After his figure was swallowed by the luminous mist, Taufik felt... nothing. No resistance. No weight. Just the sensation of walking through an endless void, silent and still, for what felt like two or three seconds. Then his foot touched sothing solid. Real. The mont of contact sent a jolt through his senses.
At first, he couldn't see. Darkness pressed against his eyes like velvet. But then, gradually, his vision returned, shapes erged, color bled back into the world, and he found himself standing at the edge of an endless forest.
Towering trees stretched into the heavens, their canopies blotting out the sky in patches. Moss-covered roots twisted like serpents across the forest floor. A wild, ethereal energy pulsed in the air, ancient and untad.
A soft [DING] chid in his mind.
And then a blue Interface appears right before him, showing:
---
[Welco To The Infinite Tower: First Floor]
[Floor 1 - Realm Gate: Verdant Hollow]
•World The: An endless forest once protected by nature spirits, now wild and twisted.
•Inhabitants: Ferocious sprites, decaying dryads, and wooden wolves.
•Unique chanic: Illusions distort paths; the sa road never leads to the sa place twice.
•Objective: Calm the forest spirits and restore the balance of fae energy to escape.
---
Taufik narrowed his eyes at the floating interface. The words hovered crisply in the air before him, holographic, unreal yet unmistakably tangible.
It wasn't his real system, the "Daily Login" one, but the standardized duplicate system all humans above eighteen now received.
Still, he studied the information carefully, scanning every line with sharp focus.
A faint rustle ca from behind him.
He didn't need to turn around. He already knew who it was.
"Whoa~" Asahi's voice cracked with awe, his footsteps crunching softly against the underbrush. "This is… how is this even possible?"
"Save it for later," Taufik replied without glancing back. "Do you guys see the notifications on the system interface?"
The other five who had entered the mist after him stood in a loose semicircle, their expressions a mix of wonder and tension. They nodded in sync.
Taufik gave a short nod in return, satisfied. 'Good. That ans there's no deviation in the system data'
He focused his thoughts.
'System'
[Yes, Master?]
'How's the flow of them in here?'
[...It is ten tis faster compared to the outside world]
Taufik raised an eyebrow.
'Ten tis? So one hour here equals ten hours out there…' He let the numbers play out in his mind, adjusting his ntal clock. 'Does this apply to the next floors as well?'
[Yes, Master. Each floor maintains this accelerated flow]
"Convenient," he murmured under his breath, a slight curve forming on his lips. He turned to the others, his expression sharpening. "You guys finished reading?"
One by one, they nodded again, so still glancing around, others trying to grasp the aning behind the "Objective" section.
Taufik stepped forward, eyes scanning the forest ahead. The mist that had brought them here had dispersed completely, replaced by the thick, green breath of an ancient land now unbalanced.
The forest seed to watch them.
Alive. Aware.
And waiting.
Taufik took a deep breath, not out of fear, but from pure, unfiltered excitent. His eyes glead with anticipation as he turned to face his five companions. They, too, wore the sa expression: wide eyes, steady breaths, hearts pounding with the thrill of stepping into the unknown.
This wasn't just a mission. It was an adventure.
A new world to explore.
Mysteries to uncover.
Monsters to fight.
And, above all... strength to gain.
"Guys," Taufik said, voice calm yet commanding, "prepare your weapons. I won't interfere… and I definitely won't be babysitting from behind"
He then turned his gaze toward one of them, Caldwell. Tall and broad-shouldered, his presence was impossible to miss.
No weapon hung at his side, none was needed. His entire body was a weapon.
Muscles like forged steel, instincts honed to a razor's edge, and above all, Caldwell was the current era's Excalibur Holder, a living vessel for the ancient blade's power.
And if that weren't enough, he was also a werewolf, a lineage that gave him superhuman strength, regenerative abilities, and heightened senses.
Among them, he was the strongest... if Taufik wasn't counted.
"You're the leader for now, bro," Taufik said casually, nodding toward him with confidence.
Caldwell blinked in surprise. "Wait, you're not-?"
But Taufik had already turned his attention elsewhere.
His eyes scanned the forest edge. No wind blew… yet the trees moved. Not swayed, moved. The trunks twisted slightly, the branches creaked unnaturally, as if sothing unseen slithered through their roots, disturbing their slumber.
Sothing ancient and watchful.
Taufik's lips curled into a grin. He glanced back at the others, their hands now on hilts, staffs, and triggers.
"You guys read the system prompt, right?" he said. "You saw what lives here"
They nodded grimly.
"Good," Taufik replied. His tone dropped an octave, amused, certain, lethal. "They're coming. Good luck"
With a casual flick of his finger, Taufik vanished, not gone, rely cloaked in invisibility. The air shimred faintly for a mont, and then he was simply no longer there.
The mont Taufik vanished, the atmosphere thickened.
The forest grew heavier, darker as if breathing in anticipation.
Then they saw them.
At first, they looked like trees with twisted limbs. But as they stepped into the clearing, it beca clear these were no ordinary forest spirits.
Decaying Dryads.
Their skin was cracked bark, leaking black sap like blood. Eyes glowed with hollow malice. Moss hung from their shoulders like tattered robes, and every movent ca with the sound of splintering wood and whispering curses.
There were few of them, emaciated and twisted, but each radiated a corrupt, primal power.
Caldwell stepped forward, fangs slightly bared, his werewolf instincts kicking in.
"Get Ready!" he barked. His voice bood, imdiately snapping the others to motion.
Caldwell didn't summon Excalibur. Not yet.
Not for this.
Instead, Caldwell shifted, his muscles expanding slightly, eyes glowing yellow as his bestial blood surged. His gauntlets iced over, forming clawed fists of frost.
He leapt into the air, descending like a cot on the first dryad. With a thunderous slam, he drove an ice-covered fist into its chest. The dryad shrieked, bark shattering under the blow, and was sent crashing through a tree.
"I'll handle the front!" Caldwell roared.
Daniel moved next.
He reached over his shoulder and pulled free the massive cruciform blade, the iron cross etched with silver scripture burned faintly in holy light.
"Unclean spirit. Return to soil"
He dashed forward, two-handed grip steady. With a wide sweeping arc, he bisected a lunging dryad from hip to shoulder. The dryad's body crumbled into black ash, purified by divine wrath.
Another one lunged from the side, but Daniel spun, blade dragging a glowing line in the air, and brought it down with holy retribution.
Asahi's wings of Mana burst open behind him, ethereal, sky-blue feathers made of raw energy.
He soared upward, high above the fray.
"Leave the fast ones to !"
One dryad, quicker and slimr than the rest, darted through the trees, aiming to flank Reza and Rijal. But Asahi dropped like a thunderbolt, katana unsheathed in a flash of silver.
*SLASH!*
The dryad's head rolled before it even knew it had been hit.
Asahi didn't land. He twisted midair and dashed into the canopy again, slashing branches and enemies with graceful fury.
Rijal stood back, both hands glowing with shifting symbols, one hand holding a spirit-imbued staff, the other swirling with sigils of fla and wind.
"By the spirit of the east wind... Kusanagi!"
He slamd his staff into the ground. A glowing, fox-like spirit burst forth, racing in a trail of fire. It slamd into a dryad mid-charge, engulfing it in spiritual flas that refused to be extinguished.
Rijal followed up with a spirit sword, his strikes guided by the will of the elental being within.
Unlike the others, Reza had no flashy powers. No bloodline, no divine heritage.
Just grit, and a blade burning with pure Aura.
He clenched his teeth and charged.
A dryad tried to wrap vines around his leg. He severed them in one swift motion and countered with a brutal upward slash. Aura exploded from his weapon, slicing clean through the dryad's torso.
"Don't underestimate !" he growled. "Power isn't everything!"
A second dryad lashed at him from behind, but Daniel's blade intercepted the strike, protecting his flank.
Reza nodded in gratitude and pressed the assault.
--------
anwhile… Hidden in the Shadows
Unseen, Taufik stood cloaked just beyond the battlefield, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
He watched everything, every movent, every flaw, every strength.
'Caldwell's holding back. That's smart. No need to show the sword yet'
'Asahi's fast, but reckless on turns. He'll need control in tighter environnts'
'Daniel's efficient. Precise. That's years of discipline'
'Rijal's coordination with his spirit is excellent. He's learning to rge offense and utility'
'Reza…' Taufik smiled. 'No gift, but he has sothing better... willpower'
The dryads now lay broken and burning, the forest briefly calm.
But they all knew it was only the beginning.
From deeper in the woods, laughter echoed again. Twisted. Sharp. Childlike.
The forest was awake.
....
...
..
.
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