The Second Tower

Ed read the code once more, afraid that he didn't understand it. The Code read 'to leave the floor stand on circle. to go to the second tower, change the code.'

'I didn't mistake it after all,' Ed was now confused. Only one tower existed in this world. All the other four continents didn't have anything resembling the Tower of Origin.

"What's wrong?" Everyone noticed that Ed was thinking deeply about something, so they asked him.

"It says there is another tower," Ed told them exactly what he knew.

"We still have some time, so we can check it out." Ed had told every new member about the problem with the Blood sect. seeing that a little more than a month remains before the year ends, Ed wanted to check the second tower. The twelfth floor barely gave him any Exp since his level up. Even the Dragon only gave him 3.000.000 Exp points and two Gacha tickets. If he could level up to Heavenly Establishment level 7 or 8 in this month, it would be perfect for him.

"We're going," Ed told them and approached the circle. He used his KI and Programming skill to change the code of the circle. Now it only read 'Go to the second tower'. The previous white color of the circle changed into a black color, making everyone feel ominous. Everyone stood on top of the circle, teleporting at the same time.

The new place was horrible. Everyone felt the same when they were teleported. The air felt disgusting, and everyone had a bad feeling in their stomach. The surroundings were gloomy and dark, similar to the outside of the mountain on the eleventh floor. Only that the clouds weren't the ones blocking the sun, it was gone altogether. This made the floor almost freezing. Ed and the others weren't bothered since they were all Heavenly Establishment beings.

Suddenly, grey worm-like creatures emerged from under the ground. Hundreds and hundreds of them got out and attacked Ed's group. Ed scanned one of them, and the result didn't bring him any comfort.

Name: Parasite.

Cultivation: ???

'Are they stronger than me?' Ed remained calm and asked the system. He could feel that their QI was not higher than his. They felt that they at most Heavenly Establishment level 7 monsters.

[It doesn't feel that way. This whole place is weird, unlike the other floors. I'll have to scan this entire place, which should take about a month] the system's words gave Ed a fright. If the system needed that long to scan something, then it meant that it was that complex.

[Don't worry, my functions and I will remain. I'll be scanning it while we stay here]. Just as Ed was about to ask the system if he would need to disappear like before, he was reassured. Ed planned to stay for only one month, so the system scanning this place would benefit him in case he ever comes back.

Ed and the others killed the parasites. They were especially weak to Merry's Light magic. As well as Suika's White magic. Ed managed to get two Gacha tickets from all the ones they killed. Before they could take a breath, a frightening aura surrounded the place. Ed and the others could tell that the origin of this aura was a couple of kilometers away, yet they could feel it. They didn't know what the origin was, but one thing was clear. It could kill all of them. Ed could feel it approaching at an insane speed. He didn't even have the chance to create a pocket dimension.

Ed recalled everyone and activated Zero Sign. Raikou managed to enter his shadow at the right moment, making Ed sprint away at top speed. His sprint turned into a run, which then turned into him flying the hell away. A second later, a gigantic flying creature emerged and breathed fire unto the ground. Nothing was spared as everything turned into ashes. The creature was similar to a Pterodactyl. It had a triangular pointy head, with its lower 'beak' split into two, and skin-like wings. Ed couldn't identify if it's a dragon or dinosaur or a bird. He didn't have the time, as the flames almost caught up to him.

Ed didn't feel relieved until he was hundreds of kilometers away. His Zero Sign's time limit hit early, but he used In to completely hide his aura. The creature from before reacted to his and his companions' aura when they were fighting the parasites. Ed withdrew a potion and drank it, allowing him to recover his Ki. Ed opened a pocket dimension and entered it. He summoned everyone and explained to them what he saw.

"We need to be very careful." Ed didn't want to leave the floor as he just got here. The monsters are also very high leveled, so he would be able to get a lot of exp points. He and the others left the dimension and started hunting some monsters. Ed kept the dimension open as long as he could, so they could escape if needed. One whole month passed by, and Ed only managed to level up to Heavenly Establishment level 6. Most of the monsters here were much stronger than them all. However, many of them were weaker, like the parasites, which Ed killed a lot. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if he caused them to go extinct.

He met a lot of monsters and they were all grotesque. He didn't dare look for the floor boss, as he would only be courting death. He also didn't manage to get any more Gacha tickets, which was a bummer. Ed was now waiting for the system to finish his scan, so he would be able to leave the tower.

[I have some good news and some bad, very bad news] Ed felt a twinge in his heart when he heard the system. If he said very bad news, then Ed wouldn't like to hear it.

[The good news is, I managed to perfectly scan this tower. I can only tell you that it is not connected to the realm we came from. I'll tell you more when you're stronger. The bad news is, this damn tower has a time ratio shift, and it's more than yours. The time ratio here is 1:10]

Coldness roamed around Ed's body as he digested the system's words. 'This damn tower!' Ed knew it wasn't the tower's fault, it was his own. He explained to his comrades and teleported towards a sigil he left near the circle that brought him here. 'I hope everyone is okay!' Ed could only hope for the best. Ed spent about 11 months in the twelve floors. He thought that the month he spent here would complete the promised year, instead, he was 270 days late.

The teleportation light receded and Ed found himself at the entry of the tower of the first time he showed up here, almost two years ago. Everyone near the entry was suddenly blown away, as Ed flew into the sky with extreme speed, heading towards Avalon kingdom.