Aaron was slightly apprehensive when he saw the staircase towards the second floor. There was the remote chance that this was an ambush, a setup and this group was here to kill him, not to help him. That was why he kept his guard up at all times. He studied how the group moved and he let them go ahead and walk first, while he took the rear. His senses told him that the fortifications, built at the base of the stairs and at the part of the staircase that met the walls, were abandoned. Not a single Vessel was there anymore and some of the fortifications had been dismantled. That was a good sign, but Aaron did not loose his weariness.

  He followed them up the staircase and only once he had the first floor behind him and was climbing the stairs did he feel more confident this was not a setup. The next good spot to ambush him would be at the exit of the staircase. So he readied himself, only to be disappointed when they finally reached the second floor. This entrance lead to the jungle biome and there was not a soul within his senses. More snakes than he could count, but no Vessels. Finally feeling a bit more confident he stepped out into the dusky humid snake infested rain forest.

  “Alright. I’ll take over the fighting from here. But you said you would be my guides.”

  “Of course.” Roger said as he strung his bow up and shifted the quiver of arrows so he had easy access to them. The warriors also got ready, Mortimer putting his greatsword on his broad shoulders and Robin had his axe in his hand. Shia and Stab seemed to be always ready. A trait which Aaron appreciated.

  “Can you tell me where the big snake boss is for this biome?”

  “Yeah, it is not that difficult actually. The Second floor is basically a giant circular floor that is split in half.” Roger scratched a circle into the mud with the tip of his boots. “The boss is the same distance from every staircase leading up or down other floors.” He added a few marks at equal distances and then cut the circle in half. Finally he indented the mud with his heels at two spots in the center of the half circles.

  “That is where the bosses are. So if you know which staircase you are at you can accurately determine the right direction to go for the boss.”

  “Right that makes sense, so where are we?” Aaron asked.

  Roger pointed at one of the marks on the circle.

  “Right there.” he looked up towards the bright fake sun and then pointed in a direction towards their right.“If we keep going in that direction we will get to the Boss.”

  “Easier said than done with all the trees and snakes.” Shia commented and stabbed a snake that had snuck up on her.

  “Well I could get there easily since you know I can just leap from tree to tree, but you guys can’t, right?”

  “Probably not, no.”

  “Oh well, lets go then, stay behind me.” Aaron said and moved in the direction Roger had indicated. He left his daggers sheathed and readied himself. At first there was little to do as the group moved deeper into the jungle. Aaron moved through the vegetation like water. He slid through the thick undergrowth, his feet always finding solid ground. The group behind him could not replicate that and had Mortimer make them a path with his greatsword he swung like a giant scythe. A few snakes started to appear here and there that Aaron crushed with his boots or caught and killed with his bare hands. Like that they kept moving steadily, the group only had to deal with snakes coming from the sides and if they kept moving nothing really stood in there way.

  “I have seen people use a sort of compass before while moving about this floor.” Aaron said conversationally, while he killed a giant boa coming their way with lazy efficiency by crushing its head.

  “Yes, they are not uncommon, but magical in nature. We do not have a mage to replenish the mana inside of the enchanted tool.”

  “Huh, you wouldn’t know how they worked, would you?”

  “Sorry, no idea.”

  The deeper they got into the jungle the more snakes there were standing in their way, slithering towards them angrily. Now with his hands full Aaron started to really fight the environment. His fists moved in the familiar patterns of the Rejuvenating Fist kata as he combined each step, each new opponent into a never ceasing and flowing display of martial arts. He ducked under a snake springing at him like a coil, battered it out of the air and stomped on another snake, before he dodged the snake bite of two or three snakes that had come into range. Time seemed to slow down as he reacted with the unceasing Palm kata. His open palm slapped the head of the snake mid bite and tore its head off. Aaron’s strength had increased by a lot since he had last been in this jungle and he waded through snake corpses without getting hit even once. To Aaron this was a brilliant training opportunity, to the group following behind him it looked very different. They gave him plenty of space and all they did was follow slowly, staring at the carnage of beasts and Aaron. They exchanged looks.

  “Well fuck me.” Robin murmured and gripped his axe tighter.

  “Have you ever seen anyone fight like this?”

  “Rogues at lvl 20 or 30 are that fast.”

  “He is not even using a weapon. He punches their heads off. How does that even work?” Shia asked and picked up a headless snake with a look of incredulous interest.

  Aaron ignored them and kept going, wading into the jungle and taking any attackers that came for him head on. Most of the time he did not even need to use the unceasing palm kata to defend himself. His anticipation and his senses told him where exactly the snakes were and he punched where they would be. He missed very rarely and more and more he marveled at the ease at which the different stances of the Rejuvenating Fist kata could be combined. It felt natural and his unnaturally limber body was more than capable of feats of acrobatics if necessary. Not that it ever was. But his range was deceptively larger than even the snakes realized and before they could react they were dead most of the time. Some snakes bit extremely fast though and those he needed the unceasing palm kata for. He loved how his reaction speed had already increased and that it was much easier to evade the sudden strikes.

  It took them less than an hour to reach the white tree, its dead branches shimmering like ivory in the intense sun. Aaron really looked forward to fighting that boss, but he was disappointed. The snake boss was not there anymore, only the carving glowed with magical light at the base of the tree.

  “Well, we are lucky, one less boss to kill.” Roger said and the group went over to get their magical buff. Aaron had to sneeze once or twice already and he too got himself the snake emblem. With sensory harmony he could feel much more than he had before. He felt the spell form catch and imprint itself on his skin, felt the surrounding magic shift and change. It was utterly fascinating. The curse was still in affect, it must be built into the floor itself Aaron guessed. But he and everyone else with this tattoo like emblem were somehow taken out of the curse. Like an exception in a computer program. To feel the magic surrounding him react was utterly fascinating. But not unexpected.

  Aaron could still see the trampled and cut out path through the jungle the manhunt groups had used. But already the jungle was taking the space back. Lianas had fallen from above, all kinds of overbearing plant life had sprouted forth, but to Aaron it was still obvious which way to go. He turned towards the cut into the forest and started moving into the gap. The group followed silently. Aaron did appreciate that they did not feel the need to chatter all the time. Instead they moved slowly and meticulously. The axe warrior Robin moved on the left side of the group, taking snake bites with his shield and cut through them with his axe. Mortimer was on vegetation clearing duty and looked bored. Since he walked directly behind Aaron no snake ever reached him. The man had a tireless endurance though, swinging his giant blade left and right in an even tempo, cleaving through the vegetation with ease. On the right side of the group Stab covered them, his rapier cut through any offending snake that got close with lethal precision. Aaron had to actually focus on the man to follow his movements. That man was a really high level Vessel no doubt. His sharp weapon pierced scales and heads with equal ease and Aaron’s mana sense told him that the weapon was enchanted. Roger walked in the center, an arrow knocked, but he did not have to shoot even once. Shia walked at the back, more skipping along than walking as she dispatched one or two snakes with her daggers with wickedly quick cuts.

  Aaron could see that they were a team with plenty experience and they worked together well. He had no doubt he could kill them all though if necessary. Well all but Stab. That man was sometimes too fast. He might be a challenge. Roger remained an unknown as well so Aaron kept up his guard. He did not have the luxury of underestimating his opponents or allies.

  They quickly left behind the center of the jungle and eventually came to the border to the desert. Aaron stepped out on to hot sand and stretched. What a good workout that had been. He looked back to the group that was removing snake bits from their clothes.

  “Want to take a break or are we good to go?”

  “We are fine, lets go get the second key and head up today.” Roger said while he took a sip from a canteen.

  “Will you take the lead again?”

  “Yes, I told you. I will do the fighting.”

  Roger hesitated and then asked:

  “Why?”

  “Because that is what the Tower was built for. To train us. I won’t make the mistake to not take advantage of it.”

  The group looked at each other, but they did not comment other than that. They clearly thought he was mad, or at least strange, but Aaron could really care less.

  The desert was exactly how he remembered it and the first scorpion he faced was obliterated. Aaron had spotted the thing instantly and moved to engage. It had burrowed itself in the sand and it sprung up as Aaron ran at it. Aaron dodged past the stinger, slapped a pincer away with his left and smashed his right fist into the creatures small beady eyed head. The carapace cracked and the creatures head disintegrated. The difference to when he had last faced these beasts was palpable, but then again he was almost four minor realms stronger in Cultivation had two new and improved techniques and months of training more.

  They traveled through the desert with little opposition. The scorpions fell before Aaron easily. But not as easily as the snakes. Their tough bodies made for a more challenging environment and Aaron felt thirsty quickly because of the curse. But in the end they had no problems moving forward. When they reached the desert interior and the giant boulder like mountain that contained the boss arena, Aaron could sense the Bosses presence inside. He had to hide his excitement and took a drink before he turned to the group.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “I’ll be fighting the boss alone as well, you can watch of course, but I don’t think it will be any trouble.”

  “Alone? You realize it takes a full group to beat them usually, right?” Robin asked, but Roger gave the man a hard look and he shut up.

  They entered the Arena together and Aaron walked forward to the giant white scorpion. The beast gave a screeching roar and charged as soon as Aaron stepped deeper into the arena. Aaron slowed down and took a deep breath as he watched the giant thing barrel down on him. He felt calm, tranquil in this moment and then he started to move. He slipped naturally into the Unceasing Palm kata. He evaded the charge by moving to the left and tapped the pincer trying to shoo him into the opponents clacking mandibles with a palm strike. The force of the palm strike made the attack miss and go above his head. Aaron kept moving and remembered the maxim of the Unceasing Palm kata while he started to dodge and weave around the irate scorpion.

  “A Palm unceasing, unwavering, but never still, like flowing water.” he muttered to himself.

  At first his movements were too rapid, too quick and hurried to take full affect, but Aaron was not trying to win this fight instantly, he was trying to train. He slowed down and his movements got smooth, liquid and he stopped hesitating so much. He kept moving, switching between the 36 stances of the kata at demand while he circled around the giant scorpion. Each punch, each attack from its tail or its pincers was evaded and Aaron felt himself get faster as he did so. He kept going for minutes, always aware of his surroundings, never surprised by anything the scorpion did, he moved like water. His calm mind fell into a trance like state as he fought. He had never really had to use the Unceasing Palm kata in a fight. This was the first time and he kept it up. 5 minutes turned into 15, then 30. But the scorpion barely slowed down. It did though eventually. Aaron’s palm strikes were not weak and he bruised and battered the boss until it slowed down finally.

  Aaron let out a sigh of disappointment as his trance broke and the marvelous feeling of being one with the kata vanished. He looked up at the giant monster and filled his right and left arm with Qi. This was another technique he had not used in combat yet. Qi Reinforcement. He filled his arm with Qi and intent. ‘Reinforce, make it stronger, more resilient.’ he thought intently. His Qi followed his commands and his arms were soon filled to the brim with Qi clinging to his muscles. The Qi was slowly absorbed by his body, like always, but his body was not as ravenous for Qi anymore so he had some time. There was a time limit on this technique though. Aaron activated Wind steps and jumped over the beasts pincers. He dodged the stinger mid air and then balled his right hand into a fist. He instinctively chose a straight punch of the rejuvenating fist and let it loose, combining his momentum and his Qi reinforced punch in a lethal attack on the creatures head.

  Aaron’s fist smashed through the scorpions head like a knife through butter. He was surprised by the force of his own punch and his arm sunk in up to the elbow into the scorpions brains. The creature screeched, convulsed and then collapsed, giving Aaron just enough time to rip his arm out of the beast and leap off. He landed gracefully on the sand of the arena, a picture of martial might. Which he immediately destroyed by cursing as he tried to shake off the brain matter from his arm.

  The group had settled down to watch and were surprised by the sudden end of the fight. Aaron bowed down and rubbed off the gore with sand as the group came to their senses.

  “Did he kill it? I didn’t see.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So...he could have done this from the start?”

  “Yes.” Stab said making the whole group look at him.

  “He could have killed the boss at any time.” Stab clarified and then fell silent again.

  “And here I was thinking the districts training was crazy.” Shia said with a chortle and walked past the corpse towards the back of the cave where the scorpion symbol had appeared. Everyone, including Aaron followed her and got their second magical imprint. Aaron sighed when he felt the thirst vanish from him and took a deep sip from his canteen to get the dry feeling out of his mouth.

  “So? Lets go to the third floor.” he said with a smirk.

  “Alright, lets go that way.” Roger said and pointed to the right as they exited the arena.

  Aaron took the lead again, dispatching scorpions as he went, but it was a ruthless efficient endeavor this time. He was done training with those things. Instead his mind turned to the third floor and he looked back to roger.

  “Tell me, what kind of floor is the third floor?”

  “Its an environmental floor just like this one. An ocean floor to be precise.”

  “An ocean floor?”

  “Yeah with a curse to go with it. But you will see. Its much easier to explain things when we get there.” Roger said and Aaron did not inquire further. They crossed the desert quicker now, since the density of the scorpions decreased and Aaron had to kill less and less as they advanced. When they finally reached one of the great doors leading up to the third floor, Aaron slowed down and let the group take the lead. Roger stepped forward and touched the carved symbols of the door with the spell imprints on his body. Aaron watched as the beautifully carved marble door lit up, felt the magic course through the door and then it opened up, the door hinges swinging towards them. Behind the door was not a staircase, like Aaron had expected but a swirling mass of magic. It was a spell, the biggest and most intense spell he had ever seen, but it was static. Aaron was surprised and then he watched as the group strapped down their weapons and readied themselves.

  “What is that exactly?” Aaron asked and pointed at the swirling mass of magic.

  “A portal. Technically the staircases are also portals, you just barely realize it.”

  “Huh, fascinating. Can mages actually replicate this?”

  “No idea, maybe at the higher floors? Not down here that is for sure.”

  Roger took a look at them and then nodded.“Lets go.” he said and the group walked into the portal.

  To Aaron’s senses it was like the spell took a hold of them and then something opened up. In an instant he could sense another place, felt water, smelled salt and then it was gone. He observed this for every member of the group, before he stepped in front of the portal. It was really connecting itself to another place like a wormhole or yes a portal. Utterly fascinating Aaron wished he could replicate that. Portals would be incredibly useful, but he doubted Emnu would allow portals between floors other than the ones he had created. He took a deep breath and then stepped into the portal.

  He felt the magic around him grip him in a tight seal and then the portal opened and deposited him through itself to somewhere else. It was a strange feeling and Aaron could not resist the spell, even if he tried. It was too fast to react to, almost instantaneous. Before he knew it, the hot desert air was gone and he smelled salt water and his hair was tussled by strong winds. Aaron found himself in the air, just a few meters above an ocean. And it was an ocean. Water stretched out towards the horizon, the walls of the tower the only thing restricting the vast mass of water. He activated Wind steps and instead of falling he floated downwards like a leaf while he looked around.

  The first thing he saw was the ocean. For a moment he thought he was falling down at an angle or was somehow turned around, but then he inspected the ocean in front of him. He blinked at the rising ocean turning into a massive mountain of water stretching into the sky. He was confused by what he was seeing and he felt like he was going mad for a moment. But then his mind understood the paradoxical view. What he was seeing was a storm, a giant water whirlwind that stretched from the ocean floor all the way up to the sky. If he squinted he could even see the water dip into the clouds. It looked like an upside down maelstrom, a giant mass of water swirling with great speeds, just that this one did not suck things downwards, but upwards towards the distant ceiling of the floor. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of meters up into the air. The giant weather phenomenon was literally miles high and Aaron immediately suspected that this was magic at work, probably Emnu’s design. In the end he decided against it being like a whirlwind, but made out of water. The steady circular motion of the water made it clear what it was. Aaron had never seen anything like it and the fake sun that shone down on them seemed to rotate around the center of the maelstrom. Sprays of water like mist rose around the top of the maelstrom and drifted away as clouds. All the wind that blew across the floor was towards the giant madness inducing mass of water.

  Aaron’s feet touched the slightly rocky water surface and found purchase, much to his surprise. Aaron felt himself sink soon after that though and he took a step and then another. He was walking on water he realized and had to chuckle to himself as he walked over the choppy waves of the ocean. The district group had been deposited into the air like him and they were swimming in the ocean all around him, spluttering and Aaron was impressed that the warriors did not sink. Their strong bodies had to move a lot though to keep them up.

  “What the hell, no fair.” Shia commented when she saw Aaron walk on water.

  “How the fuck are you doing that?”

  “I could try to explain it to you, but I don’t think you would understand.” Aaron said with a smirk.

  “Fucking Cultivator bullshit.” Shia spat as she got a face full of water from a wave crashing into her.

  Roger pointed towards the wall and shouted:“Lets swim to Oceanview.”

  “Oceanview?” Aaron asked.

  “That’s what they call the little village here. Come on guys, this is not our first rodeo. Swim.”

  Aaron had to keep moving to stay on top of the water and he quickly spotted what Roger had called a village. Only a few hundred yards away was land, well more like an over sized sandbank with a few wooden buildings on top. The island was nestled against the wall and bare of any vegetation. Just buildings and Aaron’s good eyes quickly told him that there were people there as well. He turned towards the island and then skipped over the waves with wind steps. He was far faster than the others and reached the island in a fraction of the time it took them. He reached the shore and stepped on sand while he looked around with interest.

  The village of Oceanview was made out of wood brought here from lower floors he guessed because he saw mostly wooden log buildings and sand. There was no solid earth here and so most of the buildings were build on stakes, giving it a lagoon like look. There were only 10 or 12 houses here and most of them were boat shops. “Caravan transport” “Gerix Boats” and “The Long Log” to name only the biggest of them. There was also a massive supply shop called “Underwater Goods” and a Tavern or Inn called the “Drowned Sailor” that together formed around a half circle around a well. But that was not the strangest thing he saw. The people walking around were the weirdest, because most of them wore glass bowls over their heads filled with water. The majority wore what looked like ancient dive suits with a diving bell on top of their head, but there were one or two he saw with just a clear glass bowl over their heads that had a magical seal. He blinked in surprise and turned around as the group finally reached land, panting hard from swimming and swallowing water.

  “I hate swimming in armor.” Robin said and flopped on his back at the beach.

  “Why do they wear a water filled bowl on their head?” Aaron asked Roger who was inspecting his bow string critically, before he looked up to Aaron.

  “Ah, that is because of the curse on this floor.”

  “What curse is that?”

  “You might not feel it yet, but there is a persistent curse on the floor that robs you of the ability to breathe air.”

  Aaron raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  “Yeah, but there are other ways to breathe here. Most of this village is under water. Down that well. They grow kelp there. Magical kelp. It allows you to breathe water. I have no idea how it works before you ask. But that is how people live here.”

  “If you ask me they are nuts. If you forget to eat kelp for too long you will either drown because of the bubble your head is in or suffocate in the air.” Mortimer growled and pointed at the people going on about their business.

  Aaron frowned at the boat shops and then looked back up the giant maelstrom.

  “So...these boat shops are renting out boats to cross that giant maelstrom up to the fourth floor I suppose?”

  “Exactly. Most groups do that, the third floor is a nightmare if you are not properly trained in underwater fighting. Caravans also take the biggest boats. Its why there are people living here in the first place.”

  “Hmm, fascinating. So there are fish in this ocean?”

  Mortimer scoffed. “Fish? Yeah, but also giant eels, sharks as big as a house and giant krakens that eat them. There is all kinds of monsters down there.”

  Aaron chuckled to himself as he studied the ocean.

  “You know, I don’t really like this Emnu guy, even though he did bring me back from the dead. But you have to give it to him, he knows how to challenge his soldiers.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that this whole tower so far has been made to serve as a classic environmental training. First a forest, easy, lots of ways to scavenge for food, to hide, to move, good solid base for your operations. Then a desert and dehydration forcing you to plan ahead, to bring enough water and even if you do, you will fight in a dehydrated state against the scorpions because of the curse. The jungle challenges you to fight while sick and the jungle itself is not called a green hell for nothing. Poison, sickness, sneaky camouflaged snakes as your enemies. All that on a timer. And now this, an ocean level to train you in underwater combat.”

  He spread out his arm trying the explain, but then just shrugged. “Seems a waste to just skip it.”

  “You really are mad, who needs to be able to fight under water?” Shia said with a shake of her head as she squeezed the water out of her short hair.

  “Well few people I guess, but training for it can still be valuable.” Aaron said and looked to Roger.

  “We have two weeks to get to the spot where that group from the 52nd floor is, right?”

  “Yes.” Roger said and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

  “Then I will train for a week down there.” Aaron said with a smirk and pointed at the ocean.

  “Oh come on.” Robin grumbled and heaved himself to his feet. “You can’t be serious? We could be at the fourth floor tonight and get on with our mission. Why delay?”

  “Like I said, would be a shame to waste the opportunity given to us by our beloved overlord.”

  “You should not take Lord Emnu’s name in vain.” Mortimer said seriously.

  “Sorry, but I very much doubt he is a god. Either way you don’t have to join me. You can stay here.”

  The group looked at each other. They looked reluctant to say the least, but eventually Shia said.

  “You know there is that spot the Boss told us about Roger. The rare spawn?”

  Roger groaned and then sighed.

  “Fine, we will come with you, Cultivator.”

  “Suit yourself. So what do we do first?”

  “Buy supplies and then go down the well.”

  “Well then, my guides, go ahead.” Aaron said with a smirk as the group walked into the small village.