I know it's unnecessary to say, but it's always good to reinforce that this floor was different from the others; it seemed to have a blue layer. Not necessarily cold, but something melancholic to the point that the environment itself changed, in addition to the cold air.
The air was so cold that my breath turned to vapor, thankfully still far from unbearable. My spear was even colder, but not by much.
I waited for whatever was here to appear. But even after a minute, nothing.
I moved slowly towards the entrance of the corridor, making sure I always faced forward with my back to the stairs. If anything appeared, I would jump back.
I had an instinctive certainty that my chances of surviving doing this were better than trying to enter whatever was here.
To my relief, this blue layer, or blue aura, seemed to have a limit at the door frame that connected the stairs to the corridor. Fortunately, That didn't advance... much, after that point. But even so, it was clear that the corridor ahead was even more "blue."
As I have said, the blue layer didn't necessarily seem to be cold, but something melancholic. Perhaps influenced by mana, this "melancholy" became so strong that the environment itself changed, generating the cold air.
'Some kind of monster or apparition tied only to a territory? Or that only moved when provoked?'
I don't know, I don't want to know. I just want That to ignore me while I go to the roof.
Five minutes later, still on edge, climbing the stairs backward as slowly as I could, I finally managed to leave the "area of influence" of the blue aura.
"Aahhhh hhaaaa hhhaaaa!!!"
At that same instant, I crouched at the top of the stairs, took several deep breaths, not even noticing that I had held my breath while climbing. Without the pressure on me, I almost collapsed right there, only managing to stay upright by using my spear for support.
When I regained some composure, I was able to raise my head enough to look where I was now, and what floor that thing was on.
'7th floor, so the "area of influence" of the blue aura is the entire 6th floor, plus halfway to the 5th and halfway to the 7th'
But still the 6th floor....
'It must be a coincidence, right? Like... what are the chances of it being some kind of ghost that lives on the 6th floor of apartment 66, right?'
.....
.....
No!
It's best not to even think about that possibility; it's quite possible it will become a reality now.
[Skill: Fear Resistance lv. 0 acquired]
[Experience gained]
[Skill: Intimidation Resistance lv. 0 acquired] [3 –> 4]
[Experience gained]
I ended up losing some time climbing those stairs. If before I could go from one floor to another in 5 or 10 seconds, in the blue area it must have taken me about 5 or 10 minutes. Luckily I gained some potentially useful skills, in addition to experience thanks to my unique ability.
'Seriously, I really held my breath for 5 minutes?'
A new personal record, which I'm sure was a feat I would never be able to repeat.
'By the way, I've been sending mana to the spear until now, how are my reserves?'
Thinking about this, I opened the status window.
[MP: 70/145]
'...I don't know if this is good or bad.'
Like, I was sending mana for 5 continuous minutes (if not more), so reducing it to just under half couldn't be considered good.
But... but, if I can say that I managed to maintain a constant flow of an "internal energy" that I don't yet consciously understand, doesn't that mean my "mana aptitude" and intrinsic understanding of mana, has improved?
Which generally means better overall control over spells... Right?
***********
After a stop to recover some of the lost mana, inside one of the apartments on the 7th floor, I continued my way to the roof (terrace).
What was easy, since there were only 2 floors left. The hallways were still a mess (I think even more so than the ones on the floors below), and the apartments I saw were also more chaotic than those on the floor below.
If I were to point out a significant change, it would be that in some places there seemed to be a handprint, made of ice, on the walls or doors.
'.....That's potentially problematic, isn't it?'
With a potentially massive threat, which might move more freely than I initially thought, right below my feet, I decided to leave aside the idea of pseudo-checking for possible loot locations and just climb the last few steps.
10 seconds later I arrived on the rooftop.
Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of very high places, I'm not afraid of heights, to be clear.
The top of the house? Easy.
A 5-story building? No problem.
Now a 10-story building? That makes me a little dizzy.
I prefer to omit what happens in buildings with 20 floors or more.
And since the rooftop of a 9-story building is basically the 10th...
'A little higher than I expected.'
I thought, seeing the small group of zombies that had formed at the building's entrance. A little further away I could see the gas station and had a clear view of the suspended office.
I almost made the same mistake as before, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, but I'm a person (dhampir) who learns from mistakes.
With quick, short breaths (but still difficult to do because of the smell) and especially long exhalations, as if I wanted to expel the fear and anxiety from within me, I managed to calm myself down.
Still feeling a slight dizziness, but nothing that should be a problem.
'Probably an effect of my resistances.'
Looking at the roof, I soon found what I wanted: the anchor hooks on the building. Not the best place to attach a rope for a crawl command, but it'll have to do.
Generally, these hooks should only be used to attach ropes for people who clean windows, remove graffiti from walls, or do maintenance on some outdoor area. In addition to the use of other types of brakes and harnesses, not just the rope.
But things are less than ideal for me right now, and if you don't have a dog, you hunt with a cat.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the anchor hooks on that building were the "donut" type, located on the inside, with a railing that reached up to my stomach.
Why would that be fortunate or unfortunate?
On one hand, these hooks must have been tested (or at least should have been) to withstand up to 1.500 kilograms of tension, so the danger for me while crawling should (I hope) be much lower, with the risk of the hook not holding my weight basically eliminated.
On the other hand, these hooks were made to be used vertically, not horizontally. The type of tension they should withstand changes with this detail, but I doubt it's by much.
I'd say the biggest risk would be the possibility of the rope breaking or slipping from the hook. Since, as I reiterate, they should be used with harnesses and brakes, and I only have a rope.
But I already have a way to solve this. Probably.