Towers Of Heaven - 58 Book 3 Chapter 53

The dread plains was a vast, rugged wasteland filled with violence. In this place alone, thousands of monsters died every day in their never-ending pursuit of strength. Territories between monsters might have formed if not for the tower spawning a new monster for every one lost, creating an endless cycle of chaos.

On the plains’ eastern side, a minotaur standing twelve feet high swung two maces with reckless abandon. There was no need for techniques. Brute strength alone allowed the minotaur to overpower any foe. Every swing shattered skulls, and each kick collapsed ribs.

This minotaur’s name was Tarok, and he was currently undergoing the rite of passage to become an adult. After wiping out the blood ant nest before him, he would become a respected warrior in his tribe.

It was rare for monsters to work together, even those of the same species. In this case, the thousands of blood ants living in this nest were under the control of a queen. As such, they were considered a single entity. These queens could spawn ants faster than the lone Tarok could kill them, so there were only two ways to win. Slowly exhaust the queen’s energy, or destroy her directly. Tarok’s eagerness to prove himself made the choice easy.

Things quickly got worse.

The walls were covered in mucus, making them harder than steel, so Tarok could only follow the passages aimlessly. An hour later, not only was Tarok’s stamina gone, he didn’t know right from left. It was only then he realized his mistake. The right plan was to drain the queen’s energy rather than charge in like he did. Unfortunately, he did not know the intention of his tribe until it was too late.

Just as Tarok determined to fight until the end, a disturbance came from a nearby passage. Glancing over, Tarok saw a human he recognized.

“Yo,” Jason gave Tarok a friendly smile as he danced between the ant’s bodies, dodging all their attacks by a hair’s breadth. A sleek sword cut through the gap in their carapace, severing their heads. No skill was necessary to kill runeless monsters with Jason’s current stats. Though since there were too many ants, he used Cleave a few times. A thin line of battle energy shot out in an arc from Jason’s next swing, directly severing anything it touched, including the walls. Unfortunately, as these ants were considered puppets, they didn’t drop any essence.

“What’s your name?” Jason arrived next to the exhausted Tarok in no time at all.

“Tarok.”

Jason introduced himself as he fended off the nearby ants. “What are you doing here?”

“Kill queen,” Tarok replied as he sat down and ate the corpse of an ant he killed to recover his strength.

Not long ago, Jason created his fourth rune after using half of his soul force. After that, he came across this nest and decided to explore it. Only now did he send out Domain and find a tier four ant that continuously spawned monsters. Jason couldn’t help but wish the queen could create ants with runes. If that was the case, wouldn’t he have an endless supply of monsters to level up his sword and new rune? Thinking of his fourth rune, Jason pulled up its information.

Vitality Extraction Tier 1 Rune

There is a minuscule chance to increase your health and stamina regeneration by .01% upon killing a monster.

Passively reduces the consumption of Stamina by 1%.

Of course, he tried to include Battle Energy and Soul Force in the equation, but the price skyrocketed beyond reason. Jason’s dream was to recover as much Health and Stamina as he had every second. With all the skills and stats he had, it took over four minutes for his Health to regenerate fully and a bit less for Stamina, so he had a long way to go.

Focusing back on Tarok, Jason asked, “Do you know where she is?”

“No,” Tarok replied between chewing.

“Okay, follow me,” Jason used Domain as a guide to lead Tarok to the queen, which he gobbled down with relish after killing it in a fierce battle. Shortly after they left the nest, Jason clicked his tongue and asked Tarok, a native of this floor, “Do you know a place where there are countless demons to kill?”

Jason felt running around was a waste of time. Blood moons were the best; the monsters came to you, so there was no need to search for them. If there was a place like that, it was worth checking out.

“Um,” The question stumped Tarok, and only after straining his brain did he recall something his chief said, “Abyss.”

“Abyss? Like a giant hole in the ground?” Jason tried his best to communicate.

“Yes. Many demon. Dangerous. Death,” Tarok’s tone was grim.

Considering Jason’s current strength, he felt invincible. He immediately wanted to set out for the place, yet the memories of this floor cooled his head. “Does anyone know more about the abyss? Your chief? Maybe Lavos?”

“Elder? Yes,” Tarok nodded firmly.

“Alright, I’m gonna head over to your tribe. What about you?” Jason’s attitude toward the minotaur tribe was friendly. The alliance owed Lavos a great deal.

“Me stay,” Tarok shook his head. Truthfully, the rite of passage wasn’t complete, so he felt like he needed to hunt an equally hard monster before returning home.

“Okay, here, take these potions,” Jason handed over some recovery items and explained their usage before heading off in the direction of Korata Mountain, hoping this ‘abyss’ lived up to his expectations.

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