Jay felt a gentle tap against his neck, the morning sun casting a warm glow through the windows as his ears caught a delicate "squawk." Blinking open his heavy eyes, Jay glanced at his alarm clock, revealing it was 9:00 am.
"You must be hungry," Jay remarked to his feathered companion, who had migrated from the makeshift pillow to the couch Jay used as a bed. "I wonder what you eat. Perhaps some seeds?" Jay mused, contemplating the contents of his cupboards.
As he rose from his impromptu bed, Jay tiptoed into the kitchen. "Looks like a grocery run is in order," he thought to himself. Extracting a handful of seeds, he extended them to his avian friend, only to be met with a beak rejection and an expression of disdain.
"If seeds aren't your thing, what do you eat?" Jay pondered aloud. To his surprise, the bird hopped onto the countertop and tapped its beak on Jay's palms.
"You're quite intelligent, aren't you?" Jay commented with a smile. In response, the bird emitted a cheerful shrill, "so you consume mana." Jay extended his hand, manipulating the nearby mana in the air. The bird eagerly gobbled it up, expressing delight before pecking at Jay's hands for more.
This delightful exchange continued for another five minutes, during which the once chicken-sized bird expanded significantly. Now around a meter in length, it nestled comfortably on the countertop, occupying a substantial portion of the space, and promptly began to doze off.
"Well, it seems like I'll need to climb another floor of the tower. You're going to be quite expensive, aren't you," Jay remarked, acknowledging the ever growing size of his new friend with a sense of anticipation.
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Jay adorned his formidable hunting gear—the sleek snake armour, meticulously repaired by Rose, a testament to his triumphs on the third floor. The realization dawned upon him that, to ascend further, the current armour, forged from the remnants of a level six creature, was merely a stepping stone. The quest for superior materials beckoned.
This armour, crafted from the essence of a level six creature, hinted at the challenges awaiting him. Determination burned in Jay's eyes as he understood that the tower demanded more potent tools for the ascent. The stage was set for him to venture forth and secure the formidable materials that would elevate his gear to unprecedented heights.
Vaulting through the portal, Jay materialized before Rose, who beamed with delight at his return. Inquiring about the little bird Jay had brought home, Rose's surprise escalated as she learned of its significant growth after just a single meal.
Their discussion about Jay's avian companion concluded, and with a subtle shift in the conversation, Jay pressed on, eager to unravel the secrets of acquiring superior equipment in his relentless pursuit of ascent.
Rose laid out the essentials, detailing that the tutorial's free gear only took challengers so far—up to the fifth floor. Beyond that milestone, a pivotal door swung open: access to the tower's market. Here, climbers could freely buy, sell, and trade, with mana cores and crystals reigning as the primary currencies in this thrilling economic landscape.
Unveiling the mana economy, Rose elucidated that mana cores, often salvaged from defeated beasts, held immense value. Graded as basic, epic, legendary, and unique, these cores mirrored the classification of mana crystals, which typically surfaced in caverns or areas rich in concentrated mana clinging to metal.
The universal exchange rates added an air of intrigue to the market dynamics:
- 100 basic mana cores/crystals equated to one epic grade.
- 100 epic grade cores/crystals translated into one legendary grade.
- 100 legendary cores/crystals merged to form one unique grade.
The rarity of unique grade mana forms became starkly evident as Rose highlighted that accumulating one million basic crystals was the threshold for bartering for a singular unique grade. A testament to their exceptional scarcity and precious nature in the tower's vast, mystical expanse.
The revelation lingered in the air, unique grade mana forms were beyond the reach of mere currency. Jay absorbed the truth, encountering such treasures demanded not just remarkable luck but also extraordinary strength to claim them.
As Rose concluded her enlightening explanation, Jay's resolve solidified. To secure the finest equipment on Earth, he recognized the need to outpace his fellow climbers. Their conversation drew to a close, and with determination coursing through him, Jay stepped into the portal, setting his sights on the fifth floor.
Today might just be the day he stumbled upon the coveted condensed mana, the key to unlocking his ascent and potentially striking gold in the process.
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As our challenger stepped through the green portal, what appeared before him was the contents of the fifth floor.
An environment similar to the second floor, however this time, small blue veins ran through the rocky cave Jay was enclosed in. Noticing the precious material he quickly began to note down the sections where the most cores were.
The most he could find in one section was around three or four, while the others only had between one and two.
While this was definitely, not a lot - it was a whole lot better than being broke and having nothing.
Interestingly, Jay noticed that these veins acted similar to the plant from the floor below - they would draw in mana from their surroundings, much like the challengers of the floor did to cast abilities. However, these veins did not contain the engraved markings like the evil eye incised on the plant.
With nothing but money on his mind he ventured forwards, keeping an eye out for any danger that would hinder him from his riches.
As he continued down the path he heard a subtle humming noise, as well as a squelch. Drawing his weapon in case of nearby danger he found himself staring at a hoard of translucent blue slimes. Interestingly, they did not appear to be very intelligent nor strong, Jay would soon find out how much of a nuisance they would be.
As the slimes came into view Jay began chuckling to himself, it appeared that the slimes were used to regulate and grow the mana cores in this cave. They acted as a gardener tending to the crops, making sure the crystals developed properly, and did not crack due to external features.
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"You are all relieved of your duty" Jay said, whipping out his spear and slicing the nearest slime in half. The poor slime instantly split in two, slime all over the floor. Unexpectedly, a few seconds later it began to crawl back into one piece, hopping towards the intruder like nothing had just happened.
Even if the slimes were only around level 7 Jay should have been able to kill it instantly. Slightly interested at the mechanics of the slime, Jay imbued his weapon with mana, attracting the attention of all the nearby slimes.
He slashed the same slime again, however the moment his blade went into the slime, the mana was disrupted, being absorbed by the blue slime.
"How am I meant to kill these slimes if my attacks aren't working on them?" Jay thought to himself.
Seating himself on a nearby rock, Jay thought about his dilemma. Physical attacks are ineffective against the Mana Slimes, and any attempts to attack them with his own mana were met with futility. Elemental magic seemed the next logical step, yet Jay realized he hadn't yet acquired any elemental attacks.
Realization struck, prompting Jay to reach for his basic book of lightning. Skimming through its pages, he found the desired attack spell:
*Bolt: A basic attack where the user fires a single bolt of lightning towards an enemy.*
Curiosity piqued, Jay considered the strength of the spell, suspecting it depended on the volume of mana consumed and the voltage at which the bolt was unleashed. Settling on a nearby rock, he began looking into the instructions for the attack, absorbing the information before putting theory into practice.
Drawing in the dense surrounding mana, Jay initiated the transformation process within himself, envisioning the mana strings resembling proud dragons encircling his body. As the elemental energy coursed through him, the Mana Slimes recoiled, sensing the impending surge of lightning.
Continuing to read, Jay focused on controlling the potent elemental force within him. The slimes, now wary, retreated to the deeper recesses of the rocky cave.
Jay pointed his finger towards the wall, giving the lightning a way of escape, he exerted great force to expel the lightning from his finger.
The proud element resisted, struggling against Jay's control. In the end, a small bolt shot directly into the wall, leaving a small burn mark. The process, though challenging, marked Jay's first successful attempt at elemental magic, providing a glimmer of hope against the Slimes.
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Jay continued his attempts at controlling the lightning without much success, although he was able to learn abilities quicker due to his innovative title alongside Raijin's amulet, this did not mean that the element would follow his control.
It was as if he had to form a relationship with the destructive element that would allow it to submit to his control. Skimming through the notes and hints in the notebook, it explained a similar concept with lightning rods. They are able to 'control' lightning by providing a low path of resistance.
The hint instantly sparked an idea in Jay's mind, instead of forcing the lightning to go towards his finger, he would increase the path of resistance everywhere besides his hand. Jay immediately wanted to test this, he called more mana from his surroundings, his body converting and storing the lightning in his body.
Jay aimed his hand towards another flat section of the wall, increasing the level of resistance in his body excluding his finger.
The lightning growled as it noticed the surroundings pressuring it, and blitzed towards the path where resistance was the least, the bolt of lightning leapt from Jay's finger towards the wall, sparks appearing as the wall got absolutely destroyed with a loud "bang".
Fuelled by his recent success, Jay immediately charged towards the scared mana slimes nearby. Acting like an evil lightning god, he slaughtered every single little creature in sight sparing none of them.
A slight sweat appeared above his brows as he was not used to consuming and transforming mana like this before. Nevertheless he pressed on towards the second room, which also happened to be the boss room.
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Stepping cautiously into the room, Jay's eyes widened as he recognized a familiar figure—a lanky Norwegian girl, resembling a princess. It was none other than Bridgette Young, the lady he had seen on the television back at the hospital.
A surge of curiosity propelled him to inquire, "What are you doing here?" The room remained silent, and Bridgette, instead of responding, gracefully unsheathed her longsword, infusing it with the chilling essence of frost magic.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I'm a challenger, not a threat," Jay attempted to communicate, his words echoing in the stillness of the room. However, his plea seemed to fall upon deaf ears as the beautiful lady remained poised, her focus locked onto Jay with an enigmatic intensity.
The air thickened with anticipation, leaving Jay to unravel the mysteries of this unexpected encounter.
Bridgette continued to step forward, raising her frost covered sword towards him. Understanding that there was no use talking to her, Jay drew his spear and imbued it with mana. He could sense that the opponent before him was weaker, however he did not underestimate her.
Suddenly, the blonde girl leapt in the air slashing towards Jay from above. He instantly backstepped dodging her slash before piercing his weapon towards her midsection. Bridgette seeing the attack immediately twirled mid air, slipping her body to the left of the spear tip to avoid the blow.
Once landed, Bridgette leapt back and channelled a quick cast spell, once completed a shockwave of mana swept through the cave causing the temperature inside to plummet. A few corners of the cavern gleamed as an icy frost appeared on them.
Jay stepped back waiting for an attack, as the lanky girl charged towards him. Her determination to kill him remained unwavering. Bridgette let out a combination attack; first slashing left, then right, and finally striking at a downwards diagonal angle towards his shoulder.
The lower temperature had slightly reduced the challengers agility, making it difficult for Jay to dodge. He instantly cast his mana shield in his left hand, gripping the spear in his right.
Jay barely stepped back in time evading the first swipe, he utilised his mana shield to block the second and third attack. While blocking the final strike he countered with his own weapon, stabbing her right in the chest.
As his weapon sunk into her chest, he felt something was amiss, the spear tip felt a gel like resistance as it penetrated the surface. Alongside the absence of blood Jay realised something was wrong. Suddenly, Bridgette lost her appearance and transformed into a large red translucent boss monster - a level 12 Mirror Slime.
Jay instantly realised what had happened, the slime must have copied Bridgette's appearance and skills from when she fought it. Since Jay was a lot more powerful than she was it would make it difficult for other challengers to pass this level if the slime appeared to be him.
Thankfully, while the slime could copy other abilities, it could not do the same for elements such as lightning, as it could not contain such a destructive power in it's body. Jay made quick work of the boss with his new *Bolt* ability, sending a large string of lightning piercing through it's midsection eliminating it instantly.
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As the echoes of battle faded, the unmistakable green portal materialized, signalling Jay's triumph on the floor. Ready to step through and claim his victory, a sudden realization hit him. He hadn't collected the precious mana crystals from the cavern veins.
Swiftly, Jay retraced his steps, covering his spear tip with a coat of mana. He tirelessly began extracting the crystals from the walls.
After two long arduous hours, he loaded the haul of twenty-five crystals into his backpack, sweat-drenched and determined. He thought about delegating this task to his growing bird companion in the future, hoarding rocks was not a task he fancied after every triumph.
Emerging from the portal, backpack filled to the brim with wealth, Jay spotted Rose nonchalantly seated on a chair.
Approaching her, he pulled out the stones and made a polite request, "Rose, let me take a look at the marketplace, please." With a nod, Rose directed him to access the market feature on his screen.
Following her guidance, Jay found himself immersed in a digital marketplace. Books, weapons, armour, and various items sprawled before him.
Seating himself next to Rose, excitement brimming, Jay dove into the array of offerings like a child in a candy store, his eyes scanning for new treasures to enhance his ascent in the tower.