Ethan moved carefully across the Rocky Plains, his sandals scraping lightly against stone.
Unlike Floor Zero, there was no invisible pressure guiding him.
This wasn't a scripted trial with a single objective, nor was he forced to be here. Ethan had chosen to enter the tower to continue progressing; as such, the dangers would be even more real and random.
There would be no planned periods of respite or controlled difficulty of beasts by the system.
He was on his own.
'This is basically a Gate,' he thought, scanning the horizon. 'Except worse. No teammates, no preparation, and no equipment.'
Still, he wanted to find beasts - that was the whole point.
Kills meant progress, and progress meant strength.
But too many beasts? And he'd be ripped apart before he could even process what happened.
As for the biome itself...
He clicked his tongue.
'It's definitely not ideal.'
The rocky plains stretched endlessly, uneven ground rising and falling in waves of cracked stone. There were barely any plants or much of anything besides rock.
He and Wolfy would stand out in the open and weren't the most suited for direct altercations.
On top of that, the heat was oppressive: every breath felt dry, and every step drained stamina faster than it should.
'Not great for long fights,' he assessed. 'And definitely not great for hiding.'
He wiped sweat from his brow.
'But at least I will be able to see any beast coming.'
As if summoned by that thought...
A sudden tremor ran through the ground beneath his feet.
He froze.
"That's definitely not the wind."
The vibration grew stronger, and a second later, the ground exploded.
Boom!
Stone and dust burst upward as a massive worm-like creature shot out from beneath the earth, its body segmented and plated in jagged rock.
It let out a grinding screech, like boulders scraping together.
A status window appeared automatically.
{Common Beast Status}
{Race: Lithoserpent Larva}
{Growth Stage: Juvenile}
{Beast Rank: E}
{Strength: 16}
{Speed: 10}
{Stamina: 10}
{MP: 4/5}
Ethan's eyes widened.
"That's a common beast?!"
It was hardly even a beast, for that matter.
The creature's body was thick and cylindrical, its outer layer resembling hardened stone plates. Its mouth split open vertically, revealing rows of blunt, crushing teeth meant more for grinding than tearing.
'So basically, a fancy giant rock worm.'
It reared slightly, body coiling.
Without hesitation, Ethan activated his skill.
'Beast Summoning.'
A pulse of energy left his body, and Wolfy appeared beside him.
The small Ulfen materialised with a faint glow, but immediately stiffened. It was clearly on edge: its fur bristled, and its small body trembled slightly.
Ethan noticed instantly.
'It's scared.'
The Lithoserpent radiated raw physical power. Even as a juvenile, it was stronger than them and its stats were quite impressive for a mere Common Beast. But most bothersome, it was literally made of rock.
Wolfy glanced up at Ethan, clearly hesitant.
Yet it didn't run and remained by his side, almost as if awaiting instructions.
The skill description echoed in his mind.
'Instinctively loyal, but not necessarily obedient.'
It made sense.
The earlier chaos in the basement - Wolfy wasn't a hardened beast, at least not yet. It was closer to a child, a cheeky, energetic one.
But right now? Despite that, it was ready to fight on Ethan's behalf.
The Lithoserpent lunged forward with surprising speed, considering its clunky exterior.
"Go!" Ethan shouted, wanting to test out what it was capable of.
Wolfy pounced first.
It was fast and sharp, as it scraped against the creature's rocky hide with its tiny claws.
Wolfy's resolve impressed Ethan, but the attack did absolutely nothing.
The Lithoserpent's thick tail swung sideways in response.
Wham!
The infant Ulfen was swatted midair like a fly, sent tumbling across the stone.
"Wolfy!"
Ethan's stomach dropped, seeing his beast struck. It was an instinctive feeling, like watching one's child get hurt and experiencing their pain.
The pup scrambled back up, dazed but alive, as he stepped in front of it.
It was clear.
This was the worst possible matchup for them.
'Claws and teeth are useless.'
The beast's body was practically solid rock, and to defeat it, he would likely need heavy blunt force. Something that could shatter its rigid armour.
He didn't have that, and neither did Wolfy.
Unarmed? Ethan was pretty much useless against it.
The Lithoserpent lunged again, slamming into the ground where he had been standing a second earlier.
Stone cracked, and dust exploded outward.
'It seems to use MP to have bursts of speed and power. That's probably how it burrows through the ground as well,' Ethan observed keenly after narrowly avoiding its attack.
His heart pounded, and after a second of deliberation, he made a decision.
'Run!'
There was no shame in this, and he did the wisest thing he could.
He immediately dismissed Wolfy, and the pup vanished in a flicker of light. In the same breath, he activated Beast Assimilation.
Power surged through him as his muscles tightened and his senses sharpened.
He pivoted and sprinted.
The Lithoserpent gave chase, its massive body burrowing partially into the ground and propelling itself forward like a living drill.
But Ethan's speed was greater, as well as his stamina after assimilating.
He pushed himself hard, sandals slapping against heated stone as he vaulted over a boulder in his path.
'Don't look back. Don't trip. Just move.'
The tremors followed for several seconds, then they began to fade.
Not that he slowed down.
Only after a few minutes of full sprinting, once he was certain he had got away from the beast, did Ethan finally stop, chest heaving.
He glanced behind him to be sure, but there was nothing.
The plains were empty again as he tried to catch his breath.
"It didn't even bother," he murmured.
The Lithoserpent didn't seem like much of a predator. Once Ethan put enough distance between them, it burrowed back into the ground and returned to its territory.
He deactivated Beast Assimilation immediately to conserve his MP, but as the enhanced power left him, the exhaustion hit twice as hard.
Ethan bent over, hands on his knees, sweat dripping onto the stone.
"That thing would've crushed us…"
He wiped his face again.
'First fight, and I had to run.'
It stung, but it was reality.
This wasn't the trial where he just had to survive; he needed to kill beasts to get stronger. Otherwise, he was just wasting his time running around this hellhole.
For that, he needed better matchups and a better strategy.
As he straightened after catching his breath, Ethan felt a chill run down his spine - the kind that came from being watched by something dangerous.
A shadow passed over him, and his instincts screamed.
He froze.
'That feeling again.'
When he had been sprinting away from the Lithoserpent, heart pounding and vision tunnelling, he'd experienced something similar. There was even a faint shadow skimming across him that he had almost stumbled over.
But he'd brushed it off.
'The heat must be getting to me,' was what he thought at the time.
The sky was a constant blinding yellow without clouds or sun, so nothing should cast a moving shadow.
He had convinced himself that it was nothing.
But now?
There was no denying it.
He looked up slowly, like a scene straight out of a horror movie.
Another creature stood perched atop a jagged rock formation in the distance, barely visible through the heat haze.
All he could make out were glowing orange eyes that were locked onto him.
'So when I ran… I ran straight into another beast's territory.'
His jaw tightened.
'And this one seems even worse than the rock worm.'
From the look in its eyes to the unease it made Ethan feel, even from a distance.
There was no mistaking it; this was a predator.
And if that wasn't bad enough, Ethan was already somewhat fatigued after running away from the Lithoserpent Larva in this scorching heat.
He felt exposed out in the open plains, and he wasn't sure what exactly he was up against. The only thing he could surmise was that it could fly, so it was likely some form of bird beast.
There was no running away from this
'Great. Just great. Another bad matchup.'
For a split second, neither of them moved.
Then the beast suddenly burst forth.
The distance between them vanished in an instant as it rocketed off the rock formation, hurtling toward him with terrifying speed.
"Shit-!"