William scrolled through the rewards; none of them were OP, but what he received was decent enough. He closed his status screen and checked on the others. Centaur had applied Lumin Dust on whatever wounds he could reach, even dabbing some on Skulker.
Now, their wounds had stopped bleeding. It would take some time to heal, but they would survive. Lumina still hovered close to William, but he could tell she was completely spent, exhausted from constantly buffing Centaur.
He checked their statuses and saw Skulker's upgrade conditions: twenty Tower Points and three Tier One Cores, just like the others. Skulker's skill, Flicker Bite, had even reached intermediate level, apparently just from biting Centaur's ass off.
Centaur's technique had also become more refined, now at the intermediate level. Lumina's skill, Light Touch, had reached high rank, letting her buff all attributes by 30%. William couldn't help but smile warmly at their progress. After all the hell they'd survived, they'd done well.
In his mind, William thought, 'They all did their best. Now it's my turn, as their Lord, to reward them. But first, we need rest. Damn, we're all exhausted.'
William, along with the others, made his way to the top floor. He took a deep breath, savoring fresh air full of life. The sweet floral scent of Bloom Flowers covered the entire floor, instantly calming his mind. Compared to the stifling lower levels, it felt like he'd been trapped there for days.
He told everyone to rest, then wandered over to the Luminara Tree to grab a quick nap. All upgrades could wait until after some sleep.
After a few hours of restless sleep, William dragged himself upright, muscles aching from the fight. He leaned against the tree, groaning. 'There was that notification about the Free Zone Realm, where all the regional Lords meet each other. Thank the gods for that place, or we'd all turn into lunatics being surrounded by other races that cannot speak. Well, no way I'm going there now, there will be just a bunch of show-offs flexing their troop, or probably a few couples getting their rocks off in the bushes after being apart for three days.'
He let out a sigh, thinking, even if he bothered with the Free Zone, both his friends were in some other region. For all he knew, they'd been chewed up and spat out in the recent test.
The only person he was sure about was Dante's Mother—yeah, that was her actual username. The lady , naming herself that just so he could find her in chat. "Hope she's still alive. She had C-rank hounds, and I also gave her a few Bloom Flowers to help. I'll look for her in the Free Zone. But first, upgrades. Priorities—before anything else."
He glanced over at Centaur and Lumina, both still sleeping. He had six Tier One Cores, enough to give them a much-needed upgrade, but right now, they deserved their sleep after the bloodbath they'd just survived. As for the Tower Core, it needed two intermediate troops, so its upgrades would have to wait.
After a while, both finally woke up, Centaur looking groggy, Lumina practically buzzing with energy, playing in the flower bed as if nothing had happened. "Lumina, come with me for a moment," William called, and she followed him, giggling all the way through Bloom Flowers, while Centaur was resting at the grassland.
As they wandered along the path between Bloom Flowers, William spotted something odd—something tiny, really tiny, barely half of Lumina's size. It was glowing red at the edge of the flowerbed, perched on a blood-red petal like some kind of ladybug.
William crept closer, curiosity looking at it. Now he could see it for real, she looked like Lumina's twin, about a finger's height and a bit chubbier, cheeks round and babyish. Her skin was light red, and she wore a dark crimson frock covered in what looked like tiny seeds.
She was asleep on the petal, oblivious to the world. William suddenly remembered: this was where he'd planted that Living Seed from the Luminara Tree on day one. He'd totally forgotten about it; maybe the Tower was messing with his memory, or maybe he was just that tired. Living Seeds were supposed to give you a plant-type troop after three days. Lucky him.
Staring at the little thing, William thought, 'Fuck, she's too cute. But she doesn't look like a plant type, more like a fairy who got dipped in blood and sugar.' He said, then added, "Rollie, open her status." Instantly, the system panel flickered to life.
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Name: Ember Bloom Imp (F-Rank)
Race: Fire Flora
Rank: Tier 1 (Low)
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Attributes
Strength: 4
Constitution: 3
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 4
Mana: 10
Affinity: Fire
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Skill
Cinder Burst (Low)
Launches a small explosive seed that deals fire AoE damage. Maximum 5 seeds per day.
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Rank Upgrade Conditions
Tower points: 20/20
Tier 1 core: 3/3
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Seeing her status, William blinked. This tiny gremlin was a combat type with area effect damage, no less. He eyed the beads on her dress. 'So those are the seeds that go Boom. Cool, but I should keep my distance.' Lumina watched her with those big puppy eyes, but didn't dare get close; as she didn't want to disturb her sleep.
He figured she was just born, or sprouted? Fuck it, whatever. That's why she is asleep, and wanted to wake her up, so he went towards the grassland where Centaur was resting.
Centaur saw William approach and tried to stand up, but William waved him down; those wounds weren't going to magically disappear. Next to him, the wolf was sprawled out, sleeping as if he'd just won the MVP award in the test.
"Lumina, come over here for a second," William asked as he got to Centaur. With both standing in front of him, he said, "You two did best in the last fight. When we have hundreds of troops, you'll be the ones setting the example. So keep getting stronger, okay," Centaur nodded solemnly, and Lumina, true to form, chirped a mischievous little "Kyuu~."
With a smirk, he said, "Rollie, upgrade their tier." He glanced at both of them, adding, "This is your reward." Instantly, they were both swallowed by faint white light that hung around for a few minutes. Lumina started to drop mid-hover as the upgrade hit her, but William caught her before she fell. Their eyes remained closed the whole time.
As the light faded, they both blinked awake. No huge changes, except Centaur's wounds were gone, like a miracle. William smirked. 'That's fucking perfect. If any of my troops get messed up in a fight again, I'll just upgrade them—bam, good as new.'
Centaur bowed in thanks, and Lumina zipped around William in a happy little orbit. William grinned, warmth in his eyes. "Rollie, show me their status."
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Name: Lumina - Glow Fairy
Race: Light Fairy
Rank: Tier 1 (Intermediate)
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Attributes
Strength: 5
Constitution: 7
Agility: 9
Intelligence: 8
Mana: 23
Affinity: Light
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Skill
Light Touch (High)
Casts a buff on a single person, increasing all their attributes by 30% for 30 seconds. While the buff is active, it cannot be cast again.
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Rank Upgrade Conditions
Tower points: 40/40
Tier 1 core: 0/6
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First, he checked Lumina's status. Most of her stats had crawled up a bit, but her mana had shot up by eight points. That meant she could cast her buff even more often. Then he checked Centaur's status.
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Name: Sparkhoof Spearling (B-Rank)
Race: Thunder Centaur
Rank: Tier 1 (Intermediate)
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Attributes
Strength: 20
Constitution: 24
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 10
Mana: 12
Affinity: Lightening
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Skill
Static Thrust (Intermediate)
Thrusts his spear while channeling lightning through its tip, with a 10% chance to stun the target.
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Technique
Spear Mastery (Intermediate)
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Rank Upgrade Conditions
Tower points: 20/20
Tier 1 core: 0/3
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He was shocked, not just because some of Centaur's stats now exceeded his own, but because both of them had gained twenty attribute points from a minor upgrade. If this kept up, they'd be monsters; hell, Centaur already was.
With all the conditions finally met for the Tower Core upgrade, William strolled over to the Luminara Tree. He placed his hand on the bark, saying, "It's your turn now." The tree gave off a subtle, hum—like being excited for it.
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[A/N]: Hi everyone, I'm applying for a contract today. If you've enjoyed the story so far, please consider supporting by sending some Power Stones. Your support means a lot and really helps me continue writing.