"Beautiful."

Rey was captivated by the scene in front of him.

The calm magical energy that filled the floor started to churn. Its movement became a breeze and then a strong wind. It reached its climax and a maelstrom appeared in front of Rey. He knew what phenomenon was happening.

Blip...

At that moment a small sphere of light appeared where the maelstrom condensed. The ball of light was small, the size of a person's fist. However, it was slowly but surely growing in size.

The light was akin to a living being as it started to pull the ambient energy around it. The light continued to expand in size. It had grown to the size of a human.

Bzzzzzzzzt...

The cry of a beast emanated from the ball of light. In front of Rey, something crawled out of the light. The size of the beast corresponded to the sizeable light. It was as big as an average human. The beast had wings that protruded from its back. Its belly was striped yellow and black with a stinger found at the tip. Its compound eyes were observing the area around it, mainly the human in front of it.

It finished surveying its surrounds and went on its way. It flew to the nearest tree flower and started feeding itself.

Rey admired the creation of the beast. The phenomena rarely occurred outside of an Energy Surge, he was lucky he got to witness the birth of a monster. He spaced out for a bit before remembering what he had to do.

'48th floor, here I come.'

After eating with Maki he bid his farewell and entered the hunting grounds. He was currently in the Floral Forest of the 49th floor.

'Should I hunt one more of those Mantis'?'

He pondered for a while.

'Maki will just scold me again.'

He decided against hunting another mantis. One earful from Maki was enough for the week.

Unlike the last floor which had a huge tree in the center as an entrance to the next floor. The 49th floor had many entrances that lead to the following floor. They were virtually everywhere if one knew where to look.

In front of Rey lay a huge flower. Unlike the flowers who stood tall like trees this one was humbly lying on the ground. It had no stems or leaves found in normal flowers. It was connected to the ground by its roots.

The petals were colored pastel purple and looked translucent, It's size was similar to a plane's wing. Pulsing white veins could be found scattered on the surface of the petals giving it a magical vibe.

Hundreds of these petals surrounded a round center. A yellow translucent barrier shaped like a dome covered the center of the flower. If one estimated how many people could fit inside the flower's center, a total of 30 people could fit with enough space to lie down.

Rey entered the dome. Inside the dome was a liquid like substance that filled the center, it was the reason why the barrier was yellow. The liquid embraced Rey and bubbles started to come out of his nose and mouth.

'This is very weird.'

He could breathe inside the liquid, he wasn't use to this sensation. He felt like he was being choked by the liquid, but at the same time it was giving him fresh air to breathe. It was a weird feeling.

He circulated energy throughout his body. The liquid reacted to the energy and it's color change from yellow to a blue hue. It started to glow faintly.

He saw shadows slowly covering him. He peered outside and saw the petals slowly rising up to cover the dome.

They folded and wrapped around the center, from the gaps one could see faint light escaping from them. From the outside it looked like a lotus flower bud.

After a few moments the petals started to unwind and lay on the ground once more. The barrier was yellow again and Rey who was inside it was gone.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Vwishhhhhhhh....

In the 48th floor, a similar looking flower bloomed open and spat out Rey.

"Huff, Hufff....I...hate...how...you...enter..this...floor..."

He was gasping for air and was having a hard time speaking. The transition from breathing under water to breathing air confused his lungs. He felt like a fish out of water.

He stood up and checked himself. His clothes were surprisingly dry, some patches of grass and dirt were found all around his body. This time he was carrying a backpack filled with water and food, he checked inside it everything was fine except the crackers he was looking forward to eat while walking were crushed. A frown appeared on his face he cursed the flower that forcefully ejected him out of it.

He surveyed his surroundings and none looked familiar to him. He inhaled deeply and spoke confidently.

"I'm lost."

The environment of the 48th floor was a rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees. Fairly tall brownish grass that reached until his knees covered the entire field in patches. It was a Savannah.

A bead of sweat started to form on his forehead. The floor was humid and warm, his skin felt sticky. He was currently lost in the floor.

'The flower usually spits me out somewhere else. Where the hell is this?'

He was confused and excited at the same time. He nonchalantly shrugged and exhaled deeply, anticipation present in his eyes,

'Good adventures start with people getting lost.'

The problem he had with the Savannah is every place looked virtually the same in his eyes. He wont know if he's getting somewhere or going around in circles.

He gathered sticks and set up a landmark around the flower. He would go back there if he couldn't find any other exits. The landmark was crudely built. It was just long sticks tied together by dry grass with a cross present at the top. He admired his own genius and planted the pole like structure on the ground. It was taller than him at two meters long.

After placing his landmark. He walked in one direction, he did not know what direction it was.

A smile was present on his face as he traversed the land. He would look in the distance and he would spot dark beads that were moving. They were beasts that were grazing on the dry grass.

THUMP! THUMP!

He looked at where the sound was originating from. He saw a huge beast that was jumping around, careless of the dangers around it. The beast had a pair of two long ears that stood on its head. It barely had any neck, it's head protruded above its shoulder like a tumor. Its eyes were like black beads and it carried a small triangular nose similar to a rabbit. It sported brown fur with dark spots scattered around its body.

It was bipedal. It carried four large front limbs that had blunt claws. Strong and large hind legs supported its weight as it leaped around the field. Its size was similar to an elephant.

He approached the beast and caressed its fur. It flinched at first and started to relax. It nuzzled up against him.

'Odd Rabbit.'

He thought of the species of the beast. The name fit it well. The beast was mostly docile and will flee if attacked. Their sheer size scares off most of the predators in the Savannah.

'This one seems to enjoy human company, does it have an owner?'

He scanned the beast for a collar or a brand, but he found none. He inferred that hunters probably played with this rabbit in between hunts.

'A hunter settlement must be near.'

He thought while stroking the rabbit's fur. On even floors a phenomenon called "Null Space" appeared. They were spots where magical energy is non existent. Beasts whose entire existence was made out of magical energy avoid entering those spaces.

They theorized that they'll die once they enter the null space, but they were wrong. Hunters once captured a beast and threw it in the null space and nothing happened, they really just disliked entering those places. The size of these spots varied, the larger ones inhabited hunters.

If the rabbit led him to the space, he would have a safe place to stay as he goes hunting.

"Hey, big guy"

The rabbit looked at him. It seemed like it understood his call.

"Do you know where other people like me are?"

He pointed at himself and showed his bracelets.

The rabbit tilted its head. It looked confused on what he was saying. After a while, the rabbit's ears perked up and it hopped to a direction. It stopped after hopping 50 meters.

He followed it and observed what it was trying to convey. The rabbit suddenly dug a deep hole with its four arms. Rey couldn't see what it was doing as dirt and dust covered his vision.

After a few minutes of waiting for the digging to end. The dust settled and it showed the rabbit holding something with a triumphant expression.

It was holding an object delicately. It had a stem and brown leaves covered it. Its roots were dangling down the rabbit's hands. It was some type of underground herb.

The rabbit was giving the herb to him. He noticed that the rabbit misunderstood his words. The rabbit thought he was hungry. He thought it was cute that it tried to understand him.

"Thank you."

He bowed his head and thanked the rabbit. The rabbit seemed to enjoy this and wagged its short cotton like tail. He observed the herb given to him and his eyes widened.

'Spirit Herb?!'

He looked at the herb then at the rabbit. He kept repeating the action, he was in disbelief. He thought that it was just some ordinary herb, but as he observed it he sensed a dense amount of energy within it.

Humans sought spirit herbs. They were the staple of beasts, it provided a raw boost in energy without having to hunt down a beast. He quickly stored it inside his backpack.

"Human."

He pointed to himself.

"Where."

He acted like he was looking for something.

The rabbit tilted its head again. Its ears perked up, it looked like it understood him this time.

THUMP!

The rabbit fell on its back and showed its belly to Rey. A playful expression was present on its face as it was chirping in excitement.

Once again it misunderstood him. This time the rabbit thought Rey wanted to play. He let out a sigh and jumped on the rabbits belly.

'Looks like I'll be here for a while.'