From Player To Npc

Trees surrounded the lake, giving Shingi and the others the perfect cover. There currently weren't too many beasts on the lake, just a few bears and wolves. Shingi found it weird that they had encountered no beasts other than bears and wolves until now.

Shingi noticed they had the same modifications as those they encountered, at least those with a visual change in their bodies. Some modifications were in their stats, skills, or spell if they could use mana, but those he couldn't tell just by looking at them.

He noticed buckets nearby, with some being filled with water from the lake. Not and then some bears were taking some of the empty buckets using their mouth to hold its handle, and after filling them, they brought them together with the others filled with water.

Shingi had never seen them gathering water like that in the past. It was clear that they followed orders, most likely of the Boss, meaning that it had an above-average beast level INT. There were other sources of water, but the water of the lake was unique. It could heal the wounds of the floor's monsters, but only of them. Some Players tried in the past to take some samples to investigate the water, but as soon as they left the floor, the water would evaporate.

Some tried to investigate it while on the floor, but the Beasts kept attacking them, and the water lost its potency after a few minutes of leaving the lake. But since it worked only at the Floor monsters and had no effect on even Tamed monsters, Players ignored it.

There were many mysteries like that in the Tower, and Ameanum had tried to find some answers when he could.

Checking the buckets, Shingi noticed that there were some runes at their bottom. Only the ones with water in them had the rune activated, and that was why Shingi detected the runes since it seemed to draw a small amount of Environment's Spirit Mana. Shingi, if he had to guess, assumed that this rune could preserve the water's special effect.

Maybe another person of Mikhail was behind this, explaining how everything seemed to be so different and somewhat more organized. Shingi didn't want to fight more of them, as they probably would be stronger and stronger the higher they got in the Tower. But if there really was someone here, he had to take care of him or her one way or another. He had to make sure Mikhail had fewer people to count on in the future, especially when Shingi faces him.

He knew that meeting Mikhail was inevitable, so not only he had to get way stronger, but he also had to weaken his enemy. At least to weaken his defenses and take out of the equation people that would help him.

They waited a bit more to see if any other creatures would appear or how the ones at the lake would keep acting. The monster kept filling the buckets, and when finished, both bears and wolves took one bucket each and made their way deeper into the forest.

Shingi and the rest followed them while keeping their distance. With Shingi's detection Skills and creating a Golem to follow them just in case, so losing them was impossible. They didn't move too fast since they held the buckets and didn't want to spill the water.

It seemed that they were heading to the heart of the forest.

As they moved deeper into the forest, Shingi noticed the forest's trees to get even lesser alive, reaching almost the look of the trees from the previous floor. He detected the air to have some 'corruption,' but it wasn't as bad as before.

Shingi let the others know, as it seemed, that Mizuneko and Little Phoenix couldn't detect this energy, probably because it was a merge of Spirit and something else. Little Phoenix seemed to notice something if she focused completely but couldn't move while focusing that much.

Syra tough could feel what Shingi talked about, but she couldn't detect it either. An also was in a similar situation as Syra. She could detect Spirit Mana but not manipulating it.

Dark Shadow was walking next to Shingi, and it seemed to become somewhat scared the closer they got to the center, to the degree of Shingi having to persuade it using his eyes. Fortunately, they worked on him, but Shingi had to use quite some of their energy, meaning he should use it repeatedly.

He didn't like that idea. He had to build his bond with Dark Shadow and strengthen it so that he keeps helping them.

After a point, Shingi picked him up and carried him, as it actually started slowing them down. It didn't fight back while he was at the hand of Shingi. Maybe the reason was their bond, so coming in contact with him had a calming event.

They encountered more groups of wolves and bears on the way there, and they dealt with the ones they couldn't avoid without making much noise. Dark Shadow took some kills in those fights, but all with the help of Shingi, as he still had to get used to his fighting capabilities fully. He was a newborn, after all.

Shingi noticed the monsters got stronger the deeper they got in the forest, but not because they got modified more. The 'corrupted' energy was strengthening them. It also seemed to decrease their pain or their fear and run almost like they were brainless minion undead, but without actually being undead. More signs that probably Mikhail was behind it.

Shingi could detect the source of the corruption, which was bigger than the one from the previous floor, but its power seemed to be weaker. The energy didn't spread all over the floor, as at the previous one, but stayed focused, forming a sphere with the forest's heart to be its center.

The deeper they got in, the tenser the power, and the more its effect on the monsters. Shingi checked Dark Shadow to see if he got affected, but other than being a bit scared, it didn't affect him in any other way.

They reached the heart of the forest and the place most likely the one behind the source of the corruption was. There was actually a small tower there, with a white enough door, that even the biggest of the bears they encountered to fit no problem. Some stairs headed underground. They didn't look like the stairs leading to the next floor.

The source of the corruption seemed to be down there, meaning most likely the Boss or Mikhail's man or woman were down there.

No beasts or monsters were outside, but there were tracks of many wolves and bears outside the Tower. Some just a few minutes old, some maybe even weeks. Still no sign of any type of beast monsters other than those two.

"So, what's the plan?" [Hineko]

"Why the need for a plan? Let's just go down there and deal with them all. I mean, we can handle multiple groups of those beasts." [Wild Tycoon]

"The beasts aren't the problem. Don't you see the tree and the air being the same as the floor before? Maybe that guy has another person here. If that is the case, the person may be stronger than the one we faced before, and only Master Shingi could deal with her. But back then, she didn't have anyone to help her, while in this case, it is different. If it uses a similar tactic as the previous person, we are as good as dead." [Mizuneko]

Wild Tycoon seemed annoyed at being lectured for why they couldn't charge at the enemy. She turned towards Shingi, hoping that he felt that what Mizuneko described wasn't really the case.

"What Mizuneko said is true. Charging inside there is like falling from a tall building. We may not live after it." [Shingi]

"So then, do we have a plan? Or we should move to the next floor and ignore those people for now?" [Hineko]

Shingi gave it some thought before responding. They stayed hidden behind some of the larger trees so that if any beasts came, they wouldn't notice them.

"The chance of Mikhail being behind this is quite high, meaning one who works for him has taken the place of the monster. Meaning there is no possibility of him Evolving and leave the tower. As for the rest of the monsters, they can't evolve even if they grow stronger, so they are only dangerous while on this floor. I think, for now, we can let them be until we know more about Mikhail's plan or what this corruption is about." [Shingi]

He would not lead them to a suicide mission just for the chance of ruining the plans of Mikhail. They didn't know if or what those plans were, so they had to tread carefully. Hopefully, they hadn't taken over all the floors above.

The stairs weren't too far, and when they got there, Shingi detected some alarming Runes that anyone else wouldn't notice. They were able to pass them without activating them and used the stairs to the next floor.