I return to the team and tell them my time limit given by my guardian has increased to as well as what he had told me about it being a random chance one, we decide to start as soon as everyone has on their gear and their basic supplies.
---Your team leader has chosen to go to the thirteenth floor, if you agree to the test do so if anyone disagrees then you will not be able to begin the test.
[Yes]
[No]
{Choosing no will make it so you can't attempt it for another week}---
We agree and are teleported to a massive forest area with foliage all over it is clearly early morning, the systems prompt comes.
---The task is to catch the gale dear when there packs come within your set boarders, you have been given a team flag and will put it in the ground in the area you believe the most will appear and can only move within a ten mile radius of your flag. If two teams flags overlap you have the right to team up or overtake the other teams hunting ground causing the other team to lose while teaming up means you split the amount both side catches equally. The team or teams with the most deer caught by the end of the task will be rewarded ten tower coins and one less coin for each placement lower on the rankings. The task time will be decided based off the consistent strength of all competitors on the floor, time given two weeks you may not hunt until your team flag has been placed down.---
We look at our spot and decide not to settle there, gale deer are more like goats then deer in that their favorite locations are on the sides of cliffs and mountains meaning we will have to climb if we want an optimal spot, but can't take to long or the others will get a big lead on us.
We head away from the spot the wind is blowing as it is warm air and that means the mountains will be in the opposite direction, so we walk for the next ten hours out of the forest and up the Tepui mountain side which is steep and has a near straight slope making us use rope and hooks to prevent falling or people trying to make us fall.
We arrive at the top by dusk and head to a location with flowing water nearby when I release energy to try and detect any creature nearby as if there are gale dear already nearby it would be good when I notice that the vines growing nearby are covering a hole.
"Is that a dip spot, Conner because if it is we should get away there is a chance of something else being here and then gale dear won't come even if it is optimal." I say.
"We need to move, Aadi is right there is a massive dip hole covered by foliage only a mile and a half from our position, no matter how good this spot is prey won't walk into a predators territory, we have to find another place." Conner agrees with me and we all head out to look for a place with no potential predators.
We spend until midnight when we find a perfectly flat place with a small trickle of underground water and completely rid of any holes for over 20 miles around us, it is the best we can get without finding there mating grounds and they would run and not come back if a unknown entered the mating grounds.
We set up camp and finally put our flag down in the center of the good spot we found, the white flag turns black with a white swirl that looked like a flower but also like a galaxy.
We all look at it in surprise as we had expected it to remain white, but I guess it is to discern different teams from each other, it is clearly a design specifically made for our team as we have a void person so it fits. Why it has a somewhat flower look to it is probably just for aesthetic purposes or maybe Kian.
Anyway we are now ready to start hunting come dawn when the dear come out for the time to graze and drink up before they head to the cliff side to fly.
They are a wind based species and will fly in the air during the day to avoid predators on the mountain only landing for ten minutes to eat and drink once every five hours before returning to there breeding grounds to look for mates.
The are almost hardly on the ground besides for food, water, and breeding and attacking them while breeding will just cause them to abandon that location, but they can't be that picky with food and water as they only stop flying when their bodies are about to collapse do to consistent energy usage and eat wind flowers to restore energy and need water nearby to keep their bodies warm using their innate internal water heating abilities to not freeze in the air.
So they can only land in places with both and if they know a predator isn't somewhere in particular they land there consistently, this place has no predator and plenty of food and enough water to last them till their next landing.
They will without a doubt land here and as long as we only kill one or two they will keep coming back until alternative landing ground can be found as they are a species of pattern.
We will know if this is true only when the sun rises.
Dawn comes and the we wait looking at the sky with our stuff hidden away so as not to scare them off before they even land, only an hour after dusk a deer appears but we wait killing it now would signal a predator is here and the rest will not land but go somewhere else potentially even another groups hunting spot.
We wait until all the early morning ones take to the air and watch, we need them to keep coming here for the next two weeks and the best way to do that is to let this become a safe spot from other teams, when the hunting is about to end then we will kill those that come in one fell swoop like a net catching a large batch. We do have to make sure no other competitors will be here and kill them as although we know there weren't any when we set up some could still appear over the next two days.
We spend the first two days just watching and waiting looking as more and more came as their previous safe spots were most likely claimed by other tower people who started to hunt them, it grew from only about ten on the first day to fifty by the end of the second day.
By the end of the first week we had easily a herd of 200 here and we waited until the middle of the second week before we began our hunt of them, I enhanced Terrance to make it so his barrier could cover most of the herd of 250 deer. We wait until a majority are eating and surround them from all sides, and pounce killing all the deer in the shield unable to run away in the ten minutes I could keep his shield enhanced we kill 243 deer with about 14 deer having escaped do to not being able to block their escape.
We will without a doubt win this game, so the last half of the week past by with ease as we have pretty much secured victory.
---Your team has killed the most gale deer, rewarding ten tower coins to all members, your team will now be sent to the next floor when ready---
[Team Asher:
Contribution list:
1st-Terrance
2nd-Aadi
3rd-Wyatt
(Expand to see full list)
Team ranking:
1st-Team Asher
2nd-Team Donner
3rd-Team Caelestis
(Expand to see full list)]
Returning to the team rooms I immediately return home to report to Lucien my success and that we have decided to wait 3 days before heading onto the next floor. Going to my room I can't deny my joy, 3 months after turning eighteen I am on the thirteenth floor with having gotten consistent first place in every floor.
I am feeling amazing but I know I will have to leave the team when we reach around the twentieth floor as I will be to near advancement to continue with any team.
I will most likely have to go solo from that floor onward.
I return to the tower 3 days later to start the fourteenth floor, it is a survival floor where if you feel you can't make it you can forfeit the floor for nothing unlike in most cases where you have to pay 100 tower coins to cancel a floor for the team.
Of course that is only if you forfeit fast enough not to die while if you do die you will have to pay ten coins to respawn on the floor.
It is a rule made by the tower to prevent people from doing a having more information then others on the floor, although it only applies after the tenth floor most teams if they fail are stuck on the floor until they succeed like with the eleventh floor.
---Your team leader has chosen to go to the fourteenth floor, if you agree to the test do so if anyone disagrees then you will not be able to begin the test.
[Yes]
[No]
{Choosing no will make it so you can't attempt it for another week}---
We spawn in at a desert cave with a massive sand storm happening outside, there is 10 teams in the cave including theirs and all of them have on the same stuff, looks like it doesn't let you bring your own stuff this time.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
--- Have half your team survive a week in a deserted location with only enough to last enough one day, you have been provided a knife and a blanket along with one nutrients potion and a bottle of water. The team able to find civilization first will be the team awarded 10 tower coins, one less coin will be given to each consecutive team that finds it afterwards. No one is allowed to kill each other during this task, teams can join up to survive but at least half of all teams allied must be alive to count and the reward will be split evenly amongst the allied teams.---
We immediately see other teams relax as there will be no competition between us on this floor, we wait to see who is going to team up, a few approach us but we reject as more people means more supplies needed to survive.
We head out an hour later along with most other teams after the sandstorm has calmed down so as to look at the situation, Conner will come in great help this game as the amount of water around is low so any water at all in this environment will stand out like a sore thumb. The clothes we have been given is a basic white turban, long white pants and long sleeve white shirt with a thin pack at our waist with our potion, water bottle, and a blanket.
We head in the direction were Conner can sense some more water in the air at, as the first day passes and night comes the temperature drops so we make a small camp.
Temperature doesn't bother most cultivators so it is fine for most of them but I am slightly cold, not enough to be a problem or require attention but it is most definitely uncomfortable to go from hot to cold like this after not feeling the temperatures for so long.
We only take the next day and a half to find a village but will not know if we are the first until the week is up, with 2 and a half days over we thank those at the location for their hospitality and eat and drink some food that we had not had for the past day, although we don't need it it is best to remain at the top of our strength encase of monsters.
The next two days are simple helping the villagers with getting water from the oasis nearby to herding animals that they own like camels and goats, while helping them fix things up.
The 5th day of our survival here is when another team shows up and with a large crowd of desert worms chasing them, desert worms are surface dwellers that lay just under the sand and eat whatever walks over top of them. they live in packs of ten and are about a mile long and 10 feet thick.
They are considered a low mid rank monster due to their ability to disappear and surprise people but they are thin skinned and are easy to kill as they are large targets with easy to puncture bodies, but are still difficult because you need to severe the head to kill it.
We deal with the worms and go back to doing things as we had previously.
By day seven we are perfectly healthy and have no trouble with survival due to being in a village, so we wait to see our rank in the task.
---Your team is the first to find civilization, rewarding ten tower coins to all members, your team will now be sent to the next floor when ready---
[Team Asher:
Contribution list:
1st-Conner
2nd-Wyatt
3rd-Adrian
(Expand to see full list)
Team ranking:
1st-Team Asher
2nd-Team Callous Wanderers
3rd-Team Flash Dragons
(Expand to see full list)]
I tell Lucien I am back and immediately return to the team, we had not had any problems or trouble with the last floor so have decided to continue to the next floor.
---Your team leader has chosen to go to the fifteenth floor, if you agree to the test do so if anyone disagrees then you will not be able to begin the test.
[Yes]
[No]
{Choosing no will make it so you can't attempt it for another week}---
We all agree and head to the next floor, I appear in a suit and tie in a massive ball room filled with ostentatiously dressed men and women.
---Your team is to find each other without other climbers discovering you, there are ten teams and over 100,000 guest at the party to celebrate the new kings coronation. The team with the least members discovered while having found the most of other teams will be rewarded ten tower coins, failure to find three of your own team mates will see your team fail the task. You have the week of the coronation celebration to hide and find others.---
Looking at my lower then most clothes and where I am at I know I am meant to be a low grade noble and a loner at that, meaning remaining alone is my best call as if I suddenly change personality now those nearby may notice and get suspicious of me.
Remaining alone in this back corner for the next hour staying alone and not looking at others when a trumpet blows from the staircase as a man with blonde hair and gold eyes descends with a white suit covered in gold accents and a red shoulder cape. A gold crown rest on his head and he is undeniably handsome with a stern yet still not off putting look, he is clearly powerful and capable with a sword hanging at his waist.
He descends and all bow to him, me included it is easy to guess who he is after all and not bowing is a sure way to get identified quickly.
I stay low as the man walks to the throne set up on a stage and sits the man next to him then speaks, "You may rise and give your greetings to his majesty." I am a low grade noble meaning I will be in the middle of the pack to go up leaving military personnel to go first and high standing nobles to go last.
I wait until someone just slightly better dressed then me rises before doing so myself, I have caught 17 people who did not go in order properly and were without a doubt tower climbers as no one invited to a kings birthday wouldn't not know etiquette to a degree it has become instinct as it could mean upsetting the king or high standing nobles.
I walk up behind him and stop 50 feet away and get on a kneeling bow as is required for those in lower position while those in higher positions are allowed to bow standing and bow less if they are high enough.
I return to the corner from where I came from once those of my group where excused I am a loner noble with low standing but very high etiquette or I would not be allowed here so I must remain that. Another two hours and the dining hall is opened for dinner party and I enter in the middle of the pack again.
Sitting in the designated seat is tricky but my name is written on the letter we must present entering the dining room to prevent anyone from sneaking in as a guest, I am named Ali Diya from a up coming noble family whose brother is a high standing soldier who lacked enough etiquette to come so was most likely sent in his place to make a good example.
His twin brother is serving directly under the current king in his kings guard and has fought bravely on the front line, or so the letter indicated and I know it is not me as I lack calluses and a twin because I am the same age as the person and I saw the face in the mirror.
I am without a doubt in the same age range and they wouldn't send someone underage here so twins is the best alternative, I know it is not identical as it talks of him being quiet a renown bastard swordsmen and I lack the muscles for such a thing and the body type is clearly a more thin muscle based body then a muscle builder one.
Taking my seat in the end middle area were only a few sat further back then me, and most of those that sat on the opposite side of the king were dukes and their heirs.
I eat with perfect manners and grace while slight chatter occurs between those of similar enough standing, two more people are picked out by me for talking to those slightly to high on the picking order, one being Bree meaning I have found one team member.
She is a mid ranking noble talking to a noble two positions over her with her being the one to start the conversation, I have got 19 out of 100 people just on the first day but it is on the first day that you will catch the more amateurish people it will be much harder to catch others until they slip or do something out of line for who they are.
The dinner ends and all are sent to rooms some escorted some told their room placements based off their hierarchal ranking, I am told to a decent room with a bathroom attached and a double bed clearly the lowest grade room for a noble but much better then a servants room.
I wash my body using cold water this body is from is from a knights family and those that undergo such training often are used to such baths as to soothe their sore muscles.
I change into the basic pajamas and use the lower grade towels in the room, before heading to bed with the windows closed. I wake early the next morning and change into combat practice clothes before asking a servant for the room where I may practice.
Entering a room clearly meant for knight training however and with knights already practicing I know that maid is likely to be a climbers as no one expects guest to train with their own men.
Bowing in respect to the knights I ask for a room I may practice in and they point me to an old practice room no longer in use but kept clean for in case of use, entering I begin a swordsmen workout as I have no doubt this body is meant to be one if not a high grade one as his body heals the calluses before they can appear so he practices for about an hour a day to keep up his body but no more.
Finishing my hour practice I return to the room to take a cold bath and change to formal but not party clothes as I will be expected to greet my brothers comrades while here.
Entering the side hall meant for visitors I ask to be allowed to meet my brothers team so as to give respects and my brothers well wishes from his rest at home, he is clearly off do to injury as that is the only reason a soldier would be sent home except a child and the owner does not have a photo of anyone but his parents and brother in his suitcase.
I enter the training hall to give my respects but stop and bow on my knee as there in the room is the king, he is sparring with them and so I remain down until he allows me to rise.
"You can cease bowing, what is your purpose here." His voice is smooth and light with a hard edge to it.
"I am here to give my respects and greetings from my brother to his comrades." I say but the energy in the room feels different like it is going through something, I have felt this before only once when Wyatt is nearby.
I get up and stay put, 'you may give your greetings I was checking in on training." He says and then leaves the room taking the familiar mana pattern with him, most would not notice but my purity makes ma notice even the smallest of difference in the surrounding area.
The king is Wyatt, I now have 20 out of 100 guessed and two team members down, I stay and talk for the next thirty minutes then excuse myself so as not to continue disturbing their training.
I find the odd mana and wait in the hallway till he comes and he is alone unlike earlier, "Wyatt might want to cover your energy better, I am Aadi." I can see his surprise at my ability to identify him but he nods his head in understanding but no change occurs.
He is most likely unable to control it.
I spend lunch in the garden at a luncheon with those at my status level when a woman with long red hair approaches us and asks for me, I bow in greeting and follow her.
"Your brother is a talented man and I hope to get your impression on him marrying a women of much higher class, I know many mind such a thing as it is seen as climbing the ladder using a women's weakness but what would your parents or brother feel of it." She asks me in a very blunt manner.
I feel nothing but respect for the woman but must stay in character, and my character is a low standing noble from a knights house, they would never approve.
"I am sorry if this seems rude of me but my brother is an honorable man and holds his reputation in high regards he would not agree to it and neither would my parents as they are quite tough on him." I feel guilty but know it is the truth.
I can see the sad look on her face but also the understanding look of someone who figured as much, she thanks me and leaves.
Dressing up again the ball in the main hall has started once more and I go back to my corner to wait out once more. Like that the days pass, I catch 22 more people but that is only 42 out of 100 and there is no guarantee I have not been spotted myself.
Come the last day I still only have 42 people on my list and have found Bree, Wyatt, and Adrian who slipped up a day ago while serving glasses.
When the task finishes at midnight the announcement comes.
---All members have identified at least three other members of your group, only three have been identified by other teams, all teams that failed to pass will be removed from right to get coins. Your team has the least identified, rewarding ten tower coins to all members, your team will now be sent to the next floor when ready---
[Team Asher:
Contribution list:
1st-Aadi
2nd-Conner
3rd-Pierce
(Expand to see full list)
Team ranking:
1st-Team Asher
2nd-Team Xenon
3rd-Team Ilmarinen
(Expand to see full list)]
Heading home I sleep away the time due to the mental strain caused by pretending to be someone else.