♫ Look for the bare necessities ♫ ♫The simple bare necessities♫ ♫ Forget about your worries and your strife ♫

"For the love of god stop singing," Thomas Complained, for the umpteenth time "I Still don't understand how you can sing and fight!" we were currently engaged in our five swarm fight as a team. By this point, I had grown bored and started to sing and seeing were in a rainforest/jungle, I pulled out the classics. Welcome to the jungle, Run through the jungle, Lion sleeps tonight; I was now onto Bare Necessities. The rest of the group seemed to like my antics, but Thomas seemed to be growing more and more angry with me. I suspected that it was because he was this group leader and to be "overthrown" by a suicidal singing eighteen-year-old cowboy must have upset him.

"Calm down, Tommy. It's just a song," I called out casually, okay I might have been stirring him up too. I can't help it; the guy gets under my skin. He reminded me of Alistar, all bravado and no brains. "any way that's this swarm done on to the temple!" I called out.

We looted, ate a quick snack, and headed deeper into the jungle. I noticed Gibil hummin Bear Necessities as we walked, understandable it is an earworm kind of song. I downed my last Snake eye, Jack, I would still have more, but the group noticed me drink one, and I had to share some of my stock. No problem, we need to kill the queen to loot the temple and activate the altar to get back down. I had gathered so many materials in the last two days, and I could make a thousand snake eye jack potions. But I would still only make a hundred; I didn't want to flood the market. My spatial ring was almost full as well, which made me happy all that gold and loot, dollar signs in my eyes. I'm not usually a greedy person but, that money would help me power through the floors. Apart from materials, some awesome loot had dropped, Lucas now wields a rare great sword, Gibil got a cobra hood that helps him stealth, Julia got a pair of earrings and a new staff made from the skeleton of a snake. Even Thomas got a new short sword and shield, I got a second cobra revolver, so I was happy.

"Max, how do you know about the temple?" Julia asked as we walked.

"A rare cartography ability lets me get a floors map." I lied, how do you explain that you came back in time after humanity lost the final fight.

"oh, Okay, so you only know about this floor." Julia said with a frown, "you seem so confident I thought you were from the front."

"Nah, not yet, just got a bit of knowledge that most don't," I explained, "so if you guys are going to split after this adventure, be free."

I pushed a fern out of my face and stopped in my tracks in front of me was a stone ziggurat with snake statues boarding a staircase, like something out of an Indian Jones movie. Oohs and ahhs came from the party. However, I was scanning the structure, recalling little tib bits from my first time here. This temple of the constrictor queen or as my guide at the time called her, the hissing bitch. I would have been better alone. Still, if humanity was going to win this time, I need talented people. Like Gibil and Julia, and I need them to know me and respect my leadership. "okay, guys listen up the mini-boss in the temple is a real bitch, its not as bad as the child of Jörmungandr, but she's going to be painful." I started to get into leader mode. "she likes to use the different levels of the temple to disguise her movements. So were going to the top, its the smallest platform and therefore had the least attack directions. However, this means a mad dash up those stairs, do not slow down, do not look back. I'll give a rundown of her abilities and what to watch out for." I made sure everyone was paying attention before continuing. "like some of the cobras on the floors above, she has a hypnotic gaze, its powerful, so do not look her in the eyes while shes hissing. Like constrictors, she likes to bite and wrap you up, however, shes massive so she can and will swallow you whole if you let her. Tail slaps are a given and a berserk mode at 10% health, the berserk mode will summon a level 1 swarm through gaps in the stonework it is then well pop the ringer. She cant be defeated while the swarm lives, so kill them quickly and then target her. got it?" A round of confirmative answers where given. I nodded and got into a runner's stance, "go!" I shouted and took off. There were eight levels of the ziggurat each level had a dozen or so stairs to climb to get to the top. We bounded up them like the devil was on our tail, and she was as the last person crossed up the stairs un unleashed a full rapid fire into the giant's snakes rainbow-colored scaled nose.

YOU HAVE ENGAGED IN BATTLE WITH THE FLOOR BOSS

THE CONSTRICTOR QUEEN. LEVEL 40

As your party is the first humans to fight the constrictor queen, you will receive 2x the rewards if you manage to defeat her

The hissing bitch retreated under my hail of bullets, I dealt massive damage with that blow, but now it was a waiting game. Snakes are ambush predators by nature, and the queen was no exception "lookout she will attack when it's her advantage." I warned my party. I stopped the rapid-fire at 6 seconds that meant a 10-minute cooldown. All the excellent abilities had long-ass cooldowns. I holstered one of the revolvers and drew the cobra strike shortsword if she came in fast, and even with my experience with a gun, my dexterity wasn't as high as I wanted so that a sword would be better here. Her first lunge almost got Lucas, but Gibil, who had started to stealth, was right there, so as the bitch bit down onto Lucas's sword, Gibil plunged a dagger into its eye. After that, we were ready; everyone had combat heighten senses, turning at the slightest sound. With teamwork we widdle her health down to 9%, I activated the ringer, and we got to work slaying all snakes, using the snake eye jack potion I was head shotting snakes and taking potshots at the queen as she circled us. As the last snake fell, the queen lunged at us again, shattering the sound barrier. We gave her as much damage as we could dish out, I unleashed a full 10-second rapid-fire, aiming for the face, Gibil leaped onto the back of the rainbow serpent and repeatedly stabbed. Tom was blocking her strikes behind his shield while Lucas hacked at her tail like a monster hunter game, even Julia shoved the pointed end of her staff into the bitch. With a spray of blood and a hiss, the bitch died.

"Group Loot," I called out.

[Loot (Your Share): 2,500 Gold (1,750), 400 Mother of Snake Skins (280), 200 Mother of Snake Meat (140), 6 Mother of Snake Eye Jewels (4), 14 Spirit Stones (10)] [Items to roll for: Snake Queen Whip, Snake Queen Jacket, Snake Queen Saber, Snake Queen Orb, Snake Queen Dagger x 2, Snake Queen Vest, Book Of Cobra Strike, Book Of Constrictors Might]

"whoa," the group collectively gasped as they saw the loot window.

"Okay, let's get down to business," I said as I shook off the shock of the loot, first kill bonus was massive. Quickly checking the stats of the loot and made my selections out loud "First up I need the whip and the vest, pass on Jacket and the daggers, Greed the rest" I made my selection out loud, so the other knew what I needed, hopefull wouldn't go up against me. It was a precedent I set back during the first swarm we did together.

"I need the Daggers and the book of Cobra Strike, Pass on the vest and the whip, greed the rest," Gibil called out as he made his selection. And I understood why he picked the book; the book was a skill book. Rare in the early floors, they gave someone new skill, ability, or spell. Cobra Strike was a dual-wielding ability that poisons a target, so for a rouge/assassin like him, it was perfect.

"Need the Orb, Pass on the whip and vest, greed the rest," Julia nodding.

"Need Book of Cinstictors might Pass on rest" Lucas called out his selection next. I liked Lucas; he wasn't a greedy person only took what he needs from the loot and nothing else.

"need saber, Greed rest," Thomas said, at that point, it didn't matter if he passed on something. The only thing that hadn't been needed was the jacket. So when the roll landed on Gibil for the jacket, nobody gave a hoot. The reason why because it was fashioned from the snake queens Rainbow scales, and nobody wanted to be Joseph and Technicolor Dreamcoat. We all had a good laugh when Gibil put it on; it indeed was an ugly thing.

"So, what's a spirit stone?" Julia, the always curious, asked.

"The key to true power in the tower," I said in a low voice. Everybody looked at me, "theses stones are the reason I came out here. Yeah, the loot and gold were good, but you'll replace them sooner or later." shaking my head, the items on the upper floors were a thousand times better then what we go here even the books were nothing in comparison. "A spirit stone is the first step upon the road of cultivation."

"cultivation like farming?" asked Lucas.

"no Cultivation like the Buddhist monks, Right?" Gibil looked at me, "your talking about QI cultivation, right?"

"Yup, the spirit stone once swallowed will give you a core which you can harness the mystical energies of the tower." I explained. "doing so will increase how much your attributes affect you." Seeing the group didn't quite understand me, I Continued. "right now 1 point in intelligence gives you ten mana, at the first stage of Qi Cultivation it will give you 15 mana per point. Strength is the same, for example, say 1 point of strength allows you to lift 10 kg, with the first stage of Cultivation 1 point of strength will allow lifting 15kg" I could see the shock on their faces. "and that's just the first stage there are 12 total stages. But unlike other skills, Cultivation is a lot harder. it requires patience and discipline and feeling the energy inside and out." I looked off in the forest, remembering the months of meditation and dedication to cultivation, and I was only able to reach the Heavenly Knight Stage. "this is one of the greatest secrets of the towers. by the time the front runners find out about it, the world would have been in the stages of collapse." I finished in my head. "I'm going to make this knowledge know so that this place will get jam-packed soon; I'm moving on from the first floors I suggest you do the same. Touching the altar inside the temple will give you the same options as a stair portal. Oh, and one last thing eating the stone will be excruciating and takes a while, have someone to look after you while it happens." the group went silent and thought about what I said.

"Max?" Julia quietly called my name.

"yeah?"

"I know you're going to head off to the front lines, but do you still wanna keep in touch. where all unaffiliated with guilds, and we all talked about it and decided that we would join any guild you did." Julia sputtered as if I would reject her outright.

"Okay, once I gather my guildmates ill invite you to my guild. Here put your number in," I said as I passed Julia my phone. She placed her number in and texted her self quickly.

"There, were going to head down now. I'm sure everyone thinks we're dead already three days in the tower." she shook her head and headed off with the rest inside the temple. I sat for a bit and thought about my guildmates and wonder where they were, well I knew where Alice was, but Will, Daren, and J I only had vague ideas where they where. I guessed Daren and J were in the European tower, and Will must be in the American one. Guess I will have to climb up to the 25th floor and head to Europe and America to recruit them, at least know I had the perfect gift to welcome them into the guild. Looking down at the spatial ring, ten spirit stones were more than enough.