BXBX NOVEL Chapter 66 (LXVI) Insanity
"Megan??" Jackson shouted into the Zoís Corde, "Are you okay?"
He ran over to Elissa and grabbed her arms, "I need to get back to Terra!"
"There\'s nothing I can do. You can\'t traverse through the floors, yet. If you attempt to exit the tower, you will die." She said coldly. She pushed his hand aside and stepped back, "You\'ll need to clear the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors in order to reach the next checkpoint in order to exit."
"But I can\'t wait that long!! I need to get out now!!" He yelled, panicking.
Elissa stared into his eyes and nodded slowly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, shaking her head as her shoulders drooped, "I understand your concern," she whispered softly, opening her eyes again, "but this is not something that be completed... What you\'re asking for is impossible."
"There has to be something!!" Jackson snapped angrily, "I know you Guardians are capable of this!"
"I cannot," she answered simply, "I wish I could help you but it\'s simply impossible. I\'m sorry..." She turned away from him and walked back to the portal, pausing as she turned her head to the side.
"There\'s something else..." She said, sighing heavily, "But I think I\'ll come back when you\'re a little more level-headed..." She said, disappearing in a flash of light as the portal vanished.
"Dammit!" Jackson cursed loudly as he fell to his knees and punched the ground repeatedly, tears welling up in his eyes. He sat there for a long time, wallowing in his own misery before finally he got up and looked out to sea, watching as the waves crashed violently against the shoreline.
"I\'ve never hated anything so much..." he mumbled, clenching his fists tightly and gritting his teeth. He was angry, frustrated, and tired.
He had to do something.
He had to do something about this damnable tower.
He stood staring out over the crashing waves for hours, lost in thought.
"I need to find a way out of here..." He muttered to himself, when his thoughts turned back to Sera, "I wonder how she is able to traverse through the floors..."
That\'s when it struck him, "If she was going to steal Khione, she must be able to bring along someone for the ride, which means she should be able to take me back to the fifth floor!"
Jackson grinned from ear to ear before it dawned on him that he had no means of contacting Sera and clicked his tongue, sitting back down on the beach.
"Fuck, it\'s like every time I take a step forward, something makes me take three back!!" He lamented as the system rang inside his ear, and the challenge for the seventh floor appeared in front of him:
[Modified Seventh Floor Challenge]
[There have been ups and downs, but you have made it! Only by going through the fire and flames will you be able to temper your spirit and upgrade your resolve!! Choose your path before you! Will you select a peaceful way, or will you go down the path of insanity!?]
[Please select difficulty:]
[Peaceful - So you want the pacifist route? Well, there will not be any enemies, allowing you plenty of time to reflect on how much of a pussy you are as you\'ll need to survive for thirty days.]
[Novice - Well, you\'re not the piece of shit everyone thinks you are, that\'s for sure. There will be ten waves of one enemy weaker than you are for the next ten days.]
[Adept - Finally, someone with some balls! There will be a wave of a couple enemies around your power level every twelve hours for the next week.]
[Master - Oho! Someone\'s cocky; you\'ll need to maintain that attitude if you want to handle this challenge. There will be increasingly more monsters of the same power level as you face a wave every four hours for the next three days.]
[Insanity - Everybody look out! We have someone with a death wish coming through!! Don\'t even think about it, chump; you couldn\'t handle a singular wave of a dozen beasts higher than your power level!]
Jackson nearly leaped out of his skin as he read the Insanity difficulty. It would be challenging, but it was the fastest way to get through this floor.
Still, he was hesitant as he selected the Insanity difficulty; he knew he would be breaking a promise today. When the window disappeared, another massive one appeared:
[A challenge has been issued by one of the Floor Guardians, and you are given the option of imposing additional requirements to complete the challenge for extra rewards!]
[Please select one or more of the following for additional rewards:]
[Double Beasts - The number of beasts sent will be doubled. Choosing this penalty will increase the quality of the materials gathered from the beasts and allow Spirit Cores to drop; +5 Additional Points.]
[Pack Alpha - Converts one of the beasts into an Alpha, which will have increased intelligence and will control the beasts, increasing their power. Choosing this restriction will increase the tier of any Spirit Cores dropped; +5 Additional Points.]
[Hollowed Night - Forces the island into perpetual darkness as the initially spawned beasts will convert into their hollowed forms. Imposing this penalty will guarantee every beast will have a Spirit Core; +5 Additional Points.]
[Eclipse - The moon becomes eclipsed, snuffing out any and all light, covering the island in complete darkness. The beasts have evolved to live in the shadows, can you? This option will reward the Climber with the Eclipse Bracelet; +10 Additional Points.]
[Blood Moon - Forces the moon into the blood moon phase, which turns all beasts into a bloodthirsty frenzy, increasing their power. Surviving this restriction will reward the Climber with a Blood Frenzy Amulet; +10 Additional Points.]
[Mutated Knight - Converts a beast into an Alpha and then into a Hollowed Alpha before evolving it into a Mutated Knight. A proper boss for the challenge! Defeat the Mutated Hollow Knight to receive a Hollowed Signet Ring; +10 Additional Points.]
Jackson\'s eyes spilled over with greed as he looked at all the rewards, especially the final three challenges. Not only were the item rewards themselves tempting, but all the additional points were the cherries on top!