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A slender, crescent of concentrated energy barreled out of Leandro's sword. It was a bright arc, smoldering hot yet incomparably beautiful. Just like the moon's fading silhouette, his sword energy illuminated the darkness of the chamber for one last moment.
Eileen blinked, in a daze. Griffin. Soren. Benjamin, Wei Chen and Christopher. They stood there, motionless. Even the surge of skeletons froze in their tracks. When the light receded, darkness returned, almost like a lie.
Graveheart didn't utter a word. Its profanity-laced hatred for humanity died along with the wispy, flickering flames in its eyes. A line slowly appeared on its skull. Then it moved down, to its chin, then to its armor—even the ground was not spared.
A long, narrow trench ran in a straight line on the ground, past Graveheart, and finishing its journey on the very end of the wall. The edges were frazzled, slightly incandescent from the temperature.
The clattering of bones rang out.
Then, Graveheart, the Undying Warden, split in two halves, each of them falling in opposite directions. Its sword, likewise victim of Leandro's Waxing Crescent, shattered into pieces. 'I kind of wanted that...' He laughed, humorlessly.
His own shattered too, having carried out its duty outstandingly.
The skeletons around the others disassembled and fell down in a heap of bones, their weapons and armors going down with them. And that was the last sound to bounce off the walls of the chamber.
〔Congratulations, you have successfully cleared the 2nd floor — The Undead Castle〕
〔According to the records of all Monoliths, the clearing of this floor has been the fastest across all worlds. Rewards will be distributed accordingly.〕
Everyone looked up at the screens.
"The fastest...?" Soren trailed off dumbly.
"Across all words!?" Elieen finished, stunned.
〔Aura +2〕
〔Agility +1〕
〔Physique +1〕
〔You have received 5 stat points to be freely distributed.〕
〔You have received: Minor Healing Potion x2.〕
〔You have received: Minor Stamina Potion x2.〕
〔First time clear! You are the first to clear this floor. Additional rewards will be distributed in your inventory.〕
〔Would you like to Return or Proceed further?〕
〔⬅〕 〔➡〕
A vial with a sparkling blue liquid materialized in Leandro's hands. He promptly uncorked it and downed it in one go. The sudden, albeit minor increase in stats, could be easily felt. Aura was a stat that was hard to raise normally.
He immediately distributed the rest of his stats. He dumped all the points on Aura.
The photons in his body stirred, moving with a fluidity that was incomparable to before.
'At this point, won't I reach the 2-Star soon?'
Of course, ranking up this fast was extremely unusual. The Undying Warden, a boss that should have been raided by at least 10-15 people working seamlessly together, was taken down by him.
〔You have received: Moonlit Edge — Rare〕
〔You have received: Moonlit Glove — Rare〕
Leandro heaved a sigh of relief. 'My sword won't easily break now.' He tilted his head at the messages. 'Moonlit Edge?' The Monolith didn't give pre-determined rewards; it decided upon seeing the Challenger. A first-clear reward was like that.
〔The Ranking System for the 2nd floor is now available. The following ranking will display only the records of planet 'Earth'. To see the universal ranking, you must clear the 10th floor.〕
The end of the tutorial, in simple terms. The first 10 floors of an 'integrating' species couldn't be breached or invaded by another species that has gone higher in the Tower.
Well, under normal circumstances, at least. War between planes was something that happened a lot back when he was active as Alejandro. But the casualties oftentimes far outweighed the benefits.
To avoid such a thing, the Monolith prohibited a war between species that are below 30 floors. Leandro wouldn't be surprised if someone found a way to circumvent that.
〔The following ranking is based on overall contribution: damage inflicted, damage taken, healing, objective completion, and time taken to clear the floor.〕
〔2nd floor — The Undead Castle — Ranking〕
〔☪ 1st — Leandro Reyes — Unaffiliated〕
〔★ 2nd — Griffin Callahan — Unaffiliated〕
〔☆ 3rd — Eileen Murray — Unaffiliated〕
〔...〕
"As expected, Leandro is first." Eileen muttered. Soren nodded with an odd expression on his face.
"Nice shot back there. If it wasn't for your timely intervention, defeating the boss would have taken more time." Leandro approached her, giving her an appreciative nod. In fact, he was slightly surprised; Eileen had an uncanny talent for the bow. Being able to hit such a shot in a stressful situation, with such pinpoint accuracy no less, spoke a lot about her potential.
She beamed at him. "Thank you! Nice work there! That sword move you did was incredible." The smile turned into a pensive frown. "In fact…umh... how did you... do that?"
As soon as that topic was broached, her words garnered the attention of everyone.
Soren. Griffin. Wei Chen. Benjamin. Christopher.
All of their eyes were trained on Leandro.
That bright light was unmistakable, as was the inhuman power that obliterated Graveheart. The aftermath of that swing was glaringly visible. Debris still fell from where his Waxing Crescent drilled into.
"Aura." Leandro said, simply.
"Aura?" Soren frowned. "Are you talking about that weird stat? Mine's at 0."
"So is mine." Benjamin hummed, scratching his chin. Christopher and Wei Chen nodded along, looking equally puzzled.
"Indeed. I guess that when you raise it high enough, you can imbue an additional layer of energy to your attacks." Leandro shrugged, looking at Soren from the corner of his eyes. "I figured it out by mistake."
"No wonder you're so freakishly strong! Ha… haha!" Christopher exclaimed, backed up by Wei Chen, who nodded furiously. "So if we raise our Aura, we'll be able to pull off something like that?" He asked, eyes sparkling, as he attempted to imitate Leandro's Waxing Crescent with his spear. A very, very poor and comical imitation.
"Hmph!" Griffin snorted, crossing his arms.
"What did you guys get as a reward?" Wei Chen asked, and soon Christopher, Benjamin, and Eileen huddled around him to engage in a very animated conversation.
"I got a new bow and arrows! Ah! It's so beautiful! Here, let me show you~"
"It looks like shit." Christopher said, which earned him a bump on the head.
Riding on the euphoric high of beating impossible odds, Wei Chen and Benjamin burst out laughing.
Griffin stood to one side, seemingly finding such childish antics beneath him.
Despite the dreary environment, the atmosphere was one of merriment. As they chatted, sitting on the dusty floor, they drank one of the healing potions the floor provided them as a reward.
Leandro, meanwhile, retrieved the Moonlit Edge. It wasn't a bad sword, though neither one of the best, by a long shot. It was sleek, with a gleaming blade and a black hilt.
The Moonlit Glove was comfortable. Silky, black, with a lone, white strip that ran from from his wrist up to his ring finger.
〔Moonlit Edge: A sword made with a fragment of the moon — Increases attack power by 30% under the moonlight.〕
〔Moonlit Glove: A glove made with a fragment of the moon — Increases weapon drawing speed by 30% under the moonlight.〕
〔Would you like to proceed to the 3rd floor?〕
It was after ten minutes or so that Soren quietly approached Leandro. "So... what now?"
Leandro barely raised an eyebrow as he sheathed his sword; the sheath itself was white, as some sort of representation of the moon. "What do you mean? We've got new equipment, a bunch of shiny items, and stat points. We might as well clear the next floor as well before heading back down."
Soren did a double take.
"A-Are you serious?"
Leandro shot him an unimpressed look. "We don't know when we'll have another opportunity like this. We should make the best out of it."
"S-Shouldn't we wait for... I don't know... more people, at least?"
Soren raised a good point. The 3rd floor would likely be harder to clear than the 2nd. Everyone's spirits were high at the moment, but it was nowhere high enough that they failed to see the potential dangers of diving into the unknown—special powers or not.
Some of them almost died from skeletons. Wei Chen, Christopher, Benjamin and Eileen stopped talking.
If it weren't for Leandro's presence, they wouldn't have even made it to the castle, let alone clear it. Christopher scrambled to his feet. "I agree with Soren, what we accomplished here is amazing! B-But isn't it time to head back down? I'm sure the others will be elated to know about this! Ha…haha!"
He sure had a weird laugh, Leandro noticed. Something about it was familiar.
"You're such a coward." Griffin mumbled, shaking his head at Christopher, who deflated like a popped balloon.
Eileen patted his shoulder encouragingly. "Don't be scared. We'll protect you."
"Ha… haha!"
"I understand your hesitation, but think about it. You said it yourself, we achieved something amazing. Our current momentum is unmatched, and our new equipment and stat boosts put us at a significant advantage right now."
Leandro continued, his voice steady.
"If we head back now, we might lose this edge. The 3rd floor will undoubtedly be a harder challenge, but we've proven that we can handle it. We're stronger together and more capable than we realized. We cleared this floor with half the manpower than the previous raid team. Doesn't this speak for itself? Our success wasn't just because of one person; it was a team effort. Eileen's precision with her bow, everyone's coordination, and yes, my Aura. We've learned how to work together under pressure. If we retreat now, we might not get another chance with this level of readiness. I think… yes, I think we should go up."
His words, unknown to others, were enhanced with his Aura. It resonated bright and clearly, even more than Graveheart's thunderous, rattling speech.
Griffin grunted in agreement. He had been rearing to go since earlier. Obviously, his new spear made him more confident. Wei Chen and Benjamin nodded at each other.
Soren looked down.
"..."
Leandro walked past him, patting his shoulder. "I get where you're coming from, and I respect your level-headedness in this situation, but we're better off moving up." Right above Graveheart's shattered remains, a black, rippling miasma came together to form a portal. It pulsed encouragingly, like a heart. "I hope you come with us, Soren; you're a valuable resource I'd be sorely remiss to let go of this easily. No… I want you to come with us."
There was something inexplicable in Leandro's tone, or the slight—almost cocky—smile he flawlessly donned. Soren felt an odd confidence welling up, especially when the stout Griffin walked past him, to join Leandro. Or Eileen, with her confident smile and deadly sniping. Even Benjamin and Wei Chen, with their incredible synergy during a battle.
Everyone felt so much… higher than he was.
But Leandro still waited for him.
Shame colored his face.
Soren was the only one who proposed staying put and waiting, just like in the 1st floor. Christopher didn't really count. Would he have chimed in had Soren not spoken up?
Laughable.
Had he always been such a coward? Such a disgrace?
So the coward walked forward too, towards the rest of his new party.
It wasn't easy to face the unknown and jump straight at its face with unrelenting vigor, but at least Leandro was there. And, oddly, Soren trusted the guy—perhaps more than he should have.
Leandro grinned in his mind, stepping through the portal with everyone right on his tail, Christopher being the last.
….
〔Congratulations on reaching the 3nd floor — Arctic Wasteland.〕
〔Clear objective: Rescue the target.〕
〔Good luck.〕
They arrived at the 3rd floor after an incredibly smooth teleporting transition. No disorientation or weird feeling whatsoever.
As soon as Leandro stepped out of the portal, a whole new world sprawled out of him.
His left foot was still inside the closing portal that led to the Undead Castle, while his right one sunk into snow.
A blasting, sharp cold greeted him, as if he was in the deepest pits of an Arctic ice mountain. He exhaled, warm air pluming out of him. His Aura protected him, though the same couldn't be said of his teammates.
"W-What the hell!" Eileen tripped down, arms whirling furiously in a comical attempt to reverse the fall. Leandro easily caught her by the hood of her cloak. "T-Thank you."
"This is…" Benjamin looked around in disbelief. "You know what, fuck it. I don't care anymore. We're in a whole fucking different world, aren't we?"
"It's cold." Soren rubbed his arms. The friction hardly provided the warmth he needed. "How are we going to—"
Leandro reached his hand into his inventory and pulled out a bunch of arctic parkas and gloves.
He threw one at each of them.
"How do you have this? Did you already know?"
Wei Chen was surprised, as were Christopher and Benjamin.
"Oh, I brought with me a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. You never know when you might need them." Leandro shrugged, draping the parka over him. He pulled up the hood. "I have sleeping tents as well, in case you're wondering."
"I… I didn't think of that." Soren rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly.
Eileen snorted. Her cheeks were tinted red because of the cold. "I don't think anyone here did." She followed Leandro along the snowy path. "Next time, let's all bring some essentials since our inventory has a limited amount of space."
"Bet you're going to use all that up for—" Christopher trailed off, eyes suddenly going wide open in fear.
A snowball promptly slammed into Benjamin's face.
"What did I do?!" Benjamin was outraged.
Christopher, being the original intended target, cackled madly. "Haw-haw-haw!"
"..."
Eileen blushed.
Turns out that, without her bow, she couldn't aim for shit.
…
Wei Chen and Benjamin immediately started a very animated discussion, Christopher idly playing along, though at a careful distance since Benjamin wasn't too happy with him.
Griffin remained a man of silence, walking by himself. Soren lagged slightly behind.
Eileen carried the rear, eager to try out her silvery white bow.
They advanced through the white plane of the 3rd floor for quite some time. There wasn't even the slightest change.
"So, we have to rescue someone? Is it a human?" Soren pondered.
Griffin snorted. "They better not be dead by the time we get there."
"Can a human even survive in this place?" Benjamin said through clattering teeth—he had the least cold resistance in the group.
"Must be a native. Not necessarily a human, so don't be surprised, and don't attack recklessly." Leandro said, cryptically.
"Aye aye, Captain."
Eventually, after roughly 30 minutes, or what could be an hour, Leandro had to stop everyone. Naturally, that set them all on high alert.
In front of them, a snow-capped hill… wasn't exactly a hill—not after it literally rose from the ground. Through the cascading snow, an ape-like creature, covered from head to toe in a shaggy mane of white fur, stood in front of them.
It was big, big enough to dwarf Graveheart in size.
Its shadow stretched far enough that it covered every single one of them.
"Go back, humans." It said in a deep, rumbling voice. "Go back."
Eileen pointed the bow in its direction, an arrow nocked and ready to be released at the slightest of movement. The creature was unfazed. Its massive body made the bow look like a tiny toothpick.
Griffin had his spear poised to stab. Soren had his daggers unleashed. Benjamin, Christopher, and Wei Chen were in a perfect three-pronged formation around Eileen.
Leandro was quite proud at how fast they learned and adapted. He looked up at the Yeti, and spoke in a lazy, almost dismissive manner. "You know we can't do that."
"..."
The Yeti stared at Leandro for a while, almost expecting him to eat his words, turn around, and run away.
Leandro returned that stare.
He was unfazed by its height difference.
It let out a dissatisfied roar, akin to a rumbling mountain shaking. The snow at its feet started whirling up at high speeds, and like a raging snow tornado, a blast of air pushed his companions back by a few steps.
Leandro alone held his ground.
"Human, you wish for death?! Then, here I am, O, puny human, to be your demise. I will shatter your bones and scatter your remains into the howling snowstorm. Come, come to your death! A most suitable one for an insignificant puny human such as thee!! Hoooo—"
While it rambled on and on and on, Leandro thought to himself.
'We just found our emergency ration.'