Liam slashed down at the weird raptor that looked more like a dinosaur than a raptor. The beast was definitely stronger than the vampires and had entered his dao field barging its way in. It had also put up quite a fight but it simply couldn't withstand the pressure exuded by the frigid ice field. All its movements were sluggish and eventually, it succumbed to the attacks.
It let out a final cry before collapsing, its vitality extinguished. The air around it seemed to crystallize, the residual energy from the dao field causing frost to form on the nearby foliage and the ground itself.
It was clear that Liam's execution of the frigid ice dao field had improved tremendously. At the same time, the difficulty of the Spire trials had also spiked up quite a bit in the third segment.
While in the first two segments, the floor bosses couldn't even touch Liam's dao field, the first boss of this segment was already able to crash into it even though it had some difficulties. Things were soon going to get serious.
"My Lord, you were amazing." The elf hurried over with flowery words. Liam gave him an even stare when the golden glow covered the both of them, moving them onto the next floor.
With the rest of the group now deciding to bow out of the Spire run, Liam no longer held back. He allowed the elf to tag along for the time being but it was implied that he would not be making any special concessions or going out of his way for him.
He was mostly just keeping his word to the shifty elf from their agreement before. However, if a life-threatening situation arose, Liam had already made it clear that he wouldn't risk his life to save the elf.
Sure, if he could he would save him but on the very next floor, the elf had to get out of the Spire. This was the running agreement between the both of them and of course, this also came with the clause that the elf had to pull his own weight from now on and couldn't simply sightsee.
Liam was straightforward with the elf about how things would be from now onwards. After the first two segments, he now had 85 days left in the Spire and he planned to make full use of it.
The Spire was one of the top opportunities in the myriad realms available to everyone, regardless of their family background or where they came from. Only talent mattered here. This was one of the few places where even a beggar could become a star.
In the information packets, more opportunities were mentioned but many of those were under specific factions and kingdoms with extremely tight control over who was allowed inside.
One prime example of this was the B-rank world Eldrin had come from. The world was B-rank only for namesake. The elves from that world were suffering just like other trash-grade planets because the ruling factions were controlling all the resources.
Though elves like Eldrin in general were higher leveled when compared to anyone on earth, that was the end of it. The only benefit that everyone seemed to enjoy was this relatively high level because of the energy-rich nature of the world.
Beyond that, all the important resources were controlled by the eight empires such as the mystic realm Liam had barged into. Liam had somehow survived in the elven world and even returned with a plentiful bounty but he could not count on something every time. His 600 luck stat would only help him so much. Right now all he had was this Spire and he needed to make full use of it.
However, that did not mean he expected himself to become a God when he stepped out of the Spire. Maybe that was possible? But the limiting factor was time. The Spire was infinite and the climb to the top endless. Those at the awakened stage entered somewhere at the bottom. So realistically he did not know how far he would be able to go, especially considering that some floors forced the trial takers to use up their time.
Liam thought a bit about this and decided on one realistic goal that he wanted to achieve no matter what. He wanted to heal his soul.
The Spire might grant him several benefits and countless treasured items but the thing that he sorely needed at the moment was a way to fix his soul. So he needed to focus on this. If there was any place, he was going to find a solution to this problem, it would be in the Spire. After all, it even granted tailor-made rewards for the trial takers.
With this goal in mind, Liam restarted his climb and this time he was going to go at max speed. He was clearing each floor as fast as he possibly could while keeping a lookout for anything related to the soul.
This was his main strength and only by honing his strength, he would be able to face the enemies waiting for him. The atmosphere in the Spire had not made him forget the threat looming over his neck.
Time was suspended here and it was easy to forget the outside world but all the mayhem outside was still waiting for him. His enemies were not going anywhere anytime soon. Liam clenched his hands in determination. He had been weak for long enough. He was only going to leave this place with his soul healed.
With this in mind, he blasted through the next three floors in just a couple of hours before coming to a halt on the fourth floor. Liam couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"What the hell…" Eldrin rubbed his eyes, the elf close to shedding actual tears. How the heck were they once again in another slaughter trial after just a couple of floors? This was complete bullshit!
"I am being punished. I knew it!" Eldrin was close to prostrating on the ground and groveling to the deities of the Spire if such beings even existed.
However, this time around everything was different.