CHAPTER 80: THEY WILL DIE AT A TOUCH

If the forests on the 2nd floor were dense and vast, the mountains were tall, numerous, and full of life. There were many interesting things in this forest that one doesn’t get to see in the world outside.

The forests were full of life both day and night. There were glowing trees that illuminated the surroundings, and creatures that didn’t follow the norms of the earth, life here was different, and danger was everywhere.

Monsters that killed their own kin sometimes, corrupt beings that lived for the sake of destruction. There was life, and there were strong beings here, however there was danger as well.

Looks were deceiving in the forest. Small creatures that seemed docile were the most dangerous of the opponents. The big and ferocious ones were sometimes not that difficult to deal with, but then again, there were many who would rip one to pieces in seconds.

The forest was dangerous, but so were the mountains.

If the forest had the beasts and creatures that walked and ran, the primary predators and dangers in the mountain areas were the birds and the bigger monsters that usually lived away from the crowds, minding their own business.

Defeating these beings gave additional bonus points that the people were looking for, making the mountain areas a bigger gathering spot for the stronger parties or individuals.

The parties that gathered in the forest consisted either of smaller or lower leveled groups, the much bigger groups that were searching for resources rather than finishing the quest, and lastly, the association members who researched the plant life and wildlife within the place.

The two groups could be found in the valley as well where there was an abundance of both the creatures and resources.

There were mines near the water stream, there was an abundance of floral life, there were creatures of all kinds near the water and the different biomes around the rivers, and the players were constantly looking for them.

The players moved individually and in groups around these parts as well, however, the groups that moved around the valleys were also seen to be interested in the scenery around the valley.

The number of players that wandered around the valleys for fun and the scenery around the place was higher here than in the mountains or the forest areas.

There were couples who seemed to be out on a date, there were special artists who came for the simple sake of inspiration here, and looking after them all were the murderers who wished for their demise.

There were many cases of people falling victim to these PKers around the valley so fear was present among the players even with the association patrolling the place.

But that did not stop them from coming around these parts.

The water streams at dawn that shined with the golden light, the clear skies above them, the clear weather, and the beautiful creatures all around the place made the valleys more a picnic spot than a hunting ground.

The valleys had the most field bosses out there— twin birds that were of (Level-35), the four flower-like monsters that acted as a single entity, there was a giant bear that occasionally crawled out of its cave, and there was a golem somewhere upstream in an open area.

The valley, thus, was also a hotspot for the high-ranking players with better skill than the average. The association people were not clearing these monsters yet to give the regular players a chance, only maintaining them periodically.

The palace was fun, so when KiRA and Izzy came here, before going to their destination, they looked around the place.

"It was fun, right?"

"It’s all so real, actually. The game was fun but this just feels different."

"I can’t wait for the higher floors, hehe." KiRA was excited even knowing the higher floors would be even more dangerous than these places.

He was getting by just fine until now, but the lower floors were nowhere as challenging as the ones that they would face as they climbed up.

But then again, even in the most dangerous of places, there will come a time when they will be able to take a breath of peace.

A moment where, just like today, they will be able to enjoy the neat sceneries like this valley, the mountains, and nature, as well as the truth that hides behind the mask of beauty.

"But now then..."

After finishing their valley tour, the two of them reached a hidden cave near an unassuming corner, a place with a hidden entrance that they had to crawl in from.

It was dark from the inside, unlike the usual caves, there were no unique glowing or bioluminescent elements here.

The cave was dark and they had to rely on not fire, but an artificial light bulb item that doesn’t use a bright light.

They were here for something special, something that would not really add anything to their actual experience or prove out to be profitable, but certainly, something that was present around the passage they were passing from.

"Watch your steps from here," KiRA instructed her while holding her hand, holding the light in his other hand.

There was one thing that they needed to keep in mind– this was no ordinary cave, with ordinary things.

The entire cave was covered in a thick layer of Mana. There was a unique fungus on the walls here, one that seemed ordinary near the entrance, but as they continued moving forward within this narrow cave, the cave grew thick with this fungus.

It wasn’t harmful to them, but they most certainly were harmful to it. Their energies, stronger than the small threads of the fungus, were powerful enough to destroy them at touch.

More than the fungus on the wall, however, there was something that they needed to be more careful about.

"Here they are..."

At the end of the narrow cave came a dark exit. As they walked out of the exit, they were greeted with a spacious inside of the cave which, unlike the narrow entrance, was well-lit from the inside.

"Hah. As pretty as I remember."

There were colorful glowing crystals in here, natural resources born over the decades thanks to the natives of this cave, beings that were some of the best when it came to synthesizing Mana.

"To think the creator of something so pretty and tough would die at a touch... isn’t this ironic?" Izzy was as surprised as she had been when she came here for the first time.

Seeing this place was the same as they saw in the game made them pretty happy, and even KiRA had a smile on his face right now.

The glowing crystals around them were in fact a metal, a material called (Elemental iron) that was famous all around the lower floors.

It was famous for being tough and containing properties that could absorb and channel various elements.

It was also pretty famous among the various creators for weapons and accessory production thanks to its energy conductivity and the difficulty of use.

"It is a tough thing, surely, but it is made over years and decades as a byproduct of their survival. That’s just how nature is in the tower, mysterious and always full of surprises."

The beings that produced these materials were a higher form of fungi that resembled a mushroom but had a face and humanoid elements.

They were small creatures, no bigger than a human palm, but in a vast cave like this one, there were hundreds of them each possessing an innate ability to channel and process Mana within the environment.

As they lived, they gathered the Mana within the environment and processed it the same way the plants processed the sunlight.

When the processed energy was used, in a micro form, they released a dust particle that later became the foundation of the glowing metals present all around them.

They did it naturally and the formation of an entire crystal took years, however, the fungus creatures themselves were so fragile that if someone like the two of them possessed a different kind of powerful energy, or a different structure of energy to be precise, so much as even touched them, they would wither away immediately.

"With no proper physical form, with no sturdy body, they were as vulnerable as a dandelion seed. With one blow of wind, they could scatter away into the vast sky..."

If they wanted to, they could defeat these beings with a simple touch, just for the fun of seeing how they would react when dying.

They weren’t intelligent, they didn’t really have the same kind of mind as the rest of the humanoid population.

If anything, they were fragile and vulnerable to the outside world, that’s why they were mostly only found in secluded places like these, away from the eyes of civilization.

"This is their home, so let’s just watch for a little while without disturbing them." KiRA understood the true value of the peace that these beings had.

There was no predator here in this cave, it was just them... and it. They were the only ones here, that’s how it was supposed to be.

"Haaaaa."

The two of their presence may not be bothering them right now, but they were still aware of the intruders. If they could, they would send them back from where they had come from immediately, but these beings did not have any means to do so.

They were vulnerable. Even while sharing a collective consciousness, they were weak at the end of the day.

"Ok." Perhaps that was the main reason KiRA liked them so much. They were fun little guys that he wouldn’t mind playing with if they ever wanted it.

"Let’s go have the last battle."

Not that they would ever want to risk their lives. He had tried it and it just doesn’t work like that so he knew it was better to keep distance from them.

He wasn’t after the shining iron here, he was here for something else.

Something more meaningful and ancient.

Something that was left behind by the first explorers that ascended to the highest floors of the tower.