Roy gave a thumbs up. “I can remove curses; it just depends on its strength.”
“Great!” Lavos’s cheeks flushed with color. “Come give it a try.”
Purify was a powerful skill. A debuff could force wounds to bleed, slow movement, or cloud vision. There were too many to count, but Purify could remove them all. Meanwhile, a curse was potent. Unlike other debuffs, it lasted forever.
Thinking of this, Roy approached Lavos with anticipation. Compared to other minotaurs, Lavos had a smaller stature. Even then, he was still almost twice as big as a human. Roy wasn’t intimidated in the least. Instead, he felt Lavos was pitiful. How many years had he lived without limbs?
Roy shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Focusing, he placed his palm on Lavos’s shoulder and cast Purify. Several notifications appeared.
Attempting to remove the curse of sealing…
Warning!
The curse comes from a Tier 6 rune. Purify has failed. However, due to the distance between the rune owner and Lavos, the curse is severely weakened. It will take six days for Purify to remove the curse.
If you do not cast Purify two hundred times a day, the process will fail, and you must start from the beginning.
Roy skimmed through the message and was disappointed when he read the first half, then overjoyed reading the rest. He immediately informed everyone. “It should take roughly six days.”
Dunk was overwhelmed with emotions. Full of energy, he gave his son a bear hug, lifted him, then spun him around. On the rock, Lavos released a breath, his entire body relaxing. His precise senses felt the curse weakening slightly, so he was certain Roy was telling the truth.
Lavos inspected Jason and the others before turning to Kresh. “Our guests will have trouble surviving in this world. Bring them out and treat them as our younglings, won’t you, Kresh?”
Kresh smacked his chest with a snort. He’d do whatever the elder commanded, even if told to walk to hell and back. When Kresh wanted to lead his ‘younglings’ away, Roy called out, “Wait, I don’t have enough mana potions. Amara, Carly, can you give me half of yours?”
“Sure.”
Shenlong voiced his thoughts. “Let’s make our way home before the day ends. Otherwise, Peter will think we’re dead. We can let him know of the development on our side.” He turned to Kresh. “Is that okay?”
“Yep.” Kresh shrugged. It didn’t matter to him where they hunted.
With everything decided, Roy, Dunk, and Lavos watched the party leave. Just before Dunk was about to announce his leave, he thought of something. “Elder, remove curse. Is okay? Demon caster. He know?”
“Hmm.” Lavos’s expression was solemn. “It’s almost been a hundred years since he cursed me, so he might think I passed away.”
A few moments passed in silence. Lavos noticed Dunk’s anxiety, so he smiled. “Don’t worry. I was depressed when I was first cursed, and I even thought of taking my own life. I can only say I was lucky. Sitting on this rock gives me a full view of the tribe. When I saw you all living your lives every day to the fullest, I went through spiritual enlightenment.”
Roy stood silently nearby while Dunk was struggling to understand so many sentences at once. Lavos chuckled. “I’ll be even more powerful than before. So, don’t worry if that demon comes back. I can beat him.”
“Okay.” Dunk sighed in relief. He gave his respects and left, leaving Roy and Lavos the only ones atop the mountain.
Roy didn’t feel awkward at all. Lavos must know a lot about the floor, so Roy already had a hundred questions to ask, with more on the way. Just as he turned and was about to fire away, he noticed Lavos had fallen asleep. Amused and with a shake of his head, he started the purification process.
Lavos didn’t know he’d dodged a bullet just now. Considering his wealth of knowledge, Roy was sure to drain it away, one question at a time.
Chapter 35
(Legacy) Aros’s Inheritance
Damage: 800
Durability: Infinite
+10% All Damage
+5% All Stats
+5% Ignore Defense
(Passive Skill) Critical Strike – Every attack has a 10% chance to deal double damage, 5% to deal triple damage, and 1% to deal quadruple damage.
(Passive Skill) Knowledge of the Battle God – All Battle God skills are 20% more effective.
(Passive Skill) March of the Battle God – For every minute in combat, regenerate 1 additional Battle Energy per second. Caps at 10 minutes.
(Passive Skill) Path of the Battle God - Through every battle, the sword grows stronger. Skills and stats will unlock accordingly.
Requirements: Can only be used by Jason Woltz.
Before arriving on the floor of death, Jason had spent several months hunting monsters to grow his legacy sword. It was initially too weak to kill robots in a timely matter, so the process was painfully slow. Thankfully, every day of growth sped things up. Now, after slaying countless monsters, the weapon was no longer dead weight. It was similar in power to the weapons used by top-grade experts. Although it was a far cry from Andy’s imaginary weapons, Jason knew it was only a matter of time before it surpassed them.
After splitting up with Roy, Jason and the others traveled to their haven. They informed Peter, who was in disbelief at their luck, before spending six days in the wilderness under Kresh’s care.
The minotaur tribe had lived on the dread plains for centuries, so they knew most monsters' locations in the area. With this knowledge, Kresh led Jason and the others to the weakest demons. Though they were powerless before Kresh, they were much stronger than Jason. The party had to work together just to fight one demon.
Kresh took his job very seriously. As his father did for him when he was a child, he stepped in when things got hairy; otherwise, he watched from nearby, giving advice like ‘Punch hard! Roar! Use teeth!’. It was mostly useless.
Like this, six days passed in a flash.
Jason lost count of how many demons fell under his blade. Each day he’d wake up as soon as the miasma retreated, then hunted until it returned. Kresh forbade them from going out during the night until they could beat him, which wouldn’t happen anytime soon. His concern was for naught. They didn’t have any plan to do that until they were significantly stronger.
Compared to other floors, the only loot demons dropped was essence. After a week, they had gathered:
1,902 tier 1 essence.
464 tier 2 essence.
121 tier 3 essence.
4 tier 4 essence.
Over the past week, Jason and the others spent their free time brainstorming what rune would suit them best. They hadn’t used a single one yet. As far they knew, once created, you couldn’t destroy them. It was a permanent decision. They had no one to guide them, no one to teach them what skills would suit their build the best. Besides Jason, the others were still hesitant to create a rune.
On the seventh day since arriving on the floor of death, after Roy cast Purify over a thousand times, Lavos was on the verge of being unsealed. His trust in the spirits was what fueled his will to live over the past century. Now, that trust paid off. He was trembling in excitement as he felt the curse lifting and was in no mood to sleep.
Besides having gratitude for the spirits, he had even more for Roy. Over the past week, he had watched Roy work tirelessly every day. Because of this, he answered any question Roy had, to the point Lavos faked sleeping several times for a break.
At that moment, the sound of glass shattering came from Lavos’ body. The seals on his body broke, creating a shockwave that knocked Roy to the ground. He looked up and saw hundreds of tiny transparent creatures flying around Lavos. Upon closer look, they were less of a creature and more of a fairy, or perhaps somewhere in between. Roy knew they were the spirits Lavos spoke of earlier.
As Roy watched, mesmerized, he noticed some spirits approach him. There was something familiar about them. Seeing that they were gold in color, he couldn’t help but think abou
t his mana, which had the ‘holy’ attribute. His guess was confirmed when he saw other gold spirits touch Lavos’s limbs, upon which arms and legs grew out like bamboo shoots.
Roy was stunned. He saw countless colors among the spirits; did that mean Lavos was in control of more elements than Amara? He could see at least ten types of spirits and even sensed powerful auras hiding from his view. What elements were those?
“My friends.” Lavos looked around with tears in his eyes. “Thank you for keeping me company all this time. Thank you.”
If Lavos could embrace them, he would. Unfortunately, they were like souls and couldn’t be touched. Regardless, the spirits felt his sincerity as they disappeared, leaving only Roy and Lavos atop the mountain.
Lavos approached Roy and clasped his shoulder. “Thank you, Roy. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
“No problem.” Roy flashed a smile. “I like helping people; it’s in my blood.”
Lavos sighed; hearing Roy just now reminded him of himself. The reason a pure demon cursed and disabled him was to send a message. A century ago, Lavos tried to unite the tribes to fight back against the pure demons. It was supposed to be a secret, yet somehow word got out, and this was the result.
Lavos inspected Roy with a frown. “There’s a blood moon tonight. Can your tribe handle it?”
“A blood moon? What do yo— oh, the monster horde!” Roy looked uncertain. “We just arrived in this world, so we haven’t fought one yet.”
Lavos snorted. “Very well. I will accompany you.”
“Are you sure?” Roy looked over the mountain. “Doesn’t your tribe need you?”
“Hah! They’ve been handling it for decades just fine.” Lavos had full confidence in his tribe. “Come, your friends just got back from hunting.”
The wind picked up when Lavos waved his hand. It gathered around Lavos and Roy, lifting them off their feet and carrying them through the air. Roy was amazed. “Wow, you can fly?”
It was only then Roy wondered how many runes Lavos had. The curse prevented anyone from seeing their existence, but not anymore. One, two, three. He kept counting until he reached thirteen. Dumbfounded, Roy recalled Jason saying the final boss in his timeline had thirteen runes as well. How much would the final boss have this time? He got shivers just thinking about it.
Chapter 36
The giant eye in the sky stared down at Jason and the others. Of course, he knew it was an illusion. It couldn’t be looking at him specifically, right?
“That thing gives me the creeps.” Amara shuddered as she flew behind Lavos. Stubborn as she was, she refused to back down, returning a glare at the motionless eye.
Lavos was aghast and quickly rebuked her. “Don’t look at it!”
“I’m not afraid,” Amara muttered as she reluctantly looked away. The eye creeped her out, sure, but Lavos was a more tangible threat. She had to listen regardless of her feelings.
“You misunderstand me.” Lavos’s tone was grave. “That’s the demon king’s eye. If you gaze upon it, he can sense you. You don’t want his attention, trust me.”
Amara and the others broke out in a cold sweat. Roy forced a smile. “New rule: don’t look at the giant bloody eyeball. Got it.”
Their party was able to cross hundreds of miles in no time under the influence of Lavos’s magic. Few monsters were able to contest them in the air, so it was several times faster than sprinting on the ground. Not only were they able to conserve their stamina, but it was also relaxing. Amara was even considering whether she should ignore her pride and invest some time learning wind magic. If the others knew what she was thinking, they would think her brain was malfunctioning.
Soon, a blue bubble appeared in the distance. Lavos’s eyes brightened as he surveyed the haven. “Not bad.”
Compared to a week ago, tens of thousands of traps—both magical and conventional—now surrounded the haven. Glyphs created by mages covered both sky and ground, while landmines and similar contraptions lay hidden in the dirt. Roy was amazed. “Wow, Peter went all out!”
Olivia made a religious gesture. “Bless our bank account.”
It was unknown how much the traps cost, but it was probably over a hundred thousand gold. Such a vast amount was more than Jason and the others had combined. Shenlong shrugged. “We have thousands farming items and gold on every floor. We’ll be fine.”
With that said, the group landed outside the barrier. Peter quickly greeted them, having been informed by a scout long before they arrived. “Welcome back. This is…?”
Peter’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets upon seeing Lavos. There was no aura coming from the minotaur, but the thirteen runes were all Peter needed to see. “Hello Elder Lavos, my name is Peter. I’m the leader of our organization.”
“You are?” Lavos was doubtful. Shenlong was much stronger than Peter, so why was Peter the leader? In his tribe, only the minotaur who won the yearly competition would become the chieftain. All tribes did the same thing.
Lavos’s reaction might anger some guild masters, but not Peter. He instantly identified the source of Lavos’s doubt. “Ah, I’m pretty good at managing people. Shenlong is the head of military operations. We have about the same authority.”
“I see. Humans behave so differently than what I’m used to.” Lavos acted respectfully upon acknowledging Peter’s authority. As he was representing his tribe in this exchange, he wanted things to proceed cordially.
Peter opened his admin panel, messed around with some settings, then nodded. “Let’s head inside. It’s about time to begin the feast.”
Roy’s stomach grumbled upon hearing the word. “Who’s cooking?”
“Carlos.”
“For real!?” Roy pulled Lavos into the haven. The others followed, full of anticipation to eat food cooked by a master chef.
Lavos knew a bit about cooking. There was a lizardfiend tribe that grew various herbs to use as spices. As the tribe lived in a marsh, they frequently had fish stew. Lavos had to admit his tribe was severely lacking in the cooking department.
However, upon entering the haven, his nose was assaulted by odors so appetizing he stopped in place. He suddenly realized his tribe was missing out on the joy of life. My god, it was like they were eating dirt compared to whatever this Carlos was making.
Lavos watched as they approached a large fountain and washed their hands in the magically imbued water. He followed suit to respect their customs.
Roy explained upon noticing Lavos’s expression. “Carlos is very particular about cleaning our hands before we eat.”
“Hmm.” Lavos nodded in vague understanding.
After cleaning themselves, the party joined together with the rest of the ascenders, all of whom surrounded Carlos, a short, stocky man dressed in white. Carlos stood in the center of many appliances, his arms folded across his chest. Using telekinesis, he was able to control over a hundred pieces of cutlery to flip, toss, and juggle ingredients as he cooked. It was mesmerizing.
In front of the spectators was a large empty table. As Carlos cooked, it began to fill up with tacos, burritos, taquitos, enchiladas, tostadas, and other Mexican delicacies.
Although many were drooling, nobody moved.
It was only when Carlos gave a slight nod did the ascenders swarm around the table like locusts. The thousands of tacos vanished instantly, followed by the rest. Thankfully, Carlos didn’t plan to stop cooking any time soon.
When it was Peter’s turn, he grabbed his desired meal then went over to the condiments section, only to frown. He turned to Carlos. “My man, where’s the good stuff?”
“Oh, I forgot.” Carlos coughed as a giant bowl of pico de gallo appeared next to Peter. Unlike the one on earth, this was an enhanced recipe specially developed with the tower’s ingredients in mind. As such, it exploded with flavor and was Carlos’s exclusive recipe. Each bowl was worth thousands of gold.
“Uh-huh.” Peter gave a knowing smile, confident he’d paid for it earlier. It mu
st be known the holy trinity of condiments for Mexican food was sour cream, salsa, and pico de gallo. If Peter spent thousands of gold on food, he wanted the best of the best.
Lavos grabbed several of everything when it was his turn to fill his plate. Moving along, he copied Peter and took some of the holy trinity. After finding someplace to eat, he pinched a burrito between two fingers and tossed it in his mouth.
He froze. An electric shock spread from his tongue to the rest of his body as tears welled up in his eyes. No, it wasn’t the salsa: he was undergoing nirvana. At that moment, his sense of taste went through several evolutions, and from this point on, his standards would never be the same.
After finishing the meal, Lavos realized his body was swelling with power. Although he couldn’t see the notification, he could tell he was at least thirty percent stronger, albeit temporarily. This revelation left him thinking.
First was the miracle brought by Roy, and now this food could be considered another. In the six days he’d known of humans, they challenged his views time and time again. Would they be the catalyst to changing this floor?
Chapter 37
A thousand ascenders of the highest caliber manned the haven’s walls. Many felt confident about the so-called blood moon. To them, it was just another monster horde. How many had they defeated since entering the tower? Too many to count. Maybe it was a bit stronger this time, but they had a week to prepare. Their defenses were perfect, many had formed their first rune, and Carlos’s feast gave a significant buff.
Atop the highest watchtower stood Peter, Lavos, and Shenlong’s elite squad. Peter looked down upon the battleground, wondering if he’d missed anything. If so, it was the lack of haven upgrades. Nobody had come across any blueprints, so the haven was still in its most basic form. Besides that, he felt he did his best.
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 3) Page 16