Chapter 382: Into the Trees

The fact that he couldn’t really see or understand this object made examining it a little boring. It was like watching paint dry. When he couldn’t handle any more of it, he finally took the last step through the gate. That was when he got the notification.

Congratulations, Fifth Floor Cleared. As a reward for reaching the halfway point, you will be allowed to take a break and recover. Once you are ready to proceed to the next floor, say “Next Floor” out loud and you will be transported.

Use this time wisely.

Julius frowned as he read the message over. The last line was particularly worrying. It sounded very ominous and he wondered what the last half of the rift had in store for him.

However, he was still glad that he was allowed to take a break. This would allow him to comprehend and internalize some of the changes he had made during these past several floors. He had already improved on a lot of things. Most notably, his Sharpness Concept, which he believed needed some time to acclimate to.

Especially if his recent integration with his kinetic energy was any indicator, he almost killed himself again because he was surprised at the power of the Concept. He wanted to see how that power would apply to a skill that was directly connected to his previous Sharpness Concept.

He also didn’t want to forget about [Barrier of Severance]. The skill had been sitting at level 19 for a while, and this would be the perfect time to start changing some things. He might even get lucky and finally evolve it into an epic skill.

He also already had some ideas of how he might change some of the skills functions before he did that. While he appreciated [Barrier of Severance] for the powerful skill it had been, there were some things that he wished the skill covered.

He also realized he wasn’t using his Sharpness Concept to its full potential when it was primarily a defensive skill. Sharpness was something that screamed offense, and relegating it to something so passive and defensive might be holding it back.

Plus, it would be nice to relax. Even though he didn’t need to with [Phoenix Renewal], he had slowly been getting accustomed to taking breaks. He felt bad for those people who hadn’t been able to take a break until this floor.

He suspected a lot of the people who dropped out had done so because they had run out of stamina and were too tired to continue. Even if they consumed stamina recovery potions, it would only last so long.

Consuming too many of them would lead to much worse issues in the long term. It just wasn’t sustainable unless you only wished to clear another floor or two, but after that, you would be done. The potions wouldn’t be effective past that point.

He was transported to a room with a bed and a couple of chairs. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was more than enough for him. There was a slight dungeon vibe to it, but that wasn’t anything a few balls of mana couldn’t fix. and lighten the place up.

He only took several hours to relax. He had a tiny nap and even spent some time with Drasil as the two of them ate some food. Or rather, in Drasil’s case, some mana. The little life spirit was as gluttonous as always, which seemed to have increased with the recent consumption of House Easten’s treasure.

Funnily enough, Drasil appeared to enjoy the mana that Julius put a small amount of his new Sharpness Concept into. At first, he had been worried that Drasil would be hurt when consuming such mana, but the little green guy had been persistent. Which ultimately led to Julius carefully letting Drasil try it out.

Apparently, the mana must have been similar to spicy food for Julius, and Drasil loved it. Honestly, it was adorable to watch the cute little guy scrunch his brows in a wince as the mana went down. However, once he completely consumed it, Drasil was back in his face, asking for more.

Julius conceded much to Drasil’s delight, and the glutton continued to gorge himself until it was time for Julius to resume his delve.

***

Sixth Floor Clear Condition: Find your way to the fort.

Upon entering the sixth floor, he was met with another weird condition. Apparently, he was supposed to find his way to some kind of fort, but he had no idea what that really meant. What kind of fort was he supposed to find?

He was once again transported into a forest, but there were some slight differences this time around. For example, he was on a steep incline, and the sun was almost already down over the horizon. Not seeing a reason not to investigate, he climbed toward the top of the hill he found himself on.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

When he reached the top, he nodded slowly to himself. He believed this was what the rift meant by a fort.

The hill he was on overlooked an entire forest, and at the very end of this forest stood a large stone fortress. It was likely dozens of miles away, but it was large enough that he could make it out in the dim lighting.

A part of him doubted he would be able to get there before the sun completely set, which meant he would be left traveling in the dark. Of course, this wasn’t such a big issue for him. He had a perception skill that allowed him to see regardless of the lighting, but he was more concerned about how many monsters might come out when the sun went down.