Chapter 70

The platform moved up smoothly and easily, ascending at a comfortable pace. Jake observed its dimensions, noting its smaller size compared to the expansive shaft. The platform wasn’t connected to anything, being powered solely by magic. Jake tipped his head back to gaze at the long dark shaft above. It extended to the highest floor, but he doubted the platform would take him to the very top in one go. It would most likely make intermittent stops on each successive floor along its ascent.

Just as he expected, the platform ascended to the second floor and came to a halt. The four runes etched into the corners dimmed without completely fading away, casting ethereal light in the dimly lit surroundings of the shaft. The elevator door was missing, leaving behind a gaping opening. He stepped through it into a corridor, immediately tensing and getting ready to fight. He jerked his head one way, then another, but there were no enemies in sight. Each end of the corridor stretched out before him, devoid of any threats. No sound reached his ears from anywhere. The complete silence that enveloped him was eerie.

Jake briefly glanced over his shoulder. The platform remained at the same level, each of the runes emitting a faint bluish glow. The platform would likely stay at the same spot, waiting for him to eliminate all the threats on the floor before transporting him to the subsequent one. Only where were the mutants he had to kill? Jake looked around once again. Picking a random direction, he began to sneak along the corridor, moving silently and gracefully like the predator he was.

As he advanced a few more steps into the corridor, his acute sense of hearing caught a low hum. It seemed to come from all around him at once. The air suddenly felt electrified as well. Jake froze in his tracks, unsure of what was going on and what to expect.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings and noticed a strange occurrence on the wall to his right. A sudden burst of eerie light revealed a vertical tear forming, which turned out to be a magical portal. As the opening widened, clawed hands emerged followed by the face of an ex-human walker with a menacing grin full of jagged teeth. As the magical tear expanded even more, the mutant emerged fully from the portal and charged directly toward him across the width of the corridor.

Jake lurched toward the enemy. He swiped its extended hands aside, stabbing the creature’s chest with his sword all the way through. The blade erupted through the back of the monster, splattering the wall behind it with dark blood. He yanked the sword out of the mutant’s body, and it collapsed to the floor, dead.

In his expansive field of vision, Jake spotted numerous mystical rifts unfurling along the walls on both sides of him. More portals appeared on the floor, and mutants were already emerging from within them as well. A sudden movement above caught his eye, and as he gazed upward, he saw another gateway tearing through the ceiling. A mutant’s form momentarily projected from the opening before plummeting to the ground with a heavy thud. The creature rose to its feet and turned toward him, its gaping maw exposing rows of razor-sharp teeth as it emitted a piercing shriek. Despite its menacing display, it was merely a standard walker.

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A message emerged in his mind.

Wave 1 has started!

Targets killed: 1 out of 15

All the mutants that emerged from the portals immediately dashed toward Jake from all directions. All of them were low-level walkers, though, presenting no real challenge to him. It took him just a few minutes to deal with them all. Each of the portals had disappeared in a few seconds after disgorging a monster.

Multiple enemies killed! +150 XP

Wave 1 complete!

Wave 2 will initiate in 59 seconds.

This was definitely very different from what he’d experienced on the first floor. Jake wondered how many waves of enemies he would need to fight off. Utilizing the respite, he took a moment to review his current experience level.

XP: 720/1375

He was halfway to earning a level-up, having accumulated 550 XP on the first floor and 150 XP on the second. With the second floor not yet completed, there was a chance he could level up before finishing it.

It wasn’t long before portals once again began to materialize all around him on the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. Most of the enemies were walkers, but among them, he also noticed a couple of leapers.

Wave 2 has started!

Targets killed: 0 out of 25

Jake slashed and pierced, hacked and stabbed, killing mutants one after another while easily dodging their attacks. As soon as he took care of the fresh bunch of monsters, yet another wave was announced. For the next several minutes, Jake fought off one group after another, easily dispatching the fresh mutants the system hurled his way.

Refusing to stay in the same spot, Jake was in constant motion, navigating through the corridors and rooms of the second floor. Upon discovering a large, vacant room that appeared to have been a conference room in the past, he noted its ample space for maneuvering. Recognizing the tactical advantage it offered, Jake chose to make his stand within that room.

The final, third, wave consisted of thirty mutants, mostly walkers and a couple of leapers. It proved to be the most difficult compared to the previous ones. The reason for that was a shambler that emerged from one of the portals. Not that Jake had much trouble with the last wave. Since the shambler was pretty slow, he first dealt with all the faster walkers and leapers before giving his full attention to the huge mutant.

When its bulky body bleeding from numerous wounds Jake had inflicted on it collapsed to the floor, a final message emerged in his mind.

Floor 2 cleared! You can now proceed to the next one.

Contrary to his expectation, he hadn’t leveled up yet, which surprised him. When he checked his XP, he saw he was almost there, though.

XP: 1365/1375

He literally needed just one lousy walker to level up to eleven. He then checked the current status of the challenge.

Tower Climb Progression

Floors: 2/10

Remaining Time: 5 hours, 21 minutes, 15 seconds

It had taken him half an hour to complete Floor 2 in the Tower Climb challenge, a considerably longer amount of time compared to the shift completion of the first floor. It meant that the challenge had only just started in earnest, and the difficulty would only increase with each subsequent floor, just as he’d expected.

Jake made his way back to the platform in the elevator shaft. As he stepped onto it, the four sigils glowed brighter, signaling its activation for the ascent to the next floor. With Jake’s weight fully on the platform, it automatically initiated its ascent to the next level.