"Jingle, jingle."
I walked into an unassuming store on the 10th floor of the tower.
Over the past few days, I had speed runned the 6th to 9th floors, completing one per day, before reaching the 10th floor and deciding to rest for a day.
Honestly, it had been a little hard on my body, as even though I had said before that the Tower made it so that one wouldn't have to sleep, eat, or do other things while climbing it, yesterday had been the first day that I had actually felt the need to sleep due to the exhaustion drilled into my bones.
You see, although the Tower made it so that one wouldn't have to do these things, it never made it so that doing them was detrimental, in fact, doing these things actually gave a boost to the Player.
Like, if you slept, then you would recover your stamina faster. If you ate, then you would recover your HP faster. Stuff like that.
I had just finished sleeping and was walking around to certain stores to make my preparations for the 10th floor boss, as again, the reward was extremely important, especially the first clear award.
That was why I had not given any other player a chance to challenge the boss first, spending 5 sleepless days (4 nights) grinding myself up the tower.
Now, in this store, I was completing my last preparations.
"Lili, do you want anything?"
Looking up, I saw her shake her head.
She was currently riding atop my shoulders, which was now her preferred riding location, looking around the store in wonder, even though she had previously stated that she didn't want anything.
"Alright, well, suit yourself."
I went around the store and bought heat resistant clothes, cold resistant clothes, and swimming clothes for the both of us.
Finished with the preparations, I left the clothing store and headed towards the setting of the upcoming battle.
I crossed through the city before leaving through the city gates.
Setting my sights northward, I started running with Lili still on my shoulders.
She gripped onto my hair with her hands as the ride became bumpier and bumpier.
We started crossing through a hill country with rocky soil, going up and down and up and down before arriving at a river.
Taking a boat that I had bought previously, out of my inventory, I settled into the raft, Lili still on my shoulders.
Turning on the motor, we quickly accelerated and shot downstream.
We traveled a few kilometers downstream, before seeing a drop off in the distance.
"Lili, hold on."
Like suicidal maniacs, we did nothing as the boat accelerated faster and faster, literally skipping in the water, as we bared down on the waterfall.
One second, we were bouncing in the boat, the next, we were up in the air, falling down.
Pushing the boat away, I plummeted, my hands gripping tightly to Lili's legs, as I pointed my feet down, streamlining my body.
Using my mana, I created a barrier of protection around Lili right before we hit the water.
"Splash!"
Plunging deep into the ice cold water, I felt Lili's hands gripping my hair even tighter as the current threatened to drag us apart.
Kicking my legs, I swam upwards for what seemed like an eternity, each second passing meaning less oxygen in my body.
And, just as my lungs felt like they were about to burst, I broke the surface, taking in a deep breath and released the mana bubble around Lili.
"Hoo! Haa!"
After greedily gulping the air around me, I quickly swam to the bank.
Dragging myself out of the water, I gently picked Lili off my shoulder and put her on the ground, before collapsing to the ground myself.
"A-are you okay?"
Hearing the tiny, delicate voice, I couldn't help but hold my breath in surprise, before glancing in the direction the voice came from.
Seeing my surprised expression, Lili looked away to the side, embarrassed I guess.
I observed her for a second, before replying.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I should be asking you if you're fine, after all, that was probably a first for you, right?"
I looked at her expectantly, but she didn't answer, so I just sighed and looked up at the sky, resting for a bit, because I needed to get my brain in the right mindset before facing the boss monster.
After an hour of just laying there, I got back up before picking Lili up and placing her on my shoulders.
"Are you ready?"
She nodded, once again not speaking.
You see, this would be the first time that I would take "Lili" to fight a boss.
Usually, I would have avoided this because I didn't want to traumatize the little girl, but, the boss that I was about to face was just a little bit weaker during the day, and this would make all the difference.
Climbing the wet, slippery walls next to the waterfall, I dug my fingers and metal climbing boots into the rock, shimmying to the side.
Once I reached the area behind the waterfall, I started climbing directly upwards.
As I got directly below the lip of the waterfall, I finally found what I was looking for.
Finding a small hole, just big enough for me to fit in, I hauled myself in, before letting myself slide down the chute.
'This will be my hardest fight yet, but you can do it.' I silently tried to boost my morale in my mind.
'Oh well, there's no point doing anything now, after all, I'm already there.'
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That was the final chapter for today!
1. The Discord server is up!!!! The link will now be here, in the paragraph comments, in the chapter comments, in the synopsis, and on my profile. Join if you want to get chapter updates quickly, and if you want to be privy to any new information regarding the two series as soon as possible.
The new discord link (This one will work.): https://discord.gg/8ePQESSSHT
2. I would like to shout out a book that I'm editing. Check out "World Online" by "jdbeue" a top 30 author on Webnovel. I'll assure you that the series is good, which is kinda obvious due to the author's quality, and that it's worth checking out.
3. Powerstones for extra chapters:
So, here they are:
75 PS - 1 extra chapter
100 PS - 1 extra chapter
150 PS - Another extra chapter
200 - ??? (I'll go there if we even get there, although I seriously doubt it.)