*Snap!*

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!” The rock slug boss flailed about while on fire. The flames of wrath engulfed its entire body. Myu stood there unmoving as she watched the scene in front of her. 

“Are you really going to eat it?” Tilly asked out of curiosity.

“No. I don’t need to eat. I only said that to see if it would react, and it did.” She had heard it tasted good, but she had yet to taste it. But she felt that something that slimy wouldn’t sit right with her.

“Something dropped.” Tilly pointed to the ground.

Myu pursed her lips and walked over to the object that looked like a rectangular piece of glass about one foot tall and half a foot wide, but it was covered in a reddish golden aura. 

“This is?” As soon as she picked it up, the glass glowed with a bright light, shrank down, and shot into Myu’s head. Before Myu understood what was going on, her surroundings turned into a hellscape of red flames, and even Tilly was no longer on her shoulder.

“Child….” A soft, melodious voice floated into Myu’s ear. She turned to see a young girl around fifteen to sixteen years of age floating in the air behind her. The young girl landed softly on the ground. The red robes that streamed out behind her like fiery flames danced as she took each step, walking toward Myu. “You have finally come.”

“You are?” Myu tilted her head to the side. She felt a familiarity from this girl. She felt very close to her for some reason.

“I am the Goddess of Wrath. The one who granted you your powers. The one who instilled a part of being inside you. Child, What you do with the powers I have granted you is up to you. I gave you the power to achieve your goals. I could hear your cry louder and clearer than anyone I have heard cry out before. 

    “Child, do not fail me. You must climb and reach the peak, and only then will we meet once more.” The Goddess of Wrath smiled and reached out and patted the top of Myu’s head. Her soft loving smile was as if she was looking at her own flesh and blood. “My time is up. I should not have contacted you, but I couldn’t help myself. Remember to never lose sight of your goals. I will always be watching….”

“Myu?” Tilly’s voice snapped Myu out of her daze. 

Myu looked around in a bit of confusion. She looked down at her hands to see that they were not empty. She wondered if what had just happened was real or not. Did she actually just meet her goddess? “Tilly, did I just pick something up?”

“Hmmm? No? We have been standing in the same spot since you killed the boss. But you suddenly went quiet.” Tilly replied.

“I see….” Myu shook her head and slapped her cheeks. She looked around and saw a pile of items on the ground. “Let’s get out loot then….”

With Tilly’s help, Myu picked up a bunch of items that were basically useless to her, like weapons and other items that she did not need. She planned to keep the for Kori to put into the guild bank. 

“That’s all of it. Are you going to the next floor?” Tilly asked. She was a bit excited since she had not seen her home in a long time.

“Mmm..” Myu nodded and looked over at the door that had opened. What was once a solid rock wall now had an arched doorway with a set of stairs leading up. “But before that, here.” 

Myu cut her finger and held it to Tilly. Tilly took a deep breath and began drinking. She found the more she drank, the less she was bothered by the burning sensation. Only when Tilly was done did Myu ascend the stairs. 

The second floor was a forest floor. To a normal person, it would be a hot, humid jungle, but for Myu, she was like the arch enemy of all the life on this floor. With a body partially made of flames, she was something that everything on this floor hated the most.

[Tower Floor Quest: Kill 300 Ents]

Golden words appeared in front of Myu. This was how you were given floor quests. As soon as you reached the floor, these golden words would appear. The quests were random, so they could range from easy to hard. But you could not enter the boss room without completing the quest. You could even check your progress by speaking the word ‘status’ out loud.

Myu imprinted the quest in her mind before tilting her head to the side and confusion. “What are ents?”

“They are walking tree monsters and are very powerful. This is just unfair! I had never heard of anyone being given a quest to kill so many of one of the hardest monsters on the floor. Did the tower decide that you were too strong!?” Tilly was very confused. Normally you might need to kill ten of some stronger monster but never anything like three hundred. 

“Hehe, since the tower wants to make things hard for me, then let’s just burn the entire forest down!” Myu eyes lit up as she raised her hands. She was about to spread her flames out when Tilly yelled out and pulled on her ear. 

“You can’t! My home is here!” Tilly was scared. Her crazy contractor was not lying! She would really burn the entire forest down!