The plains spread as far as I can see, and only Tess says that she sees some hills in the distance. It's noticeably warmer here and the ground is rocky with patches of grass here and there, and some trees once in a while. But best of all, there are no bus-sized nightmarish red ants.

I mean, some oversized ants might be fine, but it stops being funny when they start flying. Creepy jackasses.

I would have shown them something if I didn't have to taxi our small group. Oh boy, I would love to test the limits of my mana reserves, my bought passive, my flames. I also need to properly test [Resonance]. I have a feeling that I am only scratching the edges of what it's capable of, and there are plenty of ideas on how to utilize skills that are made from a combination of [Disruption] and [Oscillation].

As we continue to move further away from the giant anthills, I do not stop checking in the distance for suspicious cloud-like things. Tess does the same as we move on foot.

There is no road, so we have to jump over some stones, and small streams of water, and jump over some tears that scar the ground.

We don't spot any other monsters or animals; it's just an empty plain. But I'm not that surprised. What kind of maniac would want to stay so close to the thousands, maybe tens of thousands, or maybe even millions of ants? Did I also say that they are bus-sized?

"Our water and food should be able to last us for around one week. You said you and Nathaniel don't need that much water or food anymore after the body upgrade. By how much?" Hadwin is asking Tess.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I think I'm fine with 50-60% of what I used to eat before? Nathaniel maybe needs even less than that," Tess answers.

"Less than you; is there any difference between your upgrades?"

"I don't think so, I think it's because he has more mana than me and that might affect how much food or water he needs," Tess says as she moves over the fallen tree and turns to me, "Am I right, Nathaniel?"

"It's most likely as you said," I answer. There is still so much we don't know, and that makes things annoying at times but also more interesting. What is life without some secrets or things to strive for? Things like more mana!

But I think we've rested enough, and all this walking is getting boring, "Ready to fly again?" I ask.

Some of the reactions are far from enthusiastic, and I feel personally attacked. So I may or may not have flown a bit more turbulently at some places.

After a few days of walking and flying, we finally spot something other than empty plains.

"It's a city," Tess says smartly.

"Are you sure, Tess? We wouldn't like it to be another anthill."

"Nat, I'm sure I can now recognize an anthill from man-made towers."

"Tess, what if there are bipedal ants or some similar nonsense? Maybe were-ants, or deer ants, cinder ants."

"You sound annoyed," Tess asks, yet she still continues to look towards the city only she sees in the distance.

"People are way too nice; it's creepy," I answer her honestly.

"That's what happens if you treat them somewhat nicely and teach them some stuff and save their lives once or twice."

"Bullshit, I beat Hadwin and Maya, I punched Sophie and tried to kill her too. I exploded two people in front of them, and probably more nonsense. I tell you, Tess, they are planning something."

"Hadwin tried to kill you, so he deserved that. Beating Maya was quite rude, but I think she thinks you paid back for that by helping her improve. Sophie understands what she did to you, and I wouldn't be surprised if she expected even harsher behavior from your side. As for exploding two people, you weren't at your senses, and to be honest, some of us also did similar things, maybe just not in such a way," Tess pauses.

There is a short silence in which the two of us look into the distance, trying to catch more of the city that might be there.

"Some of us are murderers, and almost all of us did things that would terrify us back on Earth," she hesitates, "Or maybe not, maybe all of us are here for a reason - because we are not normal and we never fit into society. Maybe only people like us have a chance to survive here."

The light falls on her, and her long blonde hair tied into a ponytail shines in that light as she turns to me.

Her steel gray eyes are piercing as a smile slowly appears on her face, "Nat, I already told you, but I want all of us to become comrades. Friends. Even you. So just leave it up to me. Do not worry about what happened back on Earth; I have already forgiven you. Just think about it and maybe open up a bit, and I will deal with the rest. I believe you will enjoy having friends," the light seems to make her hair glow as it shines in it, while her unwavering eyes look at me.

I leave after saying something I do not remember. She is scary. She reads people easier than Isabella; she manipulates people better than Sophie with her skill. She knows what words to say to make it hurt, as well as to make me feel things I do not want to feel.

To me, Tess is the scariest out of this group.

It's solo hunting time! I've decided to spend a few days on my own. I need to vent a bit without any people around me.

I exchange a few words with Lily, who, after a few days of traveling through the plains, has one missing leg and a big part of the second one back. She doesn't seem too pleased, but it will be fine. The girl seems happy about the rare-rated amulet I gave her before. I also tell her the times when I will be in the community, so that seems to ease her a bit.

My goodbye to Min-Jae, Hadwin, and Maya is shorter. On the other hand, the twins and Sophie seem to be not exactly happy that I am leaving, just a little less unhappy than the others. Especially Sophie, who I'm sure still remembers the incident when Goldie turned off my [Focus].

Isabella is stuck between happy and unhappy. Happy because she will get to keep Biscuit for herself and unhappy... well, I don't know, maybe she got a bit attached to me during the start of the third floor?

Still, she doesn't have to cry; it makes things awkward.

So, I pet Biscuit a lot and tell him to take care of others. A reliable doggo should be able to.

Tess isn't there, but I meet her a minute after flying away from where I left the people of group four.

The blonde woman is smiling knowingly.

"What? You pushed too hard and too soon," I tell her. I still think it's more fun to stay with others, but with Tess organizing everything and even Lily doing some PR for me, things are moving too quickly for ol' introverted me.

So, I need some breathing room. A bit of leveling and fighting so I can clear my mind. The group will be fine as they are all capable and might even be able to grow more without me being there. It's something Tess and Hadwin both seem to agree with.

"I don't think I did push too hard," she takes a short step towards me and then hugs me. It's a short hug. "Take care of yourself, Nat. I would miss you if something happened to you. I don't have that many friends to lose one of them."

"You take care as well; I will be back soon. We will stay in touch in the community," I wave at her one more time and lift off right after, using kinetic energy to pierce through the air.

I move towards the place where we came from. This floor has a serious ant problem I might be able to help with.

Side quest: Defeat 100 ants.

Reward: 5 shards.

A new side quest pops up the moment I start moving towards the aforementioned monsters. The rewards are quite cheap, in my opinion, but I already know that the system is a scrooge.

Also, I have planned to use them to level up anyway, so it's just a small addition to it.

I have a smaller bag with me and within it some water, food, nice snacks, and replacement clothes. It's all the stuff I can buy through the system shop right now, but why would I waste precious shards when I could take it from Hadwin, who is taking care of rationing and inventory? I might have taken a bit more sweets than he liked, but the man didn't say much about it.

As I continue to travel through the air, I check the community once in a while, just for a second or two. The main reason is that I want to see when the other groups come to the 4th floor. Currently, it looks like communication with people on different floors is impossible.

That also confirms my theory that one group can return to Earth—in 5 years—while being for example on the 9th floor, and another group will, at that time, be only on the 4th floor. It makes sense, and it's another reason to clear the floors quickly after getting all you can from them, as the next floor can make you stronger than staying on one floor too long.

Curious, I also join the Beyond community.

Noname - Hey, Savant, are you still on the 3rd floor?

There is no answer, so for a moment, I think that communication through the floors is impossible, or Savant just ignores me, but then an answer appears.

Savant - Are you on the 4th floor?

Yes! Yes! Hahaha.

Noname - Suck it! All the cool guys are already on the 4th floor!

Savant - By cool guys, do you mean yourself? Well, whatever. It looks like those of us from Beyond can talk through the floors while other people can't.

Noname - Yup, do you have trouble with the 3rd-floor quest?

I can't help but poke.

Savant - A little bit, but nothing I won't be able to solve. The system will censor everything useful you could tell me, so just screw off.

Then Savant disconnects, and I am left feeling much better than before. Yup, I know I did have a cheat code called Lily and her [Disintegration], and that also makes me wonder how else I would clear the third floor.

I noticed that Edwal's lightning did have some anti-healing properties, so maybe by talking with the guy and having him help me? Maybe even the king could be lured to our side and influenced to help kill the Saint. I do not believe that he wouldn't know how after thousands of years. He most likely just didn't want to.

As for me, I could probably do it with that weird-ass black mana that the king seemed to recognize. Or I could once again create a strong enough thermal orb and burn the Saint's entire body at once. I just think it would need to be much stronger than the one I used against the two warriors. Much, much stronger.

Well, it's all in the past, and let's not think about Lissandra who stayed there. Let's hope she won't get her hands on the black dagger I left behind, which could dominate and devour mana a bit. Yup, she totally won't get her hands on it. It totally won't come back to bite me in the ass.

I miss Lissthaniel.

Well, not that much, but it would be better than Lissandra, who is so close to her original self. That cockroach-like Absolute is scary as heck.