Chapter 3

'Crap, I should have just ignored it, there's no way I can beat this thing. Unless... If I can manage to perfectly get this last soul to damage the core... I might be able to get close enough to stab it and destroy it.'

Seeing no other way to be able to survive, Zen knew that he had to defeat the bridge monster. With such a huge size, the creature seemed to be on the slower side, as the attack it had performed on Zen was only just being recuperated from, as the monster regained its composure, readying another attack.

He watched it closely, not making a move yet so as to not waste any energy. Once again, the monster smashed one of its arms down and, as he expected it this time, Zen dashed backwards to avoid it.

The arm was stuck in the ground momentarily, and Zen took his chance despite not being fully sure of the chances of success. He jumped onto the creature and began to run up its arm.

Zen could feel his feet trying to sink into the arm, but the quicker he moved the more solid the gelatinous shell felt.

Realising this, Zen had an idea that he thought would allow him to defeat the creature.

He summoned the spirit which he had stored, and controlled it lightly, aiming for the core. However, the monster began to lift its arm, shaking Zen's grip. He slipped but managed to grab onto the slimy surface, which actually went hard when he grabbed onto it. 

It was a struggle, but he managed to pull himself back up onto the arm. This was more difficult than it should have been, as he was still controlling the soul, but once he was back onto the arm, clinging on, he began to start his attack. 

He slowly manipulated the soul and carefully pushed it into the slimy body. As the soul did not have a lot of force behind it, it could easily pass through the membrane, and reach the core.

The next part of the plan was what Zen was most unsure of, as he attempted to make the soul enter the core, slowly easing it forward into the orb. 

This actually worked, and the red orb gained a faint glow of green from within it. As it was no longer in the jelly, the soul would be able to move freely, and Zen made it go as fast as possible, looping around the inside of the core. 

At first, this didn't seem to have much of an effect, but slowly pieces began to chip away from the orb. However, the soul was also diminishing, and Zen knew that he would need to destroy the core with his sword. 

He stood up on the arm, which was still shaking around, and attempted to run directly up the monster's arm. However, he was unable to withstand the force of the monster's shaking, and he was flung off of the creature's arm.

Zen skidded across the floor and landed in the corner of the area. He was hurt, it was likely that he had some broken bones, but he had no choice but to keep fighting.

He took some deep breaths, trying to regain his composure, and got to his feet. The bridge monster began to move towards him, getting closer by the second. 

'I can do this, I just need to get one good hit on its core, and then I'll be fine.' Zen thought to himself.

Forcing himself to stand his ground, Zen began to run towards the monster, baiting a smash attack on the left, before dodging to the right. 

He stabbed his sword into the leg of the slimy, bridge golem, and used his other hand to pull himself up, before repeating the process with his sword to get higher than before.

Once he was high enough, facing the core with just the slimy layer in between, Zen had to think about how he wanted to approach this, as if he were to stab the slime, it would go hard, but if he put it in without enough force, it would likely have no effect.

While he was thinking, Zen forgot about the threat of the monster, and his back was smashed by the creature's arm, pushing him inside of its body. Although he was seriously hurt, Zen noticed that he was closer to the core than before, as there was only a thin layer of slime between himself and it. 

It was thin enough that Zen felt like he could do some real damage. He softly pushed his hand into the slime and quickly pulled back. This ripped some of the slime out of the way, and the core became exposed. 

Zen did the same thing again with his other hand, and with two holes leading to the core, he grabbed onto it with both hands so as to not fall off.

The monster grabbed onto him and ripped him off, not wanting its core to be destroyed. However, this actually had the opposite effect, as Zen did not let go of the core and, despite the pain, he managed to pull out the core using the monster's strength against it.

The monster dropped to the ground, and the slime began to disperse across the ground, and the bridge turned into a pile of rubble.

'What sort of difficulty is this?' Zen thought to himself, looking around for the portal to be back. However, there was no portal, rather, some of the bushes had opened up that had been closed off before. 

Zen got to his feet once again and limped over to the opening, peering inside the revealed area to make sure it was safe. 

There was only a single thing within this space, it was a fountain, full of golden liquid that shone as if it was being hit with a thousand suns in a dim area. 

Zen immediately moved towards it, and he cupped his hands and dipped them into it, drinking it without missing a drop. 

He immediately felt that his body had been healed somewhat, and he continued drinking. By the time he was done, there was nothing left flowing within the fountain. 

A portal opened up, and it seemed his goal had been met and he could now leave, but the fountain was still on his mind. Zen looked at it, and he could only think of one thing, 'Where was that golden liquid coming from?'

He had to know, and there was only one way to find out, with his body fully healed, he began to investigate the fountain. It was made of stone, and upon being hit with a sword, not even a scratch was left behind. There was no way for him to destroy it, especially as the slime golem had not dropped a soul. 

He checked it up and down, but there were no hidden buttons or switches to be found, which only left him with one option.

Zen began to push the fountain, it was heavy, heavier than anything he had ever tried to move, but he could tell that it would move if he spent long enough trying. 

Millimetre by millimetre, the fountain moved, and the underneath was revealed more and more. He didn't need to move it a lot, just enough to fit himself underneath and have enough light to see inside.

It took a while, but he eventually did it, and the underside of the fountain was revealed. 

There was a single entity beneath it, hooked up with a tube to the pipe under the fountain, it seemed to be asleep, and he didn't know if this was by natural means or it was forced, but he gently scooped it up anyway. 

The creature was a bee, except it was around the size of a magpie. It had a golden and black colour palette, resembling the liquid that it seemingly produced. Around its neck area was a fuzzy, pure white scarf-like part that made the bee look royal. 

With the bee in his hands, Zen climbed out of the hole beneath the fountain and walked through the portal which was beside it.

Entering through the portal, he was transported back into the room he had been in before, and a screen popped up in front of him.

'Congratulations on clearing floor 1 of the Tower, your completion rate was 87%. Your clear rating was S+ rank. Your Tower ranking is 11th on Earth. As you are in the Top 50 Climbers, you may choose a display name when the ranking is viewed by others. Speak your display name now.'

Zen thought to himself for a moment before deciding on his name, "Chillest." It fit him based on his life motto, and it was short and sweet. He didn't have long to think more on this though, as the screens continued popping up.

'Floor 2 of the Tower will be available in 12 hours. Prepare accordingly. Your rewards will now be listed.'

'3500 Tower Coins. Your level has risen from 0 to 4. Pet 'Queen Bee' has been acquired. A unique pet has been discovered, an extra 1000 Tower Coins will be granted. Consumption of Diluted Royal Honey has raised Mana stat by 3 and your Vitality stat by 5.'

'Wow, that's way more than I thought I would get for a single floor, I should probably check my status and allocate my status points from levelling up.'

Name: Zen

Display Name: Chillest

Age: 18

Species: Human

Class:

Level: 4

Skills:

Skill Synthesis (SSS)

Soul Manipulation (F+)

Stats:

Strength: 5

Speed: 5

Vitality: 10

Mana: 8

Stat Points: 20

Pets: 

Queen Bee

'I wonder how I should allocate these stat points?'