***

Two months later.

Tower.

The teleport crystal glowed as Ethan stepped out of it. Floor 45 had been cleared.

Ethan managed to finish it in less than half an hour even though the floor boss was level 120, a spider monster with 92,000 HP.

For most people, that monster was considered difficult or even impossible to defeat in a short time, even with a five-person party.

But Ethan had reached level 84 now, with his attribute points fully allocated to certain stats. His strength increased drastically.

The room door opened and Ethan felt exhausted after fighting the black spider boss. He planned to go to the city and rest for a moment there.

"Let me watch over you until we reach the city," Risa said, firm and confident.

Ethan nodded. The two of them walked out of that place, leaving the floor boss castle while not a single party seemed interested in attempting the boss challenge.

The higher the tower floor, the fewer people would attempt a floor boss challenge. Since floor 30, the Floor Boss Challenge had its own special rule.

The surrender feature did not work before ten minutes of battle. Every party had to fight with everything they had for ten minutes to unlock the surrender option.

If they failed to survive ten minutes, they would actually die.

That was one of many reasons why parties on higher floors had to plan the best strategy before attempting a floor boss.

They left the black castle with slow steps, walking down the forest path toward Ula City.

It was a large city on floor 45 controlled by Meteor Garden Guild, an A-Rank Guild affiliated with Redemption Sword.

Their steps stopped when they saw a black spider monster standing and blocking their path.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. The monster was at least level 112, with around 84,000 HP. For Ethan, killing it would be easy, but he was not sure about Risa's current ability.

"Remember. Use the Three Blood Flames combo. Make sure you trap it inside the blood fingers first," Ethan said.

"Calm down, Ethan. I know what I have to do."

She stood alone there while Ethan watched ahead. Risa stepped forward confidently with her fire-patterned magic staff in her hand.

[With the blood flowing through my body, I call upon the fingers of the underworld to punish my enemy!]

[Spirit Magic: Gripping Blood Fingers!]

The spider monster was trapped inside a red magic rune that appeared under its feet.

Not long after, two crimson monster-like hand projections rose from the rune and grabbed the monster's body, holding it down.

The monster struggled, trying to break free as its HP dropped fast while it remained inside the rune, as if the rune was draining its HP.

Risa continued and chanted another spell to turn the blood in her body into hot, sharp spikes.

She pointed her staff forward, firing hundreds of blood spikes that pierced the monster's body. The spider screamed in pain.

[Black Web Spider (Lv. 112) || HP: 52450/84000]

The bleeding holes in its body caused the monster to lose 1,000 HP per second for 10 seconds. After the bleed effect ended, its HP dropped to 42,450.

Good. Her ability had increased a lot. That was definitely because her level went up and her accessories and magic staff also improved.

Looks like I was lucky to help her grow stronger.

Risa narrowed her eyes. She summoned a Fire Crystal Spirit and destroyed it with her magic.

The stored magic energy inside the Fire Crystal Spirit was absorbed into her staff, increasing her fire element Magic Damage by 150%.

[The anger of nature falls upon those who sin. With my power, I call the wrath of nature to punish my enemies!]

[Spirit Magic: Earth-Shattering Fire Orb!]

Risa raised her staff and shot a beam of fire magic into the sky, creating a large magic rune above. In an instant, a giant meteor covered in red flames dropped toward the spider monster.

BLAST!

A huge explosion happened as the meteor hit the monster. Ethan rushed forward, stabbing his sword into the ground to protect Risa from the explosion impact.

A strong wind blasted toward Ethan and Risa, but both of them managed to withstand it. Ethan's sword barrier was much stronger now.

Risa's power was terrifying, but it was still not enough to break Ethan's sword barrier, not even crack it.

[Black Web Spider (Lv. 112) || HP: 0/84000]

Soon, the explosion faded and the wind calmed. Ethan pulled out his sword and removed the sword barrier.

Risa stepped forward and pointed her magic staff at the monster's corpse to absorb its power essence.

That energy was useful for her to increase her spirit energy. Gaining spirit energy meant increasing her level.

But spirit energy was limited and only came from monsters. Risa also did not have an individual system that provided quests and rewards, so leveling for someone like Risa was much harder than for Ethan.

Risa felt nothing change. She looked at Ethan and he noticed there was only one blood pattern on her forehead, a sign that she had reached level 50.

"It didn't increase. Still the same blood pattern."

"Hmm, looks like I need many monsters and much more spirit energy."

"We'll rest tonight. Tomorrow, we'll hunt while heading to the teleport crystal."

Risa nodded. Her personality had grown more mature than before. That was because she was close to reaching her goal.

She would be counted as the most accomplished chief in her tribe's entire history.

When the forest's main path was clear of monsters, Ethan and Risa left the area. They kept walking until they reached the end of the forest, right at the wide plains where the large city of Ula stood.

The facilities there were complete enough to meet the needs of players. Only a cathedral was missing.

They entered the city and saw the crowd there, reminding Ethan of Mavelard. In that city, guild offices stood to provide services for their guild parties.

Sadly, there was no LionArk office here. When Ethan asked about it, people said LionArk members left the Tower and sold the guild.

Ethan had not checked the condition in Mavelard yet because he focused on finishing his Raid Tower up to floor 50.

Maybe after he reached floor 50, he would return to Mavelard and see how things were going. Ethan still hoped LionArk managed to win the city authority challenge.

They reached the inn and went to their room. Ethan handed food from his inventory to Risa, a kind of ration-like snack that was filling. He got the item from a shop on floor 40.

"We are close to reaching floor 50. I can't wait," Risa said as she ate the snack while sitting on the sofa.

Ethan nodded, took off his black cloak, and sat on a single sofa seat while eating the same snack. But he also had wine inside his inventory.

Only Ethan was allowed to drink it, not Risa.

"Yes. But let's not rush too much so we stay safe. We'll reach it eventually."

"I agree. Being rushed and making the wrong choice is dangerous. We could die, especially since monsters get stronger on every floor," Risa replied.

"Do you miss Nok, Risa?"

Risa froze for a moment, then smiled softly.

"Yes. I've been away from the village for two months. I miss everyone," she answered quietly.

"We'll meet them again later."

Risa nodded while eating her dinner slowly. "I can't wait to tell Nok everything. She'll definitely be interested in my story."

"Of course. She and everyone else will be interested in hearing your story."

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