Next to the three fancy looking doors, Ethan and Evelyn were sitting crossed-legged, cultivating and gaining their resources back without a sound. Ethan had to admit that it looked weird from the outside, but if there was one thing that he loved about this world, it was the concept of regeneration. According to Ani, when in deep sleep, the body took over control and siphoned mana from the atmosphere at double speed. The priority for the refined mana was not to fill the mana pool but to heal the body itself. Only after healing was completed did the remaining bits fill the stamina and mana pools. Though, there was a limit on its speed, resulting in all three of them filling at the same time.

All of this happened spontaneously, and Ethan didn't even need to do something other than sleep, meditate, or cultivate. In the state of cultivation, he was aware of the surroundings inside his domain. If he chose to be, he could be pondering about the skills and how to improve them, or he could just shut his mind so that he wouldn’t even notice how much time passed.

If it was a month ago, he would be thinking hard about his skill [Blink] as it was at the cusp of the rank-2, but after hearing what Evelyn said about ‘forget about it for now and wait until the understanding comes to you,’ he had decided to give it a shot.

Since the [Fabric Tear] also didn’t show any progress, he shifted his attention to other topics, like concealing his mana. His one of the most practical mastery was sneaking to his enemies without a sound, but the [Mana Sense] of the enemies crippled this ability for good. The [Void Wrap] did this job pretty well, but even with its low mana consumption, it still wasn’t something to use constantly.

He knew that most of the people above tier-5 had a mana skill that helped them to conceal their mana completely unless they were using their skills. [Void Wrap] also concealed his mana from going out by simply hiding it behind void aspect mana. What Ethan needed was something else, just the ability to hide from the [Mana Sense] was more than enough for him.

To figure this puzzle out, he used his own [Mana Sense] to understand how it discovered the mana fluctuations and how it was able to discern the solid materials, admittedly very faintly.

After one month of playing with the skill and trying alternatives, he finally figured it out. He didn’t need to hide his mana to conceal it. Imitating the mana around his surroundings and blending with it, did the job perfectly.

His mana pool was inside his soul, which was in a different realm altogether; it was already hidden enough, the problem was the mana that leaked out from his body. That was what showed his tier, and warned everybody who had a [Mana Sense]. The leaking mana was so small it almost didn’t exist, but once he identified it, changing its substance similar to the atmospheric mana wasn’t anything hard.

‘DING! You have gained the skill [Mana Conceal].’

Ethan opened his eyes slowly and gave a satisfied smile. Finally! Now, I can sneak up on monsters much easier, as long as I don’t give them any reason to be alerted, it should be fine. A vigilant one could probably notice my body movements inside its domain, but if things go south, there is still [Void Wrap].

Evelyn saw that Ethan had woken up, and he was smiling to himself. ‘’What? [Blink]?’’

‘’Not just yet,’’ he replied, not discouraged at all. ‘’[Mana Conceal].’’

Evelyn’s eyes lit up, ‘’Oh? Not bad. You don’t even have a rank-2 [Mana Sense]. It’s impressive that you figured that out. I also understand the concept but never got close to advancing the skill. I guess only after having advanced my [Mana Sense], I’ll have a shot,’’ she said, seemingly not wanting the skill so bad.

Ethan was quite proud of himself until he understood something from what Evelyn said. ‘’Wait. You don’t mean that people with rank-2 [Mana Sense] will be able to see through my [Mana Conceal], right?’’

‘’Of course they will,’’ Evelyn sounded, gawking her eyes. ‘’What did you think? That you’ll be able to waltz under the noses of the tier-9s?’’

‘’Uhh, that would be nice,’’ he answered, deflated. ‘’Whatever, I’ll try to get it to rank-2, then only people with rank-3 [Mana Sense] could see me through. That should be tier-7-8-9, right?’’

‘’Mostly. Some of the tier-6s also have it, but you worry too much. You got the skill at tier-3, so you will have much more time to experiment with it and improve faster than your peers. Don’t think about high tiers and their skills. We’ll get there step by step.’’

‘’Yeah, and at least in this place, it’s gonna be useful,’’ he agreed, looking at his resources and finding them almost full. ‘’Do you wanna rest here some more or head to the sixth floor and see what are we up against?’’

‘’I’m good,’’ Evelyn said, getting up and stretching her shoulders. ‘’The faster we finish with this place, the faster we’ll go and enjoy some city luxuries.’’

Ethan also got up, looking at Beet and Paprika, who were ready to move, he warned them with a strict face. ‘’Alright. We can’t allow the same thing that happened on this floor. This time I’ll choose a spot for our fights, and we’ll lure them there, even if it takes too much time.’’

Getting a nod from the others, he advanced to the door and passed it, finding himself in a forest with black plants. With the daggers appearing in his hand, he checked everything with his mana [Mana Sense] as usual. The [Mana Conceal] was already on, and thankfully, like the other mana skills he had, it didn’t need any mana; the small amount of leaking mana was all he needed to imitate the mana around himself.

The black forest had an eerie atmosphere like one of those dark fantasy games, there was no sound, and the only light was coming from the moon. That’s right, there was only one moon, unlike the Elisium’s two. But the problem was not the moon or the wrongness of this place. It was his companions who still didn’t show up.

He looked back at the door and found that it was disappearing as it did on the other floors. That meant that there would be no going back, and all the participants were settled. Ugh, you gotta be kidding me! Why did we separate this time? Shit! Are they on a different floor or the same one with different locations?

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With no other choice, he gritted his teeth and started exploring the forest alone. The trees looked pretty healthy other than the fact they were completely black. There were some purple flowers and gray vines, but almost everything had dark colors. After 20 minutes or so, he found the inhabitants, kobolds. They were at early tier-4, around level 43. The beasts of the fifth floor were level 45, so this sixth floor didn’t make any sense. Unless I’m really alone. Does that mean everybody is facing enemies one tier above theirs?

Ethan frowned and thought about the consequences if that was the case. Everybody in the team was able to go for a tier above their weight, but other than Ethan, everyone did it barely. What if there were more floors with the monsters' levels increasing every time as they did on the first five-floor? That meant the creatures of the tenth floor would be two tiers above theirs.

Under these conditions, he wasn’t sure if he could survive himself, let alone the others. He knew that the most Evelyn could go for were mid tier-5 beasts and only if she managed to fight them one by one. Against a tier-6 beast, she had no chance. Assumptions won’t get me anywhere. I need to finish this floor as soon as possible, and see the next floor before concluding anything.

Without using any skills, he approached the two kobolds who were walking slowly and separately. Only after he was 30 yards behind them did they hear his almost silent footsteps, and that was the time he sent two [Shadow Spikes]. One of them pierced the kobold’s forehead, but the other missed its target as the beast ducked low at the last moment. Ethan was already running, and shortly after, he blinked next to the beast, slashing its neck. A claw blocked his dagger, but he kicked the kobold’s side, and before it regained its balance, he blinked again to stab his dagger to its head.

He was racing with the time, so he didn’t care about the mana consumption. Like a blood-crazed hunter, he looked for prey and ambushed them in the simplest manner. When he faced the boss, it was only the fifth hour, but he had already drunk a mana potion and was missing 500 health. After killing the boss, he chugged a health potion as well and dressed in pants and a t-shirt. The already ruined armor of Nuvian became completely useless during the boss fight; even the last pieces crumbled to the ground, leaving him bare.

Donning the cloak on top of them, he moved toward the only door that existed, the door of the seventh floor.

The scenery changed to barren lands, a rocky canyon with small hills here and there. He didn’t see any life around until using the [Mana Sense] with his eyes. About a mile away, behind a small mountain, giant scorpions were walking around. His grip over the daggers tightened when he saw that their level was 45. Calm down. Let’s find the gate first and be sure that I’m not mistaken.

Without engaging with any of the monsters, he scouted the place as stealthily as possible and finally found the floor’s boss, close to the single door that led to the eighth floor. The discovery made Ethan frustrated, and he barely held himself from venting it against the boss and its five buddies next to it. It’s useless. Without clearing the floor, the door won’t open, and even if I managed to pass it, then what? Who knows how many floors I have to pass until there will be a chance to leave this place, and if I managed to pass all of them, can I help the others after that?

He sat on the ground and tried to calm himself. Thinking again, they’ve passed five floors as a group and perhaps they had to pass five more individually. In the best-case scenario, there were three more floors after this one, and he needed a few days to clear them. Even a week or two would be optimistic if the last two floors contained tier-5 monsters. Ethan really didn’t think that the others could survive that long. The build of Paprika was more of a support, and the poor Beet didn’t even have a skill.

If they found a place to lay low, they could survive even for months, but he knew that Evelyn would challenge the beasts the moment she was ready again. She had strong skills and good instincts, but how long could she kill tier-5s without alerting the other beasts? Even if she, by some miracle, killed anything below tier-6, the floor with tier-6 monsters would be the end of her. He sighed and closed his eyes. I’m still assuming that everyone is started with one tier higher beasts. Maybe they are also fighting against mid tier-4s. Whatever the case, all I can do is trust them and finish this damn trial at the speed of light.

Opening his eyes, Ethan took a deep breath and cracked his neck. This was going to be a hell of a race. It wasn’t the humans that he was fighting against. It was the damned giant scorpions and likely the extremely poisonous ones. His experiences against this kind of abomination only consisted of the time he spent in this world. No better lesson than a deadly one, he thought and jumped to the center of the canyon with a determined look.

When his [Shadow Spikes] couldn’t manage to pierce the exoskeleton of the scorpions, he cursed under his breath and went for close combat. I really need to advance this skill. It's useless against many tier-4s, and I don’t even want to imagine against tier-5s, he thought as he started dancing around the scorpion which was almost as big as him. Didn’t Evelyn mention that I need to risk my life for a fast comprehension? I don’t think I’m gonna lack that for the coming week.

The scorpion was using its two front legs, its mouth, and its tail to attack. Ethan did everything he could to avoid that stinger. Even though it cost him quite a bit of mana, he was still okay with it. As long as he had health, he could’ve kept fighting.

After killing the fourth scorpion, he found a secluded place and refilled his mana for a few hours before eating a quick meal. Anxious with the time he spent, this time, he became bolder. With every dodge, he gave two attacks. With every attack he took, he gave back three lethal ones. His luck must’ve ended on the sixth scorpion as the much-avoided stinger finally pierced his thigh.

When the opponent was in contact with his body, he wasn’t able to use [Blink], but the [Long Jump] was perfect for this kind of situation. He also used its momentum to hit his knee against the chin of the scorpion before opening a [Fabric Tear] and stabbing his dagger into its skull. After killing the beasts, he immediately checked with Ani to see how bad it was.

‘You have been poisoned. -25hp/hour for 8 hours.’

‘’What? That’s not bad at all. Hell, it’s much better than the spider!’’ he exclaimed in relief before narrowing his eyes and murmuring to himself. ‘’I wonder if the damage will stack up if I get poisoned again? That would greatly slow down my speed since I would have to meditate most of my time.’’

Hearing a noise behind, he instantly turned with the daggers in his hands. There were only the walls of the canyon, but as he looked closer, he noticed that the rocks of the wall almost seemed like they were breathing. The irregular shapes on the wall started moving and vaguely took the shape of a scorpion. Slowly, it pulled itself from the wall, and the scorpion made of rocks became more lifelike at every step. By the time he understood what was happening, another scorpion rose from the ground with a caged elevator. The doors of the elevator opened with a whining sound, and Ethan could’ve sworn that he heard a piece of light instrumental music coming from inside.

The moment the beasts attacked him with blurry moves, he knew this was much worse than the damn spider. Whether he liked it or not, it was time to kill giant scorpions while tripping balls.