Once they passed through the gates and made it inside, with that alone, the entire scenery changed drastically. The bright light illuminated by the sun was cast off, and the chilliness of the morning breeze abruptly changed to that of hot air. With just a single step inside, it felt like the four of them left the world they just stood in.
"You feel that?" Oda said, touching his cheek. He looked over at Ericka, whose body was in metal armor. "You're not hot, are you?"
"I'm fine, This heat is the same temperature at noon. Nothing special." Ericka assured him.
"But still, the temperature changing instantly felt creepy. I've heard about this from other adventurers, but it seems they really downplayed the experience," said Victor.
Utar looked around intently. "It makes sense that the place got darker, but should it really be this dark?"
Upon hearing Utar's concern, Victor snapped his fingers with a dramatic flair, a spark of fire bursting from his palm to light up the area ahead.
"There you go, Utar," Victor said, grinning mischievously as he waved the flames a little too close to Utar's face.
"Didn't know you were afraid of the dark."
Utar swatted at the flames like an annoyed bear.
"Victor, stop playing! This isn't a campfire story!"
"Oh, come on. A little light never hurt anyone."
"You'll think differently when you're trying to climb higher floors and run out of mana because you wasted it on this circus trick."
Thus far, the first floor of the tower only resembled that of a dark cave with a single path forward.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
The four encountered no real trouble so far, and it only took them a few minutes to completely adapt to this new environment. The thickness of the air, the alluring heat and the darkness that was subtly getting darker as they traversed.
None of the four bothered complaining about it.
Just when they arrived at a flight of stairs, Oda launched the party's first complaint.
"We've encountered zero monsters on this floor. That's suspicious."
The monsters of the lower floors are known for their absurd numbers and low respawn rates. Oda's suspicion was understandable, for adventurers usually complain about the lower floors containing an annoying number of pests to deal with.
Victor replied to Oda, "Just focus on moving forward for now. Utar hasn't picked up on anyone since we entered this tower. Fear not, we won't get ambushed."
Utar nodded, agreeing with his leader's statement. "He's right. I haven't picked up on any unfamiliar scent thus far. It's just the four of us." The party climbed up the flight of stairs, making it to the second floor.
"Huh?" Utar suddenly stopped.
Victor, noticing this, stopped along with him and asked, "What is it?"
"The temperature slightly dropped."
"Yes, that does align with the information adventurers have given us in the past. What of it?"
Utar pointed directly above them at the ceiling with a drop of sweat falling from his chin.
"My senses, they feel...how do I even describe it?"
"This floor...it's either we're being surrounded so much that my nose has gone to shit...or I am hallucinating."
Oda sighed. "I hope it's the latter."
Normally, Utar was a man with a keen sense of smell. Capable of distinguishing even the slightest of scents from a far distance.
Erika reached for one of her blades, feeling an eerie presence lurking by.
"I understand..." she said, nudging the others to check the walls.
"Look at the walls."
That's when Utar's confusion came to light. There were bats flattened on the wall. The wall below this floor was dark blue, but this floor's wall was black not by coincidence. The entire wall, including the ceiling, was covered by bats with their eyes shut. Just the sheer number of them frightened Oda to step back.
"YIKES!"
"I won't even bother counting."
"There are so many, if my nose is telling me the truth, then they are endless. No limit."
"But why aren't they attacking us?" Ericka asked. It was not like they were walking silently. These bats should have heard them by now and responded.
Victor gave a fair solution to the issue. "Bats are monsters of the lower floors, a common rarity. These creatures will only attack prey whom they deem weak. So yeah, these things knew they are dead meat if they suddenly start attacking."
"Attacking us means death."
Oda was unconvinced by that answer. "Really? Do these creatures even think like that? I bet you're only finding a way to compliment yourself."
"Hahaha, not myself, but this party as a whole."
Ericka denied that logic, "My father said that lower floor monsters have zero intelligence. I don't think these creatures were able to differ their opponents."
Victor chuckled, "I'm giving these things more credit. It's not about intellect but about instincts. All animals have that, even the dumbest ones."
Victor pressed onward, unbothered by the number of bats lurking. The other three followed suit.
Minutes passed, and the four kept a steady pace on the second floor. It did not take long before they encountered a different species other than bats.
A pack of grey-furred wolves, six of them, quickly surrounded Victor's party, growling with malicious intent.
As they got surrounded, all eyes went on Ericka, who had already drawn one of her blades.
"Give 'em hell, my queen." Victor cheered her on. One of the wolves charged first, vanishing into thin air as he approached closer to his prey.
Utar shouted immediately, "It's still up ahead! Don't be tricked."
Ericka nodded knowingly, striking downward in a swift motion. Her single strike drew blood from the invisible wolf, causing it to be visible again, but as a corpse. The wolf gradually faded away into mere dust.
The other five wolves became enraged. They charged everyone else but Ericka, sensing her lethality.
Ericka responded with one leap toward each wolf, beheading them until they all turned to dust. Fast, efficient, and easy. "Hopefully, I can do warmups soon," she smirked.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
Victor congratulated her, "Good job, Ericka. I see you've brought your A-game today."
"We should pick up the pace," Ericka said while sheathing her sword.
Up ahead, the party encountered more wolves that were accompanied by boars this time. The boars' tusks extended in range as they charged, same as all the wolves vanishing, but even with their tricks, Ericka proved to outclass them in every conceivable way.
It took only a single slash of her blade to kill the monsters up ahead.
Five floors later, they encountered more new species, this time monsters more unique in design. A two-legged creature, bulky and filled with fur but possessing no arms and had giant fangs. Oda recognized that creature by description and called it a "Toruny"
A monster known for agility and strong kicks.
Ericka continues to clean sweep all the monsters in their way, including the Torunies and have yet to face any difficulty on their journey to the top.
Oda even suggested to Ericka at one point, "Maybe using your sword against these monsters isn't needed, Ericka. I think your hands would suffice just fine.".
Utar nodded, agreeing with that statement, feeling bad for the monsters getting massacred left and right.
"No! Letting my guard down in a location I have only heard about and never been in is a trait of stupidity," she uttered harshly.
"In fact," she paused, drawing her second blade.
"From here on, I am using both weapons."
Ericka's friends all glanced at each other with a look of concern.
Beneath that calm demeanor hid a maniac who enjoyed battle. Especially when that battle was against the unknown. Victor and the others knew Ericka long enough to see through her facade.
"You just want to hurry to the higher floors, to get a challenge. I like how you think, Ericka."
"Shut it!" Ericka shot back.