Chapter 15. Up [Time left before moving on to second floor] [00:09:38] A little less than ten minutes left. Even though I had collapsed from exhaustion, it was just mentally. My body felt great, ready for anything this damn tower throws at me. 'The second floor', the quest did not specify how many floors I had to clear. It could be over after completing the next floor or go on till a hundred or something, but I did not care much. Moving up just made me stronger and allowed me to face stronger enemies. I just hoped my parents were fine but it did not bother me too much. Something was happening to Earth and that was one of the reasons why were sent here because just before I was brought I heard the Records state some case. We would be sent back after the things that the Earth was going through would be over, probably. Another reason was that the Record would prevent death. So for now all I had to was stay alive and get the best secondary class that was out there. The only thing remaining now was to wait. [00:00:03] [00:00:02] [00:00:01] [Now moving to the second floor] And I was teleported. It did not feel as weird this time. Having experienced it so many times you probably get a general resistance to the nauseating feeling you get, like most people get seasick on their first time on a ship. I was in a forest, again. No enemies or people that were mindlessly trying to kill me. I looked down to see my appearance and as expected it was completely different than how it was on the first floor. The clothes that I was currently wearing were ordinary. At least they appeared ordinary, a white shirt and brown trousers. But there was a slim leather armor underneath the outfit was wearing. I wondered what I was doing here and that is when the Record came forward. [You are a spy that was exposed. The information that you have found is capable of changing the direction this war is heading towards. While you were sneaking your way out, your identity was exposed. Now you have to hurry back to the base and reveal the knowledge that you have.] [Follow the arrows marked on the trees and return before you get caught or it becomes too late for your people. Your weapon would be returned to you after the floor is cleared.] And I ducked down. Just as I finished reading what I had to do an arrow passed through the place my head was just a second ago. I heard shouts behind me and they did not sound nice. "Found him! Catch that shit!" "The only way we live is by bringing that bastard back dead!!" "The one who catches him gets a night with the best whore, all paid by me!!!" "Looks like this is where I take my leave," and I start running. The arrows were honestly hard to spot, small and moving in the same direction as the natural bark, blending in perfectly. They were always changing directions and I had to be careful enough to not run in a full circle. Even my weapons were taken away. The people kept following me but after a few minutes, it felt like I was going in a circle and the people behind me were slowly closing in. I kept passing the same trees, the same rocks. But after some time I noticed another set of arrows on the tree hidden even more carefully, and every one of them was pointing in the same direction. The chasers were getting closer and closer and I just realized that the first set of arrows was to confuse the enemies if someone ever found out, only insiders knew about the second set because the second set was something I could see because of my high perception or that is what I would like to believe. That was the only way this would work, every trial was something that you could complete. The dome that I was trapped in and killing the chief goblin, every one of them was possible and could be done. Honestly, they were a little faster than me, the only reason I was able to maintain the distance was because of my high perception. Being on the lookout for tree roots sticking out and branches that wanted to smash me in my face was easy but as time went on the people starting to chase me also got better. And if I had to run in a straight line, well I was going to fail this test. I had to get out fast as I now know the direction to rush in and the thing that was going to help me was something I was very excited to use. My new skill [Sprint] was the one that was going to come to my rescue. [Double your speed for 30 seconds] It was going to increase speed and there was no stat as speed, agility helped control and strength helped in pushing against the ground, that was what gave me speed. The two worked together to increase speed and I hoped the skill worked in a similar fashion. I did not know how to activate the skill and saying it out loud was not something was going to do, dumb for obvious reasons. It takes of the whole element of surprise. Leaving that for later, I thought that about wanting to use the skill and the next thing I felt was cool air all over my face. I was moving at a speed that should not be possible for a human body to handle and I go faster after leveling up and increasing my stats. The air felt nice and the surprising thing was that I could control my even while moving at this speed. I could hear the ones chasing me left behind as I ran past the trees into an area covered with tall grass, taller than me. I did not stop, I could not stop to be precise. My legs were numb and if I stopped there was no way I was going to continue. I ran and ran, and at one point the grass just disappeared and I was left in a clearing, surrounded by people, all drawing their weapons. I blurted out things in a panic because the people did not appear weak, they all gave off an aura of strength. People that could probably wipe my ass off the floor. "Information important. People chasing," were the only things I could say before a voice and a message from the system both came at once. "He's with us." [Cleared the Second Floor] [Experience gained] [Level up] [Level up] [Time left before moving on to Third floor] [23:59:57] And I was once again teleported in the same room, filled with darkness, where I was brought after clearing the first floor. The first thing was me collapsing and the next was releasing a breath I did not know I held. And finally, the things that hit me were dizziness and powerlessness. The cost for using skill was not mana but stamina. The powerless and exhausted state I was in was probably due to that. I wanted the skill to increase my speed by a little, enough so that I can maintain a lead and once they are about to catch up, the skill could be used once more and I would maintain my lead. But what happened just now was that the skill took all of my stamina in exchange for the top possible speed it could provide. "This is not going to work out." I had to learn how to use these skills properly. If this happened during an important fight or anywhere that I did not want it to, the result was not something that I think I would like. Bloodlust I had no idea how that skill worked but learning how to control skills regarding their input and output was surely going to help in the long run. The passive skills were a little weird. I sensed no boost to my perception nor to my control. The increase in effectiveness which the skill talked about had to be something noticeable if it was explained as massive but, nothing. 'Was this a dud? Does the demon skill work only for demons and it is not working for me because the Record can't put a mark or identify my species?' Everything was confusing and exhaustion was slowly taking over me as I fell into a deep sleep.