In what felt like the blink of an eye, Linnaeus found himself deposited in a strange land. Rather than the familiar ruined walls, foul smelly alleyways, and damp tunnels, he saw nothing but rich greens, earthen browns, and a few warmer colors such as orange and red as far as the eye could see.

Though Linnaeus had heard about them before, this was his first time seeing trees and plants in real life, causing him to enter a temporary stupor as he looked down from his hilltop location, a 30m tall tree his only companion atop the peak.

Just as before, the relative silence of the endless greenery was broken, this time by a melodic voice that sounded like a soft bell ringing in the ears, "Welcome to the First Floor, young Fledgling. Now that you have earned the right to climb, you must show that you have the ability to survive. Here, in this place, you will be required to earn a thousand points to advance to the next Floor. Note that all Fledglings start with a value of one-hundred points and, every complete cycle, you will be awarded an additional one-hundred. Whether you manage to earn enough points by surviving ten days, or through other means, is entirely up to you. Good luck, and may you one day soar freely through the Heavens~."

With the voice still echoing in the surroundings, Linnaeus heard a small bell sound within his mind. He dutifully opened his Status to see there was now a value named Aether while, on the back of his left hand, a series of small runes had appeared, indicating the value for 100 in bright blue markings.

Even without an explanation, Linnaeus realized this was a way in which other people would be able to identify the value of their potential targets. Though the voice hadn't told him to hunt down other Fledglings, it went out of its way to mention their value. Since it didn't mention other methods to obtain Aether, other than surviving for the requisite number of days, he knew it wouldn't be long before people began to hunt each other down.

Rather than stand out in the open, Linnaeus quickly climbed into the canopy of the tree behind him to think about his next course of action. This ultimately ended up being a mistake, however, as, while the leaves were a refreshing sight to behold, they obstructed his view of the surroundings.

After hesitating for a short while, he ultimately leaped down from the tree and began sprinting low to the ground, his destination a small waterfall in the distance. If he was going to survive, having a source of clean water and shelter were high priorities. He had no idea how the weather in the Tower behaved so if he failed to find a safe place to rest, his chances of survival would plummet greatly.

Fortunately, though there was a complex network of trees, root systems, bushes, and rocks, Linneaus found it was surprisingly easy to navigate the terrain. His [Acrobatics] and [Stealth] seemed made for such environments so, with his SP recovery more than covering the cost, Linneaus kept his [Stealth] active as he moved almost soundlessly through the greenery.

This ended up being a considerable boon as, after passing around a large moss-covered stone, he came across a monstrous creature that caused his brain to buzz with anxiety.

Though he had known to expect monsters within the Tower, Linnaeus had never expected his first encounter to be against a giant snake-like creature. Its girth rivaled some of the surrounding trees and, being more than ten meters in length, it was a jarring sight to stumble across in his pursuit for water and shelter.

After briefly considering whether he should fight or flee, Linnaeus decided on the former as, from what little he knew of snakes, they were extremely agile. This was also its home so, if he tried to just make a run for it, leaving his back to the creature, there was a good chance he would become its prey.

Understanding there were even more powerful monsters in higher Floors, Linnaeus resolved himself as he skulked near the sunbathing creature. His goal was to get close to its head as, if he just struck the lower sections of the body, his attacks weren't likely to do much damage. He intuited that most of its important organs, such as the heart and lungs, were in the first few meters of its body.

Though he did not know it at the time, Linnaeus was very fortunate in this particular encounter as, with his [Barrier Aura] significantly reducing his odor, the snake was virtually blind to his approach. This, combined with his [Stealth], allowed the youth to get within leaping distance of its head, all the while the snake just kept flickering its tongue without a care in the world.

After getting close enough to feel the heat radiating from the monster's body, Linnaeus used nearly a thousand of his SP to make a super-dense spear of blue light using his [Barrier] magic. He was able to see the subtle pulsing of the snake's body, around 2m from its head. Though there were thicker scales surrounding the area, he was confident his attack would be able to pierce through, despite his lackluster Strength. This was due to his [Assassination] Skill guaranteeing his attack would do triple damage and cause the 'Severe Bleeding' status to his target.

Without any hesitation, Linnaeus drove his makeshift spear forward, causing the snake's body to jerk like a whip that sent him flying hard and fast enough to crash through one of the surrounding trees. This caused his SP to decrease by close to 300 points but, as he was effectively immune to damage so long as his [Barrier Aura] held out, Linnaeus climbed to his feet moments later to see the snake continue its death throes.

After seeing the amount of destruction caused by the violent movements, he suddenly began to feel it would be safer to create some distance between himself and the creature. It was producing a considerable amount of sound so, if there were others nearby, they may come to investigate the commotion.

This ended up being the correct choice as, after vanishing into the underbrush, Linnaeus observed a duo appearing atop a nearby boulder. Like him, they were only wearing the peculiar bodysuits that had been assigned upon entry into the Tower, confirming his suspicions about the Vulcan woman.

Though he could not hear what they were saying, the taller man amongst the pair, standing close to 200cm with a lean body covered in brownish-gray fur, pointed towards the snake's corpse as its movements began to slow. This caused his companion, a young boy with green hair that extended past his waist, tied neatly in a stylish braid, to release a tired sigh before jumping down. From this, it was clear to see the relationship between the two, especially with the larger man crossing his arms with a snide smile on his face.

If his intuition proved correct, Linnaeus imagined that the fur-covered man was only teaming up with the weaker youth until he had enough points to harvest. By waiting five days, he would be able to finish the current test in one go, making it hard to place your trust in others since they may very well just kill you for the benefits involved.

Since Linnaeus wasn't the type to risk his life for others, he just continued to hide in the brush until a small bell sounded in his mind, indicating he received 70 experience and 9 Aether. This caused his eyes to widen as, after reaching his current Level, it was difficult to get reliable experience. Suddenly getting 70 in one go, when he only needed 3300 for a full Level, caused his heart to begin beating rapidly in excitement.

While keeping himself hidden, Linnaeus was also able to confirm how much Aether the two enemies had. They had both started cutting apart and placing a few of the easier to eat pieces of the snake into their Inventories, allowing him to catch a glimpse of their marks.

Unsurprisingly, as only an hour or so had passed since his entry into the Floor, both men only had 100 Aether each. He didn't know if everyone started the test at the same time but, as it wouldn't really be fair otherwise, Linnaeus at least hoped this was the case.

With this revelation, he couldn't really determine how strong the two were. Thus, without any other information to go on, he continued laying low, comforted by the periodic ding that indicated he was earning experience in his [Stealth] Ability, albeit only a point or two every minute that passed.

Based on this trickle of experience, Linnaeus could deduce the approximate strength of the two but, as this was merely an assumption, he didn't act on it. He waited until they had harvested quite a bit of the harvest that should have been his before appearing nearly three hours later. Since there was a chance they could have been lying in wait for him, he waited until his SP had completely recovered before skulking around the area to confirm they had indeed left.

After confirming that his surroundings were clear, Linnaeus harvested a few key pieces of the snake's meat before peeling off a few of the larger scales. The others had removed its fangs, eyes, and most of its more important organs, but there was still plenty of meat and materials to harvest.

Though he should be annoyed to have his own prey robbed right in front of his nose, Linnaeus was actually in a great mood since he knew, for the first time in weeks, he would be eating meat for his next few meals. He even found some edible berries and fruits along the way, giving the former slum dweller the illusion he had wandered into a paradise.

Now moving at a much slower and more cautious pace, for obvious reasons, Linnaeus was able to better observe his surroundings as he slowly trekked towards the waterfall. As he grew closer to the source, he began to move even slower as, with the sound of the water dropping into its basin, even people without [Stealth] would be able to mask their movements.

With water being one of the most important resources for survival, there was a good chance that others, including the two he had previously encountered, had made camp around the area. Even if they hadn't, there were sure to be monsters that frequented the area to quench their thirst. Some could even be lurking in the depths of the basin, just waiting for someone foolish enough to near the embankment before claiming an easy meal.

In the Tower, there were many unknowns so, until he had a better grasp of the situation, Linnaeus decided to treat even the surrounding plants with due respect. Though he didn't have to worry about getting nicked by a sharper-than-normal leaf, or pricked by a concealed thorn, it was better to be safe than sorry in situations like this. Caution was how slum-dwellers survived and, if not for this nature of his, surviving the five years since he received his Blessing would have been impossible.

With this in mind, Linnaeus spent the remainder of the day simply hiding in the underbrush near the river that flowed from the waterfall's basin. He could go days without food or water so, rather than rush, it was his intention to observe the surroundings to see if others showed up.

Because of his decision, Linnaeus was able to witness several people skulking out of the surrounding forest to get their fill. Some of these people were unfortunate enough to be attacked by others who had been waiting nearby, becoming the prey or preying on their attackers. He even saw one person, who seemed like she had only turned ten a few days prior, ripping a man three times her size in half before making short work of his two partners.

Though you couldn't really judge a person's strength by their looks, Linnaeus had been shaken by the display as, despite her diminutive appearance, she was even stronger than Saht. She also had an extreme level of confidence as, after being covered in her enemy's blood, she spent a few minutes just relaxing in the river so that the blood could be washed from her body and the paper-thin armor they had all been assigned.

During this display of complacency, someone tried throwing a sharpened piece of wood towards the girl, causing her to bat it out of the air as if she were squatting a fly. Moments later, blood-curdling screams could be heard from the forest after the girl leaped from the water and bolted toward her would-be assassin like a phantom. When she emerged to clean herself once again, none attempted to attack her, despite the fact she practically flaunted the 841 Aether in her possession...