35 Eye Opening

Linnaeus was not familiar with the origin of the phrase but, among those who lived in the darkness of society, there was a well-known creed. It stated that discretion was the better part of valor and, no matter how confident you were in your skills, bravery without due caution was akin to inviting death upon yourself.

Only ten minutes after entering what he assumed was the Seventh Floor, Linnaeus pressed his body against the ground, his breathing withheld.

Less than five meters from his position, a large quadrupedal creature that stood more than three meters tall and seven meters long idled about as it ate the fruit from a tree. Its body was covered in thick scales and, while it had a tapered waist, its limbs rippled with powerful muscles. What stood out the most, however, were its fierce claws and the terrifying reptilian maw at the end of its serpentine neck.

If not for the fact it lacked wings, Linnaeus would have believed it if someone told him the creature lackadaisically eating some kind of gourd-shaped fruit was a Dragon. It even had a series of horns forming a crown-like shape above its brow, each covered in ridges that flared out before curving backward.

Though you couldn't accurately determine the strength of a creature by appearance alone, Linnaeus' instincts told him the dragon-like monster to his front would tear him apart. He felt like a tiny animal in the presence of its natural predator so, despite his health slowly reducing, he continued holding his breath while doing everything in his power to conceal his presence...

After eating all of the low-hanging fruits, the dragon-like creature nudged its head against the tree's trunk, seemingly without any strength behind its actions. Despite this, the tree fell over as if its roots didn't exist, allowing the monster to lazily begin eating the now-accessible fruits.

At this point, Linnaeus could feel the veins in his face painfully pulsing as his health steadily neared a critical level. Since it didn't seem like the monster was going to be leaving any time soon, he had to decide whether or not he should fight, or flee. The latter seemed to be the most prudent choice but, with the dragon's muscles rippling with even small movements, combined with its streamlined form, he had no confidence in being able to outrun it.

Just as he was psyching himself up for the coming battle, Linnaeus exhaled before drawing in a sharp breath as, right before his eyes, something inexplicable happened.

Appearing from the sky like a meteor, a man with spiky blue hair and a muscular build landed on the unsuspecting dragon-like creature, his spear piercing through its lowered head in a single swift blow. Immediately following this, a shockwave rippled outward, passing over Linnaeus' body and sending a rustling wave through the surrounding flora.

Linnaeus watched as the man extricated his spear from the monster's skull with a confident smile on his face. He then preceded to brandish his spear, discarding the purplish blood and creamy brain matter before shouldering it and waiting patiently.

After a few seconds, the body of the monster began to lose its color before, moments later, it began to dissolve away into ash. When it faded away completely, a few items were left behind in its wake, the most notable being an orange gemstone. The rest of the items looked like materials that could be harvested from the monster, confusing Linnaeus as every other monster he killed had left an intact corpse behind...

Fortunately, after looting the materials, the man closed his eyes for a few moments before looking toward the northwest. Then, leaving a stunned Linnaeus behind, he flexed his legs before leaping into the sky with enough force to cause the ground to erupt with a delayed explosion.

Rather than assume he was in the clear, Linnaeus quickly bounded to his feet before running in the complete opposite direction to the man's leap. He didn't know the nature of the spear-wielding man but, if they were to come to blows, Linnaeus could easily imagine his body skewered on the end of his ornate spear.

With his heart racing faster than a skittish rabbit, Linnaeus moved several kilometers before finding a small nook near the base of a large tree. He immediately slid into the shadow crevasse before taking several labored breaths to calm down.

Though he was admittedly spooked, it wasn't fear that caused Linnaeus to behave this way. It was the overwhelming cocktail of chemicals and adrenaline pumping through his veins after mustering up his courage, only to have something completely unexpected happen. He felt like one of the trade vessels that would periodically pass through the main channels of the slums but, rather than swiftly coasting with the wind, it was like a large cannonball had smashed through his sails.

After calming himself down, Linnaeus released a heavy sigh before muttering, "At least I was able to learn a lot..."

Not only had he confirmed the presence of other people on this Floor but, with the strength of the man, he could assume that people from Floors higher than 10 were also trapped in the Crucible of Souls. His display of power and speed made Ryuuna seem like an actual child, dwarfing his own by several orders of magnitude.

If his guess was accurate, Linneaus felt there was a chance he would be able to obtain information about the higher Floors and their challenges. Assuming he had to start his climb anew, it would be extremely useful to know what kinds of challenges awaited him. He could also further strengthen his foundation, putting him at, or even above, the Level of other Fledglings...

Though he had already been determined to reach the top of the Crucible of Souls, Linnaeus now felt even more motivated than before. So long as he played his cards right, there was a chance he would even be able to reach the top of the rankings in his respective group. This didn't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things but, if his ranking was high, that made it a lot easier to recruit other people into his own Party.

After organizing his thoughts, Linnaeus began trekking through the forest once again. He wanted to try and find animals and monsters closer to his Level as, despite the color being different, he felt that the orange gemstone was fundamentally the same as the red. It was slightly bigger and seemed to be of a higher quality so he assumed it granted more than a single Soul Kindling.

He never had the chance to use them, but Linnaeus felt that Soul Kindling was the same as Aether, meaning it was a currency that could be used if the circumstances allowed. He assumed this was the means by which those with support and utility Blessings climbed higher as, if they were able to set up shop somewhere, they could offer their services for Soul Kindling.

While he had yet to see any signs that this was the case, Linnaeus felt that there had to be some kind of settlement on the Floor. There was no time limit given by the Floor Guardian so he assumed there were a number of people who had gathered together over time. As he went higher up, he imagined the number of people would gradually increase as it was undoubtedly more difficult to pass through higher Floors.

Linnaeus didn't get his hopes up but, after growing up in the slums, he knew people could find a way to live in even the most inhospitable environments. This forest had food, water, and a means to earn Soul Kindling so, if his assumptions proved correct, it was only natural that people would have gathered together somewhere...

Though his [Perception] was only LV14, Linnaeus was able to sense the presence of a relatively weak monster near his location. This brought his mind to a razor-sharp focus and, with his [Stealth] having been active from the start, he was able to near the unsuspecting monster undetected.

Rather than a monster, the creature Linnaeus encountered looked like some kind of mutated deer with a complex array of antlers. If not for the scales covering the lower half of its legs, and the blood-red eyes, he would have assumed it was some kind of animal, not a monster.

With a slight smile on his face, Linnaeus extended his hand, creating a spherical barrier within the complex antlers. In the same instant, he created a second barrier to use as a platform, exploiting its ability to completely nullify sound.

After discovering a foreign object in its antlers, the monster began shaking its head to try and free the obstruction but, due to the small range of motion, it couldn't build up enough force to break the spherical barrier. Linnaeus had learned in the past that the shape of a barrier had a direct influence on its strength so, by creating a sphere, it was hard for a lot of direct force to act on the surface all at once.

While the deer-like monster was distracted, Linnaeus thrust his shortsword into its soft-looking gut before shaking the handle with as much force as he could manage. This caused the monster's health to rapidly drop as blood cascaded down like a fountain due to the ever-increasing size of the wound.

In response to the sudden attack the monster tried to buck and kick at Linnaeus but, while it did a surprising amount of damage, his [Barrier Aura] held up well. Thus, after a few seconds had passed, its legs could no longer support it as it collapsed to the ground.

With the spherical barrier in its antlers, the head of the monster was still propped up, exposing its neck as it hung limply from the relatively small blue sphere. This allowed Linnaeus to cut across its neck.

Before the monster dissolved away into ash, Linnaeus tried to cut out a large chunk of its flesh to see if he could deposit it into his Inventory. This experiment ultimately ended in failure as, rather than be placed in his Inventory, the cut of meat immediately burst apart violently, covering his barrier in fine white ash.

Linnaeus wasn't upset by his inability to harvest additional resources from the monster as, with their bodies dissolving away, he didn't have to worry about dismantling their corpses. He also didn't have to worry about other monsters following the scent of blood to track him down as, despite a thick coating present on his sword, even that ultimately turned to ash.

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When the deer-like monster vanished completely, it left a perfect piece of brown hide behind. Far more surprising than this, however, were the three pieces of meat that were neatly placed on its surface. At their side, a slightly larger red gemstone than the one he had looted previously was present.

After placing the supplies into his Inventory, Linnaeus picked up the red gemstone and, after it burst into small motes of light, his Soul Kindling increased by a value of 35. From this, he confirmed that, at the very least, his speculation regarding the orange gemstone was correct.

Now that he knew there were monsters he could fight against on the Floor, Linnaeus was even more determined than ever before. He just needed to find a safe place to stay and a source of fresh water before this particular Floor became a veritable paradise to him. If he exercised due caution, he might even be able to increase his Level considerably before moving on to the next Floor...

With expectation flashing across his ruby-red eyes, Linnaeus allowed a smile to spread itself across his face as he, once again, disappeared into the underbrush. While there were undoubtedly people and monsters that could kill him in an instant, Linnaeus felt that, more than most, he knew how to live and maneuver amongst entities far more powerful than himself. Thus, until the situation forced him to make a change, he decided this Floor would serve the purpose of stabilizing his foundation so that nothing could stand in his way in the future...

Turning his head towards the direction where the spear-wielding man had killed the dragon-like monster, Linnaeus squinted his eyes slightly before muttering, "I'll set my current goal as being strong enough to kill one of those monsters in an instant...I wonder what dragon meat tastes like?"