With the issue of his encroaching exhaustion staved off for the moment, Dharen was able to ready his tunnel once again. He reinforced the obstructing rubble that served to cut off his tunnel from the cave before him. The cave was filled with the sounds of shifting rubble and exertion-laden grunts. Eventually, he took a step back and admired his handiwork.

The dim, grim tunnel had turned into a cobbled-together fortress. Rubble stacked upon rubble, soaring high to the ceiling. With the tunnel now more heavily fortified against intrusion, he waited. He did not have to wait long.

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Wave 5: Beginning Now

Enemies: Ferran Master

Number: 0

Awakened: 1

Next Wave In: 1 hour

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The cave began to tremble. Vibrations ripped through its surface, playing a thunderous staccato march. Dharen began to feel a sliver of trepidation eke its way past his confident exterior.

A booming thud rang out, and the rubble-fortified walls collapsed. A Ferran Master stood in the formerly-defensible position.

It towered over Dharen, looming over him with ease. With a massive wooden club - or rather, a tree trunk - in hand, it was the very picture of a powerful savage, ogre-like and brutal. As expected of a creature that treats the vicious Ferran as common pets, it emanated a dangerous aura. What was worse, a Seed lay embedded in the skin between its eyes.

Dharen tensed, readying himself for a difficult fight. The ogre sent a nonchalant swing towards him. He ducked underneath it, twisting his body. The monster’s eyes narrowed, and its Seed began to glow.

A visible aura of red-hot Rage pulsed from the crystal. As it did so, Dharen found himself overwhelmed with anger. How dare this disgusting thing attack me? He sent out a Challenge and the creature grew. Disgust intensifying, he attacked the monster with a rage-filled fanaticism.

He lost all semblance of strategy, throwing himself at the enemy with all the planning of a snail. He hacked and swung, hitting naught but air. In his rage, he failed to notice his bridling exhaustion. The furious rage intensified further, reaching a fever pitch. He would bring fury down upon the savage, he would rain fire on - a massive club took him in the side, sending him sprawling.

He tore himself up in a whirl, flinging back into the fight. Once again, a club sent him flying. And again.

Rage filled his mind, consuming him. He ignored his crushed bones, his savaged body. Again and again, he assaulted the creature. And again and again, he was rebuffed and damaged.

He slammed against the walls again, his skull bouncing off the unforgiving stone. For a moment, the heavy hit to his head broke him out of his rage-filled frenzy. What am I doing?

As he felt the rage build once again, he quickly activated Miasmic Wreath. He felt his remaining pool of Spirit leave his body as a nightmare-like shadow enveloped his form. Nightmarish hands grasped him, wrapping him in their embrace. Yet it felt oddly unthreatening, as if they were familiar friends. Their calming embrace brought his rage back down from its boil, allowing him to think clearly again.

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You have resisted a Mental Influence.

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Now shaken out of his rage, he realised with horror the predicament that he found himself in. His bones were battered, fractured and brittle. His muscles were jelly, hardly able to move.

He put up as best a fight as he could, but it was too late. His strikes were slow and unwieldy, his dodges delayed. He retreated to the Obelisk room, looking for a chance to strike back. He soon found himself backed against a wall.

The Ferran Master sent a powerful swing his way. Dodging it by a hair, he was momentarily dazed by the intense sound generated as the brutal club slammed into the wall. The cave shook and trembled. Rocks began to descend from the ceiling, falling like rain. In the next moment, he was trapped under rubble. Darkness descended.

The merciless stones conspired with gravity to crush him to a pulp. He could feel himself flattening with each and every second. Breathing became difficult-to-impossible as the very air began to disappear.

Just as he lost hope, a deafening crash resounded.

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Obelisk Destroyed!

Waves Defeated: 4

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To his neverending relief, Dharen found himself back in the Waiting Room once again. He shuddered slightly, remembering the horror of being helpless as he was slowly crushed to death by the unfeeling stone above him. He couldn’t help but feel brutally reminded of the dangers inherent in choosing to climb the Tower of Challenges; it may have been created to bolster humanity’s forces, but it was certainly not a merciful taskmaster. Perhaps that said something about its creators, the Progenitors. Mistakes were corrected brutally - most of the time permanently. After a time, he broke away from his musings in order to examine the rewards that he received from the floor.

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Congratulations on defeating the Fourth Floor Challenge!

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Calculating Rewards…

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Objective:

Defeat The First Wave.

COMPLETE

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First Wave Completion Medallion

5000 Tower Tokens

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Objective:

Defeat The Second Wave.

COMPLETE

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Second Wave Completion Medallion

Rank I Common Soulseed (Low-grade)

10,000 Tower Tokens

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Objective:

Defeat The Third Wave.

COMPLETE

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Third Wave Completion Medallion

Rank I Common Soulseed (Low-grade)

15,000 Tower Tokens

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Objective:

Defeat The Fourth Wave.

COMPLETE

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Fourth Wave Completion Medallion

Rank I Common Soulseed (Mid-grade)

20,000 Tower Tokens

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Objective:

Defeat The Fifth Wave.

FAILURE

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Though slightly dejected at his inability to progress further, Dharen brightened upon seeing the rewards. He quickly absorbed the Soulseed rewards, choosing to progress his Triumph Seed once again. Unlike before, his soulseed now took two low-grade soulseeds or one mid-grade soulseed to increase in level. However, he also gained double the attribute gain as before - increasing his Strength by a total of twelve and his Vitality by six.

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Name:

Dharen

Race:

Faceless Human

Affiliation:

The Faceless One

Spirit:

41

Strength:

50

Agility:

38

Vitality:

35

Endurance:

27 (28.35)

Wisdom:

1

Charisma:

1

Luck:

1

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Tower Tokens:

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57,500

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Flush with Tokens, he felt a tempting urge to peruse the shop once more. However, before he did so, he decided to examine the information related to the fifth floor just in case.

After retrieving the information crystal from its place in the chest, he examined the fifth floor section.

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Floor 5: Contributions and Collaborations

Objective: Earn Required Number of Contribution Points and Exit the Floor.

Optional Objective: Form an Alliance With Other Awakened.

Reward:

Rewards vary based upon performance

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His mind buzzed with anticipation. This would be the first floor of the Tower that intermingled the various challengers. Not only that, but it appeared that the challengers within the floor would not necessarily be only those who entered at the same general time as him; rather, those who had come previously and not progressed further for one reason or another might be there as well.

It seemed that the Fifth Floor would allow those participating in the Tower’s challenges to interact for the first time. With that in mind, Dharen browsed the Shop for useful purchases. In the end, he bought a single item, bringing his Token count back down to almost nothing.

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“Spatial Ring”

~Storage Type~

50,000 Tokens

A crude band imbued with a Seed of Avarice, this ring can be used to hoard items within its hidden space. Holds a capacity of one cubic meter.

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At that moment, Dharen decided that he must be prepared for anything and everything. To do that, he would have to play his role judiciously. He pinned the First Wave Completion Medallion to his breast, pocketing the rest within his Spatial Ring. He then placed his enchanted dagger within the ring’s storage as well. As his experience growing up on the harsh streets of Yraos had taught him, sometimes the underestimated could reap many an opportunity.