21 Frustration

During the time Linnaeus had been lost in thought, a small ding resounded in his ears. This brought his attention to his Status before, moments later, observing a thin blue string that ran from his index finger.

Due to how high he had climbed, Linnaeus wasn't surprised that his string was angled downward, extending into the adjacent wall and connecting him to his prey. He also took note of the fact that this was on the only visible string, meaning this challenge was designed so that you would know the name of your Hunter, but not their appearance and location.

Linnaeus could feel a lingering dread in his heart, even though his [Sense Danger] had yet to activate. There didn't seem to be much of a chance he would make it through this particular challenge. Even if he stalled, there wasn't any information provided by the voice explaining the rules that would indicate a cutoff time for the game.

Realizing his best hope was to track down his target before Merek managed to locate his position, Linnaeus began the arduous task of traveling through the peculiar stone corridors, a rather slow process considering he was trying to keep his elevation advantage.

Until he knew his enemy's capabilities, Linnaeus wanted to make hunting him as inconvenient as possible. Though Merek would likely be able to leap from the pipes to get around, there was a chance his Blessing wasn't suited for ranged combat, giving him a small advantage if he played his cards right.

What Linnaeus didn't expect was that, as he traveled in the direction of his prey, using the string that would appear every hour as a guide, an unexpected ding was heard in his mind. This drew his attention to his Status where, for one of two reasons, his target's name had disappeared.

Linnaeus hadn't realized it before but there was a possibility that both his target and Hunter could either move on to the next Floor or be eliminated without him ever meeting them. Though it was rather unlikely, Merek might just choose to team up with the person hunting him down, removing the danger entirely.

Since he had nothing better to do, Linnaeus waited until the current countdown completed but, rather than allow him a reprieve, his Status now showed a new target. This caused him to release an exasperated sigh as, for a moment, he believed it might be possible to just evade pursuit until his Hunter moved on to the next Floor. Though this could have been a mistake on his part, it gave him a much better chance than trying to reason with someone from one of the Eight Heavenly families.

After thinking about his options, Linnaeus realized that it wasn't too likely for the person hunting down Merek to proactively seek them out. Unless they were very confident in their strength, they would probably wait for their own Hunter to seek them out and try to team up with them instead.

Understanding this was the most likely outcome, Linnaeus knew his best chance was still to seek out his prey and either kill or ally with them. Fortunately, his current target was the 439th Ranked Fledgling, implying they were much weaker than his previous target.

---

As Linnaeus continued traveling high above the floor below, he would periodically hear the sound of distant explosions. There were even times when he could see brilliant flashes of light in the distance but, due to his decision to travel near the ceiling, it was impossible to make out the features of the battle's participants. All he could do was hope that one of them happened to be his pursuer and, though it wasn't likely, Linnaeus prayed they either got tired of chasing after him or became the victim of someone else's greed.

With this state of mind, Linnaeus continued to travel for the better part of seventeen hours before deciding to take a break and rest.

At this point, his target had already changed two additional times, indicating that the Floor was either smaller than expected, or that the entity in charge of the test put them close to their targets from the start.

Linnaeus found some small comfort in knowing that his actions had become, at the very least, a small setback for the Rank 1 Fledgling. At this point, close to a hundred people should have been able to progress to the next Floor, even if only to avoid having to idle about in the cold, humid, and generally unpleasant Second Floor.

What Linnaeus hadn't considered was that the Second Floor was actually filled with various traps, many being very lethal in nature. Rather than ascend to the next Floor after completing their tasks, his first target had been the unfortunate victim of a metal spike running through their right flank and piercing their heart. As for his second target, they had been killed off by the original person assigned to hunt them, as it was necessary for some targets to be shared as people continued to be eliminated.

While this was going on, a man with handsome features, a muscular body, pure white hair, and blazing green eyes would periodically look up. This caused the heroic aura surrounding him to vanish for a brief moment as, rather than the confident smile he was known for, a murderous glint would flash across his eyes as a grimace form on his face.

Though there were a number of people that chose to use the pipes to travel, as it allowed them to avoid many of the Floor's traps, it was still very inconvenient. Some of the pipes were separated by as much as twenty meters, making it impossible for the vast majority of Fledglings to travel between them.

With his [Sword Mastery] Blessing, Merek, quite literally, had an edge against the majority of other Fledglings. Not only did he have the advantage of being groomed by one of the Eight Heavenly Families, but he had been provided a sword during his first test, allowing him to quickly cut down his opponent before slaughtering his way through the First Floor with ease.

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After claiming the first position in the Rankings, Merek had been full of pride at his achievement. This also afforded him a bonus 10,000 Aether and gave him the opportunity to take advantage of the amenities provided by the Second Floor as he awaited the next challenge.

The rest area of the Second Floor included various luxuries, such as comfortable beds, showers, and even a massage parlor. It's most alluring aspect, however, was the plethora of strange shops, each manned by automatons that sold everything from essential supplies to powerful equipment.

Though he abhorred the idea of roughing it, Merek knew there were times he would be unable to sleep on a comfortable bed. To prepare himself for this, he chose to sleep in one of the cheaper dwellings after spending the majority of his Aether on items and equipment. This was all so that he would be able to clear the Second Floor just as quickly as the first, awarding him more Aether and allowing him to remain at the head of the pack.

Now, nearly a full day had passed and, with it, well over a hundred other Fledglings had either moved on or been eliminated. This left a bitter taste in Merek's mouth, replacing the jubilance he had experienced after first being assigned the lowest-ranked Fledgling as his target.

Originally, Merek believed the Tower was rewarding his efforts while punishing the cowardly nature of his opponent. Now, however, he could only clench his teeth in frustration as he learned just why Linnaeus had been the last in the previous challenge. His target seemed to proactively avoid conflict and, though there were no guarantees, it seemed like their Blessing allowed them to fly or, at the very least, easily traverse the complex system of pipes.

Merek had tried numerous times to ascend higher but, after you reached a certain point, it was almost impossible to cover the distance between pipes without trying to vault off walls or using something like a grappling hook. His horizontal leaping distance was a commendable fifteen meters but, even if he used [Enhance] to its limits, he could only jump a maximum of eight meters vertically.

What frustrated Merek the most was that other Fledglings would randomly attack him as they attempted to steal his equipment and supplies. The first time this happened, he believed it was his Hunter but, rather than strike the young woman down, he actually lowered himself to party up with her, even temporarily. Since he didn't want his placement to be affected too greatly, he was prepared to allow his quarry to escape, at least for the time being.

Unfortunately, the woman, along with everyone else that followed, were just trying to rob him. He quickly cut them down for their audacity but, every now and then, he would come across a tricky opponent. These included a hulking man whose bodily fluids, blood included, had potent acidic properties. Though he hadn't been particularly difficult to deal with, Merek lost his primary blade in the process, requiring him to use a much weaker substitute.

Even more troublesome than the man with acidic blood was his encounter against a duo who were obviously members of the Shadow Guild. They had immediately attacked him on the spot and, due to the harsh training the Shadow Guild members underwent, it was a difficult fight, even for Merek.

Fortunately, while they were tricky opponents, especially in terrain with multiple walls and pipes to maneuver around, they were relatively weak in direct engagements. He managed to cut off one of their legs, causing the other attacker to immediately retreat without sparing their companion a second glance. Then, as they were known to do, the crippled man activated a strange talisman, self-destructing after trying to leap toward Merek with their remaining leg.

As it wasn't the first time members of the Shadow Guild had tried to assassinate him, Merek had been fully aware of their final trump card. This allowed him to leaped to one of the pipes above and, using their seemingly indestructible nature, evade the primary blast wave. Though this had left his eardrums bleeding, he recovered around twenty minutes later as he, once again, glared menacingly toward the endless darkness above...

Unaware that he had become the personal enemy of a member of the Eight Heavenly Families, Linnaeus continued to make slow progress through the labyrinthine network of corridors as he sought out his constantly updating target.

At this point, three days had passed so, while he had been unable to find his target, Linnaeus was confident his Hunter lacked the means to reach him. This allowed him to rest a bit easier and, by the end of the third day, a ding sounded in his mind that indicated his Hunter had changed from the Rank 1 to someone ranked 419th.

When Linnaeus saw the new name, he couldn't help but laugh aloud but, rather than make his way down to proactively search for his target, he continued to stay close to the roof, well out of range for most Fledglings. Though some might call him cowardly, this was the method the weak used to survive when surrounded by the strong. There was no point in being brave if the only reward was an early death.

Unlike other people, who actively sought to reach the higher Floors of the Tower, Linnaeus just wanted to survive in order to reunite with the people he cared about. He intended to leave the Tower at the first opportunity so, even if he was ridiculed, why should he care about the opinion of people who would unhesitantly kill him if it meant they could ascend to the next Floor?

With this mentality, Linnaeus continued to bide his time while preserving as much of his supplies as possible. It wasn't until the end of the seventh day that he considered heading down as, rather than two different names, indicating his target and Hunter, there was now a single name between them. For the last few pings, the string on his finger had been pointing directly downward as well so, feeling now was his opportunity to proceed to the next Floor, Linnaeus began his descent.

What had surprised Linnaeus the most was, rather than someone near the same Rank as him, his current target and Hunter were both ranked 13th. Though this raised a few red flags in his mind, it could be a tremendous boon if he was able to convince them to temporarily ally with him. Thus, even though he had a few inhibitions and was tempted to wait a few more days, Linnaeus slowly and carefully descended.