24 Troublesome

Shortly after Linnaeus and Ryuuna formed their Party, a jovial voice disturbed the silence, stating, "It seems the two of you are the final Fledglings left on this Floor. I'm honestly a little surprised that the lowest-ranked Fledgling was able to form a team with someone. I wonder if this is perhaps fate...or maybe just youth~?"

In response to its own musings, the voice began to laugh uninhibitedly for several seconds, causing Ryuuna to furrow her brows as she knew what it was trying to imply. She knew better than to retort, however, as there were no benefits to antagonizing one of the god-like Floor Guardians.

Unfortunately, she very quickly wished she had said something as, taking their silence as admission, the voice mused, "Well, everyone has their own motivations for climbing the Tower. I look forward to seeing how far this budding love takes you~."

The moment the voice finished its statement, Linnaeus and Ryuuna both heard a ding within their minds. A congratulatory message flashed across their eyes but, rather than read the text, Ryuuna's eyes looked toward her Title slot before spontaneously kicking Linnaeus with enough force to send him flying into the adjacent wall. Before he made contact, however, they both vanished from the Second Floor as a sonorous laugh echoed in the surroundings.

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With the transfer arresting all of his previous momentum, Linnaeus felt onto the relatively soft grass without sustaining any injuries. In the next moment, however, the petite Ryuuna had appeared at his side, her hand grasping around his neck as she venomously stated, "I swear, if you get any ideas or try to flaunt this to other people, I will fucking flay you."

Though he understood why she was upset, Linnaeus felt indignant that she felt the need to blame him for something he had no control over. If not for his [Barrier Aura], which was rapidly draining his SP, he wouldn't have even been able to answer her. Still, as he didn't intend to die just yet, he grit his teeth before ultimately stating, "I...understand..."

After hearing Linnaeus' response, Ryuuna snorted through her nose before finally releasing her hold on his neck. She began to look around the area which, much like the First Floor, was filled with trees, plants, and a few discernible signs of life. The biggest difference was that the temperature was much lower but, with the bodysuits they were provided giving resistance to both heat and cold, this didn't affect either of them.

While his vicious companion was looking around the area, making an obvious effort to ignore him, Linnaeus rubbed his neck in frustration while looking at his Status. There, rather than the Sheepish Fledgling Title, he had gained the even more troubling Love Bird Title. It was a paired Title that he shared with Ryuuna that granted an increase in Spirit, Charisma, and, of all things, Luck. If not for these significant boons, he imagined that Ryuuna very well might have killed him...

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Title: Love Bird(+3 Spi, +2 Cha, +1 Luk per Level while in the same party as other Love Birds)

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With Spirit, Charisma, and Luck being attributes that were impossible to spec into, even Ryuuna could only grit her teeth and accept the libelous Title. Still, Linnaeus knew it would be necessary to watch how he acts around her as, depending on her mood, it could result in a significant amount of pain for him.

By the time Linnaeus was rising to his feet, the deep voice of a man began to resonate through the surroundings, stating, "Welcome to the Third Floor, Fledglings. My test focuses on endurance and survival skills. Should you desire, it is possible to move onto the next Floor by simply announcing that you, or your Party, has given up. There are no penalties for moving to the Fourth Floor and, if you are early enough, it will give you ample time to prepare for your next test. However, you will also forfeit your right to earn additional Aether, meaning you may very well find yourselves stranded on the Fourth Floor as people continue to undergo the Third's test. As for the test itself, you need only survive for as long as possible. This will be easy at first but, with each passing day, the monsters and environment will become increasingly harsh. Now, without further ado...Good luck, and may you one day soar through the Heavens!"

When the voice faded, Ryuuna snorted through her nose before muttering a few harsh words under her breath. Then, turning back to Linnaeus, she said in a firm tone, "My goal is to eliminate as much of the competition as possible. I will entrust setting camp and gathering resources to you. Do your best to lay low and survive until I return." Then, without waiting for his response, she vanished like a phantom into the woods, leaving Linnaeus shaking his head in exasperation.

With the difference in their social status, Level, attributes, and overall capabilities, Linnaeus didn't delude himself into thinking Ryuuna would listen to him. The best course of action for him was to look for shelter and, if possible, find a place where other Fledglings wouldn't be able to reach. He needed to continue strengthening his foundation and, though she was very brash, he expected to use Ryuuna as a source for information when she returned.

While using his [Stealth] and [Presence Concealment] to pass through the forested area, Linnaeus noticed that there were next to no edible plants. Even the fauna was scarce and, compared to the First Floor, the few monsters he encountered were exactly that, monsters.

Rather than large animals, they had mutated appearances while radiating an intimidating and fierce aura. He had even encountered a five-meter tall bear that was covered in brown fur that had a metallic sheen to it. Though it was covered in scars, Linnaeus had the distinct impression that none of his attacks would be able to penetrate through the thick layer of fur. Since it also radiated a black aura that caused his skin to tingle, he ultimately decided to move in the complete opposite direction.

Fortunately, not everything he came across was as terrifying as the monstrous bear.

After skulking through the forest for several hours, Linnaeus took note of two very important things. The first was a small white rabbit but, compared to what he knew of the creatures, this one had a very pronounced horn growing from its head. As for his second observation, it was the fact that the temperature was rapidly decreasing.

Though it was common for the night to be colder than the day, Linnaeus felt like the temperature was quickly approaching freezing. Since there was still ample light left in the sky, he knew it was going to get a lot colder. He imagined it was for this reason that almost every monster he had seen had thick fur coats while, compared to the vibrant and various flora on the First Floor, the Third was full of bristly brushes and tall trees.

Unlike the trees Linnaeus had observed previously, these had extremely thick bark while their leaves were shaped like thin needles, a stark contrast to the tear-drop and star-shaped leaves he had found to be fascinating. They also produced a very potent smell and, after breaking away some of the bark for potential kindling, he noticed there was an annoyingly sticky substance on the interior.

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Rather than worry about such things, Linnaeus focused on the prey before him, doing his best to close the distance without drawing its attention. He was already downwind from it so, as it used its horn to dig up a small plot of dirt, Linnaeus got within five meters of the creature without alerting it to his presence.

Without leaving anything to chance, Linnaeus extended his hand, creating a cube-shaped barrier around the unsuspecting creature. Though he could have done the same from fifty meters away, his accuracy decreased exponentially with the distance. He had a strange awareness of his range but this did nothing to increase his precision at using barriers far from his body, especially if they had a more complex structure.

As could be expected, the peculiar horned rabbit began to thrash around within the barrier but, with no distance to build momentum, it could only scratch around wildly with its horn. It had actually left a few scratches on the thin blue membrane but, as Linnaeus had put 300 SP into its formation, it had a long way to go if it wanted to destroy his barrier.

After trapping the horned rabbit, Linnaeus got to learn something new as, unlike the animals he had hunted on the First Floor, the horned rabbit actually had a health bar above its head. This made him suspect that all monsters had a Status of their own but, seeing that its health had only reduced by a third, he quickly formed a second barrier around the first.

Linnaeus was currently suffocating the horned rabbit by forcing it to use up its oxygen while it tried desperately to escape. He felt a little guilty about killing it in this manner but, without a weapon, he didn't want to find out how much damage the rather vicious looking horn on its head could do.

After using a series of three barriers, the horned rabbit finally met its end, awarding Linnaeus with a satisfying 69 Experience and 7 Aether. He currently had 2949 Aether after the reward of clearing the Second Floor and, though he didn't know how to spend it just yet, he imagined Ryuuna would be able to answer his questions after she returned. Since she seemed to be a bit of a glutton, as all of his food had vanished by the time he awoke, Linnaeus decided to capture a few prey animals to entice her into parting with the information.

With his [Dismantling] Skill providing him with intuitive knowledge of how he should clean and skin animals, Linnaeus quickly slit the horned rabbit's throat before surrounding it in yet another barrier. He knew other animals would be drawn to the smell but, if he didn't drain the blood quickly, it would begin to spoil and rot.

While the Inventory could preserve an item's freshness for an extended period of time, this required supplying it with the necessary SP to do so. Since his maximum SP would decrease every time he put something into his Inventory, Linnaeus would rather drain the blood and store it normally. He had also learned on the First Floor how foolish it was to dismantle his catch near his home as the blood drew a lot of unwanted attention, ultimately forcing him to relocate.

Before placing the horned rabbit's corpse into his Inventory, Linnaeus cut off its horn to use as a makeshift dagger. It was around 20cm long so it was more than enough to deal a fatal blow if he managed to hit a critical point like the heart or brain. He might even be able to kill someone like Ryuuna but, for some reason, Linnaeus felt that even stabbing the girl in the heart wouldn't put her down when she had nearly 7000 Health...

Shaking his head, Linnaeus prayed he wouldn't have to find out any time soon as he once again began his trek through the woods. He still needed to capture more prey and find a place to sleep before Ryuuna came seeking him out. She didn't seem like the understanding type but, as he had already grown used to Saht's behavior, it didn't bother him too much. So long as she didn't try to boss him around and insult him, Linnaeus could tolerate her brash behavior if it meant his chances of climbing were increased.

Though he didn't believe Ryuuna was the strongest among the Fledglings, as she didn't even belong to one of the Eight Heavenly Families, he had trouble imagining anyone stronger than her. The only person he could really compare her to was the Saxon woman he had encountered on the First Floor but, as she had clearly expended most of her SP, Linnaeus wasn't sure how they stacked up. All he knew for certain was that his own power was lacking, something Ryuuna made very clear with her harsh and chiding words...