Sam teleported against and again, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye. He alighted on one of the branches, and strode forwards. At this range, he could see the inhabitants of the tree far more clearly. They regarded him in turn, but did not attack. That was his first sign that this floor was different from the others.
“Hello?” He called out.
The figures chittered to one another, and then turned to Sam. “Outsider. What is your business here?”
“You know, I’m not actually sure,” Sam said, opening the System notification. Seeing as this was not a simple smash and leave mission, he needed a bit more instruction.
You have entered Floor 6 of the Jade Jungles(Challenge Mode)
Your objective is to assist the local Forest Folk in their quest to eradicate a mysterious scourge that has attacked their people and corrupted their land. You must cleanse its influence from a zone of 1000 square miles from their home.
Completion: 0/1000
Rewards: Title Upgrade
The message was quite vague, at least compared to the others, but Sam could get the gist of it.
“Apparently I’m here to help you deal with a threat. Some scourge or something? At least, that’s what the System calls it.”
“A Tower climber!” One of the figures exclaimed. “The chieftain will want to hear about this. Come with us, outsider.”
Sam followed them as they walked along the branch, which was as wide as a highway. He scanned them idly as he went, finding that their levels were quite lacking. One of them was level 155, and the other was level 160. It was more confirmation that he was dealing with an actual sapient race here, as the monsters produced by the System were all of the same level.
“Have you had contact with my kind before?” He asked.
“Please save such questions for the Chieftain. He can answer them.”
Sam raised an eyebrow and fell silent, following his mysterious guides down the branch and towards the center of the tree. They soon reached a dome shaped building, clearly the center of their civilization, going by the small crowd of Forest Folk milling around it.
His two guides gently pushed their way through the morass, guiding Sam towards the open door. He walked in, and found himself standing before a large table made from twisted wood, where five people sat. They were deep in conversation about something, seemingly over a piece of wood that one was holding. It was rotted to the core, and drops of a viscous liquid dropped onto the table every now and again. When it landed, there was a hissing noise as it struck the wood.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“As you can see-” one of them was saying. She fell silent as soon as she saw Sam. He found it a bit odd that a race made entirely out of wood would have such clear designations of male and female, in the pattern of humans, but the fact remained that he could easily tell. Her figure was different to the other Forest Folk, more curved and shapely.
The two who had taken Sam there fell to their knees and slammed one fist to their chests, producing a hollow thunk. “We have come to deliver an Outsider!” They said in unison.
“You are dismissed,” the man sitting at the head of the table declared, causing them to scurry out, rising in an instant. “Now, who are you?”
“I am Sam Atlas, a challenger of the Tower of Transcendence.”
A few whispers rose up, and some of the figures shifted uncomfortably.
“Too little, too late,” one of them spat. “The World Tree has ignored our pleas for millenia, and now it sends one man?”
“The World Tree?” Sam asked. “Do you mean the System?”
“No, outsider,” the man said aggressively. “I meant the World Tree. This is not your land. You would do well to remember that.”
“Calm, Braknus,” the Chieftain said. At least, Sam assumed that the man at the head of the table was the Chieftain. “What matters is that help is here. Do you intend to disrespect the World Tree in such a manner?”
“I’m a bit confused. Where exactly am I?” Sam asked.
“You are on the world of Vallenar. In what you would know as another Multiverse. Is that the term? It has been so long since one of your kind last came here.”
Sam tilted his head. “Another Multiverse? So that’s why you lot see me as an outsider. There must not be a Tower of Transcendence here, despite you all being E Rank.”
“This is an especially young Multiverse. It is quite different from what you are used to. The majority of sapient species are arboreal in nature, rather than whatever is the norm where you come from. There are only a few million universes in it,” the Chieftain explained. “Few opportunities, and no ways to find a better life. Vallenar is our karanat.”
For the first time since initialization, the System Translation failed. It seemed that the term was too alien to have any sort of parallel in Sam’s mind.
“Your karanat? What is that?”
“We are linked to this world intrinsically. Our potency empowers it, and it does the same in turn. Ever since the Voidrot first assailed Vallenar, we have been in a state of constant battle. It controls almost half of our world.”
“Enough talking!” One of the other Forest Folk snapped. “What can you do for us, outsider? Your root depth is barely past the Third Sprouting Stage.”
Sam took this to mean his level, and the Third Sprouting Stage as E Rank. “I possess advantages that might surprise you.”
“Show us. Cleanse the curse from our sister tree, and prove your worth.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Sam asked. “I doubt you want me to kill it.”
“You must defeat the avatar the Voidrot will manifest to defend its territory,” the Chieftain declared. “If you can manage that, you will banish its influence in the area.”
Sam instantly recognized this as the task the quest from the System had given him. He nodded, and started for the door. Judging by the size of the tree he was currently in, he would need no help in finding the other one.
He teleported into the air and started to scout the area, thinking about the implications of this floor. It seemed as if the System had suddenly thrown him into the deep end. The competition floor had been the separation point between the initial floors, and the true tower. Most likely, the rest of the floor would be a mission to cleanse Vallenar, or at least a portion of it. It seemed like a massive leap in difficulty, but it had been what Sam was looking for. He could hardly complain when the System answered.