***Author's Note***

Sorry, festivities and sickness prevented me from doing a chapter last night. Should get two out today, hopefully a third~

Day 35

I hummed happily, rolling around in bed.

-Truly, beds are the greatest invention in the multiverse.

I picked a bit of straw out that had gotten in my hair and dropped it on the ground. Ultimately, the roof of Jen's apartment was too low for me to get in and get to the bed, and I had immediately hopped out a nearby window and went to the nearest bed.

As I stood and stretched, a horse whinnied at me. I nodded good naturedly and walked out of the stable.

-Well now what?

-Also, what does Jen being our administrator mean?

-Also, also, why is this floor so...

A flock of small imps with leathery wings flew past, giggling. A huge creature made of stone loomed above the building, stacking giant blocks of granite. A strange aqua creature with dozens of arms rolled past, down the road. A woolly mammoth was dragging a cart with wind chimes down the street.

-So boring.

Sighing, and wondering where the people killing each other were at, I walked back into the stable and plopped down on the bed of hay. Wasn't this the area where I would once more become a Path Boss? I rubbed the horse idly. Then I turned to him or her.

"Do they bring food around here?"

The horse huffed in disgust.

"Typical. Thanks for the tip." At some point I would have to track down Jen and find out where food was served.

-And now...

I opened up my status screen and clicked level up.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, you have reached level 20. All biomass has been consumed.You have gained the title "Gene Splicer". Health Regen has increased by 2.5x.Please select 4 of your previous growth rates to retain for splicing:

Ultimately, I chose Gene Splicer, for two reasons. The first and most obvious was the increase in health regen. From what I had seen, increasing attributes was not easy. It was likely the most powerful of the bonuses. As for the actual abilities...

-I mean, we were eating things anyway, maybe the Devourer bonus would have been the best.

-But most of our strength comes from abilities right? Gene Splicer gives us some control over what sort of skills we will learn.

-We could just find things and eat them until we learn skills.

-So we would just take a break from climbing the tower to go hunting?

I considered. Honestly, it would probably be very enjoyable. Still, the second reason I picked Gene Splicer was because if I didn't, I would always be a step behind of the ACTUAL races. Every now and again I would obtain a bad growth rate, and so if I ever encountered one of the more powerful races whom I became briefly, they would have at least a small advantage over me. Gene Splicer gave me the chance to surpass my imitation, creating a genuinely new creature. And I figured my high Memory and Processing Power stat would give be a powerful advantage with this title.

-And I thought 'Predator, Gene Splicer' sounded cool.

-You're an idiot.

When shown a list of my previous growth rates to select for splicing, I first tried Warden of Glacier and Moon, but an error appeared. Sighing, I selected Frost Fang Pack Leader. My second choice was Ogre Variant (Two-Headed Albino). The third choice was similarly simple: Carnivorous Dusk Wing Owl. After a few moments of hesitation, I finally made my last saved growth rate as XN- 00013.

-So we are going to splice a race with a robot? How is that even possible. Robots don't have genes.

-I don't think it's exactly literally gene splicing, just a racial synthesis?.

Due to unique circumstances, you are unable to retain the growth rate of "Warden of Glacier and Moon". If you chose to retain your growth rate, you will retain the growth rate of "Frost Fang Packleader." You can retain that growth rate, or use biomass to obtain a randomly generated growth rate. Note, if growth rate is retained Biomass will be converted into random chances for improvement.Do you wish to retain you growth rate? Y/N

I chose no. Even if I obtained something less useful, I could still splice it with Frost Fang Packleader and likely obtain something similar, because I had saved it. Might as well roll the dice with the few hundred biomass I had obtained from my weird dream life. Rubbing my forehead, I realized that more and more of yesterday was becoming a blur. What was the test even about...?

But the notification that popped up brought my attention back to the present.

Congratulations! You have received the racial growth rate of "Leprechaun". Would you like to splice another race into this one?

-There's no reason why not. But which one?

-Robo Leprechaun just seems silly. Leprechauns seem more like the Magic/Speed sort, so likely the Ogre is also out. As for the other two... what were the stat gains from Packleader and the Owl.

I wracked my brain, but as I suspected, my high Memory was extremely useful in times like this.

-Packleader 20ish Agi and Dex, 30ish Processing Power and Perception, 400 mana. Owl much less than that.

-Packleader it was.

I selected yes, and then chose packleader.

Determining Spliced Race...Congratulations! You have obtained the racial growth rates of a "Stunted Hypothermic Leprechaun".Vit +11End +32Agi +16Dex +50Memory +9Wis -5Mana +209You have obtained the Title "Born Under a Cursed Star": Unlike normal Leprechauns, this one was born alone out of a fortune in gold adrift on a ghost ship in the frigid north. It has been cursed since birth, and has constantly struggle to survive. Gained the attribute "Light of the Unlucky Star": Periodically, all light gained will be consumed, causing a catastrophy around you. The extent of the destruction corresponds to the amount of light consumed. Luck permanently reduced to 0.Because you reached Lvl 20 as a Stunted Hypothermic Leprechaun, you have the opportunity to learn the skill "Flicker Lvl 1": A crude copy of a Leprechaun's normal skill blink, flicker allows its user to teleport less than half a meter in any direction. Mana cost is prohibitive to most users. Would you like to learn this skill?

My face quickly fell as I read, turning swiftly into a frown.

-...I somehow lost Wis?

-Luck permanently set at 0?

Still, I selected yes. No reason to skip out on a skill, no matter what. But then three more notifications popped up.

+1 Light of an Unlucky Star!You have enough experience to reach lvl 21, but you currently possess insufficient Biomass. After obtaining Biomass, please select level up in the status screen.Before Leprechaun is discarded, would you like to overwrite one of you previously saved growth rates?

Displayed in front of me were my 4 saved growth rates and the option no. As I reached for no, another notification popped up.

The Light of the Unlucky Star shines on you! All Light consumed.

The door to the barn slammed open, a man carrying a huge tray walking in. "Alright my babies, time to eat-"

Excited, the horse next to me leapt up, slamming into the side of his stall. The wood had rotted, and immediately gave wave, the horses body weight falling sideways into the support beams for the barn, which also appeared to have rotted through. It collapsed instantly.

I blinked, watching the barn's roof cave in on top of me, hitting my hand and knocking it into the Frost Fang Packleader option.

Congratulations! Frost Fang Packleader has been forgotten, and Leprechaun has been retained!

I sat among the settling wooden rubble for several minutes, listening to the groans of the animals, crushed under the boards.

-Packleader was our best growth rate...

-It also could be used to once more reach the Warden of Glacier and Moon...

Shivering at the memory of the pain, I still knew I would have put myself through it in order to gain addition strength. But now...

-Still, it isn't all bad news. We got the skill. Let's test the mana cost of the skill.

The level up had taken me up to 2106 mana, and it was currently full. I activated Flicker, appearing a small distance up, above most of the tiny bits of wood that had fallen on me. Although the effect was rather small at this point, once I leveled it up, the effectiveness would definitely increase. I brought up my status screen and looked at my mana.

Name:PredatorLevel:20Racial Growth Rate:Stunted Hypothermic LeprechaunBiomass:0Light of the Unlucky Star:0Essence:14/27Health Regen:x4.6Mana:1106/2106Vit:91 (+30)End:89 (+30)Str:82 (+30)Agi:105 (+30)Dex:128 (+30)Memory:265 (+30)Processing Power:330 (+30)Parallel Computations:2Wis:122 (+30)Luck:33 (+30) (-63)Timeless Perception:116 (+30)TitlesA PredatorRacelessNurturer of the UndeadSinger of the Dark CadencesBringer of WarMaster of Throwing KnivesWarden of Glacier and MoonOne Who Denies His Own MortalityGene SplicerBorn Under a Cursed StarSkillsAir Affinity Lvl 1Endless StomachWeapons Mastery Lvl 2Silent Kill Lvl 1Path of the DragonAura of the Predator Lvl 5Summon Lesser Dead Lvl 6Bile Emission Lvl 2Unholy Bestowal Lvl 2Physicality Lvl 7Song of the Murloc People Lvl 1Thunder Stance Lvl 4Cadence of EarthCadence of WaterWind Stance Lvl 1Wind Blade Lvl 7Pain Tolerance Lvl 8Greater Resistance to Fire Lvl 1Sneak Attack Lvl 1My Heart is the Bellows, My Body the Metal Lvl 3Lesser Ice Affinity Lvl 5Lunar Affinity Lvl 4Automated Air Armor Lvl 1Flicker Lvl 1Saved Growth RatesLeprechaunOgre Variant (Two Headed Albino)Carniverous Dusk Wing OwlXN-00013

"It...costs..." I hissed through my teeth, my vision going red. "1000 mana for less than half a meter?!?!"

Air Affinity activated, spreading outward, smashing away everything. The winds swirled, gathering up the tiny bits of wood that were scattered around. I would reduce this place to nothing.

Before I completely gave into the rage, I noticed a notification pop up.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, your skill has improved to “Air Affinity Lvl 2”. Mana costs vastly decreased. Ability to absorb mana from the air increases. Fineness of control of air has reached a new level.

Then I amused myself with putting all the buried animals out of their misery and becoming a tornado.

***POV Change***

Whipman's spear trembled, drawing a thin line of blood on Ashni's neck. She seemed just as surprised as he was.

"I... I did it! I won! I beat you!"

Something slammed into Whipman's temple, knocking him to the ground and filling his vision with stars.

Ashni snorted. "And you completely lost your focus. Besides, it is 1 out of 1000. There are many strange coincidences in this world, your strength is likely not the cause. It could have been anything-"

A loud crash interrupted their morning training session. They walked to the edge of the courtyard, seeing a 20 m tall whirlwind form quite close to their inn, picking up a large about of debris. A roaring could be heard, even over the wind.

Ashni paused, then said. "It could be anyone. There is no way to know who-"

"No," Whipman said with a sigh. "That's definitely Predator."

*****

***POV Change***

An hour and several desperate explanations later, I sat brooding, shoveling as much food into my mouth as I could. The Innkeeper had demanded payment even after I tried my best to calmly explain that it was a horses fault that the stable collapsed. He simply sneered at me. Jen was so worried she was sweating slime, bubbling from the stress.

Just as I was about to kill the creature and leave, Ashni pulled out what she called a "Credit Chip" and coolly said to deduct the costs from that.

When the Innkeeper returned, he rubbed his scaled hands together obsequiously and offered us a free meal for our troubles, so sorry the stable collapsed on you. I looked in confusion at Ashni but she just accepted the Credit Chip back and nodded with grace.

"Ahem," Jen said, oozing up onto the center of the table before speaking. "Now's a good time to talk a bit about the details of what happens here on the 5th floor. You've probably noticed that its a little different here."

Jen glared at me, and I realized to my chagrin that I had been starting to doze off. It was tough to stay focused without any killing going on around me.

"That's because basically everyone starts on this floor of the tower, but those who come here usually have enough backing that they are at least prepared for the Tower, so they aren't weak. Just not as desperate as those you find below."

As the entire group were such desperate individuals, myself included I supposed, no one looked up from their plates.

Jen continued on, failing to notice the heaviness her words caused. "The floor is mostly a giant town, with an arena at its center. Everyday a 10 fights are held, where 1 Path Boss faces off against 10 teams of challengers. A whole team who makes it through the portal passes. All other teams are failed at that point. If the Path Boss dies, they all pass. If no one passes, the Path Boss continues upward. Any questions?"

Sensing the idle silence, Jen continued to explain. "The problem is that even if 10 fights happen a day, many, many individuals come here. So the queue for challengers is EXTREMELY long, almost a month at the moment, while-"

"Is there any limit on the number of challengers in a team?" Whipman asked, frowning. I blinked, nodding. It was a good question.

"Well no, and there are no obvious penalties to having a huge team at this level. But they all need to make it through the portal to pass. Otherwise, they need to kill the path boss, which is usually difficult. Path Bosses who are here usually have significant funding as well, and have powerfully defended paths."

While devouring more food, I wondered how Yellow Bones was doing. I missed his puppy dog eyes and 25 m tall height.

"Now like I was saying-" But before Jen could finish, the door banged open as the Innkeeper returned, carrying a terminal.

"Ah, young miss, when I was... checking your chip after the unfortunate incident earlier, I noticed you have quite a bit of saved messages. Please, use my personal terminal to check them. I am at your service." Bowing and scraping his nose along the floor, he left the room.

We all looked at Ashni in silence. With a look of disgust on her face, she pressed various buttons until a video recording sprung up on the screen.

"GODDAMMIT, I'M YOUR FATHER AND IF YOU DON'T RETURN HOME THIS INSTANT-"

Ashni's expression never changed, and she pressed delete. The next message started playing. It was simply blubbery sobbing. She quickly deleted that one as well. The next was more interesting. I shoveled more food in my mouth and leaned closer to hear what was being said.

"Honey, I'm sorry I was so emotional earlier, I just think that it's best if you listen to everything I say-"

Delete.

"Are you even listening to these? ARE YOU NOT CHECKING YOUR MAIL?!?"

Delete.

"DON"T IGNOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."

Delete.

"Baby, Sweetheart, I'm sor-"

Delete.

At this point, Ashni reached up to press the Delete All option, but just as she was about to do so, there was an incoming message. Her finger inadvertantly hit accept. A Tellite with a thick neck and beard appeared on screen, his brows initially furrowed. Then his face brightened as he noticed the message connected.

"Honey! I'm so glad I got ahold of you! Ahem, ahem, no need to listen to the previous messages, I think there were some problems in recording, so some of content might seem loud-"

"I'm fine dad, goodbye." Ashni raised her hand towards the cut connection.

"Honey, I can see the blood on your neck. The world is scary, isn't it? So scary you had to spend quite a bit of my money earlier today, kukuku. Why not come home?"

Ashni glared at both Whipman and myself in turn. I wondered idly what sort of kinky play the two of them were up to that Whipman wounded her. I had seen Ashni practice, there was no way he did it in a fight.

"Nothing of the sort, everything is fine. This was just training. I really need to go, good-"

"Surely," Ashni's father said with a certain gleam in his eye. "I didnt' raise a daughter so bereft of honor that she would spend my money willy-nilly and then refuse to even speak to me? If your mother were still around to see this day, Oh, she would die again of a heart attack!"

Ashni's gaze was a death sentence, but I could tell by her twisting features that her pride wasn't letting her cut the connection.

Through gritted teeth, Ashni said. "It is good to speak to you. I will not be coming home. I hope you are well."

Ashni's dad chuckled. "Honey, I can see its hard. Just give up and come home. When I think you are ready, I will pay for your passage to the 5th floor, where you can actually-"

"ACTUALLY." Ashni interrupted. "I'm on the 5th floor now."

"Really." Disbelief was clear, even through the thick beard.

"Yes, really." Ashni was dragging her fingers across the wood of the table, drawing long furrows into the wood. I yawned, tiring of this and out of food.

"Hmph, no need to lie honey. If you need any help-"

"Fuck you, papa." Ashni said venomously. " I am on the 5th floor, on my own. I don't need you-"

"YOU STILL SEEM TO NEED MY MONEY!" He bellowed, but she ignored him.

"-AND tomorrow my team and I will be broadcast on the lower channels as we succeed in passing the 5th floor. And then I will formally request that all ties between us be severed by the Thunder Stance Medium-"

"HA. As if. If that happens, I will give you your mother's inheritance immediately! Go on, have a ball. No, you know what?" The Tellite was grinning now, a mad, vile grin. "I'll bet every last penny of it on your 'success' tomorrow. And if you don't show, or if you fail... well I guess that money is lost."

Ashni gave him a disgusted look.

"Well," He prompted, his expression smug. "Don't you have something to-"

Ashni severed the connection. Then she turned to Jen. "Is competing tomorrow possible?"

Jana, who had been rather morose since joining our group, snorted. "Didn't you listen? About a month of a queue. There's no way tomorrow is possible."

Frowning, Whipman said. "But bribing our way is likely possible-"

"Ha!" Ashni cackled briefly, then spit on the floor. "Unless you worth trash someone obtained money while I was covering for your idiocy, we cannot afford it. I dare not use more of that vile man's money."

I scratched my chin, bored.

Jen's body expanding, filling up the entire table, pushing the plates onto the floor. "LIKE I WAS SAYING! The challengers have to wait a while, but Path Boss's have a much shorter amount of time in the Queue. If we act now, we can get in during one of tomorrow's later matches. Predator just needs to be the team leader and you will be designated as a Path Boss group. Any objections?"

*****

Hours later, after any objections Ashni had with my leadership or any anger she had been holding in about my responsibility for making her spend money had been worked out into my body through harsh training, I lay down with a groan. Water Stance remained mysterious, but I felt very close to being able to actually perform Earth Stance.

As sleep came to me, I remembered that I had enough Biomass from lunch and dinner to try for another decent growth rate, but...

-Sleepy. Better to wait until tomorrow.

I closed my eyes.

***POV Change***

"Woah," the male teen said, looking down at his hands. The Ilium smiled.

"It's called a guardian spirit. Hopefully you can put it to good use. welcome to The Great Tower.

***POV Change***

Kettle watched Predator sleep which she adjusted and readjust the bracelet in front of her.

She had observed with annoyance that Jen had already registered the group under her this morning. Typical Jen, completely useless in every situation, except in the one time it matter. Not that Kettle didn't value Jen's friendship, it was just...

There are other things that were more important.

She eyed the bracelet critically. Sighing, she began to reassemble it.

Kettle paused as Predator rolled over, giving her an ideal view of his peaceful sleeping face. Much to her surprise, she reached out and touched the screen, her finger going to the place on his cheek she had kissed him. Then her hand reached up and touched her own cheek, in the spot he kissed her.

She had briefly considered going to see him, but he didn't even seem to remember her. At the very least, he hadn't asked. Shaking her head, she banished those thoughts.

Her focus was on the bracelet.

On the marks over her family members hearts.

"Good Luck, Predator." Kettle muttered.

Then she made a mental note to free up some assets to bet on him.