The five warriors made it to the thirteenth floor as they were in some kind of wasteland once more.
Only that it seemed as if the world itself was cooking in an oven, and the heat from the previous floors had returned.
Magma popped from the ground as the earths core was leaking into the surface, a clear indication the dimension this floor sat in was crumbling.
The bubbling from the magma splashed close to Matsumi, he stepped back quickly to avoid getting scorched.
"What is this?! It's way too hot!"
"Looks like Lava. Whatever plane of existence this floor lies on is crumbling from the ground up. Which means we don't have much time. I don't sense anyone…This was probably the work of the sins…"
"We just have to make it to the end quick then!"
He moved forward, jumping over some cracks in the floor to avoid falling down.
"Just don't trip!"
A hill was close by with the door to the next floor. The group hopped around as the lava leaked more and more into the area.
"We've probably only got a minute before this whole place explodes!"
Matsumi made no stops as he hurried to the door, every step mattered. Matsumi reached his hand out the closer they all got to the door, ready to open it immediately.
The world started to quickly explode and disintegrate behind them as they all reached the door.
"M-Matsumi! Hurry!"
He slammed open the door, holding it open for everyone to jump through.
The five ended up tumbling down a hill into a new world, Kurai and Eraba hitting some trees on the way down before recovering.
Kibō and Kogane had crashed into a nearby stone, in a world where there was no lava, and was much closer to the world that the other floors rested in.
Matsumi tried to plant his feet but he wasn't quick enough, the hill was too steep. His body rolling down without any semblance of control. He fell down farther than the others, being thrown right into a small lake at the bottom of the hill.
They had found themselves in a forest.
There were no sounds from the creatures that rested in the trees usually. Only the sound of the river flowing. Kurai walked over to Matsumi to help him up out of the lake, trying to keep him balanced from the fall.
"Hey..you alright?"
A small amount of blood spread through the lake, part of his injuries from the previous fight and from scraping himself on the fall. His head popped out , grabbing Kurai's hand to pull himself out.
"I've fallen harder before…"
"Right but I need you. If you go out that wouldn't be great for my mental right now."
Kurai held his hand and checked his cuts from the fall.
"I know it's a lot but we're getting there slowly."
"Don't worry, your resident cool guy won't go down- Ouch!"
Matsumi winced as she touched his hand.He definitely had impressive power for someone of his skill level, but he was the definition of a glass cannon.
"Hey come on…Kibō might be able to help you…"
Kurai turned, looking around for the other three while slinging matsumi over his shoulder, taking some pressure off of his feet and his core.
"Oh yeah, are they okay? I didn't see them on my way down."
"Everyone is fine. I came to grab you out of the lake."
Kurai and Matsumi looked around until they regrouped with everyone else.
"Maybe you can ask Trops to heal you?"
He gave a slight wave to everyone as they regrouped.
"I didn't think of that! Okay. Trops, make me all better!"
Trops healed him like before as the small wounds he got from the fall were gone, the feeling of pain subsiding for the time being. Eraba eyed him and spoke.
"There isn't anything but forest here. Seems like some kind of Maze. We're going to have to make our way through and destroy anything in our path way."
"Yes…I remember this floor from my past. This is the Forest of Tears. It spans multiple floors throughout the tower. This is only the first part. This is a legendary forest from long ago in my time. It used to exist outside of the tower."
The feeling was a little ticklish, making Matsumi laugh for a few seconds. He looked over at Kibō after, tilting his head.
"Why is it called the Forest of Tears?"
"This forest for as long as I could remember has always had a special place in the hearts of humanity since many people over the years have traversed through here to reach the Tomb of Lazarus. However, only one man has…and he was the leader of our family Toyoko. He ended up getting through the dangers, and he buried the head of our family here in a grave with a special sword."
Eraba looked on at the lake that Matsumi fell in.
"In my past life as a young girl I used to be a blacksmith. With such talent that I have forged weapons for the Gods themselves. I ended up creating the seven swords of the earth, and every weapon can be summoned back to me that someone else hasnt tamed yet. However, theres one sword I haven't been able to tame in my lifetime…and it lies in that tomb. Not many know about it, as it was a sword only Toyoko could tame, but he buried it with the head of the Sāmatu."
"They named it the forest of tears because it was the first time the public had seen Toyoko shed tears, and it was for his father Lazarus. Ever since that day he had given up the family heirloom, and he began to lose faith in the world as we know it."
"Woah…Sounds pretty intense. But why'd Toyoko bury his dad all the way out here? You think the tomb is still around?"
"He didn't want his eyes stolen like a lot of our family had happen to them. Aside from Tairiku, this was the hardest place to traverse and come out of alive back then. Chances are his body is still here..and so is the weapon."
"You want it? I've always wanted to do a treasure hunt! Wait, I guess we don't have time, right?"
"It's possible that the Sins have already raided the forest. We have to stop them before they get to that tomb."
"Is that why it's so empty? They took everything out?"
"Possibly…but the forest of tears is masked with a spell that erases all traces of Mana in the area. I can't sense anything including you four."
"No use in thinking about it. I can lead the way again! Let's just pick a direction and we'll go from there." Matsumi exclaimed.