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~?"

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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...