Roy was the first to push aside the notification. He strode forward, his eyes practically glowing as he read the sign attached to the guild hall above the entrance. Pantheon. That was what he had decided to name the guild.
As Roy had funded most of the guild hall’s materials, he was the owner of the building. Immediately, he called up the functions only available to him and invited Jason, Olivia, Cheslov, and Su Long to the guild. Everyone but Su Long accepted in seconds. Only after a minute passed did Su Long appear in the guild member’s list. Roy imagined Su Long sighing as he reluctantly accepted the invitation. In fact, he was spot on.
Roy turned around and cheered. “We’ve officially founded our guild!”
As Roy was celebrating, Cheslov scrolled through the guild altar’s information. When he found one buff in particular, his face hardened. “We need this strength buff.”
Olivia huffed. “I don’t think so. We’re going with agility.”
Roy joined in. “I need mana… my skills cost so much.”
“We’re going with the XP boost.” Jason stated, his tone firm.
Roy found the XP buff and exclaimed. “That’s the most expensive one. Are you sure?”
Jason crossed his arms. “We need to catch up to the other guilds.”
“But we’re already on the same floor as the top-tier guilds.” Roy responded in confusion. Was the XP buff really that important?
Jason raised an eyebrow. “You think that we’re equal to them just because we’re on the same floor? Most of the members of these top-tier guilds have been ascending the tower since the beginning. Do you know how high their skill levels are? Do you know how powerful their gear is?”
“No…”
Jason continued. “Let’s take your uncle, Walter, for example. Do you know how many pieces of Celestial grade gear he was wearing when we were with him?”
“It can’t be that many, right?” Cheslov questioned. Celestial gear was incredibly rare, after all. It was already a miracle that Jason had one.
“I spotted six.” Jason gave a heavy sigh. “Not only did he have six pieces of celestial equipment, he had over five unique-grade items. Not taking into account skill levels, his stats are higher than all of us combined.”
“That can’t be.” Olivia was shocked. Her father was comparable to Walter in strength. If that was the case, his stats were much higher than she thought. She knew he was strong, but not THAT strong. If he found her now…
“Okay, I get it.” Roy clenched his fist while he clasped his biceps. “Let’s get as strong as we can before the tournament. It’s time to hunt some bosses.”
The tournament was one month away. Nobody knew what to expect. Was it going to be one versus ones? Group fights? Another type of contest? Was there going to be rewards? Everybody had different thoughts. Regardless, almost every ascender was going to participate. This type of event was a first for the tower. Plus, it was safe. There was no chance that they would die.
As everyone was filled with anticipation, their guild spent the next month killing boss after boss. Slowly but surely, they grew stronger. They upgraded their equipment, gained skill levels, and leveled up their guild altar.
Su Long was among the few ascenders who didn’t care about the tournament. All of his focus was on perfecting the glyphs. Roy helped by letting Su Long inspect his mana.
Finally, the day that everyone was waiting for arrived. The Tournament of Champions. It was being hosted at every kingdom’s capital on the thirtieth floor. As such, the cities were filled to the brim.
Four people made their way towards the colosseum. Each of them wore high level gear and radiated an intense aura. As they walked towards the registration booth, ascenders stepped out of their path, afraid of offending the group. They were Jason, Olivia, Roy, and Cheslov. After a month of pushing themselves to their limits, they had completely transformed.
Chapter 31
Ten million ascenders gathered on the thirtieth floor in order to participate in the tournament. If not for splitting up between six kingdoms, there might not have been enough space around the colosseum.
In front of the colosseum in the Vistar kingdom, Jason, Roy, Olivia, and Cheslov signed up to participate in the tournament. Everyone was filled with anticipation, especially Roy. When he saw all the ascenders equipped in all sorts of gear, his eyes sparkled. Other than his friends, he had never fought against another ascender before. He was really looking forward to seeing where he stood in comparison to others.
“Look, up there!” A male ranger with sharp eyes pointed at the sky. Everyone followed his finger and found a large screen with a timer. One minute. Fifty-nine seconds. Fifty-eight.
“It’s starting so soon? We don’t even know the rules yet!” a female berserker complained.
“Maybe it’s to prevent us from making preparations in order to gain an advantage,” her companion speculated aloud.
“It’s a safe event, anyway.”
Regardless of everyone’s thoughts, the countdown continued. When it hit ten, the text turned red. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. There was a bright flash of light. In the next moment, the colosseum was devoid of ascenders.
Jason found himself alone in a white space. In front of him was a screen, informing him of the details of the tournament.
Tournament of Champions
There will be four stages of the tournament. After each stage you will be granted points based on your performance. At the end of the tournament, you will be able to spend your points on all sorts of rare and marvelous items.
-Once the tournament starts, your inventory will be locked during stages 1, 2, and 3.
-Time is sped up during the first three stages.
“Ah, I see.” Jason rubbed his chin. It looked like his preparations were for naught. By working with Walter, he gained a tremendous sum of gold. Walter purchased all of the blood vials required for the unknown bloodlines on the market before Jason released them to the public. As a result, he and Walter were now filthy rich. Unfortunately, all of the rare tools and potions he had purchased couldn’t be used in the tournament. Still, the equipment he’d purchased could.
Guilds generally had three tiers of members. The reserve force, the main force, and lastly, the core force. For top tier guilds in particular, the reserve force generally watched over a guild’s territory on previous floors. In other words, they were a guild’s workforce.
The main force and core force were much stronger than the reserve force. Both forces fought on the front lines. The core force was the smallest of the three, but its members were by far the strongest. They focused on hunting bosses.
Because Jason had spent most of his recent gold on equipment for himself, Olivia, and Cheslov, their equipment was about equal to the equipment of the main force of a top-tier guild. Jason had intended to purchase equipment for Roy as well, but Roy had bought his own instead.
A minute after Jason arrived in the white space, another timer appeared. When it hit zero, Jason was once again teleported. This time, he was in someplace very familiar: the colosseum’s arena.
Seeing this, Jason laughed. “And here I thought I wasn’t going to get a good score. The first stage is mine!”
Since a month ago, when the systems of the tower changed, the arena had become significantly harder. No longer could an ascender just hit a monster’s finger, dealing full damage. Now any wound an ascender gained during a fight could hamper their combat power. Thus, anybody who didn’t fully adapt to the changes found themselves faring much worse in the arena.
But that didn’t matter to Jason. He had long been stuck at the peak of the third realm. He had full control over his body and his surroundings. It took him less than a day to fully adapt to the tower’s changes. As for the arena, where others found themselves failing miserably, he easily passed through one challenge after the next.
An hour later, after a long battle, he collapsed to the ground, dead. His doppelganger had killed him yet again. When he revived, he once again found himself in a white space. A notification appeared, informing him to wait until the other participants finished the first stage.
Just when Jason thought he’d have to wait a long time, a massive screen with thousands of names appeared. There were too many to count. Names constantly rose and fell. A flicker of gold caught Jason’s eye. When he focused on it, he found his name. It rose higher and higher, showing no signs of stopping. When it reached the top, its pace slowed to a crawl. Tenth place, ninth place, eighth place…
When it finally stopped, Jason was overcome with surprise. Not at him getting first place, but because of the person just below him.
1st - Jason - 1,000
2st - Shenlong - 950
3rd - Dubaku - 900
Though after thinking about it, it wasn’t that surprising. From what Jason knew of Shenlong, the man had been practicing martial arts since he was a toddler. That was over a hundred years ago. Shenlong was ninety-one years old when he entered the tower. He entered alone, with only a spear as his companion. The goblins on the first floor? They were no match for the grandmaster martial artist.
If anything, it was a pleasant surprise. Shenlong was just like him; a monster at the peak of the third realm. Which one would break through first? Regardless of who did, it was to humanity’s benefit.
Meanwhile, while Jason was thinking about Shenlong, Shenlong himself was shocked to the core. “How could this be? There’s someone who has reached the fifteenth challenge? Or perhaps… he beat it? No way.” Shenlong shook his head in disbelief.
Shenlong had been stuck at the barrier to the fourth realm since he was thirty-two. If Jason knew this, he would be speechless. Even without the stimulation of the tower, Shenlong’s monstrous talent allowed him to reach the third realm in just under thirty years. If the tower had arrived in his youth, he might have reached the third realm in just a handful of years.
As Shenlong stared at Jason’s name, he felt a long-forgotten emotion bubble forth. It was something he had only felt in his youth. Anticipation towards facing a rival. Shenlong had long since thought that the only reason why he was stuck was because he had no competitors. Only with a strong rival could his blood truly boil. Shenlong laughed aloud at the very thought. “Jason, I’ve been waiting for someone like you. Don’t let me down!”
Chapter 32
The tower gave Jason some time to view the rankings before abruptly teleporting him to the next stage. This time he found himself in an unfamiliar forest. Before he could inspect his surroundings, a screen appeared in front of him. The first thing he noticed was that his connection with Tank had weakened drastically—she hadn’t been teleported with him. It looked like the stage wouldn’t allow Tank to accompany him. Unfortunate. Her new ability would have helped tremendously.
Tournament of Champions - Stage 2
Survive as long as you can.
The description of the stage was brief, yet that was all he needed to know. Survive? Jason smirked. That was something he prided himself on. Swiping the screen away, he found a thick tree with plenty of branches. Using them as footholds, he climbed to the top to gain a better understanding of his location.
The only thing of note, besides being deep in a forest, was a tall mountain piercing the sky. With his superhuman vision, he could just barely see a river on its side. After a brief moment of thought, he checked to see if he could open his inventory. His access was denied. Considering the goal was survival, besides fighting off monsters, he would need food and water. As he didn’t have access to his inventory, he’d need to find some. Luckily, he’d already spotted water.
It was midday, but he wasn’t naive enough to think it would last forever. After jumping down from the tree, he unsheathed his sword and took the celestial grade shield off his back. His plan was simple. Find a safe place to sleep before nightfall. The mountain might just have a cave suited for his needs. With a destination in mind, he began to jog while keeping his senses alert.
A short while later, movement caught Jason’s eye. A brown snake jumped at him from a nearby branch, venom spraying from its mouth. With a step to the left, the venom flew past him harmlessly. At the same time, he casually swung his sword, severing the snake’s head. It fell to the ground before disappearing into particles of light.
Venomous Snake - Level 10
Health: 0/250
Level 10? Jason fell into thought. A level ten monster was of no threat to someone at his level. The most likely scenario was that the monsters in this stage would grow stronger over time. Still, it was best to keep his guard up. It was only a guess, nothing more.
After several hours, he stood at the foot of the mountain. It loomed overhead like a giant. Next to him was a forty-foot-wide river. On his way here, he had killed over a hundred monsters of varying levels, including some elites. Not one of them posed any threat. The only thing of value they dropped was raw meat. As his inventory was locked and he didn’t have anything to carry it, he had simply left it on the ground.
When his stamina regenerated, he began the long trek up the mountain. A howl suddenly came from his left, then his right. In just a few seconds, sound came from all around him. Readying his posture, Jason smirked. “A monster wave, huh? Let’s see how strong you are.”
The shrubbery to his side rustled before a wolf charged out. Seeing its level, Jason relaxed and decided to have a little fun. He sheathed his sword and straightened his posture as the wolf pounced. Its jaws snapped shut around his neck, and yet, no blood sprayed out. The teeth couldn’t break through his skin, which was boosted by his stats. Instead, the wolf yelped in pain as a large gash spread across its flank. Jason laughed. “How do you like my damage reflection?”
More wolves appeared. One after another they bit into Jason, only to collapse in pain. They attacked over and over with wild abandon. Blood sprayed through the air, dyeing the forest red. It was a strange sight. There, one man stood, laughing, while wounds magically appeared on the monsters.
Finally, after several minutes, the last wolf died. A hundred chunks of meat littered the ground. Unfortunately, Jason had yet to feel any hunger, so he could only leave them there. Now that the monster wave was over, he could finally begin climbing up the mountain.
As luck would have it, he found a cave at the top of a cliff before nightfall. After confirming that it was clear of monsters, he lay down at the entrance and took a nap. His gut was telling him that it would be a wild night.
Over a week later, the entrance to the cave was filled with blood. If not for most of it falling off the cliff next to the cave, Jason would have been knee deep in it. Compared to his appearance at the start of the stage, he was a sorry sight.
Dried blood covered his body, and bits of his flesh had been torn off, while other parts had been melted by venom. Worst of all was the massive hole in his stomach. If not for his powerful vitality, he would have succumbed to the wound. Normally it would have regenerated by now, but the venom he was currently afflicted with prevented all healing. The powerful venom had come from none other than an elite level eighty-five king cobra.
Jason’s vision faded in and out, and his head felt like it had been smashed by a hammer. Not only was his body in horrible condition, his mind was exhausted. He hadn’t been able to sleep for the past four days, much less eat. The monster waves came endlessly, leaving him no time to rest. He missed Tank. Things would have been much better if she’d been with him.
The cave suddenly trembled. Bits of rock fell from the ceiling, knocking against Jason’s body. He didn’t even feel it. All of his attention was focused on the monster standing at the entrance of the cave. It was without a doubt the strongest monster he had faced in this stage so far. It stood over ten feet tall and weighed over five hundred pounds.
(Field Boss) Ogre Warlord - Level 100
H
ealth: 350,000/350,000
“Really? A field boss? You’re finally taking me seriously, huh?” Jason chuckled as he struggled to his feet, coughing out a mouthful of black blood as he did so. Blood poured from the hole in his stomach without stop. Death was imminent, and yet he had no intention of sitting idly.
Under the compulsion of his unbending willpower, he summoned the last of his strength and charged towards the towering Ogre. Just before they made contact, the ogre slammed its giant mace at his head. At the very last moment, Jason sent out a wave of killing intent while activating shield block.
The invisible killing intent slammed into the ogre, slowing down the descent of its mace. In that moment of weakness, Jason slammed his shield into the mace. Even with shield block preventing most of the damage, it wasn’t enough. The bones in his shield arm shattered upon contact.
Before the ogre fully recovered, Jason let out a hoarse roar while activating burst. He smashed into the ogre, wrapping his arms around the ogre’s waist. With consecutive bursts, Jason pushed the ogre back. By the time it recovered, it was at the cliff’s edge. Sensing its impending doom, the ogre clasped its hands together and smashed them into Jason’s back.
His vision went black, and in the next moment, he found himself in the tournament’s waiting room. A notification he wasn’t expecting popped up.
Battle Energy required to reach Stage 3: 13,230/1,000,000.
Solo a field boss that is your level or greater: 1/1.
Jason burst into laughter. “Serves you right!”
Even at death’s door, he had sent the ogre to its death. As a result, he completed one of the conditions to upgrade his battle physique.
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