228 Inheritance Test (4) - Stalked by Beasts, Broken by it
The pressure was something unbearable for the weaker mages, and even those who were strong felt it, yet Arthur did not.
Those mages on the second floor looked shocked when seeing Arthur walk past them like a stroll in the park, going up using the stairs, reaching the third floor.
Fewer and fewer mages were on the third floor, and the more Arthur climbed, the fewer they become. The first five floors of the dungeon were the same; a high pressure would strike upon those who stepped on the floor, making it hard to walk.
It was a way of separating those who were strong from those who were not. When Arthur reached the fifth floor, the pressure was gone.
There were some mages there, including the three who were in the tenth circle. They were resting after passing through the first five floors.
The three who were in the tenth circle were not in a terrible shape, but the rest of the mages who were weaker had suffered a lot to reach that point. Arthur was just like when he first entered the tower.
He took less than thirty minutes to rush through all those floors and reach the place he was currently in. Not a lot of mages were capable of that, so when Arthur appeared on the fifth floor, everyone present glanced at him with surprise.
“Another one? Shall we wait for more?”
One mage who was in the tenth circle said that. They were counting the number of mages present, and for them, it was enough to start.
He then walked toward Arthur, which caught him by surprise.
“In case you don’t know how the sixth floor works, it is a beast wave. We are gathering the most mages we can, so it gets easier for us to clear the floor and reach the next one.”
The mage only said that and left.
“A beast wave?”
Arthur was familiar with that kind of thing, but why a group beast wave?
“I think the floor can be passed solo, but gathering in groups makes it easier, but it will cause conflicts, as only one can climb and get the inheritance. This is just a way to make them go against each other.” George said.
The true meaning behind that test was fierce and bloody. Arthur thought that whoever built that dimensional realm only wanted a bloodbath.
He did not answer that youth. Not agreeing to act as groups but not dismissing it either. It was the best scenario possible to avoid conflicts.
“When we all enter there, I will go my own way. Actually, isn’t it better to go now while they are still resting?”
Most mages on that floor were resting, and only the strong ones, like those in the tenth circle, were just there to wait for more mages to come and create their group.
That meant Arthur had the best shot now to just walk in blindly, alone, and get the advantage he needed.
There was no reason to stay there or fight as groups. One needed to have the strength to fight alone or else it would be impossible to get the inheritance.
For that reason, Arthur ignore everyone and everything, going straight to the stairs which led to the sixth floor. All the mages there already knew about the group plan, so some of them thought Arthur was crazy to go alone.
Arthur thought otherwise. Crazy were those people who wished to join forces. What if it made your time easier on the next floors? Only the three who were in the tenth circle had any chance of getting the inheritance, and those who were weaker would not get that.
The only way for those who were weaker to have a shot in getting it was to act alone and find any advantage they could get.
Being the first person to enter the floor was an advantage, as time was also something that counted in the test. It does not matter how many of those mages had the strength to pass the test. What mattered was the first mage who passed the test.
Arthur wanted to be that person, so he ignored all the stares from those mages and went to the next floor.
He expected a lot of things, but a completely new world was not one of them. The sixth floor was not a tower, like all the previous ones, but a new place.
A greenish plain with nothing but beasts. Arthur could see a forest from afar, presumably where those beasts lived, and also a river where some were drinking water, but it was filled with beasts.
The moment he entered that floor, almost all beasts noticed his presence and rushed toward him with killing intent.
There were all kinds of magical wolves, spiders, bugs, and even a fish with legs who jumped out of the river and chased him.
“What the ** is this?”
Arthur was expecting a normal tower floor where he could fight the beasts and look for the stairs to reach the next floor, but it was not the case!
What bothered him the most was the fact that all the beasts on the floor knew where he was and rushed toward him like blood-starved beasts.
He was hoping to get an advantage with his invisibility to avoid most of the beasts, but it would not happen, it seemed.
George was also surprised, but he quickly understood how the level worked.
“I have a guess here, and it should be correct. Want to hear?”
“Well, obviously. Spill it out, brother!”
“I think that the moment you enter this floor, the tower sets you a timer that starts counting, so each person has the same timer, but depending if you go first or not will affect the result. Seeing all those beats rushing toward you, I believe this is a surviving test, and you have to survive the beast wave until your timer runs off, and then you will be sent to the next level.”
“This is a pain in the ass. Do you think the next stage will be similar?”
“Well, considering the first four floors were the same, and then the fifth a resting point. We can assume the floors 6,7,8 and 9 will be the same.”
What George said had a lot of sense, and it made Arthur happy knowing that his decision to enter the sixth floor before everyone was the correct answer.
One thing that was bothering him was how did they know about the sixth floor? The three who were in the tenth circle knew it was related to beasts, but not a single person had entered it, only Arthur.
“Could they have a divination spell? No, that would be too much. Then how?”
Arthur had a feeling something was not right about the whole situation, but he dismissed it as there was something more important for him to deal at that moment; countless beasts who wanted to kill him.
He saw a lot of them getting closer to him, so the first thing he did was to use his flight spell, which worked.
The floor should have a formation that restricted flying spells, but it seemed it did not. Arthur was happy with that, but then realized the reason his flight worked.
From the clouds above, a giant blue bird appeared. It had at least 50 meters from beak to feet, and lightnings were constantly roaring around that bird.
The power of that creature was astonishing, and George yelled inside Arthur’s mind, “Arthur, that thing has the power of at least a rank 4 official mage. You should run, NOW!”
A rank 4 official mage was something incredible, and there was not a single one on the whole central continent, which was the most prosperous place in that world.
Which meant that the bird had the strength equal to mages from other worlds!
Arthur went to the ground again, and then gazed at the skies, noticing the bird had returned to the cloud, not chasing him.
The bird was like a formation that made flying impossible.
Now on the ground, Arthur had to work harder to flee from those beasts, but with his incredible physique and a few teleports, it was not a problem.
He kept using his teleport, reaching a place devoid of beasts. Arthur knew it would not last long, so he had to think of a plan.
“You can try to find a place and hide. With some formations, I believe you will hide.”
Arthur did not know if that would work, but it was better than fleeing without a direction. When he entered the sixth floor, not all beasts rushed toward him, but lots of them who were in the surrounding area.
That meant the beasts had an extraordinary radar, but it did not cover the entire floor.
Before Arthur could do anything, the ground beneath his feet trembled, and a skeleton hand grabbed his feet, exerting enough strength to break his ankle.
“What?”
The pain was not the worst part. The skeleton hand broke not only his ankle, but pulled him to the ground.