"Finally made it!" Reece exhaled, stepping out of the now-closing portal onto a massive branch, solid yet swaying gently under his weight. The fifth floor of the Tower, known as The Gloomgrove Canopies, was unlike anything he had yet encountered. Entire ecosystems sprawled across the treetops, ancient branches forming natural pathways high above the shadowed forest floor. Far below, a seemingly endless pit stretched out, veiled in dense mist and layered with ominous shadows.
He looked around, taking in the towering trees and massive vines that twisted between branches. "As if this place isn't creepy enough, it has to be an endless jungle. I'm really getting tired of this whole jungle business," he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he scanned his surroundings.
"Get used to it, Master," Prima replied dryly. "You've got at least five more floors before you see anything remotely resembling a break in the greenery."
"Wonderful," Reece replied sarcastically. "I'm starting to feel like a monkey with all these swinging vines and giant branches to balance on."
Ignoring her master's complaints, Prima continued, "I'm preparing the runes for [Entangled Fate]. Get ready to cast it."
Sighing, Reece quickly shifted his focus. With the necessary runes and formations aligned in his mind, he cast [Entangled Fate], allowing the spell to reach out like an invisible thread, intertwining his essence with the subtle signatures of creatures across the floor. This floor wasn't just any ordinary climb—it housed a mini-boss, and Reece knew he needed to locate Liz first, making sure she was safe before engaging any of the major threats. The spell would guide him to her, aligning his path with hers in an unbreakable thread of fate.
The Tower's floors were vast beyond comprehension, seemingly impossible to cross in a single lifetime, let alone one climb. It was rumored that each floor, at least those below the thirtieth, was as large as the ancient landmass of Pangea. Entire cities had formed on the first floor alone, with sprawling distances between them, yet human dominance covered only a fraction of the expanse. The sheer size and complexity of each floor made the task of locating Liz daunting—without [Entangled Fate], he'd be on a wild goose chase, searching endless miles of dense, dangerous terrain.
Liz, the version of her present in this timeline, was very different from the Liz Reece remembered. She was, for now, just a Void Wyrmling, a common-ranked creature from the desolate void outside the universe. The "void" part was not merely for effect—void beasts were indeed born from the void, a dimension barren of energy and mana, where survival demanded unimaginable resilience.
Creatures that adapted to the void became apex predators with a unique and frightening characteristic: they could survive on nothing, tapping into only their most basic survival instincts. Yet, when introduced to a mana-rich environment like the Tower, void beasts evolved rapidly, consuming the energy around them like starving predators, their powers growing at a breakneck pace.
As he tracked her, Reece's mind drifted back to Liz's origins in the Tower. She had arrived on this floor after being pulled through a spatial rift, landing in an environment unlike anything she had ever encountered. Instinctively, she adapted, her survival instincts driving her to consume creatures for strength.
Her first encounter had been with a cluster of Skyfang Bats—nocturnal predators with sharp fangs and a natural affinity for absorbing mana. It hadn't taken long for Liz to consume the creatures, analyzing their bodies down to the finest biological details, and learning from them how to draw in mana from the air. For a void beast like Liz, mana was new, foreign, and potent, but adapting to it was a slow process. As formidable as void beasts were, they had never evolved to harness energy this way, making Liz's control rough and instinct-driven.
After analyzing the Skyfang Bats, Liz's first adaptation was crude but effective, allowing her to draw mana in large, sporadic bursts. But the process had its flaws. Void beasts like Liz adapted by instinct, with no conscious guidance in their evolution. They would consume creature after creature, amassing power with each kill, but their growth was often random, their control over newfound powers weak.
In her hunt for strength, Liz had stumbled upon a tribe of Birchia Goblins, the most dominant species in the fifth floor's Gloomgrove Canopies. Unlike the bats, the goblins had a higher level of intelligence and their own crude form of mana control. Consuming goblins gave Liz a rough framework for absorbing mana in a more controlled manner. Her form grew stronger, and her hunger for power turned her into a merciless hunter. The void wyrmling had set out on a killing spree, following her instincts and consuming whatever crossed her path in her insatiable drive for survival. Soon, she would discover yet another layer of her potential—she had begun her path toward evolution.
As Liz continued her rampage, her actions had drawn attention, especially from humans who mistook her for a mindless predator. A task force had been sent to subjugate the unknown monster, but Liz's honed battle instincts allowed her to escape and even overpower her pursuers. Since that encounter, the Adventurer's Association had marked her as a high-threat entity, spreading warnings to avoid the creature shrouded in black mist.
"Poor them," Reece muttered, half-amused as he shadowed the Association team assigned to track Liz. "They have no idea they're dealing with a void beast—a creature strong enough to rival a level 70 elite if it manages to harness mana properly."
"You're not wrong, Master," Prima's voice chimed in with a hint of mirth. "They're about to get a taste of just how outclassed they are if Liz engages that mini-boss."
Reece's [Soul Sense] extended outward, giving him a sweeping view of the vast forest. Liz was now over a hundred miles away, and the adventurer team following her trail was still some distance back, trailing the corpses she left in her wake. The team members, however, had become frustrated; they had been tracking the elusive creature for days, surviving on little more than rations.
"That blasted monster," one of the scouts grumbled, cursing as they stopped for a brief rest. "It's been two days of following this trail and nothing but corpses to show for it."
Their captain, a seasoned tracker, nodded as he reviewed their path on a rough map. "I get it, but orders are orders. The Association is waiting on a full report, and we're the ones assigned to bring it. Besides, if the rumors about this thing are true, we're better off keeping our distance until reinforcements arrive. We can't risk a confrontation without higher-level backup."
A scout in the back groaned, exhaustion evident in her voice. "Captain, at least give us a break. Two days of rations and no sleep is enough to drive anyone mad."
Before the captain could respond, another scout, their designated lookout with the [Eagle Eye] skill, called out, her voice sharp with urgency. "Captain! The creature just increased its speed! It's heading straight for the mountain range!"
The captain's face tightened. "Alright, pick up the pace. We'll observe its behavior for a bit near the mountain and report back."
The group gathered their things, following the trail more quickly now, unaware of the real threat lurking beyond their understanding.
Reece, who had been eavesdropping, couldn't hold back a chuckle. "If they only knew," he muttered, shaking his head, "that the void beast is only sparing them because they're not useful to her evolution. They're unwittingly leading her right to her next prey."
Liz, though driven purely by instinct, had unknowingly begun tracking a new mana signature. Her trajectory aimed her straight toward the mountain range, the only prominent landmark on the floor, a towering structure even taller than the mightiest trees. And waiting within the dense canopy that blanketed the mountain's base was the mini-boss, a creature that radiated mana so strongly that even Liz, with her crude mana sense, could feel it.
Reece followed along quietly, watching from a distance as Liz advanced toward the mountain. Her form glided silently along the branches, her predatory gaze fixed on her destination. Despite her relatively low rank, her void-born instincts made her a lethal hunter, each movement precise and fluid. But he knew that this battle would test her newfound strength, pushing her close to her limits.
They were nearing the edge of the mountain's base when pulse of mana, a warning sign, ran through Reece's [Soul Sense]—he could feel the mini-boss's aura, a feral energy radiating from within the depths of the canopy. It was a creature Reece knew well, a Steelwood Serpent, its body sheathed in scales as hard as ironwood and laced with traces of mana that hardened its skin to near-invulnerable levels. Even high-level climbers found the serpent difficult to slay, and Liz, still learning to control her power, would face a daunting battle.
"Looks like it's time for the big show," Prima remarked, sensing the tension rising in her master.
Reece's expression grew serious as he positioned himself on a high branch, out of sight but close enough to observe. "She'll need to survive this on her own. I can't interfere. Her pride wouldn't allow it and she and Lyranos would bother me much that i did…." he said with a sigh and simply watched and waited.