[With the ancient power of the Tower of Growth, the party of players will now be transported!]
Intricate, analogous to that of a mandala, a magic circle appeared on each player's pair of feet after each player in every party collectively agreed in accessing the Tower of Growth — the first Close Mystery Tower that would bring humanity steps further ahead, whether it was for the better or for worst, only one man was certain.
It was hope for less-fortunate players who didn't have the wealth and resources for their growth. In the same way, for rich players; conglomerates, aristocrats, royalty, and players more fortunate than others, this Tower would serve as the ladder to keep and secure their positions in the social hierarchy.
The less-fortunate players would step up the ladder of power, but it was the same circumstance for the wealthy ones. Apart from the Growth Rate that would drastically increase by a staggering amount of ten times, given that the incoming challenges were accomplished, the gap between the poor and the rich would remain the same, seemingly unchanging — a reality that couldn't be bend even before the destruction of the Old World.
***
[You have arrived at the Tower of Growth, Floor 1.]
[Objective: Kill 500 False Green Family from Floor 1 to Floor 4 — 125 each floor.]
[Duration: 50 minutes.]
[Good luck Player!]
[May your choice bring forth the future you wanted to create.]
The System's message individually echoed in every member of Samantha's Party, as they arrived in the Tower of Growth. These messages, though had been individually heard, were not ingrained or planted in their minds, unlike when the announcements were truly significant.
Arriving with everyone, Russell scrutinized the surroundings. They arrived in the middle of a small green, grassy field as though it was walked on by a flock of sheep, along with their diligent shepherd.
Even though it's only the first Close Mystery Tower, its geography and topography, with its natural climate, made Russell feel that this place was indeed otherworldly.
There's a Yellow Sun that's illuminating the world of this floor; the sunlight was warm; however, it was not scorching enough to be evaded to save one's skin from burning.
Apart from that, towering trees with green leaves, thick brown branches, and thick brown trunks could be spotted, lined up, from a distance. These trees of unknown species seemed to be the source of fresh air that danced and gently hit their skins. There were no other beings in this superficially peaceful land, only the group of players and the monsters to be killed.
The eight of them: Russell, Freya, Amelie, Amery, Samantha, Jiho, Anya, and Celine — the introverted alchemist, started to walk towards the path, which seemed designed for them to be walked on.
"Should we split up?"
Jiho reluctantly asked. According to the connections of Alexander that already conquered the Tower of Growth after it opened Post-Reboot, the floors were small in area, and getting lost was impossible, especially on every 5th Floor.
"I'm okay with that. What about the others? Tick-tock. Decide quickly."
It was the redhead with crimson eyes who spoke, Anya. Slowly taking their strides, they heard a celebratory sound from a distance, but knowing the behavior of the False Green Family, they were either fighting with themselves in a battle of position or dancing in front of the fire. The latter was most likely.
"There are 125 monsters on each floor, what if we split up into 5 groups? The monsters' camps are maybe divided into 5 areas."
Russell's group, who seemed to have no voice in this party, just listened to Jiho's voice.
"No, we don't know about the kind of monsters we'll encounter. False Green Family is either Goblin or Orc. There must be a higher number of Orcs in a group than in Goblins'. Let's check first the nearest area."
The leader of the party, Samantha, said casually as every one of them entered the forest. The celebratory sound was getting louder in their ears, meaning that they were getting closer to the nearest area of either tribe of Goblins or the tribe of Orcs.
Soon, they found themselves hiding behind the clump of bushes from afar, though it was enough for their sights to screen the repulsive spectacle that was happening in the territory of the first tribe of monsters.
"Is that for real?"
Anya, looking at the grim spectacle in front of them, spoke in wonder. The first tribe of monsters was Goblins, but these Goblins were dancing around a large bonfire, holding crude swords in their hands. They were waving it as they circled the blazing fire, which was seemingly joining in dancing with them.
A body of a Fairy was being roasted. It looked like a butterfly with a large spike thrust vertically. It was already dead, but its sight caused Celine — the timid green-haired and green-eyed woman, to retch as she reflexively looked away.
Surprisingly for Anya, Russell's circle — Freya, Amelie, and Amery, didn't make a too repulsive reaction as though they had seen the worst or something more bizarre.
"I thought it's only the Goblins and Orcs here? Why is there a dead Fairy?"
In reality, this group of players never saw a Fairy with their own eyes. But with the documentaries that were made with the accounts of adventurers who encountered one, they had the gist of how it looked like.
Fairies had flawless pale-white skin, different hair colors, except for white and black, and hair lengths. Their eyes were either green, yellow, blue, red, or orange, and their bodies were all flawless — a kind of body where humanity's nature of being lustful would be vigorous. Their stature was around the same as an average human.
Russell, who heard Jiho's question, thought of the ancient power of the Tower of Growth. These Goblins and Orcs were "not" illusions made by the Tower, as well as the Fairy that was roasted by the dancing blazing fire. These monsters, as much as the ancient power of this Tower was concerned, didn't bear out of nowhere.
They were meant to re-enact these scenarios according to the Tower's Will. These Goblins, along with the awaiting monsters from the higher floors, continued to be re-spawn by the Tower.
Though the other challengers would be transported to another area with similar geography and topography, as this Tower seemed to stretch in infinity, it's certain that the next batch of players would arrive somehow in the same area where Russell and his companions were.
'But, there's a terrifying truth behind these re-spawning monsters.'
"What are we waiting for? Let's go. No need to plan anything. It's just a bunch of Goblins, and maybe Jiho's right. I counted 25, so there's a high possibility that other tribes from other areas are also numbered 25."
Cutting Russell's thoughts off, Anya spoke, not minding Jiho's irrelevant question. Without any warning, Anya lunged towards the nearest Goblin from behind the bushes they were hiding, holding her sickle with both her hands.
The Goblin, doing some ritualistic dance gestures, had its head cut off, breaking the harmony of the other Goblins.
Spurt-! Spurt-!
The others followed suit, and even Celine, who was taught by Samantha some evading techniques, ran with them. With her low Swift stat, she's running behind the others.
'Oh, come on... If we're gonna run away from something, I'll be the first to die!'
She grumbled in her mind, slowly reaching the entrance to Goblin's shabby hideout, unlike the others who jumped from the wooden barricades or walls.
***
"What's that?"
"It's a War Horn."
Russell answered Freya's question. They found the necessary tool to end this floor after searching the shabby, dilapidated huts of the Goblins.
"Blowing it would attract the other Goblins or even Orcs."
He added to wash Freya's confused look.
Samantha looked at Russell with an unknown expression. After two to three seconds, similar to Anya's of moving without any warning, Samantha, holding the War Horn in her hand, blew it.
Without even a minute that had passed, heavy footsteps could be heard from four different directions.
"H-hey, Samantha, I know you're paying me to make Potions, b-but I don't want to die and failed this, o-okay?"
The timid Celine, who barely talked, didn't manage to refrain from voicing out her thoughts after Samantha's unexpected action.
Dying in the Tower of Growth would mean receiving the ominous Failure Penalty, though they'd be sent to the real world — Alive.
"Just stay close to me, you'll be fine."
Samantha reassured Celine.
The heavy footsteps turned heavier. Standing inside the barricades of the first band of Goblins, the eight of them made a defensive formation.
"Hey, I think this is a bad move...'
Jiho felt that it was a wrong judgment for Samantha to provoke the remaining 100 monsters, either Goblins or Orcs, on this floor.
"Goblins and Orcs are scared of fire... How about we burn the perimeter?"
The silent Amery, since the moment they entered the Tower, made an absurd, but a reasonable suggestion.
"Celine, take that dead Fairy. It's still burning, then throw it in some huts in the entrance."
"Aah?! I-I'm not touching that thing!"
Celine looked at Samantha who silently agreed to Amery's suggestion. Samantha asked for the burning tree spike with a body because the tree trunks, where the bonfire originated, were deeply buried in the ground, but the burning tree spike was swaying, on the brink of collapse.
Russell asked Amelie to assist Celine through telepathy, which Amelie happily obliged as she abruptly grabbed Celine's hand, who then wore a shocked expression, her green eyes dilated.
"If you don't want to fail, just follow orders, will you?"
Before Celine could complain, Amelie spoke some truth, which was for Celine's best.
***
"Don't look at the dead body, just help me pull this sturdy tree spike."
The size of the tree spike, where the body of the Fairy was thrust vertically, was not that thick. But it was sturdy enough and firmly buried in the ground to cause inconvenience.
After a few seconds, with two pairs of hands, Amelie and Celine pulled the burning tree spike from the bottom — the part that wasn't burning.
Thud-!
The head of the desecrated Fairy fell off the ground, in front of Celine. Celine, who subconsciously looked at the dead Fairy's eyes, instantly threw up at the grim sight. Horror filled her maiden heart.
"Come on! The monsters are coming!"
Amelie, who put back her Personal Weapon to her Dimensional Inventory, held the burning tree spike as she ran, grabbing the fainting Celine with her other hand.
Finding themselves from their not-so-strategic location, Amelie threw the burning tree spike with the incomplete Fairy body at the small entrance of the Goblins' hideout. The fire spread quickly, fending off the first batch of Goblins who arrived and were rushing towards them, seemingly wanting to take revenge for their lost kind, after Samantha blew the War Horn off.
Krriiieeee-!
Collective sounds of unintelligent Goblins reverberated throughout the entire forest. Fortunately, the Orcs weren't present, giving the barricades more time before their complete collapse.
Anya's sickle extended and struck the bodies of the Goblins in her direction, while the others used the burning and crumbling barricades, along with reach advantage, to attack the other swarming Goblins. Mutilated heads, limbs, or half-bodies were disorderly scattered throughout the area.
'I can't use Chaos Consumption with the other's presence, but maybe the Chaos Collector will do.'
Russell thought, referring to the other four, and not to his Chaos Companions.
In this case, it would be his first time to use the Chaos Consumption, but the second time for the Chaos Collector. The first time he used the Chaos Collector was when they raided the first Micro-Strayed Dungeon, Vein of Immunosar, though he didn't have the time to process the System messages during that time because they were pressed for time, being considered as missing students.
[Stored Chaos Power: 30]
Chaos Consumption would directly make him consume the Chaos, but the Chaos Collector would only store the Chaos in Nothingness.
'Jiho's right, we need to split up next floor.'
He inwardly thought.
"Oppa!"
Freya shouted in concern, but Russell dodge the Goblin's attack, turned his head, and swiftly slash down the out-of-balance Goblin.
Spurt-!
After some time, in less than 10 minutes, the first hurdle in this Tower ended.
***
In the expansive colosseum of one of the most secured prisons in Etheria, Elizabeth was standing on the arena. In front of her, stood a prisoner she was meant to execute, but this time, with uncertainty about her safety.
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