Armed with his newfound access card, Jay decided to seize the opportunity and tackle the fourth floor of the tower. Eager to stay ahead in the race to complete the tower first, he approached the restricted area's entrance.
Handing over his access card to the military personnel manning the desk, Jay swiftly navigated through the 1km radius and activated his ring to enter the tower. Once inside, his thoughts drifted to Rose and the unique training floor.
"Good to see you in better shape, and my, you've grown stronger," Rose complimented upon their reunion. Jay acknowledged the praise but couldn't help but share the close call he had faced during the third-floor challenge.
In the midst of their conversation, Rose's attention was drawn to the golden amulet hanging around Jay's neck. An alarmed expression crossed her face as she inquired about its origin. Pulling out the amulet, Jay revealed that it was the result of his encounter with Demon King Raijin's challenge on the third floor.
Rose's reaction was a mix of recognition and surprise. She shared the tragic tale of Raijin's capture after completing the 100th floor, recounting how he valiantly faced ten challengers who ambushed him in a weakened state. Raijin had slain nine of them but ultimately succumbed to the Crown Prince of Planet Ladle. Rose expressed sorrow for the fallen challenger but also acknowledged the honour of Jay meeting him.
Curiosity piqued, Rose inquired about the specific challenge Jay had undertaken. To her disbelief, Jay revealed that he had to defeat the very ten challengers who captured Raijin. He marvelled at the tower's ability to scale their strengths to his initial level, acknowledging the rapid progress these challengers made, with the Crown Prince reaching level 20 by the fifth floor.
Rose was taken aback by Jay's revelation, unable to fathom just how he was able to complete a challenge of such complexity - these were the leaders who had conquered the tower from their own world. Yet Jay had managed to eliminate them at his current level. She was incredibly shocked.
Jay responded by expressing his determination to confront the Crown Prince, a silent resolve echoed in his thoughts, signalling the beginning of a personal quest within the towering realms.
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I suppose you'll be wanting to enter the fourth floor then? Rose asked Jay. Yes, if you could set the portal to the fourth floor that would be great thank you.
Any advice? Jay asked Rose
No, you're too strong for this floor it will be a piece of cake for you, she responded.
Jay stepped towards the portal - which was still green - and stepped through to the other side.
As soon as he arrived, Jay noticed the environment was completely different than previous floors. The whole floor was covered in lush greenery, it was incredibly beautiful, and the sun was shining.
However it was extremely humid, after walking for just five minutes Jay's shirt was already covered in sweat.
Jay, feeling the oppressive heat of the forest, reached into his backpack and retrieved his water bottle, downing its contents to quench his thirst. The dense foliage trapped the heat, transforming the surroundings into a suffocating sauna.
Undeterred, Jay pressed on, hoping to uncover the key to conquering the challenges of this floor. However, after a considerable amount of time, a creeping suspicion set in—he might be walking in circles. In an attempt to dispel this disorienting illusion, Jay resorted to slashing a tree with his spear, leaving a mark that he had already passed this point.
Yet, after walking for another ten minutes, he saw the slash in the tree. Determined to discern the truth, Jay entered a state of meditation.
Channelling his concentration, he reached out to sense the mana in the air, mapping its flow within a fifty-meter radius.
Straining his mental capacity, he detected an anomaly—the mana was converging towards a seemingly innocuous plant, marked with an eye-shaped symbol.
Intrigued and slightly suspicious, Jay drew his spear and decisively obliterated the plant. Instantaneously, the stifling heat lifted, revealing the illusion that had ensnared challengers. With the plant destroyed, Jay found himself no longer entangled in a circular maze.
It became apparent that the plant had been manipulating mana to craft a deceptive illusion, trapping unsuspecting challengers. Jay, ever vigilant, had successfully dismantled the clever ruse, allowing him to continue his journey through the mysterious and challenging fourth floor of the tower.
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Jay pressed forward, clearing a path through the dense vegetation, slashing away any encroaching brush. As he approached the next sector, an unexpected threat emerged—a sizable swarm of baboons materialized out of nowhere.
Sensing the mana levels within the baboons, Jay deduced that each one was around level four or five. Despite their numerical advantage, with fifteen in the pack, Jay's superior stats rendered this encounter a relatively easy challenge, especially for someone who had opted for a more demanding task on the third floor.
Prepared for battle, Jay readied his spear and engaged the unsuspecting baboons. From the perspective of the primates, a formidable intruder had entered their territory, and those attempting to defend their habitat were swiftly vanquished. Even the strongest among them couldn't withstand a single blow from the overpowering challenger.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Witnessing the ongoing onslaught, some baboons hurriedly retreated to warn the elders and females of the impending danger. However, their efforts were in vain. Jay, an unstoppable force, left no survivors as he harvested valuable resources from the fallen baboons, stowing them in his rucksack.
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Jay surveyed his surroundings and saw a large cliff that overlooked the entire forestry. With a goal in mind, Jay raced towards the bottom of the cliff, with thoughts of climbing it in mind. As he approached the bottom, he put away his spear and immediately began his ascent. Fortunately the side of the cliff he was climbing was not too vertical, with indents where he could place his hands and feet.
Not long after he began his climb he mounted his hands over the top and pulled himself up. Jay quickly took note of his surroundings, and realised that he could see the entire forest from this point, he was directly in the centre.
Not so far from his position was a large nest, about the size of a kiddie pool. Jay instantly realized what animal the boss mob was going to be, as he saw two baby toucan's sleeping in the nest peacefully.
After taking a look at the cute little balls of fluff, Jay heard an extremely protective SHRIEEKKKK. A five meter long bird was flying directly towards Jay, treating it as if it were an intruder that was trying to take it's babies, the Rainbow Beak Toucan charged, talons and beak aimed at the unknown figure.
Even though it was the boss of this floor, it was still significantly weaker than Jay, who was level 16. He simply rolled out of the way and removed his spear from his storage ring. He was incredibly pained in his heart as he knew what it felt like for someone to lose their parents for no good reason, but he needed to do so in order to complete the floor.
The large toucan was an incredibly beautiful specimen, nothing like Jay had ever seen on tv or in movies before. This Toucan had a beautiful coat of feathers, that ranged from yellow to blue to red, it was a wonderful colour pallet. The beak was covered in rainbow strikes and would definitely sell for a large price on earth, Jay thought to himself.
Some rich person would definitely purchase a cloak made from this birds feathers, or a model would wear it on the runway displaying its exquisite features.
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Jay realised he did not have time to think about these things as the Toucans beak opened and the surrounding mana immediately entered it's mouth, turning into a ball of water. After the ball was around half a meter in diameter, the Toucan flapped it's wings and shot out a dangerously pressurized jet of water straight towards Jay.
Even with his incredibly overpowered stat advantage, he barely managed to dodge the attack, highlighting just how powerful this creature was. There was a reason why it was the king of this jungle.
Blinded with rage as it protected it's babies, the Toucan flapped it's wings and dived towards Jay, attempting to pierce him in the chest with it's sharp beak. Jay showed no signs of fear and simply leapt in the air, piercing his spear down when the bird was directly underneath him.
Although this toucan was powerful, in front of Jay it's stats meant nothing, the level 10 never had a chance of defeating the level 16 hero. Once Jay had put it out of it's misery, he took the time to pluck it's feathers and remove the large beak, maybe he could use it in the future for something.
As Jay looked in the nest one last time, the little babies had flown away to somewhere safer during the battle, leaving behind a final egg. Interestingly, it was drawing in the nearby mana, highlighting that it was beginning to hatch.
Excited at the prospect of seeing what was inside, Jay immediately waltzed over towards it, his eyes full of curiosity. As he realised the concentration of mana was not enough, he began to draw even more mana in from the surroundings allowing the egg to consume as much as it needed. After ten minutes, and emptying Jay's mana storages, the little bird finally exited the egg.
It was incredibly small, the size of a grown chicken, and covered in a disgusting goo, but Jay thought that it was incredibly cute. He instantly decided to keep it, although he didn't know what name was fitting of it.
Oh well he thought to himself, I can always decide later on. He scooped the little baby up and examined it further. Interestingly, one of it's wings was aquamarine, while the other was a beautiful silver. It must definitely be special, Jay thought to himself, it looks nothing like it's parent.
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With the little bird cradled safely in his arms, Jay stepped through the portal, marking the completion of the challenging fourth floor. Emerging from the green gate, he was greeted by the curious gaze of Rose, eager to know what precious cargo he held.
Jay proudly introduced the sleeping bird to Rose, who couldn't help but express admiration for its cuteness. However, her curiosity took a more profound turn as she sensed a potent power in the bird's soul.
"How was this bird hatched? Its soul is brimming with mana," Rose inquired.
Jay explained, "I used some of my mana to help hatch it. There wasn't enough in the surroundings, so I fed it my own."
Rose shared her insights, "You are incredibly lucky. This bird will forever be loyal to you, seeing you as its parental figure. Most animals in the tower use their parents' mana to hatch. Since you defeated the boss monster before it hatched, there was no more mana being generated, making you its father."
Jay found the idea intriguing. "How cool," he thought to himself.
Rose continued, "Not only that, but on average, this species grows to a max level of around 10 or 11. To consume mana from a being with an even higher level than that is incredible. I can assure you that this bird will be much stronger than its mother. If you continue feeding it your mana as it grows, it could become a powerful companion by the time it's fully grown."
Curious, Jay asked, "How can you tell it's a he?"
Rose chuckled, "I'm the administrator of the system; I know everything that goes on."
With a laugh, Jay agreed, "Alright, I'll take him home and give him a bath. He's covered in goo."
As Jay prepared to leave, Rose bid him farewell, and he stepped through another portal, heading home with his newfound feathery companion.
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As he walked down the street, sleeping bird in hand he received quite a lot of weird looks and gazes. Some people thought the bird was very cute, but were instantly taken back by the disgusting slop that it was covered in.
Once Jay returned to his building, he immediately went into the kitchen and ran some warm water in the sink. He slowly woke up the baby toucan who responded with a weak shrill, as it was still half asleep.
Trusting Jay, the baby allowed himself to be cleaned while taking another nap. After Jay had finished with bathing the bird, he laid him on a pillow on the ground, while Jay went to the public bath house to clean himself off after a hard day exploring the tower.
He was finally beginning to catch up, and planned on defeating the fifth floor the next day.