33 Crucible of Souls

Linnaeus had no idea what had happened to him. In one moment, the unbearable cold had given way to a pleasant warmth while, in the next, he found himself crashing hard into a rocky surface as an overwhelmingly pungent aroma assaulted his lungs. Even compared to the perpetual stench of the slums, the smell of this desolate landscape caused him to have a coughing fit as he fought to regulate his breathing.

Before he was given the opportunity to regain his senses, the hair on the back of Linnaeus' neck stood on end as a bone projectile, nearly 3m in length, slammed into his [Barrier Aura]. Though he still had no idea what was going in on, Linnaeus' body began to move on pure instinct as he rolled across the ground and began taking evasive maneuvers after returning to his feet.

With no visible hiding spots, Linnaeus charged toward his attacker, his ruby-red eyes taking on the color of blood as he strained to see through the plumes of noxious fumes. He saw a man with onyx black skin, pale grey hair, and strange markings all over his body. Though Linnaeus wasn't aware of it, the man had similar eyes to him, shimmering with a murderous red light as he pulled out bones from his body to use as weapons.

Though it wasn't nearly as fast as Ryuuna, the muscular man began charging toward Linnaeus with a fierce momentum as he wielded two shortswords formed from his own bones. The craggy ground broke beneath their feet but, just as they were nearing range of each other, Linnaeus extended his hand, creating a long column in the path of the man's legs while erecting a second barrier behind his head.

Due to his fierce charge, the man's right calf slammed hard into the barrier mid-stride, causing the bone to fracture slightly as the barrier shattered like glass. It was still enough to arrest his charge, however, so Linnaeus leaped over his body like a blur before bounding off the second barrier like a springboard.

Rather than turn to face Linnaeus, the man hunched forward, causing white bone spears to erupt from his back in an instant. Unfortunately for him, they only impacted Linnaeus' [Barrier Aura], dealing a serious blow to his SP but ultimately leaving him unscathed. Then, in the interval where the man had started to turn around, Linnaeus had withdrawn his shortsword, stabbing it into the softest part of the man's neck.

Unlike the people he had killed previously, Linnaeus felt an incredible amount of resistance as the tip of his sword broke through the man's flesh. Fortunately, while his bones were like iron, the fleshy bits like his jugular were unprotected. A large part of the man's neck was gouged out, causing blood to spew outward like water from a broken pipe.

Despite the severity of the wound, the man's Health wasn't draining nearly fast enough for Linnaeus' liking so, after his feet landed on the ground, he immediately took evasive maneuvers once again. It might not compare to Ryuuna's, but his Agility was one of his highest attributes. He was confident that, unless they had a Blessing related to mobility, there weren't too many people that would be able to keep up with his speed at the same Level.

The injured man also seemed to understand he was at a disadvantage so, rather than try to give chase, he extended his palm outward while using his other hand to stymy the flow of blood to the best of his ability. From his extended hand, bone projectiles began to shoot out from the center of his palm. They would grow to the length of a meter before tearing through the air at a speed far greater than Linnaeus' maximum velocity.

Fortunately, while the spears flew straight, Linnaeus could easily change direction so, by zig-zagging and avoiding the man's leading shots, he was slowly tiring out the muscular figure. The man's Health had already been reduced to below half and, unless a miracle occurred, his Bleeding status almost guaranteed his end.

Rather than just wait for his death, the man pulled out some strange substance from his Inventory before plastering it against his neck and releasing a blood-curdling scream. Then, with bloodshot eyes, he began charging toward Linnaeus while shouting, "You damned brat! I won't let you get in the way of my second chance...!"

As the man changed, bone spikes began to sprout from his body, much like a pincushion with all the needles pointed outward. Linnaeus couldn't help glancing at his SP when he saw this but, as he still had 2168, his nerves calmed down as clarity was restored to his mind. The man's bone spears were very hard but they didn't seem to do much damage unless he took the time to charge and throw them.

Since there was no reason to fight the man head-on, Linnaeus used his higher Agility, dodging to the side rapidly and causing the man to have to slow down and turn his body to face him. As could be expected, this caused the man's expression to blacken, almost as if he were looking at the man who had killed his entire family. After realizing there was no easy way for him to close the distance, he began to haphazardly expel his bone spikes, seemingly with the intent to cut off every path.

Linnaeus knew the man's bones were related to his Blessing so, as he expended more and more, it had to be eating away at his SP. With this in mind, he continued to evade the man's attacks, saving up his own SP until his pale-haired attacked began to be more conservative with his expenditure.

The moment the barrage began to slow down, Linnaeus extended his hand and created a spherical barrier with a hole in the bottom. He had placed this just around the man's head as it was impossible for him to create a barrier inside or piercing through an object. Still, this was enough to disorient him completely as, without being able to build up any momentum, his head was practically trapped for a short moment.

In response to the unexpected membrane around his head, the man began to panic as he used up the remainder of his SP and Health in an attempt to take Linnaeus out with him. He spread his arms wide as ten black bones erupted from his torso, extending nearly 10m in an instant as they tried to pierce and ensnare Linnaeus' body.

To Linnaeus' surprise, one of the black bones slammed into his shoulder and, as if his [Barrier Aura] didn't exist, a sharp pain radiated from the impacted area as he was impaled. This pain was replaced by a mind-numbing burning sensation but, with his [Pain Tolerance], Linnaeus' clarity of mind was not affected as he threw his shortsword toward the man's head. HIs [Throwing] was at LV17 so, while it wasn't his most developed Skill, he had almost perfect accuracy at ten meters.

Seeing a slightly bent sword flying toward his face, the pale-haired man could only grit his teeth as tears of blood flowed from his eyes. He couldn't muster any strength at all so, without incident, the sword struck the area of his left eye, embedding itself deep into his skull and extinguishing the sliver of Health he had preserved. Upon his death, the black bones began to dissolve away like ashes while the white bones turned into a foul-smelling paste.

Unlike how a person would normally leave behind a corpse, Linnaeus watched in abject terror as the body of his attacker lost its color. After a few seconds had passed, he looked like a stone statue that, moments later, began to dissolve away in a similar manner to his black bones. It was an eerie sight to behold and, even without anyone explaining the situation to him, Linnaeus knew this was his own fate if he failed to preserve his life.

After releasing a tired sigh, followed by a pained groan, Linnaeus ate a Blue Gel before making his way over to the pile of ash and picking up his sword. It actually had burn marks marring its surface but this wasn't the most important thing as, situated in the center of the ash pile, Linnaeus found a small red gemstone.

Linnaeus hadn't noticed it before but, after he was thrown into this foul-smelling abyss, the Aether value on the back of his hand had vanished entirely. When he picked up the small gemstone, a new mark appeared, this one having a blood-red glow as it formed the jagged outline of a cat's head. It had a rather fierce-looking design while, at the very center of the mark, a single stroke indicated he now had a single Soul Kindling.

After picking up the tiny red gemstone, Linnaeus felt heat flow through his body and, though he was unaware of it, his hair regained a bit of its lost luster. His blood-red eyes also faded slightly but, even if you had been staring directly into them, the change would have only been discernible to the most perceptive...

Just as Linnaeus was considering his next course of action, he nearly jumped out of his own skin as the sensuous voice of a woman, as if leaning over his shoulder and whispering in his ear, stated, "I see you have survived your first trial, little boy~"

In response to the voice, Linnaeus pulled out his sword as he twisted his body around while jumping back with as much strength as his legs could manage. To his surprise, however, the space behind him had been completely empty. Since he didn't know what was going on, he continued moving until he was several meters before crouching low to the ground and taking in his surroundings.

At the exact moment that he stopped moving, Linnaeus felt a chill run up his spine as the voice, once again, echoed in his ear, "Oho...you're quite skittish, aren't you~? That only makes me want to tease you, you know~?"

This time around, Linnaeus slowly turned his head until he was looking over his shoulder. Other than plumes of smoke, there was nothing at all anywhere near his body. Then, with his head still turned, Linnaeus now heard a laugh, this time from in front of him. When he turned his head, however, there was, yet again, nothing at all.

After several long seconds of sensuous and cold laughter, the voice whispered in his ear once again, this time causing a warm airflow to tickle his earlobe as it said, "Your reactions are quite nice...but I'm afraid I can't stay around to play for too long..."

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Once the woman's words had fallen, Linnaeus felt a sensation against his ear, almost as if someone had licked him with a piece of sandpaper. This caused him to roll forward evasively, eliciting another round of laughter from the unseen woman.

With his mind racing, Linnaeus resisted his urge to run away and instead lay down on the ground facing towards the endless black abyss above. As a result, the laughter coming from behind him vanished in its entirety, replaced by absolute silence. He had already guessed that the voice's owner was the Floor Guardian but, as she reminded him a lot of Skaadi, the predatory Vulna woman who had tried to kill him in his youth, he couldn't help but react adversely.

For several tense seconds, no sound reached Linnaeus' ears, causing him to release a sigh of relief before hesitantly rolling into a seated position. This time, despite the voice still sending shivers up his spine, he managed to keep his composure since it would be foolish of him to ignore the words of a Floor Guardian when he had no idea what was going on.

Fortunately, the voice didn't seem annoyed by his attempts to avoid hearing her as, the moment he was seated upright, he felt it tickle his ear as she explained, "This is the Eighth Floor of the Crucible of Souls. It is where those who have lost their lives due to various circumstances are gathered. At the end of your life, I heard your wish so I have decided to give you a second chance. You will have to put in a lot of effort but, if you can reach the top Floor of my dominion, you will be able to resume your climb in the Tower. Better yet, you will even have the chance to receive a special reward...work hard, little boy. Don't let your life be wasted this time around, okay~?"

Feeling another dry sensation against his ear, Linnaeus winced in annoyance before waiting for the voice to explain what he needed to do in order to reach the next Floor. Unfortunately, even after a full minute in silence, the only sounds to reach him were the smoldering of flames and the billowing of smoke. This made him turn his eyes to the information panel of his system but, other than the value representing the amount of Soul Kindling he had, nothing had changed.

With no alternatives, Linnaeus decided to do what he always did in such situations: try to gather as much information as possible. This was an inhospitable land but there had to be sustenance or, at the very least, water. Without this, there was no chance anyone would be able to reach the top Floor unless they had a powerful combat-oriented Blessing.

Though he couldn't be certain, the Tower seemed to have the means to balance things so that support and utility Blessings weren't at a complete disadvantage. This meant there had to be a way to survive and reach the next Floor without strictly relying on combat against other Fledglings. Thus, with the only landmark being a range of mountains in the distance, Linnaeus steeled his resolve as he began a long and arduous trek through the fiery wasteland.

Linnaeus still remembered his conviction toward the end of his life so, this time around, he swore he would try harder. The fact he had left behind his sister and Saht on such pathetic terms had been a wakeup call for him, one that came, unfortunately, after he already died. Since he wasn't likely to get a third chance, Linnaeus sword he would live his second life to the fullest extent of his capabilities.