The fact that he couldn't really see or understand this object made examining it a little boring. It was like watching paint dry. When he couldn't handle any more of it, he finally took the last step through the gate. That was when he got the notification.

Congratulations, Fifth Floor Cleared. As a reward for reaching the halfway point, you will be allowed to take a break and recover. Once you are ready to proceed to the next floor, say "Next Floor" out loud and you will be transported.

Use this time wisely.

Julius frowned as he read the message over. The last line was particularly worrying. It sounded very ominous and he wondered what the last half of the rift had in store for him.

However, he was still glad that he was allowed to take a break. This would allow him to comprehend and internalize some of the changes he had made during these past several floors. He had already improved on a lot of things. Most notably, his Sharpness Concept, which he believed needed some time to acclimate to.

Especially if his recent integration with his kinetic energy was any indicator, he almost killed himself again because he was surprised at the power of the Concept. He wanted to see how that power would apply to a skill that was directly connected to his previous Sharpness Concept.

He also didn't want to forget about [Barrier of Severance]. The skill had been sitting at level 19 for a while, and this would be the perfect time to start changing some things. He might even get lucky and finally evolve it into an epic skill.

He also already had some ideas of how he might change some of the skills functions before he did that. While he appreciated [Barrier of Severance] for the powerful skill it had been, there were some things that he wished the skill covered.

He also realized he wasn't using his Sharpness Concept to its full potential when it was primarily a defensive skill. Sharpness was something that screamed offense, and relegating it to something so passive and defensive might be holding it back.

Plus, it would be nice to relax. Even though he didn't need to with [Phoenix Renewal], he had slowly been getting accustomed to taking breaks. He felt bad for those people who hadn't been able to take a break until this floor.

He suspected a lot of the people who dropped out had done so because they had run out of stamina and were too tired to continue. Even if they consumed stamina recovery potions, it would only last so long.

Consuming too many of them would lead to much worse issues in the long term. It just wasn't sustainable unless you only wished to clear another floor or two, but after that, you would be done. The potions wouldn't be effective past that point.

He was transported to a room with a bed and a couple of chairs. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was more than enough for him. There was a slight dungeon vibe to it, but that wasn't anything a few balls of mana couldn't fix. and lighten the place up.

He only took several hours to relax. He had a tiny nap and even spent some time with Drasil as the two of them ate some food. Or rather, in Drasil's case, some mana. The little life spirit was as gluttonous as always, which seemed to have increased with the recent consumption of House Easten's treasure.

Funnily enough, Drasil appeared to enjoy the mana that Julius put a small amount of his new Sharpness Concept into. At first, he had been worried that Drasil would be hurt when consuming such mana, but the little green guy had been persistent. Which ultimately led to Julius carefully letting Drasil try it out.

Apparently, the mana must have been similar to spicy food for Julius, and Drasil loved it. Honestly, it was adorable to watch the cute little guy scrunch his brows in a wince as the mana went down. However, once he completely consumed it, Drasil was back in his face, asking for more.

Julius conceded much to Drasil's delight, and the glutton continued to gorge himself until it was time for Julius to resume his delve.

***

Sixth Floor Clear Condition: Find your way to the fort.

Upon entering the sixth floor, he was met with another weird condition. Apparently, he was supposed to find his way to some kind of fort, but he had no idea what that really meant. What kind of fort was he supposed to find?

He was once again transported into a forest, but there were some slight differences this time around. For example, he was on a steep incline, and the sun was almost already down over the horizon. Not seeing a reason not to investigate, he climbed toward the top of the hill he found himself on.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

When he reached the top, he nodded slowly to himself. He believed this was what the rift meant by a fort.

The hill he was on overlooked an entire forest, and at the very end of this forest stood a large stone fortress. It was likely dozens of miles away, but it was large enough that he could make it out in the dim lighting.

A part of him doubted he would be able to get there before the sun completely set, which meant he would be left traveling in the dark. Of course, this wasn't such a big issue for him. He had a perception skill that allowed him to see regardless of the lighting, but he was more concerned about how many monsters might come out when the sun went down.

As powerful as he had become, he had to recognize the dangers of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. It was why he was glad he had gotten a movement skill such as [Void Step]. In the unfortunate case that he was swarmed entirely, he would be able to use the skill to reposition and get some breathing room.

He was about to walk down the hill and get started on making his way toward the fort when he stopped himself. He turned back around, strolled toward the very top of the hill and looked down.

He furrowed his brows as he thought about the idea that had crossed his mind. He didn't really know if it would work, and if it didn't, he might find himself in a lot of trouble. After all, he still wasn't able to fly at this point.

The most he had done was standing on some floating constructs. But it wasn't actual flying. It was just a cheap imitation.

However, he found himself really really wanting to test it out. It also helped that it would drastically cut down on the time he would have to spend trekking through the forest. As much as he liked adventuring, he found walking through a dense forest not the most pleasant activity after so many times doing it already.

Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders. If he ended up as a Julius pancake, then he would just have to hope that [Phoenix Renewal] could regenerate his body.

However, he shouldn't be worried. His idea was simple. Just don't smash into the ground. It wasn't anything too complex or difficult, and he should be able to accomplish it.

If he wasn't able to keep himself afloat long enough to survive the fall, then he should be ashamed of himself. How could he beat several enemies of a higher tier and not prevent himself from faceplanting into the ground below?

After convincing himself that failing wasn't an option or a danger, he took a deep breath and charged his body with as much mana, aura, and kinetic energy as he could. He used [Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin] on full power for the first time during this rift and dashed toward the edge of the hill.

He was running so fast that he was tearing up the ground with each step. He created an angled shield of mana in front of his face so that the air resistance didn't slow him down. Once he got enough speed, he jumped as high and far as his body allowed him to.

He used some extra kinetic energy to propel his body even further. He was launched from the cliff like a tiny missile and quickly found himself soaring through the sky. He giggled in joy as he felt the air softly brush over his face and the weightless sensation as he flew through the air.

Unfortunately, this didn't last for long and the built up speed started to dissipate. He felt himself slowly starting to slow down and fall toward the ground. He was forced to use more kinetic energy to propel himself further.

However, he accidentally miscalculated the angle at which he was going and found himself being blasted toward the ground even faster. He winced as he quickly tried to correct it and sent a blast of kinetic energy downward, forcing his body to fly back up.

He lost a lot of the speed he had gained, but at least he wasn't cratering toward the ground. He had tried to fly using kinetic energy in the past, but he had never been able to do it. The most he had accomplished was throwing his body across a room.

However, with his improved control over kinetic energy, he hoped it would be different. He also hoped that his head start from the elevated spot would help matters. Thankfully, it did, but that didn't mean it was suddenly easy.

He still had difficulties as he bobbled himself through the sky. Flying with kinetic energy was extremely challenging. Unlike being on solid ground, there wasn't anything he could use to anchor himself. Each usage of kinetic energy was felt when he was in such a position.

That also meant each small mistake when using kinetic energy was amplified.

It was such a delicate balance between using enough power to actually fly himself and then being forced to control said power so that he didn't flatten himself into one of the trees below.

He imagined a flying creature would laugh at him if it saw what he was doing. He wasn't even flying at this point. Kinetic energy didn't like being released in a slow and constant flow, which meant he was just blowing himself up toward his target. This also led to him feeling a bit nauseous as he was jerked around in every direction imaginable.

It didn't help that he tried to correct his trajectory only to make more mistakes and have to correct those ones.

Eventually, he figured out some tricks. He created several points on his body where kinetic energy would be released. Two on his feet that would be the ones he used to propel himself. One on his chest that would act as a stabilizer for when he was flying in a prone position and two from his arms that he could use to control his balance when needed.

He slowly got used to it, and although his speed had dramatically reduced, he was still hovering in the air and not a smear on the ground, so he considered that a win.

He stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on keeping control of the delicate balance he had created. However, he was so focused on this one thing that he failed to perceive the incoming attack from behind.

A blast of mana smacked him in the ass and ruined his carefully balanced flight. He quickly found himself like a bird without wings as he plummeted toward the forest floor in a downward spiral. He tried desperately to fix it, but he was attacked again and forced to block the incoming strike.

However, this distraction proved enough that he wasn't able to stabilize his flight, and he closed his eyes as he smashed right into the treetops with a deafening boom.