A few minutes before Ray got going, he received a Mana fruit reward from the dungeon he had set up on the First Floor. Neat. So he would continue to receive the fruits despite being on an entirely new Floor. That took care of any food and drink problems.

Ray’s first task was to head straight for the cliff face. Sure, Mary had proclaimed that they were impassable and unclimbable, but he still wanted to test that.

The truth of what he had been told made itself apparent even before he reached the actual cliffs. There was some kind of resistance fighting against his progress. It was as though Ray was pushing through denser and denser air, until it was the consistency of molasses. Walking just wasn’t going to work, so he began using his wings’ jet-like power to drive himself forward.

“This is really irritating,” he said through gritted teeth.

Normally, the Tower’s restrictions weren’t so… blatantly obstructive. Rarely was there any magical barrier or a sudden, inexplicable obstacle that couldn’t be worked around. At least, that had been the case on the First Floor.

This felt way too artificial. Crude and obtrusive. Ham-fisted, almost. Not the work of the System, if he had to guess.

Nevertheless, after a good while of struggling, Ray made his way to about a hundred feet from the face of the cliffside. That last gap was going to take all the effort he had needed to expend so far combined, but he would push his way to it. He would not be held back.

The cliff face looked too normal. Just a regular old shelf of craggy rock that, if he was a skilled climber of any sort, he should have been able to traverse. Maybe if he could just push through this…

Ray grimaced and was forced to stop as the effort became too much. This was insane.

He tried using his constructs. They suffered the same as him. Slowed down, unable to force the issue. It felt as though the harder he and they pushed, the stronger the resistance grew.

But Ray wasn’t giving up just yet. He paused to gather his energy, taking a little while to secure his footing at his current location. Then he summoned several of his Soaring Wings with their jet-capable, spiky feathers. Greater Windbane Maws materialized on both his arms using Primal Spiritcraft. Next, he used Soullife Cloak to buff his speed even further.

Then he launched himself.

The multiple sources of sudden momentum were powerful. Especially when combined. The maws on his arms fired their compressed laser breaths as one, all the feathers of his wings fired off, and Soullife Cloak boosted his speed even higher.

Plus, the transition from stationary to moving at an incredible speed happened extremely quickly. Whatever strange force was acting against Ray didn’t have the time to react properly.

He was certain it was that latter aspect that let him reach the cliff. By the time the resistance grew to the strength of a mountain pushing back against Ray, he had just barely reached the cliff face.

Which was when the resistance disappeared entirely, making Ray crash hard into the cliff.

His spells disappeared as his vision blacked out for an instant, the pain running livid across the entire front of his face. Ray instinctively sent some Recovery to fix everything that was broken—his nose, some of his ribs, and the heavy ache on his shoulder too—but it wasn’t enough.

He didn’t know when he had fallen to the ground, but the force had reawakened. In no time at all, Ray found himself pushed back past the original position he had started from.

“Oi, hold up,” he said through a groggy mouth. “Let me get back there! I made good progress.”

When he finally came to a stop, he was basically back at the tree line, which was almost three hundred feet away from the cliffside in his estimation.

“Fuck,” he muttered. It was hard to believe he had just been utterly fooled by whatever defensive mechanism or enchantment had been cast upon the cliff.

For a moment, he considered trying to come up with a different idea to combat the difficulty. But he didn’t want to waste any further time. Who knew when Mary Felds would launch her assault. For all that Ray didn’t want to bend to anyone’s will, he also wasn’t against helping out.

He just wanted things to be fair, which meant granting himself the same opportunity to get some Essence and hopefully level up.

As such, Ray went back into the forest. He had already sent out some of his eyeballs to scout around. Mimicked up as they were, they wouldn’t attract too much attention. In fact, one of them had already found another plant monster for Ray to fight.

Of course, they’d had to stick to a certain distance from Ray to remain properly active. But Lifeblood Soulform’s Tier was high enough that their range had increased a lot.

Ray didn’t even bother engaging the plant monster. He knew how to take care of these things. To him, they were essentially free Essence. Dismissing the flying mimic eyeball for a moment, he summoned his Greater Draconic Maw, both as a construct and on his arm using Primal Spiritcraft. A quick, combined laser breath made the plant monster explode.

That wasn’t the only one. Over the next couple of hours, Ray and his flying eyeballs located three more of the monsters that he killed in the same manner.

[Enemy Defeated—Forest Amalgam]

Tier 9 Monster: Forest Amalgam [Level 20] x4

Essence: +7,200

Knowledge: +12

True Mana Restored: +800

Essence to Level 24: 16,300/33,900

Knowledge to next Threshold: 645/800

Simple as it was to kill the Amalgams, his method did expend a good deal of True Mana. The only source of more True Mana shards Ray had found so far were the dungeons on the Second Floor, of which there were none in their area. Just that Imitator dungeon.

Even more reasons for him to get on top of the cliff as soon as possible. But not before he had at least reached level 24.

Fortunately, and interestingly, his scouting revealed the existence of the Elementals he had been tasked to kill. Following his eyeball’s guidance, Ray was able to locate a group of them about an hour away from the Mary’s encampment.

“Damn, I don’t know what I expected,” Ray said when he finally got the monsters in view.

The word Elementals brought to mind some kind of strange beings that were entirely of a certain, well, element. Ray wasn’t at all surprised to see Wood Elementals inside of a forest.

He just hadn’t expected them to look like so… varied.

Some looked like trees, others like bushes, and others resembling parts of plants like vines or fallen branches. Then there was a completely different set that was a mix of humanoid and plant. Nymphlike creatures, big or small, thick or thin, where some had leaves for hair, some had the skin of wood, and some simply looked like regular people wearing a ghillie suit.

For a moment, Ray actually hesitated. A lot of those Elementals were the least monstrous monsters he had seen in the wild. What would happen if he simply… refused to complete one of his Objectives? Would the System force him to remain on the Floor until it was completed?

He really wished he could ask somebody with experience in these matters. Like that System entity he had met all that time back.

Ray’s rather merciful thoughts were harshly ended when his flying eyeball was spotted. Somehow, one of the Elementals noticed his construct and made a beeline for it. The thing looked somewhat like a monkey, just with arms of wood, head full of leafy hair, and vines automatically emerging from its body to help it swing between the trunks.

Its approach was obviously aggressive. Ray ordered his eyeball to get out of there, but the plant monkey was fast. As soon as it got within spitting distance of his flying eyeball, it chucked out a vine and caught the construct.

Ray’s vision went dark. Just the portion of it that was covered by the separate eyeball. That his field of view was still expanded meant the eyeball was still alive, though.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Which was why, with a little application of True Mana, Ray was able to convert it to a draconic maw.

He rushed forward to see what exactly had happened. The strangely wooden screeches of the monkey and the sudden roar of the construct both dragged him onwards until he was in sight of the little brawl.

The Elemental was trying to animalistically eviscerate the construct. Meanwhile, his brave draconic maw kept attempting to get off a fiery breath to burn the offending plant down, though it wasn’t having a ton of luck. The little monster was too agile and too strong, sporting too many abilities for the construct to counter.

Ray was about to jump forward and assist, but he realized he wasn’t the only one who had been drawn to the battle. The commotion had attracted the attention of all the other Elementals in the vicinity.

They arrived in a rapacious horde. A full-on assault squad of magical tree beings jumped at Ray’s poor construct. Never mind that the draconic head could barely survive against one treelike monkey. The rest of the Elementals were determined to get in on the action and tear the flying head apart.

The monsters were more vicious than piranhas. Screaming and shrieking loud enough to wake the dead, they attacked with such ferocity, calling them rabid would have been an understatement. In seconds, the construct had dissipated to flutters of chaotic, black-red energy.

Well, that took care of the last of his mercy-borne hesitation.

Settling his grimace, Ray created two new constructs. Both were Greater Windbane Maws. With the duo firing blasts of chaotic flames from either side, and with Ray charging in from the middle with another spectral draconic maw grafted onto his hand with Primal Spiritcraft, the horde of Elementals didn’t last long.

Some of them were too fast to be killed that way. Ray took care of most, but a few like the monkey were able to get away from his chaotic pyre.

Although, those ones didn’t retreat. They merely got far enough from the flames to reroute and attack him directly from a different angle. Only to be faced with a dozen sparking chaos orbs thanks to Mottling Spiritguard.

Ray had only summoned the orbs when the monsters themselves had gotten close enough. Some of them had flung in attacks from range, like spiky thorns or thorny vines. Those Ray ordered his constructs to handle.

Frustrated, the Elementals attacked directly, and that was when Ray blasted them all with the Spiritguard orbs.

[Enemy Defeated—Wood Elemental]

Tier 8 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 18] x9

Essence: +12,960

Knowledge: +27

True Mana Restored: +1,620

Essence to Level 24: 29,260/33,900

Knowledge to next Threshold: 672/800

Alright, wow. That was a crap ton of Essence for killing a bunch of Elementals rather easily. Ray was actually having a little trouble believing that he had almost reached his level up with such convenience. Huh. No wonder those other people had reached level 25.

Of course, he wasted no time ordering his eyeballs to scout out more of them. Considering they had found only one group after a few hours, it was no surprise that finding the next group proved difficult. Ray was getting a little tense. He only needed one more solid encounter and he’d be at level 24. That would be good enough for him.

But he was a little wary of the time it was taking. Mary’s group might launch their assault at any moment. It would have been ideal if he was present. Sure, he wouldn’t be sacrificing his growth if they couldn’t wait, but in an ideal world, he hit his level up and joined them in time.

His heart lurched a little when he received the message he had been dreading from Alice.

Alice: Sis told me not to bother contacting you, but just so you know, we’re beginning the assault now. Since I can send you a message, that means the monsters clearly haven’t gotten to you yet. Stay safe and join us if you can.

Ray had to wonder how much she knew about his last conversation with her sister. Mary had to have told her that Ray had acted like a selfish prick, though the younger Felds sister was probably intent on forming her own conclusions.

Whatever the case, Ray was thankful that Alice wasn’t hostile from the get-go. But that also meant that Ray was obligated to be as honest as he could.

Ray: Good luck out there. Don’t push yourself and remember that retreat IS an option. I’m a little busy right now, but I’ll try to get there as soon as I can. Don’t depend on it, though.

Alice: You’re busy?

Ray: Yes.

He wondered if he had finally pissed her off, because she had nothing further to say. If so, Ray was a little saddened, but it was fine. He had a clear conscience, at least.

Despite reinforcing his goal of ensuring his own progression before acting on behalf of anyone, Ray nevertheless sped up. He had his eyeballs hasten their search for more Elementals. Why wasn’t he finding more of them? Surely there had to be more of them in this huge forest.

His search went on for long enough that he ended up near the spire. And it was there that he discovered his next batch of monsters to fight and kill.

They were entranced by the battle ongoing farther ahead. Ray himself was tempted to take a moment to observe what was going on, but he had to take advantage of his opportunity first.

He executed the same manoeuvre as he had on the first group of Elementals. Except this time, he wasn’t letting any of his constructs suffer needlessly.

It would have been easy to achieve that. If he attacked from range with his constructs’ compressed laser beams, then he could take out the entire miniature horde with great ease. Ray, however, had other plans.

He hadn’t used Spiritsorb last time because Lifeblood Graveyard was already full. Even if he had a Soul Aspect to integrate from the dead Elementals, he had no space to store it. There was basically nothing from his collection that he was willing to replace. Which meant the only solution for him was to expand the number of slots he had available.

To that end, Ray had to get close enough to use Primordial Gauge. If he did that, though, he would alert the monsters. That would turn the encounter far too difficult and time consuming.

The compromise came in the form of Project Presence. Detecting Ray himself would be bad, but just detecting his construct wouldn’t be the end of the world. It would also allow him to experiment with one little combination he had been hoping to try.

As he sent off one of his draconic maws, he used Project Presence again. He made sure to “dim” as much of his original senses as he could. Closing his eyes, reducing his breathing, turning as still as possible while holding nothing, and focusing only on himself.

Just as Primoridial Gauge had guided him the first time, Ray created a spectral version of himself that held all his senses, minus touch. It was still as wild as always.

He couldn’t really move, could only just gently float forward along with the Greater Windbane Maw construct. This spirit form was untethered from the tangible world, so all the little laws of physics and such had no effect upon him. Even his sight was still warped, the colours ranging in a far different spectrum than what he was used to.

Focus.

Pulling his attention back to where it needed to be, Ray attempted to channel True Mana through his spirit form. He had used Project Presence.

Next came Spectral Step. This time, he noted where the spell was being cast from.

The world jerked and Ray was suddenly by his construct’s side, slowly approaching the Elementals that were still distracted by the fight far ahead. It wasn’t just the sight, of course. The sound of battle was louder now, and even the forest’s little noises were different here. Smoother, more muted, like it didn’t want to attract the Elementals’ attention.

So, Ray had been right. Project Presence allowed him to cast spells from his projected spirit. He felt much, much lighter though. Like he had expended a huge source of what made up his spiritual form.

Mana. Of course. In his case, it was True Mana that he had used up. Hmm, did Project Presence hold enough True Mana to use more expensive spells like Primal Spiritcraft? Ray didn’t think so. That was fine.

All he needed from it just then was Primordial Gauge.

[Primordial Gauge]

Wood Elemental [Monster] [Tier 8] [Level 18]

Spirit of the forest itself, imbued with power. When a Forest Amalgam’s power wanes and the need for constant protection abates, then the consciousness that makes up such gargantuan creatures begins to disperse. These dispersions retain a part of the original physical forms, and such for Elementals.

Skills:

Undergrowth [Tier 6]: Constantly pull in nutrients from beneath the ground, restoring your Recovery. At Tier 6, this skill enhances Recovery regeneration by 12%.

Channel Aspect [Tier 6]: Channel your stored Soul Aspect. At Tier 6, this skill manifests the stored Aspect at Tier 6.

Vine Shot [Tier 5]: Send vines to do your bidding in a wide area. At Tier 5, this skill throws out 10 vines.

Sunlight Eater [Tier 5]: Absorb sunlight to convert to Mana. At Tier 5, this skill creates 5 Mana per minute.

Leaf Storm [Tier 4]: Create a storm of bladed leaves to blind and lacerate your foes. At Tier 4, this creates a storm in a radius of 8 meters around a specific target.

Burgeon Roots [Tier 5]: Bolster your underground network of roots and send them bursting out to attack your foes. Can be used to sap Recovery and Mana from enemies. At Tier 5, this skill absorbs 15% of the foes’ Recovery and Mana.

Alright, yep. Just as he had thought. The Elementals really didn’t have anything worth taking. Most of those were already Soul Aspects he had rejected from the Forest Amalgam.

So, without further ado, Ray executed his plan. While the Elementals turned to attack his incoming construct, he made his projected presence dissipate, returning to full focus on his actual body. A body that already had another draconic maw on the arm plus one more flying beside him.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Together, the two of them fired simultaneous laser breaths at the gathering Elementals. It worked out just as Ray had hoped it would. With the monsters converging on his distant construct, the laser breaths had an easy time of burning through them all.

The few that escaped were taken out by the now-free distant construct. In no time, Ray had levelled up again.

[Enemy Defeated—Wood Elemental]

Tier 8 Monster: Wood Elemental [Level 18] x7

Essence: +10,080

Knowledge: +21

True Mana Restored: +1,260

[Level Up!]

Reward

* +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.

* 1 Skill Tier Point

Essence to Level 25: 5,440/37,500

Knowledge to next Threshold: 693/800

[Stat Tier]

Your Spirit has advanced to Tier 3.

You are now in greater tune with the universe around you. Your Mana Core has advanced. You can now channel 1 additional variant of Mana alongside True Mana. Absorb the requisite amount of Mana of the new variant into your Mana Core to attune your spirit to it.

There. The level up he had been seeking was now his. Although, attaining another Skill Tier point wasn’t exactly what he was looking for.

But the stat tier break looked delightful. He could naturally generate and use a different kind of Mana aside from just True Mana. That had the potential of opening up incredible new opportunities. Ray now had a tone more to think about with regards to his progression.

Not now, though. Ray quickly put five of his free stat points into Intellect, and the other five into Vitality. All done.

Now he could rush straight to the battle up ahead.