The group gathered in the first room of the dungeon and got familiar with each other's strong and weak points. To Arath's mind the only thing the team lacked at the moment was a long-range elementalist that could support them and have a clear view on the entire battlefield, and for now Meton, the healer hired by Arath, would take this role as his fighting abilities could not be compared to the rest of the team.

"I could stay just behing the lines and look for a good opportunity to slow down and distract enemies with my spell of Ice Shard." Kanina proposed.

'She is the strongest among the team and yet wants us to take the frontline. If she can cast spells, it means that she has already reached a higher level than Heroes and might have a slim chance in a fight against Elizabeth. Not that we will ever fight her, it's just a good point of reference. I need to keep an eye on her, I don't know what might be her reasons but it's better to be safe than sorry.' Arath was certainly happy to have her in his team but was a little bit suspicious. 'There were so many teams createda after Leafers fell apart and she, with her abilites, would be welcome anywhere, yet she was free and joined me without a second thought.'

"If you think this is the best option, I will trust your experience." Arath answered after a minute of contemplation.

"I can go close-range until I break through." Rym said surprising everybody and upon seeing the perplexed expressions of his companions added. "My element can't be used outside of my body yet, I haven't got to that point and it doesn't give me any bonuses to shooting or anything, so I learned how to make my skin slippery and use it during fights."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and only Meton seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the situation. He was in his early thirties, his hair was nicely groomed and equipment seemed to be new. As they were talking about plans he played with a short, black knife in his hands, the precision with which he moved his fingers and avoided the blade showed his capabilities and precision, not even one move was pointless. He looked altoghether perfect, no missing buttons in his shirt, no dirt on his pants not even a single stain on the leather of the armor. This was both a good and a terrible sign, he paid attention to details and didn't miss anything which could prove to be useful while fullfilling his role, but also showed how little he had experienced the Tower and it's danger-filed corridors.

Having assigned roles to everyone Arath stood up and bowed all the way to the ground.

"Everyone, I want to thank you for trusting me with your lives, thank you for choosing me instead of other leaders." He said and picked up his equipment, trying to avoid their gazes.

They arrived safely at the gate to the second floor and entered the enourmous well again, after the long break they were forced to take. As always the group was astonished by the breathtaking beauty of the waterfall slightly brightened by a faint blue and green light. At the bottom of the well-shaped Tower, body of the Leviathan was visible under the water and it's huge head was lying on the island breathless. With Arath on the back of the team, they began their travel to the other side of the lake. Thanks to Kanina's and Arath's sixth sense they safely avoided any bigger monster and landed on the dry land.

According to the notebook, Arath had the extreme luck to obtain from Ruth, there were three possible ways to reach the top of the second floor of the Tower. First, the most common way, was to go into the caves and hope to find a corridor leading to a higher parts of the well. The second, more dangerous but faster way, was to find stairs just behind the water curtain that led straight to the top. The latter was much more harder as just one bad step could cause a person to fall straight into jaws of some terrifying fish monster and the stairs were really slippery. To add salt to the injury Blood Bats and other flying creatures weren't just going to give up on such obvious targets. Of course there was also the possibility of climbing straight up, but no one in their right mind would ever take it. Arath explained the options but before anyone could express their opinions he had already made the decision.

"I know it might sound stupid to you but we need to take the stairs. My friend, Clara, is still in a comma because of Giant Cave Spider's venom and Blood Bat's blood is the only source of an antivenom. We need to acquire it before it is too late." He had no intention to back off from saving his friend and dissmised any objections from Meton who didn't feel like falling off a 400 meters cliff.

After Ben backed up his leader, the team reluctantly agreed to the plan and followed their captain. After an hour of walking around the lake searching for something that resembled steps that could take them up, they finally found what they were looking for. Carved into the side of the wall, the stairs looked as if they had been made just few days earlier, not even a scratch on their surface was visible and the craftsmanship was flawless. Each step was the same size and the stones were so smooth, not even a god could achieve this kind of perfection. As they started climbing up the stairs their hearts rose to their throats, the higher they got the more terrifying yet beautiful the scenery looked.

Completely deafened by the roaring waterfall just few meters away from them, the group had to communicate using body language and simple hand signs. This caused many misunderstandings and dangerous situations but after a while they all got used to this new form of conversations and learned how to read the other's signs.

'We need to create some kind of simple and universal sign language before we come back here next time.' Arath made mental notes and planned for the future.

The journey to the top was going to be long and exhausting but one thing gave him hope and strength to move forward. Few times, a small and quick creature entered his range of sight, it had unproportionally big wings, ears as well as eerie red hair covering it's entire body. That was exactly what he came here for.