It was fortunate that, after being slain, the monsters killed within the Crucible of Souls would dissolve away into a peculiar kind of ash that was so fine it seemed to disappear completely moments later. It took with it everything from the bones, organs, and, to Krone's advantage, the blood.

Were this not the case, the Party would have to deal with an even more pungent odor of blood as, when he fought, Krone often became covered from chest to thighs due to the brutal nature of his combat style. The [Barrier Aura] filtered out most of it but, perhaps due to the same functionality that allowed Krone to use his Blessing and breathe, some slipped through.

Now, as the burly man lifted his body from the dissolving corps, there was a red mist rising from his body as the monster's blood seemed to evaporate. At the same time, Linnaeus and co came over to his side, the former commenting, "Brutal, but effective. Good work."

In response, Krone gave Linnaeus a sidelong glance before ultimately shaking his head and asking, "What is the plan? Will we continue?"

Originally, Linnaeus had intended to let Eliza killed the Wolf King on their way to battle against the Ape King but, after their encounter with a would-be assassin, his plan needed to change. They could either move to another territory to hunt down one final King or shore up their defenses somewhere to determine whether or not they were being pursued.

The most sensible choice, however, seemed to be leaving the Floor as soon as possible. There was no sense in sticking around to fight an unknown enemy and, even if they could emerge victoriously, the benefits would be limited. After all, other than the equipment a person kept on their body, most items stored in their Inventory would simply vanish upon their death.

As he had already been thinking about the best course of action prior to Krone's question, Linnaeus gave a curt nod before saying, "I believe it is best that we leave the Floor immediately. Eliza may lose out on some Soul Kindling but, with her power, she has the easiest method to earn more. I'm certain there will be ways to spend and transfer Kindling on higher Floors so there is no reason to stay and risk being ambushed."

Krone crossed his arms upon hearing this, seemingly discontent with running away, but Eliza and Emilia seemed to be in agreement. The former had the most say in the situation so she added, "I'd like to teach our attacker a lesson as well but we have no way of knowing who they are. If we attack any random person we encounter, there is a chance it could be someone completely different. We weren't able to see their face or discover their presence so the only thing we know about them is the kind of Magic they use. Staying around just to fight an unknown force that might not even show up is a waste of time."

What Eliza said struck at the very heart of the matter. There was a chance that their attacker actually had been alone so there was a good chance they would have fled without any intention of pursuing the Party. Though Linnaeus' instincts told him this wasn't the case, his rationale told him it ultimately didn't matter so long as they left the Floor behind.

With Krone unable to refute Eliza's words, combined with Emilia not being fond of combat against other people, Linnaeus decided it was time for their departure. He didn't know for certain whether or not his previous speculation had been correct but, believing there was a fair chance, he inclined his head toward nothing in particular, saying, "Guardian of the Crucible of Souls, if you are listening, our Party believes we are ready to move on to the next Floor. Please transfer us..."

Though there was a chance that passage to the next Floor required reaching a certain point, the fact that the Floor Guardian provided no information implied the method of ascending depended wholly on the person climbing. So long as they had sufficient achievements, Linnaeus believed that passage to the next Floor would be granted to them.

Fortunately, he hadn't addressed the air in futility as, moments later, a chill descended upon the entire Party as a sensuous voice mused, "I see you found yourself some companions, little boy...and here I had been looking forward to seeing how far you could go on your own...well, it doesn't really matter, does it~?"

While the feminine voice reached everyone, Linnaeus was the only one in the group that felt like a cold silk cloth was being draped across his body. He didn't know what the deal with the Guardian was but she seemed to enjoy teasing him more than necessary...

Fortunately, without requiring a response from any of them, the presence seemed to drift away from him as the voice stated, "Parties are evaluated differently than those who seek to climb alone. You'll be rewarded for the individual actions you had taken prior to forming your union. The credit for the actions your Party has taken will be based on contribution while the majority of the reward is given to the Party Leader. Also, allow me to inform you that the Party System in the Crucible of Souls works very differently than the one in the Tower. How it differs, however, is something you'll have to learn on your own, ufufufufu~"

Toward the very end of the voice's words, Linnaeus could swear he felt something moist trace across the top of his ear but, in order to not give the voice the satisfaction of a response, his face solidified into his usual mask of calm...

Once the willowy words faded into the wind, everyone saw a personalized window in front of them while Linnaeus had two. The first detailed his accomplishments over the thirty-one days he had been alone while the second displayed the contributions of the Party members based on kill participation and various other factors.

On average, a normal monster awarded around 41 Soul Kindling so Linnaeus had earned 4,838 total Soul Kindling just from his personal exploits. As for the total survival time, he was given a measly 1 Soul Kindling per day but, considering the plentiful resources in the forest, this wasn't too difficult to rationalize.

What surprised Linnaeus the most was that he got a bonus of 1,000 Kindling for killing one hundred monsters and an additional 500 for defeating a Territorial King in individual combat. As the King had awarded a little more than three-hundred Kindling, this brought his total to 8,197SK.

Linnaeus wasn't sure if this was a lot but, compared to the pittance he had earned on the Eighth Floor, it was a significant improvement. Now, he just needed to decide what to do with the rewards listed in the Party window as there was an option of either keeping everything for himself of giving it out based on contribution.

The problem with this window was that the other people couldn't see it so, if they didn't trust each other, it would be easy to accuse him of skewing the numbers for his personal benefit. This almost made it a better option just to keep everything for himself and distribute it based on the needs of the Party but, as this could also cause some contention, the most sensible decision was to try and convince everyone he was being forthright with them...

With this in mind, Linnaeus explained, "As a Party, we were able to accumulate 2,738 Soul Kindling. I have a window that shows me a list of variables that combine to create a contribution statistic using a percentage system. I'll be letting the interface auto-assign the rewards based on contribution. We don't have the time or resources to keep a proper accounting and, even if we did, it would cause a few problems if people started acting based on arbitrary metrics. I'd ask each of you to be content with what the system hands out as it is the determining factor behind how the points are assigned..."

Fortunately, while there was still a bit of tension and awkwardness in the Party, Linnaeus had built up a decent amount of rapport with the group. Krone could be considered an exception to this but, as he had stopped being confrontational and accusatory, they had clearly made some kind of progress.

Ultimately, Linnaeus had actually lied to the Party as, while it did show contribution values in the form of a percentage, it gave him 40% just for being the Party Leader. He decided not to point this out and, while splitting the Soul Kindling between them, he distributed his additional 40% as well. It seemed to serve as an incentive of sorts for the Party Leader but, as his actual contributions during combat were considerably lower, it would draw a lot of attention if he got the largest cut.

Of the original 1,204 he was supposed to receive, Linnaeus only 383 of the total amount of Kindling. This brought his total to 8,580SK and, while it was impossible to know the value of this amount, he was still satisfied with his progress.

Almost immediately after the distribution was completed, Linnaeus, Eliza, Emilia, and Krone felt a nauseating tug in their stomaches as they were all forcibly transferred to the Sixth Floor. This was never a pleasant experience and, as if to add insult to injury, they were all transferred several tens of meters above solid ground.

With even Krone having LV51 [Acrobatics], it didn't take much effort for anyone in the Party to orient themselves properly but, as the only thing below them was endless sand dunes, their landing wasn't very stable. They impacted the fine sand, causing some of the granules to cascade down like a small avalanche as their bodies sunk several centimeters into the unstable terrain.

Fortunately, with the [Barrier Aura] still active, they were able to land without injury, even if the sand itself would have cushioned their fall. Still, this didn't make any of them feel better as, even with the barrier preventing the hot sand from directly contacting their skin, it was still uncomfortable.

While Eliza was cursing under her breath, Linnaeus and Emilia had already started to take in their surroundings. At the same time, Krone's body itself began to turn into sand and, after a minute or so had passed, he was able to mix into the ground itself. This had caught Linnaeus' attention but, as it was more important to get a handle of the situation, he didn't mind the peculiar sight too much.

After an awkward climb to the peak of a sand dune, Linnaeus looked around to find that there wasn't a single visible landmark in view. It was just an endless ocean of pale gold sand being slowly pushed across the desert by a harsh and unforgiving wind. To make matters even worse, there wasn't even a single cloud anywhere in sight while, high in the sky, a blazing orb of fire and gas looked down on them like a tyrant from above.

Linnaeus had expected another survival challenge as the resources on the Seventh Floor made the place a veritable paradise. Now, the only resources they had was themselves, the supplies they had stockpiled, and a very large quantity of sand. It was fortunate they happened to have someone with the ability to produce water as, without it, lasting more than a few days under conditions like this would be impossible...

(A/N: Some people may not like the fact that the group escaped without facing off against the unknown enemies. To these people, I'd like to point out that no sensible person would just wait around and wait to be attacked. The plan was always to move on to the next Floor so, unless I was going to force plot and make it so that they couldn't leave, there was nothing preventing them from just moving on xD. Don't worry, as there will be more action after the Party has overcome some trials together (0w0)...!)