Now all the climbers, except for one Skulker, lay lifeless. William checked the first floor through tower management—there, the two struck down by arrows weren't moving either. He had told Centaur not to kill the last one; William had other plans for him.
During the fight, William had seen this one be a pain in the ass for Centaur, even while injured, and William liked that. He wasn't here to play the righteous hero; he would do anything, literally anything, to win. He could tell that this Skulker was the same.
William wanted the Skulker to submit. He could've tried to make the Brute submit to him instead. Sure, the Brute was stronger, but William didn't need brainless muscle. He needed a cunning bastard like this one. Now, with the others dead, this mutt lay there, tongue lolling out, playing dead like a drunk at a funeral.
The after-effects of Bloom hit him now. William weakly walked toward Centaur, who, despite his injuries, was still standing alert. William glanced at the three lifeless Skulker on the floor—each had deep holes in their bodies from Centaur's spear. They were a bloody mess.
Seeing them, a twisted grin crept onto William's face, not at their condition, but at something else entirely. His so-called fantasy bucket list. 'Hell yeah, after I deal with everything, I'll finally get to loot monsters like in the novels. Meat, skin, paws, fangs—nothing goes to waste,' he thought, eyeing each corpse. 'That Brute's club is mine too. But first, I need to check Centaur. He looks like a mess.'
He then looked at Centaur, who was standing a few meters away, and tossed him a pouch containing Lumin Dust. He had thirty grams in total, collected daily from the Tower core. If applied, it could speed up healing.
William could see several deep fang and paw marks on Centaur's upper body, and a few lighter wounds, paw marks, and a single fang on its lower back. Glancing at the bastard pretending to be dead, William said, "Apply this to the wounds you can reach. I'll help with the rest." Centaur nodded and began applying the dust.
After that, he strolled toward the Skulker with an arrow still in him. As William approached, the Skulker remained perfectly still, trying not to get caught. Its eyes were closed, tongue hanging out for dramatic effect. Anyone not paying close attention would think it was dead.
William took a few more steps, making the Skulker flinch, just a little. Then William raised his foot and kicked it. "Wake up, you pretentious bastard. I won't kill you." The Skulker jerked and struggled to its feet, weakly. William could see its injuries; if it wasn't treated soon, it might die anyway.
William could tell the wolf had no will left to fight. It just stared at him with sad, puppy eyes. William said, "Rollie, I can see he can't fight anymore. How do I make him surrender?" Instantly, Rollie chimed in with an answer.
[Any climber who surrenders must make a pact with the Tower Lord.]
[You just need to give them a drop of your blood.]
"Huh? Why a pact? I didn't have to do anything like that when Centaur was summoned," he said, puzzled by the new info. Rollie replied:
[Summons from the Gacha or Tower Merchant come from the Ascension Realm.]
[All inhabitants there have taken a loyalty oath to serve Tower Lords. They cannot betray you.]
[Those from the test come from an Ascension Prison.]
[They once sided with corrupted forces against their own race or world.]
[That's why the pact is used for them.]
"Are you sure they won't betray me in the future?" William asked, still worried. Rollie confirmed:
[Don't worry, dear. If they even think of betraying you, they'll die instantly.]
[And they won't miss this chance to redeem themselves by serving a Lord.]
"Well, that's reassuring." Now that he knew they couldn't mess with him, William pressed his finger against the blade, making a shallow cut. He groaned, "Fuck, not a scratch from the Brute and I end up bleeding for a magical pinky promise."
Then he stretched his bloodied finger toward the Skulker. Still standing on wobbly legs, the wolf instantly knew what to do. With shaky steps, it came forward, licked William's finger, and let out a surrendering whimper, staring at the ground. Now that the pack was done, William tossed some Green Blooms towards it.
The instant the Skulker surrendered, two system panels appeared in front of William. One was Rollie congratulating him for passing his first Ascension test, complete with party music in the background. William rolled his eyes focused on the second, more important notification from the Tower system.
[Congratulations, Tower Lord! You have cleared your Ascension Test.]
[Calculating your performance...]
[Five Tier One (Low) climbers were killed, and one has surrendered.]
[One Tier One (Intermediate) climber was killed.]
[You have defeated a climber above your rank using underhanded attacks.]
[Congratulations! You have earned the title: Vile Opportunist.]
[You have defeated climbers while outnumbered.]
[Congratulations! You have earned the title: Outnumbered.]
[Calculating other parameters...]
[Final Clearing Grade: A Rank]
[All rewards have been transferred to your inventory.]
[Congratulations! After clearing your first Ascension Test, the Free Zone has been unlocked.]
[Tower Lords can now go to the Free Zone Realm and meet other Lords there.]
[Any kind of violence is prohibited there.]
[If any Lord violates this, they will be banned for a month, and half of their resources will be taken.]
[If a Lord attacks or injures anyone, they will be killed.]
[No entry is permitted during the Ascension Test or any other event.]
William saw a barrage of notifications. He started going through them one by one, but before he even got to the titles, something happened; the lifeless bodies of the climbers in the tower began to slowly fade away, breaking apart into glowing particles.
William stared, completely frozen. In a few seconds, they were all gone. William shouted, "No…no…no, my loooottttt!" He dropped to the floor like a rejected lover and started muttering, "I… I wanted to butcher, I wanted to go through the whole experience, and most of all, I fucking wanted to swing that bat. Fuuuuuuck."
William kept his eyes down for a while. Seeing this, Rollie chimed in, trying to comfort him:
[Don't be sad, my love~ Maybe the rewards you got are even better.]
William looked up at the panel and muttered in a low, sad voice, "Fuck you, Rollie. You don't know how excited I was for it." After a few minutes of sorrow, he looked back at the Tower system notifications, still sitting there, trying to find something to lift his mood.
The first thing his eyes landed on were the titles—two of them. When he read the first one, his pent-up rage burst out. He raised both middle fingers and said, "What do you mean by Vile? That's called clever tactics—attacking where the enemy least expects it!"
He read the second title, which was better. He thought to himself, 'What are these titles for? Do they have effects?' As he wondered, Rollie opened up the information for both titles, making things clear for William.
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Title: Vile Opportunist
Rank: Unique
Description: Honor is for funerals, rats like you get the last laugh.
Effect: +50% more damage using underhanded attacks.
⟡⟡⟡
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Title: Outnumbered
Rank: Common
Description: Outnumbered? More T.P.
Effect: +0.5 all stats per enemy when surrounded by multiple enemies.
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Reading the titles' effects, William actually felt a twisted joy, especially for Vile Opportunist. Finally, a legitimate reason to give a low-blow and call it a strategy. Outnumbered was good too; the more surround him, the stronger he got.
After this, he didn't waste a second. He popped open his status, and the first thing he saw was that his T.P. had jumped to 255. Not bad, considering he'd only had 5 before. Then he dove straight into his inventory to check the real treasure: the rewards.
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Inventory:
- Ascension Chest (Silver)
- Floor Expansion Card (Normal)
- Ashfang Skulker Fangs x3
- 5kg Skulker Meat
- Steel BruteStick (Uncommon)
- Tier One Core x6
- Lumin Dust (10g)
- Living Seed x1
- Wood 1000
- Stone 1000
- 3 Days of Food and Water
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The rewards were actually generous, considering what he went through in that test. Some loot from the monsters was tossed back his way. Great, just enough to remind him he missed out on the butchering fun.
At least the Brute's bat made it into his hands. And the resources? Enough to upgrade both Centaur and Lumina, and even enough for the Tower Core. But the real prizes were the shiny new chest and expansion card.
The expansion card was self-explanatory: a new floor, just like the blank canvas he was on, added below the Lord's floor. William barely glanced at it. He was already thinking about cracking open the Ascension Chest. The moment he did, a blinding flash came and, just like a magician's cheap trick, two items appeared: a book and a scroll. He immediately asked Rollie for the details.
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Item: Garden Hut (Uncommon)
Type: Blueprint
Description: A small wooden hut with a proper bed and bathing space. Simple, quiet, and surprisingly comfortable. Provides a place to rest, recover, and not feel like you live on the ground.
Resources Required:
- Wood 300
- Stone 100
- 30 T.P.
⟡⟡⟡
Item: Mana Surge (Uncommon)
Type: Skill Book
Effect: Channels mana into the body to temporarily enhance 35% of strength and speed for 1 minute. After the skills end, a 30-second cooldown applies.
⟡⟡⟡
The skill, he could learn instantly, but without Mana, it was about as useful as a sword with no blade. William tossed it into his inventory and picked up the scroll, the blueprint. He'd been sleeping under a tree for three days now. The mere thought of a real bed was enough to send his soul on a heavenly ascension.
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[A/N]: Powerstones greatly help the novel. If you enjoy it, please throw some!