distinctly humanoid body structures dominated by the features of a bat, cat, fox, dog, sheep, tanuki, loris, and a sloth. They were all wearing formal attire, much like the lemur, while three of the nine even had on cocktail dresses that sharply contrasted their animalistic features. Among the three female figures, the one with the features of a slot used her long nail to tap on a tiny bubble, one of an incalculable number floating above the table. She had an amused expression on her face that caught the attention of the female fox and male cat to her left. They preceded her in the ordering of chairs around the table, placing her at the third seat leading up to the tall lemur. With a sly smile of her own, the fox woman asked, "Quo''aa, did you find something interesting~?" as she reached out to tap on the tiny bubble. In response to this, the sloth woman, Quo''aa, lightly swat the fox woman''s hand away as she stated, "Mind the matters of your own Floor, Feena. These little ones are my responsibility now." Feena barred her teeth in mock aggression after hearing Quo''aa''s words before flicking the sloth-woman''s face with her nimble tail and snatching the bubble. This caused the cat-man at the side to snicker in amusement while Quo''aa, with Feena''s tail still in her face, just blew away the offending appendage with a slightly annoyed look on her face. Since he was only separated from her by the cat-man, the lemur humanoid looked to his right and stated in a high-pitched tone that belied his seriousness, "Feena, do not interfere in the matters of other Floor Guardians." Hearing her senior Guardian''s words, Feena poked her tongue out playfully before saying, "Don''t be such a stickler, Ringo. I''m not breaking any rules by taking a peek. Besides, it isn''t like the challenge on my Floor needs close scrutiny." In response to Feena''s words, Ringo rolled his eyes before releasing a tired sigh. She wasn''t actually breaking any rules so, while he wanted to reprimand her, there was ultimately no reason to. If they weren''t allowed some small amount of freedom, most Floor Guardians would have lost their mind millennia ago. Since it was troublesome finding a replacement Guardian, he could tolerate a bit of selfishness on behalf of his junior members. Seeing Ringo''s reaction, Feena gave a victory sign with her right hand before turning her attention to the scene visible within the bubble. Despite its small size, this tiny bubble showed the scene of nearly every Fledgling participating in a given test all at once. As Floor Guardians, they could handle seeing the world through thousands of different perspectives simultaneously so it was a simple matter for her to view an additional nine. Seated to the left of Feena, the cat-like man mused, "Tell me what you see, Feena. I''m curious." while trying to sneak the tiny bubble for himself. Unfortunately for him, Quo''aa snatched it away while her companion was distracted, causing Feena to snap her teeth aggressively while the cat-man began to laugh once again. Quo''aa just snorted toward the two before shielding the bubble in her hands and taking a closer look for herself. There, she could see Linnaeus, Ryuuna, and seven other Fledglings all fighting to be the last group on the Third Floor. Though she normally didn''t care all that much, Quo''aa was a little interested in the two Love Birds that had been toyed with by Feena. She rarely showed any emotion on her face but Quo''aa actually liked drama quite a bit, especially of the romantic variety. Feena knew Quo''aa''a nature well as, for the last 7,319 years, they had been neighbors around the table. It was because she liked to tease others, Quo''aa included, that she had given the Love Bird Titles to Linnaeus and Ryuuna. Thus, seeing who Quu''aa was spying upon, Feena began to snicker before asking, "Are they having a lover''s quarrel~? Ushishishishi~" Hearing Feena''s question, Quo''aa gave her a side-long glance before answering, "That little Dwelf is quite violent. She had a disagreement with the little Hybrid so she beat him up before running off into the wasteland. After that, the Hybrid ran in the opposite direction and now they are both slowly freezing to death due to their obstinance...young love is quite complicated, umu." Feena immediately burst out laughing when she heard Quo''aa''s words as the whole reason she had made Linnaeus and Ryuuna Love Birds was due to their contrasting, yet similar, natures. She knew it would cause them to be at odds with each other but, with very few ways to entertain herself, Feena didn''t mind putting them through an extra trial or two. If they were able to overcome their personal differences and work together, the Love Bird Title was actually extremely useful. Tired of being left out of the loop, the cat-man lay his head down dejectedly on the table, his face forming a pout as he said, "You girls...don''t do this to me. Aren''t we friends? I want to see what is so interesting..." Ringo, seated to the cat-man''s left, nudged the pouting Guardian in the side with his elbow before saying, "Don''t slack off, Servalan. The challenge of the First Floor is one of the most important. If I review your work and find you made any mistakes..." With the nudge to his side being less than gentle, Servalan''s body jolted before his expression became even dourer as he said, "Boss, even you want to bully me? Just because I''m the newest Guardian...*sniffle*..." Not convinced by Servalan''s act, Ringo gave him a hard look that caused the cat-like Guardian to release a sigh before he began focusing on his own work. At any given moment, they had to view a total of 1000 groups of Fledglings so he couldn''t really slack off for too long. As Ringo had pointed out, it was very important to organize the Fledglings and evaluate them on the First Floor as it could seriously disrupt future challenges. What most people didn''t know, even among the Eight Heavenly Families, was that the Guardians changed the rules slightly to level the playing field. Though they proactively rewarded those who put in an earnest effort to climb higher, they also intervened to give weaker Fledglings a chance. If they didn''t do this, only those with combat-oriented Blessings would have any chance to reach the higher floors. By observing every Fledgling in their charge, the Guardians would do things like alter the terrain to put obstacles between weaker and stronger Fledglings, assign Titles that would help foster attribute growth, and even manipulate the match-ups in some of the challenges that pitted Fledglings against each other. This was how Linnaeus ended up against the Rank 1 Fledgling as, after seeing how he used his [Barrer] Magic on the First Floor, they knew it would be next to impossible for the Rank 1 to hunt him down. As a result, Linnaeus'' chances at survival were increased while the pressure he would experience gave him a stronger drive to become stronger. Though unexpected occurrences happened all the time, this was largely due to the Luck and Karma of the individual Fledglings. Those with higher Luck were favored by the Akashic System, even within the Tower. This meant they would get more drops from monsters and, without their knowledge, they might even avoid a potentially dangerous situation purely by happenstance. After Luck, Karma was the attribute that most heavily influenced a person''s fate. It was one of the hidden attributes of the Akashic System that directly weighed the motivations of a person against their actions. This would cause the to accrue positive and negative karma which, quite literally, had an influence on their Fate. Those who had higher positive Karma tended to have more fortuitous encounters while those with higher negative Karma often experienced sudden misfortune. Regardless of whether your Karma was positive or negative, you could overcome your Fate if you had high enough attributes and strong enough willpower. This meant that even ''evil'' people could grow stronger, often without any upper limits. Though they would find themselves pitted against those with high positive Karma, this was just another way in which the Tower and the Akashic System promoted the growth of each individual. Linnaeus wasn''t aware of it, but his Karma had almost equal values of positive and negative Karma as, while he never really wanted to kill people, he had accumulated quite the body count. If not for his charity toward other Street Urchins, as he would sometimes hand out food and rescue those who were being beaten too roughly, he would have accumulated much more negative Karma. Because it was very rare for a person to have almost equal amounts of positive and negative Karma, Linnaeus was a curious existence to the Floor Guardians who had observed him. Not only was he one of the few Fledglings that didn''t actually care about climbing the Tower, but his contrary nature was interesting to observe. Feena had been especially taken with Linnaeus and, due to sheer boredom, she liked to push the boundaries when it came to interfering with her challenges. Thus, when she had the chance to mess with him and Ryuuna, she simply couldn''t resist the temptation. Her only regret being unable to watch the drama unfold directly but, as there were interesting Fledglings in every batch, she would soon forget he even existed. This was the same for every Guardian and, unless there was a truly exceptional Fledgling, they would soon forget them in the vast, seemingly infinite stream, of other Fledglings. There were an average of 48,000,000 Fledglings entering the Tower every day so it was very rare for any of them to leave a strong impression on Guardians who had witnessed nearly two-hundred trillion Fledglings during their service as Floor Guardians. For those like Ringo, who had held his position for more than 20,000 years, he had seen double that amount. The only Fledglings that were truly memorable were those who had been given the title of Daredevil and Frontier Explorer. These individuals usually left quite an impact on other Fledglings during their climb while the latter consisted of the top 100 Rankers in the entire Tower. Since the Tower was like a massive filter, the number of people on higher Floors exponentially decreased so, in the example of the 106th Floor''s Guardian, they only had to keep track of a total of three individuals. Once a group of Fledglings reached the 10th Floor, they would be given two ranks, one showing how they matched up to people in their same groupings while the other showed their overall rank in the entire Tower. Currently, there were close to 13 trillion people actively climbing the Tower while, on the Floors where communities had settled in, the population skyrocketed to nearly thirty trillion. This made it exceptionally difficult to stand out so, for the time being, Linnaeus had no idea how lucky he was to have the attention of two Floor Guardians...at least for a short while. 32 The Frailty of Life If not for the Akashic System displaying the time and the number of days that had passed, Linnaeus would not have been able to determine how long he had been in his current state. Not only had night become a permanant fixture on the Third Floor, but the temperature continued its steady decline to almost incomprehensible levels. Now, if he failed to replace his [Barrier] before the previous one ran out, it was like having a bucket of the coldest imaginable water wash over him, chilling him to the bone and causing a painful ache throughout his entire body. Linnaeus genuinely believed he would have lost his sense of self if not for the constant notifications from the system. The cold gave him an overwhelming urge to simply fall asleep and accept the chill completely. If not for the period pings of experience indicating growth in his [Pain Tolerance] and [Cold Resistance], Linnaeus would have already given in to the encroaching darkness. At this point, Linnaeus knew that his outburst and decision to leave the cave had been exceptionally foolish but, as his impending death made his resolution stronger, he took solace in the thought that his final interaction with another person was standing his ground. He didn''t know if there was such a thing as life after death or reincarnation but, if there was, Linnaeus swore he would try harder in his next life...if possible, he would like to be reborn as someone inside the megacity and, if fate allowed it, he wanted to be able to protect his sister once again... These were the last thoughts that crossed Linnaeus'' mind as, in spite of the gentle bells sounding in his mind, the encroaching darkness finally overpowered his will to remain awake. It was already the afternoon of the nineteenth day so he had been fighting against his body freezing completely for the better part of three days... --- Due to having created an underground den with a curved chute for an entrance, one of the survival techniques she had learned, Ryuuna was faring much better than Linnaeus. Though it was still very cold, warm air was less dense than cold air so, by creating a den where the hot air couldn''t easily escape through the chute, she was able to gradually heat up the interior to just above freezing. As a result, the interior was very damp, causing a cloud of humidity to be present as Ryuuna did her best to move her body periodically to further warm her small abode. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Over the last few days, Ryuuna''s biggest stress factor had been her hunger but, as her body could process raw meat without too many detrimental effects, she had managed to survive, albeit with a perpetual grimace on her face. Though she had also reflected on her past interactions with Linnaeus, she refused to believe she was in the wrong as just the thought of apologizing to him made her feel nauseous. Currently, Ryuun had a piece of venison in her mouth as she tugged at the durable tendons in an effort to extricate the piece of flesh for consumption. It had a foul and gamey taste but, compared to starving, it was the more tolerable alternative. Just as she managed to tear away the piece of flesh, Ryuuna''s expression turned blank as her mouth hung slightly agape. The piece of meat she had struggled to pull away fell to the ground as, in the periphery of her vision, something that had been present for nearly three weeks had now vanished. At the same time, the number of Fledglings on the Floor dropped from 5 down to 4, causing Ryuuna to pause for several seconds in abject confusion. When she finally realized the implications of what had happened, Ryuuna began to feel very anxious as she erupted from the ground like a geyser and bolted toward the east. Linnaeus hadn''t moved at all for the last few days so she had approximated his position and knew roughly how long it would be able to reach him. Ryuuna had been intending to let Linnaeus suffer for a bit before showing up when he was near death to save him. With his name suddenly disappearing from the Party, she began to feel more anxious than she had expected, causing her to move like a golden meteor through the blizzard that had descended upon the land... After nearly two hours of running at her highest speed, Ryuun reached a large canyon that seemed to extend downward indefinitely. She had no way of knowing that Linnaeus had holed himself up in a hollow at the side of the cliff so Ryuuna released a feral cry before shouting, "You stupid piece of shit! Did you really throw yourself off the cliff just to spite me!? You...you...you...!" For Linnaeus'' name to vanish from the Party without his health being anywhere near critical levels, Ryuuna could only assume he had died instantly. If he threw himself off the cliff and didn''t try to protect himself, the only fate that awaited him was death. Feeling anxiety and anger unlike anything she had ever experienced, Ryuuna began tearing apart the landscape, uprooting trees and destroying boulders. She had spent the last few days thinking about how to get even with Linnaeus but, despite her initial anger, she never intended to torture or kill him. His growth and earnest mentality made him one of the few people she could reasonably trust in the Tower so, until they reached the 10th Floor, she had intended to remain in the same Party. Before she realized it, Ryuuna''s vision had been obscured by a layer of tears that turned into small ice crystals dotting her eyelashes. Her Health had also started to reduce considerably from overusing her Blessing so, after punching a large boulder with enough force to fracture it into several hundred pieces, she turned her head skyward and said, "I give up...take me to the next Floor..." If Linnaeus had been present, he would have noticed that the fierce light in Ryuuna''s eyes had all but vanished at this point. Her golden irises now look pale and dull, much like some of the less fortunate women he had encountered in the slums. Then, as if she had never existed from the start, Ryuuna''s body vanished like a fading afterimage. The only thing that remained to indicate her presence was a massive section of upturned forest and several fractured boulders... --- With Ryuuna''s departure from the Third Floor, the remaining three Fledglings received a notice from the Floor Guardian that they were the last Party. Their Party consisted of a large man with a muscular body and two comparably smaller females. They had holed themselves up in a cave but, rather than sealing it, they left the mouth of the cave open while unhesitantly maintaining a small bonfire. This wasn''t enough to stave off the entirety of the cold, however, so, when they were resting, the trio had used each others'' body heat to stay warm. After receiving the notification, the man released a loud bellow before laughing enthusiastically. As for the two girls, the younger of the two rolled her eyes while her older, far more mature companion, decided to join the burly man by releasing a peal of bell-like laughter. Then, much like Ryuuna, they also moved on the Fourth Floor after accepting their rewards from the Floor Guardian. The moment the final Party had left, a rather magical sight began to play out on the Third Floor as the snowfall began to literally reverse, much like the flames from the bonfire. As if time itself was flowing in reverse, the logs began to lose their charred state before the fire ultimately extinguished, leaving behind green tender that, shortly thereafter, vanished. Several hundred kilometers away from the cave, in the area previously devasted by Ryuuna, the innocent boulders quickly reformed while the uprooted trees once again found purchase in the permafrost. As time passed, this process seemed to speed up considerably until, less than an hour later, the light of day had returned to the Third Floor. With it, lush greenery once again dominated the terrain as, at several locations throughout the forest, blobs of pure energy began to coalesce before solidifying into the shape of Goblins, Slimes, Horned Rabbits, and Tyrant Mountain Bears. Following the formation of the monsters, each corpse belonging to a fallen Fledgling began to dissolve away into dust. Immediately after they faded away, all signs of their existence faded along with them, including supplies and equipment that had been left behind. Then, as the final part of this process, a total of 519 ripples appeared at various locations throughout the Third Floor before a new group of Fledglings began their survival challenge. Regardless of how much damage the Floors sustained, it would always be completely undone at the end of each challenge. This was known simply as a Reset, an Administrative Function that only those with the title of Floor Guardian had the authority to carry out. To prevent people from staying in the Tower indefinitely, building a civilization and limiting the chances other Fledglings would prosper, a Reset would periodically be conducted on even the safe Floors. Though the cycle varied for each Floor, with the 10th taking place every 1,000 years, it still forced those who wanted to consolidate power to move toward progressively higher Floors to avoid being ''erased'' during the Reset. Only by passing through one of the connecting Floors was a person able to avoid the process of being annihilated and, after a Reset, they were unable to backtrack from that moment onward. Nobody knew exactly what happened if your body was erased during a reset but it was commonly believed that you were absorbed by the Tower as nutrients. There was even a prominent faction that believed the Tower was a living organism that baited people into its body with the promise of power. They believed the Tower refined its prey, granting them unbelievable power in order to make them taste better. Though this seemed outlandish, the fact that nobody had ever managed to reach the top had allowed them to build a sizeable faction among those naturally born within the Tower. As for what really happened when a person died within the Tower, this largely depended on a variety of different factors. If they died as a result of combat, implying their body had been destroyed or, at the very least, damaged beyond repair, they would, in fact, become nutrients for the Tower. It would absorb their Souls into itself, refining the excess energy and destroying the Ego of the person. This would erase everything that represented a person, including their name, memories, status, and even Blessing. After the fact, their Soul would be expelled from the Tower, allowing it to wander aimlessly until finding a new vessel in the form of a developing zygote. This was not the only outcome for a person who had died within the Tower, however, as there were sometimes extenuating circumstances and unique situations that led to a person''s death. In most of these situations, the Floor Guardians themselves had made some kind of mistake while, in the less likely scenario, the person had died as a result of an unforeseen variable. Since the Creator of the Tower had documented an incalculable number of anomalies over the course of endless eternities, they had implemented a system where a person could redeem themselves if their willpower and fate were strong enough. Though most people knew of the Tower that pierced into the Heavens, extending far beyond any means of observation, only the Guardians knew of the second Tower that descended deep into the planar world. While the former was known as the Tower of Heaven, the latter was known as the Crucible of Souls, a place where those who had lost their lives due to unexpected circumstances had a second chance at life. It was the dominion of Tenebrae, the Lord of Darkness, one of the principal entities that governed the Tower. Unlike the scenic environments found in the Tower of Heaven, the Crucible of Souls was a dark and chaotic domain where only pain and suffering awaited those fighting for a second chance at life. It was a hellish place that few could survive for more than a week, while even fewer would ever be able to rise up and begin their climb anew. Though it only had eight Floors in total, each would test the willpower of its challengers to the limit. After all, without the proper conviction, you simply did not deserve a second chance at life. It was here, in a dark abyss filled with fire and brimstone, the Crucible of Souls'' Eighth Floor, that a frail figure with pale-blue hair slammed hard into the ground. Their body, covered in a layer of ice, began to thaw rapidly as a pained groan escaped their pale lips. At the same time, their hair began to lose its color, turning progressively whiter until it was almost indiscernible from its former color. Then, after tears of blood poured from their closed eyes, the figure awoke with a start, eyes glimmering like red rubies as their lungs strained desperately to draw in foul and pungent air... 33 Crucible of Souls Linnaeus had no idea what had happened to him. In one moment, the unbearable cold had given way to a pleasant warmth while, in the next, he found himself crashing hard into a rocky surface as an overwhelmingly pungent aroma assaulted his lungs. Even compared to the perpetual stench of the slums, the smell of this desolate landscape caused him to have a coughing fit as he fought to regulate his breathing. Before he was given the opportunity to regain his senses, the hair on the back of Linnaeus'' neck stood on end as a bone projectile, nearly 3m in length, slammed into his [Barrier Aura]. Though he still had no idea what was going in on, Linnaeus'' body began to move on pure instinct as he rolled across the ground and began taking evasive maneuvers after returning to his feet. With no visible hiding spots, Linnaeus charged toward his attacker, his ruby-red eyes taking on the color of blood as he strained to see through the plumes of noxious fumes. He saw a man with onyx black skin, pale grey hair, and strange markings all over his body. Though Linnaeus wasn''t aware of it, the man had similar eyes to him, shimmering with a murderous red light as he pulled out bones from his body to use as weapons. Though it wasn''t nearly as fast as Ryuuna, the muscular man began charging toward Linnaeus with a fierce momentum as he wielded two shortswords formed from his own bones. The craggy ground broke beneath their feet but, just as they were nearing range of each other, Linnaeus extended his hand, creating a long column in the path of the man''s legs while erecting a second barrier behind his head. Due to his fierce charge, the man''s right calf slammed hard into the barrier mid-stride, causing the bone to fracture slightly as the barrier shattered like glass. It was still enough to arrest his charge, however, so Linnaeus leaped over his body like a blur before bounding off the second barrier like a springboard. Rather than turn to face Linnaeus, the man hunched forward, causing white bone spears to erupt from his back in an instant. Unfortunately for him, they only impacted Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura], dealing a serious blow to his SP but ultimately leaving him unscathed. Then, in the interval where the man had started to turn around, Linnaeus had withdrawn his shortsword, stabbing it into the softest part of the man''s neck. Unlike the people he had killed previously, Linnaeus felt an incredible amount of resistance as the tip of his sword broke through the man''s flesh. Fortunately, while his bones were like iron, the fleshy bits like his jugular were unprotected. A large part of the man''s neck was gouged out, causing blood to spew outward like water from a broken pipe. Despite the severity of the wound, the man''s Health wasn''t draining nearly fast enough for Linnaeus'' liking so, after his feet landed on the ground, he immediately took evasive maneuvers once again. It might not compare to Ryuuna''s, but his Agility was one of his highest attributes. He was confident that, unless they had a Blessing related to mobility, there weren''t too many people that would be able to keep up with his speed at the same Level. The injured man also seemed to understand he was at a disadvantage so, rather than try to give chase, he extended his palm outward while using his other hand to stymy the flow of blood to the best of his ability. From his extended hand, bone projectiles began to shoot out from the center of his palm. They would grow to the length of a meter before tearing through the air at a speed far greater than Linnaeus'' maximum velocity. Fortunately, while the spears flew straight, Linnaeus could easily change direction so, by zig-zagging and avoiding the man''s leading shots, he was slowly tiring out the muscular figure. The man''s Health had already been reduced to below half and, unless a miracle occurred, his Bleeding status almost guaranteed his end. Rather than just wait for his death, the man pulled out some strange substance from his Inventory before plastering it against his neck and releasing a blood-curdling scream. Then, with bloodshot eyes, he began charging toward Linnaeus while shouting, "You damned brat! I won''t let you get in the way of my second chance...!" As the man changed, bone spikes began to sprout from his body, much like a pincushion with all the needles pointed outward. Linnaeus couldn''t help glancing at his SP when he saw this but, as he still had 2168, his nerves calmed down as clarity was restored to his mind. The man''s bone spears were very hard but they didn''t seem to do much damage unless he took the time to charge and throw them. Since there was no reason to fight the man head-on, Linnaeus used his higher Agility, dodging to the side rapidly and causing the man to have to slow down and turn his body to face him. As could be expected, this caused the man''s expression to blacken, almost as if he were looking at the man who had killed his entire family. After realizing there was no easy way for him to close the distance, he began to haphazardly expel his bone spikes, seemingly with the intent to cut off every path. Linnaeus knew the man''s bones were related to his Blessing so, as he expended more and more, it had to be eating away at his SP. With this in mind, he continued to evade the man''s attacks, saving up his own SP until his pale-haired attacked began to be more conservative with his expenditure. The moment the barrage began to slow down, Linnaeus extended his hand and created a spherical barrier with a hole in the bottom. He had placed this just around the man''s head as it was impossible for him to create a barrier inside or piercing through an object. Still, this was enough to disorient him completely as, without being able to build up any momentum, his head was practically trapped for a short moment. In response to the unexpected membrane around his head, the man began to panic as he used up the remainder of his SP and Health in an attempt to take Linnaeus out with him. He spread his arms wide as ten black bones erupted from his torso, extending nearly 10m in an instant as they tried to pierce and ensnare Linnaeus'' body. To Linnaeus'' surprise, one of the black bones slammed into his shoulder and, as if his [Barrier Aura] didn''t exist, a sharp pain radiated from the impacted area as he was impaled. This pain was replaced by a mind-numbing burning sensation but, with his [Pain Tolerance], Linnaeus'' clarity of mind was not affected as he threw his shortsword toward the man''s head. HIs [Throwing] was at LV17 so, while it wasn''t his most developed Skill, he had almost perfect accuracy at ten meters. Seeing a slightly bent sword flying toward his face, the pale-haired man could only grit his teeth as tears of blood flowed from his eyes. He couldn''t muster any strength at all so, without incident, the sword struck the area of his left eye, embedding itself deep into his skull and extinguishing the sliver of Health he had preserved. Upon his death, the black bones began to dissolve away like ashes while the white bones turned into a foul-smelling paste. Unlike how a person would normally leave behind a corpse, Linnaeus watched in abject terror as the body of his attacker lost its color. After a few seconds had passed, he looked like a stone statue that, moments later, began to dissolve away in a similar manner to his black bones. It was an eerie sight to behold and, even without anyone explaining the situation to him, Linnaeus knew this was his own fate if he failed to preserve his life. After releasing a tired sigh, followed by a pained groan, Linnaeus ate a Blue Gel before making his way over to the pile of ash and picking up his sword. It actually had burn marks marring its surface but this wasn''t the most important thing as, situated in the center of the ash pile, Linnaeus found a small red gemstone. Linnaeus hadn''t noticed it before but, after he was thrown into this foul-smelling abyss, the Aether value on the back of his hand had vanished entirely. When he picked up the small gemstone, a new mark appeared, this one having a blood-red glow as it formed the jagged outline of a cat''s head. It had a rather fierce-looking design while, at the very center of the mark, a single stroke indicated he now had a single Soul Kindling. After picking up the tiny red gemstone, Linnaeus felt heat flow through his body and, though he was unaware of it, his hair regained a bit of its lost luster. His blood-red eyes also faded slightly but, even if you had been staring directly into them, the change would have only been discernible to the most perceptive... Just as Linnaeus was considering his next course of action, he nearly jumped out of his own skin as the sensuous voice of a woman, as if leaning over his shoulder and whispering in his ear, stated, "I see you have survived your first trial, little boy~" In response to the voice, Linnaeus pulled out his sword as he twisted his body around while jumping back with as much strength as his legs could manage. To his surprise, however, the space behind him had been completely empty. Since he didn''t know what was going on, he continued moving until he was several meters before crouching low to the ground and taking in his surroundings. At the exact moment that he stopped moving, Linnaeus felt a chill run up his spine as the voice, once again, echoed in his ear, "Oho...you''re quite skittish, aren''t you~? That only makes me want to tease you, you know~?" This time around, Linnaeus slowly turned his head until he was looking over his shoulder. Other than plumes of smoke, there was nothing at all anywhere near his body. Then, with his head still turned, Linnaeus now heard a laugh, this time from in front of him. When he turned his head, however, there was, yet again, nothing at all. After several long seconds of sensuous and cold laughter, the voice whispered in his ear once again, this time causing a warm airflow to tickle his earlobe as it said, "Your reactions are quite nice...but I''m afraid I can''t stay around to play for too long..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Once the woman''s words had fallen, Linnaeus felt a sensation against his ear, almost as if someone had licked him with a piece of sandpaper. This caused him to roll forward evasively, eliciting another round of laughter from the unseen woman. With his mind racing, Linnaeus resisted his urge to run away and instead lay down on the ground facing towards the endless black abyss above. As a result, the laughter coming from behind him vanished in its entirety, replaced by absolute silence. He had already guessed that the voice''s owner was the Floor Guardian but, as she reminded him a lot of Skaadi, the predatory Vulna woman who had tried to kill him in his youth, he couldn''t help but react adversely. For several tense seconds, no sound reached Linnaeus'' ears, causing him to release a sigh of relief before hesitantly rolling into a seated position. This time, despite the voice still sending shivers up his spine, he managed to keep his composure since it would be foolish of him to ignore the words of a Floor Guardian when he had no idea what was going on. Fortunately, the voice didn''t seem annoyed by his attempts to avoid hearing her as, the moment he was seated upright, he felt it tickle his ear as she explained, "This is the Eighth Floor of the Crucible of Souls. It is where those who have lost their lives due to various circumstances are gathered. At the end of your life, I heard your wish so I have decided to give you a second chance. You will have to put in a lot of effort but, if you can reach the top Floor of my dominion, you will be able to resume your climb in the Tower. Better yet, you will even have the chance to receive a special reward...work hard, little boy. Don''t let your life be wasted this time around, okay~?" Feeling another dry sensation against his ear, Linnaeus winced in annoyance before waiting for the voice to explain what he needed to do in order to reach the next Floor. Unfortunately, even after a full minute in silence, the only sounds to reach him were the smoldering of flames and the billowing of smoke. This made him turn his eyes to the information panel of his system but, other than the value representing the amount of Soul Kindling he had, nothing had changed. With no alternatives, Linnaeus decided to do what he always did in such situations: try to gather as much information as possible. This was an inhospitable land but there had to be sustenance or, at the very least, water. Without this, there was no chance anyone would be able to reach the top Floor unless they had a powerful combat-oriented Blessing. Though he couldn''t be certain, the Tower seemed to have the means to balance things so that support and utility Blessings weren''t at a complete disadvantage. This meant there had to be a way to survive and reach the next Floor without strictly relying on combat against other Fledglings. Thus, with the only landmark being a range of mountains in the distance, Linnaeus steeled his resolve as he began a long and arduous trek through the fiery wasteland. Linnaeus still remembered his conviction toward the end of his life so, this time around, he swore he would try harder. The fact he had left behind his sister and Saht on such pathetic terms had been a wakeup call for him, one that came, unfortunately, after he already died. Since he wasn''t likely to get a third chance, Linnaeus sword he would live his second life to the fullest extent of his capabilities. 34 Futility Without a proper explanation from the Floor Guardian, Linnaeus needed to find some means to obtain information. The method to move on to the Seventh Floor had to be known by at least one person or the odds of moving up would be exponentially decreased. Thus far, the only clue he had was the Soul Kindling. It seemed to be a form of currency based on how it manifested in a similar way to Aether. From this, he could speculate that the means to reach higher Floors was wholly dependent on the amount of Soul Kindling you had in your possession. Since it was impossible to be certain, Linnaeus could only steel his resolve while continuing his trek towards the distant mountains. He assumed that, as one of the only visible landmarks, he assumed that most people thrown into this hellish landscape would head there. With this in mind, Linnaeus continued his journey at a steady pace, using his [Acrobatics] to navigate the rough and uneven terrain while keeping a low profile. There were very few places of cover in the desolate blackened landscape but, if he used the perpetual plumes of black smoke to his advantage, it shouldn''t be difficult to avoid detection. The only things Linnaeus really had to worry about, at least for the time being, were the dangerous pools of yellowish liquid that produced a foul-smelling aroma. They were bubbling over like boiling water and would periodically erupt before peppering the rocky black terrain with corrosive fluids. Because of these constant eruptions, the landscaped was pockmarked with tiny holes that would have eaten away at his bare feet in normal circumstances. If not for his [Barrier Aura], Linnaeus felt that even walking through this unforgiving terrain would be very difficult. Fortunately, or perhaps not, Linnaeus had yet to encounter a single monster after more than an hour of traveling. He also hadn''t come across any other people but, considering the words of the Floor Guardian, he assumed it wasn''t that common for people to be sent here. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Assuming this was the case, Linnaeus felt that encountering the bone-producing man was either an expression of misfortune or, as was far more likely the case, the machinations of the Floor Guardian. It was very likely that he and the man were both new arrivals on the Eighth Floor so they had been pitted against each other, much like how he had been tested prior to entering the First Floor... Thinking that he had killed someone who just got a second chance at life, Linnaeus could only shake his head while releasing an exasperated sigh. If the man hadn''t suddenly attacked him, they could have worked together to try and make sense of their situation. The Tower didn''t seem to require that you kill anyone so unless the rules had fundamentally changed, there was nothing preventing him from teaming up with others. With the man''s ability to produce weapons from his bones, combined with his own ability to create barriers, they would have been a very strong team... Now that he had a second chance, or at least a chance to obtain one, Linnaeus was thinking about how he could change himself for the better. His passive nature had been the cause of his death so, this time around, Linnaeus felt he needed to be more proactive. Ryuuna had never pointed it out, but Linnaeus knew that his own attributes had nearly reached her own at the same Level. This implied that his foundation wasn''t nearly as weak as he expected. While there were undoubtedly people more powerful than him, there was no need to just lay low and wait for others to act. If he was always at the mercy of other people''s decisions, the odds of him reaching the Tenth Floor, and beyond, would exponentially decrease. Linnaeus couldn''t see himself ordering people around and suppressing them but, after his trying experience with Ryuuna, he would never allow himself to be at the whims of another Party Leader. If he was going to Party up with anyone in the future, he would be the one extending an invitation. Though exceptions could be made, this would entirely depend on whether or not the person trying to lead him was worthy of his respect and trust. He would never join them just to preserve his life as, with his death as the best example, this was completely meaningless unless he was willing to lower his head and live by the whims of another. While he didn''t consider himself an inherently prideful person, Linnaeus realized he had lived much of his life in a rather obstinant manner. He had always lived in opposition to the system designed to suppress and exploit him, to the point he had killed well over a thousand people. Though he didn''t want to become an arrogant prick that took advantage of others, Linnaeus knew he needed to embrace his nature instead of suppressing it on principle alone. He had to be willing to fight for his beliefs at any cost, even if it ultimately resulted in his death. After all, it was better to die fighting for your life than to passively wait for a death imposed upon you by others... --- If not for the Akashic System, Linnaeus wouldn''t be able to accurately gauge the passing of time as, looking up, the only thing overhead was a perpetual layer of clouds. They would periodically rumble before spewing out terrifying bolts of purple lightning which, fortunately, had yet to strike anywhere near him. With the system, Linnaeus was able to tell that nearly thirteen hours had passed since his arrival on the Eighth Floor. Despite this, he felt no closer to the mountains than he was at the beginning of his journey. This implied they were impossibly massive, much like the Tower, or that something was actively preventing him from approaching them. For all Linnaeus knew, the challenge of the Eighth Floor was finding a way to reach the mountains in the distance so it was extremely vexing to have made no discernible progress. More troubling was the fact that, despite more than half a day passing, he had seen no signs of life, nor had he found any sources of freshwater. Though he had enough supplies to last him for several weeks, at the very least, this wouldn''t matter if he never found the means to replenish them. Feeling frustrated, Linnaeus climbed to the top of a craggy mound, one of the highest points in the immediate area, to see if he couldn''t get a better grasp of his surroundings. Unfortunately, the only thing he learned from this was the number of black plumes and the location of a few large pools of corrosive fluid. Seeing the seemingly endless stretch of wasteland, Linnaeus couldn''t help but release a tired sigh as he sat down and decided to take a break. This caused his SP to drain a little faster but, with his regen outpacing it, Linnaeus didn''t care. Others would have to tolerate the hot and abrasive stone directly so he couldn''t really complain. Since he didn''t know when he would find food and water next, Linnaeus decided to ration out his current supplies as much as possible. He could easily go days without eating so, while he was very tempted to fill his stomach to ease his frustrations, he managed to restrain himself. While looking out towards the horizon, Linnaeus adjusted his seated position before murmuring in a tired voice, "This place...how is anyone supposed to reach the Seventh Floor like this...?" Shaking his head in response to his own question, Linnaeus then looked toward the sky and asked, "Are you doing your job properly? I have no leads and there is next to nothing here besides a vast and inhospitable wasteland. Are you trying to imply that only those lucky enough to stumble upon the answer have the right at a second chance? What a farce...for all I know, you just want to watch people suffer futilely before giving in and accepting their death..." With nothing happening for half a day, Linnaeus had a lot of time to think about the purpose of the Crucible of Souls. Though the voice stated it was a means to earn a second chance at life, it provided absolutely no information on how to succeed. It almost felt like the true purpose of this Floor was to punish those who had died with a strong desire to live...or perhaps those with lingering resentments. Much to his surprise, Linnaeus felt a chill run up his back as a cold voice answered, "Come now, little boy, is this the limit of your perseverance? I had expected you to at least last for a few days before complaining...well, you are still a child, after all~" When the voice finished admonishing him, Linnaeus heard a ding within his mind as a series of words played across his vision. This included information about the distance he had traveled and the amount of time that had passed. Seeing this information, Linnaeus realized that the ambiguity of the Floor Guardian''s words had been intentional from the start. She seemed to be testing their patience and tolerance, trying to determine how quickly they would break before lashing out at the ''unfairness'' of their current situation. Linnaeus suddenly felt ashamed of his behavior as he could have easily continued forward for several days without issue. It felt like he had, once again, compromised himself. His obstinance and indignity had led to his death and, now that he was supposed to be vying for a second chance, he was already complaining about the system itself being designed to suppress him... After several seconds of silence, the voice began to laugh once again before whispering, "Do not fret so much, little boy. Though your results are lackluster, they are still better than the vast majority of people who find themselves here. With this unforgiving terrain and lack of resources, it rarely takes longer than a few hours for most people to break. After all, they don''t have the benefit of your little Blessing, ufufufufu~" Hearing the voice, Linnaeus nodded his head in understanding as just walking through this Floor had been a tedious experience. Without his Blessing, he would have suffered quite a bit due to the heat of the abrasive ground, the pungent aroma, and the periodic showers of corrosive fluids. In truth, he had a significant advantage over others due to his [Barrier Aura], making his complaints seem even more childish... Rather than be allowed the time to brood, Linnaeus heard another ding in his mind that caused his Soul Kindling to increase to 538, ten for every hour he had lasted and one for every kilometer he had traveled. This meant he was averaging around 30km/h, a decent pace considering he was using his [Stealth] and constantly surveying the area. Immediately after receiving his rewards, Linnaeus felt his body tugged by an invisible force before his surroundings changed from a hellish landscape to a forest. Instead of a blackened sky, there was an endless expanse of blue above, marred by the existence of a few fluffy white clouds. Before he could take in his surroundings completely, the voice explained, "As you have suspected, the purpose of the Crucible is not to simply determine who is the strongest. It is a test of everything about a person, from their character to their creativity. Your only true goal is reaching the top Floor. How you get there, and how long it takes, is ultimately up to you. Just know that there are hundreds of ways to move up so do your best this time around, little boy~" For a brief moment, Linnaeus felt something nibbling on his earlobe, breaking his concentration and causing him to swat at empty air. The behavior of this Floor Guardian was troubling, to say the least, but he now had a basic understanding of what he needed to do. From what he could ascertain, there were a variety of different challenges but they were all kept hidden to see how people would act. In other words, he could set challenges for himself and, so long as he put in an adequate amount of effort, he would be able to reach the next Floor. This was likely a method to allow those without combat-oriented Blessings to ascend higher as, if everything was just predicated on survival and combat, the vast majority of people were doomed to failure. After releasing a sigh, Linnaeus slapped his cheeks with a bit of force, leaving two hand-shaped marks on his own face. This allowed him to better focus his mind as he began looking around the area, whispering in a determined voice, "No more complaining...I need to grow up and do my best from here onward..." With his convictions set, Linnaeus picked a direction and began walking once again. He assumed it was possible to move on to the next Floor after just surviving for a few days but, this time around, he was determined to find another challenge to complete. The Floor Guardian stated that there were hundreds of ways to move up so it was easy to guess that some offered much better rewards than others... 35 Eye Opening Linnaeus was not familiar with the origin of the phrase but, among those who lived in the darkness of society, there was a well-known creed. It stated that discretion was the better part of valor and, no matter how confident you were in your skills, bravery without due caution was akin to inviting death upon yourself. Only ten minutes after entering what he assumed was the Seventh Floor, Linnaeus pressed his body against the ground, his breathing withheld. Less than five meters from his position, a large quadrupedal creature that stood more than three meters tall and seven meters long idled about as it ate the fruit from a tree. Its body was covered in thick scales and, while it had a tapered waist, its limbs rippled with powerful muscles. What stood out the most, however, were its fierce claws and the terrifying reptilian maw at the end of its serpentine neck. If not for the fact it lacked wings, Linnaeus would have believed it if someone told him the creature lackadaisically eating some kind of gourd-shaped fruit was a Dragon. It even had a series of horns forming a crown-like shape above its brow, each covered in ridges that flared out before curving backward. Though you couldn''t accurately determine the strength of a creature by appearance alone, Linnaeus'' instincts told him the dragon-like monster to his front would tear him apart. He felt like a tiny animal in the presence of its natural predator so, despite his health slowly reducing, he continued holding his breath while doing everything in his power to conceal his presence... After eating all of the low-hanging fruits, the dragon-like creature nudged its head against the tree''s trunk, seemingly without any strength behind its actions. Despite this, the tree fell over as if its roots didn''t exist, allowing the monster to lazily begin eating the now-accessible fruits. At this point, Linnaeus could feel the veins in his face painfully pulsing as his health steadily neared a critical level. Since it didn''t seem like the monster was going to be leaving any time soon, he had to decide whether or not he should fight, or flee. The latter seemed to be the most prudent choice but, with the dragon''s muscles rippling with even small movements, combined with its streamlined form, he had no confidence in being able to outrun it. Just as he was psyching himself up for the coming battle, Linnaeus exhaled before drawing in a sharp breath as, right before his eyes, something inexplicable happened. Appearing from the sky like a meteor, a man with spiky blue hair and a muscular build landed on the unsuspecting dragon-like creature, his spear piercing through its lowered head in a single swift blow. Immediately following this, a shockwave rippled outward, passing over Linnaeus'' body and sending a rustling wave through the surrounding flora. Linnaeus watched as the man extricated his spear from the monster''s skull with a confident smile on his face. He then preceded to brandish his spear, discarding the purplish blood and creamy brain matter before shouldering it and waiting patiently. After a few seconds, the body of the monster began to lose its color before, moments later, it began to dissolve away into ash. When it faded away completely, a few items were left behind in its wake, the most notable being an orange gemstone. The rest of the items looked like materials that could be harvested from the monster, confusing Linnaeus as every other monster he killed had left an intact corpse behind... Fortunately, after looting the materials, the man closed his eyes for a few moments before looking toward the northwest. Then, leaving a stunned Linnaeus behind, he flexed his legs before leaping into the sky with enough force to cause the ground to erupt with a delayed explosion. Rather than assume he was in the clear, Linnaeus quickly bounded to his feet before running in the complete opposite direction to the man''s leap. He didn''t know the nature of the spear-wielding man but, if they were to come to blows, Linnaeus could easily imagine his body skewered on the end of his ornate spear. With his heart racing faster than a skittish rabbit, Linnaeus moved several kilometers before finding a small nook near the base of a large tree. He immediately slid into the shadow crevasse before taking several labored breaths to calm down. Though he was admittedly spooked, it wasn''t fear that caused Linnaeus to behave this way. It was the overwhelming cocktail of chemicals and adrenaline pumping through his veins after mustering up his courage, only to have something completely unexpected happen. He felt like one of the trade vessels that would periodically pass through the main channels of the slums but, rather than swiftly coasting with the wind, it was like a large cannonball had smashed through his sails. After calming himself down, Linnaeus released a heavy sigh before muttering, "At least I was able to learn a lot..." Not only had he confirmed the presence of other people on this Floor but, with the strength of the man, he could assume that people from Floors higher than 10 were also trapped in the Crucible of Souls. His display of power and speed made Ryuuna seem like an actual child, dwarfing his own by several orders of magnitude. If his guess was accurate, Linneaus felt there was a chance he would be able to obtain information about the higher Floors and their challenges. Assuming he had to start his climb anew, it would be extremely useful to know what kinds of challenges awaited him. He could also further strengthen his foundation, putting him at, or even above, the Level of other Fledglings... Though he had already been determined to reach the top of the Crucible of Souls, Linnaeus now felt even more motivated than before. So long as he played his cards right, there was a chance he would even be able to reach the top of the rankings in his respective group. This didn''t really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things but, if his ranking was high, that made it a lot easier to recruit other people into his own Party. After organizing his thoughts, Linnaeus began trekking through the forest once again. He wanted to try and find animals and monsters closer to his Level as, despite the color being different, he felt that the orange gemstone was fundamentally the same as the red. It was slightly bigger and seemed to be of a higher quality so he assumed it granted more than a single Soul Kindling. He never had the chance to use them, but Linnaeus felt that Soul Kindling was the same as Aether, meaning it was a currency that could be used if the circumstances allowed. He assumed this was the means by which those with support and utility Blessings climbed higher as, if they were able to set up shop somewhere, they could offer their services for Soul Kindling. While he had yet to see any signs that this was the case, Linnaeus felt that there had to be some kind of settlement on the Floor. There was no time limit given by the Floor Guardian so he assumed there were a number of people who had gathered together over time. As he went higher up, he imagined the number of people would gradually increase as it was undoubtedly more difficult to pass through higher Floors. Linnaeus didn''t get his hopes up but, after growing up in the slums, he knew people could find a way to live in even the most inhospitable environments. This forest had food, water, and a means to earn Soul Kindling so, if his assumptions proved correct, it was only natural that people would have gathered together somewhere... Though his [Perception] was only LV14, Linnaeus was able to sense the presence of a relatively weak monster near his location. This brought his mind to a razor-sharp focus and, with his [Stealth] having been active from the start, he was able to near the unsuspecting monster undetected. Rather than a monster, the creature Linnaeus encountered looked like some kind of mutated deer with a complex array of antlers. If not for the scales covering the lower half of its legs, and the blood-red eyes, he would have assumed it was some kind of animal, not a monster. With a slight smile on his face, Linnaeus extended his hand, creating a spherical barrier within the complex antlers. In the same instant, he created a second barrier to use as a platform, exploiting its ability to completely nullify sound. After discovering a foreign object in its antlers, the monster began shaking its head to try and free the obstruction but, due to the small range of motion, it couldn''t build up enough force to break the spherical barrier. Linnaeus had learned in the past that the shape of a barrier had a direct influence on its strength so, by creating a sphere, it was hard for a lot of direct force to act on the surface all at once. While the deer-like monster was distracted, Linnaeus thrust his shortsword into its soft-looking gut before shaking the handle with as much force as he could manage. This caused the monster''s health to rapidly drop as blood cascaded down like a fountain due to the ever-increasing size of the wound. In response to the sudden attack the monster tried to buck and kick at Linnaeus but, while it did a surprising amount of damage, his [Barrier Aura] held up well. Thus, after a few seconds had passed, its legs could no longer support it as it collapsed to the ground. With the spherical barrier in its antlers, the head of the monster was still propped up, exposing its neck as it hung limply from the relatively small blue sphere. This allowed Linnaeus to cut across its neck. Before the monster dissolved away into ash, Linnaeus tried to cut out a large chunk of its flesh to see if he could deposit it into his Inventory. This experiment ultimately ended in failure as, rather than be placed in his Inventory, the cut of meat immediately burst apart violently, covering his barrier in fine white ash. Linnaeus wasn''t upset by his inability to harvest additional resources from the monster as, with their bodies dissolving away, he didn''t have to worry about dismantling their corpses. He also didn''t have to worry about other monsters following the scent of blood to track him down as, despite a thick coating present on his sword, even that ultimately turned to ash. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. When the deer-like monster vanished completely, it left a perfect piece of brown hide behind. Far more surprising than this, however, were the three pieces of meat that were neatly placed on its surface. At their side, a slightly larger red gemstone than the one he had looted previously was present. After placing the supplies into his Inventory, Linnaeus picked up the red gemstone and, after it burst into small motes of light, his Soul Kindling increased by a value of 35. From this, he confirmed that, at the very least, his speculation regarding the orange gemstone was correct. Now that he knew there were monsters he could fight against on the Floor, Linnaeus was even more determined than ever before. He just needed to find a safe place to stay and a source of fresh water before this particular Floor became a veritable paradise to him. If he exercised due caution, he might even be able to increase his Level considerably before moving on to the next Floor... With expectation flashing across his ruby-red eyes, Linnaeus allowed a smile to spread itself across his face as he, once again, disappeared into the underbrush. While there were undoubtedly people and monsters that could kill him in an instant, Linnaeus felt that, more than most, he knew how to live and maneuver amongst entities far more powerful than himself. Thus, until the situation forced him to make a change, he decided this Floor would serve the purpose of stabilizing his foundation so that nothing could stand in his way in the future... Turning his head towards the direction where the spear-wielding man had killed the dragon-like monster, Linnaeus squinted his eyes slightly before muttering, "I''ll set my current goal as being strong enough to kill one of those monsters in an instant...I wonder what dragon meat tastes like?" 36 Routine Though he could take as much time as he liked, Linnaeus knew he couldn''t spend too much time within the Crucible of Souls. After all, unless she died, Saht would undoubtedly be waiting for him on the first Floor where people could congregate. Even if she had to wait for several years, Linnaeus was confident she would continue to wait, refusing to believe he had died. Saht had trouble expressing herself but, even if she had never said it, Linnaeus liked to think that she loved him. They already made plans to stay together for the rest of their lives so, while it may not be the wisest decision, he was determined not to keep her waiting for too long. Despite this sense of urgency, however, Linnaeus wasn''t foolish enough to walk about the Seventh Floor with impunity. After five days of venturing, he had learned that the Floor was divided into several territorial regions, each ruled by a ''king'' or a small group of powerful monsters. Each of these was strong enough to kill him in an instant but, so long as he kept to the outskirts, it was possible to hunt weaker monsters without having to worry. By exercising caution, Linnaeus had been able to identify a total of thirteen king-class monsters, each belonging to a completely different race. He also learned that, when monsters killed each other, their bodies would not break down into ash. When he tried to scavenge the corpse of another monster''s prey, however, it immediately lost its color before fading away. It didn''t even leave behind a single drop item, indicating that he couldn''t just take advantage of another monster''s prey. Fortunately, by sticking to the outskirts of known territories, he had been able to hunt without any real difficulties. He had even managed to make a home for himself after killing a fox-like monster that had three small horns on its head. It had dug a den for itself between two large boulders and, though it was a little cramped in some areas, there were multiple entrances and exits that he could make use of in an emergency. With food, water, and shelter secured, Linnaeus spent most of his day drawing a rough map of the area and approximating the territories of surrounding kings. Throughout this process, he had seen several other people hunting but, after following one relatively weak-looking individual to a small hovel, he figured they were just as new to the Seventh Floor as he was. Since he had yet to establish himself and get a proper understanding of the surroundings, Linnaeus wasn''t trying to Party up with anyone just yet. He didn''t want to be responsible for another person and, after his experience with Ryuuna, he wasn''t in a hurry to Party up with another woman. After observing the girl for several hours, confirming that she was indeed new to the Floor, Linnaeus returned to his own territory to rest and make plans. She actually had a very useful Blessing, allowing her to create and manipulate water, but he had already found a small stream around two kilometers from his den. Thus, for the time being, he left her to his own devices while spending his days hunting and training his Skills, Abilities, and Magic. Linnaeus quickly learned that killing monsters on the Seventh Floor awarded no experience toward his base Level but, as his attributes could be increased through training, he wasn''t deterred. Instead, he was even more motivated than before since he could focus on strengthening his foundation. It was almost like the Crucible of Souls was made for this purpose, preventing people from arbitrarily increasing their Level and forcing them to instead put in more effort to refine what they already had. In order to take advantage of this fact, Linnaeus woke up long before the veil of the night gave way to the dawn of a new day. During these few hours, he would stretch his body before performing an exercise routine consisting of ten sets of 100 pushups, 100 crunches, 100 flex kicks, and 100 squats. He would rest between each set, allowing his body to regenerate his damaged muscles and stamina before moving on to the next set. After this, he would spend an hour checking the surrounding area, documenting any changes that might have occurred since the previous day. Until he had patrolled the area, Linnaeus would avoid combat with any monsters, even if they were much weaker than him. He didn''t want to be caught off guard trying to procure food and resources when he already had ample supplies stocked up in his Inventory and den. After investigating any anomalies within the surrounding area, Linnaeus would then hunt between the borders of three different Kings. This was an area dominated by an eight-meter tall silver ape, a 20m long snake, and a family of lion-like monsters with pale white fur and dark blue manes. They were all very violent creatures but, as their borders all overlapped with more powerful creatures, he could hunt within the boundaries of their territories without having to worry about them venturing inward. This time around, Linnaeus was skulking through the forest without making a single sound as he crept up on a medium-sized monster that looked like a combination between a bear and a rabbit. It had light brown fur with a pock-marked pattern of dark brown spots on its back. What stood out the most was its large claws and, for the complete opposite reason, its rather docile-looing face. Linnaeus had been stalking the bear-rabbit for nearly twenty minutes as, while it didn''t give off the same feeling as more powerful monsters, he wanted to increase his proficiency in, [Assassination], [Stealth], and [Presence Concealment]. They were his core techniques and, though he wanted to become strong enough to fight people head-on, there was no reason to simply abandon his existing skillset. After finding a relatively private area, the bear-rabbit sniffed around the area before hunching its body over and relieving itself. It was during this moment that Linnaeus decided to strike as, without waiting for it to fall asleep, this was the most exposed it would be... Using a series of three platforms like steps, Linnaeus leaped high into the air with two Horned Rabbit daggers in hand. The monster was completely unsuspecting as, not only had he been downwind, but his solidified [Barrier Aura] concealed his scent. Due to the difference in their size, Linnaeus landed on the back of the bear-rabbit, stabbing both of his daggers towards the sides of its neck. It felt like he was trying to stab through several durable pieces of leather but, with his surprise attacks dealing triple damage and causing Severe Bleeding, it was enough. With two daggers sticking in its neck, the bear-rabbit released a loud howl of pain as it swept its arm backward to try and cut him to ribbons with its razor-sharp claws. Linnaeus had already expected this, however, so he placed a barrier in the path of its joint while using the leverage provided by his daggers to stay on its back. After stopping its attack, Linnaeus pulled another dagger out of his Inventory and began stabbing it near the base of the monster''s skull over and over. Without the benefit of a surprise attack, each stab only penetrated a few centimeters but, as he was doing persistent damage, it didn''t matter. Once it managed to recover, the bear-rabbit did something Linnaeus hadn''t expected as he had yet to see how it fought. It had a thick layer of fur so he was unable to see the powerful muscles in its legs. As a result, he was considerably surprised when the bear-rabbit suddenly leaped more than ten meters into the air as it attempted to crush him with its body weight. Though it likely wouldn''t kill him, Linnaeus wasn''t in the mood to see how well his [Barrier Aura] held up against the full-body slam of a monster. He quickly kicked away from its body before erecting a sloped barrier between them, diverting the monster''s fall to the side as he dropped down. Due to the desperate nature of its attack, the bear-rabbit took a significant amount of damage from its own fall. It crashed hard into the ground before rolling to the side, a pitiful grown escaping its throat as it stared hatefully back at Linnaeus. For a brief moment, boy and monster glared at each other with murderous intent but, instead of colliding climactically, the former quickly spun on his heels before vanishing into the surrounding brush. He had already put the monster into a critical state so, with the Severe Bleeding status, it was only a matter of time until it fell. In response to its hated enemy fleeing, the bear-rabbit released a groaning roar as it made one final attempt to give chase. Unfortunately, it only made it a few steps before its legs smashed into a thin blue membrane, effectively tripping it to the ground. When it tried to stand up, another membrane kept it held down, preventing it from lifting its weakened body as a pair of ruby-red eyes stared at it from the darkness of a distant tree. After a few minutes of struggling, the bear-rabbit finally bled out, alerting Linnaeus to its identity via system notification. It ended up having the classification Lesser Ursiculus and, just like every other monster he killed, it awarded no experience towards his base Level. Instead, he got a few dozen in his [Assassination] Skill, bringing him ever closer to LV43 and the LV50 threshold. Once the monster had dissolved into ash, Linnaeus quickly looted the large red gemstone, earning an additional 59 Soul Kindling. This brought his total to 1391, indicating he had earned a total of 853 over the last six days. Since the majority of monsters within his means to hunt awarded between 30 and 50 Soul Kindling, he was earning between 160 and 200 each day. Linnaeus didn''t know if he was making good progress but, until he had killed a total of one-hundred monsters and hunted down a King, he was determined to stay on the Seventh Floor. His reasoning told him that greater dangers were present on higher floors so, if he couldn''t even take down one of the weaker Kings, proceeding further was the same as inviting death upon himself. So long as it wasn''t hunted by another person, Linnaeus had already decided on which King he was going to hunt. It was a dragon-type monster located about six-hours due east of his den. Though he couldn''t be certain, it gave him a similar feeling to the first monster he had encountered. Thus, with the latter already having died to the blue-haired spearman, it was the next best alternative. He would adjust his plans as needed but, for the time being, Linnaeus had given himself a month to hunt down one of the Kings. On average, he would kill around three monsters per day so he would be nearing his goal of 100 monsters around the same time. If the King ultimately proved too much for him, he would do his best to retreat to safety before trying to gain access to the Sixth Floor. After looting a large pelt, easily big enough to create a mantle from, Linnaeus retreated back toward his den. Before entering inside, however, he patrolled the surrounding area for over an hour to make sure there weren''t any people nearby eyeing his domicile. He would never return straight home as there was always a chance someone could track him back, just like he had followed the unsuspecting water-girl previously. It was only after he was confident there were abnormalities that Linnaeus created a solidified [Barrier Aura] so that he could completely mask his scent. Then, while closely observing his surroundings, he very slowly backtracked until reaching one of his den''s entrances. It was kept hidden by a large bush that could be moved aside to reveal a hole just barely large enough for his small frame. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Despite entering his own home, Linnaeus was still very cautious as, while he was away, there was a chance someone else could have taken up residence inside. He made sure to check each entrance and exit for signs of entry. Since he had placed small stones near the mouth of the holes, he could be relatively certain no visitors had arrived. Once he had confirmed his den was secure, Linnaeus breathed a sigh of relief before plopping down on a large pile of animal hide. He was slowly building up a stockpile of fur in order to produce a set of makeshift clothing. Though he lacked the [Tanner], [Crafting], and [Tailor] Blessings, he could still develop a weaker version of the Skill. Since there were no guarantees he would be able to purchase equipment and supplies in the future, he felt it wasn''t a bad idea to learn how to make his own... 37 Machinations An additional three weeks had passed on the Seventh Floor and, though there had been some close calls when his confidence outgrew his caution, Linnaeus was now making his final preparations for a battle against the ''Dragon King''. He had already come up with a strategy he believed was viable and, though his plan had a good chance of getting thrown out the window as soon as combat began, it was better than going in unprepared. At this point, Linnaeus had hunted a total of 95 monsters, earning himself a sizeable 4,351 Soul Kindling in the process. He wasn''t sure if this was a lot but, compared to having only a few hundred, it certainly felt like a lot. With the combination of physical training and hunting, Linnaeus'' Skills, Abilities, and Magic had all experienced a qualitative improvement compared to his past self. Though his attributes had only increased by a few points, primarily as a result of bonuses, it still felt good to have strengthened his foundation. Now, before his climactic battle, Linnaeus had decided to take a gamble by trying to recruit a few other people to his cause. During his exploration of the Seventh Floor, he had located the abodes of seven others, the majority of which gave off the impression that they were much weaker than him. Though his plan could be enacted without assistance, Linnaeus wanted to start building his Party now as, if he started scouting in the higher Floors, there was a good chance he would be refused. This was not only due to the fact that stronger people than him should exist in the higher Floors but, after staying in the Crucible of Souls for an extended period of time, he expected that the majority of people would have formed a team by then. Of the seven people he had tracked, the two that interested him the most was a tall man with pale grey skin and a sturdy build. As for the other, she was a petite woman with purple hair that could only be described as fluffy. The sclera of the former was pitch black, giving him a rather scary vibe, while his eyes were a vibrant shade of silver. What made him exceptional, at least in Linnaeus'' opinion, was his ability to absorb the traits of anything he was in contact with. Linnaeus had watched as the man wrangled with a Bear Rabbit using nothing by his physique to overpower the cute, yet ferocious, monster. A few seconds after the fight had started, the man''s body had become covered in a layer of light-brown fur and, though it was hard to tell at a glance, the muscles of his back and legs had become more pronounced. Shortly after that, he had pulled off the right arm of the Bear Rabbit before using it as a makeshift club to finish the unfortunate monster off. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though his Blessing could have been misconstrued as just another transformation ability, Linnaeus had been surprised to see the man enter into a small pond after his hunt came to an end. After a few seconds had passed, his body began to turn transparent and, by the time a minute had elapsed, his form had completely disappeared into the water. Even with his [Perception] enhanced to LV28, it was impossible for Linnaeus to sense the man after he had become one with the water. While the man''s Blessing was a truly envious ability, as Linnaeus could think of a conceivably infinite number of ways to exploit it, the purple-haired girl was actually his primary target. Though he had a small trauma after his experience with Ryuuna, she seemed to be a far more agreeable person than the pale-haired Dwelf. What made the purple-hair girl so important in Linnaeus'' mind, besides her seemingly quiet and demure nature, was, as could be expected, her Blessing. She had the ability to exponentially increase the amount of gravity within a given area by simply bringing her palms together. Though he knew very little about it, Linnaeus had heard the rumors about Gravity Magic having almost no counter, making it would of the most powerful types after Lightning and Destruction Magic. It wasn''t the girl''s offensive capabilities that made Linnaeus want to scout her, however. Instead, it was her potential utility and support skills as, when she retreated to her own abode, the girl would use what he could only assume was a spell to reduce her own weight. This allowed her to leap well over 50m in a single bound, giving her the ability to scale massive cliffs without any difficulty. Even more useful was the fact that, even if she leaped down from her rocky residence, she would suffer no damage from a fall that would have killed, or at least seriously injured, most people. If things worked out, Linnaeus could secure the absorption man as their Vanguard while the gravity girl would serve as their offensive ace and support specialist. His role would be as the secondary attacker, fighting from the mid-line with his limited ranged capabilities while using his [Barrier] and [Barrier Aura] spells to help dictate the flow of battle. With his Agility, Intelligence, and Wisdom being his highest attributes, Linnaeus knew he wasn''t much of a front-line fighter. He was better suited to the position of supporting others and, after working with Saht for several years, he was able to grasp the situation of a battlefield without too much difficulty. Though he might not exactly have leadership qualities, this wouldn''t be an issue unless the other party was as obstinant as someone like Ryuuna and himself... After making his final preparations, which had been ongoing for the last few days, Linnaeus made his way to the known hunting grounds of the gravity-wielding girl. They hadn''t talked at all but, over the past few weeks, he had made his presence known to her by helping out when she was in a relatively dangerous situation. Linnaeus had witnessed the girl being struck by a charging Axtola, the deer-like monster he had hunted in the past. She had apparently cast her weight-reduction magic on herself as, when the monster hit her, she was launched like a cannonball into the tree line. As a result, she suffered a few moderately serious injuries so, before things could get further out of hand, he had appeared in a flash to decapitate the Axtola. As could be expected, the girl had been shocked by the sudden appearance of another person. She immediately assumed a defensive posture, even though she was using the tree as support. With a fretful light in her eyes, Linnaeus knew there was some past trauma weighing heavily on her mind so, rather than stick around, he just set down a few cooked foodstuffs before backing away slowly and disappearing into the underbrush. If he was lucky, the girl would have been thinking about him over the past few days so, unless her trauma ran deeper than he expected, they should be able to at least talk with each other. She was very important for his plan to recruit the absorption man so, if he failed to obtain her, there was a good chance he would be fighting against a King on his own. After reaching an area where the grass had been flatted due to persistent crossing, Linnaeus decided to sit and wait patiently. It was very obvious that the girl hadn''t been born in the slums as she made the foolish decision to repeat the same route almost every time she went hunting. This was the kind of habit even Street Urchins knew better than to repeat so, combined with how she had been caught off guard by the Axtola, it was apparent that she had lived a relatively sheltered life. Linnaeus didn''t even have to wait all that long when his [Perception] picked up the signs of a person slowly approaching. They stopped around thirty meters from his position, likely after spotting him, but Linnaeus showed no signs of having done the same. He waited until she approached him of her own volition as, given the nature of most people, they were far less likely to run away if they were the ones to decide on a set of actions. Several awkward minutes later, Linnaeus found himself staring up at the purple-haired girl as she stood in the shadows of a tree. She had a rather unassuming appearance and, if not for her violet purple hair, she wouldn''t have stood out in a crowd. The only thing that really stood out about her, besides her vibrant hair color, was the fact that her hair formed a roughly spherical shape due to how fluffy it was. If another person were to set eyes on her, however, Linnaeus had no doubt there were two very notable features that their eyes would be drawn to after first eyeing her hair. This was due to the fact that, despite her relatively short stature, she had a pair of abnormally large breasts that stuck out like a sore thumb with her skin tight bodysuit. She had made an obvious effort to try and hide them by patching together a few furs but, due to the lack of sewing materials, it was impossible to make any complex clothing. Knowing she was likely self-conscious about her bust size, Linnaeus made a point of staring directly into her lavender-colored eyes. He didn''t say anything at all as, if he spoke too soon, his instincts told her that she would either run away or outright refuse his request to Party up. It was best if he got her to broach the subject herself as, while she would still have inhibitions, it made her far less likely to suddenly abandon the Party at a later date. Linnaeus was the type of person who could stay holed up inside a pipe for several days without moving so it was a given that his patience greatly exceeded the purple-haired girl''s. After nearly twenty minutes of awkward silence, she ultimately broke eye contact with him before asking in a demure tone that barely reached his ears, "Why...why are you here...?" While it was undoubtedly a scummy thing to do, Linnaeus continued to stare at the girl with an unwavering gaze as he stated, "I was worried about you..." He could tell from her body language that, despite her clear apprehension, this was very close to the answer she wanted to hear from him when she asked her question. In response to his words, the girl lowered her face to obscure how flushed her cheeks were but, due to his seated position, Linnaeus had been able to see it relatively clearly. He had no intention to treat the girl poorly and exploit her vulnerabilities to cause harm so, while it made him feel like a piece of scum, Linnaeus was, for the first time, taking advantage of his gentle and disarming looks, combined with his high Charisma and [Charm] Skill. After another long period of silence, the girl made momentary eye contact with him again before immediately turning away and murmuring, "My name is Eliza...who...I mean, what is your name...?" At this point, Linnaeus was tempted to put on a false smile but, as his instincts told him she would be able to see through this, he kept a relatively plain expression as he answered, "My friends call me Lin. My actual name is Linnaeus Finnian." Though it might have been more prudent to pay her a few compliments, such as remarking about the beauty of her name, Linnaeus didn''t want to trigger Eliza''s trauma by coming off as too fake. He didn''t have the confidence to mislead and manipulate a woman and, knowing some of them had a scary amount of intuition, his primary focus was just to cement the idea in her mind that he didn''t mean her any harm. What Linnaeus had done was to set a bit of ''bait'' out for her, giving Eliza the opportunity to either distance herself or ingratiate herself to him by providing two ways in which she could address him. Much to his relief, she seemed to muster up a great deal of courage by balling her hands into fists before turning her gaze to match his as she said, "It is nice to meet you...Lin." 38 Cooperation Following their introductions, Linnaeus and Eliza talked a bit about their circumstances. He didn''t ask her any personal questions but, perhaps needing someone to talk to, Eliza herself broached the subject. According to the demure girl, she had actually made it all the way to the 13th Floor, surprising Linnaeus quite a bit since she didn''t seem especially powerful. As for how she ended up in the Crucible of Souls, even she wasn''t entirely sure what had happened. The last thing Eliza remembered was participating in a group challenge when, out of nowhere, a column of light had enveloped her body. She wasn''t quite sure, but she recalled feeling intense pain for a brief moment before finding herself crashing hard into the craggy black ground of the Crucible of Souls. Then, much like him, she encountered another person almost immediately but, unlike Linnaeus'' case, they were able to work together for a few hours before lamenting their fate on the Eighth Floor. Since she hadn''t formed a Party with the other person, they had been separated after the transfer to the Seventh Floor so she had been doing her best to survive. Though her Blessing allowed her to defeat most monsters without much difficulty, she had been very stressed out knowing that she had already died. This had prevented her from sleeping well and, as the days passed, things had only been getting worse for her. When Linnaeus was listening to her recounting of events, he had the impression she was trying to make him pity and feel bad for her. She seemed to be the type of person that was very reliant on others and, though she was actually very strong, had almost no confidence in herself. According to her own accounting, the only reason she had been able to reach the 13th Floor is because the leader of their Party had been trying to make her his woman. Linnaeus felt like she was trying to seed this idea into his mind but, while he didn''t have any issues Partying with her, he wasn''t intending to pamper and pander to her. She was obviously very used to being taken care of, drastically increasing the chances she might betray him in the future if it meant she would have an easier time. Despite realizing this, Linnaeus still intended to team up with Eliza as, unless she began scheming behind his back, she wasn''t particularly dangerous. He grew up in an environment where people lived by exploiting and backstabbing others so her behavior wasn''t even surprising to him. She was also a very sheltered person so, unless it was initiated by a third party, her nature prevented her from taking the initiative to betray him. During her recounting of events, Eliza had sat down next to Linnaeus. She had been hugging her knees throughout the entire conversation and, by the end of it, lowered her head so that he was unable to see the tears in her eyes. Though he had the distinct impression she was trying to trick him, there was something off about the way Eliza was acting. Thus, after measuring her behavior for a few tense seconds, Linnaeus decided to take a small gamble by gently placing his hand on her shoulder. In response to the unexpected touch, Eliza''s body tensed up but, when she looked at Linnaeus through her dense bangs, she noticed he was looking away from her. This brought a small smile to her face and, after turning her own face to wipe away her tears, she asked, "How did you end up here, Lin...?" Since he didn''t want to go into too many details, Linnaeus put on a dejected look as he released a tired sigh and answered, "I froze to death on the Third Floor...I wanted to be the last one to leave but only made it down to the final five people....hahaha..." The first part of Linnaeus'' statement had surprised Eliza quite a bit, as it was rather pathetic to have died on the Third Floor. However, when she heard his remark about being one of the few remaining people to leave, she was, admittedly, a little taken aback. She had only spent six days on the Third Floor but, after hearing stories from those who had stayed much longer, Eliza knew it was not easy to be one of the final few people. With her curiosity getting the better of her, Eliza bit her bottom lip for a few seconds to build her courage before asking in a demure tone, "Can...can I ask what your Blessing is...?" Then, as if to allay any concerns he might have, Eliza added, "Mine is called [Gravity Rule]. I have the power to reduce the weight of anything I touch. If I bring my palms together, I can create a field that can crush almost anything...if I have enough SP..." For a brief moment, it looked like Eliza was going to show him how her power worked but, just as she was about to bring her palms together, she quickly separated them in a fluster. This was due to the fact that, when he saw what she was doing, Linnaeus'' body began to react defensively as, if she had decided to target him, the fight would have immediately been over before it began. After breathing a sigh of relief, Linnaeus adopted a wry smile as he pats his chest and said, "Sorry, but you should know better than most how scary Gravity can be. To answer your question...well, I have the [Barrier Master] Blessing. I can create nearly indestructible barriers on myself and other people, so long as I have enough SP to maintain them. I can also create anchored barriers in thin air, which can serve as platforms. Using the same spell, I can create dynamic barriers in the shape of various weapons and armor to aid me in battle..." Even before Linnaeus had finished his explanation, Eliza already understood why he had been able to survive for so long on the Third Floor. She had already met another [Barrier Master] and, though they didn''t seem to be able to create weapons and armor, their [Barrier Aura] skill had been an enviable ability. During the Tournament that took place on the 9th Floor, a man with the [Barrier Master] Blessing had taken fifth place in the overall rankings. Since the unique ability had left quite the impression on her, Eliza adopted a sincere smile on her face as she whispered, "That is a very useful Blessing...if you found a proper Party, you would be able to pass the 10th Floor without any difficulty..." Linnaeus was a little taken aback by Eliza''s sudden sincerity, causing him to feel an incongruous feeling in the back of his mind as he averted his eyes from her kind gaze. When he turned away, he could hear her giggle, exacerbating the incongruous emotions he was experiencing. Before he could lose the tempo of conversation, Linnaeus decided to use Eliza''s words against her, asking, "Do you want to Party with me, Eliza? I would like to learn more about the higher Floors from you and, though I may not be the most powerful ally, I''m good at surviving..." By the time Linnaeus had finished speaking, his words were barely a murmur as, considering where they were, talking about his survival skills didn''t seem all that convincing. Eliza had picked up on this fact as well, causing her to giggle at his expense while covering her mouth in a cutesy manner. Linnaeus coughed a few times to cover his embarrassment, something he wasn''t really used to feeling. He quickly buried the peculiar emotions before firming his expression and saying, "My death on the Third Floor wasn''t entirely related to my own capabilities. I had been in a Party with another person but, in order to get me killed, they abandoned me in the snow to fend for myself. If I had been given the opportunity, I would have moved on to the Fourth Floor instead of freezing to death..." Eliza''s playful mood vanished entirely when she heard Linnaeus'' words. She could easily imagine him curled up in a ball of furs, desperately trying to resist the cold as it sapped away his strength. Though she had indeed been trying to make him pity her, she now felt a little guilty as, based on his somber expression, it was clear that he had been far less fortunate in his Party members. Seeing the way she was looking at him, Linnaeus felt the urge to avert his eyes but, rather than look away, he just shook his head and said, "None of that really matters. Unless we can reach the top of the Crucible of Souls, we may as well be dead to the rest of the world. I still have a goal to reach so I''d like it if we could Party together. You seem like a kind and gentle girl so I''d be happy to be in the same Party as you." Though Linnaeus felt he wasn''t that good at smiling, Saht had always told him it made her feel happy whenever she saw him smile. He wasn''t sure if it would have any impact on Eliza but, as she almost immediately averted her eyes, Linnaeus felt it had been somewhat effective. He was less handsome than girlish but, for someone like Eliza, he managed this would make her feel more comfortable around him. Without looking back at him, Eliza pressed the tips of her index fingers together as she whispered in a voice that barely reached his ears, "I...I also want to Party...please invite me..." Having followed others, as she fundamentally lacked leadership capabilities, Eliza didn''t even consider being the Party Leader if they were to actually group up. Linnaeus'' smile turned more genuine when he heard Eliza''s words. Then, without any hesitation, he quickly sent her the Party request before hearing a ping in his mind that indicated she had accepted. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The moment Eliza joined his Party, Linnaeus was given access to a small window of sorts that allowed him to modify a few things, such as what information was available to the members and their position within the Party. There were a lot of other options as well but these were unavailable to him until they had a full group of four people. Since he wanted to ingratiate himself to Eliza and gain her trust, even if only temporarily, Linnaeus enabled the option that allowed each member of the Party to view each others'' Status. This was an option that required the consent of everyone in the Party but, as she was very curious about his Status, Eliza didn''t hesitate at all to accept. From Linnaeus'' perspective, this showed that she was either very trusting or, as he already suspected, she was simply too used to being taken care of by other people... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Elizabeth Illustri Evendoom Title: Mage(+5 Int, +3 Wis, +3 Spi per Level) Race: Felborn Age: 25 Gender: Female Level: 41(4519/10500) Health: 3098/3098 Soul Power: 7677/7677 Strength: 61 Constitution: 113+41.9 Agility: 69 Dexterity: 123+5 Intelligence: 219+249.9 Wisdom: 134+88.4 Spirit: 101+80.8 Charisma: 21+4 Luck: 13+1 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [*Gravity Rule:LV61*], [Healthy:LV38], [Magus:LV44], [Wizard:LV29], [Arch-Wizard:LV7], [Resilient Mind:LV45], [Sage Mind:LV27], [Heroic Spirit:LV9], [Sense Danger:LV54], [Abnormal Status Resistance:LV48], [Acrobatics:LV47], [Study:LV51], [Mixing:LV51], [Iron Stomach:51], [Memory:LV34], [Drawing:LV53], [Painting:LV35], [Perception:LV33] Abilities: [Focus:LV55], [Blessing of Night:LV56] Magic: [Enhance:LV58], [Weight Manipulation:LV57], [Crush:LV60] ---------------------------------------- (A/N: It was at this moment, Linnaeus knew, he fucked up. (UwU). Also, AUX chapter updated with new Skills/Abilities/Magic~!) 39 Acquiesce After viewing Eliza''s Status, a lot of thoughts ran through Linnaeus'' mind simultaneously. First and foremost, he recognized the last name Evendoom. It belonged to one of the stronger of the Eight Heavenly Families, simultaneously explaining why Eliza acted sheltered despite being so powerful. The second thought to run through Linnaeus'' mind was that, despite giving off the feeling that she was much weaker than him, the truth of the matter was the complete opposite of his expectations. He had expected her Level to be higher, as she had reached the 13th Floor, but he hadn''t expected her to be above the Level of Rebecca while also being a better specialist than himself... While these two things were of extreme importance, for a variety of reasons, the thing that stood out the most, at least to Linnaeus, was Eliza''s Skills. Though she didn''t have the Blessing for it, having the [Mixing] Skill would be very useful when it came to making medicine and salves. The rest of her Skills were also rather important as, despite having grown considerably, Linnaeus was still looking for ways to grow stronger. As Linnaeus was looking at her Status, Eliza was obviously doing the same in regards to his Status. It didn''t bother her that Linnaeus was only Level 26 as, when she first entered the Tower, her Level had been around the same. She was only Level 33 by the time she reached the 10th Floor so, if anything, he was ahead of the curve since she was the 9th Ranked Fledgling in her clutch. What did surprise Eliza, however, were Linnaeus'' [Pain Tolerance] and [Charm] Skills. Unless someone intended to become a frontline Vanguard, most people did not put in the arduous amount of effort to gain the difficult to acquire Skill. It was obvious that he leaning towards the path of a Thief, Scout, or Assassin so, to have obtained the Skill, the delicate-looking boy must have experienced a lot of pain in his life. If not for the fact that Linnaeus had the [Charm] Skill, Eliza would have been able to empathize with him a lot more... [Charm] was another difficult to acquire Skill as you needed to have unnaturally high Charisma just to obtain it. There was nothing wrong with Linnaeus possessing the Skill, as he might have received it without trying, but the training method for [Charm] was rather infamous within the megacity. A lot of the people who obtained it were arrogant despots who toyed with women''s hearts so, unless the person was of significant social status, anyone with a significantly developed [Charm] Skill was often demonized quite a bit. Eliza''s mother had always warned her about not being taken advantage of by other people, both as a daughter of the Evendoom house and as a woman. Thus, while she did not intend to abandon the Party at this point, a lot of the appreciation she had for Linnaeus had vanished. His [Charm] wasn''t that high yet but, remembering how some of her peers had trained the Skill, Eliza didn''t want to be the person he trained the Skill on. Linnaeus had preserved his life by developing the habit of constantly observing the expressions and body language of other people. Though he had been focused on Eliza''s Status, he hadn''t missed the tensing of her body as she moved a little further away from him. When he looked over, she suddenly felt more distant from him and, rather than avert his eyes in a demure manner, she was staring back at him with caution. There were any number of things in his Status that could have put Eliza on guard but, with how she was behaving, it felt like she was afraid he would take advantage of her. Considering the difference in their Status, he didn''t believe for a moment she was afraid he would attack her so the most likely cause for her concern was his [Charm] Skill. Since he had thought to use his [Charm] to ingratiate himself to her, despite not wanting to exploit her, Linnaeus couldn''t blame Eliza for her sudden caution. Instead, he released a subdued sigh as he pulled up the makeshift wolf-fur hood to obscure his features. He also turned his head away, though not enough that she was outside the periphery of his vision. Seeing how Linnaeus had reacted, Eliza was more than a little surprised and, for a brief moment, the guilt she had felt previously resurfaced. Since she still had his Status in front of her, Eliza turned her attention towards his age and, seeing how young he was, she felt like her assessment of him might be a little unfair. Still, she couldn''t ignore the lessons of her mother as, despite not being one of the prettier girls, there were no end to the number of people who had tried to take advantage of her. Having already decided to join Linnaeus''s Party, at least for a short while, Eliza felt she owed him the chance to prove her wrong. Not only had he helped her when she was caught off guard, but the way he acted was almost the opposite of how others with the [Charm] Skill behaved. He didn''t swagger around with a crooked and possessive smile on his face. Instead, he seemed nearly as delicate as she was, albeit with a cold and calculating feel to him. This made him seem more like an adorable little kitten, rather than a hungry wolf with an insatiable appetite... The most important factor in her decision to trust Linnaeus was the recognition that she had already died. She had never heard of the Crucible of Souls before, even after reaching the 10th Floor and gathering information. This implied it was one of the most well-kept secrets of the Tower or, as she had already started to suspect, a complete farce. For all she knew, the Crucible of Souls was the place where all souls went when they died and, rather than allow them to return to the surface, this was already their second chance at life. The fact it was impossible to Level, combined with the physical changes she had undergone, made it seem less and less likely that there was a way to actually leave. Even if she could leave, the fact that nobody even mentioned the Crucible of Souls meant they had to sign a very powerful contract in order to be revived. Because of this, Eliza suspected that, at the very least, her identity as a daughter of the Evendoom family would be stripped from her... After letting her mind wander to more depressing thoughts, Eliza suddenly felt a need to bare her heart and soul to another person once again. The main reason she had approached Linnaeus was due to her loneliness and, as he seemed like a quiet and kind person, she felt safer around him than most members of the Eight Families. Her previous Party had essentially been one man''s attempt to create a harem for himself on the pretense of working together as children of the Eight Families... The more she thought about her past life, the more depressed Eliza felt in the present. She buried her face into her knees and fell silent for several minutes until a hesitant voice asked, "Hey...are you okay...?" When she looked up, Eliza''s eyes were slightly puffy and, though she didn''t really trust Linnaeus, she could see the concern in his gaze and the apprehension in his voice. Still, she was embarrassed that such a young boy was worried about her so, after wiping away her tears and lightly slapping her own cheeks, Eliza tried to psyche herself up before saying, "I''m fine. I was just...reminiscing. Anyways, we shouldn''t stay here for too long. I can show you to the shelter I built or we can return to yours. You are the Party Leader so I will follow your decisions unless I feel there is something wrong." Linnaeus knew that women could be temperamental but, seeing how much Eliza had changed in a short few minutes, he felt the future might be a little more troublesome than he expected. At the same time, however, he could empathize with her as, seeing how she behaved, he was reminded of Saht. Unlike most women, she was a stable existence and, though she was prone to ripping people apart, Linnaeus had grown very fond of her unchanging, borderline obstinant, nature. Not wanting to change Eliza''s mind once again, Linnaeus gave a small nod before saying, "My den is underground, borrowed from a fox-like monster. It might not be the safest place, but it is good for storing goods, provides ample protection from the elements, and is insulated against the cold." Having received survival training in her youth, Eliza was familiar with making underground dens so, rather than instantly refuse Linnaeus'' decision, she gave a small nod. Her own abode was just a small ledge beneath a large boulder. It always gave her the impression that it would suddenly fall, crushing her into meat paste, so Eliza at least wanted to see Linnaeus'' den before making a decision. With Eliza''s assent, Linnaeus carefully guided her towards his den but, as he never entered directly, he turned to her and explained, "I''m a very cautious person. Before we go inside, I like to check the area to make sure I wasn''t followed. Will you come with me...or would you rather stay here?" For a brief moment, Eliza had a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was similar to how she felt when her mother had first dropped her off at school when she was a young girl so, rather than just idle about, she answered in a subdued tone, "I will follow you..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus gave a small nod of understanding before slowly trekking through the forest without making a sound. Eliza followed close behind him, breaking twigs underfoot and brushing against practically everything that could possibly alert enemies to their presence. He knew she wasn''t doing it on purpose but, by the time they had circled the area twice, Linnaeus had a very strong urge to order her to sit still and wait for his return. Fortunately, despite making a mind-numbing amount of noise, Eliza was very obedient and attentive. They hadn''t coordinated any hand sings or anything but, whenever he would gesture for her to stop, she would become absolutely silent before bringing her palms closer together in preparation for an attack. This showed that, while not the most subtle person, she was at least competent enough not to be extra baggage. After finally reaching the den, Linnaeus showed Eliza the different entrances and how to check for any signs of entry. Then, after checking the inside and moving a few things around, he gave her to okay to come inside. This took her some time but, as he knew she was still a little cautious of him, Linnaeus didn''t try to rush her. Eliza was surprised by how spacious the interior of the den was but, after learning that the monster inhabiting it had been around 3m long, she accepted it. The only downside was that, much like her previous abode, she had the feeling the large rocks sheltering the den would fall down on them at some point. Ever since she had learned her [Crush] Magic, Eliza had always felt like it was only a matter of time until she was crushed herself... Linnaeus had modified his schedule to account for a familiarization period between himself and his new Party members so, while part of him wanted to try and hunt down the King immediately, that would come after Eliza trusted him more. He intended to take her hunting with him so they could improve their teamwork and, once he felt they were ready, they would try and recruit the absorption man to their cause. With his help, they would only need someone with a support-oriented Blessing to have a cohesive Party. With this in mind, Linnaeus decided the best thing to do, at least for the time being, was to just talk with Eliza. Because of her earlier reaction, he felt she would be apprehensive about discussing herself so, once they had settled in, he quietly stated, "I''m not sure how long we''ll be in the same Party...if it were up to me, we would remain together until we reached the top of the Crucible. As you''ve seen, I''m not exactly the strongest person so I won''t deny that your [Gravity Rule] would help me a lot..." Eliza was listening closely to Linnaeus'' words and, though she didn''t have much of a reaction, she was a little surprised about his honesty. After seeing his Status, part of her had been thinking about broaching the subject of making her the Party Leader. For the time being, however, she felt that he was a better Party Leader than her as, for a variety of reasons, she didn''t like to tell people what to do. Just as Eliza was getting ready to tell Linnaeus a bit about herself, as this seemed to be the way the conversation was going, she was surprised yet again when he suddenly said, "I don''t have any way to really make you trust me. The most I can do is try and earn your trust through my actions. With that in mind, I''d like to tell you more about myself. There are some...unpleasant parts to my past. Please withhold judgment and determine for yourself if I''m someone you can trust..." After seeing that Eliza was paying close attention to his words, Linnaeus took a deep breath to calm himself. Since she was a daughter of the Evendoom family, he was more self-conscious around Eliza than he should be. He also knew she would be able to flatten him into meat patty if she wanted to so, while it was a little dangerous, Linnaeus decided to be honest with her. To that end, he started his account from the very beginning, averting his eyes from her steady gaze as he said, "I was born in the slums..." before detailing his struggles over the last fifteen years... 40 Fate Though he had given a similar account to Ryuuna, Linnaeus quickly noticed that Eliza was paying a lot more attention to what he was telling her. She seemed attentive and, at times, even empathetic to the experiences he had growing up. He wasn''t really trying to earn her pity but, having someone just quietly listening got him to talk a lot more than he had intended... Linnaeus started off his story in a solemn yet disinterested manner, stating in a dull tone, "Though I have bits and pieces of memories from an earlier period, the first cohesive memory I have is being hungry. I remembered crying out for my mother instinctually but, due to the nature of her work, my cries were answered, not with kindness, but cruelty. You see, my mother had been a harlot, someone who made a living by selling her body. She had been a beautiful Manalyte woman so it wasn''t really her fault as, in the slums, most women do not have a choice in how they live..." Without realizing it himself, Linnaeus'' face had formed a deep frown but, rather than wait for Eliza''s questions, he unhesitantly added, "My father had been a low-tier Enforcer for a gang called the Blue Ivy Noose. They were a group that specialized in trading slaves and running brothels in one of the middle districts of the slums. He had been assigned as my mother''s keeper and, though I can''t really say much about their relationship, he took good care of her after especially difficult clients...I''m can''t say with certainty that there was any love between them but, as they lived together, they at least had some kind of bond..." Linnaeus could remember his father much better than his mother, despite hating and fearing the former a great deal. This was because, as he explained to Eliza, "My first real memory is crying out, only for my own father to try and smother me with a blanket to keep quiet. I remember fearing for my life and desperately struggling only for him to repeat words like, "Be quiet you little rat" and "You''re bothering the customers!" as he unhesitantly deprived me of oxygen..." As he mentioned his father, Linnaeus'' tone was largely emotionless and, rather than the focused gaze he normally had, his ruby-red eyes had dulled over slightly. Still, he intended to continue his story so, after shaking his head with a crooked smile on his face, he added, "After that, I learned not to cry. I kept as quiet as possible, regardless of how hungry, cold, or lonely I was. If I had known it was an option at the time, I might have just readily accepted my death...hahaha..." Shaking his head once again, this time in self-ridicule, Linnaeus then adopted a more natural smile as he continued in a happier tone, "It was during these lonely times that the only truly good thing in my life appeared. One day, another infant was put into the same box-like crib that served as my bed and prison. This was my sister and, after only knowing loneliness and brief periods of comfort, she became my reason for living. Her warmth and presence gave meaning to my life so, no matter what happened to me, I decided I would do my best to protect her..." During the earliest periods of Linnaeus'' life, the memories that were most clear were the moments when he had been taking care of his sister. She was so tiny and frail but, despite being born into the same cruel world as him, she was a lively and cheerful baby. Her smile gave him strength and, much like how some children would become dependent on toy animals and dolls, his developing mind could not imagine life without her... With his mood becoming melancholic once again, Linnaeus took a deep breath before releasing a sigh and saying, "Though she was only an infant, my sister had already been claimed by one of the cadres of the Blue Ivy Noose. She was born as an unnaturally beautiful girl and, after she reached adulthood, her fate was to become the personal sex slave of that middle-aged piece of shit. To make matters even worse, my parents were fully in support of the idea as it made their own lives a little easier to have the favor of a cadre. My mother was even..." Just as he was about to mention his mother''s attempts to educate Gwen, Linnaeus found himself at a loss for words as a cocktail of negative emotions surged forward. He managed to largely suppress them before ultimately deciding that it wasn''t really pertinent information. With that in mind, he just skipped over it, stating in a deflecting tone, "When I was around six years old, my parents suddenly vanished into motes of bluish-white light. According to Rebecca, the kindly caretaker who had taken us into her Orphanage, they had been given the opportunity to enter the Tower. My sister cried a lot but, knowing what kind of future awaited us under the care of my parents, I believed that fate had been on our side..." Linnaeus had very confliction emotions regarding his parents but, despite having been a little upset at their sudden appearance, he had been genuinely grateful to fall into Rebecca''s care. She not only began training Gwen to be able to protect herself but, when time allowed, she also provided a basic education to help the boys survive as Street Urchins. Some might say that her treatment was unfair between the boys and girls but, in the slums, just being given free shelter was a boon most could only hope for. If not for her teachings, he wouldn''t have been able to survive and, no matter what anyone else said, Linnaeus was grateful for the acceptance Rebecca had shown him after his first series of kills... Since the years leading up to his tenth birthday blended together quite a bit, Linnaeus only gave a brief accounting of his daily life and the training he had underwent to survive his encounter against Skaadi, the Vulna woman. He talked about the daily beatings, his attempts to earn even a pittance in order to treat his sister, and how he would often go days, or even weeks, without a meal. All of these things were rather jarring to Eliza as, being born a daughter of the Evendoom house, she had been left wanting for very little in life. The story got decidedly more interesting after he reached the point where he received his Blessing. It wasn''t the most stable period in his life, and he was still haunted by the memories, but Linnaeus had a simple smile on his face as he recounted his journey westward before his inevitable return to the orphanage. Linnaeus'' journey wasn''t all bad as, in between being hunted down and gathering information, there were some happy moments mixed in. He talked about some of the interesting sites he had seen but, what had left the deepest impact on Linnaeus were the times when he would help others walking the same path. Though he couldn''t do much for them, Linnaeus tried to help out any Street Urchins he came across, so long as they did not seem to have been completely corrupted by the darkness of the slums. It was his helping people that led to Linnaeus earning the [Charm] Skill as, knowing what kind of life they were forced to live, he had saved a fair number of young girls in his travels. Not everyone was patient enough to wait until a female Street Urchin matured into an adult, especially when it came to other Street Urchins. When there was a girl in a group, she was almost always the experimental plaything of the boys in that same group. Some Enforcers even took great pleasure in goading the children to try and do terrible things to each other, baiting them with food and medicine as a means to pass the time. It wasn''t even that uncommon for such acts to be carried out in broad daylight but, rather than do anything to interfere, some pedestrians would just stop to enjoy the show... Though he could not save as many people as he''d like, Linnaeus couldn''t ignore it when such acts were taking place right in front of him. It had gotten him into a lot of trouble at times but, as he had been on a warpath at the time, the vast majority of his kills were the result of him trying to protect other Street Urchins. As a result, some of the girls he had rescued wanted to follow him but, as he couldn''t even protect himself, Linnaeus could only try to take them to a relatively safer area before having to leave them behind... Eventually, Linnaeus'' story reached the point where his sister obtained her Blessing and, as could be expected, Eliza was quite surprised. She even interrupted his story for the first time, asking, "You are the brother of the Saintess of the Southern Slums, Lady Finnian...?" Since Saints and Saintesses were important existences that were few in number, Linnaeus wasn''t too surprised that Eliza had heard of his sister. Still, it brought a smile to his face knowing that even the daughter of one of the Eight Heavenly Families showed genuine awe and surprise when mentioning Gwen. What Linnaeus didn''t expect was for Eliza to immediately follow his nod by saying, "There is no way that is true...it''s impossible..." At this point, Linnaeus realized there was a deeper meaning to Eliza''s reaction, causing his mind to buzz with anxiety as he asked, "Do you know something about my sister? Please, tell me...!" Since it was much easier to imagine something terrible happening, Linnaeus was beginning to panic after seeing how Eliza was behaving. With Linnaeus suddenly invading her personal space, Eliza instinctually brought her hands together without thinking about it. As a result, his body was suddenly pressed to the ground as a wispy purple field appeared beneath him. He could feel his bones creaking but, what made matters much worse, was the sensation that his blood vessels were bursting while his eyes felt like they were going to fall free from their sockets. Almost immediately after activating her Blessing, Eliza separated her hands with a fluster, waving her hands from side to side as she exclaimed, "I''m so sorry! You surprised me...!" Linnaeus was in a lot of pain so, rather than respond, he just stared blankly at the notification asking if he wanted to expel Eliza from the Party and penalize her for attacking an ally. Part of him was very tempted to confirm it but, knowing he would likely die shortly thereafter, he managed to resist the urge. Instead, he blamed himself for getting riled up before dismissing the notification and focusing on recovery... Seeing Linnaeus fall silent with a dull look in his eyes, Eliza began to feel extremely guilty. His story had actually affected her a great deal so, seeing him having to suffer in silence, she suddenly felt like all the terrible people he had talked about. Since the only times he smiled were when talking about his sister, she tightly clenched her fists before mustering up all of her courage... Linnaeus noticed Eliza moving but, as he didn''t feel any real threat coming from her, he continued to lay on the ground in silence. He would soon come to regret this as, moments later, Eliza was pulling his body into her embrace, an easy feat with her Strength. She squeezed him tightly but, rather than pain, Linnaeus felt an indescribable softness as her disproportionately large breasts pressed into his back. She also rested her forehead against the back of his head before whispering in an apologetic tone, "I''m sorry..." A lot was going through Linnaeus'' mind when Eliza hugged him but, before he could find the words to say, his body had already moved to extricate himself from her embrace. He was breathing a little faster than normal as he backed away from her and quickly stated, "I''m fine. You don''t have to worry about me. I''m used to pain..." Once again, Linnaeus quickly came to regret his words and actions as, after mentioning he was used to pain, Eliza''s expression turned even more empathetic and concerned. At the same time, he heard a small ding in his head, followed by his [Charm] increasing in proficiency. This wasn''t his intention at all so Linnaeus was beginning to grow a little flustered as he tried to deflect, asking, "Did you know something about my sister? If you do, please tell me. It has been more than three years since I heard anything about her..." Eliza came back to her senses when she heard Linnaeus'' words but, rather than recover completely, her expression turned apologetic as she explained, "I know your sister...she...she was in the same Party as me..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. 41 Knowledge and Experience After hearing Eliza claim to have been in the same Party as his sister, Linnaeus'' mind completely blanked out. He suddenly felt like he was in a dream or, more specifically, a nightmare beyond any other... By the time Linnaeus returned to his senses, he was cradling his head with both hands as, for reasons beyond his awareness, a trickle of blood was trailing from his nose. He didn''t know how to describe what he was feeling in this instant as, beyond rage and sadness, it felt like ''nothingness'' had taken root at the very core of his existence. Eliza could only bite her bottom lip as she watched Linnaeus anguish before her. After hearing about his past, she felt very empathetic towards his suffering. She could tell that, more than anything else, he cared deeply about his sister. Knowing she was no inside the Tower, it must have devastated him to a degree she couldn''t even comprehend. Seeing that Linnaeus wasn''t likely to speak any time soon, Eliza lowered her head and, in a somber tone, muttered, "I''m sorry...I just thought you should know..." Hearing Eliza''s words, Linnaeus turned to meet her gaze and, seeing she looked extremely sorry for what she had done, he felt a pang of guilt. In truth, he should be thanking her for the information as, if he had returned to the outside world without knowing the truth, it would have been too late to do anything about it. To calm himself, Linnaeus ran his fingers through his hair as he leaned back against the wall of the den and whispered, "You don''t need to apologize...thank you for telling me. Now I have even more reasons to return to the Tower and continue my climb...haaaa..." Eliza winced slightly in response to Linnaeus'' words as, for the past few days, she had suspected that it was impossible to leave the Crucible of Souls. Since she didn''t want to dash the last bit of his hope, she decided to keep her speculation to herself. After all, there was still a chance they would be able to leave so it would be thoughtless to argue against the possibility. Linnaeus hadn''t missed Eliza''s reaction but, as he couldn''t determine why she had reacted as such, he also decided to let matters lie. Right now, it was more important to come up with a plan, not just for this Floor, but all Floors to come. For the better part of twenty minutes, complete silence reigned within the dark den until Linnaeus inhaled a deep breath and said, "I need to become much stronger...we also need to recruit more members to our Party. With our Blessings and attribute allocation, we need someone who can block enemies from the front and someone that specializes in attacks from a distance..." Being the more experienced between them, Eliza gave a curt nod before offering a semblance of a smile as she explained, "From what I have seen, it is usually better to have two Vanguard units, one specialist ranged attacker, and someone to protect them. If I''m not wrong, you''re intending to fill the roll of our Party''s second frontline unit...I don''t think this is wise. You should continue to polish your Skills in [Assassination] and [Stealth] further. Once you reach LV50 in [Stealth], it gives you a brief period of invisibility that can give you an edge against opponents with lower [Perception]. At higher proficiency, some claim it will allow you to become permanently invisible until someone reveals your position..." Hearing Eliza''s explanation, Linnaeus couldn''t help but agree with her. He really wasn''t much of a frontline fighter so, rather than find someone that can support at a distance, he might as well take up the role himself. At the very least, he could be the person protecting the backline so, if he wanted to take Eliza''s advice into consideration, they needed two Vanguards... After thinking for a few moments, Linnaeus pulled out his hand-drawn map for Eliza to see. It was a jumbled mess that was nearly impossible to read but it was still better than nothing. Though it might trigger Eliza''s suspicion, Linnaeus showed her the locations of each other person he had tracked on the Floor and gave her a brief overview of their habits, character, and Blessings. Since she had more experience than him, he wanted to have her input before deciding whether or not he should try and recruit any of them. As could be expected, Eliza frowned slightly when she noticed an area on the map that indicated her own habitat but, remembering how cautious Linnaeus was about entering his own den, she credited it to him being an amazing Scout. She could teach him the basics of [Drawing] so that, in the future, Linnaeus would be their trusted with gathering information for their entire Party. Of the candidates Linnaeus mentioned, Eliza was drawn to two in particular. This included the man with the Blessing that allowed him to absorb the properties of anything he touched as there was a fair chance he had the [Adaptation] or [Beast King] Blessings. Considering he was in the Crucible of Souls, the odds were in favor of the former as, even outside of the Tower, the [Beast King] Blessing was considered one of the strongest. The second person Eliza took an interest in was none other than the girl with the ability to produce and manipulate water as, while she may not be suitable as a core member of their Party, it was never a bad thing to have a source of freshwater. In a setting where they had to hide away for long periods of time, she effectively gave them unlimited sustainability so long as they could resist hunger pangs. All of this was secondary, however, to the fact that, at later levels, most water-related Blessings had the ability to treat wounds and heal other people. It wasn''t nearly as strong as other forms of healing but, with how rare such Blessings were, it wasn''t uncommon for most Companies to have at least a few people with water-elemental Blessings. Linnaeus hadn''t known about the ability for water-elemental Blessings to heal wounds so he was a little surprised by the revelation. Fortunately, Eliza took pity on him and explained that, prior to entering the Tower, she was also unaware of this. This was due to the fact that, at the very least, it required a person to reach LV50 in their Blessing for such effects to appear. After hearing Eliza''s explanation, Linnaeus couldn''t help but release a sigh as he remarked, "I wish I had something like a compendium of every Blessing...not knowing what other people are capable of makes me uncomfortable." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Eliza giggled in response to Linnaeus'' complaint, earning her a look of blame from the pale-haired boy. She didn''t take this to heart, however, and instead leaned forward slightly as she informed, "It isn''t impossible to obtain information about the Blessings of others. Once you reach the 10th Floor of the Tower, there is a massive settlement with hundreds of millions of people. So long as you have enough Aether, you can always purchase the information from the Explorer''s Guild. You can even purchase information about other people, though it is a little more costly." Linnaeus wasn''t really surprised by Eliza''s words, as information brokers were very common within the slums. Still, it was an important piece of information and, seeing how willing she was to talk about other Floors, he decided to ask her about the challenges she underwent. He also wanted to ask about his sister but, considering how Eliza behaved previously, part of him didn''t want to know. All that really mattered was, regardless of what had happened, he would now do everything in his power to catch up to his sister... Since she had been wanting someone to talk to for quite a while now, Eliza had no problem sharing everything she knew with Linnaeus. This included information about the challenges from the 4th to the 9th Floor and, more importantly, information about the various Guilds and Organizations he had to be aware of beyond the 10th. Among the information revealed by Eliza, Linnaeus learned that the first actual exit wasn''t on the 10th Floor, but the 20th. From the moment you entered the 11th Floor, you were essentially stuck trying to climb until you reached the 20th as it was impossible to backtrack after you reached one of the ''safe zones''. The only reason the major Guilds and Organizations had power in the lower Floors was due to the fact that their members or, more specifically, their offspring, would have to start their climb just like anyone else. This allowed them to continually recycle personnel and maintain their influence on lower Floors. It was indeed possible for people to rear children within the Tower but, just like those born in the outside, they suffered similar restrictions. The only real difference was, compared to those that were born outside the Tower, they had a considerable edge in the information department. Fortunately, the Tower seemed to take this into consideration so, when such individuals began their climb, they often ended up in clutches comprised entirely of other tower-born Fledglings. The most important thing Linnaeus learned from Eliza was, as could be expected, the Eight Heavenly Families had also built up their influence in the Tower. It was more accurate to say that, if you were born outside of the Tower, you were actually a branch family member. The only way to become an official member of the main family was to reach the 50th Floor as, prior to that, you are just another inconsequential entity that served no purpose other than keeping order and finding capable recruits on the lower floors. Linnaeus also learned that there were two boards on the 10th Floor, one showing a person''s overall ranking in the Tower while the other showed their ranking compared to others of the same Class. It included the names of every person that had reached the 10th Floor and beyond, without exception. This was a method people used to recruit other Party members and build up their own team to try and challenge the dangers on higher floors. After all, it was easier to recruit people around the same Rank as yourself while, in some situations, those with greater ambition actively tried to recruit those in higher positions. One of the most important features of these boards is that it showed the highest floor cleared by an individual so, if you were searching for someone, it was possible to, at the very least, determine their approximate location. The only problem with this was, much like the planar world of Lumen, the size and scale of floors beyond the 10th increased exponentially. According to the rumors that Eliza had heard, the 20th Floor actually had several Kingdoms spread out, regardless of the fact that a ''reset'' would occur every thousand years or so, forcing people to either leave the Tower or move to higher floors. Though it was important information, Linnaeus didn''t particularly care about the groups vying for power against each other. He was more interested in the fact that, if he could reach the 10th Floor, he would be able to determine the approximate location of his sister. With this information, he just needed to reach the same Floor or, if searching for her proved to be a problem, he could try and wait for her on the 20th. The only thing that troubled Linnaeus was how Saht would react when she reached the 10th Floor and saw that his name was not present. She would undoubtedly still wait for him but, knowing her, she was likely to do something drastic if he kept her waiting for too long. It was also possible that she had found allies of her own so, after a while, she would either have to part ways with them or continue her climb after realizing his sister was inside of the Tower... Knowing that the two people he cared about even more than his own life were climbing the Tower, Linnaeus felt he couldn''t just continue to idle about. The Tower seemed to actually reward those who fought against the odds and climbed faster so, while it was better to shore up his foundation, he just didn''t have the time to do so. Instead, he would need to find ways to fight against enemies stronger than himself and, no matter how difficult the challenge before him, he would have to surmount them all...he had to... 42 Tensions : Concerns Though he felt pressured to ascend the Crucible of Souls as soon as possible, Linnaeus wasn''t foolish enough to believe that simple conviction was enough to carry him to the top. If he shifted his focus and threw himself forward without consideration, he would develop a tunnel vision that allowed him to be taken advantage of by others. Linnaeus knew his strengths and weaknesses but, in order to surmount the challenges that were to come, he needed to know the capabilities of his allies as well. According to Eliza, a person was required to have formed a Party of four by the time they reached the 9th Floor. Here, your teamwork would be put to the test and, only when a few Parties had set themselves apart from the rest would the individual tournament begin. It was possible to enter the 10th Floor without a full Party but, before moving on to the 11th, even the most headstrong individuals would form a Party. This was due to the fact that, once you left the relative safety of the 10th Floor, you could not return to it. The next safe area wouldn''t be until the 20th Floor so, before moving on, most people would form a full Company before trying to break through the obstacles barring their ascension. A Party was a unit consisting of four people while a Company typically consisted of a total of five full Parties. This was to keep some semblance of balance as the five Party Leaders could elect someone to head the Company, bringing the total to 21 people. While the Company Leader had the authority to come up with laws and restrictions, which could actually influence and bind Party members, they could only do so if there was a unanimous vote from each of the Party Leaders. For lesser issues, it only required a majority vote but, more often than not, the laws and restrictions regulating a new Company were decided before its formation. There were some people that would spend years on the 10th Floor making preparations and trying to gather a full Company of people to their cause. After all, it was possible to gain information about the higher floors and, while it was difficult to contend against the seated powers, it was still possible to make a name for yourself by building up a small Company. If you were more ambitious, you could even form a Guild or an Organization, essentially building a small army for yourself before you made your way to higher floors. When large Guilds and Organizations formed to climb the Tower, they were often referred to by the standard Explorer, the colloquial name for Fledglings setting out from the 10th Floor, as Expeditions. Joining an Expedition greatly increased your chances of reaching higher floors if you were a part of the key personnel but, if you were a weaker combatant, your fate was usually to serve as fodder to protect the rest of the group. This still didn''t deter people as, if they worked hard to make a name for themselves, there were a lot of benefits to be had from joining a Guild or an Organization. Even at the Company level, it was possible to receive a second Title, one that designated the role you played in the Company itself. The benefits provided by this secondary Title weren''t nearly as good as standard Titles but, if your Company became famous, it made a very big difference later on. According to Eliza, joining one of the Companies belonging to the Eight Heavenly Families actually gave you increased Spirit and Luck per Level. If you managed to work your way up to an Officer role within the Organization itself, you could even earn extra Free Attribute points per Level. These were incredible boons and, as a result, the middle and higher floors were all dominated by large Guilds and Organizations. The 50th Floor was even rumored to possess several large Kingdoms, expansive Empires, and massive Clans with several thousand years of history. While this may seem unreasonable, Eliza also explained that the average lifespan of a Fledgling that reached the 10th Floor had already more than tripled. If you managed to reach the 20th Floor, your average lifespan was said to have increased by as much as five times while, on the 50th Floor, it was possible to find several individuals who had already lived for thousands of years. Linnaeus felt that the existence of such people was the primary factor behind why so few people were able to actually reach the higher floors. He hadn''t had to deal with them yet but, after growing up in the slums, he understood the lengths people would go to in order to elevate themselves above others. It was easy to imagine a bunch of old monsters who would either forcibly recruit or kill those not in line with their ideals, effectively bottlenecking anyone that had the potential to exceed them. In order to avoid being suppressed by others, Linnaeus knew it would be necessary for him to either fall in line with one of the established powers or, against all odds, build a faction of his own. This was easier said than done, however, as he fundamentally lacked the prestige to pull strong people to his side. Still, if he wanted to protect his sister from the incalculable number of people who would seek to use her power for themselves, he needed more than personal strength. Curiously, Eliza was very supportive of the idea but, when asked about her reasons, she would often deflect or just fall silent. She knew he wouldn''t pester her too much if he made her uncomfortable so Linnaeus could only shake his head before falling silent himself. Linnaeus could tell that Eliza was contemplating something but, as it didn''t seem to be betrayal, he didn''t press her on the matter. Instead, they got along well enough as, despite her being a great deal stronger than him, Eliza regarding his words seriously and always listened to his orders. Though she would question some of them after the fact, mainly to understand what he was thinking, she would never challenge him at the time the order was given. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though this made Eliza seem like someone that was easy to suppress, Linnaeus never once felt this way after their first time hunting together. Instead, he felt like she was trying to build his confidence as, when he made mistakes, she would always give him bits and pieces of advice when they returned to the den. This made him feel quite a bit of pressure as, if he made mistakes in his orders, it felt like he could get them both killed, not just himself. What Linnaeus was unaware of was that Eliza was, quite literally, trying to groom him into being a better leader. From the moment of their discussion about Companies, Guilds, and Organizations, she had decided to see how far someone that was born without any inherent benefits could go. Unlike Linnaeus, who seemed to treat his time in the Crucible of Souls as a continuation of his first life, Eliza knew her own fate had already been twisted. Since she was likely to lose even her identity, she had already stopped thinking about how she should act as a daughter of the Evendoom family. Instead, she had chosen to live according to her own convictions this time around and, as Linnaeus was the first person to pull her out of the darkness she had been sinking into, she decided to follow him until he either broke or succeeded. Eliza felt that the current state of the world was too stagnant and, unlike how others seemed to be very excited about their climb, she had essentially been dragged around by other members of the Eight Families. Because of her status as a daughter of the Evendoom family, she didn''t have much of a choice in her selection of Party members. She was forced to join up with haughty and arrogant people who wouldn''t hesitate to take advantage of you if you showed any signs of weakness. Now that she had already died once, Eliza had decided that she didn''t want to live that kind of life any longer. Even if it was stressful and significantly reduced her chances of climbing to higher floors, it was still better to live as she pleased. She had lowered her head in her past life but, despite doing her best to go with the flow of events, she still lost her life. Since acquiescence ended up getting her killed, she wanted to be more proactive in her decisions now that she had a second chance at life. To this end, by the time three days had passed since her joining Linnaeus'' Party, Eliza had already worn down most of the peculiar boy''s resistance against her. He was the type of person that had a lot of walls around his heart but, with her association to his sister, a person he cared about more than himself, it didn''t take long for her to get closer to him. Linnaeus might not have realized it himself but Eliza could see that he was starved for things like love and companionship. He didn''t seem to proactively think about such things but, if you made an earnest effort to get closer to him, he couldn''t help but open himself up to you in a remarkably short period of time. This was a major weakness that could be exploited by those with malicious intentions but, due to their age difference, Eliza felt like he was a little brother that needed someone to care for him. Now, though he would still turn statuesque, Eliza was able to hug him from behind and snuggle up to him whenever they were going to sleep. She gave the excuse that she was weak against the cold and, despite this being an obvious lie, the adorable little boy ultimately relented. Though he did try and talk about a woman named Saht the following morning, Eliza didn''t really care about his former lover as, rather than the love between a man and a woman, she felt like her affections were more maternal in nature than anything else. The first two nights, when they had slept alone, Eliza couldn''t help thinking about how difficult it was to grow up without experiencing a mother''s love. She could remember the reminiscent smile on his face when he talked about finding warmth at his sister''s side so, after mustering up her courage, she decided to try and provide similar warmth with her own body. It made her feel very nervous at first but, after the initial tension wore away, Eliza found it was actually very comfortable to hold onto his frail and seemingly powerless figure. Now, going into the fourth day together, Eliza had a small smile on her face as she watched Linnaeus do his best to avoid direct eye contact with her. Seeing him embarrassed made her feel happy, even if what they were discussing made her feel troubled... Linnaeus felt that, with each passing day, Eliza became harder to see through but, as she was usually very obedient, he couldn''t really find the words to rebuke her. He would never admit it but, perhaps due to her large breasts, it was very comfortable to be cradled in her arms. It made him feel like he had regained something he had lost but, even after hours of rumination, he was unable to recall any memories that paralleled the comfort her presence brought to him. After shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Linnaeus psyched himself up for the coming day, saying in a determined voice, "We should try and scout our other Party members sooner, rather than later. It should be possible to reach the next Floor after completing a feat worthy of recognition. I have been gathering information on the surroundings Kings, the large monsters that govern each region. Even with the two of us, we could probably move on to the next Floor but, based on the information you had provided, I believe it is better to recruit a full Party before we proceed any further..." Eliza nodded her head in understanding but, unlike Linnaeus, she didn''t have much confidence that things would go smoothly. From what he had told her, it was obvious he had never formed a group with boys his own age, much less those that were older than him. Depending on the circumstances, having multiple men and women in the same Party often led to discourse and conflict. Men, with few exceptions, were very prideful while women, for reasons Eliza herself wasn''t certain of, often sought benefits by taking advantage of strong men. When strangers were grouped together, the men would often try to establish a hierarchy among themselves while, more often than not, the females would scheme against each other to try and secure a place for themself at the dominant male''s side. This was a serious problem, even amongst the Eight Families, so Eliza couldn''t help but worry about Linnaeus. He had an uncharacteristically strong will but, more than most of the males she had come to know, he gave off a distinctly weak and fragile aura...one that invited those with strong egos to target and suppress him... 43 Approach Unlike how he had approached Eliza, Linnaeus knew that recruiting someone like the man with the absorption Blessing wouldn''t be simple. The man reminded Linnaeus of the more impressive mercenaries and bounty hunters that had been sent after him. He was a silent and stoic person who showed a keen awareness of his surroundings. If not for Linnaeus'' habit of laying low, enhanced by his [Presence Concealment] and [Stealth], it would have been extremely difficult to observe the man, even at a distance. It was usually very difficult to recruit strangers for the position of a Vanguard as, in most dangerous situations, the people holding the frontline were in the most danger. Thus, in most situations, it was the Vanguard who acted as the Party Leader. This allowed them to leave a positive impression on the other members of the Party, something that strengthened their position through ingratiation and trust. Linnaeus knew the only way he would be able to convince someone to trust their back to him was if he had the strength of character and wherewithal to lead them to victory. He needed to be willing to take risks himself, not hide behind others and expect them to bear the brunt of the danger without recompense. With this in mind, Linnaeus had decided to take a direct approach to recruit the man. He, along with Eliza, made their way over to where the man was known to rest. Linnaeus knew he was still inside the small pond as it was one of the safer places to stay while also providing an edge when it came to hunting. After all, even monsters needed to drink water so, by merging with the pond itself, the man was able to kill weaker monsters without any effort whatsoever. Once they had reached the vicinity of the pond, Linnaeus inhaled through his nose as his mind came to a razor-sharp focus. He turned to Eliza and gave her a small nod, earning a subdued sigh from the purple-haired girl as she moved a safe distance away. Unless they had specifically trained to break their habits, most people would establish a baseline for themselves when thrown into an unfamiliar environment. Linnaeus had already been able to identify that the man was a creature of habit and, though he was extremely cautious, it had only taken him a few days to form a rough routine that he stuck to. Though it was possible something had happened to make the man change his routine, Linnaeus was confident that his target was still inside the pond. There was still a bit of time before dawn, when the man usually began his hunt, so Linnaeus walked toward the edge of the pond before stopping a few meters from the crystal clear water source. It was fed by a small creek so, rather than stagnate and become murky, it was possible to see through to the bottom without any difficulty. After several tense minutes, Linnaeus finally heard a small ding in his mind as he was awarded 93 Experience in his [Perception] Skill. This nearly brought a smile to his face but, as he wasn''t usually that expressive, his face remained a calm mask as he muttered, "I''ve already sensed you. You can continue hiding if you want but I''d like to talk with you. I''m not your enemy...unless you decide I am..." Linnaeus had specifically made a remark about the man hiding away as, even though he had very few pertinent social interactions with other males, he still understood how they thought. After all, he was a male himself and, while not the most imposing figure of masculinity, he had killed enough to cause the average person to feel cautious around him. As he had expected, the pool of water began to form the rough shape of a person before a tall man with pale grey skin and a muscular build stepped onto dry land. Despite having emerged from a pool of water, he was completely dry as he crossed his arms in an imposing manner and asked, "Are you the one that has been spying on me...?" Despite his intimidating appearance, the man actually had a surprisingly soft voice, even if he used a stern and somber tone. Linnaeus felt slightly taken aback but, as one of the first skills he had picked up was masking his thoughts, it was completely indiscernible to the man standing before him. With a perfect facade of stoicism, Linnaeus looked up at the much taller man as he stated in a clear and calm tone, "I cannot say for certain whether or not I''m the person you have been sensing. I have been watching you on occasion, but only intermittently." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, the grey-skinned man snorted through his nose before turning his silver eyes toward Eliza in the distance. Rather than show a lascivious gaze, his expression was largely one of contempt and disinterest as he remarked, "I have no intention to babysit a pair of brats. If you are not an enemy, leave me be in peace. The next time I catch you snooping around, don''t blame me for being rude..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus'' expression remained unchanged in the face of the man''s words but Eliza couldn''t help but furrow her brows slightly as she scrunched up her nose. While Linnaeus may not know what race the man was, Eliza had received a proper education so she had easily identified him as a member of the Ashvalla race. Since they would begin to grow dark markings on their bodies as they age, she knew that the man, despite his size and physique, shouldn''t be much older than Linnaeus. On average, the majority of people entering the Tower were around twenty years of age. Though this grew to become a large disparity in later floors, as people could easily live for hundreds of years, the majority of people reaching the 10th Floor weren''t older than thirty. Thus, despite having decided to live a life detached from her original identity as a daughter of the Evendoom family, Eliza was a little annoyed by the man''s unnecessary remark. Fortunately, before things could escalate, Linnaeus stated in the same calm tone as before, "I wanted to recruit you into my Party...but it seems like you are content just hiding away here without fighting for a chance at life. I hope your abrasive nature doesn''t lead to your second death..." Since the man seemed like a loner, Linnaeus wasn''t going to waste too much time trying to convince him. Even if he needed to become his Party''s frontline fighter, it was better than entrusting their fate to someone who showed absolutely no interest in cooperation. Rather than allow Linnaeus to simply walk away, the man uncrossed his arms and adopted a broad stance as he asked in a cold tone, "Are you trying to threaten me...?" With his back still partially toward the man, Linnaeus turned his head to look back as he stated, "I do not need to threaten you. All I have to do is leave you here and it is only a matter of time before you do something to get yourself killed. As for us...we''re going to reach the top of the Crucible and earn our right to return to the Tower..." Almost as soon as Linnaeus had finished his words, the grey-skinned man barreled toward him with the obvious intent to initiate a grappling match. He was fast on his feet but, as someone specializing in Agility, Linnaeus made use of his smaller stature and quick reflexes to deftly evade the sweeping arms of the man. The moment he missed his tackle, the man surprise Linnaeus by leaping forward and using his shoulders as a pivot to perform a roll. He quickly bounced back up to his feet, obviously intent on closing the distance between himself and Eliza. Since she was standing in the back, he assumed she was the weaker of the two, despite the white-haired youth''s frail appearance. Seeing what the man had attempted, Linnaeus winced slightly as he cursed, "Damn fool..." in a low voice. He didn''t even try to go to Eliza''s aide as, from the moment the man began charging toward her, the battle had already been decided. Her expression, which was usually demure with a hint of kindness, immediately turned cold as she brought her palms together. Moments before Eliza brought her palms together, the man was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of dread. He began to regret his decision to charge her but, despite his best attempts to change course and take evasive action, a hazy purple circle appeared under his feet. In the next instant, it felt like he was being crushed by a mountain as his body was pressed flat to the ground. His bones were creaking in protest as the fragile capillaries in his body, especially around his eyes and nose, quickly ruptured under the strain. There were very few tribes known to be able to manipulate gravity so the man''s mind began to race when he realized what kind of identity the purple-haired woman must possess. What he didn''t know was that, despite her current power being far beyond his means to resist, Eliza was actually holding back quite a bit. She had only increased the gravity around his body to around 15x, not even half of her maximum of 50x. After a few seconds had passed, Eliza finally separated her palms. At this point, the man''s health was already below half so, if he tried to charge her again, the only fate awaiting him was death. Knowing this, the man stayed motionless on the ground as, due to his pride, he couldn''t really apologize for his actions. He had only intended to rough up the two before sending them running so his mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened. Using her superior position, Eliza kept her palms close together as she looked down on the Ashvallan man and stated icily, "You call other people childish but then attack a woman who hasn''t even said or done anything to you. Where is your pride as a man? I guess this is what I should have expected from someone who couldn''t even be older than twenty...the next time you say something rude, don''t blame me for disciplining you on behalf of your parents...!" In response to Eliza''s admonishment, the man kept his face toward the ground while, in the distance, Linnaeus'' eyes had widened slightly as he internally remarked, ("Is this really the same shy girl that I have been living with the last few days...?") Linnaeus knew girls could have two drastically different sides to their character but, as this was his first time seeing Eliza angry, he was more than a little surprised. She was actually scarier than Ryuuna and Saht as, at least in their case, Linnaeus knew what they were thinking. Eliza, however, was adept at keeping her thoughts to herself, something Linnaeus realized he should have expected from a woman born within the Evendoom family. Resisting the urge to turn tail and run, Linnaeus made his way over to where the grey-skinned man was laying down. He placed a few foodstuffs and a single Green Gel for the man to consume as he remarked in the same calm tone, "I didn''t expect your foolishness would endanger your life so soon after my warning...really, you''re lucky Eliza is a polite and benign woman. You might not have shown any killing intent but she could have crushed you into meat pulp if you offended her..." Rather than respond to Linnaeus'' words, the man looked at the items placed before him with steady eyes before weakly moving into a seated position. Then, turning his gaze to Eliza, he asked in a soft and restrained tone, "Your ears...can I see them...?" Eliza furrowed her brows slightly in response to the man''s question, even though she knew what he wanted to confirm. If not for the curious look on Linnaeus'' face, she would have reproached him for deigning to ignore the person talking to him. It was clear he had already elevated her position above Linnaeus'', something that annoyed Eliza quite a bit... Understanding that the man could still be useful to their Party, Eliza decided to swallow her indignity this time around as she moved aside her fluffy purple hair. Her hair was deliberately groomed in a way that hid her ears as, like all tribes, the Felborn had their own racial characteristics. Linnaeus had never tried to ask any personal questions related to Eliza''s body so he had never seen her ears, despite living together for a few days. When he saw what was concealed behind the puffy purple curls, his brows raised slightly, even though they weren''t even remotely close to the strangest pair he had observed. Eliza''s ears came to a point, which wasn''t actually all that uncommon but, unlike normal pointed ears, the backs of hers were covered in a layer of purple fur. It covered the entire back of her ears while, at the very tips, two tiny purple tufts were present. While Linnaeus was mildly surprised by Eliza''s ears, the grey-skinned man lowered his face as the color slowly drained away from it. This confirmed his suspicions so, rather than show any kind of haughtiness at all, he placed his palms on the ground before lowering his head until it was touching the dirt as he said, "Please forgive me...had I known-" Before the man could continue any further, Eliza loudly harumphed to get the man''s attention. His face became even paler until he saw that she was pointing at Linnaeus as she said, "You should not bother with such things. If I wanted to be treated like a princess, I wouldn''t keep my ears hidden. I want you to apologize to Linnaeus, not me. If he didn''t want to recruit you into our Pary, I would not have spared you...hmph!" The man was at a loss after hearing Eliza''s words. He suddenly looked toward Linnaeus as if he was only just noticing the latter for the first time. His valuation of the boy had suddenly improved a great deal as, even if he seemed weak, a member of the Evendeoom family was elevating his status above her own. This made the man wonder about what Linnaeus'' true identity was but, rather than try and pry, he first followed Eliza''s instructions by bowing his head and apologizing... 44 Caution : Compromise After the initial tension began to settle down, the grey-skinned man introduced himself as Krone, a member of the Ashvalla tribe. Contrary to their original guesses, Krone''s Blessing was neither adaptation nor absorption. Instead, he had the infinitely rarer [Mimickry] Blessing. This allowed him to mimic the traits of anything he was in contact with but, unlike the previous two Blessings, he could mix and match multiple traits so long as he had the SP to sustain the transformation. Like most Blessings, Krone''s [Mimickry] had two components, one requiring him to touch what he wanted to mimic and the other allowing him to emulate something he has seen, though only the physical appearance and not the capabilities. This second ability allowed him to copy the appearance of Linnaeus and, while he would have been able to copy Eliza''s as well, she expressly forbade him from doing so. The only restriction for Krone''s Blessing was that he was within 50m of the targets he had used his [Mimickry] on. This meant he couldn''t simply copy the appearance of a bird and fly freely as, the moment he flew beyond the effective range, the mimicry would end instantly. Even with the detriments, Linnaeus was envious of the versatility of Krone''s Blessing as he could easily think of several ways to exploit it. This including things like disguising himself as a member of an enemy Party to cause confusion. He could also use it in a group of monsters, selecting specific traits to enhance his own Skills and Abilities. Though Linnaeus couldn''t really do anything about his envy, he didn''t let it bother him too much. He had actually become rather fond of his [Barrier Master] Blessing so, while it didn''t seem as useful as Krone''s [Mimickry], he didn''t look down on it. After all, it had saved his life more times than he could count and, while not one of the famously powerful Blessings, it was still extremely useful in a Party. With this in mind, Linnaeus once again tried to recruit Krone to his Party but, despite his fear of Eliza, he still refused, saying in a cautious tone, "I do not work well with others. My nature already got my previous Party wiped out so I intend to atone for my mistakes here. There is nothing waiting for me back in the Tower..." When Linnaeus first heard his reasoning, he felt a small amount of respect towards Krone as it wasn''t easy to accept responsibility and seek penance for one''s mistakes. Eliza didn''t seem to share his sentiments, however, as she made a show of huffing before remarking, "If you really want to repent for your actions, there is no sense in staying here wallowing in despair. If anything, you should be more determined to live. Only by accomplishing something with the life you have been given can you make up for your past mistakes." Though he grimaced in response to Eliza''s words, Krone didn''t make any attempt to refute them. He could see the reasoning behind her words and, while they were more than a little harsh, he couldn''t help but reflect on them. The most important thing, however, was that the Ashvallan tribe had been one of the vassal tribes of the Felborn for thousands of years. His family had even been helped out by the Evendoom family in the past so, while he might take offense to the words of others, Eliza''s were not something he could simply disregard. After several awkward minutes of tense silence, Krone ultimately released a tired sigh before rising to his feet. When standing, he was approximately 200cm tall so, compared to the 153cm Linnaeus and 158cm Eliza, he was practically a giant. Linnaeus felt a little tense when Krone suddenly stood up but he quickly relaxed when the latter said in a solemn tone, "I will join your Party and help you leave the Crucible. This will be my penance." Rather than accept outright, Eliza huffed in response to Krone''s words before pointing to Linnaeus and saying, "Say it to him, not me. I''m not the Party Leader so stop ignoring Lin." Hearing the berating tone of Eliza, Krone awkwardly rubbed the back of his head before turning to face Linnaeus as he said, "I''d like to join your Party. I will do my best as your Vanguard..." Linnaeus could tell that Krone had significantly more respect for Eliza than he did for himself but, considering the identity of the latter, he couldn''t really blame him. In fact, once Krone knew of his background, the man would likely look down on him so, for the time being, Linnaeus could only do his best as Party Leader to prevent any issues from arising. Without beating around the bush, Linnaeus accepted Krone into the Party and, as a show of good faith, kept the function that allowed each member to view the others'' Status active. He had already discussed with Eliza so, while she wasn''t too comfortable with other people knowing her Status, she still accepted his reasoning. Since she had already confirmed that Krone wouldn''t be a threat, as she had forced him to reveal his Status prior to joining the Party, she wasn''t as worried as she otherwise would have been. ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Krone Castille Title: Bruiser(+3 Str, +5 Con, +2 Spi per Level) Race: Ashvalla Age: 19 Gender: Male Level: 34 Health: 4272/4272 Soul Power: 3006/3006 Strength: 129+103.2 Constitution: 178+142.4 Agility: 74+25.2 Dexterity: 103+45.2 Intelligence: 54+2 Wisdom: 71+2 Spirit: 113+24.6 Charisma: 11 Luck: 23+1 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)],[*Mimicry:LV58*], [Brute:LV39], [Herculean Strength:LV30], [Healthy:LV43], [Vital Spirit:Lv35], [Deft Hands:LV19], [Heroic Spirit:LV26], [Sense Danger:LV41], [Martial Arts:LV53], [Grappling:LV52],[Acrobatics:LV51], [Footwork:LV48], [Iron Stomache:LV52], [Pain Tolerance:LV54], [Abnormal Status Resistance:LV44], [Perception:LV29], [Dismantling:LV37], [Cooking:LV28] Abilities: [Strength Amplification:LV51], [Body Hardening:LV55], [Trait Mimicry:LV57], [Doppel:LV52] Magic: [Enhance:LV53] ---------------------------------------- Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. When Linnaeus saw how much Health Krone had compared to himself, he began to understand why so many people invested in the Constitution attribute early on. Though their Levels weren''t that far apart, Linnaeus barely had a third of Krone''s Health, despite the fact that the latter was only around 1000 SP short of his total. This showed how important Spirit could be in the grand scheme of things, especially with Skills like [Heroic Spirit] providing a persistent bonus. Still, despite Krone''s clear advantages, Linnaeus felt that a battle between them would be remarkably close. The latter might have six Levels on him but, with the difference in their Agility and his overall mobility being higher, there was a good chance he could outpace the much larger man. Though he might lack the means to actually damage Krone, the same could be said for the latter in regards to himself... While Linnaeus had been viewing his Status in detail, Krone had been doing the same for him and Eliza. When he saw Eliza''s age, combined with her Level, he began to feel a cold sweat on the back of his neck but, when he viewed Linnaeus'', confusion became his most prominent emotion. It wasn''t until Krone saw Linnaeus'' Charisma and his [Charm] Skill that his confusion turned into a deep and seething rage. He managed to keep it from showing on his face, an easy feat considering he rarely expressed himself, but his mind was abuzz with fury after reaching his unjust conclusion. Despite Krone''s attempt to keep his emotions concealed, Linnaeus was extremely perceptive when it came to such things. He instantly opened a bit of distance between himself and the taller man, two daggers entering into his hands as he asked, "What happened...?" in a low tone. Rather than Krone answering, it was Eliza who crossed her arms with a cold expression on her face as she venomously stated, "He thinks you used your [Charm] to take advantage of me. What a farce. If you are going to jump to such conclusions and cause trouble, you should just go hide in the water. I decided to follow Lin on my own, not because of some stupid Skill. If you think my upbringing and Spirit would leave me susceptible to a kid''s [Charm], you''re seriously looking down on me." Krone was at a loss as to how he should respond but, seeing the icy look in Eliza''s eyes, he ultimately averted his own and stated, "I''m sorry...I jumped to conclusions..." What Krone, and Linnaeus, couldn''t have expected was that, immediately after the former''s apology, Eliza had grabbed the latter from behind. She hugged Linnaeus tight enough to pick him up off the ground a bit as she stated, "Lin is like my precious little brother. I will protect him until he is strong enough to protect himself. If you try to harm him, I will break you." Now, Linnaeus and Krone were both at a loss, albeit for entirely different reasons. The former felt like he was being treated like a child while the latter felt like he was trying to antagonize a tiger''s cub when the mother was still present. He also began to understand that, while Linnaeus may not have used his [Charm] against her, it was apparent that Eliza was rather taken with the pale-haired youth. After hugging Linnaeus for several seconds longer than necessary, Eliza finally set him back down on the ground. This brought Linnaeus back to his senses and, after lightly patting his chest, he looked at Krone and stated, "I didn''t choose my appearance, nor did I grant myself this Skill. Instead of judging me for things I have no control over, you should observe my actions with your own two eyes. I will prove to you that I''m not the person you believe me to be..." Hearing the conviction in Linnaeus'' words, Krone continued to stand in silence for several seconds longer before giving a curt nod and saying, "I''ll be watching closely..." Then, after rubbing the back of his head again, he added, "Sorry..." in a decidedly more awkward tone of voice. Linnaeus just gave a curt nod of his own in response as further words would only exacerbate the matter once again. He knew that Krone wouldn''t have apologized if not for the presence of Eliza so, until he could prove himself a worthy leader, he had to be patient. So long as Krone didn''t try and contest his position as Party Leader, there wouldn''t be any problems in the short term. After collecting his thoughts, Linnaeus gathered the attention of his two companions before saying, "Now that we have a capable Vanguard, we''ll go ahead and try to recruit our final Party member. If she agrees to join us, we''ll spend a few days acclimating to each other before taking on one of the territorial Kings. We can harvest a few Soul Kindling before deciding when we want to move on to the next Floor." Eliza had already been made aware of Linnaeus'' plans so she just gave a small nod in response. As for Krone, he crossed his arms but, without having to ask his question, Linnaeus began to explain his observations and the capabilities of their prospective Party member. This made Krone feel awkward but, as it did clear up a lot of things, he followed up the explanation with an understanding nod. Once everyone was on the same page, Linnaeus discussed their basic formation and how they would deal with any enemies that appeared. Krone, as expected, would be in the front but, so long as they were not in active combat, Linnaeus would keep his [Barrier Aura] on each of them. This would keep them safe from surprise attacks and, depending on the situation, they would change their strategy in order to conserve SP and make the best use of their individual strengths. Krone noticed that Linnaeus intended to fight in the frontline with him but, rather than try and argue against it, he decided this was better than leaving him in the back with Eliza. He didn''t fully trust the pale-haired boy so, for the time being, he was more comfortable with fighting alongside the youth rather than entrusting his exposed back to him. With this setup, he would be able to observe how Linnaeus fought and, while this wasn''t the determining factor of a person''s character, it was possible to get a loose grasp on their true nature in the heat of battle. After their formation had been decided, the trio began their slow trek towards their unsuspecting prospect. Her domicile was located a few territories away from Krone''s so it would be a good three hours before they reached their destination. This afforded them a lot of opportunities to familiarize themselves with each other''s combat style, something that was of paramount importance to nascent Parties... 45 Tension : Perspective While Krone''s [Mimicry] seemed to be a truly envious Blessing, Linnaeus quickly learned that, while some Blessings seemed exceptionally useful, the reality was not always what it appeared to be. Along the way to meet up with their prospective members, the trio encountered several individuals and a few small groups of monsters. This was largely due to how the noise of three people was far greater than what would have otherwise been generated. Even when Linnaeus tried to scout ahead and mark potential noise hazards, both Krone and Eliza would invariably trigger them. This caused Linnaeus to feel like he was developing the twitch characteristic of drug users as, every time they broke a twig or passed through rustling brush, his body would convulse slightly. One of the very first monsters they encountered was a large behemoth of a creature known as a Rynadon. It was around 3m tall, standing on stump-like legs, while its body was around 4m in length. At the center of its large and extremely durable head, a large horn that extended upwards of 20cm in length could be seen. They used this protrusion to dislodge rocks and scrape away at tree bark but, if you antagonized them, they would not hesitate to charge with surprising speed in an attempt to impale you. As the Party''s Vanguard, Krone wasted no time in putting himself directly in the charging line before adopting a wide and stable stance. While this seemed to be commendable behavior, Linnaeus paled slightly when he saw this because there was simply no need to take the hit directly. What Linnaeus hadn''t really thought about previously was that, while Krone''s Blessing seemed to be one of the most versatile, it actually required several seconds of direct contact to take full effect. This had caused him to develop a habit of trying to deflect charges and latch on to monsters, using his [Grappling] Skill and durable physique to the fullest. Fortunately, due to Linnaeus'' support, Krone was pleasantly surprised when the Rynadon slammed into him but, rather than impale or push him back, a blue membrane just flashed across his body. At the cost of nearly 700 of Linnaeus'' SP, he had been able to completely stop the monster''s charge. Krone released a loud ''Ha!'' as if he were about to laugh but, after that outburst, his face became a mask of pure exertion as he grabbed the monster''s ears and began rocking its head to the side in an attempt to imbalance it. The ears were very important for most creatures when it came to staying upright so, by yanking on them, the head was inclined to follow the path of least resistance. Seeing a 200cm tall man knock over a 3m tall monster, which had to weigh at least a thousand kilograms, was quite a sight to behold. The Rynadon struggled for a bit but it was the type of creature that actually slept standing due to the inflexibility of its legs. This allowed Krone enough time to absorb its trait, gaining thicker skin and bulkier muscles as he began punching under the eye socket of the monster in an attempt to at least blind it before it managed to recover. The best way to describe how Krone fought, at least in Linnaeus'' opinion, was ''excessively violent''. It would have been much easier to deal with the Rynadon by dodging its charge as it took them a long time to turn around and line up for a second attack. Their belly and backside were much weaker than the veritable armor around their head, back, and shoulders. If they had fought smartly, he wouldn''t have needed to expend a chunk of his SP in one go as Eliza''s Blessing was the ultimate counter to most heavyweight monsters. Despite all of this, Krone was still able to take down the monster largely on his own as, with his high Strength attribute, enhanced by his absorption of the Rynadon''s traits, he was leaving dents in its head with each successive blow. Before the monster was able to recover, the right side of its head had caved in, leaving behind a bloody mass of pulpy flesh before it ultimately dissolved away into ash. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. When the brutal scene came to an end, Krone heaved a few times in an effort to calm down as there was always a rush of extra adrenaline when he absorbed the traits of violent monsters. In truth, while his combat style may not be the most efficient, it was largely due to this enhanced emotional state that he fought like a berserker. Noticing how Linnaeus and Eliza were looking at him, Krone just averted his eyes before remarking, "Your Blessing is very compatible with my own. It protects my body without interfering with my own abilities..." After finishing his words, Krone left the distribution of items to Linnaeus as it was one of his duties as Party Leader. He needed to decide who held onto what and, in the case where they could not take it all with them, he had to choose what was left behind. Once the item distribution had completed, Linnaeus took a moment to address Krone, looking up at the much taller man as he said in a calm tone of voice, "I will not tell you how to fight. You seem far more adept at direct engagements than I am. All I want you to keep in mind is that our reserves are not without limit. I''ll do my best to prevent any harm from coming to you but you shouldn''t develop a dependency on my [Barrier Aura]..." Krone just rubbed the back of his head in response until Eliza crossed her arms and glared at him with her violet eyes. After this, Krone released a grumbling sigh before giving an understanding nod as he passed by Linnaeus to begin blazing a trail through the underbrush. Linnaeus felt like Eliza was going too far in her support of his position but, as she was doing it for him, he didn''t want to correct her at the moment. When they returned to the den, later on, he would speak with her in private as, while it might earn him a bit of respect from Krone, it might also cause the latter to lambast him while also damaging his peculiar relationship with Eliza. Eliza just answered his stare with a smile before pulling him along so that Krone didn''t get too far ahead of the Party. She was the most aware of her own behavior but, as she noticed the look in their so-called Vanguard''s eyes when he first received the monster''s charge, her distrust for him had only grown. Mid-combat was not the time for rumination but she noticed his eyes become thoughtful for a brief moment, just like when someone suddenly came up with a scheme. For the time being, Eliza was still going to allow Krone to remain in the Party but, if he did anything to sew discord or undermine Linnaeus'' position, she would campaign to have him expelled. Even if it created problems all its own, she would rather build a Party of all women around Linnaeus if it meant they could avoid some of the more troublesome aspects of having multiple men and women in the same Party... Without understanding what each member of their Party was thinking, the trio continued on their way at a steady pace. Krone seemed to consider Linnaeus'' words a bit so, rather than just take on a full-frontal charge, he would try to tackle the monster''s flank. Since Linnaeus would also trip them up or divert the force of their blows, most of the battles ended almost as soon as they had begun. If not for Krone''s refusal to use weapons, as he preferred to use his body itself as a weapon, things would have gone much faster. In less time than anticipated, the group reached an area with a hovel that had been formed from natural materials. It was mainly comprised of sticks and shrubbery but, to keep it all together, some kind of clay and mud had been used as a binding agent. Upon seeing the cacoon-like structure, Eliza had an awkward expression on her face as she lightly mumbled, "How did this girl survive here on her own...?" Since aboveground structures with no defensive capabilities were like painting a target on you for a monster attack, most schools taught children to seek elevated or subterranean shelters. The former was the most preferred, as it provided a good vantage, but the latter could be extremely useful when the elements were against you. After all, it was difficult to build atop a ridge while the only thing you had to do to expand an underground shelter was dig. In response to Eliza''s question, Linnaeus slowly surveyed the surroundings while explaining, "This is an area that serves as a neutral zone of sorts. The Territorial King to the west had been killed a little more than a month ago. There has been a bit of fighting since then but it mostly takes place away from this spot..." Looking back at his two companions, Linnaeus could see that his explanation wasn''t enough so he then added, "Since the stronger monsters are butting heads, the weaker monsters have avoided this area. A few stray in every now and then but there hasn''t been anything particularly dangerous from what I have seen." Eliza wanted to ask why Linnaeus didn''t claim this territory for himself if that was the case but, as she had spent the last few days with him, she already understood why. He wasn''t the type to try and take advantage of others just for his own benefit. While Eliza''s impression of Linnaeus was gradually improving, Krone stared back at his new Party Leader for several seconds before remarking, "You''re the type that plans out everything...tell me, how long were you aware of our positions before coming into contact with us...?" Linnaeus and Eliza both knew what Krone was implying, causing the latter to frown slightly. Linnaeus, however, kept his composure as he plainly stated, "I hadn''t been specifically observing anyone. If you think I had come up with some grand scheme to try and form a Party, you are wrong. The only thing that crossed my mind at the time was making sure there were no threats around my own den. It was only after I had secured my own position that I began to think about allying with other people to try and reach the top of the Crucible..." Though Linnaeus remained calm through his explanation, his expression became exceptionally sharp at the very end. Killing so many people had certain effects on an individual so, when he wanted to, it was possible to focus his killing intent to the point that people would feel as if they had a blade at their neck. This caused Krone to tense up and take a step back, all while Linnaeus stood his ground and added, "It wasn''t even a few hours ago that you agreed to stop jumping to conclusions. Is this what your word amounts to...?" Krone hadn''t expected the petite boy to suddenly give off the impression of a feral tiger so he was at a loss for several seconds as to how he should respond. His first instinct was to fight, as his instincts told him that Linnaeus was very dangerous, but he was kept at bay by the icy glare of the woman at his side. After swallowing audibly, Krone averted his eyes once again as he mumbled, "Sorry...I just can''t trust other people so easily...I''ll get better after a few days. I swear it..." While neither Eliza nor Linnaeus accepted Krone''s words at face value, the latter gave a nod before pulling back his killing intent and turning his attention back to their surroundings. He still didn''t even trust Eliza so he couldn''t really blame Krone for not trusting him after only a few hours. Rather, the man seemed predisposed to distrust him so, for the time being, Linnaeus would allow him time to acclimate. This was his first time leading a Party that consisted of more than just himself and another person so he needed to practice dealing with the more difficult members of a Party before it became a bigger issue in the future. Krone visibly relaxed when Linnaeus pulled back his killing intent but his body was still tense due to the fact that Eliza continued to glare at him for several seconds longer. She had rarely killed so, while she was much stronger than Linnaeus, her ''presence'' seemed minuscule in comparison. This put a lot of things into perspective for Krone, including the fact that his obstinance may very well result in his second untimely death... 46 Disarming Due to the fact they showed up around noon, it would be some time before the girl with the water Blessing returned to her abode. She wasn''t very proficient when it came to hunting and, due to the ongoing territorial dispute between local Kings, the majority of suitable monsters had migrated to less tumultuous regions. Since it would probably scare her away if they just idled around the girl''s encampment, Linnaeus guided the group to a region where they could lay low while waiting for her return. Once everyone had settled in, Linnaeus pulled out a bundle of twigs that he had harvested recently. Eliza had taught him how to make cord and rope using plant fibers so, with nothing better to do, he decided to add to his ever-growing stockpile of supplies. Krone wasn''t the most sociable person so, after seeing Linnaeus busy himself, he decided to pull out some of his own tools to perform routine maintenance. Though he used his body as a weapon for combat, he had developed a few tools to make his life a little easier. This included a pick made from the curved horn of an Axtola and a bone hatchet produced from the shoulder blade of a monster that Linnaeus couldn''t identify. Seeing her two companions at work, Eliza didn''t want to be the odd one out so she pulled out a simple pestle and mortar to grind down some medicinal herbs. This had been her primary interest outside of the Tower she could easily produce a few simple medicinal pastes. If she had the proper instruments, she could even create various potions, some of which could even regrow lost limbs in a very short period of time. Despite being much weaker than herself, Linnaeus took it upon himself to be the one to hunt for most of their food. He also gathered the majority of their supplies as, with how much noise even walking produced, it was less efficient for them to go together. The only time they hunted together was to improve their teamwork and cooperation, something that was relatively easy considering the versatility of her Blessing. During the moments when Linnaeus went out by himself, he would gather up anything that seemed remotely useful as, over the course of her lifetime, Eliza had committed thousands of different plants and other materials to memory. Even if he brought back something she didn''t understand, it didn''t take long for her to discover its properties. It was at times like this where [Iron Stomach] showed its true prowess and, while it seemed extremely dangerous, most people that grew up in the megacity had trained the Skill during their primary education. As for Linnaeus, he didn''t have the skill at all as it typically required you to ingest a few potent poisons before awakening. This was also how the [Abnormal Status Resistance] was learned, meaning he was at a distinct disadvantage when it came to poisoning and other ailments. Fortunately, Linnaeus had a few innate abilities that had escaped his notice before entering into the Tower. Though his Hume side didn''t really provide him too many boons, his Manalyte blood allowed him to perceive the flow of Spiritual Energy better than most. It was because of this reason that most Manalytes born inside the megacity became proficient Mages or Artificers, two things Linnaeus had never even considered while struggling int he slums. Linnaeus didn''t know how to identify each kind of plant but, with his extrasensory abilities, he was able to feel whether or not something should be useful. This had come as a surprise to Eliza as, even with the ability to view his Status at her leisure, she had never put a lot of thought into his race. While some tribes hated each other to the core, most people didn''t discriminate due to the existence of Blessings. There were rumored to be more than 1500 different tribes and, while you may have an advantage against one, you might be at a distinct disadvantage against another tribe. Weaker tribes often bred with those much stronger than themselves and, though there were some restrictions, a few powerful hybrid races had come into existence over the years. What surprised Eliza wasn''t the fact that Linnaeus had a dual heritage but, with very few exceptions, everyone with Manalyte blood was female. They were one of the dozen or so races that were wholly female and, though they could interbreed with other races, the result was almost always a member of the Manalyte tribe, not a true hybrid. When he heard Eliza''s explanation, Linnaeus was also a little surprised but, as it really didn''t matter all that much, he decided not to mind it. After all, it wasn''t like he had any choice regarding his own race so, while it may be exceptionally rare, it ultimately had no bearing on their situation. Still, if he had the opportunity in the future, Linnaeus wanted a compendium of all the tribes so that he could make better decisions. After all, knowledge was one of the most intrinsic parts of power and, if you knew the strengths and weaknesses of everyone else, there were few enemies beyond your means to defeat. --- After around four hours, the light in the sky began to dim and, with it, a distant rustling reached the ears of the trio. They had only moved a few tens of meters away from the small hovel so, while it was almost inaudible at first, it didn''t take long for the sound of movement to reach them. Deciding to take the initiative, Eliza hopped up to her feet and, after dusting off her backside, she looked toward Krone and said, "You should stay here. Lin and I will go and try to recruit our next Party member. Since you have a scary face and a cold demeanor, it is better to wait until we get an answer before she has to meet you." Krone just shook his head without comment, earning him a pointed glare from Eliza as Linnaeus rose to his feet and added, "Eliza is right. Sorry, but you do have an intimidating appearance. For better or worse, mine is pretty disarming...the chances I''ll scare someone off are pretty slim." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Krone snorted through his nose while Eliza released a pleasant-sounding giggle before pulling the former along by his hand. She wanted to comment that, if he was wearing thicker clothes, it would be almost impossible to determine his gender but, as most men wouldn''t want to hear such a thing, she ultimately resisted the urge to tease him. As could be expected, Eliza made a lot of noise while walking through the forested area so, by the time they reached the small hovel, the girl they were intending to recruit had already exited. She had a long spear formed from some kind of bone in her hands which, curiously, had an orb of water near the base of the sharped point. It would move around with the spearhead and, though it was hard to imagine just what purpose it served, Linnaeus'' imagination ran rampant with possibilities. Despite how amicable Eliza and Linnaeus appeared at a glance, the woman didn''t drop her weapon as, even outside of the Tower, appearances could be deceiving. It was possible for a petite woman like Ryuuna to obliterate boulders and overturn trees while, in some situations, even the burliest men could be overpowered by an opponent with greater physical attributes. Stopping a respectable distance away from the girl, Eliza pulled Linnaeus to her front before giving him a supportive smile as she lightly pushed against his back. This caused him to take a few awkward steps forward and, due to the peculiarity of the situation, even the spear-wielding woman tilted her head to the side slightly, confused. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus did his best to put on a smile while raising both of his hands in a placating gesture, palms forward and fingers wide. This actually caused the woman to grip her spear a little tighter but, rather than attack, she asked in a hesitant voice filled with the pretense of courage, "W-Who are you? Why have you come here...?" In response to the woman''s question, Linnaeus answered in as calm a tone as he could manage with a spear angled toward his neck, "My name is Linnaeus...my friends call me Lin. The one behind me is Eliza...my friend and companion. We also have another person waiting for us. His name is Krone. He has a pretty scary face so we had him stay back so you weren''t spooked..." Hearing that there was a third person, the woman began to breathe a little quicker but, as Linnaeus seemed to be forthright with her, part of her subconscious mind began to relax. If they had wanted to attack her, it wouldn''t take much effort for three people to overwhelm a single person so, at the very least, she could assume they came with good intentions. Even without being asked, the woman took it upon herself to say in a subdued tone, "My name is Emilia..." before following it up by, once again, asking, "Why are you here...?" Understanding that the girl was beginning to drop her guard, Linnaeus slowly lowered his hands as he answered in the same calm tone as before, "We wanted to scout you for our Party. Our ultimate goal is to reach the top of the Crucible of Souls. For now, however, we''re looking for people that can help us survive on each successive floor." The moment Linnaeus mentioned scouting her for his Party, the woman released a tired sigh as she aimed the tip of her spear to the side. She didn''t completely drop her guard but, as the two people before her seemed friendly enough, Emilia didn''t want to antagonize them. Without taking much time to consider her options, Emilia simply asked, "What kind of position do you want me to fill in your Party? My Level isn''t that high and I don''t like fighting..." In response to the question and subsequent remark, Linnaeus kept his calm as he answered, "I would want you to stay in the back-line to support Eliza. Most of the fighting will be handled by myself and Krone. I can''t promise that you won''t have to fight but, in this world, you rarely have the opportunity to completely avoid conflict..." Hearing that she wouldn''t be forced to fight up front, Emilia didn''t take any extra time to think as she answered, "I''ll join you. I''m tired of living in this forest on my own...I feel like every day brings me closer and closer to death..." Despite having numerous inhibitions, Emilia still wanted to join the duo''s Party as she had become very lonely over the past month. The only other person she had met tried to attack her and, if not for the fortunate intervention of a large Bear Rabbit, she might not have had a choice in how she spent her second life. At the very least, Linnaeus and Eliza put on a pretense of being good people so, for the time being, she would rather entrust her fate to them than continue living alone. Linnaeus and Eliza both saw through Emilia''s intentions but, as the latter could empathize with her, she wasn''t going to say anything. As for Linnaeus, he knew loneliness was a very painful thing for most people and, though he had grown accustomed to it, being apart from Saht for such a long period of time had weighed heavily on his heart and mind... Without much of a delay, Linnaeus extended a Party invitation to Emilia who, after accepting the terms, removed the makeshift hood she had been wearing. This allowed Linnaeus to get his first full view of her features and, even without looking at her Status, he knew her Charisma had to be rather high. Eliza promptly frowned when she saw Emilia with her hood on, despite having already determined she was a beauty just based on what little of her face and body was visible. She had rather delicate features, a common trait among those with water-oriented Blessings, while her hair cascaded down in silky blue locks. Though it was very apparent she hadn''t been able to care for it properly, it still had a healthy luster while, at the very top of her head, two pointed ears with tufts of white hair on the inside stood perched proudly. Even without looking at Emilia''s Status, Eliza gave a small sigh of her own before muttering, "She is a Vanargandr of all things...haaaa..." 47 An Uncommon Species With more than fifteen-hundred base species, animalistic traits like tails, ears, or even wings, were not that uncommon within the planar world of Lumen. There was even an entire subset of people known as Demibeasts due to the fact they often had a real-world counterpart in the form of some kind of mammal. Among the better-known Demibeasts, the Vanargandr were very near the top as, while they were not the most powerful, they were rather unique amongst the other tribes. Unlike the vast majority of people that called Lumen home, the Vanargandr had separated from the common sense of the world. Rather than congregate around the Tower, the Vanargandr were one of the nomadic species that had ventured toward the endless horizon innumerable generations ago. As a result, they were rarely seen outside of the Tower and, while tales of their existence had been passed down from word of mouth, it was nearly impossible to find a single Vanargandr within the Megacity and surrounding slums. This, however, wasn''t the most interesting fact about the Vanargandr as, while they may not be the strongest race by default, they had incredible potential. While most other tribes could go for increasingly long periods of time without eating, especially with high Constitution, the Vanargandr tribe were one of the few exceptions. They required sustenance or they would experience a significant reduction in their attributes. Inversely, the more they consumed, the stronger they would become. This inherent ability was wholly dependant on how much they had eaten so, while it may seem like an incredibly powerful boon, it was only temporary. What was more important was the fact that, as a failsafe of sorts against starvation, the Vanargandr tribe was able to eat virtually anything, even solid metal, to sustain themselves. Linnaeus may not realize the implications of picking up a Vanargandr but Eliza couldn''t help but feel as if they had just acquired a major liability. Keeping the woman fed would be a major undertaking and, even if they could pull it off, there were a variety of complications associated with doing so. Unfortunately, they had already accepted Emilia into the Party so, while she had inhibitions, Eliza just smiled knowingly while Linnaeus perused the woman''s Status. He was the type to analyze things on the spot so, while his guard hadn''t really been lowered, it looked like he had spaced out for a brief moment... ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Emilia Starseeker Title: Gluttonous Fledgling(+3 Con, +2 Spi, +1 Luk per Level) Race: Vanargandr Age: 18 Gender: Female Level: 25 Health: 4260/4260 Soul Power: 2573/2573 Strength: 79 Constitution: 142+71 Agility: 138+69 Dexterity: 103+30.9 Intelligence: 51+23.3 Wisdom: 48+14.4 Spirit: 60+21 Charisma: 23 Luck: 20 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [*Phase Master(Water):LV52*], [Spirit of Gluttony:LV55], [Healthy:LV20], [Vital Spirit:LV13], [Fleet-Footed:LV28], [Swift: Lv16], [Nimble Fingers:LV23], [Sense Danger:LV44], [Martial Arts:LV38], [Spear Mastery:LV41], [Hunting:LV53], [Acrobatics:LV51], [Presence Concealment:LV39], [Dismantling:LV51], [Cooking:LV11], [Taste:LV53], [Trap Set:LV51], [Trap Disarm:LV51], [Flexible Body:LV35], [Footwork:LV29], [Perception:LV28] Abilities: [Night Vision:LV51], [Enhanced Hearing:LV51], [Olfactory Sense:LV51] Magic: [Create Water:LV51], [Phase Change:LV51] ---------------------------------------- Emilia was an example of someone who, despite having a Blessing related to Magic, didn''t diverge from her original path. Since she was from a nomadic tribe of hunters and gatherers, her Blessing was secondary to everything else as, with no real enemies to face, it didn''t particularly matter how strong you were. Rather, as a tribe ruled by a matriarch, the females had the duty of hunting while the males often took care of the caravan processing goods for consumption. Linnaeus knew nothing about this but, seeing Emilia''s Status, he couldn''t help comparing her to himself as they were nearly the same Level. From this, he could tell that she actually had a much stronger foundation than even himself and Eliza. Despite appearing relatively weak at a glance, it could be seen from Emilia''s Status that she was not even remotely powerless. Rather, she was quite obviously a hunter and, though Eliza would win most certainly win in a battle, it was apparent that Emilia was the more talented between them. This was likely due to the fact that she spent her entire childhood hunting while people like Eliza, even with all the benefits of belonging to one of the Eight Heavenly Families, spent most of her time focusing on theory and living a relatively stress-free lifestyle. Though he couldn''t be certain, Linnaeus could tell from the comparison between himself, Ryuuna, Eliza, Krone, and now Emilia that practical experience could surpass given benefits. This affirmed the notion that, if you worked hard, the Akashic System would reward your efforts. Those that were born into status and wealth often had a significant advantage early on but, if you could tide through the lower Levels, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the gap could not only be closed, but overcome entirely. At this point, Linnaeus'' primary regret was that he hadn''t put any focus into his Constitution as, with Emilia as another example, he was beginning to feel a little anxious about his pathetically low Health. While his SP could be considered a secondary Health pool, it was also his primary method of dealing with enemies so he needed to find a solution before it became an even bigger issue. Deciding to shelve the matter, as there were more pressing things to attend, Linnaeus broke from his momentary reverie, stating, "It seems you are even more suited to the position of Scout than I am. I won''t go back on my previous words but, depending on the circumstances, I may request that you help conduct reconnaissance with me. Having a second set of eyes and ears will be a tremendous boon when we have multiple enemies to case." Hearing Linnaeus'' remark, Emilia''s ears twitched slightly before she suddenly smiled and said, "I''m good at hunting and scouting. Tracking people is a little harder but I''m usually able to avoid giving myself away...actually, I''m surprised you managed to track me without my notice. How did you find my hut...?" Knowing she had seen his own Status, Linnaeus didn''t bother beating around the bush as he calmly stated, "I discovered you more than a month ago. I may not be able to measure up to you when it comes to hunting but, when it comes to casing people and locations, I have complete confidence in my abilities. I''ve already dealt with people that have powerful senses so it isn''t simple to trace my location if you don''t know to look for me." Seeing that Linnaeus had higher [Presence Concealment] than her own, combined with his [Stealth] and [Assassination], Emilia couldn''t really refute his claims. She could learn a lot from him and, as they had similar paths, there was much she could teach him in exchange. Before that, however, there was one important thing she wanted to know so, without footing around the issue, she asked, "Do you have anything to eat...?" Linnaeus experienced a momentary pause when he heard Emilia''s question but, before he could fall into a complete stupor, Eliza explained, "The Vanargandr tribe are known for their appetites. Though they can eat virtually anything, they prefer nutrient-rich foods since it provides them a considerable increase in power and speed. From what I can tell, she has had trouble hunting due to the chaotic state of this territory. Also...it seems she has had trouble preparing the food...?" Emilia issued a dry laugh in response to Eliza''s words but, rather than refute them, she sheepishly explained, "I learned the basics when I was just a cub. I''ve tried to practice a bit while I''m here but it hasn''t gone well. Most of the cooking was left to the males in my tribe, hahahaha~" In response to Emilia''s words, Eliza just lightly shrugged her shoulders before smiling in a casual manner and added, "Well, I can''t say I''m any better. I know how to bake things but that is about it. Most of my food was prepared by others so I''m in the same boat. Fortunately, Linnaeus isn''t that bad at cooking. We also picked up another ally just this morning and his [Cooking] is LV28. Though I''ve yet to taste any of his food, I have high hopes." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Hearing Eliza''s words, Emilia''s face blossomed into a smile that seemed to make the surroundings brighten up slightly. Despite this, Linnaeus'' expression remained unchanged, something that Eliza had made a point of confirming. She didn''t doubt him, especially after hearing about his past, but she was still inclined to watch and see if he ever tried proactively developing his [Charm]. Since he was like a little brother to her, she didn''t want him to become another egotistical despot who cared more about his own ego than the women whose hearts were broken by his actions. Feeling Eliza''s gaze on him, Linnaeus looked in her direction only to find her averting her eyes just as soon as their gazes met. This wasn''t the first time she had done this but, remembering how she had behaved during their first meeting, he believed it was just part of her nature. She didn''t give him the same impression as Saht so, while there were undoubtedly complex thoughts running through her mind, he wasn''t too worried about her. So as not to keep Krone waiting the rest of the afternoon, Linnaeus kept the line of conversation flowing, stating, "I have a few smoked and grilled rations in my Inventory. They have light seasoning, courtesy of Eliza. If you want anything more complicated, it will have to wait until we reach the den. It is safer than this little hovel you have created so we''ll retreat there to gather our bearing and get acclimated to each other." As grilled meat was the staple food source for her people, Emilia wasn''t shy at all when Linnaeus offered her a skewer of medium-rare venison. She hadn''t eaten in almost an hour and, while she had collected some meat during her latest hunt, it needed to be treated to remove some of the gamey smell and foul taste. Even though her tribe was rumored to have descended from wolves, they did not eat their prey raw as the taste and smell were simply terrible. After handing over a skewer for Emilia''s consumption, Linnaeus and Eliza watched in abject horror as she bit into the meat like a person who hadn''t eaten in weeks. For a brief moment, her ivory white teeth had become noticeably sharper and, while it was difficult for most people to chew, Emilia ate, not only the meat, but a part of the rabbit horn he had used as a skewer. The horn of a Horned Rabbit was nearly as strong as iron so it was quite the sight to see someone take a bite out of it, seemingly without noticing they had done so. It wasn''t until Emilia was licking the horn clean, earning Linnaeus another glance from Eliza, that the voracious woman noticed what she had done. With her ears laying flat in a dejected manner, Emilia handed the skewer back to Linnaeus as she stated in a somber tone, "Sorry...it was just too good...I couldn''t help myself...I will make you a better one in the future..." Rather than reprimand Emilia for her actions, Linnaeus just inspected the horn for a few seconds before tossing it into his Inventory and saying, "It isn''t an issue. I have a few spares back in the den. Just try and avoid a repeat of the same incident and there won''t be any problems..." As she had expected to be berated, Emilia couldn''t help but smile radiantly when she heard the words of her new Party Leader. Her ears perked back up and, if not for the fact it had been tucked away beneath her makeshift skirt, they would have been able to see her tail waggle slightly. Since this would have been very embarrassing, Emilia was grateful for her past self''s foresight as she was already an adult and it wasn''t appropriate to expose your tail except to kin and close friends. Feeling a little unnerved by Emilia''s gaze and close proximity, Linnaeus decided it was time for them to pick up Krone and return. He didn''t know why but Emilia made him feel a little uncomfortable as she didn''t seem to have a proper sense of boundaries. Since he really disliked having people in his personal space, it took a lot of self-restraint to prevent himself from immediately stepping back and pulling out a dagger... 48 Intentions With Emilia and Eliza following close behind, Linnaeus led the group back to where Krone was sitting with his back to a tree. He had his eyes closed at first but, after they entered the clearing, he opened them to give Emilia a brief once over. Feeling troubled by Krone''s scrutinizing gaze, Emilia''s ears angled backward as she naturally moved into a position with her balance evenly distributed between both feet. She could see his Status and knew that he was a lot stronger than her, despite having only a fraction of her speed. Seeing Emilia''s reaction, Krone gave a small nod before rising to his feet and plainly stating, "I''m Krone, the Vanguard." Emilia didn''t immediately relax but, knowing she would be in the same Party as Krone, she took a deep breath before saying in a subdued tone, "I''m Emilia...a Huntress of the Vanargandr tribe. I will help scout and protect the backline..." Since gender and race were shown in the Status, Krone wasn''t surprised by the fact that Emilia was a member of the Vanargandr tribe. He had been a little surprised at first but, during the period he sat waiting, he had more than enough time to resume his usual demeanor. With simple introductions out of the way, Linnaeus stepped up to say, "We''ll return to the den Eliza and I have been using. For now, Eliza and Emilia will stay in the back while you protect them. I''ll be leading the way forward and scouting ahead a few hundred meters. With Emilia''s tracking ability and the Party function, you shouldn''t have any problems following the path I map out." Eliza wasn''t too fond of Linnaeus'' setup and wanted to nominate Emilia for the position of Scout but, according to their original agreement, this wouldn''t be proper. She didn''t want to cause any rifts in the nascent Party so, before returning to the den, Eliza decided to keep her opinion to herself. Without any dissension, Linnaeus disappeared into the underbrush and, after a few seconds, even Emilia''s sensitive ears weren''t able to pick up on him. If not for the Party function allowing them to roughly sense each other, it would be very difficult to track Linnaeus through the forested terrain. With this in mind, Emilia turned to Eliza with an awkward smile on her face as she said, "He is pretty good. I still don''t understand how he was made the Party Leader though...?" As a member of a nomadic tribe, Emilia lacked knowledge regarding the Eight Heavenly Families. To her, Eliza was just a powerful woman and, due to growing up in a matriarchal tribe, she had trouble understanding why Linnaeus was in charge. Eliza was annoyed by Emilia''s words so, without beating around the bush, she stated, "If you were to speak about your leaders back in your tribe, how would people react? Don''t say senseless things that will sow discord in the Party. Having more power does not automatically guarantee a person has the necessary leadership qualities to lead a Party successfully." Emilia frowned in response to Eliza''s words but, as she didn''t have any way to refute them, she opted to remain silent as she followed after Krone. Since the latter made an incredible amount of noise as he tore ambled through the forest, it was very easy to ascertain his location... --- Though it was only a short period of time, Linnaeus enjoyed the relative quiet as he stealthily made his way through the forest. While he didn''t mind Eliza''s behavior that much, it was still troubling as, even when he was with Saht, they rarely spoke. With the addition of Emilia, Linnaeus knew things were going to become lively in the future. It was impossible to know if this was a good or a bad thing but, as conflict and drama were something any Party would face, he needed to be mentally prepared to deal with it. Truth be told, Linnaeus still didn''t trust Eliza and, while he allowed her to get away with invading his personal space, this was primarily due to the fact that she was much stronger than him. Since she also supported his position as Party Leader, he needed to be more tolerant of her actions. Eliza was extremely important for his future plans and, with her connection to his sister, Linnaeus was unable to easily distance himself from her. If she began to scheme and turn against him, the odds of ever finding someone to replace her were negligible at best. Thus, for the time being, he would allow Eliza to dote on him like a little brother as, until he became stronger, he needed the support of those more powerful than himself. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. After reaching a small clearing that was only 500m from the location of his den, Linnaeus took a seat on a moss-covered rock to wait for the others to catch up. He had chosen a route where the chances of encountering an enemy were slim so, after a few minutes, Krone''s figure could be seen tearing his way through a dense shrub. While Eliza and Emilia would cause a few troubles, Linnaeus knew that this mountain of a man would be the most troublesome element in their Party. It was very apparent that Krone didn''t respect him and, if not for the presence of Eliza, there was little he could do to keep the man in line. Despite this, Linnaeus believed that Krone could eventually be won over and, if he managed to win the man''s respect, recruiting new members would be a lot easier. After all, while Eliza would be able to support his position as Party Leader, being a member of the Evendoom family all but guaranteed that people would seek trouble with them in an effort to obtain her. Status and authority were the most powerful control factors in the entire world so, if they had the chance, there would be no end to the number of despotic individuals who would want to bring Eliza to ruin. She may not be an indisputable beauty but, as a daughter of the Evendoom family, she was a trophy that few would be willing to pass up... Upon reaching Linnaeus'' location, Krone just gave him a curt nod before leaning against a tree at the side. Linnaeus returned this nod and, for another minute or so, the two teens waited in silence as Eliza and Emilia caught up with them. Emilia was a little confused after reaching the clearing but, knowing what Linnaeus had in mind, Eliza moved to sit on the same moss-covered stone. This was an action that emphasized her support and, while Emilia was originally intending to speak out, she ultimately decided to hold her tongue. Using the calm and confident tone he believed was necessary for a Party Leader, Linnaeus looked between Krone and Emilia as he explained, "I may be lacking in experience but I have learned a lot from my short time climbing the Tower. I have seen powerful people put themselves into situations that could easily lead to their deaths for no better reason than their own arrogance. Until we reach a point where we can call ourselves the strongest, we should never underestimate the ingenuity and persistence of our opponents..." Seeing that everyone was listening quietly, Linnaeus gave another small nod before adding, "I know how far some people will go when it comes to casing a potential target. With this in mind, I refuse to tolerate complacency when it comes to securing our place of rest. For the rest of the afternoon, I will be teaching you how to case an area and set basic traps before we return to our den. Unless you are forced to retreat during an emergency, you should never, under any circumstances, simply return to your place of rest without checking the area..." While Krone and Emilia may have offered a few words of dissent under normal circumstances, they were well aware of the fact that Linnaeus had tracked them both without their notice. Just imagining a person knowing what they were doing for more than a month was an unnerving thought so, while he may be an exception to the rule, they could not refute that others may put in just as much effort. After showing the duo a map of the area, this one drawn by Eliza, Linnaeus led the group around the periphery of the den in a slow and methodical manner. Fortunately, as a Huntress, Emilia was better at setting and disarming traps than Linnaeus so, while he had a lot to teach her about casing an area, she was able to correct some of his mistakes along the way. At first, Emilia was afraid to speak out but Linnaeus quickly put an end to this, stating how senseless it was to remain silent if you knew someone else was making a mistake. He did not pretend to be a perfect Party Leader and, so long as she did not countermand his orders, he encouraged both her and Krone to express their opinions. Krone''s reaction to this was to simply cross his arms but, as if she had been given free rein, Emilia began asking a ton of questions and, whenever she felt he was doing something wrong, she would not hesitate to correct him. Since Linnaeus was always eager to better himself, he listened closely to everything Emilia said, just as he had done when Eliza and Ryuuna were teaching him new things. As a result of exchanging guidance and pointers along the way, it was late afternoon by the time the Party finally reached the den. Before entering, however, Linnaeus showed them all the entry points and how to determine whether or not someone had entered while they were aways. This ended up being a pertinent lesson as, while they were away, a six-meter long snake-like monster had made the den it''s home. After dealing with the intruder, the group finally made their way inside the den which, since the time Eliza moved in, had become more spacious. There were now three main chambers, one for storage and two for resting. Linnaeus had hollowed out an area prior to recruiting Eliza and, while she didn''t use it the previous night, he intended to have her and Emilia share the chamber in the interim. Due to his size, Krone wasn''t able to move comfortably within the tunnels leading into the den but he never complained. Instead, once everyone was getting settled in, he began preparing food for the entire group after Linnaeus showed him the make-shift stove he had painstakingly developed over his month of isolation. With LV28 [Cooking], Krone was inarguably the best chef amongst the group and, with Linnaeus and Eliza providing extra ingredients, such as salt, honey, and some herbal spices, he was able to whip up a surprisingly delicious meal. While it wasn''t even close to the best thing Eliza had ever eaten, it was a blessing to be able to eat such high-quality food in a small den underground. Linnaeus was also grateful for the meal but, more than anyone else, Emilia was the most enthused about having something palatable to devour. She ended up eating more than the three of them combined and, if not for providing the meat and helping to season it, this would have caused more than a few issues. It wasn''t until after Emilia devoured nearly her body weight in meat that Eliza cleared up Linnaeus'' confusion by explaining the quirks of the Vanargandr tribe. If not for the low light of the den, she would have been able to see him pale slightly but, after learning she didn''t actually need to eat as much as she did, he was able to relax a bit. Still, he would need to take Emilia''s appetite into account in the future as, while supplies were plentiful on this floor, they may enter a wasteland without any resources on higher floors... 49 Capabilities While Status was extremely important, it wasn''t the deciding factor when it came to obtaining victory or suffering defeat. This was something Linnaeus had learned long ago and, if simply having higher attributes guaranteed victory, he would have died when he turned ten years old. More than raw attributes, it was knowledge, experience, and willpower that ultimately determined whether or not a person could break through their limits and secure victory. So long as you had a proper understanding of your capabilities, those of your opponent, and the resolve to do whatever it took to overcome adversity, there was nothing that could stand in your way. With this in mind, Linnaeus decided that the first thing his nascent Party would do was familiarize themselves with each other''s capabilities. He needed to know what every member of the Pary was capable of as, when it came to proper decision making, this could be the difference between life and death for the entire team. After a relatively tense night, Linnaeus showed the group to a plateau a few kilometers away from the den as they already had plenty of supplies stocked up for a few days. Upon reaching their destination, Linnaeus turned to the group and explained, "In order to increase our chances of reaching the top of the Crucible, I''ll need to understand just where each of us stands. For the time being, it seems like it is impossible to increase our base Level so we''ll need to exercise proper judgment if we want to avoid losing our lives a second time." Krone immediately frowned when he heard Linnaeus'' words, crossing his arms as he asked, "So you want us to reveal all our secrets and techniques to each other...?" Hearing the hostile undertones in Krone''s voice, Linnaeus gave him a deadpan stare as he plainly stated, "We will be fighting to protect each other''s lives from this moment onward. What sense is there in keeping secrets when we''re supposed to trust our backs to each other? Sharing knowledge amongst ourselves will increase the overall capabilities of the entire Party. Tell me, Krone, what sense is there in being secretive when we''ve all already died once...?" Before Krone could think of a retort, Eliza nodded her head, adopting a far icier expression as she added in a cold tone, "Lin is right. We have already lost everything once. From the perspective of the rest of the world, we no longer even exist. By the time we reach the top of the Crucible, who knows what kind of challenges we''ll have faced? The time for keeping secrets ended when we died the first time. If you keep thinking like you have something to lose after you''ve already died, you are just a liability to those of us who seek to make the most of the present." While Krone could refute Linnaeus'' words, he was predisposed to obey Eliza''s so, after hearing what she said, he ultimately chose to remain silent. As for Emilia, she hailed from a tribe that freely shared everything from food to knowledge so she didn''t even question the veracity of Linnaeus'' words. Without further argument, Linnaeus set the example by demonstrating his Blessing and explaining his fighting style. He showed them that he could create both static and dynamic barriers and, much like how he had been open to Emilia''s input the prior day, he asked them to be frank if they thought there were any ways in which he could improve. Emilia wasn''t shy when it came to stating her opinion so she immediately asked, "Do you think you could make something like a mechanical crossbow or a pile bunker? Your barriers work a lot like an ability I''m familiar with called [Hardlight Projection]. The person I knew was able to make things like traps and other complex objects to make hunting a lot easier." Linnaeus knew it wouldn''t be impossible for him to do what Emilia hinted at but, as complex shapes took up a considerable amount of SP, he knew it would take him a long time to reach that point. He also had no idea how crossbows and pile-bunkers were structured and, as Emilia had no idea how they worked, he could only shelve the matter until later. Fortunately, while Emilia''s complex idea was beyond him, Eliza brought Linnaeus to a stunned silence by asking, "How small can you make your barriers? If you can make them small and dense, couldn''t you use them like projectiles by just placing them in the trajectory of your opponent? Even if that doesn''t work, you could always make a very thin and sharp barrier like a platform, exploiting your opponent''s speed against them. Unless they are able to change direction very quickly, it would be like running directly into a sword or spear, right?" Since he often used his [Barrier] to make daggers and pointed rods for stabbing, Linnaeus knew that Eliza''s suggestion was more than possible. In fact, he had experimented with something similar in the past and, though it took a lot of mental focus, he could even make barriers as small as a grain of sand. These were very fragile but, if used properly, he could easily blind his opponent if they weren''t paying close attention. After deciding to practice making static hazards in the future, Linnaeus moved to the side so that Emilia could demonstrate her abilities next. She was very excited after seeing his display so, without any hesitation at all, she began performing a rather strange martial art that often required her to crouch down on all fours. As could be seen from their initial encounter, Emilia specialized in using a spear and, while she did not have the [Throwing] Skill, she could easily pin a target from several tens of meters with very high accuracy. Linnaeus felt it was strange that more people didn''t have the [Throwing] Skill but, after a bit of discussion, he learned that most Skills were obtained because the person was intent on trying to develop them, not by accident. While Emilia''s skill with the spear was impressive, especially with her incredible Agility, it was the versatility of her Blessing that caused Linnaeus to turn contemplative. Rather than simply produce water, Emilia was able to change the state of water into four different states, albeit with the final state being beyond her current capabilities. This meant she could turn the water flowing around her spear into steam or ice in an instant, creating small explosions that could easily burn skin or instantaneously freezing parts of her opponent and drastically decreasing their mobility. What was truly terrifying about Emilia''s Blessing was that she could manipulate external water as well, so long as it was natural. This allowed her to swing her spear around, gathering water from the air and, while it cost a considerable amount of SP to do so, she could even influence the water that comprised the majority of a person''s body. Though this only allowed her to momentarily stun an opponent, it was an incredible ability that had infinite potential so long as her SP reserves held out. The only thing that prevented Emilia''s Blessing from being peerless was the fact that she had to directly stab her spear into her opponent to manipulate their internal water and, depending on their Wisdom and Spirit, people could resist her attempts to restrain them. This exponentially increased the amount of SP required to immobilize them but, just knowing she could stun them temporarily was a tremendous boon... After finishing her demonstration, Emilia followed Linnaeus'' example, smiling radiantly as she asked, "So, any advice? Come on, don''t be shy. Even if you''re harsh, I can take it~!" Since he had been somewhat focused on how to use his own Blessing, Linnaeus was momentary at a loss as to how to answer Emilia''s question but, without missing a beat, Eliza stated, "Rather than just focus water around your spear, you should learn how to gather it around your target directly. Even if it is a strong monster, they would struggle to fight at their full potential if you could wrap a bubble of water around their head. Since you can change the temperature, you could always boil them alive or try and suffocate them outright. You could also send your water inside their body and, instead of manipulating the minute amount in their cells, you can just make your own explode into a burst of steam after they inhale it." Though Eliza gave the impression of a shy and demure woman, Linnaeus was quickly learning that she wasn''t the defenseless and lonely girl he originally thought her to be. In fact, now that she was no longer alone, she seemed to become increasingly confident and, as a result of her education and the rather ruthless political climate between the Eight Families, she was no ignorant when it came to violence. Despite being somewhat unnerved by Eliza''s ''decisive'' mentality, Linnaeus'' expression was placid and calm. He might not be as creative as she was but, after killing over a thousand people alongside Saht, there wasn''t much that could actually shake him. This was not the case for Emilia and Krone, however, as they had both paled slightly after hearing how nonchalantly the Evendoom princess talked about exploding a person from the inside. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Having already decided to live how she wanted this time around, Eliza didn''t try to put up a pretense and, while it did make her a little anxious to see the judgment in Emilia''s and Krone''s gazes, she was content with the fact that Linnaeus seemed unperturbed. Rather, instead of showing fear, he had a thoughtful look in his eyes, almost as if was thinking about other ways in which Emilia could use her Blessing to devastating effect... With Emilia having a few ideas about how she could improve, Krone was the next to demonstrate his capabilities. He started off by crouching low to the stone and, after a few seconds passed, his entire body had taken on the appearance of smooth granite. This actually increased some of his attributes while, as could be expected, others were reduced slightly. Due to absorbing the traits of granite, Krone''s Strength and Constitution had gone up by eight and eleven points respectively. In exchange, his Agility decreased by a whopping twenty points, making him even slower than usual. To compensate for his reduced Agility, Krone did something that had caught Linnaeus by surprise as, after closing his eyes for nearly a full minute, parts of Krone''s body began to turn translucent. When he opened his eyes, his Agility had increased considerably and, after throwing a few punches, it was clear what trait he had absorbed by the wind pressure kicked up by his strikes. Just as he could change his body into an element like water, Krone could adapt the traits of wind to significantly reduce his weight and increase his Agility. Though this reduced his Constitution by a great deal, he could project the wind compressed wind in his body outward, creating a strong gust that had enough force to knock people backward. Unable to restrain his curiosity, Linnaeus asked, "Can you turn your entire body into wind...?" If that was the case, he couldn''t see how Krone would ever be able to lose a fight. Hearing Linnaeus'' question, Krone snorted through his nose before answering, "Turning into a pure element takes a lot of time and focus. If I change completely, even thinking becomes difficult and, if I''m not careful, my body will just spread outward instead of sticking together. When my body begins to dissipate, my Health drops rapidly. Past users who tried to overcome this restriction usually ended up losing their lives..." Linnaeus restrained a sigh when he heard Krone''s explanation but, if his Blessing really had no limits, there really would be no way of stopping him. After all, how would you be able to fight a living mass of air that could infinitely just pull itself back together? What was to stop Krone from just ripping the body of a person apart after they breathed him in? Fortunately, even if his body turned completely invisible, Krone still had to keep his form as he would quickly lose Health by trying to change shape. It also caused him an extreme amount of pain, despite him having no observable nerves and a seemingly intangible form. This was one of the reasons why he had LV54 [Pain Tolerance] as, if he was caught up in a strong current or pulled along by powerful winds, it would feel like he was constantly being torn apart. Krone had been hesitant to reveal this fact but, after building up a fair amount of tension due to his past actions, he wanted to even things out by essentially revealing his biggest weakness. He didn''t want Linnaeus thinking that he was some amorphous entity that could squeeze through gaps and perform impossible feats so, in order to prevent future misunderstands, he decided to be a make it very clear that he wasn''t without limitations. Linneaus knew Krone was trying to earn some good faith so, while he didn''t even remotely humor the idea that the man had turned over a new leaf, he still respected his willingness to reveal such an important detail. Though there was a chance he was embellishing the facts, it would be too easy to ascertain whether or not he was lying the first time they encountered a strong enemy. Since Eliza''s Blessing was essentially the ultimate counter to his, it would be very foolish of him to try and pull anything at this stage. Just as before, everyone tried giving Krone advice on how he could better use his Blessing before, completing the set, Eliza gave a demonstration of her own capabilities. This included reducing the weight of everyone present, allowing them to leap high into the sky with considerable ease, and using her [Crush] Magic to completely flatten a few large boulders. Though some of them had been able to hold up relatively well against the increased gravitational forces, Eliza had a way to make the field rapidly change in intensity, essentially vibrating an object apart in an extremely violent and destructive manner... As could be expected, Eliza was inarguably the strongest person in their Party. 50 Familiarization While having a basic grasp of each other''s abilities was important, it could never make up for actual experience. Knowing this, Linnaeus came up with a variety of different formations and discussed the various ways in which they could deal with different types of enemies. Eliza''s [Gravity Rule] was one of their most powerful assets but, as it required her to be stationary and could easily damage allies just as easily as enemies, it was necessary to come up with measures that covered for this weakness. They also couldn''t just have her use [Crush] on every enemy they came across as, while this was certainly an option in many situations, it would heavily restrict the potential growth of everyone else in the Party. Fortunately, while they lacked the utility of a true Support class, Linnaeus'' and Emilia''s Blessings were extremely versatile. So long as he had the SP, Linnaeus could mitigate damage almost completely, not just for himself, but everyone in the Party. As for Emilia, she could disorient enemies and make it extremely difficult for them to fight back by obscuring their vision and blocking their airway, giving them an advantage against all by the fastest and most powerful foes. The only restrictive factor behind using their Blessings to great effect was, as was often the case, the limited SP a person had access to. Though this became less of an issue at higher levels, especially if you could get access to powerful equipment, it was going to be a big issue in a world where they were unable to increase their Level. This was where Linnaeus'' previous mistake actually became a boon as, while his Health was almost comically low, his SP reserves and SP Regeneration were bordering on the extreme for his Level. It wasn''t a match for Eliza''s but, considering she was fifteen Levels higher than him, that was to be expected. So long as he was careful, Linnaeus could regenerate upwards of 220SP per minute, effectively allowing him to upkeep his [Barrier Aura] on their entire Party at all times. This allowed them to tide through most environmental hazards and made exposure a non-factor. At the same time, he was still able to develop his [Barrier] and [Barrier Aura] further so, while his Level would stagnate, he was able to continually strengthen his foundation without any discernible limits. This wasn''t something that was exclusive to Linnaeus either so, while their ultimate goal was to reach the top of the Crucible of Souls, he discussed the topic of Skill, Ability, and Magic training as part of their familiarization with each other. Since they knew the requirements for certain Skills, they could help each other further strengthen their foundation and, by the time the returned to the Tower, their growth compared to their peers would potentially put them far ahead of the curve. While Eliza and Krone didn''t benefit nearly as much from this, as they had already graduated from Fledgling status, Linnaeus and Emilia had a chance of earning various rewards if they were thrown back into the earlier Floors. Other Fledglings would be hard-pressed to compete against them and, while this would require them to split up, it was possible for their Party to regroup on the tenth and twentieth Floors. Krone didn''t particularly show any interest in returning to the Tower but, with his arms crossed and a solemn expression, he stated he would help them leave. He personally felt that the Crucible of Souls was his just punishment and, even if he managed to earn the right to return, there didn''t seem to be much of a reason to. By reaching the top of the Crucible of Souls, they would have had to overcome various challenges and, while he may not be the strongest, his position would be near the top of other wayward Souls. Since returning to the Tower only meant a return to an endless struggle, he would rather repent in the Crucible of Souls until he felt absolved from his past sins. In his opinion, it was better to be one of the strongest people in the Crucible than one of the weak struggling in an uphill battle against those who had already lived for hundreds of years. Linnaeus couldn''t really argue with this logic as, prior to entering the Tower, he would have been content just to have enough power to protect himself in the outside. There didn''t seem to be any limit to how strong people could become inside the Tower so, even if his foundation allowed him to compete against his peers, those that had ventured forward ahead of him would force him into a difficult position. Despite this, he wasn''t even remotely deterred as, after learning that his sister was already inside the Tower, Linnaeus was determined to reunite with her and Saht. He would protect them both until they reached a point where they were either satisfied with their progress or, much like Rebecca, they were ready to leave the Tower. Then, they could build a life together and, with the power they gained for themselves, live relatively free of worries... --- To prepare for their battle against one of the Kings, Linnaeus'' Party spent the better part of a week hunting around the den to develop their coordination and stockpile a sizeable amount of supplies. For all they knew, the next Floor would be a desolate wasteland so, in order to avoid having to go without food, they had been salting and drying meat in bulk. This was to conserve SP as it was much cheaper to keep preserved goods than use additional SP to preserve them yourself. This week of training was also an opportunity for them to grow a little closer with each other and, while there were still a number of issues, predominately related to Krone, a status quo had been established within the Party after a few days. It was a little awkward, as Eliza and Emilia were far more friendly with him than they were with Krone but, as the man often kept to himself and focused on his own duties, this was just a matter of course. Linnaeus wasn''t the most personable individual but, with Eliza and Emilia having strong personalities, he was basically forced to socialize with them. Since this was a way of building rapport with his Party, he did his best to answer most of their curiosities and, while he avoided asking about anything that could be considered sensitive information, he had come to learn more about them as well. Emilia was actually the granddaughter of her tribe''s Matriarch so, while she was determined to climb the Tower, she didn''t have much of an interest in trying to reach the top. Rather, enter the Tower was more of a right of passage for the Vanargandr than anything else and, after exiting, they would then be tasked with tracking down and establishing their own tribe. This was made possible due to the fact that, when you left the Tower, you apparently appeared in the same location as when you first entered. At this point, Emilia''s tribe had been venturing into the endless expanse of wilderness for countless generations so, while they could still see the Tower in the distance, a testament to its size, it wasn''t something they could ever reach the base of in a single lifetime. Thus, upon exiting the Tower, they would be thrown back out into the wilderness and, while encountering others was rare, it wasn''t impossible to find other tribes. By entering the Tower and successfully exiting, Emilia would be considered for an Elder Huntress position that could easily see her become the Matriarch of her own tribe in the future. She only had to find another tribe of Vanargandr and, by presenting her Status, the Matriarch of that tribe would usually gift her with a few capable Huntresses and a number of suitable males to produce children with. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Vahn found the social dynamic of the Vanargandr a little strange but, as it was just one of thousands of unique cultures, he didn''t have much to say about it. The only thing that mattered was that Emilia was a capable Huntress and, with her Agility and enhanced senses, she had already replaced him as the Party''s Scout. It turned out that, while she wasn''t fond of fighting at the frontlines, Emilia took great pride in her tracking abilities and, after coming to trust Linnaeus, she no longer believed he would just send her into a dangerous situation. He was the type that seriously considered his next course of action and, if it came down to it, he would expose himself to danger before requiring others to do the same. This had earned him Emilia''s respect and, with Eliza and Krone often giving her the cold shoulder, he was the only person she could really talk to when she was bored or lonely. Emilia ended up being quite the chatterbox when she wasn''t hunting so, with his propensity to listen to what others had to say, Linnaeus often found himself at the mercy of her pestering. This was more than a little troublesome, as he didn''t really know how to socialize with others that well, but Emilia didn''t seem to mind his awkwardness as she was perfectly content with doing most of the talking. The only real problem with Emilia''s chattery nature was that Eliza often grew annoyed with her when they had first started living together. She didn''t like to be interrupted and, as Krone wasn''t really the best company, having Emilia monopolize the only other interesting person to talk to had caused her to chide the young Vanargandr on several occasions. Fortunately, while this was something that Linnaeus had expected to evolve into serious issues later down the line, Emilia was surprisingly obedient when it came to Eliza. Since she was used to a power structure where the strongest female told the others what to do, she was predisposed to obey Eliza''s words so long as it didn''t force her into a compromising position. Eliza was bothered by this behavior, as she was trying to prop up Linnaeus as the Party Leader, but she quickly learned that Emilia wasn''t going to change any time soon. Instead, she used this to her advantage and, whenever she wanted to talk with Linnaeus, she only had to send Emilia on an errand or ask that she remain silent so that she could speak. While this led to a few tense moments, at least for Linnaeus, things had reached a peculiar equilibrium by the time a week had passed. When she first began taking advantage of Emilia''s nature, Eliza hadn''t really minded it too much but, after seeing how Linnaeus reacted, she began to mellow out. Now, though she would often enter the conversation to give her own input, she didn''t outright tell Emilia to remain silent. This led to the two girls interacting with each other more often and, as he didn''t really have much to contribute to the conversation, this made things a lot easier for Linnaeus. At this point, the only contentious factor in the Party was Krone but, as he still followed orders, it was not something that needed to be directly addressed. Rather, as they continued to work together, it felt like Krone was slowly beginning to trust in his decisions as Party Leader. Krone''s subtle changes made Linnaeus feel as though things were going well and, though he never dropped his guard around the man, it no longer felt like Krone was looking for an opportunity to dispose of him. While this could just be his way of luring him into a false sense of security, the fact that Eliza and Emilia were far more likely to side with him meant that Krone didn''t have much leeway to sow discord within the Party. Thus, after a week had passed, Linnaeus felt that the Party was ready for its first real challenge...slaying a Territorial King. 51 Momentum Though there were easier targets among the various Territorial Kings, Linnaeus had decided to kill the closest thing to a Dragon that he could find. Part of him still recalled the moment when he was helpless to act immediately after entering the Seventh Floor so, in order to overcome this trauma, he was determined to strike down the closest thing to his mental demon as possible. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Crouching on the edge of a rocky outcrop, Linnaeus stared at the entrance of a cavern that glowed with an eerie green light from its interior. There were the bones of various other monsters in the area as, when fighting amongst themselves, actual corpses were left behind. With a thoughtful yet focused gaze, Linnaeus continued to observe the entrance to the cavern as he reiterated his plan, stating, "The safest spot to attack from will be the flanks. You''ll have to watch out for its tail, though, as I''ve seen it smash through trees as if they were twigs. Even this is better than trying to face it directly, however. It can spew out a phosphorescent chemical that can burn through the scales of other Territorial Kings...I''m confident my [Barrier Aura] can protect against it, but try to avoid getting hit directly..." Linnaeus turned his attention toward Krone when he spoke the final few words, earning a curt nod from the man who, upon learning what they would be facing, turned stoic and silent. He had a very determined look on his face and, rather than show any signs of fear, there was an expectant light flickering across his silvery irises. As they had already discussed the plan several times, Linnaeus didn''t want to stress on the details too much as it would only unnerve everyone. Instead, he did his best to appear confident, pulling out shortsword and dagger as he said, "Let''s do this...no mistakes..." Without waiting for a response, Linnaeus slid down the rocky slope before making his way toward the cavern''s entrance, his [Stealth] active. At the same time, Emilia moved along the periphery, her ultimate goal the area just above the cavern''s entrance. Her task would be blinding the Territorial King by coating its head in a veil of water. If she had the opportunity, she would then use her spear to try and stab any fleshy areas while Linnaeus, using his small stature and nimbleness, would try to sever the monster''s tendons to reduce its mobility. Though they hadn''t really practiced the execution of their plan, the average monster relied mostly on instinct when fighting. This made it easier to draw their attention and lure them into traps, a fact Linnaeus intended to take advantage of as, after reaching the entrance of the cavern, he dropped his [Stealth] and released his killing intent to the fullest. Almost immediately after an invisible ripple spread from his body, Linnaeus'' hair was kicked up as a foul smell aroma impacted against him, accompanied by a shockwave and a fierce roar. It actually had enough force to knock him back a few centimeters, the hair on his arms and neck standing on end as a result. Despite his own [Danger Sense] screaming at him to flee, Linnaeus expression hardened as he bent his knees slightly, distributing his balance between both feet. At the same time, the ground around him had already begun to rumble and, like a flash flood tearing apart the landscape, a large dragon-like creature with green scales and three layers of ridges running along its backside came sprinting toward him, it''s massive maw opening to reveal a dense line of teeth. Rather than evade outright, Linnaeus created a barrier in the shape of a diamond prism with two fine points on both ends. He placed it right in the path of the King''s opened mouth, anchoring it with the use of 500SP to ensure it had an adequate amount of durability. To Linnaeus'' surprise, the Territorial King didn''t seem to notice the existence of his barrier. Instead, it continued moving with incredible momentum toward Linnaeus, the barrier piercing into the back of its mouth with surprising ease. It was unable to change course fast enough and, as a result, Linnaeus watched in awe as his barrier pierced through the back of the monster''s head before it crashed to the ground a few moments later, completely lifeless... Without years of practice controlling his facial expression, Linnaeus was certain he would have looked like a fool right now. Fortunately, there were certain benefits to growing up in the slums so, while others may have stood with their mouth agape, he had a calm expression that bordered on apathy. As if to build up the illusion even further, Linnaeus dropped his combat stance before placing away his weapons and remarking, "It seems my Blessing is more suited to combat than I anticipated..." in a dismissive tone of voice. In response to his remark, Emilia jumped down from her perch, laughing all the while as she made her way over to his side. She gave him an approving pat on the back as she exclaimed, "You''re a real beast, Lin! To think, I was actually nervous just a few moments ago, ahahahahaha~!" With his [Barrier Aura] active, Emilia''s strike against his back only caused a few pulses across his body without knocking him off balance. This allowed Linnaeus to easily stay upright, despite the fact she had put a bit of force into the congratulatory gesture. After shrugging his shoulders in a dismissive manner, Linnaeus made his way over to the spoils as Krone and Eliza made their way over. The former had a stern and hard to read expression on his face while Eliza had a cheerful smile as she skipped over to his side and said, "That was awesome, Lin! You really showed that so-called King what for~!" Linnaeus gave a small smile in response to Eliza''s praise before handing her a few neat pieces of hide, saying, "We can probably make this into protective gear. Do you want me to preserve some of the organs it dropped? If I remember correctly, some of them should be useful in the production of medicines..." Eliza bobbed her head in response, pointing toward what looked like a gallbladder as she said, "I''ll need to conduct some tests but it should be possible to make a medicine to reduce pain and treat internal hemorrhages with its gallbladder. It is hard to be certain but I''ll be able to figure it out after taking a few samples." As internal bleeding was a serious status effect, it was always helpful to have a medicine that could help alleviate it. They already had a few medicines with hemostatic properties so having the option of treating both would be very useful. After all, other than cleaning wounds, Emilia''s Blessing was not currently suitable for healing injuries. There was a chance she would reach that point after obtaining Level 100, as Blessing underwent an evolution of sorts at that point, but that was currently a very distant goal... After gathering all the drop items and distributing them between his and Eliza''s Inventory, Linnaeus turned to face his Party as he said, "My Blessing seems to be effective against monsters with a large size and soft internals. Making use of a choke point and sending monsters into a frenzy will be one of our strategies in the future. For now, we''ll migrate to the territory of another King in order to build up more experience as a Party. Until I get a proper grasp of the timing, this should be considered a fluke, not an indicator of actual skill." Rather than refute his words, Eliza gave an affirmative nod, adding, "It is good that you aren''t letting a single instance of success go to your head. I''ve seen a lot of people get cocky after taking down a few stupid monsters. The real test will be against monsters with intelligence. You''ll also have to adapt your Blessing so that it is useful against other people. Against someone that doesn''t move around a lot, you won''t be able to use their own speed and momentum against them." Eliza had been the one to originally suggest using his barriers as anchored projectiles so Linnaeus was very attentive to her input. He nodded his head in understanding when she had finished, saying, "I will continue to improve. Thank you for your guidance..." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Eliza smiled her head approvingly before startling him with a sudden hug. This caused Linnaeus to tense up like a statue, resulting in Eliza laughing as she released him and said, "You work hard so it is only a matter of time until you become truly strong. Until then, I''m happy to help as much as I can." Linnaeus was at a loss as to how he should respond so, after a momentary pause, he just gave a small nod before uttering a subdued, "Thanks..." He really didn''t know how to deal with someone like Eliza as she seemed determined to break down his mental defenses. This actually made him feel even more suspicious of her but, as she could easily kill him just by bringing her hands together, it was difficult to rationalize what her actual aim might be... So as not to force Linnaeus into a more difficult position, Eliza gave him a bit of space before saying, "Well, you heard our Party Leader. We''ll be moving on to the next area so the two of you should get ready. Linnaeus and I can''t be the ones killing all the monsters so you''ll have to show a bit of spirit in the next battle." While Krone was just standing in silence, Emilia pumped up her fist in response to Eliza''s words, an excited smile on her face as she shouted, "Yosh! Leave it to me! Just you wait and see, Liz. I''ll ride on the back of a King and suffocate it with my water, ahahahahaha~" Hearing Emilia call her ''Liz'', Eliza gave her a sidelong glare before ultimately letting the address pass. Since she already allowed the three of them to call her by Eliza, which was short for Elizabeth, it was a little annoying to hear someone come up with a pet name for her. However, as it was pretty close to Lin, she didn''t mind it as much as she otherwise would have... After calming himself adequately, Linnaeus sent Emilia ahead to scout, allowing her to lead the way as he taught Krone and Eliza how to properly track a person. This helped him to focus his own mind and, as it was a very useful skill that everyone could benefit from, he was hoping to at least get them to the point where they didn''t make a ton of noise while traveling. Proper tracking also included making yourself harder to track so, as they became more adept at following the trail left behind by Emilia, they were slowly becoming better at moving through the forest. This had the effect of increasing their speed through the underbrush as well so, while they still had a long way to go, Eliza and Krone were learning to traverse the forest much faster than a week prior. With this enhanced speed, it only took them around twenty minutes to reach the territorial line of the next King. There, Emilia was already waiting for them, a strip of dried jerky in her hand that she was able to easily tear through with her pearly white teeth. It actually amazed Linnaeus to see how easily she tore through the tough meat as, without wetting and chewing on it excessively, it was hard for himself and the others to ingest. Once the Party had regrouped, Emilia took it upon herself to say, "This is that big horse monster with the two horns, right? I want to try and fight this one on my own...is that okay, Lin?" As his own enemy had gone down a lot easier than expected, Linnaeus felt that it wasn''t wrong for Emilia to be a little hyped up for her own battle. However, he didn''t outright agree, saying, "I''ll allow it, so long as you still make use of my [Barrier Aura]. Though it wouldn''t be good to become reliant on it, you should still get used to exploiting it to your advantage when the situation allows." With a confident smile on her face, Emilia thumped her own chest, sending a blue rippled across her body as she exclaimed, "Sure thing! Yosh, I''m getting super excited now...!" 52 Huntress With everyone else in position, Emilia skulked along the edge of a large clearing that ran adjacent to a gently flowing creek. There was an area on the far end where large brush could be seen amidst the remnants of several brutalized trees. Having spent most of her life hunting, Emilia moved silently through the area, her ears periodically flickering in accordance with sounds only she was able to hear. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. From his perch in the distance, Linnaeus had a thoughtful expression on his face as he watched his new companion demonstrate her skills. She had a bad habit of ignoring her back whenever she was tracking down prey but, over the last week, she had made considerable improvements... Just as he was wondering when the target would appear, there was a sudden cracking down that echoed through the woods. Emilia used this as an opportunity to increase her speed, bounding up a tree with extremely deft movements before finding a perch of her own to observe. From within the area of heavy brush, a horse-like monster standing at over three meters in height emerged. It had bronzed fur covering much of its body but, on its legs, back, neck, and the crown of its head, a dense layer of pale-gold scales could be seen. However, even these didn''t stand out as much as the set of ivory white horns running vertically alongside each other atop its head. While this particular Territorial King was much smaller than some, this actually allowed it to move far faster than its competition. Using their own size against them, it would bury the meter long horns in their exposed flanks and side, disabling them with a powerful paralytic poison that allowed them to turn their victims into a veritable pin cushion... As if she had become one with her surroundings, Emilia became so still that her presence, even while being observed from the distance, seemed to fade away. This was of particular interest to Linnaeus as it was rare to have the opportunity to experience how a Skill like [Presence Concealment] worked from the perspective of a direct observer. It gave him several ideas about how he could use his own but, as now wasn''t the time for such wayward thoughts, he forced himself to stay focused. Emilia was actually very nervous about facing a Territorial King on her own. Even when she was in the outside world, she always hunted int a pack so it always felt awkward to be alone. Still, in spite of the incongruous feelings that made her gut flitter about, her eyes were crystal clear as she watched her prey move steadily closer to her position. With heavy footsteps, each leaving tracks several centimeters deep, the horse-like monster moved ever closer toward where it had sensed an enemy. Its body was taut with powerful muscles and, the moment it was able to identify a target, it would explode into an expression of pure violence in its attempt to overwhelm its foe. In order to take advantage of this cautious and intense state, Emilia did her best to remained as still as possible while manifesting an orb of water several meters behind her quarry. She, like everyone else, had an effective range of 50m at her current level so it wasn''t difficult for manifest an orb a few tens of meters away. Though it didn''t sense the formation of the water sphere, the monster heard Emilia manipulate it to move through the underbrush. It quickly turned around, kicking its legs out to arrest the momentum of its turn before digging hard into the moist soil and accelerating at an extreme speed toward the direction of the now non-existent water sphere. Emilia was actually a little surprised by the spontaneous acceleration of the monster but, more than that, its ability to thrash around and use its horns as sabers unnerved her. She had originally planned to strike it from the flank with her spear but, seeing how quick it could twist around, the best course of action was to kite it around, using the terrain to her advantage to tire it out. After waiting for the monster''s thrashing to cease, Emilia immediately formed a second sphere, this time forcing it to snake up and around the monster''s leg. This caused it to freak out and, as could be expected, it began to thrash around, kicking its limbs to try and dislodge the thin film of liquid, even though it was currently harmless. It actually took a considerable amount of focus to make sure her water clung to a target so Emilia was forced to remain on her perch throughout the process. It wasn''t until the monster began to slow down, its ribs expanding and contracting a considerable amount, that she finally decided to make her move. Using one of the five spears she kept on her, Emilia arched her body like a bow as she leaped from her perch. Then, at the very peak of her jump, she snapped her body forward, her spear following the arc of her right arm before piercing through the sky, its target the base of the monster''s neck. Though she lacked the [Stealth] Ability, [Presence Concealment] could function in a similar manner if you were skilled enough. Since the monster was currently using its horn to try and scrape away the persistent coating of water, it only reacted at the very last moment to try and evade the momentous projectile. Unfortunately, as its reaction was to thrash about in an attempt to knock the projectile from the air, the monster ended up taking the spear directly to its throat. This wasn''t enough to kill it, as it had only penetrated a few centimeters due to Emilia''s lacking Strength, but it still inflicted the Bleeding status effect. Before the monster could gain its bearings and charge at her, Emilia rolled along the ground before bouncing back to her feet. She stayed low to the ground, making use of her own Agility to move at an angle that would be impossible for most. Even Linnaeus felt that he would fall on his face if he tried to emulate her form, especially with Emilia angling her spear backward to offset her balance... Realizing it had been lured into a trap, the horse-like monster released a feral neighing sound as it attempted to intercept Emilia, its own head bucking from side-to-side when it neared her location. Having already observed it previously, Emilia knew better than to let the monster get too close to her so, just as it began to charge, she immediately swept her spear while twisting her body in the complete opposite direction. This put a lot of strain on the joints in her knees and hips but, as it was better than being skewered by a raging monster, she grit her teeth in a determined manner as she evaded the ferocious charge with room to spare. To its credit, the monster almost immediately realized its prey had changed direction but, like most quadrupedal creatures, it could not so easily arrest its own momentum. It could use its front legs as a pivot to try and buck its body but, the moment it tried, Emilia''s eyes flashed with a vicious light. As soon as the horse-like monster attempted to change direction, the joint of its left knee was frozen solid by the water that had soaked into its fur. This wouldn''t have mattered in most situations, as a thin layer of ice was meaningless to most monsters, but it was disastrous when something as heavy as the horse-like monster tried to put all its weight on two points. Having lost the articulation of its pivot leg, a loud snapping sound, even louder than the previous tree being broken, resonated through the forest. This was the sound of the monster''s leg breaking in a rather terrifying way, the bone protruding out several centimeters as it crashed to the ground and began to twist and writhe. Understanding how dangerous a monster could be when it was injured, Emilia took no chances. She retreated a safe distance before calming her breathing and forming a large ball of water. She would usually use her spears to skewer the monster from a distance but, remembering the practice she had gone through over the last week, Emilia instead used her Blessing to wrap the monster''s head with her water, obscuring its vision and suffocating the thrashing creature. There were very few intelligent monsters so, the moment it was surrounded in water, the horse-like monstrosity began to thrash even more while making no attempt to hold its breath. This allowed the water produced by Emilia to invade its lungs and, though she had trouble sensing it, the proximity of the larger volume of water allowed her to freeze the entire thing. With its head, the insides of its mouth, its throat, and its lungs suddenly frozen, it wasn''t long before the horse-like monster ceased in its struggles. It would normally be able to last nearly half an hour without any oxygen but, as a result of its thrashing and the cold energies invading its organs, the process had been accelerated considerably. Emilia waited into the horse had disappeared completely to recover her broken spear and the loot items. Since her tribe didn''t believe in killing without purpose, she offered up a small prayer to the deceased, promising to use all of its materials to the fullest. While this might seem senseless from the perspective of others, her tribe could literally eat anything so there was rarely anything left of their prey once it had been processed... In order to let Emilia calm down, it was Linnaeus and co that came to her side. Since he knew it was important to praise people when they had done well, Linnaeus gave an approving nod, saying, "You fought intelligently and used the monster''s own patterns against it. Great job, Emilia..." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Emilia''s ears perked up a bit, even if she didn''t take them to heart. Rather, she was hoping that Eliza would praise her but, rather than meet expectations, the latter only made momentary eye contact before turning her attention to the surroundings. This caused Emilia''s ears to droop pathetically, earning her an awkward smile from Linnaeus as he muttered in a voice that only reached her ears, "I''m certain Eliza is impressed by your performance. We''re still in enemy territory though, so it is better to remain focused instead of make idle banter..." Like the wind changing directions in a storm, Emilia''s mood immediately recovered, indicated by her ears perking up once again as a smile blossomed across her face. She knew Linnaeus'' words weren''t exactly the truth but, as he was the Party Leader that Eliza recognized, it still made her a little happy to have him try to comfort her... In order to loan some truth to his words, Linnaeus quickly worked out how the loot would be split before making the decision to pull back for the day. There was still a bit of light left in the day but, as there was no way of knowing how long the next battle would take, it was best to strike after dawn of the following day. Krone seemed slightly dissatisfied by this arrangement but, as his temperament had improved a little over the last week, he didn''t vocalize his discontent. He knew there was some truth behind Linnaeus'' words so arguing would be a senseless act that earned him the ire of the entire Party. There were no benefits at all so, this time around, he just crossed his arms before ultimately agreeing to return with the rest... 53 Strengthening Bonds To save time on their return to the den, Linnaeus and Emilia had come up with a system to circle the perimeter in opposites directions. They will still have to complete a full circle and, by looking for the subtle signs each left behind, their tracking and attention to detail were steadily trained. Once they had regrouped together with Eliza and Krone, the entire Party returned back to the den to prepare food and discuss their plans. Needless to say, Krone was still in a bit of a dour mood but, once he started cooking, his mood gradually improved. He seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking and, as this was the only time he really interacted with the other members of the Party, his rough exterior would crack slightly. This was largely due to the fact that Emilia was learning to cook from him and, with her Skill already being Level 51, she was a very quick understudy. As for why she helped out, this was to be expected since she ate more than the three of them combined... With Krone''s knowledge and experience, combined with Emilia''s skill, the food they had been eating recently was better than anything Linnaeus had ever eaten. He was actually enjoying their little Party a lot more than he originally expected and, though it was very rare, a genuine smile would creep its way onto his face every now and then. The only one who ever really noticed this was Eliza but, as she had slowly been learning how to not startle him, she had the wherewithal not to point it out. Rather, as the days passed, Linnaeus almost felt like she was training him to be more social and confident around other people... --- Their bellies filled and the light of the den diminishing, Linnaeus, Eliza, Emilia, and Krone gathered in the largest chamber to discuss whether or not they wanted to leave after everyone killed a Territorial King. None of them were really worried about the success of Eliza, as her [Crush] Magic was just unfair in most situations, so Linnaeus had turned to Krone, asking, "How confident are you in defeating one of the Kings...?" A week ago, Krone wouldn''t have been able to answer confidently but, after seeing Linnaeus and Emilia, both around ten Levels lower than him, he had a stern expression as he stated, "I will win. If I can''t even do this much, I will not be able to raise my head in the Party." Seeing the conviction in Krone''s gaze, Linnaeus gave an understanding nod, saying, "I''m confident you will be able to emerge victoriously, even without my Blessing. With it, I can''t imagine too many monsters on this Floor being able to get an advantage against you." Though he crossed his arms after hearing what Linnaeus said, Krone didn''t refute his words. He had learned over the last week that the compatibility between their Blessings was high. Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura] made it a lot easier to activate his own Blessing and, even when he became immaterial, it was still able to protect him somehow. Eliza never liked the way Krone behaved around Linnaeus but, as the latter had asked her to stop pressuring the grey-skinned man, she just gave him a pointed stare before averting her eyes in the next moment. As for Emilia, she was leaning against the wall with a tired expression on her face, her hand resting on her belly after a very large meal... Linnaeus observed the reactions of everyone in the room, his usual calm forming a mask that made it difficult for his thoughts to be seen through. He was doing his best to understand the character of every member of his Party so that he could establish a proper baseline for each of them. This would allow him to quickly realize if they were plotting something as, unless a significant event occurred to change their behavioral pattern, people were creatures of habit. After a momentary silence, Linnaeus said, "I think it would be for the best if we finish hunting before noon tomorrow. Though it could be better to move up to the next Floor at dawn, we have no way of knowing what awaits us. It would give us more time to seek shelter but I feel we''ll be more prepared to face potential threats after hunting a King. People are always a little slow when they first wake up in the morning...lacking the proper edge could cost us our lives..." As usual, Eliza took it upon herself to support Linnaeus'' decision, adding, "The longer we stay on each floor, the less momentum we will have for reaching higher floors. It will be a lot easier to leave if we''ve only spent a few months here. If we get too acclimated to life within the Crucible, it is only natural that our motivation to leave will diminish." Using Eliza''s words as a segue, Linnaeus nodded his head before explaining, "There is a chance that the rules will change in higher Floors but, for the time being, it is safe to assume we will not be able to increase our Levels. Unless the Crucible is designed to only allow those that are strong to return to the Tower, it must be possible for even low-leveled individuals to reach the top. Though the Tower has a lot of incongruous rules, I don''t believe it will only reward those that were already strong prior to their deaths..." Though he didn''t often agree with what Linnaeus said outright, Krone issued a grunt that, over the last week, came to represent he was in agreement. After all, even amongst their own Party, there was a sixteen Level difference between their weakest and strongest member. If someone from the higher Floors ended up in the Crucible, they would be able to completely crush everyone else. With even Krone in agreement, Linnaeus was tempted to smile but ultimately managed to keep his composure. Still, he used the opportunity provided to explain, "Our greatest strength will be how well our Party works together. We''ll focus on information gathering and avoiding conflict until we are forced into a situation where we have no choice. If possible, we should consider expanding our Party into a Company in the future. That isn''t really something we should focus on, however..." Here, Emilia decided to add in her own input, saying, "If we find other members of the Vanargandr tribe, we should be able to safely recruit them. I can''t speak for other races but my people have been able to coexist with the other tribes for thousands of years without any significant conflict. You still have a long way to go but you should be able to earn the respect of most Vanargandr Huntresses so long as you have the confidence to keep them in line~" Hearing Emilia''s remark, Eliza asked, "Oh? Does that mean you''re finally learning to respect Lin? And here I thought you were going to continue being foolish until the very end..." Rather than be offended, Emilia laughed off Eliza''s words before saying, "It is just really weird for me to have a male in charge. I''m so used to them requiring protection and lowering their heads every time I make eye contact with them. I still don''t understand why Lin is the one in charge but I can tell he is a good Party Leader based on his decision making. If he was a little stronger, I would be able to respect him more without it making my stomach feel fluttery and weird." Eliza raised her brows in response to Emilia''s words, asking, "You''re entire existence revolves around that stomach of yours, doesn''t it...?" Smiling, Emilia happily pat her stomach a few times, boldly proclaiming, "Satisfying our hunger is the most important thing to ensuring we can live happy and healthy lives. Ever since I was just a pup, I''ve always trusted in my gut and it has never let me down! It tells me that Lin isn''t bad but he still has a long way to go if he wants to be a real Leader. He currently feels like someone that still needs to be protected. If he were a Vanargandr, I might even make him ones of my mates~" Though she had a relatively neutral expression at first, Eliza deadpanned after hearing Emilia''s final remark. She gave the smiling Vanargandr a hard stare, muttering in a dull tone, "If you try to lay your paws on Lin, don''t blame me for being rude. He has people precious to him that he wants to protect. The last thing he needs is some senseless woman trying to influence him in a weird way...!" Emilia''s ears had lowered a bit after sensing the hostility in Eliza''s tone but she didn''t seem entirely deterred as she stated in a somewhat demure tone, "See, this is what I mean. If he was a real Party Leader, he wouldn''t need others to speak for him. You are always protecting him, even though it is the duty of a good leader to protect everyone else..." Here, Linnaeus decided it was time to step in before things got any further out of hand. He raised his hand to catch the girls'' attention before calmly explaining, "There are more ways to protect people than simply relying on strength. Though it certainly helps, I believe that proper decision making far more important than raw power. If you are clever and make the right decisions, it is possible to lead a small group to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Still, I will never stop trying to become stronger so, if there is anything you think I could do to improve, please, let me know..." With her ears now perked up once again, Emilia smiled radiantly as she exclaimed, "This is one of your better qualities. You are so eager to improve that it is hard to really fault you for anything. It is still a little weird to me though, as the leaders in our tribe are the type that has already worked to become strong. They rarely need other people to give them advice so I feel like you are a young pup that is still learning how to be a leader~" Hearing Emilia''s remark, Linnaeus shrugged his shoulders dismissively, reminding her, "Well, I am the youngest in the group. I''m certain that you would be able to give a lot of good advice to your past self if you were able to travel through time. I am not afraid to admit that I have a long way to go as a leader but, for the purpose of fulfilling my dreams and aspirations, I will never stop trying to better myself." Feeling very proud of her ''little brother'', Eliza had a happy smile on her face as she raised her chin slightly. As for Emilia, she bobbed her head a few times in an approving manner, saying, "You aren''t wrong. If I could teach my past self, there is a lot I would want her to know. I will keep that in mind while we are in the same Party. In order to help you become a better Party Leader, I will do my best to try and give you good advice. I already know you will do the same if you think there is something I can improve on so I''m looking forward to seeing how far we can go~" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As it seemed like a good opportunity, Linnaeus did his best to adopt a smile as, in more ways than one, he was actually happy with how things had turned out. Eliza and Emilia were both sensible girls and, though the latter had a very unique way of thinking, she didn''t completely resist new ideas. If you could word a concept into a way she could understand, it didn''t take much effort to convince her to go along with your views... With the light in the den steadily diminishing, Linnaeus decided it was about time for them all to turn in for the night. He gave his usual refusal to Eliza''s offer to share the same room, something Emilia was seemingly okay with, before holing up in the smaller chamber that served as his and Krone''s rest area. The girls naturally needed more space so he had elected to share a room with the brute after everyone had moved in together. At first, Krone''s presence made it very difficult to fall into even a light slumber but, over the course of a week, he had stopped giving off threatening vibes in the middle of the night. Tonight, he even rolled over, exposing his back to Linnaeus as if to emphasize that he no longer viewed the latter as a threat. This almost brought another smile to his face but, as there was always a chance that Krone was just trying to lure him into a false sense of security, Linnaeus sat in his usual spot with his back to the wall... 54 Cooperation Going to sleep just after dark had the benefit of allowing you to get a full night''s rest while still allowing you to wake before dawn. This was generally the best time for hunting as most of the nocturnal predators would be preparing to conclude their hunt and, feeling safe, animals would begin to emerge from their burrows to take advantage of the twilight hours. As was often the case, Linnaeus was the first to awaken and, after he sensed movement from the girls'' room, he knew Emilia had awoken a few minutes after him. Shortly after that, she poked her head inside their room and, finding him already awake, poked her tongue out before retreating to prepare for the day. Linnaeus was slowly beginning to understand Emilia''s nature so, while he was already a light sleeper, he needed to be extra diligent while she was around. She might not be directly challenging his place as Party Leader but it always felt like she was evaluating and observing his actions to form her own determinations... Once everyone was finally awake, they escaped the relatively muggy and humid air from inside the den to enjoy the crisp, early morning, air. The last to emerge was Eliza but she was a bit of a heavy sleeper due to taking longer than almost everyone else to actually fall asleep. This made it clear that she wasn''t completely comfortable with the situation but that wasn''t something that could be rushed. With everyone gathered, Linnaeus broke the silence, explaining, "From the information I''ve been able to gather, I believe the best option would be to head north. We''ll pass through an area that is filled with a pack of wolf-like monsters. Fighting against them can improve our cooperation as a Party before we reach the territory across. Once we reach our destination, Krone will face off against the ape-like monster that rules the region further to the north...any questions?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As the most experienced when it came to hunting a variety of prey, Emilia didn''t have a question but, rather, explained, "Bipedal and ape-like monsters can be very dangerous. Some are even capable of using tools so we shouldn''t underestimate them. They also have abnormally high Strength so-" Before she was able to finish, Krone grunted in annoyance before saying in a stern tone, "I''ll be fine. I am best against monsters that use brute force. Don''t look down on my [Martial Arts] and [Grappling] Skills..." Emilia flared her nostrils a few times in response to Krone''s statement but, before she could escalate matters, Linnaeus stepped in, explaining, "I chose the ape specifically because I believe that Krone is capable of defeating it. He has the highest Strength parameter amongst us should be able to adapt the traits of the monster for his own use. If their power is something unique to their species, there shouldn''t be any issues when it comes to absorbing their Strength for himself." Krone nodded in affirmation, somewhat surprised by the thought Linnaeus had put into the proper use of his Blessing. This wasn''t exactly something new but, over the last week, there hadn''t been too many opportunities for him to make full use of it. After all, it wasn''t exactly efficient to absorb the traits of weaker monsters as, the moment they died, he would lose the benefits. This meant it was a lot easier to just kill the monsters outright, saving both effort and SP... With Linnaeus stating his case, Emilia didn''t have much room to say anything and, with Eliza giving her a warning look, she ultimately decided to just see how things went. If it was just one monster, it most likely wouldn''t be an issue as most of the points she had made pertained to fighting against groups of ape-like monsters. --- After formulating a basic plan of action, Emilia was sent to scout ahead of the group while Linnaeus did his usual of teaching Eliza and Krone how to move through the forest silently. Until they had the ability to pass through the woods without alerting everyone in a 50m radius, the effective range of most Blessings around their Level, he would not stop insisting that they improve. Fortunately for Eliza, as she really didn''t care much for sneaking around, they heard a loud whistle that indicated Emilia had located an enemy. Since it was a two-tone whistle that increased in pitch towards the end, they knew she had encountered several enemies all at once. Without delay, Linnaeus gave the order to close the distance between themselves and Emilia. He took the lead to make sure there were no traps while Eliza followed close behind with Krone taking up the rear. This was due to his Agility being the lowest and, while he was their Vanguard in active engagements, his duty during travel was protecting the rear to prevent Eliza from getting sneak attacked. As they always stayed within a few hundred meters of each other, it took less than a minute for Linnaeus and co to reach the spot where Emilia was fighting. There, they found her skirting between a few trees, using her spear to prevent large wolves from attacking her. They were forced to try and go around the tree to get to her but she would always move to either keep it between them while never repeating the same pattern. At this point, there were already several corpses of large wolves on the ground and, while Emilia didn''t really seem too troubled, there were still thirteen three-meter long wolves in the area. She would likely be able to defeat them without endangering herself too much but it was still much safer to call upon the Party. Without wasting any time, Linnaeus pulled out his shortsword and dagger, taking a defensive stance to protect Eliza while Krone caught up and assumed his own position. At the same time, he recast his [Barrier Aura] on Emilia before creating a bean-size spherical barrier in the path of a leaping wolf. As it didn''t have nearly as momentum as the Territorial King he had fought, the wolf was only slightly injured by the sudden obstacle as its small size also made accurate interception difficult. Linnaeus knew he had a long way to go before he was proficient in using his barriers offensively but this didn''t deter him in the slightest. Rather, his mind raced to think of ways to use his Blessing, all while he surveyed the battlefield and attempted to grasp the movement patterns of every single wolf. While this was going on, Eliza and Emilia weren''t exactly idle as, with the [Barrier Aura] protecting her, the latter had essentially become a tiger with wings. She no longer relied on obstacles to try and protect her body and instead began to fight with ever-increasing ferocity. This was her attempt to try and increase her Agility and combat sense through actual battle, one of the most useful qualities of Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura], at least in her opinion. A stark contrast to Emilia, Eliza stayed relatively close to Linnaeus, her palms close together as she looked for the best opportunities to use her Blessing. When she found one, whatever unfortunate monster that happened to be in her sight was immediately turned into meat pulp, often without the opportunity to even cry out... By the time Krone showed up, less than ten seconds behind the rest of the Party, there were already three more wolves killed. He didn''t want to miss out on another battle, as they often ended in a very short period of time, so he unhesitantly charged towards the biggest wolf while releasing a loud war cry. Though they were a little startled by the enraged man charging at them, the largest of the wolves and its two protectors bared their teeth as they adopted low pouncing stances. The moment he was in range, they immediately moved to attack him, the leader aiming for his throat while the other two moved to bite his right ankle and left wrist. Rather than evade, Krone used his right arm to protect his neck while letting the smaller wolf bite his left wrist. Their teeth were both met by a seemingly frail blue membrane that completely nullified the effects of their fangs. At the same time, Krone had barreled into the wolf trying to bite his leg, his foot angled to try and crush its neck as he willingly allowed himself to tumble with the wolves. Krone wasn''t able to keep the leader of the pack pinned, as it quickly separated from him, but the two smaller wolves ended up getting brutalized by the grey-skinned man. He literally used nothing but his hands and feet to pummel them, each strike breaking bones and crushing organs. It was a rather intense sight to behold but, after fighting alongside Saht for a few years, Linnaeus only looked over to make sure he wasn''t in danger before splitting his attention between Emilia and Eliza... After only two minutes, the only surviving wolf was the one that spontaneously fled just after Krone crushed the pack leader''s head by squeezing it with his bare hands. The others were much slower to react so the final kill count was in favor of Emilia, killing eight, while Eliza was close behind with six kills. As there were twenty wolves in total, four were taken out by Krone and, as they were afraid to attack two people standing close together, Linnaeus was only able to take out two. Linnaeus was used to having the least number of kills but that didn''t mean he wasn''t bothered by it. He was determined to become much stronger in the future but, as his primary objective was to be a good Party Leader and leave the Crucible of Souls, there was time for him to improve. His battle with the Territorial King showed that he wasn''t exactly weak so, by focusing on his strengths, he could still grow much stronger even without increasing his Level... Once everyone had finished collecting the loot, Linnaeus said, "We''ll move a little slower from here onward. This was only a small group of the larger pack so there is a good chance the Territorial King of this area will lead an ambush against us. Emilia, stay within fifty meters as much as possible. You should be able to tell by the small flicker whenever your legs brush against the grass and twigs..." Emilia nodded her head in affirmation but, before setting out again, she explained, "My nose isn''t that far off from an actual wolf. Even though their bodies have disappeared, the smell of blood and pheromones still lingers on our bodies. Your [Barrier Aura] can block most of it but I agree that there will be an ambush once the enemy realizes what happened. Good call, Lin~" Linnaeus was slightly surprised to hear Emilia say supportive words as, in most situations, she would just go with the flow. It felt like she was slowly beginning to recognize him as an actual Party Leader, most likely due to the previous night''s conversation. This emphasized the importance of proactively communicating with your allies so Linnaeus felt a small amount of vindication as he answered with an affirmative nod and a very slight smile. With a much larger smile of her own, Emilia giggled for a brief moment before turning around and moving ahead of the group. This left Linnaeus staring at her retreating figure, at least until Eliza gave him a not-so-gentle nudge, saying, "Don''t gawk. Come on, we should get going." Without waiting for his response, Eliza began to pull him along somewhat forcibly. This left Krone standing alone, his silver eye reflecting various complex emotions before he ultimately shook his head and began lightly jogging after the rest of the Party. He didn''t envy the situation Linnaeus had found himself in but, after observing him over the last week, he had at least confirmed the boy was not using his [Charm] against the two girls... 55 Tension As the group progressed further through the forested terrain, the usual sounds of life had all but vanished. A tense atmosphere had continued to build and, even without him telling her to do so, Emilia had slowed her pace to stay a little closer to the Party. Linnaeus couldn''t help wondering if monsters knew how to scare people. While he remained calm and focused on the outside, he began to feel increasingly unnerved in the more primal areas of his mind. It felt like his instincts were warning him to flee yet, in spite of this, his [Sense Danger] was just as silent as the surroundings... For a brief moment, Linnaeus was reminded of the time when he and Saht were being hunted by a group of elite bounty hunters. Their leader had managed to get right next to them without a single hint provided by their usually reliable Skills and instincts... Giving a small gesture for Eliza and Krone to speed up, Linnaeus quickly caught up to Emilia who, even more so than him, seemed concerned about their present situation. This made it even more important for him to stay composed so Linnaeus was forcing himself to take even breaths, his face an absolute mask of calm. Once the Party was together, Linnaeus immediately explained his conjecture, stating in a hushed tone, "The enemy should have the [Stealth] Skill. There may be more than one. Stay close and on alert at all times." Even as he spoke, Linnaeus never stopped observing the surroundings, an action that was repeated by Emilia. She had made the same assumption so it eased her mind a bit to know that Linnaeus had been on the same page. Linnaeus could see Emilia visibly relax but, in the back of his mind, he was focused on other matters. He knew they would need to develop a signal to alert each other to any invisible enemies as it was very dangerous to group together like this during tense moments... As if to emphasize why grouping close together was bad, the ground beneath them began to vibrate and, immediately after, thin stone spike penetrated through the dirt and attempted to skewer them. The moment Linnaeus realized what was happening, his eyes sharpened as he shouted, "We need to get into an open area! Stay close but don''t get within five meters of each other...!" Fortunately, as they all had [Barrier Aura] on them, the only loss was around 900 of Linnaeus'' SP. The surprise attack also taught them a very important piece of information as, despite having climbed a lot higher than the rest of them, Eliza had never encountered monsters that could use Magic. While some monsters had unique racial abilities, such as venomous spit or flame breath, most Magic was either derived from a Blessing or arduously practiced over several years. This required both hard work and comprehension of what you were trying to learn so, with most monsters having a middling level of intelligence, at best, they were fundamentally incapable of using complex Magic spells. Understanding this, Linnaeus knew that haste was their friend as, unless they had a Blessing that had broken through the Level 100 threshold, invalidating the need for surprise attacks, their Magic would be useless outside of a 50m range. [Stealth] also reduced your mobility considerably as, if you made a lot of noise and bumped into various objects, it would obviously break. This wasn''t knowledge unique to him so, understanding what was going on, everyone else in the Party had equally hardened expressions. If their opponent dared to give chase, Emilia, in particular, was fully intending to teach them how terrifying Magic could be... Unfortunately for her, most proficient [Stealth] users weren''t the type to haphazardly pursue a group of enemies. By the time the group had run for a little under two minutes, the uneasy feeling that had plagued both Linnaeus and Emilia began to fade away and, when the entered a clearing, it had vanished in its entirety. There was still a chance their enemy could be tracking and skulking after them but, after the failure of their surprise attack, it was far more likely that they had retreated in the complete opposite direction. Eliza reached this same conclusion so, much to Linnaeus'' surprise, she stomped on the ground a few times, her face showing clear frustration before she noticed he was looking at her. This caused a rosy blush to spread across her cheeks but none of them were foolish enough to point it out. To help cover for her senior, Emilia cautiously observed the surroundings while stating, "That attack definitely came from a person. Unless they have allies, we most likely won''t have to worry about any other attacks from them..." Linnaeus nodded his head upon hearing this, adding, "The safest assumption is that your enemy is always at a maximum level of preparedness. We''ll proceed on the basis that they retreated to gather allies. It is fortunate that we''re intending to leave this floor today as it would be too dangerous to return to the den." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As their den was located beneath a rock formation, it was basically suicide to enter inside if you knew an enemy capable of using earth magic was around. It was the same as inviting them to crush you into oblivion so, without arguing at all, everyone in the group gave an understanding nod. Seeing that they were all on the same page, Linnaeus was tempted to smile as it was very helpful to have allies capable of understanding things without needing to go into greater detail. This had been one of Saht''s greatest weaknesses and, though they had learned to work with each other, her failure to understand strategy had almost gotten them killed on several occasions. Remembering his partner reminded Linnaeus of the urgency of the task at hand so, in order to put even more distance between themselves and potential ambushers, he gave the order to double the usual pace as they proceeded toward their destination. He didn''t even bother having Eliza and Krone move cautiously as their enemy would still be able to track the duo''s best attempts... Without ever encountering another group of wolves, despite passing through the very heart of their territory, it became pretty clear that the King of the region had been dealt with. They had either been lured elsewhere or, as was the far more likely scenario, had been killed by the earth mage. Linnaeus had never seen the ''Wolf King'' use an Ability like [Steath] during his preliminary investigation so, in hindsight, he realized that should have been a red flag. The most likely scenario was that they encountered their enemy as the latter was leaving the heart of the region. This had caused them to hide their presence away and follow after the group. Since they weren''t moving too quickly due to their heightened state of awareness, it wouldn''t have been taxing to keep pace, even with [Stealth] active. What concerned Linnaeus the most wasn''t the sneak attack itself but the reaction of the wildlife in the forest. It didn''t make sense for them to fall silent in response to a single person using [Stealth]. In fact, it would be a huge tell to anyone with even a basic amount of attentiveness as the absence of animal sounds within the forest was extremely unnerving. This was the main reason Linnaeus urged the group forward. He suspected that their hidden enemy was paired with someone far more powerful so, being the cautious person he was, Linnaeus decided it was for the best to open up as much distance between themselves and their would-be attackers as possible. Fortunately, even after crossing into the territory of the monster ape, there hadn''t been a single sign to indicate they were being pursued. The appearance of monsters allowed Linnaeus'' nerves to ease a bit so he finally gave the order to reduce their pace and resume their usual formation. Only this time, he would be the one to take up the rear as he wanted to see if it was possible to obscure the tracks left behind Eliza and Krone as they awkwardly passed through the forest. Eliza was a little bothered to have Linnaeus following in her wake as it made her feel self-conscious, for a variety of reasons. Still, she tolerated the complex feelings as she tried her best to leave behind as few traces of her presence as possible, all while periodically looking back to make sure he was still there. Unlike when Krone followed behind her, Linnaeus'' movements were completely silent. This was the main reason why she felt unnerved as it felt like, at any given moment, he would just disappear into the forest, never to be seen or heard from again. He might not be aware of it but Eliza was using him as an anchor of sorts so, if he were to suddenly vanish, she felt like any motivation she had to climb higher would vanish with him. Linnaeus didn''t know the truth behind why Eliza would periodically look back at him but, as he could tell she was nervous, he did his best to appear calm. He just assumed she was afraid that he, being the weakest in the Party, would be picked off by the enemy before she was able to react. This wasn''t really a rational concern but, so long as she was doing her best to fix her bad movements habits, he was content... --- After half an hour passed without instant, the Party regained its usual atmosphere. Linnaeus knew this was the opportunity he would be looking for if he was going to assassinate someone but, as he would never attack a group of people with unknown strength, he assumed this was an unnecessary concern. Eventually, the group had finally reached the area where the monstrous ape had resided so, with even more motivation to succeed than before, Krone placed his palms against a dark grey stone to absorb its traits before moving forward without hesitation. He was the type that could follow a plan without issue but, when it came to battling against a monster on his own terms, he chose what could only be described as the ''direct'' method. Sensing its habitat had been invaded, a primal roar escaped a cave located on the upper slope of a small mountain. It took less than ten seconds for a 4m tall ape-like monster to leap out of the hole, its black fur glistening like metal in the nascent sunlight. It had all the basic features of an animal known as a Gorilla but, at the top of its head, there was a large bald spot that was covered in scars. It also had a striped pattern along its muscular arms and legs, despite no apparent need for any kind of camouflage. Without shying away, Krone released a war cry of his own before bending his body low and tackling the ape as it attempted to swipe at him. The thing had much smaller legs than arms so this put the grey-skinned man in a rather awkward position, at least for a while. Fortunately, his Skill wasn''t just a number within his Status so, as the ape tried to use its greater strength to its advantage, Krone was able to keep it off balance. He even managed to get the monster onto its back, his heavy fists hitting into the neck and jaw as his previously stony skin gained a thin layer of metallic fur. Emilia wasn''t wrong when she said the ape was physically stronger than Krone but, as was often the case in such situations, combat experience made a massive difference. The ape only knew how to use brute force while Krone, having advanced knowledge of [Martial Arts] and [Grappling], was able to use the monster''s weight and strength against it. He even managed to break one of its arms by putting pressure on the joint when the monster hyperextended its arm in a vain attempt to dislodge the man pummeling him to death. Unfortunately for the ape, Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura] prevented it from getting any advantages and, by the time Krone managed to absorb its traits, the battle had already been decided. His Strength had spiked from 232.2 to 270.9, a thirty percent increase on his base parameter. Since parameters gave higher returns at higher levels, an additional 38.7 points of Strength almost negated any difference between Krone and the much larger ape. The battle ultimately came down to a contest where both parties had similar strength but, as a result of Krone''s experience and Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura], one side was unable to gain any advantages. This turned the battle in a one-sided slaughter, one where Krone used his bare hands to bash the ape''s face until it had caved in completely. It was an extremely brutal method of fighting but, based on the results, the effectiveness couldn''t really be argued... 56 Contribution It was fortunate that, after being slain, the monsters killed within the Crucible of Souls would dissolve away into a peculiar kind of ash that was so fine it seemed to disappear completely moments later. It took with it everything from the bones, organs, and, to Krone''s advantage, the blood. Were this not the case, the Party would have to deal with an even more pungent odor of blood as, when he fought, Krone often became covered from chest to thighs due to the brutal nature of his combat style. The [Barrier Aura] filtered out most of it but, perhaps due to the same functionality that allowed Krone to use his Blessing and breathe, some slipped through. Now, as the burly man lifted his body from the dissolving corps, there was a red mist rising from his body as the monster''s blood seemed to evaporate. At the same time, Linnaeus and co came over to his side, the former commenting, "Brutal, but effective. Good work." In response, Krone gave Linnaeus a sidelong glance before ultimately shaking his head and asking, "What is the plan? Will we continue?" Originally, Linnaeus had intended to let Eliza killed the Wolf King on their way to battle against the Ape King but, after their encounter with a would-be assassin, his plan needed to change. They could either move to another territory to hunt down one final King or shore up their defenses somewhere to determine whether or not they were being pursued. The most sensible choice, however, seemed to be leaving the Floor as soon as possible. There was no sense in sticking around to fight an unknown enemy and, even if they could emerge victoriously, the benefits would be limited. After all, other than the equipment a person kept on their body, most items stored in their Inventory would simply vanish upon their death. As he had already been thinking about the best course of action prior to Krone''s question, Linnaeus gave a curt nod before saying, "I believe it is best that we leave the Floor immediately. Eliza may lose out on some Soul Kindling but, with her power, she has the easiest method to earn more. I''m certain there will be ways to spend and transfer Kindling on higher Floors so there is no reason to stay and risk being ambushed." Krone crossed his arms upon hearing this, seemingly discontent with running away, but Eliza and Emilia seemed to be in agreement. The former had the most say in the situation so she added, "I''d like to teach our attacker a lesson as well but we have no way of knowing who they are. If we attack any random person we encounter, there is a chance it could be someone completely different. We weren''t able to see their face or discover their presence so the only thing we know about them is the kind of Magic they use. Staying around just to fight an unknown force that might not even show up is a waste of time." What Eliza said struck at the very heart of the matter. There was a chance that their attacker actually had been alone so there was a good chance they would have fled without any intention of pursuing the Party. Though Linnaeus'' instincts told him this wasn''t the case, his rationale told him it ultimately didn''t matter so long as they left the Floor behind. With Krone unable to refute Eliza''s words, combined with Emilia not being fond of combat against other people, Linnaeus decided it was time for their departure. He didn''t know for certain whether or not his previous speculation had been correct but, believing there was a fair chance, he inclined his head toward nothing in particular, saying, "Guardian of the Crucible of Souls, if you are listening, our Party believes we are ready to move on to the next Floor. Please transfer us..." Though there was a chance that passage to the next Floor required reaching a certain point, the fact that the Floor Guardian provided no information implied the method of ascending depended wholly on the person climbing. So long as they had sufficient achievements, Linnaeus believed that passage to the next Floor would be granted to them. Fortunately, he hadn''t addressed the air in futility as, moments later, a chill descended upon the entire Party as a sensuous voice mused, "I see you found yourself some companions, little boy...and here I had been looking forward to seeing how far you could go on your own...well, it doesn''t really matter, does it~?" While the feminine voice reached everyone, Linnaeus was the only one in the group that felt like a cold silk cloth was being draped across his body. He didn''t know what the deal with the Guardian was but she seemed to enjoy teasing him more than necessary... Fortunately, without requiring a response from any of them, the presence seemed to drift away from him as the voice stated, "Parties are evaluated differently than those who seek to climb alone. You''ll be rewarded for the individual actions you had taken prior to forming your union. The credit for the actions your Party has taken will be based on contribution while the majority of the reward is given to the Party Leader. Also, allow me to inform you that the Party System in the Crucible of Souls works very differently than the one in the Tower. How it differs, however, is something you''ll have to learn on your own, ufufufufu~" Toward the very end of the voice''s words, Linnaeus could swear he felt something moist trace across the top of his ear but, in order to not give the voice the satisfaction of a response, his face solidified into his usual mask of calm... Once the willowy words faded into the wind, everyone saw a personalized window in front of them while Linnaeus had two. The first detailed his accomplishments over the thirty-one days he had been alone while the second displayed the contributions of the Party members based on kill participation and various other factors. On average, a normal monster awarded around 41 Soul Kindling so Linnaeus had earned 4,838 total Soul Kindling just from his personal exploits. As for the total survival time, he was given a measly 1 Soul Kindling per day but, considering the plentiful resources in the forest, this wasn''t too difficult to rationalize. What surprised Linnaeus the most was that he got a bonus of 1,000 Kindling for killing one hundred monsters and an additional 500 for defeating a Territorial King in individual combat. As the King had awarded a little more than three-hundred Kindling, this brought his total to 8,197SK. Linnaeus wasn''t sure if this was a lot but, compared to the pittance he had earned on the Eighth Floor, it was a significant improvement. Now, he just needed to decide what to do with the rewards listed in the Party window as there was an option of either keeping everything for himself of giving it out based on contribution. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The problem with this window was that the other people couldn''t see it so, if they didn''t trust each other, it would be easy to accuse him of skewing the numbers for his personal benefit. This almost made it a better option just to keep everything for himself and distribute it based on the needs of the Party but, as this could also cause some contention, the most sensible decision was to try and convince everyone he was being forthright with them... With this in mind, Linnaeus explained, "As a Party, we were able to accumulate 2,738 Soul Kindling. I have a window that shows me a list of variables that combine to create a contribution statistic using a percentage system. I''ll be letting the interface auto-assign the rewards based on contribution. We don''t have the time or resources to keep a proper accounting and, even if we did, it would cause a few problems if people started acting based on arbitrary metrics. I''d ask each of you to be content with what the system hands out as it is the determining factor behind how the points are assigned..." Fortunately, while there was still a bit of tension and awkwardness in the Party, Linnaeus had built up a decent amount of rapport with the group. Krone could be considered an exception to this but, as he had stopped being confrontational and accusatory, they had clearly made some kind of progress. Ultimately, Linnaeus had actually lied to the Party as, while it did show contribution values in the form of a percentage, it gave him 40% just for being the Party Leader. He decided not to point this out and, while splitting the Soul Kindling between them, he distributed his additional 40% as well. It seemed to serve as an incentive of sorts for the Party Leader but, as his actual contributions during combat were considerably lower, it would draw a lot of attention if he got the largest cut. Of the original 1,204 he was supposed to receive, Linnaeus only 383 of the total amount of Kindling. This brought his total to 8,580SK and, while it was impossible to know the value of this amount, he was still satisfied with his progress. Almost immediately after the distribution was completed, Linnaeus, Eliza, Emilia, and Krone felt a nauseating tug in their stomaches as they were all forcibly transferred to the Sixth Floor. This was never a pleasant experience and, as if to add insult to injury, they were all transferred several tens of meters above solid ground. With even Krone having LV51 [Acrobatics], it didn''t take much effort for anyone in the Party to orient themselves properly but, as the only thing below them was endless sand dunes, their landing wasn''t very stable. They impacted the fine sand, causing some of the granules to cascade down like a small avalanche as their bodies sunk several centimeters into the unstable terrain. Fortunately, with the [Barrier Aura] still active, they were able to land without injury, even if the sand itself would have cushioned their fall. Still, this didn''t make any of them feel better as, even with the barrier preventing the hot sand from directly contacting their skin, it was still uncomfortable. While Eliza was cursing under her breath, Linnaeus and Emilia had already started to take in their surroundings. At the same time, Krone''s body itself began to turn into sand and, after a minute or so had passed, he was able to mix into the ground itself. This had caught Linnaeus'' attention but, as it was more important to get a handle of the situation, he didn''t mind the peculiar sight too much. After an awkward climb to the peak of a sand dune, Linnaeus looked around to find that there wasn''t a single visible landmark in view. It was just an endless ocean of pale gold sand being slowly pushed across the desert by a harsh and unforgiving wind. To make matters even worse, there wasn''t even a single cloud anywhere in sight while, high in the sky, a blazing orb of fire and gas looked down on them like a tyrant from above. Linnaeus had expected another survival challenge as the resources on the Seventh Floor made the place a veritable paradise. Now, the only resources they had was themselves, the supplies they had stockpiled, and a very large quantity of sand. It was fortunate they happened to have someone with the ability to produce water as, without it, lasting more than a few days under conditions like this would be impossible... (A/N: Some people may not like the fact that the group escaped without facing off against the unknown enemies. To these people, I''d like to point out that no sensible person would just wait around and wait to be attacked. The plan was always to move on to the next Floor so, unless I was going to force plot and make it so that they couldn''t leave, there was nothing preventing them from just moving on xD. Don''t worry, as there will be more action after the Party has overcome some trials together (0w0)...!) 57 Gaffe With harsh winds, seemingly endless sands, and arid temperatures reaching upwards of 50 degrees, the Sixth Floor was an extremely inhospitable environment. There wasn''t even a single sign of food or water as far as the eye can see, despite Linnaeus having made a series of elevated platforms to get a better view of the surroundings... Without anything to guide them, Linnaeus could only make the decision himself so, after returning to the ground below, he explained, "There is just sand as far as the eye can see. I''m not familiar with any survival techniques related to the desert so I''m open to suggestions. The only options seem to be either picking a direction to walk or doing our best to build a shelter and rough it out..." As Krone had already returned at this point, he was the first to comment, saying, "The sand extends to a depth of more than twenty meters. If we want to create a shelter, we''d need to find a substrate of hard rock with a hollow on the inside. Trying to make one of our own will be impossible with this volume of sand." Linnaeus was a little taken aback by how helpful Krone was being but, without letting it show on his face, he simply returned a curt nod before saying, "We can try to find an area where the dunes aren''t as prevalent. Unless this Floor is just another iteration of the Eighth''s trial, there has to be some kind of objective worth completing. I imagine we would be able to find some kind of ruins, an oasis, or a colony of sand-dwelling monsters. What do you two think, Eliza, Emilia...?" Eliza seemed to be in a particularly bad mood ever since entering the Sixth Floor so, upon hearing Linnaeus'' question, she answered in a slight huff, "I hate sand. If it is as deep as Krone claims, we don''t really have many options. The best thing to do for now is create a temporary shelter at the base of two dunes to conserve water and energy. We''ll have to see how cold the nights are before determining whether or not it is even worth traveling..." While the heat of a desert was one of the primary concerns, everyone familiar with the sandy plains knew that the chill accompanying the night could be even more dangerous. The only thing you really needed to stave off the heat was an ample supply of water and a bit of patience to tide through the discomfort associated with the usual mixture of sand and sweat. It not for Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura], it wouldn''t take long for them to be completely caked in a sandy residue that easily led to rashes and other, far more unpleasant, irritants... With a nigh-infinite supply of water, the bigger concern for the group was replenishing their food supply and resisting the chill that generally dominated the night. It wasn''t as cold as something like a wintry wasteland but, when the temperature decreased from 50 degrees to around 10 degrees in just a few short hours, it could affect the body more than persistent exposure to either extreme. This was due to the general inability of most races to adapt to sudden changes in temperature so, even if they could easily withstand sub-zero temperatures with ease, it was possible for people to freeze to death or get sick in much warmer temperatures if they weren''t prepared. Fortunately, Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura] was much better for conserving body heat and keeping the cold at bay than shaving away the heat. It would be much easier for them to move at night than during the day as, despite the uneven footing, they had two people with [Night Vision]. Linnaeus was just about to make these points when Emilia caused them all to fall silent by asking, "Is it not possible for us to just move on to the next Floor? Are reward might not be that great but there isn''t really a reason to stay in this desert, is there? I mean, it''s not like we''ll be able to do any kind of productive training in the middle of a giant desert..." Eliza seemed to be very inspired by Emilia''s words so, without any hesitation whatsoever, she raised up her hand and exclaimed, "I vote in favor of moving on to the next Floor! Even if the next Floor is dangerous, it is better to conserve our supplies and resources. This Floor would only sap away at our strength and diminish what little food we have stockpiled." Seeing how quickly Eliza threw her lot in with Emilia, Linnaeus was at a loss as to how he should respond. In truth, he had already thought about advancing to the next Floor but, feeling that rushing things too much could be extremely detrimental, he had been unwilling to mention it outright. While this Floor could just be another example of the Eighth Floor''s trial, there was a non-negligible chance that great opportunities awaited them if they could tough it out and search thoroughly... Rather than make his decision immediately, Linnaeus looked toward Krone to gauge his reaction to the two''s words. He seemed to understand the meaning behind the gaze but, rather than offer any words of his own, the grey-skinned man just shrugged dismissively as if he didn''t really care either way. With Krone taking a dismissive stance, the opinion of the girls couldn''t be disregarded. Thus, without any further hesitation, Linnaeus turned his view skyward and repeated, "Guardian of the Crucible of Souls, our Party believes we are ready to move on to the next Floor...please transfer us..." The moment Linnaeus'' words fell, so too did the surrounding temperature. Then, in much the same way as before, a chill settled over the group as a whispy and sensuous voice asked, "Are you certain this is the best course of action~? While there is certainly some logic behind the reasoning of those lasses, things are not always what they seem. If you are unwilling to face hardships and peer at what lays beneath the surface, you might find yourself encountering a bottleneck in the near future~" Just the fact that the Floor Guardian was giving them the option to change their minds was a reason to give Linnaeus pause. His intuition told him that, while the owner of the voice was a playful and sly individual, they weren''t completely lacking a sense of accountability. It was possible they just wanted to watch him struggle but, considering the incalculable number of people that must have undergone the Crucible''s trials, there was no way they could be that bored... Despite this, Linnaeus wanted to respect the wishes of his Party members so, even if there was some grand treasure to be found on the Sixth Floor, he hardened his heart and said, "Our goal can only be found on the highest Floor, not here. Unless there is something like a key or some other necessary artifact, please transfer us to the next Floor..." Somewhat against Linnaeus'' expectations, the voice began to laugh in an amused and perturbing manner, the sound echoing around them for several seconds. When it calmed down and began to speak once again, Linnaeus felt as if a hand had gripped his heart as she responded, "It is a little late to consider whether or not there is something like a key, don''t you think~?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus'' heart began to palpitate madly in response to the Guardian''s words as, if they meant what they seemed to imply, there was a chance he had already missed out on at least one key. There likely wasn''t any method to return to lower Floors so the only method to acquire any keys they missed was to seize or purchase them from other people... Just as Linnaeus was beginning to form a plan derived from his panicked state, his body froze as the sound of laughter erupted right next to him. Then, like a slap to the face, Linnaeus felt a deep and difficult to describe frustration as the voice mused, "Just kidding~! You should have seen the look on your face, ufufufufu~" Lowering his head so that his bangs covered his eyes, Linnaeus fell silent in response to the voice''s teasing as he no longer knew exactly what to believe. The Guardian was obviously just messing with him at this point and, without knowing more about them, it was impossible to determine their true nature and whether or not they were trying to mislead him... While Linnaeus was brooding, the voice seemed to lose a bit of interest, saying in a dull tone, "Well, if you haven''t changed your minds then I''ll go ahead and send you to the next Floor. I will give you a bit of advice before you go, however. Actually, I''m feeling generous so I''ll give you two tidbits of info that will undoubtedly help you out~?" Seeing that Linnaeus wasn''t in the mood to deal with the voice any longer, Eliza decided to step up, stating, "Please advise us, oh noble Lord of the Crucible of Souls..." Though it was hard to know whether or not she was responding to Eliza''s request, the Guardian no longer sounded all that playful as she remarked, "The longer you take to reach the top, the harder it will be for you to leave the Crucible of Souls. This place has a corrupting influence on people and, if you cannot leave before it completely seizes you, the only fate awaiting you is a life of imprisonment within my domain. I would encourage you to move quickly but, if you go too fast, you may very well find it is impossible to leave this place~" Linnaeus may have been looking down but he hadn''t stopped paying attention to the Guardian''s words. The moment he heard her last remark, he wanted to ask for clarification but, before he was able to do so, the presence suddenly vanished. Then, as if to deny him the chance to change his mind, a screen showing their rewards for the Floor appeared before each of them. As could be expected, they didn''t earn many Soul Kindling for only spending forty minutes on a Floor. Linnaeus only received a total of 47 but, considering how little time they spent within the desert, he instantly realized they had made a mistake. He was only averaging around 200 or so Soul Kindling back on the Seventh Floor but, just by doing nothing, it seemed that just staying on the Sixth would have rewarded them considerably. Based on the values shown, he would be earning upwards of 1500 Soul Kindling per day spent in the desert... Hindsight was often a bitter medicine that was hard to swallow but, with no way to reverse their decision, Linnaeus put on a calm front as he said, "I believe we''ll need a certain amount of Soul Kindling in order to leave the Crucible of Souls. We shouldn''t be so hasty on future Floors unless the situation forces our hand..." As none of his companions were idiots, they each understood the opportunity that had been missed. Though it wouldn''t have been a pleasant stay, they could have easily doubled their total Kindling just by staying on the Sixth Floor for a single week. There would have undoubtedly been more ways to further increase this amount so, while there would likely be other methods to acquire large amounts of Kindling on higher Floors, it wasn''t wrong to say they missed out on an opportunity. Fortunately, now that they had erred early on, it would be easier to rationalize experiencing a bit of hardship in the future. The Crucible of Souls rewarded those who willingly exposed themselves to danger and struggled to overcome various trials of their own making. It seemed to encourage them to seize hold of their own destiny as, without a strong desire to overcome tribulations, returning to the world of the living would be impossible. This was something Linnaeus was slowly beginning to understand so, knowing there was something akin to a time limit, the flame of his ambition began to gradually grow in strength and intensity... 58 Unexpected : Tension There didn''t seem to be a limit to the number of environments that could be found on successive Floors but, at no point in time had Linnaeus expected to encounter a situation like what he found on the Fifth. Shortly after their transfer, Linnaeus and company found themselves standing in what appeared to be a stone alleyway. To further add to their confusion, a busy street could be seen just a few meters from them, filled with people of varying size, shape, and origin. Having grown up in the slums, Linnaeus had certain expectations about how people lived when they gathered together under difficult circumstances. This caused him to feel an uncanny feeling deep in his stomach as, against all his expectations, the people on the street seemed to be happily enjoying their lives as they went about various stalls and shops with impunity. It was a stark contrast to life in the slums, as even the colors present seemed more vibrant and full of life... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Waking him from his temporary lull, Eliza casually remarked, "It seems like we were transferred into some kind of city. I hope they have an Inn with a big bed and a hot shower...haaaaaa-" Based on how Eliza, Krone, and even Emilia were reacting, Linnaeus felt like the odd one out in the group. Fortunately, he was able to keep his incongruous feelings in check as he began to scan the area for any signs of danger before saying, "We''ll focus on securing a base of operations before I begin collecting information. Stay on your toes...there is a chance this is some kind of trap." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Eliza was reminded of the fact that he had grown up in the slums. From her perspective, this city looked like one of the markets that could be found near the outer districts of the Megacity. Though there were undoubtedly dangers present, you could typically determine public order by seeing how the people carried themselves while conducting business. Realizing that she may have to take charge of the situation, Eliza pulled Linnaeus along confidently as she looked toward Krone and Emilia, saying, "You heard Lin, let''s go find a place to stay. If there is even a chance of securing a comfortable bed, I''m not going to pass it up~!" Krone answered Eliza''s outburst with a curt nod while Emilia just followed behind, her eyes darting around curiously. She had never seen so many people in one place so she was feeling a little tense and excited. There were so many different kinds of foods present in the stalls that her mouth was already beginning to water in anticipation... Fortunately, Emilia wasn''t the type to just wander around on her own so, with Eliza pulling along Linnaeus, she dutifully kept pace without ever truly dropping her guard. If anyone got too close to their Party, her ears would incline at a forty-five-degree angle as she glared at them, startling quite a number of people who hadn''t really been paying attention to the group of four. While allowing Eliza to shepherd him through the busy street, Linnaeus'' eyes darted to and fro as he searched for any signs of impending danger. He did spot a few thieves, allowing him to calm down a little, but it was still very strange to see so many people living alongside each other without any real tension between them. This was something he had never experienced before and, to make matters even worse, he even saw groups of children happily playing games together in alleyways without any visible concerns... Eliza could feel the tensions in Linnaeus'' body as she pulled him along and, though his expression didn''t show it, she could tell he was very uncomfortable. This made her feel strangely guilty about her own upbringing as it was clear to see that Linnaeus had grown up in an environment where he couldn''t even walk around without fearing for his life... It was fortunate that they were transferred into a busy market district as, by traveling toward the periphery, they were able to find various businesses such as taverns, restaurants, and inn. Since all races spoke and wrote in Kinu, it was easy to read the signs that were posted and, based on the SK denomination, she determined that the rates were paid for with Soul Kindling. Finding a place where they could get a combined room and food service for only 120SK per night, Eliza led the group through the double-door entryway. Here, Linnaeus seemed to collect himself a little better as, compared to the outside, there were only a handful of people quietly lounging about in the parlor while a rather fat woman wearing the clothing of a proprietress could be seen resting behind a countertop. Seeing new faces appear, the rotund woman hoped up from her stool before adopting a pleasant and courteous smile as she asked, "Anything I can get for you, darlings? We have a few double and single rooms available and lunch will be ready in about forty minutes. If you just want something to fill yer gullet, we have honey-glazed bread and cookies available for 5 Kindlin''." As if she had done this a thousand times before, Eliza adopted a smile of her own as she stepped forward and asked, "Does your institution provide bathing services? We just returned from a tough job so my companions and I would like to relax. For now, we''ll take a double bed and two singles at the standard rate." Hearing Eliza''s words, the woman gave a knowing smile before leaning forward and whispering in a voice that only the Party could hear, "You must be new to these parts, eh? Not many would come to the central district after hunting on the outskirts. That is a three-day journey unless you use one of the transport services, fufufufu~" Eliza''s face flushed slightly upon hearing the woman''s laughter but her mood quickly returned when the latter said, "Since it is your first time staying with us, I''ll give you a bit of a discount if you decide to stay for five or more days. You''ll be wanting to gather information and this place is where most of the newbies end up being sent after that hellish landscape on the Sixth Floor. Take it easy and focus on finding your footing before deciding on your next course of action, okay, darlings?" At the adjusted rate, they would have to each fork over a total of 500SK but, considering this plan included three meals and a bathroom key, it wasn''t a bad deal. The woman even told them about a few ways they could make money before telling them she was free to answer any of their questions after the lunch rush ended. This would, of course, cost them some additional SK but, considering she had been operating an inn in the area for eleven years, there was no end to the gossip she had to share. Linnaeus didn''t immediately trust the woman but, after listening to her for several minutes, he never got the feeling she was trying to deceive them. Rather, she seemed like a kind and easygoing person who showed genuine concern for their situation. She even gave them a small bag of freshly baked cookies, something Linnaeus that had shaken Linnaeus considerably as they were very sweet and full of sugar, a very hard to acquire spice back in the slums... Ultimately, the Party rented four rooms that were located on the second floor of the establishment. He somehow ended up sharing the double room with Eliza but, considering he had a lot to ask her before setting out to obtain information, Linnaeus didn''t fuss over the arrangement. He wasn''t really self-conscious when it came to things like sharing a room with a member of the opposite sex so it didn''t really matter to him all that much. What Linnaeus hadn''t expected was that the room was fully furnished and, unlike the small prison-like dwellings that could be rented in the slums, it even had things like a mirror, a wardrobe, and a very comfortable looking bed. His hand actually sunk into the material of the mattress, yet another thing he had never experienced before. While Linnaeus was looking around the area in awe, Eliza garnered a genuinely surprised expression from him as she remarked, "I expected the room to be a little bigger. Well, it has a nice and homely feel so it isn''t the worst room I''ve been in." After fixing his expression, Linnaeus turned to face Eliza, asking, "Is this normal for the Inn within the Megacity?" Shaking her head, Eliza explained, "Normal is something subjective. I''m sure the people that live in the outer districts are used to this quality but the rooms I''m used to typically have an attached bath and kitchen area. The only time I''ve stayed in a room of this quality was when I asked my mother to let me explore the outer districts with a few of my friends and bodyguards. Back then, I felt as if it was a waste of money to rent such a room as even my servant had been accommodations..." Toward the end of her statement, Eliza plopped down on the bed as if it were the most comfortable mattress in the world. Even the bedding they had been provided with was clean and fresh smelling so, while it didn''t really meet her standards, it was infinitely better than roughing it inside of a dark and humid den. With a distant look in her eyes, Eliza nestled into one of the plush pillows available, adding, "I was told as a child that you never really appreciate what you had until it is taken away...ever since I came to the Tower, I''ve been reminded of this saying countless times..." Hearing the melancholy in Eliza''s voice, Linnaeus released a small sigh as he laid down on his own bed and looked up at the ceiling. He was tempted to ask if she wanted to stay in this place but, as he needed her to reach the exit of the Crucible, the words couldn''t reach his lips. This made him feel a little guilty but, at the very least, he wouldn''t be the one to broach the subject. Rather than discuss his wayward thoughts, Linnaeus decided to try and strengthen the bond between him and Eliza, even if it felt like he was exploiting her. She was one of the few people that linked him and his sister so, fearing she would want to remain on the Fifth Floor, he asked, "Can you tell me more about the Megacity...more about your life prior to entering the Tower...?" Eliza sat up upon hearing Linnaeus'' question and, her eyes reflecting his image for several seconds before she smiled and answered, "Only if you''ll tell me more about yourself. I''m certain you left out a few of the more personal details of your upbringing. I want to know more about your sister, that girl named Saht, and any other interesting people you met prior to falling into this place..." Linnaeus had felt a little tense due to Eliza''s silence but, upon hearing what she had to say, he parted his eyelids to stare at her for a few moments before rising to a seated position of his own. He wasn''t sure if she had seen through his intentions or not but, as it was remarkably therapeutic to talk about his past, he decided to go with the flow of the conversation. It wasn''t as if he had any great secrets to keep so, if it could bring them a little closer, Linnaeus didn''t mind pandering to Eliza''s curiosity... 59 Incongruous : Information The conversation between Linnaeus and Eliza ran much later into the evening than the former had expected. His original intention had been to venture out under the cover of night but, much to his surprise, there were various light fixtures illuminating the city as a persistent amount of foot traffic breathed life into the streets below. Everything Linnaeus was experiencing on the Fifth Floor subtly changed his view on what society, in general, was supposed to be like. The people going about their business seemed full of purpose and, though it was clear that some were in more dire states than others, the tension he associated with large groups of people simply didn''t exist. According to Eliza, this was actually very normal as any place with an established hierarchy generally became civil and organized. There were few benefits in suppressing people as they were much easier to exploit when the option of being ''content'' and ''happy'' was given to them. After all, if their efforts would never amount to anything, most people would resort to violence and underhanded methods just to survive. Linnaeus could understand the logic behind Eliza''s words but, having grown up in the slums, he had a lot of trouble overcoming the incongruity in his own heart and mind. If society functioned in the way that Eliza claimed, he wondered how the slums could even be a thing. The only possible reason he could think of was that those in power had orchestrated the existence of the slums and, from the time since its establishment, they had endeavored to force those born within to stay impoverished... As there was no sense in brooding over the matter unless he one day escaped the Tower, Linnaeus ultimately decided to do what he always did, adapt to the situation. He waited until after dinner to mention he would be venturing out into the city to collect information. It might be a different kind of place than the slums he had grown up in but, compared to Eliza, Emilia, and Krone, he was the best at gathering information and moving undetected. Though Eliza and Emilia actually wanted to go exploring themselves, they decided to hole up inside the Inn for the night while entrusting Linneaus to his self-assigned task. Eliza, in particular, had been looking forward to enjoying a hot bath before sleeping in a comfortable bed so she wasn''t against the idea of waiting at least one evening. As for Emilia, she was content with having food to eat and, coming from a tribe that always stuck together, she wasn''t going to wander around on her own. With everyone on the same page, Linnaeus pulled aside Krone and, though the grey-skinned man didn''t seem fond of the fact, he calmed down once the former said, "I''ll entrust protecting those two to you. They may be able to take care of themselves but I feel they are being too complacent. While I''m away, please take care of them..." Krone only snorted in response to Linnaeus'' words but, based on his body language and the way he became more vigilant, it was obvious he had taken the words to heart. Since his ''mission'' was to help Eliza reach the highest level of the Crucible of Souls, he wasn''t going to let anything happen to her if it was within his power to prevent. After watching Krone walk away for a few seconds, Linnaeus immediately changed focus as he exited the warm and fragrant inn. The first thing he noticed was that the evening temperature was a little brisk but, with the warm lights coming from the windows of various buildings, it felt strangely warm and pleasant. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Without letting this illusion affect his mentality, Linnaeus began to follow the flow of traffic, his eyes darting around as he made a mental note of how people behaved and interacted with each other. At the same time, he checked the prices of various goods so he could get a feel for the average cost of living as there was a good chance that Eliza and Emilia would want to stay for a few days, at the very least. Much to Linnaeus'' surprise, there were various fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and even meat being sold in the stalls. Even more surprising, however, was the fact that the vendors didn''t seem especially warry of potential thieves. They all put on a mask of amicability as they enthusiastically greeted each customer that entered their sales area. Even though he was dressed like a wild child that had been lost in the woods for years, Linnaeus was treated like a guest of honor after entering a weapons shop. There, a stout man with an intricately braided beard and a large nose waved in his direction as he shouted, "Hey there little one! What can ah get for you today? Routine maintenance starts at 5 Kindlin'' and, if you want any custom wares, we have commissions startin'' at 50 Kindlin''." Linnaeus was taken aback by the man''s vigor but what truly surprised him was the fact that several weapons were on display without any discernible security features. There was even a barrel in the corner with the word ''discounts'' painted on the side, filled to the brim with lower quality swords, spears, and other weapons. Seeing Linnaeus look around, the man gave a knowing smile as he asked, "Yer one a'' those types that ain''t used to enterin'' a real weapons shop, eh? If I had to gander, yer probably new to the floor as well, aye?" Hearing the man''s words, Linnaeus made a mental note to fix his behavior in the near future. For now, he gave a curt nod before saying in the most neutral tone he could manage, "This is my first time seeing a shop with weapons placed so haphazardly. Are you not afraid that people will try to steal them...?" As if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world, the bearded man began to laugh boisterously while slapping his palm against the countertop. This caused Linnaeus to tense up as a powerful urge to turn around and leave the shop began to well up inside of him... After collecting himself, the man wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye before explaining, "I haven''t laughed like that in a while. Thanks fer that, kiddo. As for yer question, well, it isn''t all that rare for someone to try ''n snitch a good here and there. These are usually greenhorns that only just arrived in this ''ere Fifth Floor. If yer smart, you''ll learn quickly that causin'' trouble for others just ain''t really worth the risk. Everyone with a shop here in the central district is under the protection of the Lord''s family, Caulder. Besides, here, come ''n take a look see." Though he was hesitant to simply listen to the man''s words, Linnaeus didn''t feel any hostility coming from him. This was despite the fact that the man pulled out a sheathed longsword before setting it on the counter. As he had entered the shop to try and gather information, Linnaeus ultimately walked over to the counter as the bearded man used a hammer and a rod to remove the pin keeping the sword''s blade rooted to the handle. With a patient and guiding tone, the man pointed to a small mark on the previously concealed slat of the blad, explaining, "Anyone competent enough to forge a blade can print their Maker''s Mark on the inside. If an item isn''t purchased properly, the mark gives off a signal that can be easily be traced by anyone with the proper insignia. Only a fool would try an'' steal a hand-forged item from a shop!" Linnaeus had heard that many blacksmiths like to leave their names on the items they forged but this was the first time he was hearing about the function of the mark. This was an important piece of information and, while it didn''t explain everything, he was beginning to understand why businesses didn''t show any fear of having their items stolen. Feeling that this man was a good source for information, Linnaeus pulled out a bright red gemstone with ten small flecks of light floating inside. At the same time, he pulled out one of his hand-carved daggers, asking, "Can you teach me how to maintain my weapons properly? I''ve yet to get a grasp of the Fifth Floor so I''m hesitant to spend my Kindling haphazardly." Accepting the horned-rabbit dagger without any hesitation whatsoever, the man began to turn it over a few times in his hand before saying, "Yer luck musta been quite bad, kid. To be usin'' the horn of a Horned Rabbit as yer weapon means ye must''ve died before reachin'' the Tenth Floor, aye?" Linnaeus'' face tensed up a bit at the man''s words, earning a light chuckle from the latter before he tossed the dagger into a pile of materials at the side. This caused Linnaeus to take a step back and prepare to reach for another dagger but, before he could complete the action, the man raised his brow in amusement as he set a hunting dagger on the countertop and said, "Here, kid, you can have this one, on the house. From what I can tell, you''ve had it pretty rough. Maybe this''ll turn your luck around, aye? Now, come over here an'' watch closely. I''ll teach you how to sharpen and oil the blade properly so you don''t end up squanderin'' my kindness." As if he wasn''t afraid of Linnaeus at all, the man turned his back to grab a whetstone and a few other materials for maintaining a weapon. It wasn''t until he noticed that Linnaeus was still standing a few meters away that he cocked his head to the side, asking, "Don''t tell me you''d rather keep that trinket than use a proper blade...?" Hearing this question, Linnaeus pretended to drop his guard as he walked closer to the counter and asked, "How do I know someone won''t track me down using the Maker''s Mark? It isn''t my intention to offend you, but I''ve...experienced a lot..." Rather than be offended, the bearded man seemed amused by Linnaeus'' response as he began to chuckle in a lighthearted manner. He then separated the dagger''s blade from its handle and said, "This dagger be gifted to another." This caused the Maker''s Mark, which had previously been black in coloration, to flash slightly before losing its luster and turning an inert grey. Without waiting for Linnaeus to ask, the man explained, "When a transaction is completed properly, the Maker''s Mark loses the tracer function. For an item of this quality, nobody would bother putting on a second trace as it is only worth around 30 Kindlin''. If it was a custom build, you can pay extra to have a tracer put on it that is linked to a unique insignia. This would let you track down the item if it was ever stolen so keep that in mind if your hands start itchin'' in the future." Linnaeus didn''t understand why the man was being so helpful to him but, considering he had gained a net profit of 20 Kindling, he wasn''t complaining. He was learning a lot of new information, some of which had a chance of saving his life in the near future. After all, his primary role in a Party was Scout and Thief so, if the opportunity presented itself, he was prepared to use his [Steal] with impunity. The bearded-man seemed to understand this and, without saying it directly, cautioned him against doing anything that might get him into trouble... If Linnaeus had known that the only reason the man had been kind to him was due to the fact he thought the former was a young girl, his current good mood would have quickly spoiled... (A/N: For those that don''t follow EPIC, I''ve been sick the last couple of days so my update schedule took a hard hit. I''ve been feeling better so there should be one chapter per day unless something else happens. Thank you for your patience and sorry for the delay.) 60 Knowledge After leaving the weapons shop with two new daggers stowed away in his Inventory, Linnaeus began searching for his next destination, an armorsmith. He had noticed that most people had forgone the use of their self-repairing bodysuits so, if he wanted to avoid standing out, he would need to change his clothing. For now, Linnaeus decided to stick close to buildings and alleyways, using the skills he had acquired in the slums to get a better grasp of the territory around the Inn. He knew the importance of having a proper grasp of the terrain around one''s home as it could allow him to escape pursuit and drop a tail if he was being followed. Fortunately, while most people went about their business without paying much attention to their surroundings, Linnaeus made eye contact with several others in the same ''profession'' as him. They too kept to the places where people didn''t typically look and, while they didn''t seem as active as the thieves in the slums, it was obvious the timeless trade had continued in the Crucible of Souls. Had there been fewer thieves, Linnaeus wouldn''t have been able to relax as he couldn''t fathom the existence of a society that functioned in perfect order. He believed that the more peaceful a society appeared to be on the surface, the darker the shadows laying underneath. This was the conclusion he had come to after his discussion with Eliza and, after changing his perception slightly, Linnaeus had started to notice things he had previously overlooked as a result of the incongruous feeling that had plagued him since entering the Fifth Floor. The blacksmith with a beard, who Linnaeus had come to know as Baro, had mentioned that this city was protected by the Lord''s Familia, Caulder. They were a large organization of powerful individuals who, failing to exit the Crucible in time, formed a contract with the Lord of the Crucible, the aptly named Goddess of Darkness, Tenebrae. Though the terms of the contract were not made public, it was an inviolable truth that, in the central district of the Fifth Floor, the Caulder Familia reigned supreme. They worked tirelessly to keep order over the last 800 years and, despite many powerful figures passing through over the centuries, their rule had been largely uncontested. From Baro, Linnaeus learned that the members of the Caulder Familia all wore a similar emblem somewhere on their body. With this information, he was able to glean some insight into the means used by the Caulder Familia to keep order as, during his skulking about, Linnaeus noticed that nearly every thief he came across had the identifying mark. Eliza had mentioned that a structured society was very orderly but, from what he could tell, Caulder and his Familia were just a very organized gang. The only thing that made them ''good'' was the fact that they were the strongest faction as, in the endless annals of history, the victor was justice while the losers'' reputations were dragged through the mud... Fortunately, Linnaeus had come to learn much about the Fifth Floor through Baro so, even if Eliza and Emilia pressured him to stay for an extended period of time, he should be able to convince them to spend their time productively. The Fifth Floor was a vast plane of various different environments, each rich with both monsters and resources. There, you could earn more Soul Kindling for yourself and, if you obtained rare materials, converting them into greater wealth, weapons, or armaments was an option. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus realized that the Fifth Floor was one giant trap but, considering what awaited them in the Fourth through Second Floors, they needed to be prepared. They only had a year since the time of their entry into the Crucible to reach the surface so, if they became complacent and used to living on the Fifth Floor, there would be no escape. From then onward, they would be bound to the Crucible of Souls until their bodies turned to ash. While this may not seem like the worst fate, as living on the Fifth Floor seemed rather comfortable, the truth of the matter was that the longer you spent in the Crucible, the more of yourself that was lost. You would slowly begin losing your memories and, after a few decades, even your basic senses would begin to fade away. This could be tentatively treated by consuming Soul Kindling but, from that moment onward, you would need an ever-increasing amount to keep yourself functioning. Linnaeus wasn''t fond of the idea of being trapped inside the Crucible until his very existence began to fade away so, in order to return to the Tower and reunite with Saht and his sister, he would gather the necessary Soul Kindling to purchase a new life from Tenebrae. According to the information he had obtained from the inordinately kind Baro, reaching the First Floor alone granted you the right to make a contract with Tenebrae. There, in exchange for 100,000 to 1,000,000 Soul Kindling, you would be allowed to return to the world of the living. This value was based on how long you had been inside the Crucible of Souls and, according to Baro, how much the temperamental Goddess favored you... Though Linnaeus had yet to meet Tenebrae directly, he had the distinct impression that the Goddess was over-fond of him based on his conversation with his fellow Party members. They all had similar experiences with the lascivious-sounding Goddess of Darkness and, prior to hearing her interact with him, her voice had been distant and cold when they had to interact with her. Linnaeus had no idea why Tenebrae was so taken with him but, from what he was able to glean, she apparently just picked people at random to show favor to. He didn''t believe this in the slightest bit, until he could meet with her directly, there was no way to ascertain why she was so fond of teasing him. What mattered at the moment was that Tenebrae''s ''affection'' was a costly burden to bear as, rather than make the price more affordable, the Goddess hiked up the cost for those she favored. This was so that she could keep them in the Crucible and, while it was frightening to imagine, Linnaeus heard the Goddess kept a vast collection of the people she cherished the most back in her palace on the First Floor. In order to avoid this ridiculous end, Linnaeus would need to earn upwards of 4,000,000SK as his instincts told him the Goddess would extend the same ''favor'' to the rest of his Party. There was a good chance that Krone wouldn''t want to return to the Tower but, so long as he was Party Leader, Linnaeus would always look toward the ''best'' route forward for his entire Party. This was where the Fifth Floor came in as, even if you weren''t a powerful combatant with a high Level, you could still earn a fortune. There were various materials that could be found in the vast wilderness surrounding the five major districts circling the central region dominated by the Caulder Familia. Some of these could be exchanged for thousands of Soul Kindling at a time and, if you were fortunate, obtaining a rare artifact that auctioned for several hundred thousand wasn''t impossible. The caveat to this system was that, in order to pass through the Fourth, Third, and Second Floors, the number of Soul Kindling you possessed determined the difficulty of the trials you would face. If you did not possess adequate willpower and resolve, passing through would be impossible as Tenebrae would not so easily allow you to simply move on whenever you''d like. Linnaeus assumed that she used the first three Floors as a metric to determine the type of person you were so, after hastily moving on from the Sixth Floor, he imagined she was eager to force him into a difficult position. Fortunately, at least according to Baro, most of the challenges on the next three Floor weren''t strictly combat-oriented as it would otherwise be impossible for those with non-combative Blessings. Without having to be asked, Baro had regaled for Linnaeus the tale of his own ascent through the Crucible so, unless the middle-aged man was lying to him, the information should be trustworthy. From this story, Linnaeus learned that Baro had been required to forge one-hundred high-quality weapons back-to-back with the only rest afforded to him being when he was polishing the edges of various blades. If he stopped for more than a half-hour at any point, the room he had been forced into would begin to rapidly decrease in size, threatening to skewer his body with the very weapons he had forged. This seemed to be an impossible task in Linnaeus'' mind but, from how Baro talked of the event, it apparently hadn''t troubled him all that much. Rather, it was the challenge on the Second Floor that was his undoing as he had been forced to clear nine rooms, each containing a progressively stronger Doppelganger of himself. He was only able to clear up to the fifth room before he was forced to give up, a right that was allowed to everyone at the expense of never being able to leave the Crucible in the future. After failing his challenge, Baro was sent back to the Fifth Floor and, with no way to move upwards, decided to settle down. It was rumored that, if you lived a good life on the Fifth Floor, you would be given the chance to reincarnate into a better standing in your next life. There wasn''t any evidence for this but, after being sent to the Crucible of Souls upon their first death, many of the residents on the Fifth Floor believed in things like reincarnation. Linnaeus felt that this was just something the ruling families came up with to keep people in line but, as there was no harm in believing in an ideal that made people live better lives, he didn''t mention his opinion. Rather, he eventually realized that Baro thought he was a girl when the man told him that, if he failed to leave the Crucible, he could always return to the weapon''s shop. After that, he began to talk up how ''kind'' and ''hardworking'' his grandson was, alerting Linnaeus to the misunderstanding his appearance had caused... Fortunately, Baro seemed rather amused by the fact that he was a male and, towards the latter half of their conversation, he began droning on about eating more meat and exercising frequently. He even tried to convince Linnaeus to purchase a warhammer and a battleax, claiming they were the types of weapons used by men to build strong upper bodies and toned back muscles. Though it was a uniquely ''frustrating'' conversation, Linnaeus appreciated Baro''s advice as the man had given him a lot of information for no real cost other than a bit of his dignity. He was actually a little inspired to take advantage of his looks more often but, remembering the fate of many women in the slums, Linnaeus had no intention of following through on this urge. Though he might be able to trick a few people, there was a chance he would trick someone he had no hopes of defeating and, as a result, suffer an extremely terrible end. To avoid this, Linnaeus had found a relatively affordable clothing shop before purchasing distinctly male clothing. He also used his newly acquired dagger to give himself a haircut as, without any real need to maintain it, his bangs had grown near eye level while the back of his hair had nearly reached his shoulders. In hindsight, it was easy to understand why some people would mistake him as a girl, especially with his small stature and thin frame. Unfortunately, cutting his hair actually made his face stand out even more so, after returning to the Inn for the night, Eliza pestered him for more than an hour before he was finally able to rest... 61 Bonding Since the time he turned ten-years-old, Linnaeus could count the number of times he slept under a roof on both hands. Being constantly hunted down made you quickly realize that confined spaces were dangerous so he would generally find a location where other vagrants gathered. This allowed him to blend in a little better but, no matter how much time passed, it wasn''t something anyone could ever get used to. Linnaeus was such a light sleeper that the subtle change in a person''s breathing was enough to stir him awake, his nerves tensing as his fight or flight instincts took over. This habit was ingrained so deeply into his character that, even when he lived alongside Saht, it was impossible to ever lower his guard enough to get a good night''s rest. In fact, unless he had been knocked unconscious, sleeping for more than fifteen minutes at a time was a rare occurrence. Now, Linnaeus was in a familiar scenario, the warm body of another person pressed snugly against his own as he stared aimlessly at the back of his eyelids. When Linnaeus had left to gather information the previous night, Eliza had moved their individual beds together, forming one large, shared, bed. As it didn''t matter to him, either way, Linnaeus had ultimately given in to her pestering as, for reasons he was only vaguely aware of, her presence was very calming to him. Linnaeus knew that Eliza put on a pretense of being a big sister but the truth of the matter was that she seemed to be trying to act as his surrogate mother. While she didn''t show it much around Emilia and Krone, she would hug him tightly when they were alone together. There had even been a point where she caressed his head while humming a lullaby but, after failing to lull him to sleep, she began using more direct methods to try and get him to relax. Though he had come to know her better, Linnaeus didn''t completely understand why Eliza acted in such a way toward him. He speculated that she missed her own mother and, learning he had grown up without one, wanted to help ease both of their burdens slightly. The only other reason he could think of was that she showed him empathy so that he became more reliant on her, effectively tying their fates together and ensuring he would do everything in his power to protect her. Ultimately, it didn''t really matter why Eliza behaved this way as her presence did actually help him relax. He still couldn''t fall into a deep sleep but, with a warm body at his side, something deep inside him appreciated the gesture of kindness and affection. It also helped that she had particularly large breasts so, even if she was squeezing him a little too tightly, it wasn''t uncomfortable... --- As was the case every time they slept together, it was Linnaeus'' duty to stir Eliza awake as she wasn''t exactly a morning person. He had to practically drag her out of bed and, for the briefest of moments, their roles were reversed. Fortunately, Eliza had enough sense to wear her bodysuit at all times so, even in her most slovenly state, she wasn''t exactly indecent. Though the skintight suit left little the imagination, it was better than being completely naked as, despite what she might say, he knew it would be impossible for them to have a completely platonic relationship if things developed to that point. Linnaeus wasn''t a child and, while Eliza herself was still a maiden, he already had a bit of experience, even if it was derived from ''necessity'' more than lust. This was an inherent truth so, no matter how much she tried to coddle him, his innocence had died a very long time ago. Eliza, unaware of the thoughts going through Linnaeus'' mind, released a long yawn while the latter used a simple comb to untangle the curls in her hair. It had gotten a little out of hand as a result of her having to rough it for more than a month so, while he was out last night, Linnaeus purchased a small jade comb as a gift. To her credit, Eliza managed to pretend she wasn''t annoyed by the many times the comb got caught on a knot. This was something that caused pain regardless of Endurance and [Pain Tolerance] but, to avoid a situation where Linnaeus never combed her hair again, she lightly clenched her teeth while pretending to be half-asleep. Linnaeus was, of course, aware of this fact. However, he wasn''t the type to ignore the efforts of other people. They had a strange synergistic relationship going on so, while it had an illusory quality, he was willing to keep it up as long as she was. When he finally managed to comb through all the knots, Eliza''s previously ''puffy'' hair had become considerably more manageable. It still curled naturally but, compared to the bird''s nest it had been before, it was a significant improvement. As it was his honest feelings, Linnaeus used the opportunity when their gazes met in the mirror to smile slightly and comment, "Your hair looks a lot nicer like this. Before moving on to the next Floor, I''ll make sure to pick up some hair care products and soap..." Hearing Linnaeus'' remark, Eliza rolled her eyes but she couldn''t hide the smile on her face due to the two tiny dimples on her cheeks. She knew he was just being nice and, while his words sounded like a compliment, it was more-so a statement of basic fact than anything else. Still, it made her happy just knowing he showed at least a basic level of consideration for her as, compared to the scheming and pretentious nature of the people she had been forced to associate with, his honesty was a breath of fresh air. Eliza knew she wasn''t a beautiful woman by any means. While she wasn''t ugly, her plain looks had always been a sore spot as a result of being born in the Evendoom family. She hated hearing people compliment her with words they didn''t mean so, while Linnaeus was still a little awkward, his honest and straightforward remarks, combined with his own inordinately beautiful appearance, dealt critical damage to her heart. In order to hide her embarrassment and happiness, Eliza stretched her body and, before he could get away, she pushed Linnaeus into the chair and said, "Comb." in a stern tone. This made him frown ever so slightly but, after a moment of consideration, he ultimately relinquished the comb, allowing Eliza to return the favor from before. Unlike her own naturally curly hair, Linnaeus had a propensity to grow straight while forming small, gently flowing, locks. He had his [Barrier Aura] active at almost all times so dust, humidity, and other stressful factors for any woman had no effect on him whatsoever. This gave his hair a natural, silky smooth, quality that honestly irked Eliza more than a little. With his hair far more agreeable than her own, Eliza managed to comb through it in less than a minute. He had cut it short the previous night so it was a lot easier to deal with than it otherwise would have been. Once his hair had been combed through, Linnaeus managed to extricate himself from the chair and say, "We should get ready. I''m certain Emilia is already awake so we''ll knock on Krone''s door before heading down for breakfast. There is a lot we need to discuss and I''d rather get it out of the way sooner, rather than later..." Eliza had given Linnaeus a hard look when he escaped her grasp but, by the time he was finished speaking, she returned to her usual calm and collected self. There would be plenty of time for the two of them to bond in the future so she wasn''t going to pressure him too much. Rather, she was very curious to know what he had learned since he was unwilling to divulge everything the previous night. With Eliza behaving, Linnaeus fixed his own equipment before making his way out into the hallway. At nearly the exact same moment, Emilia''s door opened and, with a smile on her face, she poked her head out and asked, "Sleep well~?" Understanding she was trying to tease him, Linnaeus maintained his usual calm as he nodded his head and answered, "It was very comfortable. How about you, did you sleep in long...?" Eliza had been just behind Linnaeus when he made his remark so her face turned scarlet as several thoughts ran through her mind. She didn''t have to imagine what part of her was ''comfortable'' so, before Emilia could recover from her surprise, Eliza balled her hand into a fist before lightly smacking Linnaeus'' shielded head. As Eliza wasn''t actually trying to hurt him, Linnaeus'' [Sense Danger] didn''t activate so, upon feeling an impact against his [Barrier Aura], he quickly rolled to the side before bounding up, daggers drawn as his red eyes came into focus. This caused Eliza and Emilia to stare back at him, their expressions a perfect representation of their loss for words. Realizing she had made a mistake, Eliza quickly recovered her senses and, with a genuine expression of concern, she muttered, "I''m sorry, Lin...I shouldn''t have hit you, even if I knew it wouldn''t do any damage..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Understanding what had happened, Linnaeus forced himself to calm down. He realized his words could be misinterpreted the moment he said them but, without consideration for how Eliza herself would react, he made a thoughtless remark just to catch Emilia off guard. In essence, it was his fault that Eliza had struck him so, while part of him couldn''t reconcile this, Linnaeus'' rationale allowed him to hang his head slightly as he apologized in turn. Eliza could tell that Linnaeus hadn''t completely forgiven her as, when she stepped toward him, his body had visibly tensed. Despite this, she continued to slowly close the distance between them, her steps slow and measured until she was right in front of him. Then, at a very slow and easy to avoid rate, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as she repeated, "I really am sorry, Lin. Please forgive me..." Hearing the pained undertone to Eliza''s voice, Linnaeus slowly began to relax his body as he took a few deep breaths. This was extremely awkward for Eliza, as she was hugging his face near her bosom but, not wanting to spook him any further, she tolerated the fluttery feeling in her stomach. It helped that Emilia was still present as she had someone to glare at... Emilia was also feeling a little awkward as, with her enhanced senses and the thing walls of the Inn, she knew Eliza and Linnaeus hadn''t done anything. She only wanted to tease him a bit since he was always so serious. His response had nearly brought a smile to her face but, seeing how he reacted when Eliza lightly struck the back of his head, it was very apparent that Linnaeus still hadn''t opened his heart to any of them. Not wanting to be the only one left out, Emilia did something inexplicable to both Linnaeus and Eliza as she moved to a seated position before laying down on her back. She had her head angled toward them and, after moving her hands up to her chest, she cocked her head to the side while turning her eyes up at the duo and saying, "I''m sorry..." in a sheepish tone. Seeing the rather ridiculous display, Linnaeus'' tensions seemed to release all at once and, while still in Eliza''s embrace, he released a light chuckle. This caused the tense atmosphere to quickly dissipate, just in time for Krone to come out of his own room, a dull look on his face as he saw the trio putting on some kind of play... 63 Familiarity Having already paid for their rooms for several days, Linnaeus and co decided to use their remaining time gathering more information and making preparations for their journey South. They were strong enough to visit the other regions but, knowing how useful the Slime Gels could be, Linnaeus elected to make the Southern Forest their first destination. Though he felt a strong urge to leave the Crucible as soon as possible, Linnaeus'' cautious nature was still a core part of his character. He wasn''t going to risk rushing things, at least until he had a better understanding of the situation. Fortunately, while it would be a little dangerous, their Party had the option of venturing into the Hell Hole without too much difficulty. So long as they were strong enough to defeat most foes without taking damage, they would be able to harvest the valuable resources in the depths without having to worry about the toxic fumes and acid pools. After a cursory exploration of the Southern Forest and Monster Ant Colony, they would immediately move to the Hell Hole to find their fortune. This was the most efficient method available to them so, if everything went as planned, Linnaeus expected to leave the Fifth Floor within two months. Most people would scoff if they heard this estimate but, after gathering more information about the Fifth Floor, Linnaeus learned that a capable Party could earn several tens of thousands of Kindling even in the Southern Forests. As for the Hell Hole, it was considerably more dangerous but, if you had the capabilities to venture into the lower levels, earning upwards of 50,000 Kindling a day wasn''t impossible. Though it would be cutting it close, Linnaeus was confident they could earn the four million Kindling necessary for their entire Party within the two month period. The only thing that would set them back, outside of personal motivation, was general expenses related to equipment and supplies. Linnaeus was hoping their trip to the Southern Forest and Monster Ant Colony could offset these expenses but, by the time they began their trip South, Eliza and Emilia were both broke. They had both purchased satchels that had dimensional pockets inside, each filled with items they believe to be essential for future travels. Since he couldn''t really control how the girls spent their Soul Kindling, Linnaeus, at the time, could only stare back at them with a blank face as Eliza complained about not having enough Kindling for a room. Fortunately, she didn''t nag him after he found a relatively cheap Inn to stay at, one that had group rooms with thin cots instead of beds. Eliza, fortunately, had enough wherewithal to know better than to pressure Linnaeus into spending his Soul Kindling for no better reason than to pander to her. Her intention was to spoil him a bit, not be spoiled by him so, while she was obviously bothered by the arrangements, she didn''t complain in the slightest. As for Emilia, she grew up in a nomadic tribe that used hammocks and sleeping bags in lieu of actual beds so she didn''t mind roughing it at all. With neither girl having a problem with arrangements, combined with the fact that Krone had opted to stay in the group room as well, Linnaeus felt that their Party wasn''t completely hopeless. Krone''s display of solidarity was greatly appreciated by him as, rather than offer up his Soul Kindling to pay for Eliza to have a better room, he went along with the initial decision. Though it was obvious he had been tempted to make the offer, Eliza''s silence on the matter had likely kept him from speaking out... --- As a result of their preparations, the Party reached the Southern Forest the evening of their sixth day on the Fifth Floor. There, they found a small settlement almost entirely comprised of Inns, Taverns, and, at the very center of the settled area, a massive four-tiered building that said ''Hunting Guild'' in bold letters at the very top. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Linnaeus had already gathered information on the various organizations and Guilds on the Fifth Floor so, as a form of insurance against predation, their Party ventured into the massive building to register as a Free Party. Becoming an official member would require a monthly fee but, by agreeing to a relatively loose contract, they could avoid being attacked by members of the Guild in exchange for a much smaller fee. This would prevent them from attacking other Parties associated with the Guild but, considering they had no intention of causing any trouble, Linnaeus didn''t consider this a detrimental arrangement. The first floor of the Hunting Guild was a large open area, more than half of which seemed to serve as a tavern for official members. There were various groups, some looking roughshod while others appearing to be just as new as Linnaeus'' Party based on their equipment. Knowing how to carry himself without appearing as a ''soft'' target, Linnaeus made brief eye contact with various people that looked at his Party with interest. He made no effort to conceal his blood lust so, unless they had a strong enough willpower, most people were cowed by a single glance. As for the rest, some senior members of the Guild seemed amused by his display but, understanding there was no merit in causing a scene, they made no effort to bar the group''s passage. With the way largely cleared, Linnaeus and co made their way to a reception desk, one of twenty that lined the far side of the first floor. He could tell that some were specifically for the exchange of materials while only the central stations were for registration, accepting, and reporting on various tasks. Manning the desk was a woman with olive-brown skin, dagger-like ears, and sleek black hair. Rather than a delicate maiden, however, she gave off the feeling of an unsheathed blade as her hair, apart from a series of angular bangs partly covering her right eye, was done up in a rather wild ponytail. To complete the look of a seasoned veteran, the woman wore form-fitting leather equipment that was both stylish and functional. She clearly didn''t worry about anyone gawking over her figure and, rather than hide her ''charms'', it seemed like she wanted people to see the various scars that covered parts of her body, some belonging to blades, others clearly the result of vicious monster attacks. Though he didn''t gawk in the slightest, Linnaeus did wonder about the practicality of allowing her cleavage to be on full display. He imagined it was a useful distraction against male opponents but he couldn''t really imagine being able to pull his eyes away from the woman''s face if they were to fight against each other. She had angular eyes with dark red irises and, much like Krone, black sclera that gave her a distinctly predatory gaze... While leaning somewhat lazily on her countertop, the receptionist woman eyed Linnaeus'' entire Party before turning her attention back to him and asking, "How did you manage to become the leader of this group, squirt? From what I can tell, you should be the weakest among them, right?" Without showing any sign of the indignation he felt deep inside, Linnaeus kept his composure as he plainly stated, "We would like to register as a Free Party." Rather than be offended by Linnaeus outright ignoring her questions, the receptionist woman gave a light chuckle as she pulled out a stack of documents and a crystal ball. Though she was tempted to tease him a bit, the Guild Leader would give her an ear full if she caused trouble while on duty. After reading through the contract to confirm its contents, Linnaeus and co signed the documents before the former dripped his blood onto the crystal ball. The paper documents affected them as individuals while the crystal ball was intended to register their Party itself through Linnaeus as the proxy. Once the process was completed, Linnaeus gave the sharp-eyed woman a simple nod before he turned away without further comment. This caused her to lean against the table, elbows supporting her body while simultaneously pressing her less-than-modest breasts together as she mused, "Hey, try not to get yourself killed out there, squirt. If you have any trouble, don''t be afraid to come and ask for advice. If the price is right, I don''t mind teaching you for a bit~." Hearing the woman''s words, Linnaeus'' steps slowed to a stop. He had to resist an overwhelming urge to sigh as he looked back, his expression affixed in the same unperturbed visage as he said, "I''ll keep that in mind..." before turning away. Though his remark earned him a pointed look from Eliza, Linnaeus knew he would become a mark for opportunists if he acted flustered or dismissive. He knew the woman was trying to feel him out as, in her line of work, understanding your clientele was extremely important. She wasn''t actually trying to seduce him, rather, much like the other people within the Guild, she was merely testing his character. Eliza understood this as well but, as was often the case, she didn''t appreciate Linnaeus'' choice of words. She knew he wasn''t trying to flirt but, for reasons she couldn''t quite understand, he seemed to be a natural at it when the situation arose. It was this quirk of his that likely led to him developing the Skill in the first place, irrespective of his actual intent... Linnaeus, unaware of what was going through Eliza''s mind, led the group to the western part of the settlement to secure lodgings. They had arrived in the evening and, while hunting at night was one of the things their Party may very well specialize at in the future, it was still better to head out early in the morning. Understanding they would pay him back the following day, as monsters still dropped Soul Kindling, Linnaeus elected to pay for Eliza''s and Emilia''s booking. They had already tolerated staying in a sorry excuse for an Inn so, in order to increase Party morale, forking over a few hundred Kindling wasn''t a bad investment. As they could have just as easily spent the night in the forest, Eliza''s mood improved noticeably the moment Linnaeus led the group to an Inn. Though she also felt a little guilty, believing her previous mood had pressured him into the decision, she wasn''t going to refuse Linnaeus'' good intentions. Since he could be a little awkward when it came to socializing, Eliza made a point to thank Linnaeus in a very open and direct manner. This caused him to tense up slightly but, much like their previous interactions, she was eventually able to get close enough to give him a hug, gently patting his back as she whispered, "Thank you, Lin..." in a gratified tone. Seeing this rather common interaction between Linnaeus and Eliza, Krone largely ignored them as he made his way toward his own room. As for Emilia, she patiently waited at the side, earning a pointed look from Eliza who reluctantly released Linnaeus from her grasp. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Emilia hoped over to Linnaeus'' side, triggering a statuesque response from him as she unabashedly hugged him with enough force to lift him off his feet. This kind of skinship was becoming increasingly common between them, not because Emilia had any intimate feelings for Linnaeus but due to her pack mentality and a building recognition that he and Eliza were ''family''. The most obvious indicator of Emilia''s acceptance of the Party was that, when they were among just themselves, she would openly display her tail. This indicated both trust and familiarity as the tail of a Vanargandr not only made their emotions transparent but, if it was targetted during combat, they would effectively be crippled if someone managed to get a firm grip on the paradoxically fluffy yet sleek appendage... (A/N: Sorry for the drop in chapter releases. I had a very bad ear infection that essentially took me out of commission for a full week. Even now, I still have pressure and discomfort in my ears but I can at least think clearly. Unless something else happens, I''ll be back to the normal release rate now that I''m on the mend.) 64 Shadows After a relatively uneventful night, Linnaeus was performing maintenance on his equipment when an incongruous feeling passed over him. At the same time, Emilia, who had been sleeping at the side with Eliza, twitched awake and, a stark contrast to Eliza, seemed completely awake in an instant. Without the need for words, Linnaeus made a small hand sign before using a small cloth to wipe the oil from his daggers. He pretended not to have noticed the presence outside while Emilia, following his orders, snuggled up next to Eliza, albeit with a tense body... Just as Linnaeus was considering whether or not he should take proactive action, a loud knocking was heard against the door. Immediately after, a slurred yet feminine voice shouted, "Hey, ey tol'' you notsch to locksh the doooooooor~" while wiggling the doorknob. Though it seemed like a misunderstanding, Linnaeus didn''t drop his guard at all. Rather, the feeling on incongruity was even stronger than before and, never doubting his gut, he stood up silently with both daggers in hand as he stared back at the door. Eventually, the abrasive and annoying noise awoke Eliza and, as if she had no sense of tension at all, she shouted in an even louder voice, "This isn''t your room you dumbass...!" in a sleepy tone. In response to Eliza''s outburst, the shaking of the door ceased in an instant. Then, after several seconds of silence, an awkward laugh rang out from the hallway. Based on the sound, it could be inferred that the person outside was walking away but, even after the sound had faded entirely, Linnaeus kept in a battle-ready stance as Emilia helped Eliza come to her senses. It was only when she was wiping the sleep from her eyes that Eliza realized the state Linnaeus was in. This caused her to stare at him for a brief moment before all the tiredness faded from her body and mind. She became significantly more serious as she asked in a low whisper, "What happened? That knocking...did someone try to break into our room...?" Without taking his eyes away from the door, Linnaeus lightly shrugged his shoulders as he didn''t really know the other person''s intent. He couldn''t even be certain she was a female as it wasn''t all that difficult to mask your voice if you put a bit of effort into it. Realizing that Linnaeus and Emilia weren''t saying anything, Eliza ultimately decided to stay quiet as well. She quickly readied her own equipment without bothering to fix her hair. It was only when she was prepared that Linnaeus finally moved from his position, his steps absolutely silent as he stalked toward the silent door... Once Eliza and Emilia had fallen into their own positions behind him, Linnaeus reached for the door''s knob after deftly disabling the series of locks. Then, with a single motion, he swung the door open as he lifted up the dagger in his left hand, the point facing outward as a young girl with pale blond hair set into two parted braids walked by with a pile of linens. Seemingly very surprised, the young girl startled like a cat with its tail stepped upon, the linens in her hand being thrown upward like an eruption. At the same time, Linnaeus formed a barrier to separate his body from the young girl just as a thin-bladed weapon, much like an ice-pick, stabbed toward his neck. As if his barrier was completely useless against the highly penetrative weapon, Linnaeus twisted his body to the side as the thin blue membrane shattered like a piece of glass. At nearly the exact same moment, Emilia emerged from behind him, spear extending outward toward the seemingly young girl with an average and homely appearance. Rather than try to defend against the attack, the young girl rolled in the opposite direction from Linnaeus. This was around the same time that the linens began to settle so she grabbed one in a single swift motion, throwing it between herself and Emilia as she tumbled several times in a deft and controlled manner. Since bundled cloth was surprisingly difficult to cut through, Emilia''s spear tip ended up being wrapped by the fabric but, rather than hold on to an entangled weapon, she placed it back into her Inventory before pulling out a second one without any delay. This caused the homely girl who, upon closer inspection, had two curved horns at the side of her head to muse, "You all aren''t bad at all~." Knowing the foolishness of communicating with an enemy mid-combat, Emilia largely ignored the girl''s words as a ball of water formed at the base of her spearhead. She moved fast enough to vault over a thin piece of metal that had been thrown out by the girl then, using the roof as a footstool, lunged down with lethal momentum. Now with a smile on her face, the homely girl squat toward the ground as if she wasn''t even going to try and dodge. The hair on Emilia''s neck stood on end in response as she had yet to identify what kind of Blessing the opponent had before charging into her range. As if having read her mind, a thin blue membrane appeared in front of Emilia''s trajectory, allowing her to quickly change direction in exchange for considerable discomfort and a bit of joint pain. At the same time, the girl released a light chuckle as, instead of attacking, she sank into the shadows beneath herself... With the incongruous feeling fading away in an instant, Linnaeus furrowed his brows while Eliza, having just left the room moments prior, muttered, "So much for laying low." in an annoyed tone. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Hearing her remark, Linnaeus shrugged his shoulders before placing his daggers into the sheaths at his lower back. There was a lot he wanted to say but, seeing several people exiting their rooms while the Inn''s owner quickly ascended from the lower floor, he knew it wasn''t really the time to talk about the identity and purpose of their attacker. Unlike the kindly Sara, the owner of the Inn was a mountain of a man with a ''mane'' of blazing red hair. The muscles on his body rippled with each of his movements yet, despite his rather bulky figure, he moved with precise and smooth movements. It would be impossible to run a business if you lacked connections and individual power so most established business owners were retired Hunters or high-level craftsman. Fortunately, the man didn''t immediately accuse Linnaeus'' group of causing trouble as there was no reason for them to stay behind if that were the case. He could tell they were all extremely tense so, while he did question them, it wasn''t difficult to guess they were the victims. Since this type of event wasn''t all that rare outside of Central City, he even offered them a free meal as an apology for the inconvenience. Linnaeus was honestly surprised by this reaction as he was used to people using any opportunity to con others. If not for the casual demeanor of Krone and Eliza, he would have refused the offer as he would have instinctually assumed the owner of the Inn was related to his attackers... Once the questioning had come to an end, Linnaeus and co were gathered around a circular table at the corner of the Inn''s floor room. They had a massive amount of food piled before them, much to the satisfaction of Emilia, but Linnaeus elected not to partake as he quietly explained, "I believe the purpose of our attackers was to collect information, not assassinate us. That girl was extremely swift and it''s not the first time I''ve seen someone use [Shadow Step]. If her purpose had been to kill us, it would have been easier to attack us a few hours before sunset. There would have been no reason to use such a roundabout method..." With her cheeks stuff with food, giving her an appearance similar to a small rodent, Emilia nodded in response as she added, "She was watching us all closely. Her speed was also similar to mine but she chose to keep a distance, despite having short-range weapons. Based on her movements, she wasn''t inexperienced in intrapersonal combat. If she was serious, fighting inside of my range would give her a big advantage." Though she didn''t disagree with Emilia''s analysis, Eliza picked at the food on her plate as she lightly muttered, "We can''t dismiss the possibility that she fought in such a way as a result of not knowing our capabilities. Like Lin said, it is obvious they were just feeling us out...if I''m not wrong, we''ll learn her intentions in the near future...haaaaa...." Eliza was actually very accustomed to people targetting her and the people around her but, now that she was living a second life in the Crucible of Souls, it was disheartening to have people targetting her again so soon. It hadn''t even been two full months since she died yet, despite making an effort to lay low, people came seeking trouble with her... Unaware of the fact that Eliza had essentially condemned the people targetting them to death, Linnaeus mulled over the event within his mind. He considered everything Eliza and Emilia had said before hanging his head in a thoughtful manner and whispering, "It is impossible to be certain but the most likely motive seems to be recruiting people. If we''re weak, they would probably suppress us and force us to pay a protection fee. Now that they''ve confirmed we''re able to protect ourselves, the odds of a secondary force being sent to...negotiate...are pretty high." As they had already come to similar conclusions, Eliza and Emilia nodded their heads while, at the side, Krone had his usual stern expression as he remarked, "If we leave the Southern Forests for another region, I doubt they would follow us. To use these kinds of methods, our enemies must be cowards who rely on a few powerful individuals to exploit anyone weaker than themselves. Staying here will just make us a target, either for recruiting or showing off their power..." Linnaeus could understand Krone''s point but, considering they had traveled more than half a day just to reach the Southern Forests, combined with the fact they had diminishing Kindling reserves, it would be extremely detrimental to leave so soon. There was also the simple fact that, if they couldn''t even move freely in the ''weakest'' territory, how could they expect to carry themselves confidently in other, markedly more powerful, regions? In spite of his usual caution, Linnaeus shook his head, not to disagree with Krone but to deny the underlying suggestion contained within his words. Then, crossing his arms to put on a confident air, Linnaeus explained, "I don''t want to stick out too much but, if we hang our heads and let people push us around, even living on the Fifth Floor will be made difficult. I say we focus on our original purpose while coming up with a solution to this problem...based on how the Proprieter behaved, this isn''t the first time something like this has happened." Remembering how the man had acted, Linnaeus was certain this was an arranged scheme, one that was directly supported by the Hunting Guild. They likely had a shadow organization that dealt with any troublesome elements that threatened the Guild''s interests. For now, it was clear their intention was to simply gather information but, depending on how things developed, they may very well be targetted for elimination. For now, Linnaeus wanted to gather information and, if possible, recruit people in a similar situation as them. Unfortunately, this would be very difficult as, if they approached people immediately after they were attacked, the logical conclusion was that they were the perpetrators behind the attack. With this in mind, Linnaeus began to lay out a plan with his Party, one that focused on playing the part of bait as he gathered what information he could. They would keep Eliza''s power concealed for as long as possible and, in order to trick the enemy into mislabeling his ability, Krone would only absorb the traits of his gauntlets. There were very Blessing that allowed a person to change the basic composition of their body so it wasn''t difficult to mislead observers... 65 Rising Tension As the ''weakest'' region on the Fifth Floor, the Southern Forests were relatively safe, regardless of the nature of your Blessing. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. So long as you avoided venturing too far South, traveling for well over three days, there weren''t any particularly dangerous enemies. Rather, there was an overabundance of Slime-Type monsters, to the point it was nearly impossible to find an area without at least one Slime present. Other than the Blue, Green, Rock, and Metal Slimes he had previously encountered, Linnaeus quickly came to learn that there were a variety of Slimes outside his existing knowledge. This included types with light purple skin, capable of producing electrical impulses, a type with dark purple skin, capable of spitting corrosive venom, and various elemental Slimes capable of using very basic Magic spells. Linnaeus was honestly a little surprised at the variety of the creatures and, if time allowed, he would have liked to better understand the nature of their existence. Instead, his main focus was harvesting the coveted Slime Gels, a stable source of income due to the constant demand. They were used in everything from Alchemy to Blacksmithing so there was never enough to flood the market. The only gripe Linnaeus had about the current situation was the fact many of the elemental Slimes looked almost indiscernible from their much weaker counterparts. Water Slimes looked like Common Mountain Slimes while Windswept Slimes looked indistinguishable from Green Slimes. If you weren''t on your toes at every moment, there was a non-negligible chance you would eat a Water Bullet or an Air Blade, each capable of causing extreme damage depending on the area hit. Fortunately, after absorbing the properties of the metal in his gauntlets, Krone was largely immune to weaker Magic spells. He also had extreme resistance to physical attacks, albeit at the cost of more than half his total Agility. With Krone acting as the Vanguard, the Party only needed to be cautious of the dark purple variety known as Toxic Slime. Its corrosive venom had the ability to melt minerals so, with his body being comprised mostly of refined steel, Krone was extremely susceptible to this particular variety. In fact, he had half his left arm melted after crushing a Toxic Slime with his bare fist, something he quickly learned was a bad idea. If not for the inherent ability of everyone to heal from wounds, so long as they were not in a Critical Health state, Krone may have actually lost his arm to a Slime. This seemed to prick his pride a bit so, from that moment onward, he focused on being reactive and observing his opponents rather than charging them directly. Had he stayed within the effective range of Linnaeus'' [Barrier Aura], the Toxic Slime''s venom wouldn''t have been able to affect him in the slightest... In this manner, the Party continued to refine its cooperation while simultaneously building trust in each other. They spent much of the daylight hours gathering materials and exchanging them at the Hunting Guild while, in the evenings, Linnaeus would gather information. Since the preliminary attack, three days had passed without incident but, from experience, Linnaeus knew this was likely the enemy''s attempt to lull them into a false sense of security. There was a good chance they were still being ''tested'', likely to determine how patient or paranoid they were, so there was no way Linnaeus would drop his guard. If they thought he would become a soft target due to complacency, they severely underestimated him, a person who had lived for years without dropping his guard for more than a few minutes at a time... The downside to this kind of mentality, however, was that Linnaeus became increasingly silent and anti-social. He was always tensed so, when Eliza would try to get in his personal space, he wouldn''t allow her to hold him for more than a few seconds. As a result of Linnaeus'' behavior, Eliza was already pushing to have the Party to leave the Southern Forests. She, like everyone else, was in a tensed state but, seeing how ''serious'' Linnaeus was, it was beginning to stress her out. Unlike Linnaeus, she had learned the importance of relaxing your mind and body when given the opportunity to do so. It was impossible to stay in a reactive and alert state forever and, the longer you tried, the more unhinged you would become. While this may not be a big issue when you were alone, or perhaps with one other person, it wasn''t behavior suitable for a Party Leader. Ultimately, Eliza pulled Linnaeus aside when they retired to their room, explaining in a stern yet guiding tone, "I''m not telling you to drop your guard but your tension is affecting everyone else in a negative way, Lin. A Party Leader needs to be calm and confident at all times in order to ensure that the Party''s morale is in high form. Seeing you become this...machine-like creature...none of us are able to relax..." Having seen the changes in his Party members, Linnaeus knew there was some truth behind Eliza''s words. In fact, their change had been weighing heavily on his heart and mind but, with the enemy having someone that could literally move through shadows, he couldn''t relax. He would even stab his own shadow periodically as, even with [Shadow Step], a person could be injured if you hit the shadow they currently inhabited. Since he couldn''t ignore her advice, Linnaeus answered Eliza''s words with a curt nod before relaxing his shoulders a bit and saying, "It''s just...I would never forgive myself if something happened due to my own complacency. I''m not trying to stress the three of you out...I just want to protect the things I want to protect..." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Eliza turned her eyes up at him with a slight smile on her face. She reached her hand out to gently stroke his head, saying in a light murmur, "That is very good, Lin. Wanting to protect things is a commendable trait to possess. Just remind yourself that there is more to protect than just the physical body...if the mind breaks, it doesn''t matter how a person appears to viewers. In many cases, the thing you should do your best to safeguard is the person''s mentality...wounds heal and scars fade...remember that, okay...?" Linnaeus blinked in surprise after hearing Eliza''s words. He could understand the truth contained in them as, during his time as a Street Urchin, the thing he focused on preserving, more than anything else, was his sense of self and his desire to protect. This hadn''t changed even after he obtained his Blessing, rather, even after being separated from his sister, the one thing that kept him from straying onto a much darker path was imagining how she would react upon their reunion... No matter how much physical torture he experienced, regardless of how much mental anguish he had to go through, Linnaeus was determined to keep the seedling Rebecca had placed in him from being crushed by the immense darkness he was exposed to. He desperately wanted to be a good person, someone that broke free from the cycle that was endlessly perpetuated within the Slums... Without realizing it, a gap had formed in Linnaeus thought processes but, rather than harm, he came back to his senses when Eliza hugged him tightly, his face smothered by her disproportionately large breasts. It was only then that he realized his vision had become a little blurry as, for a brief moment, Linnaeus felt as if he had failed to preserve himself. He had killed so many people and, even though he tried to help people when the occasion arose, he couldn''t help feeling like a hypocrite that just took advantage of the situation. Realizing Eliza was yet another person he was taking advantage of for his own ends, Linnaeus felt an extreme amount of guilt. Despite this, he didn''t vocalize his thoughts and, though it made him feel even worse, he ultimately returned her hug in silence. He was too weak to stand on his own and, as she had put herself in a position to prop him up and support him, Linnaeus couldn''t be completely honest with Eliza just yet... What Linnaeus didn''t realize was that Eliza was having similar thoughts as, from the moment they began to interact with each other, she decided to make herself into an irreplaceable existence to the young boy. She would do her best to be everything he needed, not because she outright wanted to manipulate him, but because she feared the loneliness that had eaten away at her mind during that month of solitude. When she was at her darkest moments, Linnaeus had appeared like a gentle ray of moonlight. He didn''t put on pretenses, acting like some ''holier than thou'' person who was incapable of admitting wrongdoing. Instead, he simply existed as he was, a boy who experienced the darkness of the world at a very early age without being completely consumed by it... While Linnaeus and Eliza were having their moment, Emilia was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a meat skewer in hand, her eyes curiously watching their interaction. With her enhanced hearing, she could easily hear everything they were saying but, as it didn''t really matter all that much, Emilia only listened out of general curiosity. As could be expected, Emilia had her own thoughts about the current situation and, though it was a little awkward, she was happy to see the bonds between everyone strengthening. In her mind, those who fought alongside each other were comrades while those unhesitantly risked their life for each other were family. Linnaeus gave her the impression of someone who would go to any lengths to protect the things he had sworn to protect so, while she felt he had a long way to go as a Leader, she already considered him family. If she wasn''t willing to protect the people that would risk life and limb to protect her, the spirits of her Ancestors would scorn and admonish her. Prior to being thrown into the Crucible of Souls, Emilia believed she had failed her tribe and unborn descendants by losing her life in such an unceremonious manner. Now, however, she had a unique opportunity to prove herself, not once, but twice over. She would fight to regain her life and, with a few trustworthy allies at her side, fight to reclaim her honor and become a proper adult. The Vanargandr were a tribe enamored with fate, family, and food so Emilia didn''t believe it was a coincidence she had met Linnaeus, Eliza, and Krone. They all had their quirks but, deep down, she could tell they were the type that would fight for others. The past few weeks had been a testament to this as, despite ongoing tensions, they had quickly familiarized themselves with each other. Emilia''s only real complaint was that Linnaeus was still a little weak, despite having proven himself as a capable leader in his own way. She felt he was someone that needed to be protected, not a leader who could protect others and inspire confidence in his pack. He didn''t give off the impression of an Alpha in the slightest, something that made Emilia feel uncomfortable at times. Despite this, she had come to trust Linnaeus'' judgment and potential as, while he seemed weak and frail at times, there were certain moments when his aura alone would trigger her instincts. When he wanted to protect something, he gave off an aura that could rival even the strongest warriors from her tribe. During those moments, Emilia would feel very excited and, if not for Eliza''s presence, she would have tried to secure Linnaeus as her mate. Her people believed that the will of the parents was transferred to their children so, with his strong desire to protect others, Emilia believed Linnaeus was a suitable father for at least one batch of cubs... 66 Tail : Fatigue Though he would have liked to take Eliza''s advice and relax for a bit, Linnaeus was still wide awake by the time darkness had fallen over the small forest settlement. This was what he had been waiting for so, after extricating himself from Eliza''s clutches and signaling to Emilia to stay back, he departed the Inn in the middle of the night. Nothing had happened in the last couple of days so Linnaeus took a gamble by assuming that their enemies were trying to avoid damaging any of the businesses. If they were an operation supported by the Hunting Guild, it would significantly reduce the prestige of the latter if they were to damage the property of the various business owners. Some of these individuals were extremely powerful so, while they obviously wanted to put pressure on new faces, they seemed to be avoiding causing too big a scene... Hoping that his deduction struck at the heart of the matter, Linnaeus did his best to muster up his confidence as he ventured out under the cover of night. Unlike Central City, the Southern Forest Settlement wasn''t particularly well lit so it was easy to move, mostly, unseen. Linnaeus couldn''t really pretend that he had gone completely unnoticed as, despite there being a number of people out and about, there would be long periods of time where he didn''t acquire any experience in his [Stealth] and [Presence Concealment]. When you managed to evade detection from higher-level individuals, the system rewarded you with drastically increased experience. Thus, long periods where he gained no experience whatsoever were a dead giveaway that ''someone'' had noticed him. Without being dishearted by this fact, Linnaeus did his best to move with purpose, believing most of the people that had taken note of him were just curious individuals wondering what he was up to. So long as he continued on his way without causing any trouble, they would quickly lose interest since most people couldn''t really be bothered to poke their nose into other people''s business. This was something Linnaeus was banking on as, if someone continued to tail him after others had lost interest, their intentions could be assumed. They were either someone who had been assigned to watch him or someone that had taken notice of him and decided to seek trouble. In either case, both were people Linnaeus would have to deal with so he moved closer to the outskirts while trying to drop the tail. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. It was unfortunate that the settlement was distinctly different from the slums he was used to as, even if he wanted to be sneaky, the distance between buildings made it very difficult. This was one of the reasons behind why he drew so much attention as, in some cases, the distance between buildings could have easily fit another building in between...it was very annoying. Despite this, Linnaeus eventually dropped all his tails after about an hour of traveling by essentially pretending he was just training his Skills and Abilities without any actual purpose. Since being a Thief was one of the primary Classes, at least according to the information he had obtained, it wouldn''t be difficult to convince people he was just trying to polish his techniques even if they stopped him. Unfortunately, other than brief periods where he would get a decent chunk of experience, Linnaeus was still being followed by at least one person. He could deduce this from the fact that, when he did get experience, it was usually the same exact value. Since this was determined by the level difference and other factors, the likelihood that two people gave the same exact amount was relatively slim. With the intent of luring his pursuers out, Linnaeus began to follow a complex route that, if you knew the layout of the settlement, clearly indicated his intent to return. If they had any intention beyond simply observing him, they would be compelled to act before he could reunite with his allies so this was the best way to bait them out after leading them around for more than an hour. Though he didn''t doubt there were people as, or even more, cautious than himself, Linnaeus quickly learned that his degree of caution was abnormal. People weren''t nearly as patient as he could be at times, something he had cultivated due to his weakness and the fact that everyone around him, for a period of time, could have been considered an enemy. Meeting his expectations, Linnaeus found his way blocked by a petite figure wearing a black cloak. It was a little silly to see her hiding her identity, especially considering the two holes that had been cut in the hood to allow for her horns to protrude freely... Seeing that Linnaeus wasn''t even startled by her arrival, the girl giggled playfully as she mused, "You aren''t half bad, are you? The real question is, what are your intentions in luring me out like this~? Do you really intend to fight me...?" At the moment she finished her words, the hooded-girl pulled out a set of six throwing knives, each held between her fingers in a fan shape. As for Linnaeus, he tensed up considerably but managed to appear calm as he adopted a half-battle stance and asked, "What are your intentions? Why is your group interested in my Party...?" In truth, Linnaeus had already done a bit of information gathering so he had a decent understanding of the group''s purpose. Still, he wanted to know how the girl would respond as information could be manipulated freely, especially in an area where one organization had most of the power. With a pretend pout, the girl pursed her lips before placing her throwing knives away and answering, "It''s simple, really. Our group is one of the more powerful forces in this region. We may not be that strong compared to foreign organizations but we work hard to keep order within our territory. You really don''t have to worry all that much as, when you leave the settlement behind, our forces will no longer target you." Hearing the girl''s response, Linnaeus was actually a little surprised, even if it didn''t show on his face. This caused the girl to nod in approval, apparently mistaking his silence as comprehension since she turned away moments later and disappeared into the shadows. Though it was possible there was some elaborate scheme going on, the girl''s departure seemed to indicate that her words were the truth. This left Linnaeus at a loss as, while it wasn''t that far from his initial speculation, it was so much ''tamer'' than he expected... Linnaeus had assumed the girl''s organization worked with the Hunting Guild and, while this was still very likely, their purpose seemed to be pressuring outsiders. If his Party decided to stay and settle in the area, they would undoubtedly try to pull him into their fold. If they only stayed for a few weeks, however, it didn''t seem like the group would try to stop them at all. Rather, their actions seemed to be measured in order to gather information and keep outsiders from causing trouble by pressuring them during their stay... Realizing he may have genuinely been stressing over nothing, Linnaeus rested with his back against a nearby building as he slouched to the ground. He suddenly felt extremely fatigued and, while he still kept his guard up, it suddenly felt as if all his previous actions were driven by paranoia. If he really thought about it, there would be no way to keep actual order in such a distant settlement if there was some evil power machinating behind the scenes. Though there was undoubtedly a fair amount of corruption in the upper echelons of the organization, they would have been eliminated by stronger powers if they truly acted with impunity. Now that he looked back on the past few days, Linnaeus noticed that most of the actual residents were rather lackadaisical regarding the very obvious actions of the secretive organization. Just the fact that the Proprieter gave them a discount and a free meal indicated that he was very used to such incidents taking place. Otherwise, he would have been a lot angrier as the Inn was his primary source of income, not some roughshod shack that could be found within the overpopulated slums... After sitting in silence for the better part of half an hour, Linnaeus finally pulled himself to his feet and began making his way back to the Inn. Along the way, he thought about how Eliza, Krone, and even Emilia had reacted upon first entering the Fifth Floor. They behaved as if the sight of thousands of people living alongside each other without conflict was completely normal and, while he had been doing his best to accept this inherent truth, Linnaeus'' past experiences made it difficult to change his behavior in a short period of time. During the relatively short walk, Linnaeus observed his surroundings from a different perspective than the one he generally used. He tried to view the people going about their business, not as future enemies, but people that simply wanted to live a life without hardship. Some of them had immense power at their disposal but, instead of using it to suppress others, they became business owners who happily served their customers with smiles on their faces, the complete opposite of expectations. Though it would take him a long time to truly understand the thought process of such individuals, Linnaeus was beginning to understand how people like Rebecca, and the various other elders in the slums, came to live there. They would have easily found a place for themselves within the Megacity yet, as if power and authority were completely meaningless to them, they chose to live the final few decades of their lives helping others. Linnaeus was beginning to realize that he had always viewed the world from the perspective of a Street Urchin, someone constantly looking to escape a terrible situation. He realized that there had actually been a number of people throughout his journey that harbored no ill will towards him but, as a result of his anti-social nature and over-cautious mentality, he had never even given them the chance to help him. The only exceptions to this were people like Rebecca but, at the time, he didn''t really have a choice in the matter... Before he realized it, Linnaeus found himself back at the Inn and, as a result of his dazed state, he nearly bumped into a middle-aged drunkard with a wiry red beard. This startled the man and, for a brief moment, it seemed like he was about to explode in a drunken tirade. Instead, immediately after he saw Linnaeus cautiously standing a few meters away from him, the old man actually apologized before laughing as he walked off, accompanied by a few of his friends as the night was still young. Seeing a drunkard showing simple courtesy was the proverbial straw that broke the camel''s back, at least within Linnaeus'' mind. He dragged his feet up the stairs, each step heavier than the ones that came before. Then, after entering his room, Linnaeus made brief eye contact with Emilia, giving her a simple shake of the head to indicate there were no issues before ultimately plopping down face-first onto the bed. Afterward, for the first time in a long while, complete darkness claimed his mind as he slipped off into a deep state of unconsciousness...albeit only for an hour... 67 Shif After having stayed out pretty late, Linnaeus didn''t have much time remaining until he was supposed to wake. Thus, despite falling into the deepest state of unconsciousness he had ever experienced, his internal clock stirred him awake at precisely 0500. This wasn''t an exaggeration either as, due to only ever sleeping peacefully when he was knocked unconscious, Linnaeus awoke with a start, his body jerking upright in an instant as he quickly took in his surroundings. Remembering what had happened previously, Linnaeus was eventually able to calm down but, for a brief moment, cold sweat had covered his brow as his quick movement nearly sent Eliza tumbling from the bed. Being violently moved was never a pleasant way to wake up so Eliza had a grimace on her face after sitting up on the bed and asking, "What''s the big idea, Lin? Is there an enemy...?" Though it was possible her senses hadn''t detected anything, Eliza noticed that neither Linnaeus or Emilia were in a tense state. Rather, the latter seemed amused by what had happened while Linnaeus had turned statuesque, his mind clearly working in overdrive to come up with an explanation. Ultimately, Linnaeus decided to just be honest about what had happened so he explained, "I fell into a deep slumber so my body reacted negatively when it realized the time. Sorry, Eliza, I didn''t mean to startle you like that..." Hearing the sincerity in Linnaeus''s tone, Eliza felt that pressing the issue would be petty. Instead, she keyed in on his actual words and, realizing what he had said, a smile bloomed on her face. Then, as it was a matter of utmost importance, at least to her, Eliza had Linnaeus explain exactly what happened the previous night and subsequent morning. Since it would only strengthen their bond further, Linnaeus relented to Eliza''s pestering and, while they all prepared for their day, he explained his stealth activities, his encounter with the same girl that had attacked them, and his speculation following the encounter. As if to punctuate the realization he had made the previous night, Eliza gave an understanding nod alongside Emilia, despite the latter having lived in a nomadic community. While they both knew how vicious some people could be, neither of them had the same mentality as Linnaeus, one which treated every unknown factor as a danger. It was honestly a point of concern for them as, while caution wasn''t a bad character trait, it became a very big issue when it developed to a point where it was indistinguishable from paranoia. Realizing she needed to enforce this change in Linnaeus'' perspective, Eliza patiently explained her own views on society and the inherent ''trust'' required to be a functional member. Though her own perspective was obviously skewed due to her upbringing, one of the most important things she had been taught was how to read, understand, and empathize with people. These were important traits for anyone that was expected to lead others and, while ruthlessness was sometimes required during periods of conflict, it could not be the base state of a structured society. Though it would take a long time for him to truly understand what Eliza was trying to convey to him, the most important thing, at least from Linnaeus'' perspective, was that the world wasn''t the evil and vicious place he expected. He knew he would eventually meet corrupt, power-hungry, and outright vile individuals but, in the grand scheme of things, people seemed drawn towards a simpler way of life. They just wanted to be happy and, unless the situation drove them to fight for that happiness, they largely kept to themselves... --- After a rather awkward morning, Linnaeus and co set out for another day of material gathering, now without the tense atmosphere that had been present during their previous excursions. Compared to the past few days, hunting in the Southern Forests was actually a little fun as, without having to worry about enemies attacking them, the Party was able to focus on the hunt itself. This was something noted by Linnaeus and, while he didn''t particularly regret his past actions, he could tell that his behavior had been a detrimental factor to his Party''s development. Rather than apologize for his faults, Linnaeus decided to take Eliza''s and Emilia''s words to heart and, while Krone obviously wanted to inquire about what had changed, he ultimately kept silent. After all, Linnaeus was acting like a proper leader and, rather than the mask of confidence he wore to conceal his fear and paranoia, he now seemed a lot more relaxed and focused. With this newfound focus, Linnaeus fell into a more supportive role in the Party, replacing Emilia and allowing her to become the group''s Scout. This put him in a position to protect Eliza and, when the situation called for his intervention, he could easily move to support Krone. In this manner, the Party was able to clear out large sections of the forest and, after eleven hours of hunting, they had acquired more materials than their previous three days combined. Not only that, but everyone was in high spirits compared to the past few days, something Linnaeus took personally since he had been the source of the unrest. Still, he decided not to let it get to him as worrying unnecessarily would just be repeating the same mistakes as before. Instead, he would try to cultivate actual confidence and, while he couldn''t really do anything about his cautious nature, changing his perspective of the world made a big difference. Now, instead of radiating a cold and detached aura to outsiders, Linnaeus casually glanced in their direction and, after confirming they harbored no ill will, he simply ignored them. He noticed that, as a result of his shift in mentality, the surroundings seemed significantly less dangerous than before. It no longer felt like everyone was machinating and scheming against him, rather, so long as he didn''t do anything to draw their attention, most people simply ignored their group... By the time the Party returned to the Inn, Linnaeus felt as if his entire world view had been flipped on top of its head. Despite this, his mood had improved considerably and, though he couldn''t willingly drop his guard, he didn''t react adversely just because someone got near him. He even returned the greetings of a few patrons that crossed his path, people Linnaeus would have outright ignored in the past. Seeing how quickly he was improving, Eliza had a perpetual smile on her face as, more than Linnaeus himself, she felt gratified by his changes. She had been more than a little bothered by his recounting of the past and, knowing of the events that had shaped Linnaeus'' character, Eliza had made it one of her missions to open his heart, at least to her. Linnaeus had been paying close attention to all of his companions so he had, obviously, seen the change in Eliza''s mood. She was clearly happier than before, to the point she didn''t even use harsh words when Krone or Emilia did something to annoy her. Instead, she just shook her head and, as if she was afraid to ruin the mood, she ignored their small slights. Because of these changes, the Party dynamic had improved considerably in a single day. This was further emphasized by the fact that, prior to going to bed, Krone gave a few parting words to the group. He would normally just walk off after they were done discussing the day''s hunt and their future plans so it was a marked improvement, one which they discussed upon returning to their shared room... As the person with the weakest filter on her words and actions, Emilia was the first to directly state, "This is good. Compared to before, the Party is working a lot better. Keep doing your best and you''ll become an even better leader in the future, Lin." Now that they were in the privacy of their own room, Eliza stopped holding herself back for the sake of the Party, immediately rebuffing Emilia by saying, "Don''t be rude, Emilia. Linnaeus has been doing his best from the very beginning. He just lacks experience and perspective. Once he matures a bit, he will become a great Party Leader by default." Rather than refute her words, Emilia answered Eliza''s remark with an affirmative nod, adding, "Yeah, he really isn''t bad for someone his age. I can remember what I was like three years ago...really, it is amazing how much people can change, isn''t it~?" By the time she finished her words, Emilia had approached Linnaeus''s side and, using her hand, she tried to measure the difference in their heights. This caused the latter''s brow to twitch slightly as his height was quickly becoming a sore spot that he couldn''t really do anything about... Realizing she might have overstepped her bounds a bit, Emilia poked her tongue out at Linnaeus before asking, "Should I apologize~?" in a cutesy tone. Remembering Emilia''s previous display, where she laid on her back and presented her stomach, Linnaeus ultimately shook his head in exasperation, saying, "We should prepare for bed. There is no way of knowing the future so it is important to rest when we can..." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Emilia brought her face a little closer to his and, a serious look on her face as she said, "You should be bolder, Lin. Not many men get the chance to share a room with two girls like this. You won''t have this opportunity forever so make the most of it while you can, okay...?" Before Linnaeus was able to respond to her words, Emilia felt her head being jerked back, courtesy of Eliza pulling her ponytail. At the same time, the latter stated in a cold tone, "Don''t put any weird ideas into Lin''s head. I swear, if you try to corrupt him..." As Eliza was still pulling on her ponytail, Emilia could only offer a pained smile in response as she answered, "I''m only playing around, you don''t have to be so serious, Liz~!" Sensing that things were becoming chaotic, Linnaeus shook his head and simply turned away from the duo. Curiously, this was enough to stop them from fighting and, after an awkward period of silence, they too began preparing for bed. This involved taking a bath, changing clothes, and tying up their hair. Refusing to share the bath with Emilia, Eliza quickly took over the bathroom for herself, albeit after giving the increasingly mischevious Vanargandr a starn warning. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though she was tempted to ignore Eliza''s remarks, Emilia ultimately nodded her head since she didn''t want to offend the former. Rather, her teasing of Linnaeus was the result of their increased familiarity and, while she didn''t mind laying a claim to the white-haired youth, she wasn''t serious. Back in her tribe, the girls enjoyed teasing the weaker males as it was just a way of fostering positive rapport with their future mates. She honestly didn''t understand why Eliza behaved as she did toward Linnaeus so she just treated it as a cultural difference. Still, unless Linnaeus himself told her to stop doing it, Emilia wasn''t going to stop teasing him when the opportunity presented itself. After all, he was supposed to be the Party leader and, while Eliza was still the strongest in the group, Emilia cared more about the established hierarchy than presumed structure of the group... With this in mind, Emilia waited until she heard the sound of water being moved about before she turned toward Linnaeus with a smile. He was an extremely perceptive boy so he immediately noticed her gaze, turning his head to meet her. This caused Emilia to smile mischievously and, knowing he wouldn''t say anything about it, she bounced over to him before laying on her back and apologizing for her earlier behavior, tummy exposed and tail curled up between her legs in a pitiable manner... 68 Guts Though he still woke up every hour or so, Linnaeus enjoyed one of the best nights of sleep that his mind could recall. Sleeping next to Eliza had always been strangely comfortable but, now that he was no longer afraid of his enemies exploiting a single moment of weakness, he was able to finally relax, even if only a little. The next morning, he awoke to feel refreshed and energetic so, after their early-morning ritual, once everyone had gathered for breakfast, he proposed, "Today, we''ll move further to the Southwest. This may be our last day gathering here so we should try to accumulate some raw materials for forging." While Slime Gels were the most popular commodity to be harvested from Slimes, there were some varieties that also dropped highly refined ores. These were the evolution of Mimic and Rock Slimes, each significantly rarer than the common elemental varieties. In exchange, their drops were far more valuable and, with Krone''s Blessing, obtaining purified metals would be extremely useful. As they had already discussed the possibility of visiting the area Linnaeus had in mind, none of his Party members were against. Rather, knowing he stood to benefit the most, Krone gave a curt nod of approval. As for Eliza and Emilia, the former generally supported all of Linnaeus'' decisions while the latter was too busy engorging herself to really argue a point of her own. With everyone in agreement, the group made their way down a well-trod footpath, a common route used by Parties venturing deeper into the Southern Forest. Previously, they had gone out of their way to avoid such paths but, realizing they were well-trodden for a reason, Linnaeus felt as if his past self really was paranoid. Along the way to their destination, the Party encountered several wayward Slimes, including a rare jade-green Slime known, quite literally, as a Jade Slime. It was a mineral-type Slime but, instead of dropping refined ore, they instead dropped a piece of smooth jade. This looked like nothing more than a pretty stone at a glance but, in the hands of a skills craftsman, it could be made into a ring or amulet that was capable of holding additional items, much like an Inventory. There was no way they could pass up on the rare encounter so, while keeping in mind that the Jade Slime had a very potent venom, the Party moved to cut off its escape routes as Krone, covered in a [Barrier Aura] worked to smash the nebulous creature. Due to its size, being nearly 2m in diameter, it was a lot harder to kill than a normal Slime but, with a bit of persistence, combined with the fact he could absorb its traits, Krone ultimately managed to rip it in half. This cost Linnaeus most of his SP reserves but, considering they got a piece of Jadite Stone that weighed more than 2kg, it was more than worth it. After collecting the rare resource, Linnaeus had a genuine smile on his face as he turned to the Party and asked, "Should we just turn back now? A chunk this size should be enough for all of us. We can use any excess to buy raw materials for Krone''s Blessing so there is no reason to venture any further than this." Since it had only been forty minutes from the time they set out, it felt a little strange to be calling it a day but, never one to chance fate, Linnaeus felt they should quit while they were ahead. This seemed to be the general consensus of the entire Party as well so, after a brief discussion, they decided it was time to bid farewell to the Southern Forests. So as not to draw too much attention to themselves, as there were people who kept track of when a Party entered and exited the forests, Linnaeus and co spent a bit of time killing various lesser Slimes to fill their totes. They would trade these in at the Hunting Guild before leaving the Southern Forest Settlement. Since it was still pretty early, they could easily reach Central before evening fell. Though Linnaeus felt as if their hasty retreat might draw unwarranted attention, he tried to keep his calm and go with the flow as, even after leaving the Guild behind, he never got the feeling that any danger was heading their way. His instincts told him that someone or something would try to bar their passage back to Central but, considering how easy it was to reach the Southern Forests, there was a good chance their trip back may very well be smooth... --- While it wouldn''t set back his new mentality too much, Linnaeus was soon reminded why he always trusted his gut instinct. About an hour out from the Southern Forest Settlement, the entire Party''s [Sense Danger] started sounding alarm bells in their mind and, immediately after, various people could be seen trying to surround them. Other Parties may be caught unprepared for such occurrences but, expecting something like this to happen at some point, Linnaeus had already discussed countermeasures with his Party. As a result, Krone began absorbing the properties of his gauntlets. At the same time, Emilia used her [Phase Change] to create a thick cover of fog, obscuring the sight of both the Party and their attackers. Fortunately, everyone in their Party had decent [Perception] and, having already practiced fighting in the cloud of fog, they had a slight advantage over their assailants. This could all be invalidated by the enemy''s Blessings but it was still better than being exposed to direct fire... Since it was created as a result of her Blessing, the fog cloud was able to follow along with Emilia and the Party so, rather than be stuck in one spot, they doubled their pace to make it harder for the enemy to surround them. Linnaeus left Eliza in the care of Krone and, using the boundaries of the fog to maintain the proper distance for his own [Barrier Aura], he began searching for enemies barring their passage. Most people were unfamiliar with fighting in an environment where they could hardly see beyond their own outstretched hands so Linnaeus ended up finding a red-haired youth with a rather vicious sword in hand. He was peering into the fog with his sword at the ready but, due to being immobile, he was caught off guard by Linnaeus'' small stature and relatively high Agility. Despite this, the man still managed to swing his sword toward Linnaeus'' neck on reflex but the latter had already made a rod-shaped barrier within the trajectory of the swing. This caught the youth''s forearms, interrupting the swing and surprising him more than a little. Unfortunately, this wasn''t the end of his surprises as, without anything barring his passage, Linnaeus buried his daggers into the youth''s gut and chest in an instant. With a face of sheer incredulity, the light in the youth''s eyes quickly faded away as, atop his head, the bar representing his health quickly flatlined. Direct strikes to the Heart and Brain had a high chance of causing the ''Instant Death'' effect so, while people with higher Endurance may be able to survive such attacks, those specializing in Agility were very susceptible to such blows. Aside from throwing the youth''s sword into his Inventory, Linnaeus didn''t even spare him a second glance as he used his LV17 [Perception] to sense the next enemy. This was made easier by the fact that, immediately after the youth died, someone shouted out, "Fuck! These people killed Sahl! Kill these motherfuckers...!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Hearing this outburst, Linnaeus began making his way towards the source only to change his course when he heard another voice reply, "Fighting in the fog is a bad idea. We should attack from outside and wait for them to run out of SP. If we kill them too quickly, we won''t be able to recover the items in their Inventories. Don''t let your head get clouded by rage, Jack!" In live combat, those that could keep their calm were infinitely more dangerous than the type that let their emotions drive their decisions. When Linnaeus heard the voice of a woman pacifying the rage of who he presumed to be the leader, he immediately chose her as his second target. It was fortunate that they were foolish enough to shout as, understanding his intentions, Emilia followed along the same axis of movement to ensure he wouldn''t be exposed. From the perspective of the enemies, the cloud of fog suddenly changed direction and, instead of moving away from them, it suddenly doubled-back to envelop several members. Those fearing the same end as Sahl immediately tried to retreat but, as they weren''t priority targets, Linnaeus simply ignored them. After a few seconds of heart-pounding pursuit, Linnaeus saw a man that could only be described as ''wild'' while, at his side, a lavender-haired woman with a buckler and needle-like rapier could be seen staring directly at him. Though it felt like his nerves were on fire, Linnaeus wasn''t daunted by the fact his presence had been noticed. Instead, he pushed his speed beyond its natural limits, relying on the surge of adrenaline to propel himself forward. By the time the wild man noticed what was happening, the woman with the rapier lunged to meet Linnaeus'' charge, a vortex of green energy wrapping around her blade and body. This indicated her Blessing was related to wind, one of the more powerful offensive elements, but Linnaeus couldn''t afford to simply turn back at this point. Though he couldn''t form anything more complex in the time allotted, Linnaeus was still able to form a marble-sized barrier in the path of the woman. He poured a quarter of his reserves into the super-dense ball of SP which, due to its size, went completely unnoticed by everyone. At the same time, he charged forward as if he was fully intent on crossing blades with the tempestuous rapier. As a result of his subterfuge, the woman, who had put her all into the charge, suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest as her momentum was completely arrested. Her balance was destroyed and, while the blades of wind around her rapier still cut outward, they crashed harmlessly against the [Barrier Aura] of Linnaeus. Before the woman could even exclaim in pain, Linnaeus pushed his speed even further beyond his limits, pulling his recently acquired sword out from his Inventory in the process. Then, much to the shock of the wild man and his cohorts, Linnaeus buried his sword into the woman''s neck, piercing straight through to the other side and leaving it there as he turned back to run. For a brief moment, silence dominated the foggy atmosphere until, finally reconciling what had happened, the wild-looking man released a feral-sounding bellow, screaming, "I WILL PEEL YOUR FLESH AND FUCK YOUR SKULL!" Without bothering to respond to the man, Linnaeus vanished into the fog as, moments later, the entire area occupied by the now-enraged man was suffused with a purple hue. He didn''t even have time to enact his revenge as, from the moment they saw the purple aura, death descended upon the three people nearby, courtesy of Eliza''s [Crush] magic. With gravity spontaneously increasing by 50x the normal amount, it was enough to spontaneously rupture the capillaries in a person''s body and, while some people may have the physical strength to withstand the forces, it wasn''t as if they could easily train their organs. As a result, all of the soft and fleshy bits in their body were forced downward with intense force, their brains and hearts included. One of them was unfortunate enough to be the type to wear heavy armor so, while his Strength was commendable, his 70kg of armor became a metallic press of 3,500kg in an instant... 69 Windfall Though there were exceptions at the Company level, most Parties were dispelled the moment their Party Leader was killed in battle. This was one of the reasons why the strongest or toughest member of the Party was elected as the leader. In this case, the man and woman Linnaeus and co ended up killing seemed to be a Company Leader and Lieutenant. As a result, the Company was disbanded and, without a good reason to face the fog of death, the remaining Party Leaders commanded their teams to retreat. They hadn''t been able to take out a single enemy yet, in a span of only a few minutes, several of their strongest members had been wiped out. This was enough to terrify anyone without death-seeking habits so it wasn''t all that surprising, at least to Linnaeus, that they would turn tail and run. Despite this, Emilia continued to spread her fog through the area as Linnaeus looted the corpses of their attackers. She made sure to move around occasionally to avoid having her location pinpointed but, even after twenty minutes, silence dominated the surroundings. To conserve SP, Emilia ultimately allowed the fog to dissipate through the surroundings as the Party made its way towards Central City. They didn''t know the true purpose of the ambush but it was safe to assume their enemies didn''t have good intentions if it required them to surround their Party... --- It generally required a half day''s travel to reach Central City from the Southern Forests. Due to the ambush, Linnaeus and co managed to reduce this travel time to only seven hours. They wanted to reach a relatively safe location before they began to discuss what had happened as the period of time immediately after an attack was, in many cases, a person''s most vulnerable moment. Fortunately, the Party managed to enter through the security checkpoint after paying a small fee of Soul Kindling. After that, they found an Inn with decent rates and large food portions before topping themselves off and retreating to the relative security of their booked rooms. Since they had a few things to discuss, everyone gathered together in the same room to distribute loot and talk about their future plans. There was a small chance the group that attacked them was related to a larger group but, as none of the loot made this connection obvious, it was impossible to be certain. After having just gotten over his paranoia, Linnaeus was afraid this incident would reawaken his old mentality so, rather than regress, he looked toward the future, saying, "In a way, this is a blessing of sorts. Based on what I could tell, the woman I managed to surprise attack was well over my Level. It is safe to assume that the leader was even stronger than her so, despite our small number, we were able to defeat a much larger group of people with similar Levels. Really, good work, everyone...our teamwork and coordination really shined today." Linnaeus was generally a taciturn individual who chose his words very carefully. Hearing him give a small speech was a surprise to everyone, Eliza included. This caused a smile to spread across her face and, though she was still a little annoyed about the previous attack, she internally thanked the group for their sacrifice. Eliza wasn''t the only one who was happy about the change in Linnaeus'' behavior. The earlier battle had proven to Emilia that Linnaeus was a capable Party Leader. He was the one to come up with the idea of masking their location with fog and, despite the precariousness of their situation, he charged into enemy lines without any hesitation. As a result of his resolute actions, he was able to forcibly shift the momentum in their favor while simultaneously revealing the location of their enemies to Eliza. This had allowed them to defeat a group of enemies that, in any other situation, would have easily defeated them in turn. Now that she recognized Linnaeus as a ''real'' Party Leader, something deep inside of Emilia clicked into place and, for very different reasons that Eliza, a smile spread across her face... Though he couldn''t pinpoint the cause, Linnaeus felt a small shiver pass through his body but, as the rest of his Party didn''t seem to have a reaction, he set it aside for the time being. It was a different feeling than the one he would get when something dangerous was approaching so, at the very least, he didn''t have to worry about another surprise attack. --- In total, the Party had managed to loot a greatsword, two longswords, five daggers, an ornate rapier, and, most importantly, two interspatial rings. Most of the equipment had sustained various amounts of damage from Eliza''s [Crush] magic but, as they were often infused with unique enchantments, the interspatial rings were still in pristine condition. This was where the main haul of the ambush was found as each ring contained a plethora of useful items, such as potions, elixirs, and a small mountain of foodstuffs. Since even cheap potions could cost several hundred Soul Kindling, inheriting enough to support an entire Company of people as a Party of four was a major windfall. While these were all incredibly important, the greatest boon was the actual Soul Kindling that was present in each of the rings. There were nearly 170,000 to be split between them, bringing the total haul to more than 300,000 due to the Kindling dropped from the actual corpses. As he had learned on his first day in the Crucible of Souls, a person dropped their Soul Kindling upon death. This was what had led him to the assumption that killing would be common within the Crucible of Souls. Though he now realized that most people tended to avoid such bloody conflict, it could be seen from this most recent incident that not everyone had an aversion to violence. It was somewhat unfortunate that some enemies had been able to flee from the battle but, with such a large windfall, Linnaeus couldn''t really complain. Trying to chase after fleeing enemies was difficult, especially if they went in different directions, so there really wasn''t much they could have done. Now, they could only hope that their Party hadn''t been targetted specifically. If that was the case, whoever gave the orders to track them down would soon learn of what had happened, including the fact that their Party now had more than half a million in total assets... Since there wasn''t anything he could do about unseen and unknown enemies, Linnaeus decided not to let the matter weigh too heavily on his mind. He did mention moving around periodically to avoid being easily traced but, in the grand scheme of things, this was really just the basics. So long as they didn''t establish any exploitable habits, their enemies would be forced to confront them on less-than-ideal terms, providing them more opportunities to counterattack. Eliza, Emilia, and Krone had no problems with this arrangement but they still wanted to venture into the Central District for a week or so to procure better equipment. Most of the items obtained were in various states of disrepair so it was better to scrap them for raw materials before buying equipment suitable for each person. This time around, Linnaeus was easily convinced by Eliza''s reasoning since the 300,000 Kindling they had obtained was essentially extraneous profit. It wasn''t accounted for in his initial projections so, while it was a little worrisome to spend precious Soul Kindling, ensuring his Party was well equipped was far more important... With their discussion finished, Krone ended up returning to his own room, this time without giving Linnaeus any kind of pointed looks. The earlier battle had left an impression on him as well so, while he didn''t fully accept Linnaeus'' leadership, the results spoke for themselves. Seeing the subtle changes in his burly companion''s disposition, Linnaeus allowed an actual smile to cross his face, something that was noticed by the two girls in the room. Eliza was still in high spirits from earlier so, immediately after Krone left the room, she moved to give Linnaeus a big hug. Unfortunately, her actions were too slow as, from the periphery of her vision, Emilia''s figure emerged like a blur as she pounced on the unsuspecting youth. This took Linnaeus to the ground while Eliza, frozen mid-step, stared at the scene playing out, her anger gradually increasing with each palpitation of her heart... More-so than Eliza, Linnaeus was caught off guard by Emilia''s sudden pounce. His efforts to avoid counterattacking effectively turned him into a lifeless doll so, without any resistance, Emilia was able to freely rub her head and cheeks against Linnaeus. This went on for several awkward moments before Eliza, seemingly hitting the limits of her tolerance, exclaimed, "Get off him you...you...you...!" There were a lot of insults Eliza wanted to throw out but, not wanting to upset Linnaeus or genuinely offend Emilia, they all got stuck in her throat. This didn''t stop her from taking action to carry out her own demand, however, as she grabbed Emilia but the scruff of her fur-collar, yanking her back while simultaneously reducing her weight. Emilia was pulled so hard that Linnaeus was actually yanked to his feet. As for Emilia herself, she was tossed about unceremoniously by Eliza. Her weight had been reduced to almost nothing so, for the first time, both Linnaeus and Emilia were able to witness how terrifying Eliza could be if she got her hands on someone... Due to the way she was raised, Emilia was fundamentally unable to resist the small beating bestowed to her by Eliza. She was taught to respect the strong and accept punishment when she misbehaved. Since she could tell that Eliza wasn''t actually trying to hurt her, Emilia accepted her fate as she had already fulfilled her purpose. Vanargandr were able to emit pheromones from their body so, by rubbing her head and ears against Linnaeus, she had effectively marked him with her scent. Linnaeus and Eliza may not notice this but Emilia would now be able to track him virtually anywhere, so long as he wasn''t solidifying his [Barrier Aura]. Better still, anyone with a sensitive nose and animalistic traits would be able to smell her scent on his body and understand their meaning. If they tried to approach him, it was the same as declaring war on her as, until she returned to start her own tribe, Emilia had decided to follow Linnaeus. Previously, Emilia had been on the fence since he was still weaker than her. Now, however, she had been given solid proof to show that raw strength and speed were not the determining factors, just two elements of a complex equation. This reminded her of all the tales and legends she heard about the famous members of her species, people who had led the Vanargandr against insurmountable odds to secure victory. Linnaeus, while still immature, seemed to possess the qualities of these great leaders so, at least until she returned triumphantly to the outside world, Emilia would continue to follow and observe him closely. He may very well become one of the legends passed down to her own tribe in the future so, while it may upset Eliza, Emilia couldn''t simply deny her instincts... Though she didn''t know what Emilia was thinking about, Eliza could feel something was off so, for the better part of ten minutes, she smacked the cheeky Vanargandr before lecturing her for a full two hours. While this was going on, Linnaeus sat quietly at the side, a cold sweat making his palms feel clammy. He made a mental note not to upset Eliza in the future as, for reasons unbeknownst to him, she was somehow more terrifying than facing off against people that actually wanted to claim his life... --- Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. (A/N: Dat maternal instinct...) 70 Foresigh When it came to the procuration of equipment, there were two primary methods, each dependant entirely on a person''s financial status. The preferred method of procuring equipment was having it made-to-order. This ensured that armor fit properly and, while it may not matter to unskilled individuals, an expert''s combat potential would markedly increase when their weapons were properly balanced. Even the construction of a weapon''s grip could make a big difference, something many learned at the cost of their lives. The other method of procuring equipment was buying stock items directly from the display area. These were generally bulk goods and, while there were some high-quality items mixed in, most of them were used goods that had been resold several times. This didn''t make them any worse than other pieces of equipment but most of these had formerly been made-to-order, meaning there was a good chance it simply wouldn''t feel comfortable for anyone by the original owner to wield. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As could be expected, stock items were much cheaper than made-to-order equipment but, knowing he would undoubtedly encounter situations where he couldn''t be choosy, Linnaeus had no problems with purchasing them. They had split the 300,000 bulk Soul Kindling between them so he had 75,000 on hand for purchasing equipment. While it wouldn''t allow him to purchase the highest-quality equipment, 75,000 Soul Kindling was a fair amount, even if he wanted to purchase made-to-order stuff. In Linnaeus'' mind, however, each of these Soul Kindling was a precious resource and, while it would be beneficial to acquire proper gear, he didn''t want to bankrupt himself in the process. One of the main factors resulting in his frugality was the fact that his [Barrier Aura] basically replaced the need for heavy or restrictive armor. He trusted it far more than any protective equipment, even if his death was all but guaranteed once he ran out of SP. Since this would be the case, irrespective of whether or not he had decent armor, Linnaeus felt it was better to purchase accessories that allowed for quicker SP regeneration, rather than waste Soul Kindling on items that would potentially restrict his movement. To this end, Linnaeus purchased two shortswords of relatively decent quality before visiting one of Central City''s various auction houses. These were places where exceptionally rare materials, high-quality Elixers, and artifacts of various quality could be found. The latter were items found whilst exploring the various regions of the Fifth Floor, items seemingly produced naturally by the mystic forces at play behind the scenes. Though it would be possible to have an accessory made by a skilled Craftsman, Linnaeus wanted to investigate the Auction Houses, at least once. They seemed relatively popular amongst the populace and, if rumors were to be believed, it was possible to obtain valuable items at a significantly reduced cost, albeit very rarely. What brought Linnaeus to the Auction House was not these rumors but the fact that it was the only place that really traded in Artifacts. There were even some on display in the showroom, purchasable by anyone willing to fork over the display value on the spot. Most of the display items were objects that had failed to sell in the past so you might expect their prices to be marked down in order to get rid of them. To Linnaeus'' annoyance, however, the prices seemed hiked up, rather than discounted. Seeing the display values, Linnaeus was certain that the Auction House, in order to recoup losses, increased the posted value of the items in order to take advantage of anyone looking to avoid the actual auction. He even found a ring that increased SP Regeneration by 7%, something that would cost around 40,000 Soul Kindling outside, listed at 90,000. The justification for this markup? It was a low-grade Artifact that ''might'' have a hidden quality to it... It only took a few minutes of exploring the showroom for Linnaeus to realize that the entire Auction House was a scam. This had been obvious from the very beginning but, seeing how shameless they were with their display pieces, he couldn''t help but shake his head in exasperation as he turned away and made his way toward the exit. In order to entice customers into spending their Soul Kindling, there were various showgirls present in the room, many of which had tantalizing figures, pretty faces, and ornate dresses that accentuated their various racial traits. There was even a Manalyte girl with pale-blue hair and star-shaped pupils but, with how Linnaeus was dressed, none of the onsite girls were willing to approach him. While looks could go a long way in certain situations, the girls present were all working for partial commissions, not seeking partners. They acted flirtatious when needed but, if you didn''t have the money to throw your weight around, you might as well have maximum level [Stealth], as they would pretend you didn''t even exist. Linnaeus obviously didn''t care about their behavior as he had already lost interest in the Auction House entirely. He had no interest in being scammed and, while he still wanted to obtain an Artifact, it wasn''t a pressing matter. For now, he would just find a capable Jeweler or Craftsman and, while it may cost most of his remaining Kindling, it may make the difference between life and death when their Party reached the Hell Hole. Though they still intended to visit the Monster Ant Colony, Linnaeus was making preparations for their inevitable exploration of the Hell Hole. There, his [Barrier Aura] would be their most important asset so, in order to make sure he could continually power all four auras, he wanted to find methods to increase his SP Regeneration. While it was possible to supplement SP with the use of consumable items, every competent Magic user focused more on increasing their passive regeneration. After all, items that restored enough SP to be of any real use were generally very expensive. Since it was possible to increase your passive regen to the point that it had similar returns to mass-produced items, it was the obvious route to go for anyone reliant on their SP reserves. Linnaeus'' current SP Regen was around 200 SP per minute and, while this wasn''t exactly bad, it was far from ideal. Even the most basic [Barrier] cost a minimum of 50 SP to manifest so he would quickly run low on SP in the midst of active combat. While this was negligible against weak enemies, he had met several people that could even shatter barriers with more than 500 SP invested in them, a cruel reality he had no choice but to face head-on. With the way the Equipment system worked, Linnaeus could wear up to ten unique accessories to enhance his attributes and capabilities. The only problem with this was that accessories produced by people had ''shared'' effects, meaning only the most powerful effect could be active at any given moment. This was the reason why Artifacts were so important as, unlike hand-crafted goods, they each had ''unique'' effects. If he had enough Soul Kindling, Linnaeus could potentially double his SP Regeneration for around 600,000-900,000. Since this was almost enough to buy back his life, he obviously wasn''t going to fork over such an exorbitant amount but, when he finally returned to the Tower, it was something to look into... For now, Linnaeus settled by finding a Jewelry shop called ''The Dragon''s Horde Jewelers'', finding the name and sign rather eye-catching. Inside, he found three identical girls who, despite being around 120cm in height, appeared to be older than him based on their facial structure. Though it was hard to be certain, he would guess their age to be around mid-to-late twenties, even if their hair, styled in neat brown pigtails, made them seem younger. Hearing the bell of their shop ring, all three girls looked over to the entrance before the closest one skipped over to Linnaeus'' side, a practiced smile on her face as she asked, "Dear customer, is there anything we can help you with today~? If you''re looking for something as a gift, we have plenty of pretty trinkets and baubles that would make an appropriate present~." Since Linnaeus was wearing what amounted to rags in the eyes of most Central City dwellers, most people didn''t really see him as an actual customer. The girls assumed he was just a window shopper that wandered inside for a better look but, regardless of whether or not this was the case, they still gave him the basic courtesy of a greeting. In truth, Linnaeus opted to dress down in order to have people underestimate him so he didn''t take offense to the obvious chagrin visible in the girl''s eyes. Instead, he maintained a calm disposition as he plainly stated, "I would like to have something made-to-order. Before that, I will look around to gauge the quality and your display goods." Hearing that Linnaeus wanted to have something made, the girl was more than a little surprised but, rather than let it show on her face, her business smile became more ''sincere'' as she happily escorted him over to the displays. At the same time, one of her sisters went to grab measuring tools while the other grabbed a catalog that listed various materials and their expected effects. Seeing how well the three worked together, Linnaeus felt that his choice in Jewelers wasn''t that bad. Their prices seemed to be within an acceptable range as well since, in the center display, there was an ornate silver ring set with a sapphire. It not only looked nice, but it had the effect of increasing a person''s Intelligence by +2 and, more importantly, their SP Regeneration by 10%. While 10% was far from the strongest possible effect, higher values increased the cost of an item exponentially. This could be seen by comparing the ring to another one in the same display, a pale-gold ring set with an emerald that increased SP Regeneration by 17%. It cost a monstrous 310,000 Soul Kindling, a monstrous increase when directly compared to the 47,000 price tag on the sapphire ring... Had he been lucky, Linnaeus would have been able to walk away with the sapphire ring in hand but, due to his rather diminutive size, it was far too big for him. This alone didn''t really bother him but, learning that the ring was intended to be worn by women, he couldn''t help but hang his head a bit as one of the sisters measured the circumference of his ring finger... Generally speaking, it was better to acquire an amulet or a wristlet but, as these were far beyond his means to purchase, Linnaeus had to settle on a ring slightly too big. Fortunately, this could still be worn around the neck on a specialized chain, granting the same effect. Linnaeus ended up choosing a silver compound to serve as the base of his ring, one which lacked the characteristic shininess of normal silver. As for the gemstone, he surprised the girls by providing a fragment of Jadite Ore and a pale-purple opal that he had prepared beforehand. This caused the girls to spontaneously treat him like an important customer but, same as before, Linnaeus kept his usual calm and composed demeanor in response to their pestering... Once the terms of the contract were finalized, Linnaeus paid out 68,420 Soul Kindling to have his ring produced, not by the three girls, but their father. Like them, he was also considerably short but, without any other discernible traits, Linnaeus couldn''t really ascertain what tribe they belonged to. Since this didn''t really matter, however, he sealed the contract and agreed to pick up the ring after three days. From then, he would have up to a year to claim the ring or, like some of the other display pieces, it would become the property of the shop. This was an important clause as, in the past, there had been many cases of people simply dying before they claimed their goods. Had he heard this previously, Linnaeus would have assumed there was some scheme afoot but, after gathering information prior to the transaction, he knew this was the norm. He didn''t doubt there had been instances where this clause had been taken advantage of but, considering the ring in question was only worth around 70,000 Soul Kindling, he doubted a shop that likely earned millions per year would resort to such underhanded methods. 71 On the Verge After completing his own shopping, Linnaeus made his way back to where he and his Party were staying, an Inn located several city blocks from where they had stayed previously. Originally, the girls had wanted to stay at the same place but, while he was doing his best not to act paranoid, Linnaeus was still against establishing habits that could be exploited by opportunistic individuals. Fortunately, the place he had chosen was a significant upgrade from their original Inn, complete with a large bath in lieu of a washbasin. It even allowed Krone to fully submerge his body as the rooms in question were designed for the comfort of various tribes, not just those beneath 200cm in height. Though it cost nearly 1,000 Soul Kindling a night, selling materials and recycling the equipment they had obtained was more than enough to cover the cost. It was important to relax when they had the opportunity and, while their stay may draw the attention of anyone casing the Inn, the quality of the suite all but guaranteed their security. There were, of course, a few downsides to the living arrangements but these were mostly personal matters, not related to the Inn''s quality... As if to remind him of his troubles, Linnaeus opened the door to his room to find Emilia laying on her stomach, legs kicking lazily behind her as she nibbled on a stick of dried meat while reading a book. This alone wasn''t really problematic but, with extra Soul Kindling to throw around, she and Eliza had overhauled their wardrobes completely, including what was worn beneath. Now, forgoing the use of her bodysuit, at least while relaxing in their room, Emilia could be seen wearing light-blue lingerie that left little to the imagination. If not for her tail dangling over her butt, concealing the region between her thighs, there wouldn''t be anything to imagine at all. Without turning her head to look back at him, as she had smelled him coming from kilometers away, Emilia just lazily intoned, "Welcome back~", as she continued reading away. Then, causing Linnaeus to shake his head, her tail began to waggle slightly, removing any suspense that might have existed regarding what was hidden beneath. Though he wanted to take a bath, doing so when Emilia was the only one present could be a little dangerous so, with nothing to occupy his time, Linnaeus decided to practice drawing. He wanted to get better at making maps and, while not the most pertinent attribute to his fighting style, Dexterity was nothing to scoff at. To this end, Linnaeus sat so that he was facing Emilia as, if he looked away, she would undoubtedly do ''something'' to garner his attention. He had noticed the changes in her behavior over the last few days and, while troubling, there were undeniable benefits to building positive rapport with her... This time around, Linnaeus had decided to use Emilia as his model so, after pulling out a stick of graphite that had been wrapped with wax paper, he began to outline her form. He knew she would be paying attention to what he was doing so if she suspected he was drawing her, it was the same as compelling her to stay put. The only downside to this arrangement was the fact that, when she learned of it, Eliza would likely pester him to draw her as well. She didn''t view him in the same way that Emilia apparently did but, for entirely different reasons, their relationship brought its fair share of troubles. Thinking of this, Linnaeus nearly released an audible sigh as he really didn''t know what to do about the current situation. He wasn''t completely inexperienced when it came to women but, maintaining a platonic relationship was a foreign concept to him. With his current power, upsetting the girls and pushing them away could spell disaster. Even putting his foot down and making it clear he didn''t desire a relationship could result in a shift in the dynamic of the entire Party so he really was at a loss as to how he should react. He had to do ''something'' as, with how things were proceeding, Emilia would undoubtedly try something at some point... Shaking his head to increase his focus, Linnaeus followed the line of Emilia''s back, stopping where her tail connected with her body. He knew she was an objectively beautiful girl but, even staring at her like this didn''t really ''awaken'' anything within him. Even Saht had been the one to take charge in their ''relationship'' as, after venturing out on his own, Linnaeus'' feelings towards others, including members of the opposite sex, had slowly faded away. The only thing that drove him forward were the ideals he had clung to as, without them, he would become nothing more than a machine that harvested the lives of others to extend his own. Though he wasn''t completely emotionless, something Eliza had made apparent, Linnaeus was certain that something had broken inside of him a very long time ago. Without realizing the passage of time, Linnaeus finished his sketch of Emilia. The final result was far from what most would consider a work of art and, perhaps as a result of his daze, he had put a lot more attention on certain details without noticing it. Seeing this, Linnaeus inhaled deeply through his nose before startling Emilia to action as he quickly ripped up the piece of parchment, tossing the debris into his Inventory for later disposal. Though she knew Linnaeus wasn''t good at drawing, Emilia was still upset that he had ripped up the piece of paper. She knew he was drawing her so, for the last hour, she had basically pretended to be a statue in order to make things easier for him. Hearing, and then seeing him rip up the final artwork made her hair stand on end as she shouted, "Hey, wait, I want to see!" while pouncing over to put a stop to the destruction. Unfortunately, Linnaeus'' actions had been carried out swiftly so, while Emilia was still in mid-air, he had already disposed of the evidence. This left him unable to protect himself from her pounce but, with his [Barrier Aura] around them both, there wasn''t any chance of harm befalling either. Rather than tackling Linnaeus to the ground, Emilia''s momentum was arrest almost instantly as the former''s SP reduced by 44 points. This still resulted in her clinging to him in nothing but a bra and panties but, considering they almost always slept in the same bed, Linnaeus was used to this... With her cheeks puffed out slightly, Emilia glared at Linnaeus, even as her arms snaked around his neck and shoulders. Her ears angled backward at a forty-five-degree angle, making her frustration apparent as she growled in a low tone, "I wanted to see it...I stayed still for so long just so you could draw me..." Due to their height difference, Linnaeus was forced to look up slightly, Emilia''s breasts only a few centimeters away from his face as he calmly explained, "I would never show off something I, myself, am not satisfied with. I understand your frustration but, please, consider my situation as well. When I get better at drawing, I''ll be certain to draw a version of you that we can both be proud of..." Though she had been glaring at him in an accusatory manner at first, Emilia''s wolf-like ears perked up at the latter half of Linnaeus'' statement. Her anger seemed to vanish in its entirety but, instead of releasing him, she squeezed his head tightly into her chest as she mused, "It''s a promise, then! Don''t worry, if you need me to model for you, I''m always willing~!" Feeling soft and aromatic mounds of flesh press against his face, Linnaeus was, once again, tempted to release a heavy sigh. Emilia never missed a chance to take liberties with him these days, seemingly ignorant of the fact that he wasn''t reciprocal of her affections. If things continued like this, she may even become bolder in the future but, unwilling to push her away, Linnaeus could only wait until she released him of her own volition... Unfortunately, Linnaeus'' silence was the very thing that emboldened Emilia so, with him allowing her to basically do whatever she wanted, her body began to gradually heat up. If he didn''t stop her, she would take his silence as consent since, ultimately, Linnaeus was the Party Leader. He could stop her whenever he wanted but, rather than putting his foot down, he silently acquiesced to everything she did. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. With this being the case, Emilia leaned forward, pushing against Linnaeus until he had to take a step back to avoid falling over. This caused Emilia''s ears to flicker in annoyance but, with the heat in her body nearing critical levels, his half-hearted resistance didn''t deter her. Instead, she hugged him with a bit of force, placing her foot behind his and repeating the same action, this time with the desired result... Due to his [Barrier Aura], Linnaeus didn''t even feel the impact when his head struck against the hard wooden floor. No, what actually surprised him was the fact that Emilia was straddling his stomach, an almost feral-look on her face as she stared down at him with ruddy cheeks. Seeing her in such a state, Linnaeus realized his understanding of the Vanargandr tribe, or, at the very least, Emilia herself, was lacking. He knew some tribes, once ''agitated'', would quickly become aggressive in order to pacify the urges of their body. What he didn''t expect was the simple act of hugging to be the catalyst to set her off, especially considering they had even bathed together on two separate occasions... Realizing he needed to stop her before things got further out of hand, Linnaeus adopted a stern yet calm tone as he stated, "Get off of me, Emilia. You are taking things too far." Hearing the sudden order, Emilia''s ears flickered in agitation as her labored breathing continued to resound throughout the room. Despite these tell-tale signs of trouble, she actually averted her eyes for a few seconds, clearly in deep thought, before ultimately rising to her feet. This left her staring down at Linnaeus, her burgundy eyes flashing with a crimson hue for a brief moment as she said, "I don''t like being teased..." Though he hadn''t done anything to proactively ''tease'' her, Linnaeus knew what Emilia was trying to convey to him. She had mistaken his silence as consent so, with the current state of her body, it was obvious that she would be frustrated. Even he could feel the heat radiating off of her and, where she had been sitting, dampness still lingered. Since it was unpleasant to be looked down upon while he was on his back, Linnaeus moved so that Emilia wasn''t standing over him before rising to his feet. Then, with a serious expression on his face, he explained, "You already know about my relationship with Saht. I may not know much about what it means to love others but I know well of betrayal. I know she would be devastated if I committed to a physical relationship with someone she didn''t approve of. You have become someone important to me, Emilia, but that doesn''t overwrite the events of my past. I know that, even if it takes years for me to return, Saht will be there waiting for me...I will not betray her trust and expectations..." His words clearly didn''t help her current state any but, rather than be upset by them, Emilia surprised Linnaeus by nodding her head in approval and understanding. She looked like she really wanted to break something but, instead of directing her anger toward him, she began to eye objects within the room as she said, "Loyalty is one of the most important things in my tribe. I understand, Lin. Until we return to the Tower and find your previous mate, I will do my best to hold back. I''m not going to give up though, even if the woman named Saht doesn''t accept me." With her intentions made apparent, Emilia set her eyes on the bed for a moment before shaking her head and turning to stare at the table where Linnaeus had been drawing. Then, leaving Linnaeus to observe in stunned silence, she walked over the table, using one of the angular corners to commit an act that left a deep impression on the former Street Urchin''s mind... 72 Honesty : Maturity When she finally returned to the Inn, Eliza found Emilia laying on the bed while Linnaeus idled near the room''s open window, an increasingly familiar scene. This time, however, she could tell something was wrong but, even after looking around for several seconds, Eliza was unable to find anything amiss; ignoring the fact that Emilia was lazing about in her underwear. Still, her intuition told her something was wrong so, after a momentary pause, she walked over to the bed and asked, "You...what did you do?" As if she had only just noticed Eliza''s presence, Emilia''s ears perked up before she turned back to face the clearly annoyed woman, answering, "Nothing happened between Linnaeus and me, if that is what you''re asking. I wanted to do something but he refused me. You can ask him yourself if you want." Without having to put Emilia''s suggestion into play, Linnaeus preempted any questions Eliza was going to ask, explaining, "Don''t get mad at her, Eliza. My carelessness caused a scene...Emilia had the opportunity to take things further but listened when I told her to stop." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Eliza adopted a frown but, instead of causing a scene, she ignored the lazily laying Emilia, turning to Linnaeus as she asked, "Tell me...what did you do to set her off?" Knowing there was no sense in talking around the issue, Linnaeus honestly admitted, "I wanted to practice drawing. In an effort to keep Emilia from bothering me, I chose her as my subject matter. I wasn''t satisfied with the result so I ended up tearing it to pieces and setting off a chain of events that led to the misunderstanding..." As ridiculous as his explanation sounded, Eliza knew; if anyone could cause a misunderstanding over something as simple as a drawing, Linnaeus was the one to pull it off. This gave her a small headache as, without her teaching him and encouraging him to practice whenever he had free time, Linnaeus probably wouldn''t have tried drawing Emilia. Since Emilia had apparently stopped when told, something that was a little surprising to Eliza, she decided to just drop the matter. It was too awkward to discuss after Linnaeus accepted the blame for everything that had transpired. Deciding this was an opportunity to strengthen her own bond with the normally taciturn youth, Eliza released a subdued sigh before asking, "Have you taken a bath yet?" To this, Linnaeus shook his head while Emilia, having waited for this exact development, rolled to a seated position with a cheeky smile on her face. Before the over-eager Vanargandr could say anything about joining them, Eliza gave her a stern glare as she stated, "You didn''t behave properly the last time. You won''t stop trying to corrupt Lin so I''m not going to let you take a bath with us anymore...!" Like a deflated balloon, Emilia appeared to have lost all motivation, her ears drooping sadly as she collapsed against the bed and complained, "Eliza is a tyrant..." in a voice she knew the latter would be able to hear. Despite Emilia''s apparent lamentations, Eliza really wanted to prevent the wolfish woman from taking a bath with Linnaeus. The last time they went in together, she clung to him the entire time, even going so far as to try and help his little Linnaeus and chrysanthemum. Eliza had to boot her out of the bathroom since Linnaeus seemed unable to say no until things had already escalated... This time around, however, Linnaeus, having learned a lesson from the earlier incident, surprised both girls by stating, "I will bathe alone from now on. I didn''t think much about it in the past but it is becoming increasingly apparent that my silence and acquiescence are becoming an issue. I do not want to create a divide in the Party by causing the two of you to fight over small matters. With how things are developing, I also fear how future Party members would interpret our situation...if I want to be a good Party Leader, I need to properly consider my actions..." Though she knew it wasn''t exactly Emilia''s fault, Eliza had a very strong desire to pull on the girl''s ears and tail after hearing what Linnaeus had to say. She had always expected him to put his foot down at some point but, before that happened, she wanted him to become comfortable around her. This put a big hiccup in her plans, even if it proved that Linnaeus was beginning to mature in a good direction. Fearing he would take things even further, Eliza nodded her head in understanding, saying, "I can understand your concerns. Still, I can''t sleep comfortably without you at my side so, please, don''t move into a different room any time soon. We don''t have any new Party members to worry about and, even if they do complain, that just shows they are jealous or harboring selfish intentions..." Here, despite their differences, Emilia quickly supported Eliza''s argument, adding, "Vanargandr are a communal species. I feel very lonely if I have to sleep alone. My instincts make it so that I feel happier when sleeping next to the person that may determine my fate. It builds a strong bond of kinship, one that allows me to fight to the fullest without worrying about being abandoned in the middle of a fight..." Hearing the duo''s arguments, Linnaeus couldn''t help but stare back at them with a moderately deadpan expression on his face. He actually felt their sleeping together wasn''t a bad thing so it was a little strange to hear them compromising; to the point that Emilia even used her racial traits as an excuse to justify them sharing the same bed. So as not to worry them too much, he ultimately took a deep breath through his nose, adopting his somewhat awkward smile as he explained, "I had no intention of moving into a room of my own...I, too, feel more comfortable when we sleep together..." In response to Linnaeus'' words, both Eliza and Emilia beamed; their satisfaction at his words made very apparent. Then, as she was prone to do as of late, Eliza walked over and, after a small nod from Linnaeus, wrapped him in her embrace; squeezing him tightly while stroking the back of his head and muttering, "I''m glad...really..." --- Following the awkward series of events, Emilia and Eliza shared a bath together before Linnaeus took his own turn. They were strangely insistent that he got after them but, as it didn''t matter at all to him, Linnaeus had no problems agreeing to the arrangement. Once everyone had taken their chance to bathe, they all idled around for a little over an hour before leaving to have dinner and discuss things as a Party. During the wait, Eliza taught him some drawing exercises, helping to instill the basics into him so that he would improve at a faster rate. Eventually, Linnaeus knew he was going to have to draw both girls but, for now, he just did his best to draw basic geometric shapes so he could block out objects better. During dinner, everyone talked about their exploration of Central City and their fortune finding suitable equipment. Emilia had been the most direct in her approach to enhancing her current setup, having a made-to-order spear that cost nearly all of her excess Soul Kindling. She spent the remainder on her wardrobe, purchasing a total of five outfits and an undisclosed amount of underwear. Eliza''s shopping was a little more complex, even though she also spent a fair amount on both clothing and shoes. Though she didn''t rely on weapons all that much, Eliza purchased a small magical rod that could increase the effective range of Magic by 10%. This was only an additional five meters but, at times, even a small increase in range made the difference between life and death. Since she had proactively searched for discounted items, Eliza hadn''t spent much to actually obtain her magical rod. Instead, most of her Soul Kinding was spent on obtaining a set of thin bracelets, one increasing SP Regen by 6% and the other and providing a bonus of +2 Int just by having it equipped. She had managed to get a slight discount by purchasing them together and, though she would never admit it; finding a shop owner that was easily distracted by the size of her bust... Of everyone present, Krone''s shopping was both the most straightforward yet complex. Rather than purchase equipment, he visited various blacksmithing shops, directly purchasing refined ore in the form of small ingots. Since different materials provided different boosts to his attributes, he wanted to expand his collection of raw materials until he could mix and match different types to achieve the desired effect. To this end, Krone had purchased a total of thirteen ingots, the most notable of which had cost him 40,000 Soul Kindling; despite only being the size of a thumb. Still, Krone didn''t regret the purchase in the slightest as the material was a valuable mineral known as Adamantite, one of the hardest substances available within standard markets. Though it was known to fracture when impacted by magical attacks, Adamantite was extremely resilient when it came to physical blows. Using it, Krone could increase his Constitution by a total of 15% and, though it wasn''t reflected in his Status, it was a given that his defense had increased by a phenomenal amount; albeit at a considerable cost to mobility. This was where other materials came into play as, by mixing the properties of Adamantite with other materials, chiefly Athricite, he could sacrifice a small amount of physical defense to increase his resistance to magical attacks and significantly reduce his weight. These two metals were often formed into a compound to reduce the weight of Adamantite armor so, following the example of Blacksmiths and Armorers, Krone took advantage of his Blessing to form compounds freely. It was things like this that made Linnaeus somewhat envious of Krone''s Blessing as it had a truly ridiculous amount of versatility. He could even benefit from absorbing the racial traits of his own allies, something that had yet to come into play but would undoubtedly become relevant as their rapport continued to increase. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Fortunately, the more he learned about his own Blessing, the more practical it seemed for just about every circumstance. The only restriction seemed to be his imagination, focus, and, as could be expected, his SP reserves. As he grew stronger, Linnaeus slowly overcame these restrictions so, in the distant future, he liked to imagine being able to just tank a direct blow from a powerful enemy without even flinching. He would probably never just stand there and let someone hit him but, just thinking about the image in his mind filled him with motivation to improve. It was with thoughts like this in mind that, after the usual dinner concluded, Linnaeus spent a few hours just practicing with his Blessing. His current goal was to reduce the amount of time it took for him to produce complex geometric shapes, something his [Drawing] practice actually helped with quite a bit. If he could reach the point where he could form blades to accurately intercept the path of his enemy''s attacks, he could avoid taking direct blows and bleeding SP. He was already capable of using simple barriers to interfere with their movements so it was really just a small improvement; one which would provide a qualitative improvement to his skills. Once he mastered this, Linnaeus'' next challenge was to polish his accuracy so that he could use his Blessing effectively from a distance. Then, believing it to be the penultimate form of his ability to conjur barriers, Linnaeus wanted to master being able to restrain or trap his opponents. Since it was possible to create a barrier to interrupt an opponent''s movement, forming something like a ring around their neck would give him a distinct edge over just about any foe. If he could reach the point where he could bind them mid-movement, they would be injured by the sudden cessation of momentum; all while becoming immobilized due to the barrier itself. Then, before they could recuperate, he could seal their movements completely by locking down their joints and leveraging their own power against them...just thinking about it made Linnaeus feel a little excited... 73 A Moment of Reflection Without any major incidents, Linnaeus retrieved his made-to-order ring and its accompanying chain. He didn''t particularly care for flair, as standing out rarely had any benefits, so the design was rather plain. Despite this, wearing the necklace stirred something inside him as, with the exception of his recently acquired Interspatial Ring; he never really owned anything like jewelry before... As time progressively marched forward, the differences between the present Linnaeus and his past self became more extreme. His capabilities were steadily increasing and, with proper dieting, small changes had begun to occur within his body. Though he may never become a mountain of a man like Krone, discarding the appearance of a weak and emaciated youth would save him a lot of trouble. If his looks could give his enemies a moment of pause, that was all he really needed to ensure victory or; at the very least, a slight advantage. With his newly acquired necklace hidden behind the layers of his fur-laden clothes, Linnaeus made his way to the plaza where he had arranged to meet with everyone else. It didn''t surprise him that he was the first to arrive so, with nothing better to do; he spent the interim period observing the flow of traffic and how people went about their daily lives... If he watched closely, it was possible to distinguish between the actual residents of the Fifth Floor and those who were still aspiring to reach the top of the Crucible. There was a certain energy about the latter group, a palpable tension that created an invisible separation between them and the much happier floor residents. Since he was considering expanding their Party into a Company, it was necessary to find people that were wholly focused on returning. His current members already lacked drive; seemingly content with staying on the Fifth Floor for the remainder of their days if it was necessary. Because of this, he really couldn''t afford to scout anyone else with a lackadaisical mentality as it might be the catalyst for their Party''s dissolution once they experienced a setback. As things stood, Eliza was the main glue that held their Party together but; over time, Linnaeus felt as if he was slowly taking that position for himself. Eliza didn''t care about returning to the Tower but, if he continued aiming for it, she would support him. This was the same for Emilia who, despite having the desire to return to the Tower herself; wasn''t bothered by the possibility of failure. Regardless of what happened, Emilia would continue to live life at her own pace. Though rare, there were other Vanargandr on the Fifth Floor so it wasn''t impossible for her to join one of the existing tribes or, if she was confident in her own strength; build her own... Krone was the one to care the least about reaching the top of the Crucible but, so long as Eliza had the intention of doing so, he would continue to support the Party. He was a very prideful man, one who simply couldn''t part with his personal sense of honor. Thus, with Eliza supporting him, Linnaeus didn''t have to worry about Krone betraying them as, before that, he would have to betray the thing that mattered the most to him... --- About an hour before their agreed-upon meeting time, Linnaeus had the impression that someone was trying to sneak up and ambush him. Turning his head, he wasn''t surprised to find Emilia trying to blend in with the flow of traffic; her ears perking up the moment he looked over. With an expression that showed both approval and disappointment, Emilia stopped trying to mask her presence as she pranced over to Linnaeus'' side. By the time she actually reached him, her usual smile had returned as she looked, sniffing the air for a brief moment before asking, "Are the others not here yet~?" Shrugging his shoulders in response, Linnaeus followed up by answering, "It is still early. I''m certain they will be alone shortly...here." Since Emilia was getting a mischievous glint in her eyes, Linnaeus whipped out a few interesting food items he had found during his exploration of the market. He had anticipated that Emilia would be the first to arrive so, in preparation, he prepared a fair amount of unique foodstuffs to keep her occupied. Never one to refuse food, Emilia happily accepted the crepe-like article from Linnaeus'' outstretched hand before plopping down next to him. This caused some of the males that had been eyeing her to give Linnaeus the stink eye but, after associating with Emilia for a few weeks, it no longer bothered him. Rather, it was when someone mistook him for a girl that things became truly troublesome. Fortunately, after a haircut; giving him much shorter hair; it was a lot harder to mistake him as a female, at least compared to before. All he needed to do in order to deter most people that wanted to ''confirm'' his gender was radiate a bit of bloodlust, spooking all but the most stouthearted and foolhardy individuals... After taking a few rather sizeable bites of the meat-filled crepe, Emilia tilted her head adorably as she extended the aromatic article, asking, "Have you tried this? It is really good. You can take a bite if you want." Since he had only purchased the goods to pacify Emilia, Linnaeus hadn''t tried most of the food he had purchased. He was even content with low-quality foodstuffs but, if she was offering, he wasn''t going to outright refuse. The smell attested to its rich flavor so, without hesitation, Linnaeus took a much smaller bite than the voracious Vanargandr, earing a happy smile from her in the process. Though it was a bit greasy, the meat within the edible wrap was some of the most flavorful that he had ever experienced. It was a little spicy but, rather than being unpleasant, Linnaeus felt as if they were intended to encourage further consumption... While Linnaeus was focused on the flavor and composition of the meat, Emilia had very different intentions. The flavor of what she ate didn''t matter as much as the energy contained within so, while it tasted quite good, it didn''t leave much of an impression. Rather, she had seen through Linnaeus'' intentions from the start so; after he took a bite of her food, Emilia made a show of licking the area with her tongue, her scarlet eyes focused on him throughout the entire process. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Understanding what she was trying to do, Linnaeus felt slightly exasperated but, as usual, it didn''t really show on his face. He just stared back at her with a calm expression on his face, casually pulling out an apple from his Interspatial Ring to make it clear he hand no intention of taking a second bite. With her ears drooping somewhat pathetically, Emilia finished up the remnants of her meal before turning her attention to their surroundings and asking, "Do you think people can really be happy to live in a place like this? I''ve never seen so many people living so close together, content with staying in one place for their entire lives. It is kind of weird..." Linnaeus felt he wasn''t the best person to ask about society at large but, with nothing better to do, conversing with Emilia didn''t seem like a bad idea. After ruminating over her words for a few moments, Linnaeus ultimately shrugged his shoulders and said, "I think they live like this in order to make their lives more convenient. It probably makes them feel safer as well; since they are less likely to be attacked if a lot of people stay in one place..." Hearing Linnaeus'' rather brief explanation, Emilia nodded her head in agreement as it wasn''t all that different from her tribe. A large tribe was a status symbol and, as Linnaeus suggested, it became a lot easier to protect the younglings and pups when there were more people. Though the demand for resources increased exponentially, it was possible to maintain balance by sending off virile males to form new tribes with those who have returned victoriously from the Tower. Though Linnaeus'' words seemed to strike out the heart of the matter, Emilia still felt it was strange to stay in one place. If you experienced similar stimuli every day, life would become very boring and, if you never knew adventure and hardship, complacency would become your default state. Emilia could see with her own eyes that the people around them were slightly plump and, judging by how they carried themselves, they were wholly unprepared for an attack. They also seemed to make compromises in order to maintain their convenient lives; leading to the very corruption that Linnaeus seemed so afraid of. Back in the seemingly endless plains and expansive jungles, you would never have to worry about anything like a criminal organization or corrupt governors. The only thing anyone really cared about was the success of the tribe as a whole. While status and prestige were important, the best way to gain these things was to contribute to the tribe directly. Stockpiling wealth and suppressing others was a completely nonsensical idea as it seemed to invite trouble rather than promote unity. After observing these things for herself, Emilia understood why her Ancestors had turned away from the Tower while nearly every other race congregated toward it. They lived fulfilling lives as explorers, hunters, and gourmands. This didn''t seem to be the case within the megacity and, with what she had learned about the Slums, Emilia was absolutely certain that building a society that never moved only invited rot and stagnation... If she didn''t know they were separated by several hundred generations of distance, Emilia would have invited Linnaeus to come and join her tribe when they finally escaped the Tower. Now, part of her humored the idea of just forming a new tribe with him inside the Tower but, unless his sister and lover were in agreement, this would probably be very difficult. Still, it was something to consider as, while Linnaeus may not see her in the same way; Emilia already treated him as a part of her family. Just as she would back in her own tribe, Emilia would protect him and do everything in her power to make sure they are successful. Since Linnaeus wholehearted put his all into protecting the things he cared about, she believed he would do the same for her... With this thought crossing her mind, Emilia unashamedly leaned against Linnaeus, the side of her head resting against his. Though this clearly bothered him, Linnaeus was an inordinately tolerant person. So long as it didn''t cross the line, he allowed them to behave as they please; just like how the more mature members of her tribe behaved towards those still learning. This was another thing that Emilia had come to appreciate about Linnaeus as, instead of pushing others away, he was willing to suffer a bit of discomfort to strengthen the unity of the Party. If he really wanted to, Linnaeus would be able to scout other Vanargandr without too many issues. Once they realized the kind of person he was, they would naturally gravitate towards him as Vanargandr were a very communal species; one that relied on skinship and physical intimacy to strengthen their bonds... --- Feeling Emilia lean against him, Linnaeus withheld a sigh, unaware of the thoughts running through her mind. She had a habit of sticking to Eliza as well so he knew it was largely due to her nature as a Vanargandr that compelled her to behave like this. So long as she didn''t cross the line like before, he didn''t really have the heart to push her away. Rather, the more time he spent with her and Eliza, the calmer he felt. It was like their presence filled a void within his heart, slowly turning him into a more complete person... 74 Travel Arrangements With about thirty minutes left until they were scheduled to meet, Eliza arrived in the plaza to find Emilia, once again, clinging to Linnaeus. This caused her mood to diminish but, after the previous incident; she ultimately just released a small sigh before dodging through foot traffic to approach the duo. Sensing Eliza''s approach, Emilia''s ears perked up and, as a compromise of her own, she stopped leaning against Linnaeus'' shoulder; rising to her feet to happily exclaim, "Liz, you''re late~" Hearing Emilia''s remark, Eliza gave her a pointed look before dodging the former''s attempt to hug her, replying, "Our meeting time isn''t for another half an hour. You and Lin are just a little early, that''s all." After stating her piece to Emilia, Eliza chose to momentarily ignore her; closing the remaining distance to Linnaeus and giving him a spontaneous hug. This caused the latter to tense up but, compared to the past, he calmed down quickly before reciprocating. Before things could get out of hand, Linnaeus lightly pat Eliza''s back, his eyes taking in their surroundings as he said, "We''re drawing a lot of attention..." Though she wanted to remark that it didn''t matter if others were watching them, Eliza knew that Linnaeus was still an inherently cautious person. She also didn''t want to put too much pressure on him so, after squeezing him a little tighter; she released his body and said, "I haven''t eaten yet. I imagine you already bought food for that glutton, right?" With Eliza releasing his body, Linnaeus continued to observe their surroundings for a few seconds longer while; in response to her question, he pulled out a small bag of cookies. He had expected something like this to happen so, knowing Eliza''s preference for sweets; he made sure to obtain some in advance. Seeing Linnaeus profer a bag of cookies in an instant, a smile blossomed on Eliza''s face as she reached out to secure them for herself. This was, hopefully, enough to keep her occupied until Krone finally arrived; though Linnaeus would never voice this thought out loud... --- Though it was starting to seem as if Krone was going to arrive late, he ultimately beat the clock by a few minutes. To prevent an incident where Eliza lambasted an ally in public, Linnaeus preempted her actions by rising to meet the grey-skinned man, making it clear he hadn''t done anything wrong by saying, "You have arrived just in time. Did you finish everything you needed to do? If we''re late, the next convoy won''t be until tomorrow morning." For a brief moment, Krone had been considering whether or not he should apologize so, hearing Linnaeus'' words; he felt slightly conflicted. In the end, however, he nodded his head, answering, "I have finished my preparations..." before, in a much lower tone, adding, "I had intended to be earlier...I got sidetracked along the way...sorry." Now, it was Linnaeus'' turn to be surprised but, as per usual, it didn''t really show on his face. He just nodded in response to Krone''s words, saying, "I understand, thanks for explaining things. I never doubted you had a reason. Besides, you are still on time so there''s no need to apologize. Come, If everyone is ready, we''ll be on our way." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. With the brief exchange between Linnaeus and Krone, Eliza felt it would be too awkward for her to say anything so; without further incident, the Party moved on to their destination: a Company-owned building that specialized in the transport of personnel and goods between Central City and the Monster Ant Colony. Though it was possible to reach the colony on foot, everyone had agreed that a five-day journey wasn''t really something to look forward to. The risk of being attacked by bandits increased when traveling in small groups so; after the recent attack, they opted to travel with a convoy. By paying a variable transfer fee, they could either act as simple passengers or; in order to save on Kindling; serve as escorts for the convoy. The latter was, by and large, the more popular option so it wasn''t uncommon for a convoy to be escorted by well over a hundred people. It was common sense that, if you wanted to traverse the common routes; traveling in a larger group was a lot safer. The only reason Linnaeus and co hadn''t done so previously was largely due to the former''s paranoia; combined with the fact that Eliza and Emilia had basically been broke at the time. Now that they had a bit of flexibility in their finances, securing passage with a convoy not only decreased the chances of a bandit encounter but it also reduced the total travel time by a fair amount. Rather than walk or run, they would be traveling in large reinforced wagons that were pulled along by a type of domesticated monster known, ''affectionately'', as a Dumbswallow. They were large bipedal birds that stood well over three meters in height; their muscular frames covered in a thick plumage of vibrant feathers. The two most notable traits of a Dumbswallow were their almost comically oversized heads and their muscular three-toed feet. The former gave them a somewhat cute appearance, as they also had somewhat big eyes and curved beaks but; as the name suggested, they were notoriously dull creatures. Due to generations of selective breeding from a very small genetic pool, they had now reached the point that; if you didn''t stop them from eating, a Dumbswallow would literally eat until their stomach ruptured. This made them somewhat dangerous as, with their powerful legs, they could even dent 20cm thick plate-iron with relative ease. Fortunately, while they were somewhat notorious for their intellect, Dumbswallows imprinted on their owners immediately after birth. This made them surprisingly easy to handle, so long as you knew how to properly care for them... When Linnaeus and co first laid eyes on the rather colorful creatures, Eliza''s eyes lit up as she couldn''t help but remark, "They are so adorable..." in a subdued tone. As for Emilia, she had to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand; her opinion of the birds clearly different from Eliza''s. Linnaeus saw their contrasting reactions and before he realized it, a small smile had spread across his face. This immediately made him feel as though something was wrong, however, so it lasted for less than a second before he stated, "Don''t gawk, Emilia. The last thing we need is you getting sent careening across the market after spooking the birds..." Hearing Linnaeus comment, Emilia''s ears drooped slightly as she looked toward him with a slight pout on her face. Still, she followed his order and, though she didn''t realize it; this was the correct decision as the closest Dumbswallow had been eyeing her; it''s feathers beginning to puff up in response to the ''danger'' it felt... Fortunately, without any incidents occurring, Linnaeus managed to find one of the Merchants affiliated with the Company and, without too much hassle, they were able to secure escort roles in the convoy. Though this required them to sign a contract, they ultimately only ended up paying a total of four-hundred Kindling between them. In exchange, they would have to proactively defend the convoy; turning over most of the materials obtained in exchange for a monetary reward. Since most people prepared their supplies before heading out to locations like the Monster Ant Colony, most Merchant convoys saw it as an opportunity to secure cheap materials. After all, they had massive wagons that could hold a ton of additional materials and drop items; items that the escorts would have had to leave behind unless they wanted to strain their SP reserves. Though this arrangement annoyed Linnaeus quite a bit, as the stipulations of the contract made it so that the convoy could essentially take detours; Eliza explained to him that only fools would do such a thing. For a Merchant Company, reputation and trust were more important than the actual items they traded as; without these two things, nobody would purchase from them. Unless a business had a monopoly, there were no benefits in exploiting mercenaries and small Parties as the negative reputation they acquire would quickly bring them to ruin. Thus, while the contract did have a few troublesome clauses, these were actually written in to give the Company a bit of wiggle room when it came to choosing a route. Depending on various factors, such as natural weather phenomena, environmental hazards, and monster hordes, it was sometimes necessary to change routes in order to ensure the safety of the convoy. If the contract forced them to follow an exact route, there was a good chance they could walk into an irreversible situation, the most common of which was having bandits intermixed into the escort; feeding route information to their companions. Being a cautious person himself, Linnaeus could understand the concerns of the Company so, after Eliza''s explanation; he ultimately signed the contract. At the same time, however, he made a mental note to always investigate the Companies they worked with in the future. It made him feel uncomfortable to simply trust people on principle alone; especially when binding contracts were involved... --- In total, the convoy consisted of twenty-three carriages; each pulled by a duo of Dumbswallows. They were capable of setting an average pace of around 100km per hour and, if properly fed, it was a simple feat for them to travel upwards of fifteen hours per day. To guarantee this, the total number of Dumbswallows was twice the necessary amount; half of which would be ''resting'' by trotting along without pulling a wagon. Linnaeus'' Party had been assigned to the fourteenth carriage, a six-wheeled wagon formed from Ironwood and reinforced with Blacksteel plating. It was transporting non-essential goods, such as bolts, screws, and additional plating. These would only be necessary if a carriage was disabled during a monster attack so there were only two Parties assigned to protect it, Linnaeus'' and one led by a stout man with dark-red hair and a beard that extended to his chest. Since they would be traveling together for more than two days, Linnaeus restrained his urge to simply ignore the man. Instead, he approached the stout figure who, despite appearing to be middle-aged, was only slightly taller than Linnaeus himself. This was due to the fact the man was clearly a Dwarf; evident by his short stature, intricately groomed beard, trunk-like limbs, flat nose, and small, pointed, ears. Seeing the youthful and rather frail figure approach him, the Dwarf raised one of his thick brows, asking, "Aye, what can ah do ye for, lass?" Hearing the man address him as ''lass'', Linneaus had to forcibly restrain a facial twitch in order to form a wry smile as he replied, "My name is Linnaeus Finnian. Our Parties will be working together over the next couple of days so I thought I would introduce myself. Also...I am not a girl..." Without making any effort to hide his surprise at all, the Dwarven man gave Linnaeus another take before remarking, "Sorry, lad. Ye might''ve guessed it but ah''m a Dwarven folk. Names Yorgen Kilncrusher. Ain''t easy tellin tha gender of other tribes apart. Hope yer an understandin'' lad." Toward the end of his words, Yorgen extended his hand in a gesture of goodwill, a somewhat crooked but good-natured smile on his face. Linnaeus hesitated for a brief moment when he saw this but, realizing the other party had no malicious intentions; he ultimately extended his own, much smaller hand... Despite their comparable heights, Yorgen''s hands were more than twice the size and thickness of Linnaeus''. They were also incomparably rough and calloused, a stark contrast to the delicate and nimble fingers of the young Manalyte hybrid. This made their handshake somewhat awkward but, known to be a social bunch, Yorgen just laughed it off after a cheeky remark; easing the tensions between the two Parties with humor. 75 Familiarity While waiting for the convoy to depart, Linnaeus'' Party got to know Yorgen''s a bit better. There was a very real chance they would be fighting alongside each other so it was necessary for them to have, at the very least, a basic understanding of each others'' roles. As the total number of people in a Party could not exceed four people, Yorgen''s three members were a thin and lanky man named Zezim, a rather weak looking youth named Cyrus, and a dark-skinned woman named Amanda. Zezim was a member of the Kyrie race, a group that could be demarcated due to their thin figures and, most importantly, the small wings that protruded from their backs. Though incapable of flight, they allowed the Kyrie to glide great distances and, while not the most powerful ability, SP could be sent into the feather to make them as sharp as low-quality blades. His role in the party was a mid-line Vanguard, supporting Yorgen in the frontlines with his quick and nimble attacks. Though Zezim stood out quite a bit, Cyrus had the more unique features, at least from Linnaeus'' perspective. Despite being an adult, he had a short stature of around 120cm and, in stark contrast to the vast majority of races, his entire body was covered in fur. Though it was light around his face, a much thick coat covered the rest of his body while, poking out from behind, a rather thick tail could be seen extending nearly to the ground. Linnaeus had never seen one for himself, but Eliza informed him that Cyrus had features similar to a fox, including two large ears that weren''t all that different from Emilia''s. His fur, however, was a burnt orange mixed with browns, greys, and a bit of black. At the end of his tail, the color faded away to a pure white and, as could be expected from someone so small, they specialized in ranged attacks. Cyrus was purported to be the fastest member of Yorgen''s Party and, to capitalize on this speed, he used a series of small cross-bows, one in each hand. When those didn''t provide enough firepower, he would swap to a miniature arbalest on his back, a two-handed weapon that had enough kick to send most people backward unless they steeled themselves. The final member of Yorgen''s Party, Amanda, actually stood out the least amongst their group based on unique features. She more than made up for this in her beauty, however, as she had unblemished olive-brown skin, slightly pointed ears, a shapely figure, brilliant purple eyes, and pale white hair. She was a hybrid of two different races, a Hume and a Licenai, a tribe with similar features to the Elvaan people. Though physically inferior to the rest of her Party members, Amanda was considered their Ace as she was their only magical attacker. She was the only one to openly reveal her Blessing within Yorgen''s Party, both as a result of her pride and the fact it couldn''t exactly be hidden. After all, even during their first encounter, she had a large white tiger following beside her, it''s tail flickering with a ghostly blue flame. Amanda''s Blessing was the relatively rare [Spirit Summoner], an ability that allowed her to summon a variety of different Spirits, creatures comprised of pure elemental energy. Though this required the user to form a contract with each Spirit they wanted to summon, exceptionally high Charisma and a fair amount of persistence had turned Amanda into a relatively capable Summoner. Overall, Yorgen''s Party was both balanced and, based on first impressions, exceptional. Linnaeus felt it was fortunate to have been assigned the same carriage as them, even if Amanda caused Eliza and Emilia to stick to him. She looked at him with the eyes of a woman who had found something fun to play around with, a look Linnaeus had grown used to during his travels throughout the Slums. Fortunately, she didn''t do anything overt to sow discord between the two Parties, a testament to the fact she cared about her own image. At most, she sent Linnaeus a playful wink before pretending to ignore the warning look from Eliza and the focused gaze of Emilia... --- By the time both Parties got to know about each other, the convoy leader, a Merchant named Kross, had given the order to prepare for departure. This required Linnaeus and co to board the carriage, piling into the opening at the back or sitting on the staging perch. Since the inside was cramped due to the supplies, they decided to take turns resting while everyone else would be posted around the carriage to keep watch. It was all but guaranteed the convoy would be attacked at some point as, even if it was a deterrent to most bandit groups, monsters rarely made such considerations. The fourteenth carriage may be towards the latter half of the convoy but that actually increased the chances it would be attacked as bandits often targetted the final few vehicles in order to ''encourage'' those in front to keep going. Fortunately, they weren''t close enough to the back to have to worry about such a thing so, from the time of the departure until just before the light faded from the sky, Linnaeus spent most of his time making idle conversation with Yorgen and Cyrus. Linnaeus came to learn that Yorgen''s Party had actually been together for three years at this point, meaning they had already lost the chance to leave the Crucible of Souls. Despite this, they lived their lives to the fullest, often traveling around between the various regions, seeking adventure and, when funds were tight, fortune. Since a major expedition was scheduled to take place at the beginning of next month, they decided to head to the Monster Ant Colony to make advance preparations. After all, it was a lot easier to get a good position within the expedition if you arrived earlier, rather than arriving last minute. This was due to the fact that the leaders of each expedition spent a considerable amount of time planning so if you arrived late, they had no way of fitting you in as anything more than fodder or cleanup troops. Though Linnaeus had already known about the upcoming Expedition, he still enjoyed talking with the amiable duo. They were very helpful and informative, something Linnaeus couldn''t even consider in the past as kindness had always been a rare commodity within the Slums. Now, he was beginning to realize that most people weren''t the malicious opportunists he had suspected them to be. Rather, so long as their livelihoods weren''t threatened, a surprising number of people turned out to be nice. --- While Linnaeus was having an amicable conversation with Yorgen and Cyrus, a very different kind of mood existed within the carriage''s interior. There, Eliza and Emilia sat across from Amanda and her squirrel-like summon, a wind Spirit named Fei-Fei. The two sides stared icily back at each other, the atmosphere in the carriage lowering to match. Originally, Linnaeus had shown a fair amount of concern about what was taking place within the carriage but, after inquiring, all three girls unanimously informed him that nothing was wrong. Since then, he had emulated Yorgen and Cyrus, willfully ignoring the cold atmosphere that seemed more than a little counter-intuitive to their cooperation... Fortunately, when the time to battle actually came, there weren''t any major hiccups as the monsters were easily dealt with by Cyrus and several other ranged attackers. Other than the convoy slowing a bit, in order to make it easier for the ground combatants to catch back up to their original carriages, nothing remiss had taken place by the time a loud horn blared, signaling they were stopping for the night. Since the girls were supposed to be resting during the day, they were the first half of the night''s watch while Linnaeus, Yorgen, Cyrus, Zezim, and Krone all squeezed into the carriage''s interior. It was a tight fit, especially for Zezim, but he managed to find a suitable position for himself on top of the less angular supplies. Overall, it wasn''t the most pleasant experience but, perhaps as a result of their individual pride, none of the ''men'' deigned to complain about the arrangements. Instead, they made idle conversation in subdued tones, discussing various topics that had no real relevance to their current situation... Though they all seemed to get along relatively well with each other, the fact they had only just met made it impossible for anyone to sleep peacefully. This was especially true for Linnaeus but, due to his past experiences, he was the least affected by their situation. Even if he had to stay awake until they reached the Monster Ant Colony, he wouldn''t be affected so, until it was time for them to swap with the girls, he engaged in the hushed conversation while laying next to the unsurprisingly warm Cyrus. When it finally came time for the changeover, Linnaeus was the first to squeeze out of the carriage. There, he found Eliza dangling her legs off the side of the staging perch while Emilia and Amanda were nowhere to be seen. Without waiting for Linnaeus to ask the obvious, Eliza made a show of yawning before stating in a sleepy tone, "Emilia and that vixen are both scouting further out. Someone from the Company came around to have the night watch spread out in order to detect enemies at a greater distance. I don''t have [Night Vision] so I stayed behind." Hearing Eliza''s response, Linnaeus gave an understanding nod before extending his hand to her and saying, "Try and get some rest. We don''t know what the coming days will bring so it is important to sleep when you can." After accepting his hand and allowing Linnaeus to pull her up, Eliza surprised him slightly by giving him a hug and whispering, "Make sure to follow your own advice, okay?" So as not to make him too uncomfortable, Eliza released Linnaeus immediately after her words fell. Then, after waiting for the other men to exit the carriage, she crawled inside to find a comfortable spot for herself. It would be impossible for her to get any meaningful sleep with Amanda in the same carriage but that didn''t mean she couldn''t secure the most comfortable position. Shortly after Eliza entered into the carriage, a high pitched whine that sounded both loud yet quiet could be heard echoing through the night''s air. This seemed to be informing those less attentive to the schedule that it was time for a shift change as, for a few minutes, silent chaos could be seen by those with eyes attuned to the darkness. By the time the somewhat annoying noise faded away, Emilia and Amanda had both returned, the latter with what appeared to be a large python coiling around her shoulders. What separated it from a normal snake was the fact it had four distinct eyes while, along the ridges of its brow, small white feathers could be seen forming a shape similar to a crown. Linnaeus had a distinct impression that Amanda could be a very dangerous opponent so he was hoping Eliza and Emilia didn''t upset her too much. Though he wouldn''t hesitate to cut her throat or pierce her heart, none of Yorgen''s Party members seemed to be bad people so it would leave a bad taste in his mouth if they came to blows. Fortunately, Emilia seemed to have lost her interest in Amanda during the time they had been apart as, without even sparing the snake-bearing woman a single glance, she happily hugged him before jumping into the carriage immediately thereafter. As a result, Linnaeus could hear Eliza utter a harsh complaint, followed by a dry laugh and apology from Emilia. Having seen Emilia hug Linnaeus, Amanda cocked her head to the side in amusement. She seemed to consider saying something but, before she could do so, Zezim placed his hand upon her shoulder and whispered, "Amanda, darling, please don''t cause any trouble...can''t you at least wait until we get to the settlement before you do anything...regrettable?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In response to her companion''s warning, Amanda gave him a sidelong glance with her purple eyes before forcing him to retract his hand as her snake tried to slither across it. This caused Zezim to sigh before looking toward Linnaeus with an apologetic expression and shrugging helplessly... 76 Uneventful Though Amanda''s behavior was a mild concern, the fact she had yet to even speak to him outside of their initial introductions gave Linnaeus the impression she wasn''t a real threat. Thus, in response to Zezim''s concerns, he gave a shrug of his own before disappearing under the cover of night. As someone with [Night Vision], Linnaeus already expected to be given a similar task to Emilia so he took the initiative to venture out ahead of time. While it may not be safest to go alone, his [Presence Concealment], [Stealth], and [Assassination] were far more useful when he could actually make use of them. With this in mind, Linnaeus trecked out a few hundred meters from the convoy, scaling a nearby hill to give himself a better vantage point. Truthfully, he was more worried about being attacked by the members of the convoy than any dangerous monsters as, while the night often brought danger, the plains and forests outside of the established gathering areas were sparsely populated with genuine threats. In the low light, it was easy to mistake friends for foe so, if he encountered another member of the convoy, there was a non-negligible chance they would mistake him as a scout. This was the danger of not knowing everyone else on the convoy but, due to having signed similar contracts, they would at least receive a notification after the first attack; warning them of the penalty if they continue to attack an ally. While the Akashic System served as the foundation for virtually everyone''s life, that didn''t mean it was completely without loopholes. Those that were clever could manipulate others to carry out all kinds of schemes that violated the usual rules and restrictions put in place by the system. Thus, in the brief moment where they didn''t know whether or not they were friends or foes, there was a chance people could kill each other without getting flagged by the system. After all, in situations like this, accidents did happen... Fortunately, even after an hour manning his post, Linnaeus only saw a single duo approach near his position. Most people didn''t venture nearly as far out as he did so, with the distance between each of the carriages, overlap was only possible if someone decided to roam around, patrolling. Since they wanted to make use of the same hill he was using, the duo approached until they were only a few meters away from Linnaeus'' location. Despite this, they didn''t seem to notice him at all as they were more focused on their hushed conversation than their actual surroundings. Hearing the duo talk about mundane topics, Linnaeus just rolled his eyes while internally willing them to move on quickly. As if to spite this thought, the male of the duo sat down on the grass and, after teasing his female companion, they ended up flirting together while watching the faux-stars overhead. Realizing they were going to stay for the long haul Linnaeus focused his mind, ensuring his presence was completely erased as he did his best to ignore them and focus on his surroundings. They were actually giving him a bit of experience every couple of seconds so, while it was annoying to have a couple flirting nearby, he at least received a minor benefit as a result. --- Just under four hours after the change in shift had been called, a trumpet sound could be heard echoing throughout the area, breathing life into the convoy once again. This caused the duo who had been cuddling to rise with a start, departing from the hill to return to their own place in the convoy. Finally liberated from his unsuspecting companions, Linnaeus appeared a few seconds after the duo had departed, a bit of fatigue visible in his eyes as he stretched his limbs. Staying still for nearly three hours wasn''t the most pleasant experience as the blood would settle due to poor circulation. As a result, his left leg had temporarily lost feeling and, even after it began to return, Linnaeus had to deal with a prickly feeling for several seconds before he was finally able to jog down the hill... Though she was never a morning person, Eliza was waiting for him near the back of the carriage with visible bags under her eyes. It was easy to see she had stayed awake all night but, knowing it wasn''t the best idea to inquire, he offered a slight smile and said, "Good morning, Eliza." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In response to his greeting, Eliza released a loud yawn before closing the short distance between them and giving him a quick. Then, after issuing a small hum, she released his body and said in a slightly more energetic tone, "Good morning, Lin...have you eaten anything?" Shaking his head, Linnaeus said, "I''ll get something to eat once we start moving. If you''re still tired, try and get some rest after we depart." Since it looked like the convoy would set out at any moment, Linnaeus felt they didn''t even have time to stand around talking, much less eat breakfast. Eliza seemed to realize this as well so, after an acknowledging smile, she climbed into the back of the carriage, joining the waiting Emilia, the latter of which was already snacking on a large sweet bun full of curry... Seeing the ravenous girl happily busying herself with breakfast, Linnaeus just waved at her before hopping onto the staging perch next to a disgruntled-looking Yorgen. When he noticed Linnaeus was looking, however, a smile returned to his face as he lightly nudged the former with his elbow and asked, "How''d tha night watch go, lad? Any troubles afoot?" Though Yorgen would undoubtedly get a kick out of it, Linnaeus elected not to mentioned the duo that had ''invaded'' his post during the watch. Instead, he just shook his head, explaining, "It was an uneventful evening." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Yorgen gave a half-laugh-half-snort, a peculiar reaction that Linnaeus didn''t really know how to interpret. Fortunately, he followed up the strange noise, explaining in a hushed tone, "It was a right battle around ''ere, ya keen? Them lasses don''t know the meanin'' of civility. Never in me life did I regret choosin'' ta stay back and keep watch more''n I did last night." Since it didn''t take an overactive imagination to understand what Yorgen was getting at, Linnaeus offered a wry smile in response, choosing to withhold a remark. He had the distinct impression that all three girls had heard Yorgen''s remark as, despite his efforts to speak in a hushed tone, his deep and gruff voice carried far. Fortunately, before Yorgen could say anything else to potentially trigger the girls, Krone and Cyrus returned to the carriage, the latter actually sitting on the former''s shoulders. Seeing the unexpected sight, Linnaeus was at a momentary loss while Yorgen, reacting as if it was the most normal thing in the world, just asked the duo, "How''d tha night watch go? Any troubles?" Krone wasn''t the most personable person in the world so it was Cyrus who, after hopping off the former''s shoulders, answered, "We were attacked by a small group of Rashu but, thanks to Big Bro, I was able to deal with them without too much trouble~!" Hearing how Cyrus addressed Krone, Linnaeus gave the latter a questioning look but, instead of an actual response, the grey-skin man just snorted before disappearing around the carriage to sit at the front. Though Krone''s response wasn''t all that surprising, the fact Cyrus happily followed after him caused the cogs in Linnaeus'' mind to jam up. This was noticed by Yorgen who, after a bit of gruff laughter, took it upon himself to explain, "Cyrus is a good lad. He''s always had a knack fer makin'' friends. It don''t matter if yer the quiet type or the gruff type. If Cyrus wants ta be yer friend, he''ll find a way to break through yer shell." In response to Yorgen''s claim, a feminine voice rang out from within the carriage, stating, "Yorgen may be our Party Leader but Cyrus is the glue that holds us all together. If he hadn''t begged to have me join the Party, I would have stayed in the Western Kingdom." Hearing Amanda suddenly insert herself into the conversation, Linnaeus turned his head to find the sensual woman smiling at him. In response to her words, however, Yorgen guffawed before stating, "Don''t let that lass'' words fool ye. She ended up following our little lad back like a lost kitten, ain''t that right, Mandy?" Rather than dignify Yorgen''s words with a response, Amanda crossed her arms, propping up her breasts slightly as she turned her head in a huff. This resulted in another loud bellow from Yorgen while, back in the carriage, Emilia and Eliza were looking at the brown-skinned beauty with what could only be described as ''taunting'' expressions... --- After about fifteen minutes of checking the wheels and axels of each carriage, each of the drivers, starting from the rear, issued a loud bellow. This continued until their shouts reached the very front of the convoy. Afterward, a loud sequence of trumpeting echoed through the area, followed by the convoy setting out. If they made good time, it was possible to reach the Monster Ant Colony without having to set camp for a second night so, with this in mind, the Dumbswallows were urged to increase their pace. Since he was riding on the back of a carriage, Linnaeus was able to see how swiftly the ground was moving beneath them and, while he could move faster in short bursts, the fact the silly-looking birds could keep the pace for more than half a day reminded him that monsters couldn''t be underestimated. With another carriage following on a few dozen meters behind theirs, Linnaeus could see into the eyes of the Dumbswallows at the very head of the procession. They seemed to genuinely enjoy the act of running as, rather than anguish or frustration, they had glimmering eyes filled with happiness as they somehow managed to keep pace with each other, rarely falling out of cadence. Other than strange thoughts of what would happen if he accidentally fell off the back of his carriage and got trampled by the resolute birds, Linnaeus found himself wondering what it would be like to ride on the back of a Dumbswallow. He knew they could be mounted, as he had seen several people riding them around, so it was worth looking into if they ended up wanting to travel without relying on merchant convoys in the future... As if he could read Linnaeus'' mind, Yorgen nudged him slightly, stating, "Don''t stare too long, lad. Some say Dumswallows have the power to make anyone that looks into their eyes just as dumb as them. Yer better off gettin'' a Pack Lizard or a Steelback if ya want to find a mount. They may be a wee bit slower but they''re a lot easier to rear than the onery bastards." Though Linnaeus knew what a Pack Lizard was, as they were nearly as common as Dumbswallows, he had never heard of a Steelbacks. Since he was always eager for new knowledge and information, he immediately inquired further, asking, "Can you tell me more about Steelbacks? We''re still pretty new to the Fifth Floor so any information is helpful." Like most of the Dwarves Linnaeus had encountered thus far, Yorgen had no problem at all when it came to sharing information. Their entire race seemed to be full of rather jovial fellows so, without beating around the bush in the slightest, he happily droned on about Steelbacks for nearly half an hour. As a result, Linnaeus learned they were basically giant feline creatures but, rather than a coat of fine fur, they were covered in sleek, steel-like, scales. Though it took some training to ride one, Steelbacks were far more nimble than Dumbswallows and, in a combat situation, they were capable of providing direct support due to their ferocity and razor-sharp claws. The females even had retractable spines on their tails, able to pierce through plate steel and demolish tree trunks with considerable ease. The only real downside was the fact you had to be present at the time of a new Steelbacks birth so they could imprint on you. They were fiercely loyal creatures so, unless you had a Blessing related to taming, it was impossible to acquire one without contacting a specialized breeder and waiting upwards of half a year... (A/N: Sorry for the recent delays. I ended up getting sick for a short while but, rather than sickness, the main reason behind the slow releases was due to the fact I was plotting out the story. Originally, I started writing just to create a unique world from scratch but, as I don''t want the story to go on for thousands of chapters, I had to plot out a more comprehensive storyline. Now that I have a better idea of the direction I want the story to take, I will be returning to daily releases once again. Thank you for your patience and understanding.) 77 Arrival Though there were some hiccups along the way, the rest of the journey to the Monster Ant Colony went without any major issues. The only real setback occurred when a monstrous three-legged avian creature attacked the convoy, damaging one of the carriages and killing several Dumbswallows. Its speed was unlike anything Linnaeus had ever experienced but, when it came around a second time, a man with a large halberd was waiting to meet it. He managed to cleave off one of the hypersonic creature''s wings in a single strike, bringing it down to the ground for his Party to finish off. From Yorgen, Linnaeus learned the massive flying creature, covered in black metallic feathers, was known colloquially as the King of the Skies. Though the Akashic system referred to it as an Onyx Bomber, the number of victims created by the creature, with a wingspan extending almost fifteen meters, earned it quite the reputation. Fortunately, most convoys prepared to an encounter against the infamous solitary hunters so, while six Dumbswallows ended up becoming casualties, they were only set back for the brief interval it took to repair the damaged carriage... --- Much like the Southern Forest Settlement, the Monster Ant Colony also had a place where people gathered together. Unlike the former, however, the settlement near the Monster Ant Colony had the appearance of a massive fortress rather than a homely village. Rather than a single defensive wall on their outer perimeter, the settlement was surrounded by a total of three, each growing progressively taller as you neared a castle-like fortification at the very center. In between each wall, various Inns, Hostels, shops, and other facilities could be found. Unlike normal buildings, however, they were made from extremely durable materials and, for reasons that weren''t immediately clear, covered in sloping roofs. While the buildings themselves were rather strange, what really stood out were the large defensive towers that were evenly spaced within the general residential and commerce areas. Each of these structures was around 30m in diameter, covered in smooth metallic sheets, and outfitted with a total of sixteen large ballistae. Around the base, a wide moat lined with metal spikes and filled with a substance similar to boiling tar deterred anyone from getting anywhere near the structures, turning it into a veritable fortress all its own. Even without gathering information, it was easy to deduce that the rather spacious settlement was subject to monster attacks on a regular basis. Despite this, hundreds-of-thousands gathered in this area, each seeking their fortune against the plentiful Monster Ants located in the distant mountains. At a glance, these Mountains looked like normal geological formations but, if you observed closely, it quickly became apparent they were anything but ''normal''. Rather, the entire mountain range was an artificial construct, painstakingly built over millennia by the Monster Ants calling it home. Linnaeus had never encountered a Monster Ant but he knew normal ant colonies could sometimes have millions of individual worker ants. This made the distant colony mildly terrifying as it wasn''t all that difficult to imagine an endless swarm of the creatures sweeping across the settlement, wiping it away in a single evening... --- Though there were several small Merchant companies in the outer wall, most convoys had clearance to enter within the second set of walls. Here, the fortifications were even more noticeable than those outside and, as could be expected, so too were the various buildings lining the interior. They were of a much higher quality than their counterparts in the outer region, a testament to the wealth disparity between those living further in and those forced into the periphery. After passing through a series of security checkpoints, navigating 100m long tunnel, and crossing a large bridge, the convoy finally began staging its carriages outside a large warehouse. Here, a team of workers was already waiting to unload all the equipment and supplies while, near the exit of the staging area, the former convoy leader was waiting with payment for each Party. From there, they could either retrace their steps, moving to the outskirts where prices were significantly reduced, or move further inside the second middle district, taking advantage of the fact they had already been able to pass through checkpoint, something which generally required a heavy fee to be paid. When it came time to make this decision, Linnaeus was somewhat hesitant as, for the last few days, he had gotten along relatively well with Yorgen''s Party. As a result, once they moved over to gather their reward, he asked the stoutly Dwarf, "What are your intentions, Yorgen? Will you head outside or explore the middle district?" While weighing the cloth purse he had received in his left hand, Yorgen gave Linnaeus a wry grin before saying, "This ain''t our firs'' time venturin'' to these lands, lad. We''ll be headin'' outside to find more agreeable pricin''. You ''n your lot should explore around for a bit, though. If fate be willin'', we''ll meet again durin'' the upcomin'' expedition." Since it wasn''t a simple matter, finding a Party you could mesh well with, Linnaeus was somewhat disappointed by Yorgen''s words. He didn''t allow this to show on his face, however, as he gave an understanding nod and said, "We''ll meet again; I''m certain of it." Then, shaking hands with the kind Dwarf, Linnaeus forced a smile as Yorgen''s much larger hand crushed his own... While Linnaeus was sharing parting words with Yorgen, Krone somewhat awkwardly ruffled the fur of Cyrus'' head while Eliza and Emilia had a staredown with Amanda. The only one without someone to talk to was Zezim but, with an aloof smile on his face, he just looked around the area before finding a Dumbswallow staring at him. This caused his smile and wings to twitch slightly as a strong desire to visit a pub or brothel swelled up inside of him... When the time for their parting came, Linnaeus'' Party saw off Yorgen''s until the latter crossed the large mechanical bridge and passed through the first checkpoint. Afterward, Linnaeus turned to his cohorts and said, "We''ll most likely be able to gather more information here in the middle district than outside. Let''s find a place to stay for the evening before splitting up to search the various shops present within. Try to gather information about the upcoming Expedition while preserving as much of your Soul Kindling as possible. Tomorrow morning, we''ll head to the outer district to cut on living expenses until we get a better grasp on our income..." Since it was the best course of action, given their current circumstances, none of Linnaeus'' Party members had a problem with his suggestion. As a result, they quickly found a place to stay away from the outskirts of the middle district, avoiding the ''cheap'' room and board offered by various Merchant Companies near the checkpoints. Merchants, even those that operated above-board, were all somewhat shady by virtue of their trade. If they could make some extra profit, they didn''t mind falsely advertising their rates as being cheaper than others, even if venturing just a few blocks inward proved this claim to be false. Linnaeus was a skeptic by nature so, if something seemed too good to be true, his default mentality was to confirm it for himself. As a result, they found a place that was nearly 30% cheaper, despite the accommodations being far superior... After securing two small rooms for themselves, Linnaeus had Eliza accompany him as they spent a bit of time making small talk with the Proprietor. He had already learned that Inn owners were rather fond of conversing with their guests as they spent most of their time tending to the Inn. This could get rather boring so, whenever they got the chance, they were more than happy to share what they knew in exchange for interesting news or a few Soul Kindling. Eliza was surprisingly good at getting people to talk so, with his own social skills lacking, Linnaeus had come to rely on her for things like this. All that was required from him was appearing interested during the conversation and grateful for the information provided. This was enough to make a good impression on the various Proprietors they had met, often resulting in extra benefits like cookies or other baked goods during their meals. From the Proprietor, a middle-aged man with ram-like horns and a massive build, Linnaeus learned that the Expedition was always hosted by the ruling family that presided over the ''Briggs Fortress'' at the very center of the territory. There, the Briggs Familia had been ruling over the region since it was first settled more than eight-hundred years prior. In order to prevent the Monster Ants from building up enough forces to sweep across the entire region, the Briggs Familia sponsored the creation of a Guild specifically for contending against the Monster Ant swarm. They were charged with organizing monthly Expeditions to sweep through the area, dealing as much damage to the ant population as possible while reserve forces and groups specializing in the harvesting of raw materials followed in their wake. Unfortunately, even with these monthly Expeditions, the Monster Ant Colony would swell in size once or twice each year. This always coincided with a phenomenon known as the Monster Ant Nuptial Flight, a period where some Monster Ants suddenly sprouted wings and tried to settle in other regions. Many of these ants were nascent Queens and virile males so, if they weren''t taken care of quickly, new colonies would erupt throughout the surrounding regions, leaving nothing but havoc and devastation in their wake. To prevent a major outbreak, the Briggs Familia would personally lead an Expedition directly into the heart of the Monster Ant Colony, their goal to kill as many Queens and brood as possible. By dealing a crippling blow to the existing ant infrastructure, the Nuptial Flight could be interrupted as, without a Queen, the existing colony would eventually collapse. As a result, the Monster Ants would fall back into their burrows, shoring up their defenses for several months for fear of being wiped out... This was all important information as, if they wanted to try and secure a place for themselves among the main Expeditionary Forces, Linnaeus and co had less than two weeks to prove themselves at the nearby Guild. Though they could make a decent profit by serving with the reserve forces, joining the main forces guaranteed a lump payment of 50,000 Soul Kindling just for participation. Joining the main expedition was a dangerous task but, at the same time, the rewards far exceeded those of the reserve forces. After all, the most coveted materials could only be obtained by entering the brood chambers and fighting against the various Majors and Super Majors. There, they could obtain the coveted Golden Honey and, if they managed to actually kill one of the Majors, harvesting their gem-like eyes guaranteed massive profits. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though obtaining a place with the main expedition would be difficult, the benefits far outweighed the potential danger. This was especially true for Linnaeus and his Party as, after the completion of a large expedition, the number of Monster Ants would generally thin out considerably. This meant, if they didn''t take advantage of this opportunity, their trip to the Monster Ant Colony itself could turn out to be a waste of time. Since there was a very real chance they could earn enough Soul Kindling to move on to the next series of challenges, Linnaeus managed to convince Eliza, Emilia, and Krone to take the risk with him. They would register at the Guild''s main office before heading to the northern section of the outer district. From there, they would venture into the Monster Ant Colony, gaining experience against the ferocious creatures while completing various Guild Quests. It wouldn''t be easy but, if they were able to distinguish themselves, there was a fair chance their Party would be accepted as part of the main expedition. After all, various Parties would migrate to the fortress city around this time so, while the competition was fierce, the chances of joining, even as a relatively new Party, were quite high. 78 Snare With limited Soul Kindling between them, there wasn''t much reason to explore the middle district other than with the intent of gathering information and evaluating the market. This didn''t stop Eliza from dragging off Emilia to peruse various clothing stores, however. As for Linnaeus, he spent a bit of time mapping their immediate surrounding before wandering toward the markets closest to the Central District, home to Briggs Fortress. While exploring, he only places worth noting, at least in Linnaeus'' opinion, were the Monster Association and, to a lesser extent, the Debtor''s Guild. He had taken an interest in tamed beasts after discussing them with Yorgen and Cyrus so, with several hours before nightfall, he decided to gather more information about them. As the name suggested, the Monster Association dealt with the acquisition, exchange, breeding, and distribution of various monsters. So long as you had the funds, it was possible to obtain a variety of different monsters, many of which were useful as either battle companions or mounts. The only real downside was, without a Blessing related to taming, it could take several years to build the requisite rapport to have a monster fight loyally at your side. This was where the second organization of interest came in, the Debtor''s Guild. Here, people that had fallen into debt could be contracted and, so long as you had the funds, they would effectively become your faux-slave. Despite their apparent status, contracting someone from the Debtor''s Guild didn''t mean you could treat them however you wanted. The purpose of the Guild was to repay debts, not get their debtees killed, so, unless the debtee had agreed to an unrestricted contract, it was the obligation of the one who had purchased their services to care for them. Since he was interested in expanding his Party without the threat of being backstabbed, Linnaeus had taken an interest in the Debtor''s Guild the moment he heard about it from a stall vendor. He had seen a young woman walking around with two burly individuals, each with collars around their necks so, after purchasing a few skewers for Emilia, Linnaeus followed the vendor''s directions to one of the tallest buildings in the entire middle district. As could be expected, the Debtor''s Guild was operated by the Briggs Familia, indicated by a massive emblem depicting a castle wall and a lion''s head could be seen. This was important for a number of reasons as, not only did the Brigg''s Familia serve as a Guarantor of the facility but, if you violated the terms of your contract, it was the same as offending one of the most powerful factions on the Fifth Floor. Linnaeus had no intention of making even more enemies but, with a two-week window to earn a position with the Main Expedition, it didn''t hurt to take a look. His Party was in desperate need of ranged attackers so, unless he or Emilia wanted to pick up a new specialty, they needed to scout a competent archer or someone with precision magic. Since forming a secondary Party and establishing a Company was a high hurdle, at least for the time being, supplementing their needs with temporary members was the next best option. It was with this mentality that Linnaeus first stepped into the Debtor''s Guild, a surprisingly orderly place with a prim and lavish interior. There, dozens of uniformed staff were waiting to happily deal with any customers that wandered in, much like an Auction House. The main difference was, rather than be ignored, it took less than thirty seconds for an intelligent-looking woman with sharp eyes and even sharper ears approached him, asking, "Have you come with the intent to purchase or sell?" When he heard the woman''s question, Linnaeus quickly realized why she hadn''t ignored him, despite his rather slovenly attire. He imagined it wasn''t all that uncommon for people to take the initiative to sell their debt directly to the Guild, likely to escape whoever they had indebted themselves to in the first place... Without letting the woman''s words bother him, Linnaeus stared back at her with a calm expression on his face, plainly stating, "I am interested in acquiring the contract of someone competent with a bow or precision magics. Please, show me what you have available." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, the woman gave an understanding nod, her expression never changing from the professional smile she had been wearing since the beginning. Then, after a courteous bow, she gestured toward the side, stating, "If you''ll follow me, I would be happy to facilitate your needs, Young Master." Linnaeus wasn''t fond of the way the woman addressed him but, with a mask of his own, the woman was unable to see through him as they alighted to a private room. There, Linnaeus was invited to sit in a surprisingly comfortable chair while the woman rang a small silver bell that had been sitting on the large wooden table separating them. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. In response to the bell, a door at the back of the room quickly opened to reveal two neatly-dressed servants, each wearing fitted dresses with relatively short skirts. From this, Linnaeus assumed that the golden bell, positioned next to its silver counterpart, likely summoned male servants. Seeing her client remain unfazed even in the face of two beauties, the female Broker couldn''t help but squint her eyes slightly as she tried, and failed, to get a read on him. Even when he was offered tea by the bustier of the two women, the young boy just gave a small nod in response, observing the contents of the cup before immediately setting them aside... Realizing she had yet to learn the boy''s name, the female Broker gestured for the servants to stand at the side before saying, "You have impressive bearing for someone so young. Despite being taught never to judge a book by its cover, it would seem I still need a bit of practice. Please, might I ask for your name, Young Master? As for my own, you may refer to me as Rune." Though he would have to sign his name on a contract if he wanted to obtain a debtee, Linnaeus had misgivings about arbitrarily giving his name to random people. Thus, without necessarily lying, he gave a curt nod before answering, "Hearing someone call me Young Master is unpleasant. You may refer to me as Finn, Ms. Rune." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Rune answered with a curt nod of her own before saying, "I hope we are able to enjoy a lasting partnership, Mr. Finn. As this seems to be your first time visiting the Debtor''s Guild, there are a few matters of varying importance to discuss. First of all, I am obligated to inform you that, should you choose to move forward with the acquisition of a contract, I will become your permanant Broker. Secondly, before I can show you any of the contracts we have available, there is a 100 Soul Kindling consultation fee that must be paid in advance..." As information was never free, Linnaeus'' wasn''t too surprised by Rune''s words. What he did question was whether or not the fee was actually 100 Soul Kindling but, knowing he would lose all leverage by footing around the issue, he opted to simply pay it. If he couldn''t even fork over 100 Soul Kindling, it was unlikely Rune, or any Broker for that matter, would treat him as a serious customer. Seeing Linnaeus unhesitantly pay the consultation fee, Rune''s evaluation of the poorly-dressed youth went up by a few points. He was difficult to read but, based on his words and behavior, she got the impression he specifically dressed as such to lower the guard of others. This wasn''t all that uncommon amongst affluent people who liked to see how people treated them based solely on appearance so, rather than offend a potentially powerful individual, Rune decided to play it safe by bowing politely as she accepted Linnaeus'' payment. Linnaeus could feel a change in the way Rune and the two servant women looked at him but, with the same neutral expression as always, he sat quietly as the former listed off various contracts. Most of them had exorbitant prices, ranging between 3,500-5,000 Soul Kindling per month but, every now and then, a relatively cheap contract, around 800-1,500, would come up. Linnaeus felt Rune was just throwing these in to gauge his reaction but, without revealing his actual thoughts on the matter, he had her run through a list of thirty-seven individuals without pause. What was worth noting was that the fact that the listed rate was just to obtain the contract of the person. From there, epending on the terms agreed upon, the contract could easily exceed several tens-of-thousands of Soul Kindling per month as a liability clause. Most of these clauses determined the treatment of the debtee and, if you wanted to have them risk their lives, there was even a clause that required you to continue paying off their debt, even if they died... Most debtees didn''t include the option to risk their lives but, in exchange, they would have to agree to various other ''services'', some of which were arguably worse than death. Though this all depended on how much the person buying them was willing to pay, it was something to consider if he wanted to acquire someone''s contract. What bothered Linnaeus was the fact that, due to his status as a ''Potentiate'', meaning he could still climb the Crucible of Souls, he needed to pay upwards of 30% of the person''s total debt upfront as a precaution against people amassing debtees to farm Soul Kindling and then simply departing the Floor. Worse still was the fact that, if he left the Floor with an active contract, it would still be in effect if he ended up failing his trial. As a result, he would be shackled with a massive debt if he was sent back to the Fifth Floor, essentially becoming a debtee himself for several decades. This seemed to be a surprisingly common outcome as, among the thirty-seven contract detailed by Rune, twenty-nine belonged to people who had failed their trials. In a way, this system was a trap to ensure they always had a stable supply of debtees as, due to time constraints, Potentiates would be desperate to acquire Soul Kindling by any means necessary. As a result, they would readily violate the clause as, if they ended up leaving the Crucible behind, their debt within didn''t matter at all... As someone in the same boat as these individuals, Linnaeus wasn''t deterred by the overbearing clause as, if he failed to return to the Tower, his life would have lost all meaning. If he had to spend a few decades as someone''s servant, that was merely penance for his failure. Fortunately, even if he did fail, Linnaeus had the distinct impression that Eliza would fail alongside him. He could easily imagine her purchasing his contract and, though this would make things a little awkward between them, it wasn''t the absolute worst outcome. With this in mind, Linnaeus ended up paying a holding fee on a Level 31 D¨¢ilin male with the [Child of Wind] Blessing. He didn''t want the stigma of purchasing a female''s contract as, with Eliza and Emilia opting to share a room with him, it would put him in a difficult position. Males were also a lot cheaper, on average, so it was also the most economical choice given his current financial status... Since it wasn''t uncommon for people to place holding fees, as purchasing a contract outright was only something a wastrel would do, Rune''s evaluation of Linnaeus didn''t drop all that much. Rather, after learning he was a Potentiate, she became even more eager to complete a transaction with him as it guaranteed a higher commission. She would also be the one to obtain his contract if he failed his future trials so, with very little to lose, Rune happily carried out her duties as Linnaeus'' Broker. (A/N: I am very sick right now. I wasn''t going to write a chapter today but, as it felt awkward to post a notice after failing to publish one yesterday, I opted to write a chapter to let everyone know what is going on.) 79 Setting Ou Though not entirely unexpected, Linnaeus found himself on the receiving end of a lecture shortly after reuniting with Eliza back at the Inn. The fact he had thought about making such a decision on his own left a bad taste in her mouth and, though she didn''t want to control Linnaeus'' actions, she at least wanted him to consult her on such matters. Understanding why Eliza was upset, Linnaeus didn''t hesitate to spend a fair amount of time coaxing her into forgiving him. In truth, he knew she would be upset even before he took action but, as it was often easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, he opted to follow his gut instincts on the matter. After all, he was now armed with knowledge pertaining to the Debtees, making it a lot easier to convince her of his rationale. After a long discussion, coinciding with Linnaeus being forced to brush Eliza''s hair, the latter finally forgave him for going behind her back on the matter. It helped when Linnaeus admitted the only reason he was comfortable with potentially indebting himself was because he believed she would purchase his contract. He promised that, if it came down to that, he would dedicate himself to doing everything in his power to make her happy, even if it took the rest of his life... With his words basically amounting to a proposal, Eliza was beside herself for the rest of the night and, while she ultimately forgave him, things became pretty tense until she finally fell asleep. Even this took a lot longer than usual as, despite the relatively low temperature within the room, it felt a lot warmer beneath the blankets than normal. Fortunately, by the time Eliza was lazily waking the next morning, she seemed to have recovered completely. Though Linnaeus still had to help her prepare for the day, Emilia had started to help out once they all started living together. This left him with the singular task of helping to comb her ever-disobedient hair. Linnaeus had actually gotten pretty decent at combing and styling hair but, fortunately, he hadn''t awakened any Skills related to the task. His current loadout was already rather unique so, even if it gave him benefits related to Dexterity or Wisdom, he would rather avoid obtaining such Skills. Just imagining how his future comrades would react upon discovering them sent shivers along his spine so, for the time being, he only absentmindedly helped the two girls rather than putting a concerted effort into improving... By the time everyone had gathered in the dining area of the Inn, it was a little after 0600, just after the first light of day. They had already discussed their findings the previous evening so, with their course already set, Linnaeus stated, "We''ll make a detour around Briggs Fortress before exiting out on the north-eastern side of the settlement. There are eight Guild Branches where we can register, so, after securing temporary lodgings, we''ll sign up and accept a few posted quests. Our goal is to increase our reputation within the Guild over the next two weeks so, please, everyone do your best. Depending on our results, we may not even have to venture to the Hell Hole..." Though they had varying levels of motivation, everyone had already agreed to Linnaeus'' method so, after a brief exchange, they checked out of their rooms before setting out. Despite how early it was, the settlement was already alive with people making preparations for their own adventures. To accommodate them, various stalls and shops were already open, many leaving their doors or windows cracked in order to let the fragrance of various foodstuffs entice potential customers. Emilia, ever the glutton, was one of the people affected by this aroma so, despite their relative haste, they ended up stopping a few times when an especially sweet or savory aroma tickled their senses. Since there was always a chance they would find themselves stranded at some point, it was always better to prepare extra food. Thus, while it was certainly troublesome, it wasn''t that big a deal that they made a couple of stops along the way. Eliza, in particular, didn''t seem to mind and, after he got a taste of a buttery glazed doughnut, Linnaeus couldn''t really complain either. Fortunately, despite their detour, it only took a little over an hour and a half to reach the Guild on the north-eastern section of the settlement. This ended up being for the better as, while there were still a number of people present, the morning rush had already faded. Most of the more proactive Parties had already set out early in the morning so, until around noon, the Guild would generally be pretty empty. As a result of their timing, there had only been two people ahead of them at the main registry desk so, after a few short minutes, the Party found themselves face-to-face with a rather intimidating red-haired beauty. Though looks could be deceiving, the woman''s wild hairstyle, her confident demeanor, the sharpness of her emerald-green eyes, and her sunkissed skin all radiated strength. Even the men who had been speaking with her before Linnaeus'' group had spoken in subdued tones, indicating the woman at the desk wasn''t someone they wanted to antagonize. Linnaeus had heard the woman''s voice during her conversations with the preceding groups but it was a very different feeling to be separated by nothing more than a desk. He suddenly felt smaller than normal as the woman briefly cast her gaze over his entire Party before asking in a confident and husky tone, "Another group eager to make a name for themselves before the next expedition? Well, if you want to join the Guild, even temporarily, you''ll have to undergo a basic evaluation first." Without waiting for a response, the red-haired woman grabbed a piece of paper amongst a tall pile of documents, shoving it towards Linnaeus as she added, "You should at least be familiar with things like Guild Ranks and such, right? This is a D-Rank request. If you can''t even do this much, don''t waste my time. This isn''t a Daycare Guild. If you''ve got the strength, prove it with your actions." Since he already knew about the assessment test from his previous investigation, Linnaeus retained his usual calm as he accepted the document without a word. The woman didn''t seem interesting in conversing so, rather than deal with such an aggressive personality, he opted to just move on and complete the request. Though Eliza looked like she had a few choice words for the red-haired woman, she chose to follow Linnaeus'' example and hold her tongue. Emilia and Krone followed immediately after her so, for a brief moment, it appeared as if the matter had been settled. Unfortunately, the red-haired woman hadn''t missed the glance cast by Eliza so, after the latter had already turned away, she mused, "That''s a good little girl. At least you have enough sense to avoid causing trouble for your allies~." Hearing the woman''s remark, Eliza''s pace slowed until she came to a complete stop. This caused the atmosphere within the Guild Hall to become palpable but, in spite of her fury, Eliza managed to keep her calm by taking a few deep breaths through her nose. It helped that, just as she was thinking of a response, Linnaeus smiled gently and said, "Come, we do not need the approval of someone we just met. Let our actions as a Party speak for us." As there were absolutely no benefits to making enemies within the very Guild they were trying to join, Linnaeus'' words allowed Eliza to quickly regain her calm. Then, after a small nod, she accepted his outstretched hand before alighting from the Guild. This left the red-haired woman sitting at her desk, a smile on her face as she scribbled down a few notes into a journal she kept at her side. --- Finding a place to stay when there was an expedition coming up was a bit harder than expected but, after spending most of the morning searching, Linnaeus and Co managed to find a place just outside a disorderly bazaar. Though it would be hard to get a peaceful night''s rest in the area, as the market operated through the night, it was better than nothing. With their housing situated, Eliza was finally given the opportunity to release her pent up frustrations as, after an hour-long trek, they reached the destination mentioned in their request. Essentially, their only objective was to obtain a material known as Blacksweed, a medicinal herb that was mixed into wheat and grain stores to repel various pests. Agriculture on the Fifth Floor wasn''t exactly easy so, when it came to making sure their harvest was well-preserved, cities and settlements spared no expense. After all, while not absolutely necessary, it was very unpleasant to live without a variety of staple foods. Though Blacksweed was relatively common throughout the entirety of the Fifth Floor, the Monster Ants actually cultivated the herb along the periphery of their territory. They used it in small amounts to prevent mites and other troublesome insects from infesting their own food stores. They were one of many monsters that practiced a form of nascent agriculture and, if not for them, early settlers of the Fifth Floor would have had a lot of trouble establishing themselves in the relatively inhospitable environment. Unfortunately for the Monster Ant Workers, Linnaeus'' Party hadn''t arrived to thank them for their contribution to the early settlers of the Floor. Rather, as a result of her earlier anger, Eliza was far more proactive than normal, using her [Crush] Magic to flatten a number of Workers that had been minding their own business. Monster Ants were surprisingly resistant to Gravity Magic but, with a few well-placed spears of ice, Emilia was able to finish off the majority of the crippled ants. This served as a learning experience for them all as, while Linnaeus had already asked about the various weak spots from Yorgen, theoretical knowledge was useless unless you could put it into practice. Though there were differences between each sub-species of Monster Ant, the vast majority had a weak spot between the plating between their head and alitrunk. It was also possible to cripple the ant if you cut them along their petiole, the section that connected to the abdominal region, known as the gaster. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Monster Ants could be divided into Scouts, Workers, Soldiers, Majors, Super-Majors, Royal Guards, and Queens, each demonstrably more powerful than the group preceding them. As a result, it was pretty easy to determine which kind of Ants were suitable for your Level but, so long as you fought cleverly, even powerful Ants could be killed by relatively weak individuals. The key to success was understanding the habits of the Monster Ants and knowing when and where to strike their weak spots. These were things that could only be learned from personal experience so, after Eliza''s preliminary onslaught, Linnaeus had everyone practice using weapons that allowed them to conserve SP. Since Emilia was skilled in the use of a spear, Linnaeus felt she would be a suitable teacher so, much to the Vangardandr''s satisfaction, he elected to learn how to use one. It provided him with the reach he sorely lacked and, though it wouldn''t be that useful within subterranean tunnels, it would be very useful against monsters on the surface. Though Eliza was initially tempted to try and learn how to use a spear herself, she quickly gave up that idea after stabbing into an ant''s gaster. It had been filled with a viscous green liquid and, due to hitting one of the main tubes that fed nutrients into the ant''s body, Eliza ended up getting covered in the pungent plant refuse. Afterward, she opted to make use of a heavy crossbow, borrowing the one Linnaeus had obtained after learning how to use it from Cyrus. Eliza had always been proficient at judging distance and trajectory so, while it took a bit of time to get used to, she actually managed to learn [Archery] in a relatively short period of time. This had dealt a small blow to Linnaeus'' pride as he had actually been the one to show her how to use it, despite not having the Skill himself. With Eliza fitting into the role of a mid-range support specialist without much issue, this left only Krone to choose a weapon. He would normally never rely on such things but, after nearly losing his leg to the extremely powerful mandibles of the Monster Ants, he elected to use the Warhammer that Linnaeus had picked up in anticipation of this event. Krone had given him a hard stare when he first brought the object out but, rather than comment about Linnaeus being a busy-body, he ended up crushing the heads of a few Ants in silence... (A/N: We''re back >:D) 80 Grasp Though Blacksweed was relatively common along the periphery of the Monster Ant Colony, that didn''t mean it was easy to gather. Hidden beneath the surface of the palm-sized leaves, there were vicious thorns that would afflict a painful numbness if you managed to prick yourself. To further complicate matters, Monster Ants communicated primarily through the use of pheromone trails but, when under duress, they emitted high-frequency shrieks that did a number on those with sensitive hearing. As a result, Emilia could be seen with a pouting expression, her ears laying flat as she cut through the reinforcements lured in by the shrieking Ants. In total, it took more than two hours to collect the 25kg of Blacksweed required to complete their assessment. This was primarily due to Eliza being the only one proactively harvesting the herb as, while anyone could pick it, quality could only be guaranteed by those skilled in their handling. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Eliza''s LV51 [Mixing] wasn''t just for show so, despite never having worked with Blacksweed before, she was able to skillfully harvest them using a small sickle and a piece of tanned leather. The reason it took so long was due to the fact she also had to properly wrap and store each herb as, if they just threw them into a bag, there was no way the Guild would accept them. Not every Blacksweed was to be put to immediate use so, depending on the circumstances, high-quality herbs could be in storage for several months before being processed into their powdered form. Fortunately, Scouts and Workers relied purely on numbers to drive away enemies so, while Linnaeus, Emilia, and Krone were under a fair amount of pressure from the 1.5m long arthropods, it wasn''t too much for them to handle. If they couldn''t at least deal with these relatively weak ants, there was little chance they would be able to deal with the stronger variants as, from Soldiers onwards, many Ants were able to regurgitate pungent acidic bile that could cause crippling injuries and ruin weapons and armor. With his [Barrier Aura] to protect them, Linnaeus'' Party wouldn''t have to worry too much about the acidic bile. However, this required them to always be aware of each other''s positions as, if the battle brought them more than 50m apart, he would be unable to shield them. This could lead to all kinds of issues as, if you assumed you were protected, there was less of an inclination to dodge dangerous blows... Though 50m seemed like a fair distance, it didn''t amount to much when people could cover several hundred meters in a few seconds. During the chaos of battle, it was difficult to maintain a formation without a lot of practice and coordination as, more often than not, you were forced apart by enemy magic attacks. While it wasn''t all that likely, there was a non-negligible chance they would come across someone with a similar Blessing to Eliza''s in the future. Though she was required to strike a pose in order to activate her Magic, the actual effects took place almost immediately thereafter. This wasn''t the only example of ''instantaneous'' Magic so, in preparation for the future, Linnaeus had everyone fan out while taking into consideration everyone else''s position. It was an extremely frustrating process but, as this was something every Party needed to master, none of them openly complained about it... Once Eliza had collected about 30kg of Blacksweed, just in case the quality of some didn''t meet the Guild standards, Linnaeus used the Party Menu to issue a ping. This caused a chime to sound in all of their minds and, as a result, Emilia immediately pulled back while Krone, due to his transformation, only returned after dealing with the group of seven Scouts that had surrounded him. Though his Blessing allowed him to become a walking tank, the severe reduction in mobility, even after forming alloys, was something the Party would need to work around in the future. It was for this reason that Linnaeus, during their formation training, set Krone as the central pivot for all of their movements. Since he was the least agile amongst them, he was the least likely to accidentally wander outside of everyone else''s range. It also helped that he stuck out like a sore thumb due to his height and the fact that, more often than not, he glistened with a metallic sheen. Once everyone had reformed, Linnaeus allowed Krone to set the pace while he and Emilia carried two large bundles of neatly folded herbs. As for Eliza, she followed closely behind, free from having to carry a load as she had been tasked with picking off the Ants trying to follow after them. Her use of the heavy crossbow had allowed her to reach LV4 [Archery] in just a few short hours, a testament to her keen eyesight and spatial awareness. Linnaeus suspected that Eliza was driven to become a competent archer so that he wouldn''t need to scout a new member of the Party but, as two archers were better than one, his opinion on the matter hadn''t changed. His SP reserves had been fluctuating considerably throughout their battle against the relatively weak Scouts and Workers so, when they faced off against Soldiers and Majors, it would be better to have as many ranged options as possible. Every Blessing had strengths and weaknesses and, through his use of [Barrier Master], Linnaeus had come to realize the least effective way to use his was in close quarters. Though it could easily catch people by surprise, those with considerable strength and speed could easily overwhelm him, taking large chunks out of his SP reserves with each blow. Where his Blessing truly shined was against ranged attackers and magic-users as, by simply placing a weak barrier in the trajectory of their attack, it was easy to deflect or interrupt their spell. Most Magic spells ''erupted'' on contact, giving them great area-of-effect damage, so even a paper-thin barrier, if skillfully used, could completely offset their damage potential. While he would never abandon the skillset he had already accumulated, Linnaeus was beginning to realize his true specialties were support and control. He needed to get to the point where he could use his Blessing freely, erecting barriers to protect his allies while viewing the entire battlefield from a central point. To this end, he would need to master some form of ranged weaponry. If he played his cards right, it was even possible to reach a point where he could protect his allies and defeat his enemies from a distance, all without ever revealing himself. Though it was a relatively rare classification for anyone without a Blessing related to archery, there was a Class commonly referred to as the Sniper. These people were usually hunters outside of the Tower and, after spending years concealing their presence in order to hunt dangerous game, they had become specialists that fit the positions of Scout, Archer, and Assassin. Previously, Linnaeus had made good use of his small frame, enhanced mobility, and quick reflexes to excel at using daggers in both hands. This was extremely useful against humanoid opponents but, as the size and strength of monsters continued to increase, short-bladed weapons became less and less effective. He could cover for this by mastering the spear but, as this required considerable balance and finesse, it would take years for him to reach an adequate level in its use. Though he didn''t intend to abandon learning the spear from Emilia, Linnaeus knew he wasn''t the type that liked to fight enemies up close and personal. He was the type that did everything in his power to create gaps in their mentality, exploiting momentary weaknesses to kill in the quickest and most effective manner. He hadn''t gotten his [Assassination] to LV40 by accident so, in order to make use of the Skill to its fullest, he needed a way to silently strike his enemies from a distance. Heavy crossbows were too loud and their recoil, though he would never admit it, caused him a fair amount of pain. The fact he had to use his [Barrier Aura] just to prevent his shoulder from bruising wasn''t pleasant so, while it was still a viable option, he would need to purchase the highly expensive long-range version which, fortunately, made use of a small kickstand that could even penetrate hard stone. His only other options, besides training his [Throwing] Skill, were learning how to use a bow or one of the much smaller single-handed crossbows. The latter had very high penetration within a few meters but, once you moved beyond its effective range, the damage output and accuracy fell off drastically. As for standard bows, they had much greater range but, due to the nature of arrows, affected by drag, wind speed, and other factors, it took considerable skill to hit anything beyond a few tens of meters. He also lacked the Strength to draw the more powerful bows so, while it was the most economical choice, Linnaeus knew there was only one real option among the three. Once they returned to the settlement and registered with the Guild, Linnaeus decided he would find a set of one-handed crossbows to supplement his current loadout. Though neither he nor Eliza could replace someone with a Blessing related to archery, it could potentially increase their earnings by a considerable amount if he became proficient in hitting the nucleus located at the back of a Monster Ant''s cranial plating. Like all monsters within the Crucible of Souls, Monster Ants turned into ash upon being killed so, if you were able to kill them in an instant, it was possible to prevent them from swarming you. As they were resistant to most physical and magical attacks, however, it required precision strikes to deal a lethal blow to them. This left crippling them as the only viable method as, unless you had enough raw power to simply crush their heads, like Krone, their numbers could become a very serious issue to inexperienced Parties. Linnaeus had learned a lot of the two hours they had been fighting so, once they returned to the Inn, he had a lot of things he wanted to discuss with everyone. This had become a routine for them after every major battle and, as they only had thirteen days to accumulate achievements, cooperation and coordination would be their keys to success. He was even willing to spend all of his remaining Soul Kindling to purchase equipment and supplies, knowing they could easily recoup the losses in under three days if they put in an earnest effort. One of the things Linnaeus had learned about being a Party Leader thus far was that his motivation and behavior greatly affected everyone. If he was cautious and reserved all the time, they would lose confidence in his decisions, just like in the Southern Forest. Inversely, if he showed a willingness to do whatever it took for the entire Party''s success, they would act in kind. After all, nobody wanted to be the one behaving frugally when everyone else was spending in support of the Party. Linnaeus'' acts of obtaining a spear for Krone, acquiring a heavy crossbow for Eliza, and procuring various foodstuffs for Emilia were all ''seeds'' he had planted in the hopes of reaping greater returns, not simply for himself, but the entire Party. It also helped to reduce the feeling of distance between them as, by showing his attentiveness and willingness to invest in each member of the Party, he was hoping to build a strong foundation for future unity. Though his life in the Slums had proven that there were no lengths people wouldn''t go to in order to take advantage of others, Linnaeus wanted to believe that, if he put in an earnest effort, those closest to him would reciprocate. If he couldn''t achieve this, leaving the Crucible of Souls was nothing more than a pipe dream so, in order to return to the Tower and reunite with his sister and Saht, Linnaeus, for one of the few times in his life, chose to proactively compromise his personal gains for the benefit of others... 81 Rappor By the time Linnaeus'' Party reached the Guild branch office, the day had started to gradually give way to the night. Despite this, there was still plenty of activity around the Guild as people which, in the evening, served as a tavern where people could celebrate the day''s earnings. Since Parties affiliated with the same Guild often worked together in order to complete difficult Quests, building rapport was instrumental to most Party''s success. As a result, it was common to find dozens of Parties mingling together, each discussing various tactics and bragging about their individual exploits. When his Party passed through the double-doors of the Guild office, Linnaeus noticed they had drawn a fair amount of attention but, after a brief moment, most people just ignored them. The only exceptions to this were men eyeing up Emilia, as she was quite the beauty, but the presence of Krone was enough to deter most of them. Though there were several stations to receive and report Quests, most of them were only open during the busiest times of the day. Since the evening rush had yet to kick off, there were only three stations open, one of which contained the same red-haired woman from before. Linnaeus would rather avoid trouble than go seeking it out so, despite Eliza''s insistence to join the woman''s line, he had them go procure a table while he lined up elsewhere. This didn''t exactly sit well with Eliza but, understanding Linnaeus'' character, she ultimately gave up her petty endeavor and instead alighted to secure them a table along the periphery of the room. With his diminutive size and his ability to obscure his presence, Linnaeus managed to approach the desk of a handsome man with fair skin and long, pointed, ears. Each was tipped with tufts of white fur and, though it wasn''t noticeable at a glance, Linnaeus noticed the back of the man''s neck was also covered in a similar coating, indicating he was a hybrid species between an Elvaan and one of the various bestial tribes. Seeing a little kid arrive at his booth, the receptionist raised his brow in curiosity before asking in a polite tone, "How might I be of service, young sir?" Just as Linnaeus was about to report the completion of his Assessment Quest, the red-haired woman located further down looked toward him. This caused Linnaeus to internally sigh as, after spotting him, she shouted, "Hey, Alexi, let me take care of that kid. I dealt with him earlier in the day." Hearing his colleague call out to him, Alexi turned his attention toward the woman and, finding her smiling, a shiver ran through his body before he turned to Linnaeus and explained, "It seems your matter will be handled by Miss Renka. Please, if you would make way for the next customer, I would be grateful..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though he was tempted to just leave and come back in the morning, Linnaeus got the impression that ''Miss Renka'' was an influential woman within the branch office. Thus, while internally cursing the fact he seemed to draw unwanted attention at every opportunity, Linnaeus trudged over to Renka''s counter with a deadpan expression on his face. After basically shooing away her previous customer, Renka tapped the top of her counter with the palm of her hand, saying, "Place the goods on the counter. We have a pressure sensor built in that can check the weight of objects. Since you arrived late in the day, you''ll have to wait until morning for the quality check to be complete." Without bothering to respond verbally, Linnaeus hefted the two large bundles of herbs onto the countertop. He was curious about the pressure sensor but, correctly assuming she wouldn''t just let him inspect the counter''s construction, he resisted asking about it. Seeing the weight displayed on the small dial beneath her dest, Renka gave an approving nod before saying, "Your Party seems pretty competent. Most idiots only bring in the listed amount, causing them to have to venture out a second time when the quality of their goods didn''t pass the Guild''s evaluation. Since all of your herbs are neatly wrapped, you''ll be getting a bonus for any excess Blacksweed." Since this was within expectation, Linnaeus just gave a curt nod before saying, "We will return in the morning to learn if we have passed successfully. Thank you for your assistance, Miss Renka..." Hearing the unnaturally pretty boy refer to her by name, Renka blinked in surprise before realizing Alexi had mentioned it previously. She made a mental note to punish him the next time they went out drinking but, for now, she stopped Linnaeus from leaving by saying, "You know, it isn''t a good idea to act cold toward Guild representatives. We don''t just keep tabs on whether or not a Party is skilled enough to complete Quests but, as we often work with civil and military officials, we have the duty of ascertaining the character of our affiliates. Do you think you''ll get a spot on the main expedition if nobody likes you...?" Though he hadn''t particularly cared about the first part of her statement, Linnaeus couldn''t help but frown slightly at the latter half. Even if it made sense from a broader perspective, it was easy to interpret Renka''s ''advice'' as a veiled threat. Thus, after taking a long and deep breath to keep his calm, he turned back to face Renka, saying, "I appreciate your counsel, Miss Renka, but I''d rather not keep the rest of the line waiting. Unless there is something important to discuss regarding the assessment, I should be going..." Linnaeus was doing his best to be as polite as possible, something he had gradually been picking up through his interactions with Eliza, but it seemed to backfire this time as Renka just smiled in a knowing manner before saying, "You''re a really level-headed kid, ain''t ya? Being cautious is good and all but, a word of advice, learn how to introduce yourself properly in the future. You called me by name without ever saying your own. If you want to pretend you have manners, learn the basics of etiquette first, okay?" Realizing he had, indeed, never introduced himself, Linnaeus made a show of exhaling before adopting his best ''apologetic'' look as he said, "You''re right...I guess I''m just a little stressed out at the moment. If I offended you, know that was never my intention...also, my name is Linnaeus. It is nice to meet you, Miss Renka..." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Renka gave an approving nod before picking up her journal and saying, "It''s nice to meet you, as well, Linnaeus. I have some expectations for you and your Party so I''ll be looking forward to your exploits over the next few weeks." With her words finished, Renka began writing something down in her journal, though not before waving Linnaeus away in much the same way she had her previous client. This made it seem as if she was lackadaisical about her work but, considering nobody stepped in to try and correct her, it was safe to assume her status was marginally higher than the rest of the Guild staff present... After parting with Renka, Linnaeus made his way over to where his Party was sitting, a small table on the far end of the Guild''s dining area. There, Eliza could be seen watching his approach with a mildly annoyed expression on her face. When he finally got within comfortable speaking distance, she wasted no time in asking, "What did that vixen want? You didn''t make any strange promises with her, did you?" Before responding to Eliza''s interrogation, Linnaeus took a seat at the table, his back facing the wall so he could see out over the entire hall. Only after he confirmed there were no people trying to listen in on their conversation did he answer, "I can''t be certain but she seems to have a higher status than most of the other Guild personnel. She noticed me when I approached the far counter and forced the man to defer me to her. If possible, you should avoid antagonizing her, Eliza. The thing you are worried about won''t happen so don''t let her rile you up so easily." Though he hadn''t exactly been harsh with his words, Eliza couldn''t help but pout after Linnaeus had basically reprimanded her for jealousy. She puffed out her cheeks slightly but, deciding not to make a scene, she opted to just flag down one of the waitresses to order something to drink. Linnaeus knew Eliza would have some choice words for him once they returned to the Inn but, as there really wasn''t anything to worry about, he wished she would stop antagonizing others. Even if someone actually tried to seduce him, it wasn''t as if he was easily taken advantage of. Rather, if they approached him with those kinds of intentions, the likelihood of them getting anywhere near him was slim. Though he had made a few compromises when it came to dealing with Eliza and Emilia, Linnaeus didn''t particularly care about the relations between men and women. His experiences with Saht had left an admittedly positive impression on him but, generally speaking, sex wasn''t considered a ''significant'' thing to most Slum dwellers. Though there were some people that fully committed to their deviancies, these were generally perverse people who wielded more power and authority than they deserved. Since he was no stranger to being propositioned, Linnaeus had an extreme tolerance towards the seduction attempts of licentious women. He had come to learn that most women who behaved in such a way were either very powerful or, at least in the Slums, acting as an agent on behalf of the various gangs or criminal organizations. There had even been a few female assassins who tracked him down so, contrary to his exploitable appearance, Linnaeus wasn''t exactly a soft target when it came to being wiled by women... After eating a small meal and enjoying a few drinks, all while discussing their battle against the Monster Ants, Linnaeus ended up having to carry a drunk Eliza back to the Inn. Krone had also gotten a little drunk but, with his Blessing, combined with the cool evening air, he sobered up pretty quickly. As for Emilia, she was virtually immune to ingested chemicals and toxins so, even though she had proactively participated in a drinking contest, she was just as alert as usual. Fortunately, the public order even in a frontier settlement was surprisingly good so, while it made him a little uncomfortable having half his Party under the influence, Linnaeus'' worries ended up being for naught. They reached the Inn without incident and, after a small ''battle'' to get Eliza to prepare for bed, he ended up sandwiched between her and Emilia shortly thereafter. While some men proactively sought a harem, as it was a sign of prestige for the powerful and affluent, Linnaeus couldn''t really see the point. He wasn''t even in a relationship with Eliza and Emilia but, in spite of this, they created a fair amount of drama. Even now, while it was somewhat comfortable, their combined body heat caused him to sweat a considerable amount. This could be prevented if they wore proper attire to bed but, after obtaining lingerie, both Eliza and Emilia generally wore nothing but their bras and panties to bed. Though he wasn''t completely immune to their charms, Linnaeus never even considered having any untoward thoughts toward either woman. Until he returned to the Tower and discovered the fates of Saht and his sister, he couldn''t afford to be distracted by such things. It wasn''t difficult to imagine Saht trying to kill Eliza and Emili, as she could be very overprotected, so, in the hopes of avoiding unnecessary drama, Linnaeus resolved himself to remain chaste until they were able to reunite. Linnaeus didn''t want to become the type of man who betrayed the people he cared about, so, unless Saht herself was okay with it, he would never give in to the passion and whimsy of other women... 82 Registration With the dawn of a new day, Linnaeus and Co made their way back to the Guild branch office to learn whether or not they had passed their assessment. This was an important first step for gaining a foothold in the region as, without the Guild''s support, joining the main expedition without a bit of fame or powerful connections was nigh-impossible. As could be expected of the early morning, the Guildhall was packed with several hundred people trying to either accept Quests or receive payment for those they had completed the previous day. Fortunately, the Guild had ten booths open so, despite more than a hundred people standing in line, it only took around twenty-to-thirty minutes before you were seen. As for everyone else, they were the members of various Parties and, unless it required them to be present, they just sat in the dining area, eating breakfast and steeling themselves for the coming day. Seeing Renka manning the station with the largest volume of people, Linnaeus decided to avoid the hassle of causing a potential scene by directly joining her queue, this time with Eliza, Emilia, and even Krone joining. They would all be registering with the Guild so, even if it would have been better have Eliza wait at the side, it wasn''t really an option this time around. After waiting their turn in the queue, Renka pretended to have overlooked the towering figure of Krone, showing an expression of pleased surprise as she pulled out one of the files waiting on the side and said, "Good morning, Linnaeus. You''re up bright and earlier today aren''t you? I guess you and your Party are eager to learn the results of your assessment~?" Adopting a practiced smile of his own, Linnaeus nodded his head, answering, "We are a bit pressed for time. The expedition is in less than a month, after all..." Nodding her head in understanding, Renka pushed the folder of documents toward them while explaining, "Well, there weren''t any issues with the goods submitted. Rather, your Party must have a pretty skilled Herbalist to have packaged them so neatly. As a result, your total reward is 4310 Soul Kindling and, if you haven''t changed your mind, the contracts for Guild membership have already been prepared. I assumed you had no intention of staying in the area so I arranged four temporary contracts, each expiring within six months. It is the shortest contract we have, considering you aren''t part of a famous Merchant or Mercenary group." Since they had already planned to stick around for a few months, building up their reserves of Soul Kindling, Linnaeus didn''t think a six-month contract was that bad. He had heard from Yorgen that most contracts lasted for a minimum of two years but, as potentiates, Linnaeus and Co had a few unique privileges afforded to them as a result of the laws passed by the reigning families. Since they had only been granted authority due to their contracts with Tenebrae, they had the duty of ensuring potentiates weren''t unfairly suppressed. Though Linnaeus hadn''t informed Renka of their potentiate status, it didn''t surprise him that she was able to figure it out. There were a number of ways to gain information so, rather than inquire as to how she learned of their status, he just nodded his head and said, "Thank you for your consideration, Miss Renka. It helps that you are so capable and astute..." Finding Linnaeus'' words amusing, Renka released a rather ''hearty'' laugh, primarily due to Eliza not-so-secretly nudging his side. She felt this group of kids was pretty interesting and, for the next few months, decided to tease them whenever the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, she had a job to do so, with a long line behind Linnaeus, she handed out four copies of the contract before setting out a tray with a small golden pin. Binding contracts required an exchange of blood to validate them so, after ensuring there were no strange clauses within the provided documents, Linnaeus, Eliza, Emilia, and Krone all dripped a few drops of blood near their signatures. The moment the contract was signed and sealed, Linnaeus noticed his Status change to reflect his affiliation change from ''Free'' to ''Briggs City Adventurers Guild'' while, within the slot designating his Titles, he now had the secondary Title of ''F-Rank Adventurer''. If the Guild had been a powerful organization on the Outside or within the Tower, this affiliation could have provided numerous benefits depending on his Rank but, due to the unique nature of the Crucible of Souls, it only determined which types of Quests he could accept. After all, Level bonuses were impossible to obtain in a place where increasing your Level, through standard means, was all but impossible With the registration process completed, Renka gave an approving nod before pulling out a sheet of paper, explaining, "Few people prepare a Quest for immediately after becoming Adventurers so, to save you a bit of time, I can give you another D-Rank Quest. If you don''t accept this one, you''ll have to go back to the end of the line. There are a lot of people waiting so make your decision quickly~." Realizing his slight oversight, Linnaeus couldn''t help but frown slightly but, after briefly considering his options, he ultimately turned to his Party, saying, "We should accept this Quest. We''ll check the Quest Board on our way out and decide whether or not we want to accept anything else. For now, it is best to go with the options presented to us." Though he alluding to his true thoughts, what Linnaeus didn''t say was, ''we should try to get on the good side of the Guild''. Since Renka had prepared something specifically for them, it would improve their rapport with her and, as a result, the Guild itself. If they wanted to make a name for themselves in the shortest period of time, obtaining recognition from influential Guild members was the optimal method. Eliza didn''t like Renka but she wasn''t an idiot so, immediately after Linnaeus'' attempt to convince them, she nodded her head, adding, "We didn''t have any trouble yesterday but it is always better to pace ourselves. Completing another D-Rank Quest would give us more time to familiarize ourselves with the territory around the Monster Ant Colony." With Eliza agreeing with Linnaeus, Emilia and Krone had nothing to say on the matter. Thus, after a very brief discussion, they accepted the Quest, much to the amused satisfaction of Renka. She then waved them off, forcing them to make way for the disgruntled duo who had been waiting next in line... Fortunately, while it was an opportunity to mess with them, Linnaeus was relieved to see that the Quest issued by Renka was well within their capabilities. It required them to collect an additional 50kg of Blacksweed or, if they wanted to save time, they could venture a little further into the Ant Colony, collecting a type of Fungi known as Ebony Glowshroom. Though it was significantly rarer than Blacksweed, they only needed to acquire 3kg of caps and 5kg of stems. After showing the Quest sheet to the rest of his Party, Eliza couldn''t resist snorting through her nose and commenting, "That vixen is trying to turn us into beasts of burden. I wouldn''t be surprised if she had connections with a local Alchemist and is using us to earn their favor." As it wasn''t impossible, Linnaeus couldn''t really refute Eliza''s words. Instead, he nodded his head and, after placing the Quest sheet in his Inventory, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Even if that is the case, it isn''t a bad arrangement for us. She seems to have a fair amount of influence with this branch so it is safe to assume she also has dealings with the main office as well. Since this is a Quest suitable for our Level and Rank, completing it has no real demerits." Hearing Linnaeus'' reasoning, Eliza crossed her arms in a huff before muttering, "Did you think I was unaware of that? I didn''t say we should forfeit the Quest...I just don''t like that woman. We shouldn''t let her pick and choose the Quests we complete. We''re not her gofers..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though she didn''t particularly have any problems with Renka, Emilia also nodded her head, adding, "It might be a good idea to win the favor of someone with a higher rank but, if you want to become a capable Party Leader, you have to be the one making decisions. If you only listen to that woman''s recommendations, it could become problematic later on." Linnaeus didn''t share Eliza''s and Emilia''s concerns, as he was a pretty cautious person, but, as he had continuously advocated having everyone sharing their opinion, he couldn''t simply ignore them and insist he knew what he was doing. Rather, there were many things he didn''t know and, over the last few weeks, he had learned a considerable amount from both girls. After briefly organizing his thoughts, Linnaeus nodded his head, compromising with the concerned girls by saying, "We''ll make sure to pick up Quests prior to joining the queue. Unless she provides us with something that can be completed alongside our other objectives, we''ll continue going at our own pace. Even if we fail to join the main expedition, it isn''t as if we''ll have no way to increase our Soul Kindling. With a six-month contract, we have plenty of time to prepare for the next expedition, even if it is on a much smaller scale." Understanding that Linnaeus had compromised on her behalf, Eliza adopted a gratified smile and, despite several hundred other Adventurers present in the surroundings, she gave him a tight hug before planting a kiss on his cheek. She didn''t mean this as a particularly intimate gesture but, if it would deter the ''vixen'', even a little, she didn''t mind embarrassing herself a little... Though there was much he wanted to say about Eliza''s decision, Linnaeus decided it wasn''t a good idea to do so in public. Instead, he halfheartedly returned her hug, an awkward smile on his face as he noticed Emilia eyeing him from the side. Fortunately, she had the wherewithal to restrain herself, at least when there was a large crowd of people, many eyeing her with covetous gazes. If she tried to repeat Eliza''s display, it had the potential of causing Linnaeus a lot of unnecessary trouble so, for the time being, she began pointed her wrapped spear towards the Quest Board at the side of the hall. Eliza immediately regretted her decision but, with her unkempt hair, it was impossible to see just how red her ears had become. If she lowered her face slightly, it was difficult to even make out her expression so, using Linnaeus as a guide, she avoided making eye contact with other Adventurers, earning a few laughs and a couple of teasing remarks as a result. Fortunately, the early morning rush was known as such for a good reason so, rather than waste time teasing strangers, most Adventurers quickly went about their own business. Most had shown up at the Guild for a specific purpose so, while it was a funny moment, it wasn''t all that important to them. By the time Linnaeus'' Party reached the Quest Board, most people had stopped paying any attention to them, the exceptions being a few Adventurers who were drawn to Emilia''s beauty. Since she didn''t so much as spare them a glance, however, most of them eventually gave up as, with Krone towering over the average Adventurer, it didn''t seem worth it to try and approach her forcibly. The Guild also had some pretty strict policies about rabble-rousing and other, more serious, offenses, so, in more ways than one, it simply wasn''t worth it. With Eliza''s embarrassing act quickly forgotten by most people, Linnaeus was able to memorize a few Quest objectives and, while he opted not to immediately accept them, there was no penalty for accepting and completing a Quest on the spot. So long as you had the requisite materials, the Guild didn''t particularly care how you acquired them. Though exceptions would be made if you became a known exploiter of the system, they generally overlooked it. Thus, after picking and choosing a few overlapping Quests, Linnaeus'' Party enjoyed a light breakfast before setting out, passing through the brisk morning mist alongside several other Parties with similar intentions... 83 Darkness Though it wasn''t impossible to find Ebony Glowshroom in crevasses and large areas of persistent shadow, the vast majority could only be found within the Monster Ant tunnels themselves. The Monster Ant tunnels were a complex subterranean network that consisted of countless tunnels of various shapes and sizes. These came together to form a labyrinthine structure that, even after hundreds of years, had never been fully mapped. Venturing into the tunnels required a completely different skill set than what was required to fight on the surface as, outside of the main channels, it was possible for even Linnaeus to graze the ceiling if he put enough strength into his legs. For those like Krone, the tunnels felt claustrophobic and, if he had been the type to rely on speed, rather than power, the complex labyrinthine structure would be a true hell. For this reason, many Adventurers referred to the Monster Ant Colony''s underground network as the ''Ant Hell'', a place that represented a nightmare for both explorers and the Ants themselves. After all, these tunnels had served as the burial grounds for millions of Ants over the years, giving it a ghostly chill despite the palpable humidity. It was this combination of darkness and humidity that made the tunnels a veritable paradise when it came to cultivating various fungi, many of which had bioluminescent properies. In fact, without these mushroom colonies, visibility within the tunnels would be an absolute nightmare as, without [Night Vision], or a related Skill, seeing more than a few meters was impossible. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. With thirteen identified types of bioluminescent fungi commonly found within the tunnels, it was a lot easier than expected to find the type you were looking for. After all, while many mushrooms had a similar glow, the rarer variety had a slightly different hue, often coinciding with the names they had been given. Though it didn''t exactly look black, Ebony Glowshrooms emitted a mysterious purple light that made other things in the area glow with false bioluminescence. This was the method they used to try and camouflage themselves, but, so long as you knew how to identify the pattern on their shrouds, it was easy to pick out Ebony Glowshrooms among the star-like ocean of fungi. The hardest part of collecting the coveted mushrooms was, as could be expected, venturing into the tunnels themselves. Most people were accustomed to fighting in open areas, so, to be forced into a confined network of tunnels and fight against monsters that could easily traverse the floor, wall, and ceiling, in equal measure, wasn''t easy. Eliza''s Magic was almost useless within the tunnel system, forcing her to rely on her heavy crossbow, but, fortunately, Linnaeus'' and Emilia''s Blessing were easily adapted to fighting in confined areas. Having lived most of his life fighting within confined alleys and navigating underground waterways, Linnaeus was like a fish being returned to the water. His small stature made it easy for him to bound around the tunnels without suffering a penalty to his Agility, and, while it ate into his reserves a bit, he could easily form a [Barrer] to block off sections of the tunnel system if too many enemies arrived. Though she had never fought underground, Blessings related to water were exceptionally powerful in confined spaces. The Monster Ants had virtually nowhere to flee to and, though she far from the Level required to flood the cave system, Emilia''s freezing attacks were doubly effective against the majority of Monster Ants, creatures that relied on hot and humid places to live comfortably. The only one to really struggle with fighting in the tunnels was Krone as, after trying to steal the traits of the Monster Ants, he realized they didn''t actually have [Night Vision]. Rather, they relied more on their sense of smell to navigate, revealing countless pheromone trails that made little sense to the burly warrior. If Krone could learn to read the pheromone trails properly, Linnaeus felt it would provide them with an extreme benefit, but, as this wasn''t exactly a reasonable expectation, he didn''t both mentioning it. Instead, he had Krone watch their back, using his bulk and raw power to prevent any Ant from trying to ambush them. Fortunately, they had yet to encounter any of the more troublesome variants, which were typically found much further in, so Krone wasn''t suffering too much. Had they encountered actual Soldiers or Majors, Linnaeus had little doubt that his [Barrier Aura] would be put to the test. While Krone could emulate the carapace of the Monster Ants, which reportedly had some resistance against the chemicals expelled by the Ants, it wasn''t exactly wise to rely on such things. After all, no matter how many traits he borrows, Krone was still a humanoid, so, if he took acid spittle to the face, it would undoubtedly blind or suffocate him. If his [Barrier Aura] proved ineffective against the Monster Ants, Linnaeus would have little choice but to reconsider their approach. Currently, they were a little too reliant on his Blessing and, while it had been useful in most situations, it would be foolhardy to assume this would always be the case... Fortunately, at least for the time being, his Blessing was proving exceptionally useful as, despite their ability to traverse the walls and ceiling, the Monster Ants didn''t have an easy way to circumvent his [Barriers]. They didn''t actually seem to recognize them as an attack so, instead of trying to destroy them, they would often just pause in place, flicking the [Barrier] with their antennae as if they were confused. Since the Monster Ants relied more on pheromone trails than their eyesight, Linnaeus assumed his [Barrier] effectively ''cut'' the pheromone trail. While they would quickly latch on to a different trail, a momentary pause was all he needed to bury his spear into one of their weak spots. This also taught him that, if he cut off the antennae of the Ants, they were virtually blind within the tunnels and, as a result, they would either stop moving or indiscriminately attack anything that moved. The person to benefit the most from this discovery was none other than Krone. It wasn''t easy to swing around a large warhammer within the confined tunnel system so, after learning he could blind the Monster Ants, he began ripping off their antennae, to great effect. With their primary sense robbed from them, the Monster Ants would rip each other apart, grappling each other while using their fierce mandibles to cut through the limbs of ''enemy'' Ants. This resulted in Krone releasing a rare laugh, but, as he had been growing increasingly annoyed at his situation as the rearguard, even Eliza didn''t mind his outburst... Every time Linnaeus'' Party stumbled across an area where the mushrooms glowed a distinctly purple color, he would do his best to seal off every access tunnel while Eliza dutifully harvested the requisite caps. They weren''t just after Ebony Gloomshrooms, however, so it would take her several minutes to harvest and package everything. Emilia had tried to help, but, even with her powerful nose, she had a lot of trouble trying to distinguish between the different types of mushrooms. With practice, Emilia was confident she would be able to identify the mushrooms, not only on sight, but, from a great distance as well. She could already smell where Monster Ants would appear from, so, with a bit of time, she would be able to track down individual herbs and mushrooms, preventing them from having to wander around aimlessly. For this reason, Eliza tolerated Emilia''s presence while she was trying to harvest, periodically forcing unusable caps towards the lingering Vanargandr for scent recognition and consumption. Since Emilia could eat virtually anything, she had effectively become Eliza''s temporary disposal chute, destroying the evidence of her periodic failures. --- Though their original intention had been to save time by collecting the rarer Ebony Glowshrooms, it took nearly six hours for Linnaeus'' Party to retrace their steps and exit the subterranean system. Upon surfacing, Krone could be heard releasing a heavy, audibly relieved, sigh. He didn''t proactively complain, but, fighting underground hadn''t been easy on him. Without his [Perception] and the little light cast off by the various fungal colonies, he would have been fighting completely blind. While he hadn''t taken much physical damage, there was a certain psychological strain present when fighting under such stressful circumstances, so, seeing the sky overhead, he couldn''t help but feel relieved. Understanding his silent counterpart''s anxieties, Linnaeus turned to Eliza and Emilia, stating in a voice he knew Krone would be able to hear, "We should avoid fighting underground too often. It might be different further in, but, along the periphery, the systems are too tight to fight freely." Though she understood what Linnaeus was trying to do, it would be too obvious if none of them offered their input. Thus, in response to his statement, Eliza issued a ruminating hum before nodding her head and saying, "I''m not particularly fond of fighting in confined quarters, but, if we keep at it, I should be able to awaken the [Night Vision] Ability. It''s a little annoying that only you and Emilia are able to see in the dark..." Hearing Eliza''s response, Emilia giggled playfully, her hand behinds her head as she mused, "Lin and I have a lot more in common than our [Night Vision]. Once he learns how to use the spear properly, we''ll be able to bully all of our enemies together~." Even if Emilia was playing along with their skit, Eliza''s brow began to twitch in response to her biting remark. To make matters even worse, Emilia ''hid'' behind Linnaeus, a cheeky smile on her face as she mischievously giggled. Before the two girls could enter a spat, Linnaeus pointed out, "We should consider heading back to turn in our bounty. The other option is to hunt a few Monster Ants along the periphery, waiting until the sky begins to dim before our return. There are plenty of materials and Kindling to collect, even on the surface. Besides, I want to continue practicing my archery...will you help me out, Eliza?" Hearing Linnaeus asking for her assistance, Eliza immediately felt better, dismissing Emilia''s earlier words as she adopted a haughty smile and answered, "Of course. My own Skill is lacking, but, if we work together, I''m certain we can both improve rapidly~." Without waiting for Linnaeus'' response, Eliza began to pull him along by his wrist, seemingly with the intent to separate him from Emilia. As for the latter, her ears twitched a few times but, the smile on her face never faded away. Instead, she turned to Krone, saying, "We should catch up before they get themselves into trouble." With her words finished, Emilia pulled out her spear and, with characteristic swiftness, pursued the retreating figures of Linnaeus and Eliza. This left Krone standing alone, his dark eyes revealing a mix of emotions before he ultimately released a profound sigh and began trudging after the agile trio... --- Under Eliza''s guidance, Linnaeus actually managed to obtain the [Archery] Skill before it was time for them to head back. She had been ''very'' insistent on teaching him, obviously intent on making them have more in common with each other, so, with a concerted effort on his part, Linnaeus managed to advance the Skill to LV1. This provided no discernible difference in his accuracy, but, it could become one of the foundational Skills that provided him a considerable attribute increase with every Level. Since he had the opportunity to increase his Skills, Abilities, and Magic without having to worry about increasing his Level, Linnaeus intended to take full advantage of it. While it might not seem like a good idea to have a variety of Skills, each requiring a serious effort to advance, the benefits they provided were too good to pass on. So long as he got them to LV20, they would provide bonus attributes with each Level, meaning he could, theoretically, reach a point where simply Leveling up made him more powerful than his peers. Fortunately, Linnaeus had Eliza, Emilia, and even Krone to help him develop his Skills, so, by the time he returned to the Tower, there was a chance he would develop upwards of seven different Skills. At the very least, this was an additional seven attributes per Level and, if he managed to get them all to LV50, he would be earning double that. All he needed to do was put in the requisite amount of effort to improve, but, considering what was at stake, Linnaeus had more than enough motivation to reach the top...no matter the cost. 84 Displaced Though there was still a bit of light left in the day, Linnaeus'' Party returned to the Briggs Fortress Settlement in the hopes of bypassing the evening rush. This ended up being a small blessing, at least from Eliza''s perspective, as, for the first time since their registry, Renka was absent from the various reception and exchange booths. Seeing the troublesome redhead was missing, Eliza''s mood had improved considerably, so, with Linnaeus and Emilia in tow, she happily dragged them off to secure a table. As for Krone, he had volunteered to exchange their materials, insisting that they should all take turns to avoid any kind of issues. Linnaeus didn''t completely agree with Krone, but, as the man was trying to repay him in his own way, he elected not to mention the flaws in such an arrangement. Fortunately, contrary to Linnaeus'' expectations, none of the other Adventurers gave them any real trouble, but, considering they were still inside the Guild, this wasn''t all that unexpected. Though a few people had eyed Emilia from a distance, only one man had enough gall to actually approach the table in an attempt to proposition her. When she glared back at him, however, he was quick to depart, his own ears flattening as he awkwardly returned to his boisterous Party. Linnaeus had noted the man''s wolf-like ears and a tail, but, based on the color of his fur, it was safe to assume he wasn''t a Vanargandr. According to Emilia, the fur of every Vanargandr was a shade of blue, the only exception being the elderly and the so-called ''Children of the Moon''. The latter consisted of Vanargandr that had been born with pure white fur and, though there were a few exceptions, the vast majority also had moon-like eyes. They were greatly respected by every tribe, as, in exchange for significantly reduced physical prowess, the Children of the Moon often developed Blessing related to prophesy and foresight. The Vanargandr also lacked have the concept of prostitutes, even if it wasn''t their intention, she felt greatly insulted by any man who thought they could mate with her for no better reason than her appearance. She was a huntress and a warrior before anything else, so, from her perspective, she should be the one selecting and protecting her mates, not the reverse. As a result of her frustration, Emilia made a show of sticking close to Linnaeus for the rest of the evening, souring Eliza''s otherwise good mood. This resulted in the latter spending a little too much of her earnings on alcohol, so, for the second time in as many nights, Linnaeus was forced to piggyback her to the Inn, much to the amusement of various passersby... All-in-all, it was turning out to be a relatively uneventful evening, but, even before reaching their Inn, Linnaeus had the sinking suspicion things were about to become more complicated. There was more foot traffic than normal, and, even from a distance, he could see black smoke billowing from the direction of their temporary residence. Upon reaching the district where their Inn was located, Linnaeus, Emilia, and Krone stared blankly as several people worked together to put out a fire that had spread to several buildings, their Inn included. Based on the conversations in the surroundings, it seemed that a group of drunkards had tried to accost a young woman, who, in her rage, used her Blessing to severely injure her four aggressors. Unfortunately, as was often the case with fire type Blessings, she also ended up setting fire to the surrounding buildings and, despite a concerted effort to extinguish the flames, things got out of hand pretty quickly when a wagon carrying undiluted alcohol caught fire. Linnaeus'' first instinct was to assume this was some kind of scheme, but, as it didn''t make sense for anyone to go out of their way to cause so much collateral damage just to inconvenience his Party, he discarded the thought. The original attack happened within an alleyway connecting to the nearby bazaar, not their Inn, so, while it was frustrating and inconvenient, the likelihood it had any relation to them was small. Since it was rather loud in the surroundings, Eliza ended up opening her eyes groggily before asking in a slurred tone, "Wash goin'' on...? Fire...?" Knowing she wouldn''t really be able to hold a conversation in her current state, Linnaeus shifted Eliza so that she was properly situated on his back before softly muttering, "It''s okay. You can go back to sleep. There is nothing to worry about..." Though the settling blaze served as a stark contrast to Linnaeus'' words, Eliza didn''t seem to care all that much, as, in response to his assurance, she just tightly hugged him before dozing off once again. This caused Emilia to issue a light hum at the side, drawing Linnaeus'' attention to her eyes, which, due to the flames, reflected an eerie glow as she mused, "How envious~." while biting the end of her index finger. Since there was no sense in just standing around, Linnaeus elected to ignore Emilia''s comment as he said, "We should find a place to stay for the evening. I doubt the proprietor of the Inn will be returning our booking fees so there is no reason to stick around." Hearing Linnaeus'' remark, Emilia nodded her head in understanding, but, despite knowing the answer, Krone still asked, "Do you want me to carry her...?" in regards to the slumbering Eliza. Though he was beginning to grow a bit, Linnaeus was still around the same size as Eliza, so, when he carried her, it looked like a younger brother carrying his much older sister. Fortunately, even if it was his lowest Attribute, his Strength allowed him to carry Eliza without too much difficulty, so, without even having to consider it, he shook his head and answered, "She would be upset if she learned I let someone else carry her..." Krone already expected Linnaeus'' response, but, as he could tell the latter wanted to go around collecting information, he felt obligated to offer. They could easily find each other using the Party function so it would have been more efficient to split up, even if it was also marginally riskier. It was difficult to guess what Krone was thinking. However, considering Eliza''s character, things wouldn''t end well if she awoke to find someone else carrying her. Emilia might be acceptable, to an extent, but, she would never accept Krone being the one to carry her unless it was an actual, life-threatening, emergency. Since he couldn''t readily discard the slumbering Eliza, Linnaeus dutifully carried her during their search for a place to stay. She was actually a lot lighter than she looked, and, though it was a little awkward, the soft feeling against his back wasn''t exactly unpleasant. The only real complaint he had about the situation was the fact that Eliza was drunk at all, so, in the future, he intended to address her developing habit in the hopes of nipping it in the bud. It might not matter all that much at normal times, but, during situations like this, she was a major liability to the entire Party. Fortunately, despite wandering around for nearly two hours, nobody tried to bar their passage or cause trouble. This coincided with the idea that the fire was completely unrelated to them, as, if it had been part of some grand scheme, someone should have appeared to at least lure them into a trap. Instead, Linnaeus and Co found a place pretty close to the actual gate they exited through when heading out for the Monster Ant Colony. There weren''t any important buildings here, but, as they also served as the first line of defense when the Monster Ants assaulted the fortress, they were all very durable. The only problem was, in exchange for relatively low rates, you also had to sign a basic contract that stated you would directly assist in the defense of the premises should an attack occur. Though it was a mild inconvenience, the contract only applied when they were actually staying in the hostel-like dwelling. When the moved out, the terms no longer applied to them and, while they were outside the settlement, they obviously wouldn''t be expected to defend the property. It was more of a way for the owners of the hostel, a portly merchant, to protect his assets. From the information Linnaeus was able to purchase, the same merchant owned most of the buildings and businesses within the area, so, in a way, he had his own small army for whenever an attack occurred. Despite this, he wasn''t actually all that well off as, for the last couple of years, he had been trying, and failing, to secure a position within the Inner District. While this information wasn''t exactly relevant to Linnaeus'' Party, understanding the balance of power in the region was never a bad thing. After all, the clause within the contract hadn''t stated they would only be required to protect against monster invasion, so, if there was any discourse between the merchant and surrounding businesses, there was a chance they would get wrapped up in the conflict. Fortunately, such conflicts usually took place behind the scenes, so, even if the merchant had the idea of using his guests as soldiers, it would be at the expense of their reputation. The fact he was unable to secure a place within the Inner District showed he hadn''t made the type of connections that would grant him impunity, so, at least for the time being, there was no cause for concern... With his information gathering complete, for the evening, Linnaeus made his way back to their shared living space, a circular residential wing that connected a total of ten rooms into the same common area. This was one of the downsides to staying in a hostel as, not only were the rooms small, but even the bathrooms were communal in design, split between gender. Linnaeus didn''t particularly care about bathing amongst strangers, as he had been forced to wash in public since he was a young child, but Eliza would undoubtedly insist they move out. It was for this reason he had been willing to sign the temporary contract, as, once Eliza finally sobered up, they would undoubtedly be moving to stay elsewhere. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. For now, however, Linnaeus checked in on Eliza and Emilia, finding the former sprawled out in a rather slovenly manner on the bed while the latter was performing routine maintenance on her spears. The fluid contained within a Monster Ant''s body, known as hemolymph, could quickly rust weapons if they weren''t properly cleaned. This would drastically reduce the sharpness and attack power of a weapon, so, unless you wanted to fight with your bare hands, routinely cleaning and oiling your weapons was necessary. Since it was a good opportunity, Linnaeus decided it was a good time to perform maintenance on his own gear. It didn''t really bother him that she was only wearing her nightwear, so, after a quiet exchange of greeting, he sat down next to her before pulling out his own spear, following Emilia''s example while also incorporating the techniques he had learned from Baro, the kindly Blacksmith that had provided him important information about the Fifth Floor. In this manner, the two sat in relative silence, but, even without looking, Linnaeus could hear the gentle thumping of Emilia''s tail. She was, in many ways, a very honest woman, so, while she had a number of troublesome quirks, it wasn''t difficult to get along with her. He also got the feeling that, even if the situation became life-threatening, she wouldn''t abandon their Party. This was a trait he respected a great deal and, though it wasn''t very realistic, this peculiar racial trait often made him think about trying to recruit other Vanargandr to their Party. Unfortunately, the Vanargandr were relatively rare, even within the Tower, so, even if they could find a few on the Fifth Floor, there was a very good chance they were already part of a ''Pack''. If Emilia''s words were to be believed, members of the Vanargandr tribe would fight to the death for the Pack they had joined and, while smaller Packs often joined to form larger groups, the idea of betrayal was so frowned upon that it might as well be a foreign concept. This made them highly sought after companions when forming a Party, so, in many ways, Linnaeus had been fortunate to acquire just a single member of the gluttonous species for his own... 85 Feelings of Unease After awakening uncharacteristically early, Eliza groggily took in her surroundings, noticing they were different from the usual accommodations. This made her feel slightly alarmed, but, seeing Linnaeus and the ''hateful'' Emilia curled up at the side, both staring back at her, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. It was pretty rare for Eliza to wake up on her own so Linnaeus couldn''t help but feel a brief moment of shock. Fortunately, this didn''t show on his face, so, knowing she would want an explanation, he moved to a seated position and said, "There was a fire in the district our Inn was located in. It wasn''t the origin of the inferno, though, so there shouldn''t be anything to worry about." Though she didn''t remember much from the previous evening, Eliza could vaguely recall waking up a few times to discover that Linnaeus was still carrying her. From this, she could guess they had been looking for another place to stay for a considerable amount of time, filling her with enough guilt to blush slightly as she said, "I think I''ll stop drinking so much from now on..." As he had been intending to talk to Eliza about her drinking habits, Linnaeus concealed his surprise with a smile as he replied, "That is probably for the best...thank you, Eliza." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Hearing Linnaeus suddenly thank her, Eliza was a little confused, but, as Emilia had been using their conversation as an opportunity to nuzzle inside Linnaeus'' thighs, her annoyance had been swelling quickly... Sensing the ''killing intent'' directed her way, Emilia''s ears perked up and, before Eliza could smack her head, she quickly dodged to the side, laughing like a child who had successfully completed a prank. This only served to increased Eliza''s frustration, but, before she could say anything, Linnaeus suddenly placed his hand on her head, gently stroking her messy hair as he explained, "Don''t let her get to you. We''re staying in a hostel so we should avoid causing a scene..." Since Eliza had fallen silent under his caress, Linnaeus felt as if his attempt to pacify her had been a success. This was only part of his job, however, so, while dutifully fixing Eliza''s bed-head, he looked toward Emilia and added, "You know how your actions affect Eliza...at this point, your behavior will reach the point of becoming antagonistic by default. Please, show more consideration in the future." In response to Linnaeus'' words, Emilia''s ears drooped slightly, not because he had admonished her, but because she was envious of the face Eliza was getting her head rubbed. Seeing Emilia''s reaction, combined with the fact she would periodically glance at his hand, it wasn''t difficult to imagine what was going through her mind. As a result, Linnaeus internally sighed while externally smiling as he said, "Get dressed and ready to go. I''ll help brush your hair after I finish with Eliza''s." As if her previous melancholy had been an act, Emilia''s ears perked up spiritedly, followed by her basically leaping out of the bed to grab her clothes. Watching her shimmy into form-fitting shorts would be a sight to behold for most people, but, with his focus on the tangled mess that was Eliza''s hair, Linnaeus only spared Emilia a momentary glance before pulling out a comb and beginning his morning routine... --- Perhaps as a result of their spontaneous change in residence, Linnaeus emerged from his room to find that even Krone had awoken earlier than normal. He was standing outside in the common area that connected the other eight dwellings, his expression just as distant as usual. Seeing Linnaeus emerge alongside Eliza and Emilia, Krone gave a small nod to acknowledge their presence before turning his back and heading outside. This earned a lighthearted laugh from Emilia, a harumph from Eliza, and light hum from Linnaeus, just to express solidarity. After following Krone into the dining hall, an area filled with a few long wooden tables with attached benches, they all sat down together. This drew the attention of the hostel''s waitress, a petite girl with platinum-blond, almost white, hair. Like Eliza, her hair seemed to fluff up more than normal, but, with two curled horns at the side of her head, hooved feet, drooping ears, and a lion-like tail poking out from the ribbon tying together her apron, it was easy to deduce she was a member of the Bapho tribe. With a wide smile and large eyes, the young woman happily made her way over to their table, a pad in hand as she asked, "Good morning, everyone! My name is Kh? and I''ll be taking your order~! If you''re in a rush, I can suggest warm rice pudding and freshly-baked bread. We have a pot that just came out ten minutes ago, and, with our famous Honeydew Jelly, you''ll be ready to take on the day with a smile~!" To emphasize her words, Kh? used her index fingers to push up the sides of her smile, showing off her pearl-white teeth. While this certainly made her smile bigger, it created a bit of a different impact than intended due to the fact that most of her teeth were sharp and angular... In response to the bubbly girl, Linnaeus did his best to return a smile as he answered, "Please bring as much food as 300 Soul Kindling can purchase. If the Honeydew Jelly isn''t too expensive, we''ll also take a small container to go." Knowing how much Eliza and Emilia liked sweet, Linnaeus didn''t mind ''investing'' into the rather well-known condiment. They, or, more specifically, Eliza, had a propensity for getting upset, so, if he could use sweets to pacify her, it would make his life a little easier. After scribbling down Linnaeus'' order, Kh? showed off her radiant smile once again, saying, "I''ll have your food out as soon as possible~!" before turning tail and retreating into the kitchen. She seemed to really enjoy her work, but, based on the large collar that was visible around her neck, there was a good chance this was just a very practiced act. Though they weren''t truly slaves, the way some Debtees were treated made it difficult to discern the difference between them and actual slaves. The vast majority wore collars to denote their status, so, even if there was little reason for Debtees to be treated poorly by unrelated people, many still went out of their way to mistreat them. Since the Bapho tribe was even rarer than the Vanargandr, a combination of their inordinately long loves and famously low fertility rate, very few people ever had the chance to encounter one. It was for this same reason that, even outside of the Tower, many Bapho were treated as ''rare goods'', often forced to become the slaves and pets of the noble families. Eliza was the only one at their table who had actually seen a Bapho in person, but, in spite of this, even Linnaeus and Emilia could identify Kh?''s tribe. After all, the Bapho tribe was actually considered one of the strongest in terms of physical might and durability. Though they often appeared rather unassuming, due to their slow development, some were capable of transforming into mighty beasts that could even dominate members of the various draconic tribes. As a result of these factors, Kh?''s presence within the hostel was rather anomalous, causing Eliza to hushedly ask, "Didn''t you mention that the owner of this hostel has been having trouble finding their footing in the Inner District? How could someone like that have a Bapho in their...employ?" Since it was Linnaeus'' first time meeting Kh?, he didn''t really have an answer to Eliza''s question. He couldn''t deny that it was a ''very'' strange circumstance, as, unless someone with considerable status was protecting her, Kh? should be the target of various affluent people that wanted to ''collect'' her. Though Leveling was near-impossible within the Crucible of Souls, meaning there was little value in raising her as a powerful bodyguard, the rarity of the Bapho tribe wasn''t something affluent people could simply ignore. Obtaining her was a way to increase their status, and, while she might not be in possession of the coveted [Behemoth] Blessing, that didn''t mean her offspring wouldn''t possess it. With his instincts ringing alarm bells inside of his mind, Linnaeus quickly shook his head in response to Eliza''s question before saying, "We should check out of this hostel and look for someplace else to stay before heading off to the Guild. Whatever the circumstances, getting involved with anyone that can openly parade around a Balpho doesn''t seem wise..." Without even needing to discuss the matter, both Eliza and Emilia nodded their head in agreement, even if the latter also commented, "I feel bad for her tribe...our Elders tell us stories about how, even in the Tower, the Bapho are treated like slaves and forced to fight as Vanguards, even if their Blessing is better for support..." In response to Emilia''s words, Eliza nodded her head, a melancholic expression marring her face as she added, "Every time a Bapho appears in the Tower, several Companies and Organizations end up fighting over them. Because of this, they are said to be a cursed tribe that heralds the beginning of conflict, delivering death and destruction everywhere they go. Some information brokers even claim that, in the distant past, the Bapho tribe was cursed by the God of Dragons after a massive war more than a hundred thousand years ago. Since then, while other powerful races have thrived, they have been pushed to the brink of extinction...females are exceptionally rare so it is somewhat unbelievable to encounter one here on the Fifth Floor..." Hearing Eliza''s words, Linnaeus could feel his pulse begin to accelerate and, though it didn''t show on his face, he began feeling anxious. He was normally very curious, as knowledge and power were two sides of the same coin, but, with Eliza''s reminder, it was obvious that this wasn''t a ''normal'' situation. Without knowing what the party of four had been talking about, Kh? emerged from the kitchen with a smile on her face. She looked around the area to see if there were any new customers, but, seeing only Linnaeus'' group still present, she smiled radiantly before waving back at them and shouting, "It will be out in just a moment~!" Remembering that Kh? had told them the food was already ready, and that she just needed to grab it, Linnaeus felt his heart begin to accelerate even faster. It wasn''t just him, either, as Eliza, Emilia, and Krone all fell silent, the atmosphere around them becoming tense in moments. After Kh? vanished back into the kitchen, it was Krone who said, "We should leave..." while rising to his feet. They had already forked over 150 Soul Kindling, as most places required you to pay at least half up front, but, without even considering asking for a refund, Linnaeus nodded his head and said, "I agree. This situation doesn''t feel right at all..." Immediately after Linnaeus'' statement, the swing doors connecting to the kitchen burst open rather violently. This was enough to cause Linnaeus to pull out his daggers, but, to his and everyone else''s surprise, Kh? could be seen pushing a metallic service cart filled with several large bowls of food and a few trays of fragrant bread. Seeing Linnaeus suddenly pull out weapons, Kh? stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening into full circles as her mouth gaped open. Then, in a sheepish voice that could inspire guilt in even inanimate objects, she stammered, "Y-y-you s-said you wanted a lot of food...I...I tried to be quick...I''m sorry if I upset you...please..." Even before Kh? had finished speaking, Linnaeus put away his weapons, his expression losing the calm he had been trying to cultivate as he awkwardly answered, "Sorry...I was just a bit tense...the loud noise startled me..." Though he still felt a strong urge to leave, seeing how much food Kh? had prepared for them made it a lot harder to just up and leave. Fortunately, Eliza was there to ease the tensions, so, while he was struggling to find the right words, she adopted a ''natural'' smile and explained, "We need to depart soon, so, if you would be so kind, please ready our tab. Also, don''t mind Lin. Our Inn caught fire last night so he is still a bit shaken. It wasn''t his intention to scare you..." Eliza also felt like there was something wrong with the current situation. However, when she thought about it, the likelihood of it having anything to do with them was slim. It wouldn''t take much effort to learn about Kh?''s circumstances later on, so, for the time being, she decided to ease the tensions so that they could leave without causing a scene. Hearing Eliza''s explanation, Kh? showed an expression of surprise before looking toward Linnaeus with pity and concern visible in her pink eyes as she said, "Oh, you poor thing...you must have been through a lot..." Then, like the flipping of a switch, her smile immediately returned as she added, "I know~! As an apology, let me talk to the Rhea about giving you a discount on the Honeydew Jelly!" Without waiting for their response, Kh?, once again, disappeared into the kitchen. This left Linnaeus, Eliza, and Emilia gawking in their respective positions while Krone, wordlessly, made his way over to retrieve the service cart full of food... (A/N: Some people have pointed out the sporadic release rate, but, from the very beginning, this has only ever been a side project. Writing a novel actually takes a fair amount of effort and planning, so, with my focus being EPIC, I don''t always have the time to dedicate to Babel. The donations I receive from my readers are literally what pays my bills so, unless I monetize Babel, it would always be just a side project. To that end, I actually got a contract invite back in December, so, if you would like daily updates on Babel, please express your opinion regarding the novel going premium in the comments section. The other option is to create donation options for Babel on my *******, but, as there aren''t very many readers of this novel, at least for the time being, I worry about idea of self-publishing.) 86 Coincidence...? To compensate for the trouble he had caused, Linnaeus ended up leaving a rather substantial tip for Kh?. Afterward, he, accompanied by Eliza, Emilia, and Krone, promptly checked out of their rooms, practically fleeing from the hostel without turning back. It was only after they had checked in to a new Inn, located in the opposite direction, that the Party was able to breathe easily. Though he was still curious about the circumstances surrounding Kh?, Linnaeus knew it would be exceptionally foolish to get involved with something like a Bapho. Even if she happened to still qualify for leaving the Crucible of Souls, her existence would invariably cause trouble, drawing entire Organizations to interfere in his affairs. Fortunately, his Party largely shared these views, so, while Kh?''s existence would undoubtedly be plagued with tragedy, deserving of a bit of sympathy, it had nothing to do with them. It wasn''t as if she was the only one fated to suffer, as, in many ways, the billions born within the Slums had an arguably worse fate. After all, they rarely even had a chance to defend themselves, whereas, due to the sparsity of their race, most Bapho were treated relatively well, often becoming the pets of extremely wealthy individuals... By the time the Party had reached the Guild, Linnaeus had largely removed thoughts of helping Kh? from his mind. He had more important things to worry about in the present, chiefly the fact that Renka was present and, going by her dour expression and the ''very'' short line in front of her desk, it was very apparent that she wasn''t in a good mood. Understanding the futility of trying to stand in a different line, Linnaeus, alongside Eliza, joined Renka''s queue. They had a few Quest fliers in hand, but, before that, they needed to receive their payment for the materials they had dropped off the previous afternoon. Seeing Linnaeus and Eliza approach her desk, a small smile spread across Renka''s face, followed by her musing, "Well, well, long time no see~? I hope the two of you had a better evening than I did. Now, let''s see here..." Deciding it was best to avoid discussing their previous displacement, Linnaeus offered a polite smile as Renka sorted through the files kept beneath her desk. It didn''t take long for her to find the documents relating to his Party, and, after sending a clerk to the back, she handed over a sack of Soul Kindling, stating, "Your Party is doing good work. I noticed you accepted a few requests related to the Quest I had assigned you. Very promising~." Linnaeus nodded his head in response to Renka''s musings, adding, "We decided to do use our time more efficiently. With that in mind, we would like to accept these six Quests." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Renka squinted her eyes slightly, casting a momentary glance toward Eliza before saying, "I actually had a few other Quests lined up for your Party. Since you wanted to join the expedition, I thought I''d help you out a bit by allowing you to earn some merits. What do you say, Lin...?" Having anticipated such a response, Linnaeus didn''t have to spend much time thinking about his own. As a result, he, calmly and casually, answered, "So long as it does not put my Party in danger, I don''t mind completing extra Quests. However, I intend to prioritize the Quests we accepted as a Party, so, I can''t say for certain whether or not we will agree to everything you propose..." As if she had already expected his answer, Renka just nodded her head in understanding before pulling out a file and saying, "It''s good that you make decisions as a Party. Here, this Quest only requires that you bring back a few mandibles over 30cm in length. I imagine your Party is killing a considerable number of Monster Ants so it shouldn''t interfere with your other requests." After reading over the document provided by Renka, Linnaeus didn''t see any issues, but, before he accepted, he allowed Eliza to read it as well. This was noted by the fiery-haired beauty, a smile spreading across her face as she closely observed their interactions. With Eliza''s approval, Linnaeus finalized their Party''s acceptance of the Quest, bringing their total number of active Quests to seven. Renka had made a note of this within their file, and, after making sure everything was in order, she waved them away after saying, "You two take care now, ya hear? Things always get pretty tense before a big expedition so stay on your toes for the next month or so. I have a few expectations for your Party so it would be regrettable if you were to suddenly up and vanish on me~." Linnaeus wanted to ask why Renka had expectations for them, but, fearing an actual answer, he decided to leave it be. So long as she didn''t expose them to anything dangerous, or try to involve them in the internal affairs of the Guild, it didn''t hurt to get in her good graces... After moving a fair distance away from the reception and exchange counters, Eliza couldn''t help but mutter, "I hate that woman..." in a demure tone. Though he didn''t fully comprehend why Eliza hated Renka, as it didn''t really make a lot of sense, Linnaeus still nodded his head. Then, knowing it would make her feel a little better, he grabbed her hand, pulling her along the rest of the way to where Krone and Emilia were patiently waiting to depart. --- Several hours after Linnaeus'' Party had set out, the majority of the Guild''s staff performed a shift change. They typically worked between 4-6 hours at a time, with Renka''s shift, in particular, being from 0400-1000. She would then take a break until around 1400, eating a meal and doing a bit of shopping before returning for her evening shift, staying until around 2000. With the upcoming expedition, things were beginning to get a little hectic in every Guild branch, her own being no exception. Every time a nuptial flight was approaching, each of the Guild branches was tasked with recruiting and evaluating as many new Adventurers as possible. There was even an ongoing competition to determine which branch had the greatest amount of success, resulting in incredible boons for the staff involved. It wasn''t a well-known fact, as the people in power worked hard to keep it a secret, but, when it came to the ''Drop Items'' on the Fifth Floor, the rate was exponentially higher for Potentiates. This was one of the driving factors behind why Renka had taken such an interest in Linnaeus'' Party, as, due to the nature of the Fifth Floor, it was pretty rare to have unclaimed Potentiates arriving just in time for a nuptial flight. So long as Linnaeus'' Party managed to accumulate the requisite number of points, a statistic that was tracked by the Guild in secrecy, his Party was guaranteed a spot on the Expedition. There was even a chance his Party would be scouted directly by the Briggs'' Familia, even if the sole purpose behind their involvement was to increase the drop rate for everyone else. Depending on how well Linnaeus'' Party did, the Guild branch that recruited him stood to receive numerous benefits. As a result, Renka had received direct orders from her older sister, the Branch Head, to make sure his Party didn''t wander off to another branch. To this end, she had tasked the Guild''s Intelligence Department to investigate Linnaeus and his Party, ascertaining where he had been staying, where they commonly ate, and the type of personality each member had. Using the information that had been gathered, picking suitable Quests for their Party was a simple feat. She even knew how she needed to react around them, but, given how ''smart'' Linnaeus was, this ended up being unnecessary since he was willfully ingratiating himself to their branch. What was important to note, at least based on their investigation, was that Linnaeus, in particular, seemed ''very'' serious about reaching the top of the Crucible. As a result, he proactively gathered information, investigated the local markets, and even looked into the procurement of Debtees to increase his earning potential. This showed that he was willing to do whatever it took to earn the requisite amount of Soul Kindling, making him relatively easy to exploit. While people, in general, weren''t exactly difficult to entice, there was a very distinct difference between those who had decided to settle and those who proactively sought to rise up. The latter almost always drew the attention of Tenebrae, so, even if Linnaeus ultimately ended up failing his challenge, there was a fair chance he would receive a boon from the enigmatic Goddess. Whenever someone like Linnaeus appeared, various groups would go out of their way to try and recruit them. He didn''t know it, but this was the primary reason his Party had been targetted back at the Southern Forests. His behavior drew a lot of attention to himself, so, until he no longer held his potentiate status, Linnaeus, and his Party, would constantly be badgered by forces looking to ''invest'' in his future. It was due to this that, during the previous evening, Renka had been tasked with repelling a few ''poachers'' who had been waiting to try and lure Linnaeus'' Party to their side. Their Intelligence Operatives had found a few Merchant groups skulking around the location of Linnaeus'' Inn, and, though this wasn''t exactly uncommon, one of the men, unaware of Renka''s actual identity, ended up trying to hit on her. Renka was generally quite fond of being hit on, but, with the other party being from the Orcus tribe, giving him a hulking figure, pig-like face, and a foul odor, she had taken exception to his comments about wearing her like a sheep''s intestines. As a result, Renka made a snide remark about eating cooked pork, using her Blessing, [Vulcanae], to punctuate her statement. Unfortunately, the Orcus man actually had the [Anti-Magic King] Blessing, allowing him to repel most Magical attacks away from his body. As a result, she ended up setting fire the surroundings, and, though the incident wasn''t publically blamed on her, she ended up getting chided, all the way until the start of her morning shift. With her first shift coming to an end, Renka was looking forward to getting some rest, but, before she was able to retreat into the comfort of her private room, located on the Guild''s third floor, her passage was barred by a woman with ''very'' similar features to her own. The only difference was, the woman before her had an even larger bust, and, though she could have gotten it treated, a very large scar ran from above her right brow, crossing her nose, and running down to her left jawbone. Despite the rather vicious scar, the wild-haired woman barring Renka''s passage was considered one of the greatest beauties in the region. She exuded confidence from every fiber of her being and, while not the strongest in the entire settlement, even the Briggs Familia would think thrice before ultimately choosing not to offend her. Seeing her big sister in the flesh, Renka released a tired sigh before adopting a wry smile and saying, "Give me a break, sis...you know I didn''t mean to set fire to the bazaar...can''t I get a little bit of rest before my next shift?" Seemingly ignoring Renka''s previous remark, the fiery-haired woman, known to most as Scarlet, the Ice Queen, plainly stated, "That Party of yours checked out of Porcello''s hostel after their encounter with Kh?. They are currently staying in one of the properties owned by Madame Xiao on the northern side of the settlement. If they end up getting poached by the northern branch, I will tan your hide until leather can be made from it." Hearing her sister''s words, a chill ran through Renka''s body, but, keying in on something her icy sister had said, she asked, "They actually met Kh?? Whose idea was that?" Other than squinting her eyes in a warning gesture, Scarlet didn''t bother to answer her sister''s question. She ended up losing nearly 100,000 Soul Kindling as a result of Renka''s mistake, and, while this wasn''t a particularly large amount, the Guild Leader, who she had been dating for the past three years, ended up scolding her harshly. This left her in a terrible mood, so, before turning around and departing, she venomously stated, "No more mistakes..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. 87 Progress Figuring it wasn''t a good idea to spend too much time underground, at least until there were used to it, most of the Quests procured by Linnaeus ended up being on the surface. Though there were fewer valuable materials on the surface, it was much easier to both fight, and, in the event things went south, run away. It was also significantly less claustrophobic, so, compared to how he had been fighting the previous day, Krone was cutting loose, tearing through Monster Ants like a scythe through wheat. Every time he looked over to make sure Krone wasn''t getting surrounded, Linnaeus would always see a rather shocking scene. There was even one moment where Krone was using the head of one Monster Ant, still twitching in the throes of death, to bash the head of another over and over, using its sharp and durable mandibles to cause devastating damage... With everyone becoming increasingly efficient at killing Scouts and Workers, Linnaeus was free to focus on mastering the use of an arbalest crossbow. Though he still intended to replace the heavy weapon with a lighter variant in the future, that wasn''t an excuse to simply abandon it. If he could learn to hit targets at a distance with one weapon, it would undoubtedly increase his accuracy with future weapons due to the correctional bonus of the [Archery] Skill. Currently, Linnaeus'' limit was accurately striking a target at around 20~30m. Unfortunately, this was predicated on the basis that the target was immobile or distracted, a rare occurrence in the midst of combat. The problem with hitting targets at a greater distance was accounting for factors like wind direction, speed, resistance, and, most importantly, gravity. These variables were the bane of anyone lacking a Blessing related to archery, as, without a considerable amount of experience, striking distant targets was little more than a pipe dream. Conversely, if you had a Blessing such as [Archery Master] or [Child of Wind], striking distant targets was your greatest strength. There were even ''legends'' of some people being able to shoot through the loop of a key at distances greater than 300m, blindfolded. Blessings didn''t mean other people couldn''t emulate your accomplishments, but, if both sides put in the same amount of effort, the one with the Blessing would greatly eclipse the abilities of others. Even if you had never drawn a bow or fired a single arrow, you functionally became a prodigy the moment you received a Blessing. This was true for all Skills, including forging, swordsmanship, and, perhaps most notably, healing. So long as you put in an exorbitant amount of effort, anyone could learn to use Healing Magic if they were devoted to the task. However, compared to the most basic spells used by Blessing holders, it would always pale in comparison. This deterred the majority of people away from learning the rare and coveted Magic, elevating it to its current status as the most highly sought after Blessing. It was this knowledge that served as the basis for Linnaeus'' motivation, as, due to the fate that had been assigned her, Gwen was bound to suffer a similar fate to the Bapho. To many people, she was nothing more than a prize to be won, a convenient tool that would allow them to advance further than their peers. Though it was unlikely he would be able to liberate Gwen from her fate, this wouldn''t stop him from doing everything in his power to protect her. There were bound to be at least a handful of kind and caring people that were willing to accept guardianship over her, but, before any of that, he needed to become much, much, stronger... With such thoughts serving as the basis for his motivation, Linnaeus lay flat against the ground, tall grass serving to cover his position. He regulated his breathing to the point he was taking fewer than five slow and steady breaths every minute. He would use the interval between breaths, where his body became stillest, to gently squeeze the trigger of his arbalest... Once the lever holding the metallic tendon taut breached a certain threshold, it would snap forward with tremendous force, firing a 70cm bolt forward with enough force to pierce cleanly through the body of a Monster Ant. Though this also left a rather fierce bruise on Linnaeus'' collar bone, he didn''t even flinch before silently pulling another arrow from the large leather sheath at his side, his [Stealth] still active in spite of the loud noise generated from the previous arrow''s release. Though he wasn''t quite sure how it worked, Linnaeus readily exploited the ''guaranteed critical'' that was provided by his [Assassination]. This turned simple arrows into devastatingly powerful projectiles that, at times, would even blow away large chunks of a Monster Ant''s body on contact. With his [Stealth] and [Presence Concealment] allowing him to easily blend into the surroundings, combined with the fact Monster Ants had terrible eyesight, Linnaeus was able to turn his inaccurate strikes into crippling, or outright lethal, blows. Though this made it impossible to shoot anywhere near his Party members, for obvious reasons, he was able to practice his [Archery] with impunity, his Skill Level increasing to LV7 by the time they were preparing to return. Unfortunately, perhaps as a result of his reliance on other Skills, Eliza''s [Archery] had developed to LV16, even though she spent a fair amount of time gathering and organizing materials. This was due to a fundamental difference in the emphasis they placed on mastering the Skill, as, without anything to modify her damage output, Eliza had to focus on precise strikes to be effective. Changing your mentality was one of the hardest parts of learning new Skills, so, while he could close the gap in the future, Linnaeus wasn''t actually that keen on doing so. Their Skills might be the same, but their methods of fighting were fundamentally different from each other. If he stopped advancing his other Skills for the sake of mastering a supplemental combat style, he would be undermining the years he had spent developing his current skill set. Through and through, Linnaeus'' combat style revolved around quickly and efficiently dealing with his opponents, ideally without ever revealing his position. He wanted to push this to the extreme as, despite the versatility of his [Barrier Master], there would undoubtedly be opponents with the ability to counter, or outright ignore, the functionality of his Blessing. Unless they had a powerful defensive Blessing, there were few people that could survive a surprise arrow to the back of their head, especially if it also dealt a ''critical'' hit. While some might consider this a cowardly combat style, the fact those same types of people often freely exploited others made it exceptionally difficult to care about their opinion on things like pride and honor... --- With the sky beginning to darken, Linnaeus had everyone regroup, asking, "Have we been able to collect any mandibles over 30cm?" In response to his inquiry, Krone pulled out a single black mandible, approximately 33cm in length, saying, "I received this one after killing a Soldier Ant. The Scouts fail to drop anything over 25cm in length." Supporting Krone''s statement, Emilia nodded her head, adding, "I haven''t been able to obtain any over 30cm. There aren''t many Soldier Ants in this region so we''ll probably have to move deeper if we want to complete our secondary objective." Though he agreed with Emilia''s assessment, Linnaeus spent a few moments staring at the sky above before saying, "We should return for the day. We have completed most of our gathering Quests so it isn''t necessary to stay outside on behalf of the Guild. Tomorrow, we''ll discuss venturing deeper into the mountains or delving underground before taking the day after as a rest day." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Eliza''s eyes immediately came to life, followed by her closing the distance between them to ask, "Will you accompany me that day? I want to walk around and visit a few shops that have caught my eye. I feel like I''ll spend less if I have you around..." Though he knew she was only making excuses to spend more time together, Linnaeus only had one thing planned for that day so he didn''t mind accompanying her for a few hours. Thus, without taking too long to reply, he offered a polite smile, answering, "Of course. I have a few things I want to take care of in the afternoon but that still gives us a few hours between breakfast and lunch..." Even before Linnaeus had finished speaking, Eliza pumped her fist in a victorious gesture, a smile on her face as she glanced toward Emilia. This caused the latter to raise her brows slightly, but, instead of insisting she also come along, a mischievous smile spread across her lips. Seeing Emilia''s reaction, Eliza couldn''t help but swallow a knot that had formed in her throat as she wondered what her counterpart could be plotting... Linnaeus'' eyes still functioned properly so he wasn''t ignorant of the silent exchange between the two girls. Rather than comment on it, however, he lightly shook his head, saying, "Let''s return..." in a casual tone. At the same time, he passed his gaze over Krone, earning a dismissive shrug from the grey-skinned man before he hefted a large rucksack filled with supplies. --- After her afternoon encounter with her sister, Renka was in an even worse mood than she had been during her morning shift. As a result, her line was practically empty, excluding a bold few who, over the years, had been trying to court her. She was quite popular among the various Adventurers, but, knowing the majority of them only sought her as a result of her status, Renka rarely gave them more than a few teasing remarks to keep them working hard. Unfortunately, there were also a few Adventurers who thought too highly of themselves, so, in spite of the fact she gave several hints that she wasn''t interested, they were annoyingly persistent. Among this subset of people, the worst was a Namur man named Kano, a cocky Adventurer who possessed the tiger-like features that his tribe was known for. Worst of all, Kano had inherited his tribe''s most famous Blessing, [Byakko], allowing him to reach Level 51 before he lost his life through ''mysterious'' circumstances. He would never tell anyone what had killed him, but, based on how he would often look around overhead, many speculated he had been the unsuspecting victim of a falling object. Renka didn''t particularly care about Kano''s past, or anything relating to him for that matter. Despite this, she was forced to tolerate the man''s courtship as, due to the rarity of individuals over Level 50, their branch needed him in their employ. Kano seemed to understand this, so, while others knew not to pester her when she was annoyed, he unhesitantly swaggered over with a smile on his face... Seeing the rather handsome man with a muscular figure, striking blue eyes, and windswept white hair, Renka couldn''t help but release an exasperated sigh. Others might be fond of Kano''s handsome looks, especially with his fluffy round ears and thick striped tail, but, no matter how he looked on the outside, Renka knew he was completely rotten on the inside. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The one time she had humored Kano''s persistence, the man had tried to slip a powerful, highly addictive, aphrodisiac into her drink. If not for the information her agents had gathered, painting Kano as an irredeemable womanizer, she might not have noticed his blatant attempt to turn her into a drug-crazed sex slave... As if he had never done anything wrong in his entire life, Kano maintained a natural and confident smile on his face as he unhesitantly approached Renka''s desk. Then, despite the fact it was against the rules of the Guild, he placed his elbow against the countertop, leaning against the surface as he asked, "I heard there was a fire in the nearby bazaar, yet, even after a day has passed, nobody seems to know who set it off. I wonder if the Guild''s agents have been able to discover the identity of the culprit~?" 88 Oversigh Renka was in a bad mood, but, after serving as a receptionist for well over a decade, her expression didn''t falter in response to Kano''s question. Instead, she gave him a pointed look, stating in a curt tone, "The investigations conducted by the Guild are not the business of its affiliates. Unless there is something to report, move to the side so I can deal with other guests and clientele." Hearing Renka''s response, Kano just snorted through his nose before looking over his shoulder at the virtually empty line. Few people were willing to antagonize him by standing in line whenever he was trying to hit on Renka. If they tried, his ''friends'' would be paying them a visit soon after, making sure they never interfered in his matters a second time. As Kano looked behind him, Renka''s frown deepened, her eyes darting to the other lines in an effort to find a scapegoat to send the man on his way. If she selected someone already in line, they would be unable to refuse. This would also put Kano into a disadvantageous situation, as, while he had the clout to throw his weight around, arbitrarily involving others would earn him the ire of Scarlet... Seeing Renka eye them, most of the Adventurers standing in line had thoughts of walking away, but, before they were able to, she pointed towards a group and said, "My counter is open. Get over here and report your Quest results. I know you''ve been standing in line for a while so be grateful that I''m willing to attend you." The moment he heard Renka''s words, Kano glowered towards the Adventurers standing in other lines. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the authority to effectively close down the Guild''s functions just to hit on one of its receptionists so this wasn''t the first time Renka had used this card to escape. Before Kano could offer any complaints or try to threaten the reluctant Party, Renka fixed her gaze on him, stating in a firm tone, "Adventurer Kano, you are interfering with the smooth operations of the Guild. Do I need to report your actions to the Branch Head?" In response to Renka''s words, Kano elected to laugh in a lighthearted manner, dismissively waving his hand as he said, "I wouldn''t think of interfering with the Guild''s operation. I''m this Branch''s Ace, after all, so I should be setting a proper example...isn''t that right?" With his words finished, Kano turned to the trio that had approached the counter, an amiable smile on his face as he placed his hand upon the Party Leader''s shoulder and said, "Forgive me for getting in the way, okay? As your Senior, feel free to let me know if you are having any trouble in the future. After all, my Company is always willing to support up and coming talents, hahahaha~." Since he didn''t want to make an enemy out of the Guild''s rather notorious ''Ace'', the Party Leader offered a polite smile in response, answering, "I''ll keep that in mind...thank you, Senior..." Hearing the man''s response, Kano nodded in approval, lightly patting the man''s shoulder a few times before walking off. What most people missed, including the man who had his shoulder struck, was a very brief flicker of bluish-white electricity flowing from Kano''s palm. He wouldn''t be able to put too much pressure on an ''unrelated party'', but that didn''t stop him from leaving a little surprise for the man to discover the next time he exerted himself... As she had been watching him closely, Renka hadn''t missed the ''present'' Kano had left behind in the unsuspecting Party Leader''s body. Despite this, she wasn''t going to directly intervene as, unless he wanted to have his Status depict him as a Murderer, Kano wasn''t stupid enough to kill using his own hand. Thus, she would simply report his behavior to her sister, adding to the mountain-sized case file that was just waiting for Kano to slip up. Understanding her fault in the matter, Renka did her best to service the unsuspecting Party with a smile on her face. She also emphasized, several times, that they take it easy over the next couple of days. At the same time, she made a mental note to pass on instructions to the Guild''s agents to keep an eye on them, and, if necessary, try to inflame the man''s condition before he exposed himself and his Party to actual danger. Even if a person ended up losing an arm, they would eventually recover completely, so, while it was a little unfair to the unsuspecting man, Renka wasn''t particularly concerned about his well-being. If he had been a Potentiate or a particularly useful member of the Guild, that would be one thing. Instead, he and his Party had been lingering around C-Rank for the last couple of years, appearing to accept Quests only when they had squandered all of their Soul Kindling. Though the public order on the Fifth Floor was relatively stable, that didn''t mean it was an inherently kind place. They still existed in a society where the strong reigned supreme over the weak, so, if you weren''t ''useful'' to those that held real power, it was best to lay low and take on the jobs others were unwilling to do. After sending off the trio''s Party, Renka pulled out her notepad to write a reminder to have someone watch over them for a few days. She might not really care about them, but, as their misfortune was the direct result of her actions, ignoring them completely was out of the question. Renka knew she wasn''t exactly a ''good'' person, but she also didn''t consider herself to be a bad one either. If anything, she was more bored than anything else, directly contributing to her propensity to tease the various Adventurers that frequented her counter. Were it not for the fact she was actually a Debtee, purchased by her sister, Renka would have left the Briggs Settlement a long time ago. Instead, she was forced to dutifully work double shifts six days a week, leaving her with very little time to do other things. This had turned her life into a monotonous affair, one that was fated to continue even longer due to her most recent mistake... Just as this thought crossed her mind, Renka noticed a new Party enter into the Guild, lead by what could only be described as an adorable little boy. This returned a smile to her face, as, if things went well, there was a chance she could receive some clemency from her sister. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Before he could send someone else to come up, Renka flagged down Linnaeus'' Party with her hand, loudly exclaiming, "My counter is open, Linnaeus! Come on over, don''t be shy~!" Hearing someone shout his name, Linnaeus couldn''t help but frown, especially when his [Sense Danger] Skill was briefly triggered. His eyes quickly darted to his surroundings, but, after the very brief pulse of killing intent, it had faded away completely. All he saw were a few Adventurers with teasing looks on their faces, some encouraging him, others cursing him... Since he had already been called out, Linnaeus was intending to approach the counter. Before that, however, he turned to his Party, saying, "Stay on your toes...I sensed malicious intent directed toward us. Don''t wander off on your own..." Despite taking Linnaeus'' words to heart, Eliza and Emilia showed no change in their expressions as they nodded their heads in understanding. As for Krone, his face was as stony as his skin tone, so, from start to finish, he had a deadpan expression as he followed behind Eliza and Emilia, procuring a place to enjoy their dinner. With an unreadable expression of his own, Linnaeus fearlessly approached Renka''s counter, his focus largely on objects in the periphery of his vision. Part of him was tempted to lambast the thoughtless woman for drawing attention to him, but, going by her expression, she was already aware of her faux pas. After reaching the counter, Linnaeus placed the materials his Party had collected on the countertop, explaining, "We weren''t able to complete every Quest in a single outing. I''d like to accept a few other requests now so that we can head out in the morning without coming to the Guild. We''ll finish up all that remains before returning around lunch...is that okay?" Though it wasn''t the standard way they did business, Renka felt bad about drawing attention to the young Potentiate before her. She was actually quite fond of him, as he was rather adorable, so, with her fate somewhat tied to his, she ultimately nodded her head, answering, "Certainly. This will be an exception, though, so don''t make a habit of this. We typically don''t issue Quests while you still have ongoing tasks." Since he was well aware of the Guild''s policies, due to a concerted effort to memorize the entire handbook they passed out, Linnaeus knew Renka was telling the truth. He took advantage of the fact she had made a mistake, both as a matter of convenience and to determine just how much special treatment their Party was receiving... After signing the pertinent documents and having his materials whisked away by an employee to be processed, Linnaeus gave a curt nod of approval before saying, "I hope you have a pleasant evening, Miss Renka. You seemed a little out of it today so I was worried about you. Take care of yourself..." Not expecting Linnaeus'' sudden gentle words, Renka raised her brows in surprise before a smile spread across her admittedly beautiful face. She then shooed him away with her hand, saying, "Get out of here you little flirt. Don''t think you can get away with teasing me so easily. The next time you comment on my evening, don''t blame me if I whisk you away to teach you a lesson~." Though there were sound dampening devices to prevent the conversation between Guild employees and Adventurers from being easily overheard, Renka''s smile and bodily reaction were easily seen by those closely observing her. As a result, Linnaeus felt another burst of killing intent directed toward him, confirming his earlier suspicions... While formulating a plan within his mind, Linnaeus made his way over to where his companions were seated, his expression and casual demeanor concealing the fact he was actually in an alert state. He knew someone was targeting him as a result of Renka''s interest in him, but, even after searching his surroundings, Linnaeus didn''t notice anyone displaying the tell-tale signs of a predator stalking its prey. Without knowing the appearance, characteristics, and strength of his opponent, Linnaeus felt like he had been completely exposed. This caused him to feel a small amount of hatred toward Renka, but, understanding her behavior was likely related to circumstances behind the scenes, he couldn''t lay all the blame on her. After all, he didn''t have to bait her towards the very end just to confirm whether or not someone was targeting him because of her. After reaching the booth where his Party was seated, Vahn sat across from Eliza and Emilia, rather than sitting between them. They interpreted this as him wanting to appear somewhat distant to them, as, if their enemies were the malicious sort, targeting someone''s ''partner'' was an easy way to knock them off-kilter. Linnaeus was grateful for how perceptive Eliza and Emilia could be in situations like this. It made it seem as though his efforts to teach them had paid off, making the smile on his face more natural as he enjoyed a rather sumptuous meal. There was no way to know what the coming night would bring so if this ended up being one of his last meals, he wanted to make it count... 89 Acquiescence After departing the Guild, this time without having to carry Eliza on his back, Linnaeus led his Party until they reached the edge of a high traffic area. Though it wouldn''t afford them much privacy, it was a lot harder to stage an attack amidst a large population, as, depending on the circumstances, your actions could quickly draw the ire of various hidden figures. Without beating around the bush, Linnaeus explained, "There is someone within the Guild who has their eye on the Receptionist, Renka. Her previous outburst has brought unwarranted attention to our Party. I want to gather information so I need the three of you to return to the Inn, find a way to sneak out, and then secure a second place to stay. I''ll use the Party System to track you down after learning more about whoever is targeting me..." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Eliza had a dour expression on her face while Emilia outright stated, "I''m not going to let you run off on your own when there are enemies targeting you. Our Party is like my pack. No matter how dangerous things get, the pack always sticks together...!" Though he could appreciate Emilia''s sentiment, Linnaeus didn''t hesitate to shake his head, saying, "I have no intention to fight. I''m only going to gather information, something I can''t accomplish easily with others present. I''m not good at measuring my words and actions around others so I need to be alone if I want to avoid detection. I need you to trust me, Emilia, Eliza, Krone..." Emilia''s frown only deepened in response to Linnaeus'' words, but, before she could say anything, Eliza beat her to the punch, saying, "You ask us to trust you, but when will you start trusting us? It might be better for you to gain information on your own, but what happens when you overestimate yourself and end up falling into an enemy''s trap!? There are several strong people on this Floor, Lin. You couldn''t even sneak around undetected at the Southern Settlement so how can you expect us to just leave you alone when someone might be targeting your life!?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Due to how Eliza''s voice had risen towards the end of her outburst, several people from among the surroundings had started to pay attention to them. One, a tall man with large horns on the side of his head and a ring through his nose, even commented, "Oi, get a room you brats. Everyone is still tense after the fire yesterday so you''re bound to get arrested if you make a scene." Hearing the man''s warning, Linnaeus just gave a curt nod, saying, "Thanks..." before pulling Eliza''s hand. This was enough to get her to momentarily calm down, but, despite the minimal skin contact, Linnaeus could feel her pulse beating rapidly... Though he would never say it aloud, moments like this were what Linnaeus hated most about the idea of forming a Party. He felt like his judgment was being clouded by sentiment, as, while he was able to understand Eliza''s concerns, it was unbelievably frustrating to have his movements constantly limited by the wants and needs of his Party members... After moving far enough that they would be able to discern whether or not anyone in the previous locations was following them, Linnaeus turned to Eliza, his usual calm nowhere to be seen as he said, "You..." before finding himself at a loss for words... Seeing Eliza glaring at him with tears streaming down her face, Linnaeus'' brain completely stalled, like a wrench between through into a series of gears. It was a sudden and violent cessation, leaving him without the ability to form even a single syllable. Truthfully, Eliza wanted nothing more than to slap Linnaeus across the face, but, seeing his face contort into a stupefied expression, she felt slightly contented. She didn''t want to risk sending him off in a fit of rage, so, instead of escalating things further, she stated in a sobbing tone, "I want to go with you...we can collect information together...we can protect each other...aren''t these the reasons we formed a Party in the first place...are we nothing more than pawns to fight the battles you choose for us...?" Hearing Eliza''s question, Linnaeus'' mouth flapped open a few times as he stated, "I just...that isn''t..." while looking between her, Emilia, and Krone. The latter had his usual expression, but, while not to the same extent of Eliza, Emilia was staring at him with a look full of blame... Seeing the looks on their faces, Linnaeus was momentarily reminded of a past incident with Saht. It was when they had first started working together, and, due to having been alone for a long time, he was still used to acting on his own. This earned him a rather severe beating, and, if not for the fact all wounds would generally heal after returning to full health, several parts of his body would still have bite marks... As this memory resurfaced in his mind, Linnaeus realized he hadn''t exactly been treating his current Party as a ''permanant'' fixture in his life. Though he would never outright abandon him, he was fully prepared to move on if they ended up deciding on a different path than the one he had set himself upon. No matter what happened, Linnaeus was determined to leave the Crucible of Souls, reunite with Saht, and track down his sister. This was something he had decided for his own selfish reasons, so, from the start, he had always expected that, at some point in time, their paths would diverge... Though this belief hadn''t changed, the look of blame visible in the eyes of Eliza and Emilia made it apparent that, at least for the time being, they had no intention of separating from him. This would undoubtedly bring him trouble in the future, but, much like the decision he had previously made regarding Saht, Linnaeus resolved himself to deal with them as they came... After releasing an exasperated sigh, Linnaeus lightly complained, "What is it about the tears of a girl that makes them so unbearable...?" Then, before either of them could respond, he made eye contact with Eliza, saying, "Fine. We''ll go together, then. You''ll have to follow my lead and avoid causing any trouble. Don''t let your emotions dictate your behavior so easily. There may be times when I have to use words I don''t mean in order to obtain information. It will be troublesome if you get jealous over meaningless dialogue..." Eliza took exception to Linnaeus'' words, but, knowing it was his inexperienced way of compromising with her, she ultimately chose to nod in affirmation before saying, "Just try to avoid anything overtly sexual and flirtatious. If you end up cheating...I''ll tell Saht all of the details..." Though he knew she only tacked on the final few words as an afterthought, Linnaeus felt a shiver pass through his body. Saht might not actually care if he got involved with other women, but, if he did so without her knowledge, there was no way she would let him off easily. While he wasn''t afraid of her, as she was actually pretty easy to manage, Saht could quickly get out of hand when she was in her [Demonification] state. He also cared about her quite a bit, so, unless someone took him by force, he would adamantly refuse any meaningful relationships before their reunion. This was something he wouldn''t compromise on, as, after growing up in an environment where trust was a rare commodity, he and Saht had become a family... After returning an affirmative nod, Linnaeus said, "You don''t have to worry about that." while turning his gaze toward Emilia for a brief moment. She noticed his gaze, rolling her eyes in spite of the fact she was the principal offender when it came to testing his abstinence. Truthfully, Emilia didn''t really understand the sensibilities of tribes beyond her own, as, among the Vanargandr, it wasn''t rare to have multiple partners. They would even, at times, exchange partners between each other when an especially virile male existed, spreading the strongest genes to ensure the survival of the next generation. While Linnaeus was far from the ''strongest'', he had a few commendable qualities that, with a bit of polish, would make him a competent leader. She had already come to recognize him, but, much like how other women of her tribe would help to shape their men into suitable partners, she intended to continue pushing up forward to see how far he could take her... Unaware of Emilia''s ''scheming'', Linnaeus addressed his entire Party, saying, "I''m certain we are being followed. If we return to our Inn right now, there is a chance we will be attacked in the middle of the night. If we want to rest properly, we need to learn the identity of our would-be attacker, confirming the reason we are being targetted and the extent they are willing to go to..." After reaching this point in his explanation, Linnaeus paused for a brief moment, looking between Eliza and Emilia as he explained, "Don''t jump to conclusions, but we''re going to temporarily split up in order to try and discover who is targeting me. You''ll follow close by with the Party system, taking the main roads while I stick to side paths and alleyways. I don''t know this area as well as I''d like so if we want to lure them out in the shortest amount of time, this is one of the faster methods." Eliza didn''t like Linnaeus'' plan, as it still required them to split up, but, as it was better than letting him go off completely on his own, she said, "Okay, but if you move too far away from us, I''ll come running to your position. If anyone attacks you, send a ping and rush towards us as fast as possible. It doesn''t matter how strong the enemy is, we can take them down if we work together. They won''t be able to resist my [Crush] magic, and, if they can be suppressed, Emilia can easily drown them until they lose consciousness." As her words coincided with his own thoughts on the matter, Linnaeus nodded his head, adopting his practiced smile as he said, "I agree with your plan. The moment I feel like I''m being followed, I''ll try and cut a path towards the three of you. If I can get ahead of you on the same path, you should be able to see if someone is following me. Once we lure them out, incapacitating them and finding out the reason why I''m being targetted is our main objective." Though he had already made the association with Renka, Linnaeus still didn''t know the intentions of his enemy. If it was just to cause a bit of physical harm or threaten him, it wouldn''t really be that big of a deal. He wouldn''t even mind taking a beating if it meant he had some leverage to use against Renka in the future, so, hopefully, things could be settled without him having to resort to his unique skillset... After organizing his thoughts, Linnaeus gave a brief overview of his plan before walking around with his Party, loudly discussing a false itinerary. He had no doubt they were already being watched, and, though their earlier actions had undoubtedly risen some suspicion, it would require someone with a Blessing related to hearing or sound to ascertain what they had been discussing privately. The vast majority of Blessings had little effect on a person''s six senses, the main exception being any kind of transformative ability. This made those that possessed them outliers as, more often than not, Blessings that modified one of the six senses were exceptionally weak. Though they had the benefit of being perpetually active, making them easy to train, only those who put in an exorbitant amount of effort could bring out the full potential of such Blessings. Thus, while he was alert for anyone with rabbit-like ears or horns framing their jaw, Linnaeus wasn''t particularly worried about their original plan being overheard... 90 Astute Observation After separating from his Party, Linnaeus moved with purposeful intent as he deftly navigated various back alleys and lesser-trespassed roads. He wasn''t fond of wasting time, so, while he had the intention of luring out his enemies, his primary goal was to investigate the previous evening''s fire. Though it didn''t seem to have anything to do with them, the encounter with Kh? had rekindled his suspicions. There was no way a Bapho''s presence could be ignored, but, more importantly, Linnaeus hadn''t heard anything about Kh?''s existence when he collected information the prior evening. Linnaeus had paid the portly owner of the hostel to provide information, so it didn''t make sense for the man to overlook mentioning the fact there was a Bapho working in his establishment. That wasn''t something you just forgot to mention, making it seem as though the man hadn''t actually known she would be making an appearance during the morning hours... In order to ascertain the truth, Linnaeus wanted to learn more about the incident leading up to the fire. There were bound to be people still talking about the relatively recent event, so, using the opportunity he had been given, Linnaeus decided to take full advantage of his circumstances. Fortunately, whoever had been assigned to tail him didn''t seem that competent, causing Linnaeus to feel as if he had lost them a couple of times along the way. While there was no way to ascertain whether or not this was the truth, as he had been unable to identify them, Linnaeus always trusted his instinct when it came to such things. He had spent much of his life being hunted by others, so, even if it was derived from his paranoia, it had kept him alive. Eventually, Linnaeus reached the section of the bazaar that had been burned down. He wasn''t surprised by the fact that, even after such devastating fire, there were many merchants still trying to do business in the area. Some even seemed to be playing the part of victims, despite the fact they had no shops affected by the rampant flames... While waiting for his Party to catch up, Linnaeus spent his time profiling all the faces in the area. It wasn''t ''normal'' for people to linger around the site of a fire, so, while some people wandered out of curiosity, the majority had a ''reason'' for being there. If you spent a lot of time watching people, it wasn''t difficult to identify patterns that revealed their intentions. This was especially true for criminals and those involved in information trafficking as, compared to normal people, they were simply ''too good'' at pretending to behave normally. This was enough to fool pedestrians and those who went about their business without minding such things, but, after seeing the same behaviors hundreds of times, it was almost too easy to notice when something amiss was taking place behind the scenes. By the time Eliza, Emilia, and Krone neared his position, Linnaeus had identified at least thirteen people that seemed to be investigating the area. He had also ascertained that they were part of three different groups, with the largest consisting of eight people. The other five were cautiously observing this larger group, but, based on their positioning and how they proactively avoided each other, it was easy to see they weren''t part of the same organization... With a less-than-enthused expression on her face, Eliza approached until she was only a short distance away from Linnaeus before complaining, "We didn''t find anyone. Even Emilia wasn''t able to pick up anything." Nodding her head in response to Eliza''s words, Emilia added, "I followed your scent closely while keeping an eye on the rooftops. We did see a group wandering around, but they weren''t going in the same direction as you." Hearing the reports of the two girls, Linnaeus fell into silent contemplation before explaining his own views, stating, "I felt as though I had lost the person tailing me at several junctions. I tried to wait for them in order to reveal their identity, but they seemed to be able to find me again before I could discover their traces. Though unlikely, there is a chance my pursuer has something akin to the Blessing of [Invisibility]..." Though she didn''t immediately dismiss the possibility, Emilia lightly hummed before saying, "I would still be able to smell them if that were the case. [Invisibility] only affects the body of its user, meaning they need to be naked to benefit from its use. This makes their scent easier to pick up, as there is nothing to prevent the spread of their pheromones in the surroundings..." As [Invisibility] was one of the better-known Blessings, as many people like to discuss how they would make use of it, even Emilia was aware of its capabilities. This was the reason Linnaeus had said the possibility was slim, stating it was similar to the Blessing of [Invisibility], rather than being one and the same. After bouncing a few more ideas between themselves, all while observing the three groups that seemed to be investigating the fire, Linnaeus and Co were no closer to identifying their enemy. The only things Linnaeus could be relatively certain of was that he had been followed and that the person following him wasn''t that skilled, at least when it came to tracking. They were, however, very adept at keeping themselves concealed. This was a curious combination as, more often than not, those with the ability to hide were generally adept at pursuing targets... As this thought crossed his mind, Linnaeus proposed, "The person tracking me may be using an artifact, or series of artifacts, to conceal themselves. That would explain why they seem incapable of tracking me, even when I tried making it easier for them..." Hearing Linnaeus'' remark, Emilia couldn''t help but snicker, earning her a glare from Eliza. The latter was taking this situation very seriously, causing her to properly consider Linnaeus'' words before saying, "If that is the case, the person tracking you has a lot of wealth to squander. That will help to narrow down the number of suspects quite a bit, but it also presents other challenges." Understanding what Eliza was trying to get at, Linnaeus nodded his head, adding, "If they have that kind of power, there is little reason for them to associate with a branch office. This means the person pursuing me has a fair amount of influence...they may even be involved directly with the Guild''s internal affairs. I need to learn more about the hierarchy of the Guild, as everything stems from Renka as the source..." If it turned out he was being targetted by another influence within the Guild, Linnaeus knew their best option was to simply move to another branch. The person targeting him undoubtedly had a fondness for Renka, so it didn''t seem worthwhile to continue operating in the same area, even if it drastically decreased their chances of joining the main expedition. Linnaeus was willing to do whatever it took to leave the Fifth Floor and exit the Crucible of Souls, but that didn''t mean he wanted to get in between some kind of lover''s spat. He had absolutely no tender feelings towards Renka so it was more than a little annoying to be targetted due a mistake committed by the careless Receptionist. There was a chance he could reap various benefits from staying the course, but, in the grand scheme of things, getting involved in someone else''s drama was never a good idea. With this in mind, Linnaeus gave a curt nod before saying, "I''m going to spend much of tonight collecting information. Depending on what I''m able to discover, we may move to another district. There are too many strange occurrences in this area so it doesn''t seem wise to stay..." Though she was also aware of the fact this was actually an opportunity for them, Eliza wouldn''t pass on the chance to distance Linnaeus from Renka. He might have no interest in her, but, based on everything that had happened, it was transparently clear that Renka had an interest in him. This might have little to do with personal feelings, but that didn''t really matter when she was willing to get them involved in matters completely unrelated to them. Linnaeus might consider Renka''s faux pas an honest mistake, but Eliza wasn''t foolish enough to believe this was the case. If that had been the case, she would have at least warned him of who he should be wary of, rather than leaving him to gather information for himself. With how things had developed, Eliza was all but certain than Renka had decided to use Linnaeus as a way to dodge one of her own problems, disregarding the trouble it would bring their way... In response to Linnaeus'' proposition, Eliza nodded her head several times, saying, "I am all for leaving this area and moving to another. The Guild contract didn''t stipulate which branch we operated out of, only that we accept and report Quests through them. Our encounter with that Bapho, alone, is enough reason for us to move far away from this area." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Though he didn''t disagree with her, Linnaeus knew he wouldn''t be able to relax without learning exactly why he was being targetted. Trouble seemed to follow them wherever they went, so, while it was tempting to just move around to evade trouble, establishing themselves would be virtually impossible. He imagined this was a difficulty every Potentiate Party faced during their stint on the Fifth Floor, so, rather than run away, he wanted to at least understand their situation better. After deciding this, Linnaeus turned his gaze toward Emilia, asking, "How many have you been able to notice...?" in a subdued tone. Hearing Linnaeus'' question, Emilia made a rather theatrical, yet convincing, show of yawning before answering, "I''m kind of sleepy, but I can still handle seven or eight more drinks before calling it a night. We should look for a tavern. The smell of burnt wood is unpleasant." Going by Emilia''s words, Linnaeus was pretty sure she hadn''t noticed the two groups that were moving about along the periphery. This indicated she still had a lot to learn, but, as he had spent years mastering this particular skill, it wasn''t like he could blame her. Seemingly nodding his head in agreement with Emilia''s previous statement, Linnause said, "I know about three places nearby. Try not to order more than two or three drinks, though. We''re a little tight on funds these days so we''ll have to be more frugal in our spending." Understanding what Linnaeus was trying to convey, Emilia scrunched up her nose, eyes darting to the surroundings for a brief moment as she answered, "You''re the boss, Lin. Go ahead and lead the way." Following Emilia''s remark, Linnaeus began to lead the Party through the area, eyeing the remains of several burnt buildings while discreetly pointing out the location of all thirteen people he had been able to discover. In the process, a fourteenth individual also made an appearance, but, as they only stopped to check in with the main group, it was easy to deduce they were nothing more than a messenger. Even after Linnaeus had pointed them out, Emilia wasn''t able to understand why he thought they were spying on the main group. It wasn''t until one of them looked toward her for a brief moment, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end, that she knew he was telling the truth... Fortunately, as she was accustomed to being stared at, Emilia didn''t show any sign that she had identified the man as a spy. Instead, she offered an awkward smile before rolling her eyes at him, seemingly dismissing his attempts to flirt with her. This left the man slightly gobsmacked, earning him a few teasing remarks from his companion, who, for a brief moment, looked over with a hawk-like gaze... 91 Intuition After venturing a few blocks from the site of the fire, Linnaeus entered a small tavern called ''The Laughing Cow'', a relatively popular location despite its small size. This wasn''t due to their food and alcohol being especially delicious or inexpensive, but due to the fact that the Proprietor only employed women who weren''t afraid to show a bit of skin in order to loosen their customer''s coin purses. Eliza wasn''t fond of Linnaeus'' choice of location, but, as such places were often the best locations to gather information, he insisted they enter. Though this required they pay a fee before entry, the fact several bodyguards were posted around the premises guaranteed a certain level of privacy. After securing a booth that allowed them to see the entrance, everyone placed their drink orders with the relatively buxom waitress, a woman with small horns, drooping ears, and a cow-like tail. Seeing the woman''s outfit, which showed off her ample bosom, Eliza couldn''t help but glower a bit. Fortunately, she kept her comments to herself, waiting until the woman had gone to take the order of another table before muttering, "Stupid Kyrie woman..." in a hushed tone. The Kyrie were a self-proclaimed warrior tribe that, in spite of their claims, were more often found on farms than battlefields. They had a high affinity with nature, and, though their men were often large, muscular individuals, their women were relatively popular for their short statures, gentle dispositions, and well-endowed, perpetually lactating, breasts. This last quality made them exceptionally popular as wet nurses, to the point that even Eliza''s Governess, the woman who had educated her, was also a Kyrie woman. Though it wasn''t really necessary, Linnaeus reminded Eliza, "We are here to gather information. It will become troublesome if you offend the staff members, so try to withhold such remarks...I''ll be approaching the bar and see if I can''t loosen the Proprietor''s lips. Emilia will keep an eye on the door for anyone suspicious. I won''t be gone long." Eliza was briefly tempted to follow Linnaeus to the bar, but, understanding he wanted to try and gather information on his own, she obediently remained. Though she was skilled at negotiating prices, her looks provided her very little benefits when it came to raw information gathering. Thus, while it was more than a little annoying, she decided to leave things to the inordinately cute and unassuming Linnaeus... Unaware of what Eliza was thinking, Linnaeus made his way over to the bar, his eyes scanning the other guests before settling on the 260cm tall wall of muscle wearing a traditional barkeep outfit. Like many of the barmaids and waitresses present, he was also a member Kyrie tribe, possessing great physical strength, large curved horns, and a short beard that connected seamlessly into his mane-like hair. Seeing Linnaeus approach, the man threw crooked an eyebrow at him, asking, "What can I get for you, young lady?" Though he knew some races had difficulties distinguishing the gender of other tribes, it took a fair amount of willpower for Linnaeus to avoid glaring back at the mountain-like man. Fortunately, he had never been the type to let his emotions show on his face, allowing him to appear calm on the outside as he plainly stated, "I may not be a wall of muscle, but I''m still a man..." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, the barkeep issued an awkward laugh, finishing up wiping down the glass in hand before saying, "Sorry about that, lad. Now, tell me, what can I get for you? If it isn''t top-shelf, I''ll pour you something light, free of charge." Though the most expensive liquor was often kept locked away under the bar, there were often many pricey alcohols visible on the various shelves lining the back wall. As you went down the line and moved to lower shelves, the prices gradually decreased, but, if you were just looking to whet your palette, they also served cheap mead on tap. Accepting the man''s gesture of goodwill, Linnaeus asked for a plain glass of mead before taking a seat at the bar. He wasn''t particularly fond of drinking, but, as it was a chance to build rapport with the barkeep, refusing wasn''t really an option. After taking a few large gulps, much to the amusement of the Kyrie barkeep, Linnaeus placed the glass back on the counter, wiping away the excess from the edges of his mouth before saying, "I want to purchase some information." As it wasn''t uncommon for people to come into his establishment for the same purpose, the man wasn''t surprised by Linnaeus'' words. Instead, he eyed the other customers at the bar, making sure none of them were trying to flag him down, before answering, "Sure. If it''s just local rumors, I''ll be glad to share for the price of a few mugs. If you''re looking for anything more sensitive, you''ll have to go in the back. That''ll cost you a bit, though, as my girls ain''t so keen on sharing secrets without proper compensation." Linnaeus knew the man was basically telling him to rent a private room with one of the barmaids, a rather common service among businesses that brokered information on the side. Unfortunately, while this would have been a viable option if he was alone, the presence of Eliza and Emilia made it a lot more difficult. After ordering another drink, leaving his previous glass half-full, Linnaeus asked, "Hear anything interesting about the first that started a few blocks over? I heard a woman from the Guild started the blaze..." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, the man stroked his beard for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face as he muttered, "Oh? I wonder where you heard a rumor like that? The information circling in the markets tells a very different story." In truth, Linnaeus hadn''t heard anything about the fire being related to the Guild, but, after seeing the three groups investigating the area, he had a hunch they were involved. Unfortunately, while it seemed like the barkeep knew something, based on the look in his eye, the price of a single glass of mead didn''t seem to cover the cost. Since it would hurt his position to slowly increase the offer, Linnaeus pulled out a small gemstone, equating to precisely 100 Soul Kindling. This wasn''t an exceptional amount, but it was enough to earn a small smile from the barkeep, causing him to pull out a small pad of receipt paper, writing a few quick scribbles before handing Linnaeus a small bottle of whiskey. Based on the man''s behavior, Linnaeus could tell he wasn''t willing to openly discuss the matter, indicating there were likely people from the three groups keeping an eye on the local businesses. This, alone, was an important piece of information, causing him to return a small nod to the Kyrie man as he accepted the bottle and returned to his table. Before Eliza could ask how things had gone, Linnaeus shook his head slightly, stopping her words until he sat down and said, "There didn''t have the drink we were looking for. Do you think this will do as a substitute...?" Though it took her a moment, Eliza was able to realize what Linnaeus was trying to say after Emilia lightly nudged her before answering, "I don''t know. Maybe we should search a few more places to see if they have what we need?" Seeing how quick Emilia was to realize his intentions, Linnaeus couldn''t help but smile slightly as he shook his head and answered, "It''s already getting pretty late. We should find a place to stay before everything fills up. There is time to finish our drinks, but we shouldn''t stay too long." Understanding that Linnaeus was basically telling them the place was being watched, Eliza gave a small nod before finishing her non-alcoholic drink. She had promised to watch her intake earlier that same day, so, while she had been tempted to order something much stronger, she settled on a somewhat bitter apple cider instead. Once everyone had finished their drinks, Linnaeus was the first to rise from the table, tossing a tip to their waitress in passing. Then, once they were finally outside, he waited until they had traveled a full block before pulling out the slip handed to him by the barkeep. He had glanced at it earlier, but, as there was a chance someone had been spying on him, he elected not to read and discuss it while they were still inside. Though it appeared to be gibberish, understanding the context behind the words was enough for Linnaeus to understand that, according to actual rumor, the Guild was proactively concealing the reason behind the fire. Other than that, the only other information on the receipt were the words, ''Orcus Merchant'' and ''Anti-Magic King''. After memorizing the contents of the receipt, Linnaeus shredded it into tiny pieces, ensuring it was impossible to reassemble and read. Then, turning to his Party, he explained, "I don''t think this has anything to do with the person pursuing me, at least not directly. It seems like the Guild came into conflict with a group of Merchants containing a member of the Orcus tribe. Considering how they look...I can''t imagine there are too many successful Orcus Merchants. If we can find one who has the [Anti-Magic King] Blessing, we''ll be able to determine the original cause of the fire..." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Eliza frowned slightly, saying, "That''s well and good, but it doesn''t do much to alleviate our current problem. Investigating the people behind the fire might not have anything to do with the people targetting you. If we continue looking into things that aren''t our business, we''ll just draw more attention to ourselves." Though he understood Eliza''s concerns, Linnaeus released a small sigh as he explained, "Even if it isn''t directly related, we know the fire involves the Guild. Based on how Renka was behaving this morning and this afternoon, I have a hunch she was directly involved. From what I know, all of the Guild personnel stay within the same residential district. Since Renka seems to work shifts in the morning and afternoon, her being anywhere near our Inn during the time of the fire indicates she would have been there on official business. This could have nothing to do with us, but I can''t rest easy until I know for certain that is the case..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As Linnaeus'' words were rather convincing, Eliza couldn''t help but frown as she muttered, "I knew that bitch was up to no good...why don''t we just move to another district?" Shaking his head, Linnaeus explained, "Renka wouldn''t have needed to investigate us personally. The Guild has personnel specifically assigned to gather information and conduct investigations so she must have been there for another reason. If she was the one who got into a fight, we need to find out their identity and why they were skulking around our Inn. Given the circumstances, there is a fair chance Renka was there to protect us..." Hearing Linnaeus'' final statement, Eliza''s frown deepened as she asked, "Why would she go out of her way to try and protect our Party? You don''t think..." Before Eliza could finish, Linnaeus shook his head, saying, "I don''t think she has any feelings for me, at least, not in the way you''re thinking. If I had to guess, it would be our Potentiate status that is garnering us so much attention. Even when I went to investigate Debtees, the brokers seemed to pay a lot of attention to my Potentiate status. There are also various laws in place to protect the rights of Potentiates. While this could just be the result of an arrangement between Tenebrae and those in power, I wouldn''t be surprised if there was more to it..." To prove his point, Linnaeus pulled out two pieces of paper, one listing the Quest given to them by Renka, the other pulled from the Quest Board. As for the difference, Renka had tasked them to collect 10 mandibles that were 30cm, or greater, in length. The other Quest, however, only listed mandibles that were between 20~25cm, with a bonus offered for any over 30cm in length. Seeing the two Quests, realization donned on Eliza, causing her to ask, "Are you saying that Potentiates have a better drop rate for valuable items..?" in a very quiet whisper. Though he had various thoughts on the matter, Linnaeus felt this was the only real answer that could explain everything that had happened to them. Even the previous ambush, it seemed that the other party was intending to forcibly recruit and make use of them, despite the fact it would have been much easier just to kill and rob their corpses. Linnaeus had always felt there was something strange about that encounter, so, from the time they had set out from Central City, he had been observing how others treated them. Renka was just the most obvious indicator that something was up, so, if it turned out she had actually been in the area to deter others from trying to approach them, it would greatly increase the leverage they had in future negotiations... 92 Speculation Though the ''safest'' option was to team up with another Party, documenting each others'' kills and determining the average drop rate of valuable goods, Linnaeus felt this wasn''t ideal. It would take a relatively large sample size to make an accurate determination, and, while it was possible for them to track down Yorgen''s Party, that was the same as wrapping them up in their troubles. Linnaeus felt Yorgen''s Party could be trusted, but, with that being the case, he was even less inclined to involve them in the current situation. He felt there were already too few good people in the world, so, while it would help solve the mystery, the potential cost wasn''t something he was willing to pay. After discussing it with everyone else, they came to the conclusion that the ''safest'' option was to purchase a Debtee. They really only needed one additional person to determine whether or not their hypothesis was true, so, while Eliza wasn''t fond of the idea of adding people to their group, doing so for a short period of time had undeniable merits. Unfortunately, even if they wanted to purchase a Debtee, doing so while Linnaeus was being tracked wasn''t ideal. Debtees were compelled to obey the people who purchased their contracts, but, unless they got along well with their owners, their ''motivation'' could be a serious issue. After all, few people wanted to be treated like slaves, so, while they would ultimately obey, it was challenging to try and force them to make an earnest effort. Ascertaining whether or not their drop rate was increased could wait for later. For now, it was more important to identify the person tracking Linnaeus, and, if possible, reason with them. After all, there was nothing going on between him and Renka. The opposing party would have to be exceptionally petty to continue targeting him if he had done nothing wrong... With this in mind, Linnaeus spent several minutes thinking before saying, \"We should find a place to stay. Though there is a chance we''ll be attacked, I doubt they will do so openly. Based on how much time has passed since we originally left the Guild, the enemy seems to be gathering information. The actual attack will most likely take place in a couple of days. If we can''t determine their identity before then, things will become even more problematic...\" Curious about the meaning behind Linnaeus'' words, Emilia''s wolf-like ears twitched slightly as she asked, \"Why is that?\" Before Linnaeus could answer her, Eliza briefly interrupted him, elbowing Emilia in the side as she said, \"He would have already told us if you didn''t butt in...!\" Though Eliza''s ''attack'' hadn''t actually done any damage to her, Emilia made a show of rubbing her side, an apologetic mask on her face as she said, \"Sorry, sorry, I was just curious. I understand your reasons, Liz, but, aren''t you letting this situation get to you?\" This time, it was Linneaus'' turn to interrupt, saying, \"Please, both of you, calm down. Eliza, Emilia is right. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgment. As for you, Emilia, you should know not to rile Eliza up at this point. She is just worried about me, not seeking trouble. Now, let me finish so we can find a place to rest for the evening...\" Though both girls looked like they still had something to say, now wasn''t exactly the best time to argue amongst themselves. Thus, after exchanging glances for several tense moments, seemingly communicating through nothing more than their gazes, they both nodded in understanding and acquiescence. Seeing the two reach a silent compromise, Linnaeus restrained the urge to release a tired sigh. Then, with all eyes focused on him, he explained, \"If the person targeting me is affiliated with the Guild, it would be difficult for them to do so directly. They will have to rely on hiring criminal organizations and mercenary groups, likely targeting us outside of the settlement. Not only would this allow them to continue hiring more people to come after us, but, even without doing so, the chances we would be attacked several more times. Prestige and reputation are two of the most important things in the underground society. If they are a reasonably powerful group, they would continue to try and hunt us, even if the original contract was retracted...the pride of organized groups is troublesome.\" After being hunted down for several years, Linnaeus was very familiar with the thought process of most criminal organizations. They would not allow their pride to be infringed upon, as, if others did not respect and fear them, doing ''business'' would become difficult, if not impossible. They might be inclined to withdraw of their target''s reputation was high, but, with Linnaeus and co being relatively new to the region, there was little chance of their enemies backing down. Eliza, Emilia, and Krone didn''t have the same understanding of the criminal underworld as Linnaeus, but, based on the severity contained within his tone, they didn''t doubt him. Rather, Eliza knew just how far people would go to protect something as ''silly'' as pride. Her family had completely wiped out dozens of smaller factions, many for no better reason than paltry misunderstandings and even more insignificant grievances... Seeing that everyone had taken his words seriously, Linnaeus felt slightly vindicated, a very slight smile developing on his face as he added, \"Fortunately, we aren''t completely without backing. If our speculation is correct, the Guild is likely keeping tabs on us. I don''t know if they will go out of their way to protect us, but, if we can prove ourselves a valuable asset, they won''t let others target us so easily. The Guild is the most powerful faction due to its affiliation with the Briggs Familia. Even if our enemy is a powerful criminal organization, they wouldn''t risk offending the Guild unless their client was also affiliated with the Briggs Familia. If that is the case, discovering their identity shouldn''t be an issue...\" Understanding what Linnaeus was trying to say, Eliza issued a light ''Nn'' before saying, \"The person targeting you must be famous within the Guild. If they are targeting someone with status, they must have a bit of their own. We should be able to ascertain their identity by gathering information at the Guild itself...right?\" Nodding his head, Linnaeus answered, \"That would be the most direct method. Unless our enemy is also a renowned criminal, they must have some form of repute to be able to operate without facing repercussions from the Guild. We should be able to learn more by gathering information, either at the Guild or in the surroundings taverns...\" Though Linnaeus'' words almost made it seem like their nightly venture had been a waste, the person in question didn''t believe that was the case. Rather, his curiosity had often gotten him and Saht into trouble that could have otherwise been avoided. Linnaeus genuinely believed that knowledge was a power that allowed the weak to overcome far more powerful foes. As a result, gathering information, observing his target, and make preparations had become second-nature to him. Fortunately, nobody pointed out the time they had ''wasted'', as, from the outset, they had been the ones to insist they accompany him. Linnaeus would have been perfectly content with venturing out and gathering information on his own, so, unless they wanted to undermine their earlier insistence, it would be difficult to complain about ''time wasted''... Unbeknownst to Linnaeus, Eliza, Emilia, and even Krone didn''t consider the fact their time had been wasted. Rather, the first two somewhat enjoyed getting out of the Inn and skulking around with him. As for Krone, he simply didn''t care how they spent their time, as, from his perspective, upholding his vow was of paramount importance. Where they went, what they did, these things didn''t matter at all. Unfortunately, it was difficult to understand the thought processes of others, leaving people prone to assumptions and misunderstandings. This included Linnaeus, who, due to his upbringing, actually had an easier time seeing through his enemies, rather than his allies. Some would even say he had a gift for seeing through others, aided by an uncommon ability to extrapolate information from even the smallest clues. The problem with becoming inordinately good at seeing through your enemies, however, was that it left massive gaps in your perception when it came to allies, something he was slowly becoming more aware of with the passage of time... In the hopes of avoiding an argument, Linnaeus quickly changed topics to another important matter, asking, \"Should we return to our original Inn or find another place to stay? Though it is impossible to be certain, the likelihood of an attack has decreased considerably since we left the Guild.\" Realizing Linnaeus was giving them the chance to alter his previous decision, the briefest hint of a smile could be seen on Eliza''s face as she answered, \"If we''re basing our decision on the conclusions you have reached, it may be better for us to take a few steps back. If we assume everything that has happened over the last few days is interconnected, there is another alternative to our current Inn...\" Though he was momentarily confused by Eliza''s statement, it didn''t take long for the gears to click into place within Linnaeus'' mind. This caused a small frown to develop across his face, but, instead of refuting her words, he fell into a deep state of contemplation. Seeing Linnaeus fall silent, Emilia turned to Eliza, asking, \"What happened...?\" in a hushed tone. She already had a hunch about what Eliza was talking about, but, as it seemed somewhat nonsensical, Emilia couldn''t help but ask for clarification. To both answer Emilia''s question and convince Linnaeus, Eliza explained, \"I''m talking about staying at the Hostel with that Bapho girl, Kh?. We speculated that her presence there was unnatural, but, even if that weren''t the case, her presence all but guarantees external forces wouldn''t be able to act freely. To have a Bapho as a pet, you need a considerable amount of power, enough to deter anyone who wants to steal them from you...\" Piggybacking off Eliza''s words, Linnaeus nodded his head, adding, \"Eliza is right. We don''t know the full story regarding Kh?''s situation. Despite that, we can ascertain that the Hostel has some form of protection against those who would try to target her. If she is still there, that Hostel could serve as a temporary shelter against external threats. There is also a chance, however, that there is a powerful criminal organization protecting her...if they are the ones hired to deal with us, we''d be sleeping in a bed prepared by our enemies...\" Hearing Linnaeus'' reasoning, Eliza felt a little sheepish, but, before she could offer an alternative, he followed up, adding, \"I think we should stay there, at least for one evening. If Kh? is still present, we would have another lead to make use of in our investigation. At the very least, we can eliminate an unknown variable by learning about her situation directly. Even if she isn''t there, that would serve as further proof that something is going on behind the scenes...I think it is a good idea.\" Happy she had given a suggestion that Linnaeus approved of, Eliza''s face blossomed into a smile as she said, \"Then we should hurry before it gets too late. We might not be able to enjoy a proper rest once things develop further so we should rest while we can.\" As there was some truth to Eliza''s words, Linnaeus nodded his head in affirmation, albeit with far less fervor than she displayed. He wanted to point out the problems that would undoubtedly arise if Kh? had been placed there for a specific purpose, but, as this was largely baseless conjecture, he decided against it. He would know for certain once they talked to the person in question, so, rather than talk in circles all night, ascertaining the truth for themselves would be far more productive... (A/N: Sorry for the delay. I ended up getting sick a few days ago, causing me to pump out only one chapter of EPIC per day. It''s hard to motivate myself to write a side project when I''m not feeling well so that is the main reason for the delay. As for the main purpose of this Author''s Note, however, it is to ascertain how everyone would feel about reduced chapter length. I can probably do daily releases if I reduce the overall length, so, if that is something you are interested in, feel free to let me know in the comments section.) 93 Tremble After nearly an hour of travel, Linnaeus and his Party found themselves outside the same Hostel they had stayed at the previous night. It was already pretty late in the evening, but, just like the preceding evening, they found the Proprietress dutifully manning the counter. Seeing the somewhat familiar faces, the Proprietress, a motherly-looking woman with dark-purple hair and a peculiar teardrop-shaped gemstone embedded in her forehead, offered a polite smile as she said, \"Well, if it isn''t Linnaeus and his friends. I didn''t think you would be back after leaving so quickly this morning.\" Offering his best version of an apologetic smile, Linnaeus approached the counter, proffering a few extra Soul Kindling as he said, \"We need a place to stay for the evening, Ms. Almas. Sorry about this morning...we were a little spooked...\" Though he tried to appear bashful and uncertain, Linnaeus was closely observing the Proprietress'' facial expression. He noticed there were no discernible signs of perturbance, rather, her immediate reaction was to smile in a completely natural manner as she said, \"I can understand your concerns. Kh? tends to have that effect on people.\" Seeing how natural Almas'' response was, Linnaeus felt a small amount of panic in the back of his mind. Her behavior indicated that Kh?''s presence either wasn''t a big deal, but, while they may not have as much value in the Crucible of Souls, it didn''t make sense for a Bapho to simply be ignored. Since she had already accepted his payment, handing over two brass keys in the process, Linnaeus decided to be more direct, ''sheepishly'' asking, \"Is it okay to ask about Kh?...?\" As if she had been expecting the question, Almas'' eyes squinted almost imperceptibly as she leaned forward, her rather large breasts on full display as she mused, \"Well, that all depends? After you ran away so quickly this morning, are you certain you want to know? I''ll have you know that, after your Party left, Kh? brooded in the kitchen for nearly twenty minutes. That girl is sensitive to how others perceive her, you know?\" Instead of Linnaeus answering, Eliza stepped forward in response to Almas'' ''uncouth'' display, doing her best to keep her composure as she stated, \"It was never our intention to hurt Kh?''s feelings. Our reaction, if anything, was the normal response to such an unexpected encounter. Rather, due to the circumstances our Party as faced of late, it would put our minds at ease to gain greater insight into the events transpiring around us...\" Hearing Eliza''s remark, Almas gave her an appraising look before smiling and saying, \"You are a well-spoken young lady. A little overprotective, perhaps...but I can tell you aren''t a bad person. Since you seem to have a story of your own, how about we make a trade? Information is a coveted commodity within the Crucible of Souls. While I don''t mind answering your questions, I fear the price is beyond the means of your current Party.\" Though there was a fair chance she was just inflating things to take advantage of their curiosity, both Linnaeus and Eliza got the impression that Almas wasn''t trying to scam them. Rather, her expression had turned serious towards the end of her statement, her eyes reflecting an intelligent and insightful light... Rather than acquiesce, Linnaeus decided to lead the conversation on a tangent, asking, \"How much will it cost us to learn your true identity and purpose...?\" The moment she heard Linnaeus'' question, Almas began to chuckle in a rather elegant manner, the aura around her changing slightly as she supported her smiling face with her hand and answered, \"In the Crucible, everything has a price. You are an amusing young man, Linnaeus. Do you expect me to part with my personal information without charging a premium? Even something as basic as a peek at my Status would cost you around 5,000 Soul Kindling, you know~?\" Despite Almas'' words sounding like the price was inflated, Linnaeus felt that 5,000 Soul Kindling was actually very cheap to view a person''s Status. It contained their most sensitive information, exposing their affiliation and allowing others to form countermeasures against them based on their Blessing, Skills, Abilities, and Magic. As it stood, Linnaeus had around 8,300 ''expendable'' Soul Kindling, a far cry from the one-million he intended to gather over the following months. He didn''t doubt that Kh?''s information was beyond their means to purchase, so, unwilling to reveal his own information so easily, he clenched his hands into fists for a few seconds before resolutely saying, \"I will pay...\" Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Eliza showed an expression of panic and surprise as she said, \"Lin! What if she is just messing with us!?\" Having already made his resolve, Linnaeus'' expression didn''t change in the slightest as he plainly stated, \"Then I will be at a loss of 5,000 Soul Kindling. Compared to remaining in the dark, this is a cheap price to pay.\" Without waiting for Eliza''s input, Linnaeus extended his hand, offering a relatively large yellow gem, its interior twinkling with five motes of golden light. Soul Kindling started off Red, but, as you refined them into higher grade gemstones, they transitioned to Orange, Yellow, and Green. From this, it was possible to conclude that Blue, Indigo, and Violet gemstones also existed. Linnaeus had never seen these for himself, however, as the higher tiered gemstones required ten of the preceding gemstones to refine. Thus, to make a single orange gemstone, you needed 100 Soul Kindling. To further increase its grade, you would require 1000, 10,000, and 100,000 for each successive upgrade. After parting with more than half of his remaining ''fortune'', Linnaeus stared directly at the smiling Almas with a resolute expression. She seemed to find this somewhat amusing, her smiling curling up at the sides ever-so-slightly as she said, \"How bold. It makes this aunty feel vindicated to have such a handsome young man so eager to purchase my Status, ufufufu~.\" Following her teasing remark, Almas made a small gesture in the air, causing a ping to sound within Linnaeus'' mind. The Akashic System then showed him a small notification, stating ''Fraux Almassa has given your permission to view her Status''. ---------------------------------------- [Status] Name: Fraux Almassa Title: Motherly Protector(+2 Str, +5 Con per Level), Enforcer of the Porcello Company(*hidden*) Race: Hume(50%), Bindi(50%) Age: 337 Gender: Female Level: 58 Health: 14,970 Soul Power: 4,210 Strength: 203+214.5 Constitution: 251+403.5 Agility: 119+18 Dexterity: 125+23 Intelligence: 142+35 Wisdom: 166+66 Spirit: 158+86 Charisma: 133+73.5 Luck: 41+2 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [*Blessing of the Earth Goddess:LV99*], [Brute:LV99], [Herculean Strength:LV99], [Titanic Might:LV69], [Healthy:Lv99], [Vital Spirit: LV99], [Immortal Body: LV85], [Heroic Spirit:LV99], [Natural Charmer: LV99], [Martial Arts:LV99], [Sense Danger:LV99], [Acrobatics:LV99], [Flexible Body:LV99], [Footwork:LV99], [Cooking:LV99], [Iron Stomach:LV99], [Pain Tolerance:LV99], [Abnormal Status Resistance:LV99], [Perception:LV99], [Sex Techniques:LV99], [Dancing:LV99], [Flute Mastery:LV99], [Lyre Mastery:LV99], [Singing:LV99], [Accupuncture:LV99], [Massage Hands:LV99], [Trap Set:LV99], [Trap Disarm:LV99], [Charm:LV99] Abilities: [Eye of the Mind:LV99], [Strength Amplification:LV99], [Body Hardening:LV99], [Trap Detection:LV99] Magic: [Gaia''s Grace:LV99], [Gaia''s Fury:LV99], [Earth Bullet:LV99], [Earth Spike:LV86], [Fissure:LV89], [Tremor:LV53] ---------------------------------------- The moment he saw Almas'' Status, Linnaeus'' mental faculties, for a brief moment, seemed to cease in their entirety. Not only did she have the highest Level he had ever seen, but most of Almas'' Skills, Abilities, and Magic were at LV99. This was, for lack of a better descriptive, ''horrifying'', causing his body to begin shaking against his will. Seeing Linnaeus'' reaction, Eliza and Emilia both showed expressions of concern, the former asking, \"What is it, Lin...?\" in an uncertain tone. As for Emilia, her instincts had started to trigger the moment she saw Linnaeus'' reaction, her ears flattening atop her head as a strong desire to protect her ''family'' welled up inside her. Fortunately, before Emilia could make the biggest mistake of their lives, Linnaeus came back to his senses due to Eliza''s words. At the same time, Almas'' Status disappeared from his vision, no longer able to be viewed... Reaching out to grab both girls'' hands, Linnaeus muttered in what he hoped to be a soothing voice, stating, \"It''s okay...she isn''t our enemy. Rather, we aren''t even qualified to be her enemy...\" Though they hadn''t seen Almas'' Status, it was easy to deduce that she was ''very'' powerful based on Linnaeus'' reaction. This caused Eliza''s face to pale slightly, but, before she could say anything, Almas herself stated, \"There is no reason to show such expressions. When you''ve lived as long as I have, it isn''t that difficult to increase your proficiency to the limit. You know about the Mastery Bottleneck, correct...?\" Nodding his head, Linnaeus answered, \"It is the unsurpassable limit imposed upon every resident within the Crucible. I just never realized the influence time could have on a person''s Status...\" Finding Linnaeus'' honestly amusing, Almas'' giggled elegantly before explaining, \"There aren''t too many people who have reached my degree of proficiency, but they do exist. I can''t give you an exact answer, but there are at least twenty people within the Briggs Fortress City who would give me a bit of trouble. As for the number I wouldn''t dare to fight...well, I''m afraid that bit of information is a little too expensive for your current finances~.\" Though he was normally able to keep a perfect mask of calm, Linnaeus felt like there was a knot in his throat, forcing him to swallow. Almas'' Status had been an eye-opening experience, causing him to rethink everything he had been doing from the moment they arrived on the Fifth Floor. He didn''t doubt her words in the slightest, and, considering 337 wasn''t even that old, it was easy to guess each faction had unbelievable powerhouses in their ranks... Seeing the understanding present in Linnaeus'' eyes, Almas'' couldn''t help default to her patented ''motherly smile''. She had been tasked by Scarlet to try and pull him to their side, so, while she would normally never reveal her information so cheaply, Almas felt the overcautious youth would protect it properly. Capitalizing on the moment, Almas lightly tapped the countertop, saying, \"It''s getting pretty late. If you''d like to purchase additional information, allow me to at least pour everyone something warm to drink. The nights are cold this time of year...\" Though it was certainly cool outside, Almas'' words were intended to bring attention to the fact that, with the exception of Krone, everyone else was shaking slightly. If she could get them to relax their guard a bit, obtaining additional information would be a simple matter. This would allow her to build rapport with the Party, and, in the most ideal circumstances, it might even be possible to convince them to accept her ''protection''. She was well-aware of the fact that Linnaeus was being targetted, as, since the moment he left the Guild, she had been tracking him with her [Eye of the Mind]... Seeing Almas'' disarming smile, Linnaeus couldn''t help but feel something was wrong. This wasn''t as impactful as her Status, however, so he wasn''t able to determine the source of the unease. Rather, if Almas wanted to harm them, even Eliza wouldn''t be able to restrain her for very long. The only way they could achieve victory was if they managed to surprise her, but, with her [Blessing of the Earth Goddess], her durability had to be through the roof... Despite ''reason'' telling him to abide by Almas'' proposal, Linnaeus ultimately decided to follow his instincts, saying, \"We''ve had a stressful evening...for the time being, it is better for us to rest and sort our thoughts. By the time morning comes, we''ll have come to a decision regarding the exchange of information. Thank you for revealing your Status to me, Ms. Almas...we may have met with tragedy if not for the service you have provided tonight. For that, you have my sincere gratitude...\" Though she squinted her eyes slightly, Almas'' was able to conceal it due to her broad smile. She was actually somewhat impressed by Linnaeus'' ability to calmly make decisions, even if it was a moderate inconvenience. As it would only draw their suspicion further, Almas gave an understanding nod, musing, \"I can see why you were made Party Leader. To possess such wisdom despite your age...quite promising. Well, don''t let me keep you. I may be moderately powerful, but I''m a Proprietress before anything else. If there is anything I can do to make your stay more pleasant, feel free to let me know~.\" Feeling his sense of incongruity slowly fade away, Linnaeus felt like he had successfully evaded a dangerous enemy. Though Almas didn''t seem even remotely hostile to him, she was far more than a simple Proprietress. Her Status all but confirmed his suspicions, but, as it was, indeed, starting to get late, he offered a polite smile in return, saying, \"I hope you have a pleasant evening, Ms. Almas...\" 94 Uncommon Intellec Though they had procured two different rooms, Linnaeus had everyone gather to discuss everything that happened, starting by explaining Almas'' Status. Needless to say, everyone, even Krone, was surprised to learn that the rather unassuming woman was actually a powerhouse over Level 50. While this alone wasn''t that terrifying, the fact she had hit the maximum number of Skills, increasing them all to LV99, made her a monster they couldn''t hope to oppose without using underhanded means. It wasn''t particularly well known outside of the Tower, but, as you advanced to higher Floors, you would quickly learn about the ''limit'' placed upon the number of Skills you possessed. Though it was possible to ''store'' Skills using expensive items, the maximum number you could have active, with the exception of ''threshold'' Skills, was twenty. Generally, in order to become truly powerful, people would focus on obtaining Skills that enhanced the Parameters most suitable for their Blessing and combat style. It was best to sort this out early, as, the longer you waited, the less stable your foundation would become. Unfortunately, while some Skills were relatively easy to obtain, others were notoriously difficult to develop. A good example of this was any type of weapons mastery, as it could take years of effort just to reach a decent level of proficiency. In exchange, the benefits they provided were often far greater than traditional Skills, but, considering how much effort was required to master them, most people only focused on developing a single type. Linnaeus was something of an outlier when it came to Skill development, largely due to his lack of resources, but, due to the amount of effort he put into most things, he had been able to shorten the distance considerably. He was still behind those like Eliza, who had built a strong foundation over a very long period of time, but that was to be expected given the vast disparity in social status... After discussing the terrifying nature of Almas'' Status, the most important question on everyone''s minds was verbalized by Emilia, who, with a slight frown, asked, \"Do you think we can trust her?\" Without any hesitation, Linnaeus shook his head, explaining, \"I don''t think she is an enemy, but it is obvious she has some kind of agenda. Everything lines up too perfectly, almost as if we were being baited into a trap. Though there is a fair chance they simply want to pull us to their side, we have to be cautious. We don''t know what kind of backing the Porcello Company has, only that they are able to have conflicts with the Briggs Familia without facing any serious repercussions...\" From the information he had gathered the night before, Porcello owned a surprising amount of property, yet, in spite of this, he was unable to obtain any holdings within the inner districts. While this wasn''t all that uncommon among competing businesses, the fact he was able to create such a large foothold in the outer district said a lot about the man''s power and influence. It was obvious he wasn''t well-liked by those within the inner district, yet, in spite of this, he was still able to operate a sizeable number of properties with relative impunity. Based on the Level and Status of Almas'', it wasn''t difficult to imagine that Porcello had a number of powerful subordinates on his side. There was a fair chance that the man himself was also powerful, as, more often than not, strong people rarely agreed to work for those weaker than themselves. The question then became, was Porcello himself powerful, or did he simply possess a considerable amount of influence and authority? If it was the former, things would be relatively straight-forward, but, if it was the latter, that meant there was someone even more powerful backing him. This was often the case when it came to organizations that had ''uncommon'' amounts of power, yet, in spite of that, weren''t particularly well known for their strength. If he was forced to guess, Linnaeus would venture to guess that Porcello was actually the ''face'' of a powerful criminal enterprise, one with strong ties to the Guild branch office. Assuming the drop rate of Potentiates was higher than average, it wasn''t difficult to imagine people fighting to obtain them. This would explain the ''eagerness'' present in so many people, giving them a bit of leverage if they were willing to remain ''loyal''. With this in mind, Linnaeus explained his thoughts on the matter, concluding, \"We''ll find out more in the morning, but I''m beginning to suspect that the person following me this evening had nothing to do with the person targeting me. The fact they allowed themselves to be detected so easily, despite leaving no traces, indicates they wanted me to know I was being followed. If our assumptions about the drop rate are true, I don''t think the Guild would just sit idle as our lives are targetted. Everything seems to point toward this truth, especially when we consider the fire and Ms. Renka''s behavior...\" While thinking about the rather fiery redhead, Linnaeus'' face formed into a frown as he added, \"It seems like she decided to use me as bait to deal with a personal matter. Someone of considerable status must have been bothering her so she decided to use our protected status in order to deal with them...haaaa...\" Though he usually tried to stay calm, Linnaeus couldn''t help but release a tired sigh. This wasn''t due to the fact Renka had used him, however, but the reactions of Eliza and Emilia. The former had a look reserved for psychopathic killers, and, though it was relatively tame compared to her purple-haired counterpart, Emilia''s expression made it obvious she wouldn''t mind skewering Renka with her spear. Before either of them could say something ''dangerous'', Linnaeus made a pacifying gesture with his hands, saying, \"All of this is based on assumptions. Even if it is the truth, we would gain nothing from forming an antagonistic relationship with the Guild. Rather, if our speculation is correct, we would be able to benefit greatly by using our status as leverage. I understand your disdain for Renka, but there are more important things. Our ultimate goal is to leave the Crucible of Souls, not establish ourselves within the Fifth Floor. So long as we tide through this series of events, gaining a position in the main expedition is all but guaranteed.\" Eliza was smart enough to see the reasoning behind Linnaeus'' words, but, unable to forgive Renka, she stated, \"If we really do have a protected status, we should bring up this matter with the Branch Leader. If they were willing to cover up the cause of the fire, I don''t imagine they would be happy with that vixen dragging us into her personal affairs. She is unnecessarily exposing us to danger, not for the Guild, but for her own personal gain. If your speculation proves true, promise me you will not just ignore the trouble she caused for us...\" Though he wasn''t the type that sought trouble, Linnaeus wasn''t all that forgiving either. If he never sought some form of recompense against Renka, she might treat their Party like her own personal problem solvers. This wasn''t necessarily a bad thing if there were benefits to be had, but, when the only person benefitting was Renka, herself, it was a serious issue. Without having to think about it, Linnaeus nodded his head, saying, \"Once we learn more about the current situation, we can approach this matter from various angles. It will be necessary to learn what kind of status Renka holds in the Guild before we take action, but, based on her behavior throughout the day, the Guild Leader must have a lot of influence over her. We might end up earning the ire of Renka, but, if we can gain the backing of someone in a higher position, it will be worth it.\" Satisfied by Linnaeus'' response, Eliza nodded her head with a look of vindication on her face. She knew he had killed ''a lot'' of people, but, contrary to expectations, Linnaeus was actually a very kind and gentle person. He wouldn''t hesitate to resort to violence, but, more often than not, this was out of self-preservation and a desire to protect others. As contrary as it seemed, he was kinder than the vast majority of people she had met, making him seem somewhat naive and exploitable... Fortunately, while it was easy to take liberties with him, Linnaeus was frighteningly intelligent. While he was prone to paranoia from overthinking things, his deductive reasoning and speculative abilities bordered on clairvoyance. He was able to extrapolate an incredible amount of information from even the smallest context clues, forming connections that left others slack-jawed in disbelief. Though there was a chance he was wrong, Eliza felt Linnaeus'' speculation struck close to the heart of the matter. His brain was somehow able to form everything into a logical sequence that was hard to refute, so, while it was slightly unnerving, she, Emilia, and even Krone couldn''t help but acknowledge his intellect. Unaware of what Eliza was thinking, Linnaeus went on to explain the plan of action for the following morning. This included waking up early, attempting to gather information from Kh?, and, if failing in that, exchanging information with Almas. The fact Almas had revealed her Status said a lot about her confidence, both in her organization and her ability to deal with the consequences of an information leak. At the same time, it also served as an anchor of sorts, preventing them from easily making contact with other organizations. Even if Kh?''s situation had absolutely nothing to do with them, it would still shed some light on the powers at play behind the scenes. The fact they could protect a Bapho was a testament to the power behind the Porcello company, a power they may very well be a part of in the near future. By obtaining information about Kh?, it wasn''t an exaggeration to say they would be forced to throw their lot in with the organization protecting her. She was likely used to lure people in as there simply no way an organization would share such sensitive information with unaffiliated people. Thus, unless they wanted to be labeled as criminals for violating their contract with the Guild, their fates would be bound to the organization supporting the Porcello Company... While this was a textbook example of entrapment, the fact remained that the Porcello Company was able to protect a Bapho. They also had powerful Enforcers like Almas in their ranks, alluding to a very deep foundation within the Briggs Fortress City. This was an irrefutable truth, so, until their contract with the Guild had expired, there was virtually no method of escaping the current situation. With this in mind, Linnaeus intended to reap as many benefits as possible over the next six months. He wouldn''t simply take this matter laying down, and, if not for the existence of his Party, he would have readily become a criminal. It didn''t matter how frighteningly powerful his opponents were, as, from the moment his parents had abandoned him, Linnaeus swore he would never be at the mercy of others unless it was to forward his own agenda. The more people schemed against him, the more determined and focused Linnaeus became. They were like whetstones used to sharpen his senses and develop him into a more lethal existence. Thus, while he was willing to play along, at least for the time being, Linnaeus wouldn''t hesitate to kill the people who thought they could freely exploit him. Six months was a long period of time, plenty to gather an adequate amount of information about the structure of forces within the Briggs Fortress City. Once he had a better understanding of these things, there would be very little to stop him from meting out necessary justice. It wouldn''t matter if his opponents were Level 30 or Level 50. Life was a surprisingly fragile thing, something that could be extinguished at a moment''s notice. This was something he had learned a long time ago, and, if others thought they could take advantage of him, the only outcome was his, or their, death... 95 Experience, Assumptions, and Reality As could be expected after such a tense evening, it was very difficult to actually get any sleep. Even after several hours had passed, Linnaeus was still wide awake. The walls of the Hostel weren''t exactly thick, so, while most sounds were muffled, it was possible to hear the distant sounds of adventurers and mercenaries still going about their business or enjoying a few drinks after a hard day''s work. Of the three in his room, the only person who had managed to fall asleep was Eliza. She was curled up at Linnaeus'' side, using his body as a pillow with a defenseless posture and carefree expression on her face. His opposite side was occupied by Emilia, but, much like him, she was still wide awake, her ears and nose twitching as she joined him in absentmindedly staring at the ceiling. As an Assassin and Huntress, Linnaeus and Emilia could stay awake for days on end without their senses dulling too much. They were also the types who were more active during the evening than the day, as was often the case with anyone possessing the [Night Vision] Ability, so neither of them felt even remotely tired, even as the day changed and gave way to the coming dawn. Once the Akashic System showed the time as 0400, Linnaeus wasted little time in extricating himself from the two girls, quickly changing into his equipment as he said, "Help Eliza get ready for the day. I''ll go ahead." Though she would sometimes protest when Linnaeus was asking for their opinions, Emilia had been trained to dutifully follow commands since before she could even remember. Failure to obey orders could lead to the death of yourself and other members of your tribe, so, the moment she heard his words, her ears perked up as she answered, "Leave it to me," without further discussion. Hearing Emilia''s quick response, Linnaeus gave an appreciative nod before promptly departing the room. Under ideal circumstances, he would have been able to remain active during the evening, collecting as much information as possible. Unfortunately, this wasn''t a simple matter when working alongside others, so, now that he had a small window of opportunity, Linnaeus intended to capitalize on it. Eliza, Emilia, and Krone all had their respective strengths, but, when it came to collecting information and observing a target, Linnaeus had an irrefutable advantage. Thus, before they executed their plan from the previous evening, he wanted to confirm a few things with his own eyes... As was the case whenever he stayed anywhere, Linnaeus always made sure to have a general grasp of the building''s structure and its surroundings. Thus, he had already approximated the location of the staff quarters, food storage, and wine cellar. While there was no great benefit in knowing these things by default, they were exceptionally important when you were observing people and casing a target. Linnaeus knew, from personal experience, that underground chambers and hidden throughways were exceptionally common, at least within the Slums. He couldn''t be certain, but, if there was an active criminal organization, there had to be a network of tunnels that allowed them to move people and supplies without drawing attention. Under ideal conditions, Linnaeus would have liked to sneak around to verify his conjecture, but, after seeing Almas'' Status the previous night, it would be incredibly foolish to do anything too shady. The most he could do, at least for the time being, was observe where staff were coming and going. Thus, after reaching the common dining area, which connected directly to the staff quarters, he sat down near one of the walls, allowing his head to rest against it as he closed his eyes and strained his ears. Regardless of what a structure was made of, be it metal, stone, or wood, vibrations would transmit through the material all the same. Linnaeus had learned, a long time ago, that if he sat near one of the main support pillars of a building, it was possible to ascertain the approximate location of the people within by feeling the ''direction'' the vibrations came from. If the superstructure was sturdy, it was even possible to hear footsteps from several hundred meters away or deep below the ground... By focusing his senses, Linnaeus could feel people moving around all throughout the building. He could hear light footsteps and dull rustling above, while, echoing in the distance below, a persistent vibration could be felt. He knew this was the sound of running water through pipes, but, if he filtered it out, indiscernible voices and the sound of something tapping against metal could be heard. Though it was impossible to know exactly what was going on, Linnaeus could deduce that the main section of the Hostel did, indeed, connect to an underground network. There was more sound from ''below'' than in the staff quarters above, and, while the majority of these sounds likely came from the surrounding streets, the way things ''echoed'' was a tell-tale sign that a complex series of tunnels ran below. Whenever people settled in an area for a long period of time, it became necessary to construct both waste disposal systems and waterways. This meant it was relatively common for a network of tunnels to exist beneath a city, but, as there were often strict regulations on who could traverse them, most of the people commonly found within were either criminals or enforcers belonging to whoever held the most power within a region. Without exploring personally, Linnaeus couldn''t actually be certain about anything. All he knew was that there was a lot of activity beneath the streets of the settlement. Most pertinent to his situation, however, was the sound of metal creaking and the combination of several voices echoing from the location of the Hostel''s wine cellar. Prior to the ''emergence'' of the voices, Linnaeus could hear the grating sound of gears and cogs, the sure sign of a mechanism being activated. Then, after a coarse vibration, the sound of voices became far more prominent, indicating a group of people had emerged from a corridor connecting directly to the Hostel. After listening silently for several minutes, Linnaeus heard another mechanism being triggered, this time with the accompanying sound of chains and a dull vibration passing through the underground and slowly ''ascending''. Then, shortly thereafter, he could feel more movement from above, almost as if several people had stepped off a hidden elevator. Thus far, everything was going according to Linnaeus'' expectations. He had a lot of time to think the previous evening, so, after considering the matter from multiple angles, he came to the conclusion that, regardless of how much power they had, the Porcello Company would not keep a Bapho in a relatively defenseless location. Almas might be powerful, but, as could be seen from the previous evening, it wasn''t as if she was constantly protecting Kh?. There would also be times when she needed to sleep or attend to other duties, so, unless they had a constant rotation of powerful figures just to protect one person, there would always be a ''gap'' to exploit. Thus, with the Hostel''s defenses appearing rather shoddy, at best, the only reasonable assumption to be made was that Kh? did not actually live inside. Rather, she was brought out at various locations whenever the Porcello Company was trying to bait people into their trap. Even if rumors of Kh?''s existence became public knowledge, interest would quickly fade if she never appeared when people went to search for her. After all, a Bapho was a very interesting thing to most people, so, even if most people would steer clear, others would converge just to catch a glimpse of the near-extinct tribe. The fact ''nobody'' had appeared when they were eating breakfast the previous day, combined with how ''eager'' Kh? was to serve them, were pretty major indicators that something was very wrong. Further proving his assumptions, Linnaeus opened his eyes as a pitter-patter of footsteps could be heard approaching the steps leading from the staff quarters to the dining area. Then, as expected, Kh?, wearing a frilly waitress outfit and appearing rather sleepy, came walking down the stairs. She acts as though she hadn''t noticed him, but, even compared to most of the bestial tribes, the Bapho were supposed to have an exceptional sense of sight, smell, and hearing. After yawning wide enough that it looked like her jaw was going to dislocate, Kh? wiped away the residue from her eyes before finally looking towards Linnaeus. Then, in an obvious attempt to appear adorable, she tilted her head to the side in mock confusion. Truthfully, Linnaeus wasn''t sure if Kh?''s behavior was an act or if she was just naturally ditsy. The only thing he could be certain of was the fact she was being used to try and ensnare his Party. This might not be the result of any malicious intentions, but, regardless of the circumstances, their options were being systematically cut off by forces with far more power and authority than they could reasonably hope to oppose. Understanding the disparity between his Party and the other forces at play, Linnaeus knew the best method forward was to gather information and appear cooperative. Thus, with an awkward smile on his face, he raised his hand in a gesture of greeting before saying, "Yo..." in an equally awkward tone. As if she had been freed from some kind of spell, Kh?''s eyes widened comically before she quickly ran over to his table, bowing at a forty-five-degree angle as she shouted, "Please forgive me! I am a failure as a waitress to leave a guest waiting unattended...gnuuu..." Toward the end of her words, Kh? released a frustrated groan, and, though he couldn''t see her face, Linnaeus knew she was tearing up. He was honestly a little taken aback by her reaction, as, if it was an act, it was one of the better ones he had seen. Considering he had dealt with streetworkers, gang members, and conmen, this was terrifying in its own right. For a brief moment, Linnaeus was almost tempted to pat Kh?''s head as her bowing brought her well within reach. He had previously developed the habit of stroking Saht''s head, so, with Eliza and Emilia both being fond of petting, it had nearly reached the point of becoming muscle memory. Making a mental note to discuss the matter with the women in question, Linnaeus retracted his hand and said, "It is a small matter. I came here to rest for a moment before my companions show up. You haven''t failed in your duty, so don''t let it get to you." As if she had been given leniency from her own execution, Kh?''s showed an expression of extreme relief as she wiped away her tears and sobbingly stated, "Uuuue...thank you..." in between a series of sniffles. Though he was still shocked by how convincing her presumed act was, Linnaeus didn''t show it on his face. Instead, he adopted his most genuine apologetic smile, raising his hands in a placating gesture as he said, "It''s fine...no need to thank me. Rather, my friends should be arriving soon...you should go and get yourself cleaned up." Showing no apprehension toward being told what to do, Kh? bobbed her head in understanding as she continued to wipe away at her tears. Then, before retreating to the kitchen, she gave another low bow, repeating, "Thank you..." before turning tail and scampering away. Assuming he was being watched even prior to Kh?''s arrival, Linnaeus maintained an awkward smile even after she had vanished through the kitchen''s doors. Then, as if all the tensions in his body had been released, he exhaled a tired sigh before reclining in his booth, closing his eyes, and ''listening'' to the surrounding vibrations once again... --- While Linnaeus was seated within the dining room, Almas had been sitting quietly within the kitchen, a distant look in her mesmerizing purple eyes. The teardrop-shaped gemstone in her forehead was releasing a very subtle glow, and, while it seemed as though she lacked any kind of focus, the truth of the matter was that she had been spying on Linnaeus and his Party the entire night. Now, she was watching his interaction with Kh? from start to finish, trying to ascertain whether or not he would be a boon or a bane to their group. The unfortunate thing about her ability was that it didn''t transmit sounds, only visuals, so, while she was adept at reading lips, it was difficult to keep track of everything said during a conversation. Thus, rather than focus on what was said, Almas focused on the subtle shifts in a person''s body language and facial expression. With more than two hundred years of experience working as a specialist at gathering information, Almas was more than capable of seeing through Linnaeus'' act. He was a bit of an awkward boy, so, at least from her perspective, his thoughts were completely transparent. She could tell he was a little afraid, but, more than anything else, he seemed intent on protecting his allies. He also possessed an intelligent glimmer in his eyes, which, if nurtured, would blossom into an incredible talent. Though she was one of the people assigned to protect Kh?, Almas'' main duty was to profile others in order to ascertain whether or not they posed a threat to her organization. This involved analyzing the motivations and character of their targets, as, even if a Potentiate provided exceptional benefits to any organization, recruiting people who would disrupt the organization from the inside was how the majority of factions collapsed. From what she could deduce, Linnaeus was the type that would expose himself to danger in order to protect his companions. This was an admirable trait, but, depending on the circumstances, this trait was exceptionally dangerous, much like a double-bladed sword. If he began to suspect that his allies were in danger, there was a very real chance he would turn against them... As this thought crossed her mind, Almas blinked back into awareness just as Kh? entered into the kitchen. A motherly smile spread across her face when she saw the adorable Bapho, who, even after departing the dining room, still had a few tears building at the corners of her eyes. Opening her arms slightly, Almas adopted a gentle tone as she muttered, "Oh, you poor thing...come here, let me give you a hug..." Hearing the kind words directed toward her, Kh? practically leaped through the air, burying her face into the buxom chest of the motherly woman. In response, Almas gently wrapped her arms around the sniffling girl, an affectionate yet sad smile on her face as she muttered, "Now, now, it''s going to be okay. You''re not going to get into any trouble, I promise..." 96 Tensions A few minutes after Kh? alighted from the room, the relative silence was broken by the sound of Eliza, Emilia, and Krone passing through the front doors of the dining room. As could be expected, Eliza wasn''t too happy about the fact that Linnaeus had gone ahead, but, instead of saying anything about it, she adopted a pouting expression, asking, "Were you able to discover anything?" Nodding his head, Linnaeus explained, "It''s hard to talk about it, but I was able to confirm some of my suspicions. It doesn''t look like we have a lot of options until our contract with the Guild has expired." Hearing Linnaeus'' response, Eliza released a tired sigh before plopping down next to him and letting her head rest on the table. She wasn''t all that surprised by Linnaeus'' words, but, knowing she couldn''t escape the machinations of authoritative figures, even after death, she couldn''t help feeling a little annoyed. Seeing how frustrated Eliza was, Linnaeus hesitated for a brief moment before lightly patting her on the back and saying, "It''s going to be okay. Didn''t we already agree to protect each other? I''ll do my best to keep you safe, so don''t let this get to you..." Chiming in, Emilia nestled next to Eliza, adding, "Lin is right. We''re all one tribe. Even if the enemy is much stronger, I won''t be afraid. I''ll protect all three of you, even if it costs my life~." Towards the end of her statement, Emilia hugged Eliza''s body tightly, nuzzling against her in an affectionate manner that caused the petite purple-haired girl to groan in mock frustration. Deciding to leave Eliza to Emilia, Linnaeus looked up at Krone, noticing the latter''s steely gaze had been focused on their surroundings. It wasn''t difficult to guess what was going through his mind, so, when their eyes met, Linnaeus gave a curt nod of affirmation. Though it could still be a coincidence, this was the second time they were the only guests in the dining room. This wasn''t too abnormal, but, when you considered the relatively cheap yet high-quality food, it was strange for the hall to be completely barren two days in a row. The most likely scenario was that every other tenant was already affiliated with the Porcello Company, protecting its properties from internal and external threats while disguising themselves as normal groups of Adventurers and Mercenaries. As if to prove the veracity of this assumption, two figures emerged from the double-doors leading into the kitchen: Kh? and Almas. The first was pushing a tray filled with similar dishes to the ones they had previously ordered. Linnaeus noticed her eyes were still somewhat puffy, indicating she had only recently stopped crying... Linnaeus wasn''t the only one who noticed Kh?''s state, but, due to the presence of the motherly woman with glimmering purple eyes, even Eliza remained silent. They all knew just how powerful Almas was, so, unless they were left with no other alternative, it was best to avoid inadvertently offending her. Pulling a seat from the nearby table, Almas sat down next to the booth occupied by Linnaeus and Co. She sat with her back straight, patiently waiting until Kh? finished handing out all of the food before saying, "You do not need to worry about paying for these items. They are my gift to your Party. Now, I believe you have already reached a consensus...?" Before answering, Linnaeus made eye contact with each member of his Party, earning small nods from the two girls and a light shrug from Krone. Then, without beating around the bush, he asked, "What are the intentions of the Porcello Company? Even if its to entrap people, I can''t understand why you would use a Bapho as bait. What are Kh?''s circumstances? Why is she here, pretending to be a waitress...?" Rather than answer, Almas pulled out a parchment from her Inventory, unfurling it to reveal what appeared to be a contract. Only after handing it over for Linnaeus'' perusal did she explain, "You are a clever boy, Linnaeus...almost dangerously so. If you want answers, you will need to sign that agreement. Don''t worry, it is little more than a contract of non-disclosure. Even if you want to walk away and pretend like this was all a dream, the Porcello Company won''t pursue the matter~." Though he was listening to Almas'' words, Linnaeus'' eyes were focused on the relatively simple document. As she mentioned, the terms primarily included protecting the information that was exchanged between them. At the very end, however, there were some troublesome clauses that immediately brought a frown to his, and everyone else''s, faces... Staring back at Almas, Linnaeus had a serious glint in his eyes as he asked, "What is the meaning of these clauses? You expect us to become Debtees to the Porcello Company if we fail to exit the Crucible in the next four months? Is this...some...kind..." Linnaeus was originally going to lambast Almas for the ridiculousness of the contract, but, before he could finish, a sudden realization hit him. This caused his eyes to widen noticeably, a feeling of panic surging through his body as Almas smiled and mused, "You really are a clever boy..." With Almas'' words being the only confirmation he needed, Linnaeus balled his hands into fists beneath the table. He felt a considerable amount of indignation but forced himself to appear as calm as possible on the surface. Eliza, however, could feel his body shaking slightly, causing her expression to turn dour as she glared at Almas with hostility. Before Eliza could do something that got them all killed, Linnaeus startled her quite a bit when he placed his hand on her thigh. Her angry expression immediately transitioned into a flustered one as she instinctually smacked away his hand, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. Taking advantage of Eliza''s distracted state, Linnaeus further surprised his Party solemnly stating, "We will sign the contract..." with a deathly serious expression on his face. Needless to say, Eliza wasn''t too happy about Linnaeus'' decision, but, knowing he must have a good reason, she begrudgingly pricked her finger after seeing him and Emilia do the same. As for Krone, he remained silent for several long seconds before saying, "I have no intention to leave the Crucible. I will accompany my Party to the top floor as promised before spending the rest of my days repenting for my failures in life. I have no interest in the private affairs of your Company, so I will not sign away my freedom over something so nonsensical." Hearing the usually taciturn Krone speak so much, even Linnaeus was slightly taken aback. At the same time, however, he couldn''t help but feel slightly frustrated. He already knew the Krone took his vows very seriously, but, despite rarely speaking to each other, Linnaeus had come to believe that he was very trustworthy. Knowing Krone still intended to remain was like a punch to the gut, especially given the circumstances... Surprisingly, Almas didn''t seem to mind Krone''s statement, nodding her head as she said, "That is perfectly reasonable. Please step out of the room until we finish our conversation." Rather than immediately follow Almas'' instructions, Krone looked toward Linnaeus, waiting until the latter gave a curt nod before rising from the booth. This was giving a considerable amount of face to his Party Leader, something that made Linnaeus feel even more regretful about their future separation... Once Krone had left the dining room completely, traveling well out of earshot, Almas smiled in a practiced manner, stating, "If there is nothing else, please sign the contract. As you are no doubt aware, this is a time-sensitive matter. The sooner we can reach an accord, the smoother things will go." Taking the initiative, Linnaeus left a bloody imprint on the paper, cursing the fate that had led him to this moment. This situation was turning into something bigger than he had anticipated, but, so long as they were able to leave the Crucible, nothing else really mattered. Seeing everyone sign the contract, Almas adopted an expression that could only be described as predatory amusement as she explained, "It is fortunate that the two of you trust Linnaeus enough to sign the contract without a fuss. If he had tried to explain things, well...I''m sure he''ll explain it to you..." With Almas'' words serving as further confirmation, Linnaeus adopted his usual neutral expression, explaining, "They want someone to take Kh? up the Crucible...if we didn''t sign the contract, our lives would have been forfeit..." In response to Linnaeus'' words, Almas clapped her hands a few times, her smile becoming more natural as she exclaimed, "That is correct! My, my, did I mention how clever your little Party Leader is~?" As could be expected, Eliza and Emilia had hateful expressions on their face as they glared back at Almas. Neither seemed to realize the significance behind Linnaeus'' words, their minds clouded by the fact that the purple-haired beauty had been fully prepared to kill them moments prior. Shattering the building tensions, Kh? had an extremely apologetic expression on her face as she bowed at a steep angle and exclaimed, "I''m sorry! If it wasn''t for me, none of this would have-" Before Kh? could finish, Almas lightly pat her back, saying, "There is no need for that, Kh?. These people inquired about your situation by choice. If anyone owes them an apology, it would be me. However, this was something that must be done...I''m certain you understand that, don''t you, Lin?" At this point, Eliza could no longer contain herself, saying, "You don''t have the right to call Lin in such an informal way! You...you vile temptress...!" Hearing Eliza''s outburst, Almas just stared at her as if she had no idea what the girl was talking about. This caused Eliza to appear even more upset, but, before she could say anything further, Linnaeus explained, "Calm down, Eliza. I already explained their intentions and I''m pretty sure I can guess their reasons. In fact, I''m almost certain..." After observing Kh? closely, Linnaeus had started to realize that she wasn''t actually putting on an act. There as little reason to keep pretending when she was out of sight, so, based on the fact she still had puffy eyes when first appearing, it was easy to deduce she had been crying. This implied she had an uncommon amount of dedication to acting, or, infinitely more likely, her reactions had been genuine. With all eyes focused on him, Linnaeus explained, "Kh? is a potentiate, just like us. She must have come into contact with the Porcello Company after reaching the Fifth Floor. She must have struck a deal with them, earning their protection in exchange for becoming their future property. Since she is still a Potentiate, however, they can''t keep her here unless she fails in her trial...is that it?" Though there was more he wanted to say, Linnaeus felt like he would be stepping on a landmine if he mentioned it too soon. It would be better for Almas or Kh? to reveal the truth, allowing him a small amount of breathing room in case his conjecture proves incorrect... Much to Linnaeus'' surprise, Almas shook her head, her expression turning somewhat melancholic as she said, "While not exactly wrong, the way you explain things leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It might be difficult for you to believe, but we''re actually trying to help Kh?. Most people do not understand the true nature of the Bapho tribe. Once you learn the truth, you will understand why we needed to take these measures..." As he could already see where the conversation was headed, Linnaeus nodded his head, taking a bit of the wind out of Almas'' sail as he said, "So long as the Porcello Company is willing to provide us with adequate protection and supplies, we will escort Kh? to the surface. I''m certain you have your reasons, but, before any of that, I want your promise that others won''t harass us while we''re cooperating with the Porcello Company." Hearing Linnaeus'' words, Almas got the feeling he was behaving a little too opportunistically, but, as his Party was one of only two groups suited to the task, she ultimately nodded, stating, "So long as you were willing to agree to our terms, we intended to protect you. We already have numerous allies within the Guild so there will be no problems. In exchange, you will have to temporarily join our Company, fighting alongside our other Parties in order to make proper use of your Potentiate status. By the time the Main Expedition has come to an end, you will have more than enough Soul Kindling to purchase your life back from that mischievous cat..." Almas'' words basically confirmed the fact that their Drop Rate was much higher than average, so, without further ado, Linnaeus nodded his head, stating, "We are in agreement. Now...I suppose it is time you tell us about Kh?''s situation...?" Seeing Linnaeus look toward her, Kh? suddenly became very sheepish, using her notepad to hide her face. It was a rather adorable reaction, earning her a deadpan stare from Eliza and an amused smile from both Emilia and Almas. The latter, however, quickly fixed her expression, turning more serious and professional as she stated, "Well...it all began around forty-thousand years ago..." 97 Echoes 1/? Though the history of the Tower stretched back further than all of recorded history, most of the major events that had shaken the Tower were relatively recent matters. This included the formation of the Eight Heavenly Families, the historic moment when the first person passed through the 100th Floor, and, outshining most other events, the climactic battle between the Dragon God and the Queen of the Bapho. According to some scholars, there were between 6.5 and 8.7 million different sapient species that existed when comparing the outside to the inside of the Tower. The reason for this rather extreme disparity was due to the fact that, under the right conditions, monsters could achieve a degree of sapience that allowed them to emulate the creatures blessed by Akasha. It was an exceptionally rare occurrence, but, at times, the union between two different races, rather than produce a half-blooded offspring, resulted in the creation of an entirely new form of life. These creatures were colloquially known as Chimeric Variants, and, depending on the species of their parents, their power and potential greatly outstripped the average members of each individual tribe. In the ancient past, relatively speaking, there were a number of tribes that sought to produce the most powerful offspring imaginable by melding their genes with others. They had tried to subsume other species entirely, and, if an enemy was found wanting, it was often grounds for their entire tribe to be wiped out. The most prolific amongst these tribes was the species of Dragons known as the Verum. They were the offspring of various different Dragon tribes that, in the pursuit of perfection, formed powerful alliances through the exchange of genetic material. This eventually culminated into an entirely new species of ''True Dragons'', and, due to their power, they had blasted through a number of Floors that had previously been considered impassable. Unfortunately, despite investing tens of thousands of years to produce powerful offspring, the Verum was not the first tribe to reach the 100th Floor. Instead, it was a surprisingly small Party consisting of only three people. While this wouldn''t normally be too big a setback, the Verum could not accept the fact that one of the Party members belonged to the tribe that had, at the time, consistently denied them the title of strongest species: the Bapho. With the other two members of the Party being a simple Hume and a member of the Servae tribe, most of the Verum''s hatred was concentrated on the presumed leader of the Party, the woman who would become known as the Queen of Bapho, Meylp Tenderhoof. In reality, while Meylp was, physically, the most powerful, she was actually the weakest in the Party of three. Her other companions, the Lord of Shadows, Yan, and the Queen of the Hunt, Milan, were both far stronger than she was due to their unique Blessings. She had also gotten pregnant shortly after arriving on the 100th Floor, so, while the others continued onward, she had decided to stay back and rear her child rather than risk getting them both killed trying to conquer unknown Floors. Had Meylp followed her companions, things likely would have played out very differently, but, as a result of her decision to stay, she became the biggest thorn in the side of the Verum. Due to the nature of the Havens, the colloquial name given to the Safe Floors, Authority over the Floor was always bestowed upon the first, or the strongest, person to conquer it. Because of this, Meylp had the ability to restructure the Floor as she pleased, creating environmental biomes and even dictating the weather. Despite Meylp never using these powers to suppress others, the pride of the Verum would not allow them to be beneath another. They had lorded themselves over the other species for too long, so they simply could not lower their heads to another. It was the same as admitting the Bapho were stronger than them, a topic of debate that had been around for thousands of years, much to the Verum''s chagrin. Now that a Bapho had been one of the first to reach the 100th Floor, securing her place as its Ruler, there was no longer any doubt in the minds of those who had been suppressed by the Verum. If the Verum had been stronger, their massive Organizations, consisting of Parties that were almost exclusively comprised of Verum, would have easily surpassed the legendary 99th Floor, becoming the eternal rulers of the 100th. With their pride tarnished, the Verum began wreaking havoc throughout the Tower, assaulting any and all who dared question their might. This was the catalyst for a massive war that lasted for thousands of years, pushing the Verum to the brink of extinction. At the same time, nearly every Floor, including the Havens, became veritable ghost towns due to the massive conflict that seemed to be without end. Only those that banded together, forming powerful alliances, were able to tide through the war. These groups, including a few descendants of the Verum themselves, would eventually go on to become the Eight Heavenly Families, seizing power in the wake of the devastation caused by their ancestors. What many hadn''t known, at least at the time, was that the most powerful of the Verum had been consolidating power in the upper Floors. Their reason for clearing out the lower Floors was to prevent information from spreading throughout the Tower, leaving those above, and below, completely blind to their machinations. After suffering the indignation of being labeled as the second strong species, the Verum had concocted a new plan. They shifted their mentality, setting their sights on any species that was strong enough to reach the upper floors instead of focusing exclusively on descendants of the Dragon tribes. For several hundred years, it became almost impossible for anyone to reach the 100th Floor, as, not only was the 99th notoriously difficult, but the 90th and above had been completely dominated by the remnants of the Verum tribe. The only ones ''allowed'' to pass were those who had been carefully chosen by the Verum themselves, allowing them to slowly cultivate a massive force in preparation to overtake the 100th Floor. The only problem with their plan was that, even if they managed to defeat the Queen of the Bapho, it would mean nothing if they used overwhelming numbers to achieve the feat. Their reputation had already taken a massive hit due to their actions during the war, so, in order to secure their rightful position as the ''strongest'' species, the Verum continued biding their time until, finally, their opportunity had arrived. Even amongst those who could transform into full dragons, the Verum were limited by the fact they could only use one element. This was something decided from birth, and, while it didn''t prevent them from becoming powerful, the Queen of Bapho was known to have immunity to most elements. Her [Behemoth] transformation also allowed her to become larger than a city, so, much to the chagrin of the Verum''s Queen, who could barely reach a tenth the size of the legendary Bapho, there was simply no way to defeat Meylp without a powerful trump card. Fortunately, at least for the Verum, the Queen''s daughter ended up giving birth to what could only be described as an anomaly after her union with an abnormally powerful Hume, one with the ability to manipulate all five basic elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. This Blessing had not been directly passed down, but, when the young Prince had finally come of age, it quickly became apparent that he was what they had been waiting for. Not only had the Prince inherited the powerful [Dragon Transformation] Blessing, but, against all odds, he possessed the ability to make use of all five elements. This, alone, wasn''t enough to make him the most powerful amongst the Verum, but, when he fused all five elements into his breath attack, the results had been beyond expectations. Though it was impossible to substantiate the claims, it had been rumored for millennia that, if you combined the five basic elements, you would create the highest form of energy, a mass of ''nothingness'' simply known as Void. What made this so powerful was that, when it came into contact with virtually anything, be it solid matter or magical energy, Void would simply ''erase'' everything without leaving behind a single trace. Though it had nearly cost the Prince his life, his breath attack was able to produce a pillar of black energy that carved a path of uncontested destruction through everything it came into contact with. This had caused substantial damage to the Prince himself, but, as it was rather common for young Dragons to injure themselves during their first use of [Dragon''s Breath], it wasn''t treated as too big an issue. What truly shocked the Verum was that, even after the Prince returned to full health, his teeth and part of his maw remained damaged. Though he eventually made a full recovery, largely through the use of powerful treasures, it was very clear his breath was something far beyond expectations. Thus, in preparation for the Princes climb, the Queen personally trained shaped him into the being who, during his climb, would become known as the Dragon God, Eondu. From the moment he began his climb, Eondu was simply unparalleled. His ability to make use of all five elements made him exceptionally versatile, and, though his [Dragon Transformation] was uncharacteristically small, his speed allowed him to defeat higher Level opponents with relative ease. They simply couldn''t defend against what many referred to as his [Void Breath] attack, an ability that tore through other offensive and defensive skills as if they simply didn''t exist. With none able to stand in his way, Eondu spent less than seventy years to reach the 90th Floor, making his climb one of the fastest in history. The only reason he wasn''t even faster was due to his licentious nature causing him to meander about for months at a time. He had gone out of his way to steal or claim any woman that was even remotely famous for their strength or beauty, forcing them to either submit to him or have their former lovers permanently crippled. By the time Eondu returned to the 90th Floor, even he didn''t know how many women he had forced to bear his children. All he knew was that, if there was someone he wanted, their only options were to either obey or beg for death. He considered himself a chosen one, and, after defeating any who tried to stand in his way, his ego had grown to match his power. To further prove his power and obtain absolute authority, Eondu did not restrain himself even after reuniting with the Verum. Instead, he killed his own father, and, after a climactic battle to establish dominance, claimed every female Verum as his own. Even his Grandmother, mother, and two sisters were not spared. Rather, they became the central figures in his harem, bearing him countless children, many of which also became members of his harem, in the decades to follow. Though not as prominent as their father before them, Eondu''s children began nearly as much havoc in the Tower as he had. This represented a return to power for the Verum tribe, as, after the recent war, few even tried to stand in their way. As a result, many of his descendants even surpassed the records he had set, but, unless they were female, the only reward they received was a quick death. Slowly but surely, Eondu managed to build an even more tyrannical version of the Verum, but, as fate would have it, a ''Reset'', which only occurred every 10,000 years, was scheduled to take place when he was just under four-hundred years old. This left him with little choice but to set his sights on his penultimate goal, reaching the 100th Floor and proving, once and for all, that he was the most powerful. He would dominate the Queen of the Bapho, and, like all who had come before her, she, and her daughter, would either submit or beg for death... (A/N: I don''t drop projects. My primary focus will be on EPIC until it is completed. The last two weeks have been a little strange due to a hiccup with webnovel and the fact that I did a mass release of EPIC. Babel will likely have 2-4 chapters released per week with the majority being released on Saturday. It might be slow, but I intend to keep writing this novel until it has either reached a satisfying conclusion or the readers have completely given up on it xD...) 98 Echoes 2/? Despite their best efforts, the Verum were unable to completely regulate the spread of information between the 90th and 99th Floors. There were countless non-standard methods to climb the Tower, and, every now and then, powerful groups and individuals had managed to slip through the cracks thanks to a subset of the Verum Nobility that privately disagreed with their race''s tyrannical pursuit for a completely arbitrary title. Thanks to the efforts of these outliers within the Verum species, Meylp was well aware of Eondu''s rise and the inevitability of a cataclysmic war. Thus, for several hundred years, she had prepared for the inevitable by forging powerful alliances. As a result, her army had grown extensively, but, rather than consist of standard climbers, it was almost entirely comprised of various different monsters. As you moved progressively higher up the Tower, encountering ''native species'', monsters that had reached a certain degree of sapience, became increasingly common. These groups would often be hunted by the Rulers that obtained Authority over their respective Havens, but, as Meylp had never been the type to indiscriminately slaughter, she chose to coexist with those who had resided in the Tower for millennia before anyone disturbed them. With her phenomenal strength, Meylp had been able to forge powerful alliances with the leaders of various native tribes. This often frightened new arrivals to the 100th Floor, as, prior to their arrival, it was considered ''normal'' to wipe out native species as soon as they were discovered. Finding several million coexisting in relative harmony with each other was actually rather terrifying, as, unlike those fated to climb the Tower, the native species were inordinately powerful from birth. Though they had an upper limit to their growth, as they were unable to climb the Tower, they had more than enough power to threaten those who had managed to reach their Floor. Due to the many alliances she had forged, the 100th Floor Haven, Avalon, was considerably more peaceful than most. The vast disparity between the number of climbers and monsters was enough to cow all but the most prideful and egotistical. Even then, only the foolish dared to cause a scene, as, unless they were confident in being able to defeat Meylp and other members of the Bapho tribe, doing so was the same as inviting death upon themselves. Though she was known by many to be a pacifist, Meylp hadn''t earned her title as Queen of the Bapho due to an aversion for conflict. Rather, it was her overwhelming might that allowed her to reach the 100th Floor and rein in the various native tribes. She was not shy of violence, but, due to possessing ''too much'' power, she had simply grown weary of most conflict. This was evidenced by the fact that, at the end of every year, she would host a grand tournament. Tournaments within the Tower were common affairs, but, rather than a conventional event, the one hosted by Meylp had an inordinately coveted prize. Victory would not only grant you the right to rule over Avalon, but, if you were somehow able to defeat her, Meylp, herself, would be your prize. Unfortunately for her would-be suitors, there had yet to be a single person who could match Meylp within the arena. She even created a rule that forbade the use of her Blessing, but, even when other members of the Bapho tribe joined the tournament, she was able to completely suppress them with pure physical might. This was the main reason she was so respected among the Bapho tribe, as, not only was she their strongest, but, due to their peculiar nature and unique culture, they were inclined to obey anyone who managed to defeat them in a fair contest. Due to her fame and her people''s propensity to seek out stronger members of their tribe, nearly every member of the Bapho that managed to reach Avalon came under the leadership of Meylp. To them, defeating her was necessary if they wanted to advance to the 101st Floor. Avoiding her would be a sign of disrespect and cowardice, so, while not an actual requirement to advance, there was not a single Bapho who thought about ascending to the 101st Floor ahead of their Queen. What most didn''t know was that, when the belief of many people was consolidating onto a single person, the Akashic System took notice. When enough belief was gathered, it would these chosen individuals a special contract, and, should they accept it, they would effectively become one of the Guardian Gods of their people. Should they refuse, all memory of this offer would be erased from their mind, but, as someone who had accepted, Meylp was well aware of the fact that the ordinary members of her species would never be able to surpass her in strength. When someone was elevated to the status of Guardian God, they become the literal representative of their people. This granted them nigh-absolute authority over members of their own tribe, and, in certain situations, it was the main reason for the rise and fall of many species. Due to her status as Guardian God of the Bapho, Meylp had been able to make a contract with the Tower to ensure that her people were able to climb without being suppressed by the Verum. It was for this reason so many of her tribesmen had been able to reach the 100th Floor, but, in exchange, she had lost the ability to climb further. The only way to break the contract was to be defeated in a contest of strength, but, unless it was another Guardian God, the odds of that ever happening were slim, at best. If she were being honest, Meylp didn''t particularly care about being a Guardian God, but, knowing her daughter would eventually climb the Tower, she wasn''t left with much choice. The Verum had been a problem during her own climb, and, even if she found powerful companions to protect her, Meylp knew the Verum would spare no expense to capture, torture, and humiliate her daughter. It was for this reason that she decided to become a Guardian God, as, if it meant her daughter would be able to climb safely, Meylp did not care about her own future. Unfortunately, though she already suspected it was the case, Eondu had also been elevated to the status of a Guardian God. This was the main reason for his meteoric rise through the Tower, as, even before his climb, he carried the ''hope'' and ''pride'' of his entire race. As a result, he was able to move through the Tower with impunity, as, due to the strenuous requirements to become one, there were simply no other Guardian Gods to stop him... Meylp knew it was only a matter of time before she would be forced into a climactic battle against the tyrannical Dragon God. The moment he began traipsing through the Tower with impunity, she began expanding her army and forging powerful alliances with the native tribes. They might not be a match against a Guardian God on their own, but, as he would undoubtedly be backed by an army, she needed one of her own to repel it. Becoming a Guardian God provided a considerable boost to parameters, a functionally limitless lifespan, and immunity to Instant Death attacks but it didn''t make you immortal. You still had to abide by the same set of rules as everyone else, and, once your HP hit 0, you would die. This was an inviolable truth, and, no matter how powerful a Guardian God became, they could still be defeated by a reasonably powerful force. This was true for both Eondu and herself, but, due to the massive size of her Behemoth transformation, Meylp knew she was at a distinct disadvantage... Though it was rarely ever discussed, it was common knowledge that, regardless of how powerful someone''s Endurance, it was impossible to completely mitigate damage. You would always take, at the very least, one point of damage from even the weakest of attacks. This made it infinitely more important to dodge attacks, but, when your body was literally the size of a small mountain, dodging wasn''t exactly an option. Without an army of her own, Meylp knew she would be overwhelmed by the thousands of Verum that would accompany Eondu''s rise to the 100th Floor. Most were bound to fail the trial of the 99th Floor, but, even if it were just a few hundred, their aerial mobility, combined with their ability to dish out powerful attacks, had always made the Verum notoriously troublesome opponents. This was the reason they had been able to suppress the other races, as, prior to breaking through the Level 100 bottleneck, flight was impossible for the majority of races. Though her individual attacks were strong enough to kill the average Verum in a single blow, Meylp had never been known for her Agility. Her transformation made her even slower, so, with rumors of Eondu''s breath being able to completely mitigate regeneration abilities, she had spent hundreds of years mastering her base form. This would drastically decrease her strength, but, unless she could get Eondu in a one-versus-one situation, her transformation was a death sentence against groups of foes with superior mobility. Fortunately, with hundreds of years to prepare her defenses, Meylp was able to build an army that outnumbered the Verum nearly a thousand to one. This gave her an absolute advantage, as, even if the Verum were exceptionally powerful, overcoming the challenge of the 99th Floor required a lot more than strength. It represented one of the most challenging bottlenecks in the entire Tower, as, without consuming some valuable treasure, exceeding Level 99 required conquering the 99th Floor. What Meylp could have never anticipated was the fact that Eondu had made a contract of his own with the Tower. In exchange for removing the limiter from his biological children, he vowed that he, and all of his children, would never exceed the 100th Floor. He didn''t believe there was actually a top to the Tower, so, rather than waste time trying to reach an impossible goal, the only thing that mattered to him was securing a place for himself and realizing the goal his ancestors had failed to achieve. Under normal circumstances, trapping yourself on a specific Floor would be a death sentence, as, after enough time had passed, a Reset was bound to happen. This was what ultimately forced the Verum to abandon the 90th Floor, but, just as Meylp''s contract had a negation clause, so too did Eondu''s. His required that he produce an offspring between the Verum and the Bapho, combining the two ''penultimate'' species into a singular, perfect, form. Unlike the majority of his kin, Eondu had never particularly hated the Bapho. Instead, he disdained his own race for their short-sightedness and bigotry. Their bias towards members of a specific race had limited their growth, and, despite thousands of years of effort, they ultimately failed to produce the so-called ''strongest'' species. All they accomplished was inflating their ego and causing greater embarrassment for themselves when other species, despite being ''inferior'', managed to completely surpass them. With his father being a member of one of the ''weakest'' species, Eondu had never once believed in the superiority purported by the Verum. They had numerous advantages over the majority of other races, but, in spite of this, they continually failed to meet expectations. Many even lost their lives in situations they should have easily been able to overcome, all because their ego and hubris blinded them. Eondu believed that the greatest strength of the Verum was their ability to adapt and subsume the traits of other species. They might not be the strongest, but, so long as they didn''t limit themselves by assumption, it was only a matter of time before they produced, not the strongest race, but the one with the greatest potential. His own existence was a testament to this, and, even if it required him to gamble the future of his entire species, there was no sense in perpetuating an existence that was limited by their own hubris. He was determined to live a life without any restraint, and, even if it cost him everything, he wouldn''t have any regrets... 99 Echoes 3/3 Though she had made preparations for a worst-case scenario type event, Meylp was still surprised when Eondu, heading an army of several thousand Verum, arrived on the 100th Floor. Her army still vastly outnumbered his, but, due to the contract Eondu had made with the Tower, a group of elites, consisting almost entirely of his children, greatly exceeded the LV100 threshold. Under the banner of the Dragon God, Eondu''s forces managed to conquer several territories within the 100th Floor almost immediately after their emergence. This wasn''t that surprising, but, instead of trying shore up their defenses, they formed several aerial squadrons focused solely on dealing as much damage as possible before fleeing. They didn''t even try to act with the characteristic pride of the Verum, and, rather than directly engage Meylp''s superior forces, they focused on guerilla tactics and causing as much collateral damage as possible. Meylp had heard the rumors of Eondu''s sly and cunning behavior, but, as he had always acted in a very open and arrogant manner, she hadn''t anticipated that his forces would continually flee from a direct engagement. To make matters worse, some of the agents planted by the Verum had worked their way into positions of influence and authority over the centuries. They managed to develop an underground network that fed information directly to the Verum forces. This allowed them to avoid the subjugation forces sent after them, and, at times, even allowed them to prepare traps to heavily damage Meylp''s army. Though she had never been the critical-thinking type, Meylp easily saw through Eondu''s ploy from the moment the first reports reached her ears. It was apparent he had taken her greatest weakness into consideration, and, instead of fighting on her terms, he was doing everything in his power to destabilize her position as Ruler. He had even started to forge alliances of his own, promising much the same benefits as she had while also promising to spare specific cities and regions from plunder and destruction. Gradually and methodically, Eondu, who had remained hidden since his arrival on the 100th Floor, managed to expand his forces and dominion of control. Meylp had always been a well-respected Ruler, but, due to her nature, she had failed to inspire devotion and loyalty among her subjects. She had the zealous support of the Bapho and a few other tribes, but, when forced to choose between loyalty and death, a considerable number of people chose to join the Verum faction. Unlike Meylp, who built relationships on trust and mutual respect, Eondu forced those beneath him into binding contracts that guaranteed their obedience. Those who resisted would have their cities burned, and, as had been proven numerous times, Meylp''s forces were unable to hinder them. The mobility of the Verum was simply too great, and, while her forces were indeed greater, maintaining a supply line and preventing the reduction of morale were becoming exponentially more difficult as the war progressed. Though some of the native tribes had tried to adhere to the treaty they had made with Meylp, even they abandoned hope when she was left with little choice but to pull back her forces in an attempt to shore up the defenses of select cities. She wanted to try and clear out some of the dissidence in the core cities, and, though she established a policy to accept refugees, there simply wasn''t enough space to accommodate the members of every tribe. Ultimately, Meylp was able to regain control over the core cities, weeding out many of the forces that had been working alongside the Verum, but, in exchange, she lost the support of numerous factions that had allied with the same people who had persecuted them. This was something that vexed her to no end, but, as there was little she could do to change their minds, Meylp committed the singular act that lost her the greatest amount of support. As the Ruler of the 100th Floor, Meylp had control over its structure, and, though it would take a considerable amount of time for drastic changes to occur, she could even modify entire regions and biomes. Thus, in an effort to try and pressure the Verum while simultaneously increasing her ability to supply her own people, she gathered the energy from the entire Floor to drastically increase the fertility around the core cities at the expense of everything else. Meylp believed that, if she had enough resources, she could gradually expand the core cities and accommodate all refugees who sought sanctuary. Unfortunately, her actions were misconstrued a great deal by those outside the core cities, and, believing they had been completely abandoned by their former leader, many of the tribes that had been resisting the Verum''s control ended up joining hands with the very enemies who had been slaughtering them wantonly. What Meylp had originally intended to be a singular climactic battle turned into a prolonged war that spanned literal decades. This resulted in the citizens of the core cities becoming gradually more complacent from excess, while, outside the pristine and highly-maintained walls, a vast wasteland as far as the eye could see had dominated much of the Floor. Due to the existence of such a disparity, people born within the cities began to disdain those born outside, while, inversely, those born in the wastelands began to vehemently hate those born inside the city. This rift only became more prominent with the passage of time, and, though she had tried to maintain a policy that accepted refugees, excess always led to rampant corruption and groups of people who wanted more than they already had. Though they should have been doing their best to help those seeking refuge, city officials began to proactively turn away and even harass those born hailing from the outside. Some even accused the outsiders of being spies for the Verum, and, without any proof, they would severely torture or even kill those trying to seek aid. In truth, they just didn''t want to share their resources with outsiders, as, despite there being plenty to go around, it was hoarded by the various prosperous families that had come into power following the consolidation of people and resources. For her part, Meylp did her best to try and prevent things from getting out of hand, but, as she was just one person, it was impossible to micromanage the affairs of every City. It didn''t help that many of the affluent families that had come into power were her principal supporters in the war against the Verum. She had tried to rein them in early on, but, after confronting the patriarch of one of the most powerful families, they actually began to secretly support the Verum in an attempt to stage a coup against her. This resulted in the loss of countless lives, and, ever since then, public support of the war effort had waned considerably. With even the public gradually turning their back on her, despite the fact she had always done her best to try and protect them, Meylp became progressively more jaded towards ruling. She still had the support of the Bapho, but, as more and more time passed, everyone else began to regard her as some kind of tyrant. They seemed to completely ignore the fact it was the Verum who had been wantonly slaughtering people in order to bring them under their thumb, and, despite the hundreds of years she had sued for peace, they conveniently forgot about it the moment their exorbitant and excessive lifestyles were endangered. In an effort to alleviate her frustrations and increase public rapport, Meylp began hosting the once-annual tournament that had been so popular prior to the war''s onset. She needed a way to vent her stress, and, with both herself and the title of Ruler on the line, the event drew just as much interest as it always had. Powerful people from all the core cities arrived to participate in the event, and, as an added bonus, it allowed Myelp to demonstrate her power, hopefully preventing future problems from arising. What she never could have expected was that one of the participants, a young man with ruby-red eyes and golden hair, ended up being Eondu himself. Most Verum possessed horns, a tail, and even wings, but, due to his father being a simple Hume, Eondu had always been able to transform into a purely humanoid form. This allowed him to infiltrate the core cities long ago, and, over the years, he had risen to become one of the most successful merchants on the entire Floor, specifically focusing on black market goods and smuggling. Meylp had actually been familiar with the golden-haired youth prior to his participation in the event so it came as a surprise to her when he suddenly demonstrated his power. All of the reports related to him mentioned that he had been born on the 100th Floor, and, though he was very influential in the underground markets, his power was limited by the fact he had yet to climb the Tower. He had always relied on the hands of others to enforce his authority, and, if not for the political connections his deceased father had forged, she assumed he would have been eliminated by rival organizations long ago. It was only after seeing Eondu demonstrate his might that Meylp realized she had been completely played by the infamously arrogant Dragon God. None of the rumors surrounding him mentioned he was the type to scheme and conspire over decades, as, during his climb, he had always acted in an extreme, open, and direct manner. He was even known to kill or cripple thousands of people just because someone spread a negative or embarrassing rumor, seemingly incapable of allowing even the smallest slight against his pride... In truth, Eondu had always been a very calculating individual, as, during the period where he had yet to awaken his Blessing, he had been treated poorly even by his own mother and grandmother. He had been born a prince of the so-called most powerful species, but, as his father was a Hume, many within his tribe had looked down on him due to his relative weakness and small stature. The treatment he received after his awakening only reaffirmed the reality that his race was crippled by their own mentality, so, before he had gained enough power to forcibly change things, Eondu had embodied all the negative aspects of the Verum to the extreme. With a chance to seize control without a prolonged engagement, Eondu decided to use Meylp''s own tournament against her. If he could defeat her in the event, he would have completed several of his objectives, as, with the Queen of the Bapho as his bride, it was only a matter of time before they were able to produce an offspring with the ultimate potential. What he hadn''t anticipated was the impact his machinations had on the famously pacifistic Queen, as, the moment she realized his identity, Meylp completely discarded any sense of propriety and attacked in full force. Ignoring the fact they were in the center of the largest core city, Meylp ended up transforming into her Behemoth form and entering a berserk state where her only goal was destroying Eondu. At the same time, she activated the city-wide defensive barrier that was supposed to keep enemies at bay, using it to seal the hateful Dragon God within the city. Then, without any regard for the devastation their battle would cause, she engaged his transformed state alongside nearly every member of her tribe. What was originally intended to be a festive event quickly turned into the climactic battle Meylp had envisioned for hundreds of years. She used all of her might in an effort to crush Eondu then and there, but, due to his ridiculous speed, most of her attacks were ineffective. This turned the battle into a war of attrition where large chunks of her body were cleaved away, but, due to the unique constitution provided by the Behemoth transformation, even having her head blown off was barely enough to shave away more than ten percent of her Health. Unlike normal physical transformations, the Behemoth form was more of a physical construct made from pure energy. There was no way a normal person would be able to increase their mass to the size of a small mountain under normal conditions, so, unless the core hidden within her body was destroyed, Meylp could effectively fight until her SP had completely run out. As for her Health, it would completely regenerate in a very short period of time, so, despite his attacks having no real counter, Eondu was unable to put her down due to his inability to locate her actual body. With the benefits provided to them as Guardian Gods, the battle between Meylp and Eondu was able to continue for several days without either securing a definitive advantage. The disheartening thing for most survivors was the fact that the majority of the devastation had been caused by Meylp herself, rather than the enemy they had constantly been told to fear. They began to see Eondu as a Hero fighting against a tyrannical beast, as, despite being their greatest adversary, all of his attacks were aimed away from the city, purely focused on the raging Meylp. Though several of Meylp''s allies started off by coming to her aid, even the most fervent amongst her supports became dispassionate after seeing the devastation she had wrought. She wasn''t even trying to control her strength, and, with many other Bapho also taking on monstrous forms, it was like they were under attack by a wave of beasts rather than defending their homeland. As a result, they began focusing more on evacuating the civilians, and, though there were only a few isolated incidents, some of Meylp''s staunchest allies even began fighting against the rampaging Bapho. In the end, the battle was decided when Eondu, nearly killing himself in the process, hit Meylp with a Void Breath that had erupted from his maw in a massive cone. It had taken the remainder of his SP and most of his Health, but, in the process, he managed to completely erase the lower half of Myelp''s real body. This spelled her defeat, but, as she was still alive, Meylp used the remainder of her strength to forge a new contract with the Tower. She had never been a vindictive person, but, having suffered due to Eondu''s machinations for so long, Meylp was unable to forgive the Verum and their hateful God. Nobody knew the exact terms of the contract she had made, but, in the wake of the battle between the Dragon God and Bapho Queen, the former''s race reigned supreme while the latter''s was forced to live in perpetuity as a Slave race. Since then, the Dragon God''s might was rumored to be without equal in the entire Tower. This allowed him to create an Empire that had survived until the present day, and, despite the average lifespan of a Verum only being a few thousand years, he had reigned for more than forty-thousand without contest...