His quest completion slowly ticked up, without much of a real challenge. In many ways, the Tower seemed to recognize that time was as much of a challenge for him than anything else, and one of his key concerns, even more so than his strength. A quest that forced him to waste his time was almost as bad as a fight against impossible odds, as it prevented him from returning to his allies in his home universe.
After his most recent Dao vision, that struck uncomfortably close to home. His people and planet were under constant assault, and eventually, something would come that was too powerful for them. Sam had faith in his people, but the fact remained was that he was far stronger than them, and they could never grow stronger without first waiting to go to the Tower. Well, they could, but it would cripple them.
Sam did not expect his followers to give up on their future progression for the sake of the faction, and indeed, doing so would only help in the short term. Going forward, the faction would be an empty one, filled with paper tigers, with only levels to their name.
Most likely, nobody would be able to go further than him, but he knew that there were some great talents among the higher ups of his faction. People like Eduardo, Lao, Talnor and Jeffrey could all reach the higher levels of the Tower, at least above the fiftieth floor. He wasn’t entirely sure how Talnor had grown so strong, but the man seemed to be a great talent, far more so than Sam would have expected. Perhaps his admittance to the faction had provided the impetus for his growth that he needed. After all, the man had started off around the midpoint of F Rank, but was now at the peak.
Sam’s brain went on autopilot as he fought his way through the legions of fighters, planning all sorts of things for his faction. Though, it was all conjecture at this point. Mainly his enhanced intelligence working to alleviate his boredom at the layer quest.
Gradually, he noticed an increase in the strength of his foes, with more and more E Rankers coming his way. The essence gain was minimal, as most were around his level, or a bit higher, but it was still there. This quest seemed to be more about crippling Abrinadus’ reign than anything else. In that, Sam was doing quite well indeed.
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After a few weeks of battle, he was on the cusp of success, with only one last group of E Rankers to kill. Their leader came in the form of a drake, one of Abrinadus’ progeny, lurking within the bowels of a dwarf planet, near the densest part of the asteroid belt. The monster was quite powerful, at level 235, with none of the weaknesses of any of the clones that Sam had fought so far.
He hovered over the orb of rock drifting in space, looking down at what seemed to be a cloud of mosquitoes, led by a butterfly. It really was a loose collection of F Rankers and E Rankers, with the drake leading them. The monster itself was massive, with scales of black obsidian, and eyes the color of midnight. Black flames wreathed its form, lighting up space around it. It was almost two hundred feet long, with two wings of stygian fire propelling it through space. Many of those following it were draconic humanoids, scaled, with clawed hands and wings of their own. It was how they were flying in the first place. Many of them were using respirators, but for those with enough durability, they could hold their breaths for hours without any need for oxygen. Of course, the E Rankers had no need of any oxygen.
Sam waited for them, floating in the void. His hammer crackled with lightning as he tossed it from hand to hand, staring directly into the eyes of the drake. There was no banter to begin the battle, no quips or threats. The monster simply opened its mouth, and a torrent of dark fire spewed out into space, headed for Sam.
Raising his hand, Sam clenched his fist around his hammer, focusing on his lightning aspected Dao. With a sudden flash, his weapon transformed into a brilliant stake of electricity, sparking in the blackness. With a shout, he threw it, the projectile slicing through the air like a bullet. The flames parted before it like the Red Sea, a corona of golden energy extending out from both sides of Terra’s Will.
The drake tried to flee, but the bolt struck it square in the snout, blasting it backwards. Arcs of lightning played over its form as the creature shuddered, before jumping to the other cultivators, electrocuting them. To the F Rankers, the attack was deadly, popping them like overripe fruit in sprays of blackened gore. A thousand died in the blink of an eye, with the stunned drake floating in their midst, the only survivor in a cloud of blood and bone.
