Fighting. Fighting and Fighting. That was all Abel did for the next week. He fought so much on the Second Floor that it stopped posing a threat to him some time ago. From just Breeze and Dust, the ranks of his summoned Beast Souls had increased, adding two more Gnolls, and the two Flame Wolf Beast Souls that he had gotten during his time on the Second Floor. It was around that time that the famed Reincarnation System he had gotten from Audu came back to life.
[The restrictions placed on the Reincarnation System have been slightly reduced. Beast Growth function has been unlocked.]
The monotone voice of the system spoke in Abel's mind, stunning him from his rest. He sat up against a tree, his mind focused internally. Breeze and the other Beast Souls that came after him were making sure nothing snuck up on Abel as he rested. Dust laid by Abel's side, the ground rat snoring softly.
Technically speaking, Beast Souls didn't need sleep. The only time that they went into a state similar to sleep was when they needed to repair any damage that had been inflicted onto them. And they usually underwent this process inside his mental space. Abel didn't really mind Dust being here though. He happily ran his fingers through Dust's soft fur as he thought on the prompt he had gotten from the system.
[Beast Growth Function.]
-Allows a Beast Soul to consume the core of a defeated beast in order to further the growth of their own core, pushing them to higher levels of strength.
---
'So basically, the promise of this 'function' is to allow Breeze and the others grow? Sounds pretty useful, especially if we're going to be heading to the Third Floor by the end of the week.' He thought to himself, nodding.
Creatures from the First Floor were naturally no match for those from higher Floors. That Breeze and his Gnoll brothers were able to put up a fight against the Second Floor creatures was because of their teamwork and superior numbers. Breeze alone was enough to match up against a Second Floor beast, but his brothers were not. They had slipped up multiple times and had needed to be recalled into Abel's mental space to heal.
"Breeze, come here!" Abel yelled to get the attention of his strongest Beast Soul. Breeze hurriedly came over, his sharp eyes fixed on Abel.
"How can I be of help, Master?"
"I need you to absorb this core." He handed Breeze a Flame Wolf core. The Gnoll tilted his head in confusion and stared at the core in his hand. After a few moments, Abel noticed the fur between his brows scrunch up and the size of the core in his grasp shrinking. Thirty seconds later, the core was gone, and Breeze was standing with his back straight.
[New System function unlocked: Status Page.]
The Status Page was a function of the system that let Abel see the stats of anyone he tried to appraise. It was similar to the Appraisal skill that Sages had, only that the Appraisal skill didn't give an accurate rundown of the numbers like the Status Page did.
'Status.' Abel called in his mind while focusing on Breeze.
[Status.]
-Summoned Creature.
-Name: Breeze --
-Race: Superior Gnoll
-Strength: 8
-Agility: 15
-Intelligence: 15
-Health: 100
-Mana: 50
-Stamina: 10
---
Abel studied the information that had popped up before him with curiosity. If Breeze's stats were this good, then that meant that his were slightly better, while that of the other Gnolls would be around an average of 5 points.
He called over a Flame Wolf and scanned the stats of the fire element beast.
[Status]
-Summoned Creature
-Name: ??
-Race: Flaming Wolf (Middle Rank)
-Strength: 6
-Agility: 7
-Intelligence: 5
-Health: 75
-Mana: 20
-Stamina: 7
---
The stats of the flame wolf were lower than those of Breeze, which wasn't much of a surprise to him. Breeze was able to easily beat them one on one. The only time he had a little bit of difficulty was when they ganged up on him. But even still, they were never able to catch him.
After thinking of that, Abel's mind drifted off to the other information that was provided alongside the race of the flame wolf - Middle Rank. It was not difficult to realize what this meant. But all in all, this information carried with it much greater implications.
If this wolf, as strong as it is, was just a middle rank in whatever wolf society it came from, then what were the higher ranking wolves like? Perhaps they would be able to match up with Breeze in combat. Perhaps they would be able to pressure him much more than the middle ranks were capable of doing. He would have to find some of these higher ranking wolves in order to find out.
"Gather up, everyone!" He stood up, wiped his trousers, and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. The gnolls and wolf that wandered around the clearing turned to him and came up to him. They gathered around in a circle, looking at their master with attentive eyes.
"We have some work to do. We are going to go on a deep expedition into flame wolf territory in order to find some stronger wolves. I want to test out something." He turned to the two flame wolves he had under his command. "You two will be in charge of leading us to your territory."
The wolves turned to look at each other before turning to Abel and nodding. The would do anything they could to assist their master, no matter their past affiliations.
"Good. Now, let me just pack up and then check up on my rations, then we can leave." He nodded and smiled before checking through his supplies. He hadn't spent too much time in the Tower, just a couple of days, so he still had enough supplies. He just wanted to be sure.
A while later, with his supplies all stored in his spatial ring, Abel wandered into the forest with his small army of magical beasts.