“It’s over!” Wolf sprang forward, intending to deal the final blow.
At that moment, the alley lit up with blue light. Crackling sounds rippled through the air as a figure instantly appeared in front of Wolf. A katana surrounding by lightning cut across his chest. Blood sprayed everywhere as Wolf staggered backwards.
Jason fell to one knee, utterly exhausted. He took a deep breath and joked. “Took your sweet time, huh?”
“Sorry.” Peter narrowed his eyes as he inspected the demon in front of him.
Jason glanced at Peter’s body which was covered in lightning. “I see you bought a powerful skill. Looks pretty cool.”
“It cost pretty much all my points.” Peter sighed as he suddenly disappeared.
Wolf and Peter clashed at such speeds that most ascenders wouldn’t be able to keep up. With the lightning skill in hand, he was able to push Wolf back, and even inflict several wounds, though they weren’t as deep as the one across his chest.
Seeing that things were growing dire, a pair of wings sprouted from Wolf’s back. He jumped up and flew away. Peter could only watch helplessly as Wolf escaped into the sky.
Roy took this chance to rush up to Walter. “Uncle, uncle! Wake up!”
Roy poured an expensive healing potion down Walter’s throat as well as cast some healing skills, but nothing happened. Roy turned to Jason with red eyes. “What’s wrong with him? Why won’t he wake up?”
Jason sighed and shook his head. “Wolf consumed a portion of his soul, stealing away some of his skills. I don’t know if he will ever wake up.”
Roy paled as he turned back to Walter. His voice was hoarse. “His soul? I… I can’t heal that…”
Peter asked Jason as he stayed alert. “Did you say Wolf?”
Jason nodded and explained everything he knew about demons to Peter. Peter’s eyes grew dim as he glanced down at the unconscious Walter. “Damn…”
A few seconds later, Cheslov and Olivia ran over, their eyes scanning the alley. Jason gave them a thumbs up. “Good job on breaking the barrier.”
While Jason was tanking Wolf, Cheslov and Olivia had focused on destroying the barrier. After it was broken, they immediately contacted Peter. They thought that if Walter was here, Peter was sure to be nearby. They were right. It was only thanks to everyone working together that they could turn defeat into victory. If any of them had been missing, they would have died.
Olivia bit her lip. “How is he so strong? He wasn’t before…”
Jason’s arm had recovered by now, but his mind was feeble. Using the fourth realm for over a minute had exhausted his soul. He slowly stretched while responding. “There are pros and cons to being a demon.”
Cheslov scoffed. “I don’t see any cons.”
Jason gazed at Peter. “The con is he’s now the enemy of humanity. Since we know his true appearance, we can organize every government and guild to attack him on sight.”
Peter’s eyes lit up. “I’ll handle that.”
With the entire world hunting Wolf down, he would regret attacking them. To survive he would have to tuck in his tail and hide. Peter would make sure of that.
Chapter 45
Several days passed after Wolf made his appearance. Peter acted swiftly and efficiently. He used all of his connections and authority as the vice-guild leader of Skyfall to announce to the world that Cay Wolf betrayed humanity. Wolf’s appearance and demon skills were released as well.
Many people already knew of Wolf’s accolades. Everyone feared the world’s number one assassin, but now he was a demon that could steal skills? Nobody wanted to lose their years of hard work. As expected, all of the guilds agreed to kill Wolf on sight. He might be strong, but he would have to flee when facing entire guilds. Stamina was the limiting factor. He couldn’t fight forever.
Wolf had made many connections over the past two decades with criminal organizations, but now those organizations no longer wanted to work with him. He was isolated. Alone. He no longer had any family or anybody to rely on. Only by covering his appearance with a cloak could he stroll through the cities. Ascending the floors was too dangerous. As a result, his growth became stagnant. While his strength stayed the same, his peers would grow stronger.
One of the only safe havens left for him was in the slums of the cities on the thirtieth floor. In a pub of one of the smaller cities, Wolf downed a glass of beer. He felt helpless. The first attack he made against an ascender had resulted in the worst-case scenario. What made him feel truly powerless was the fact that someone had known his true appearance. Only after racking his brain did he recall the female rogue on that day. Her appearance was different, but her height, expressions, and fighting style was all the same. Wolf narrowed his eyes. Olivia, huh?
He suddenly laughed. You’ve gotten so much stronger, my little girl. Wolf felt that all his effort in training Olivia was finally bearing fruit. How could a child of his, Cay Wolf, possibly be weak? No. They had to be the strongest! His brief happiness disappeared when he recalled his current predicament. He had nowhere to turn. Nowhere to go. It was over.
“How pitiful.” A ghastly voice rang in his head.
Wolf leaned back in his seat. “Indeed.”
Vex chuckled. “I have an offer for you.”
Wolf narrowed his eyes. “Say it.”
“My role in the tower is a bit special. I have jurisdiction over a set of floors. With my authority, I could teleport you there. You can use that time to train and grow stronger, but you will no longer gain any rewards should you complete the tower. What do you think?”
Wolf didn’t know exactly what reward he would lose, but he knew he had no other choice. In a flash of light, he disappeared from the pub.
Meanwhile, in a hospital located right outside the tower in the United States, Roy sat in a chair as he watched the sleeping Walter. It had been several days, but Walter had yet to awaken. Doctors from all over the world had come to inspect his situation, but all of them were helpless. Nothing was wrong with his physical body. His health was even full. The problem was with his soul. Modern technology had no way to detect the soul, so how could they even begin to fix it?
The door of the room opened silently. Peter walked in looking exhausted. He had been very busy the past few days, what with press releases and taking on the role of guild leader. Thankfully, he was used to managing the guild as the vice-leader, so it wasn’t too bad. He sat down next to Roy. “What did they say?”
Roy shook his head.
“I see…” Peter sighed heavily.
After a few moments of silence, Roy lightly slapped his cheeks and stood up. “Sitting here like this is pointless. If there’s a way to heal him, it’s within the tower.” Roy left the room, but not before giving Walter one last look. Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll save you !
Roy entered the tower and immediately spoke aloud. “Piety, are you there?”
“I know what you want.” Piety’s soothing voice rang in his mind. “To me, healing his soul is as easy as breathing.”
Roy’s eyes lit up only to dim after hearing Piety’s next sentence. “As my disciple, you can learn these skills, but you are currently still too weak. You can’t acquire them yet.”
Roy clenched his hands as endless motivation rose within him. “What do I have to do?”
“Reach what you call the peak of the third realm, level to two hundred, and possess five thousand holy energy.” Piety stated calmly.
Roy gasped. He had confidence in reaching the third realm and reaching level two hundred, but getting the last requirement would require time. A lot of time. Much like Jason, he could convert mana within the tower into permanent holy energy. He currently had just a little over five hundred holy energy. Still, it wasn’t impossible. As long as he worked hard, he could heal Walter. With a goal in mind, he rushed towards the colosseum. It was t
ime to unleash his potential.
Meanwhile, on the thirtieth floor, Jason and Olivia entered a barber shop. They waited until they were the only ones left before approaching the barber. Jason patted Olivia’s shoulder as he said. “Old man, I brought someone to meet you.”
The barber looked Olivia up and down. It was like he could see right through her. Her combat style, her techniques, her age, her skills and stats. All was laid bare before him. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Not bad, not bad.”
The barber suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. “You actually have this skill!”
The barber turned to Jason with a toothy grin. “Lad, thanks for bringing me this young lady. She’s a perfect match for my skills.”
“My name is Zod, Master of Shadows.” Zod stared at Olivia. “Do you accept me as your master?”
Olivia gave a firm nod. “I do.”
Olivia immediately began a series of tests in a large underground room underneath the barber shop. As long as she passed them, she could begin to inherit Zod’s skills.
Besides the two masters Jason knew of, more had been found since the tower’s change. Many failed the tests, while geniuses succeeded.
Thousands of new ascenders entered the community floors daily. The era of non-combat ascenders had started. Many picked up professions such as farming or breeding. In only a few months they would provide many benefits to ascenders. Jason knew this, so he and Shenlong invested in developing them. Endless profits awaited.
Jason continued to expand his kingdom, though development slowed as the monsters grew stronger and more diverse. Most importantly, he finally started to acquire weapons from the kingdom’s army of blacksmiths. Slowly but surely he was absorbing battle energy. It was only a matter of time before he reached the next stage of his battle physique. As for his house, he longed for the day he acquired his mansion again.
Cheslov, Roy, and Olivia continued to grow stronger with every passing day. Su Long never stopped developing his skills, easily outpacing his rivals thanks to his bloodlines and XP boosts.
Jason, Su Long, and Roy were the champions of gods, while Olivia successfully became the disciple of a master. Cheslov even had a high possibility of reaching the fourth realm. Su Long was the best blacksmith in the world. They were a guild of monsters. They were Pantheon. Their goal? Reach the top of the tower and tell it to screw off!
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END OF BOOK 2
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Jason’s stats and skills as of chapter 45
Name: Jason
Title: 15th Challenge Completion
Age: 28
Race: Human
Level: 85
Stat Points: 0
Health: 9,239/9,239
Health Regeneration: 99/s
Stamina: 8,981/8,981
Stamina Regeneration: 105/s
Battle Energy: 550/550
Battle Energy Regeneration: 5/s
Strength: 652
Vitality: 837
Agility: 649
Endurance: 819
Tenacity: 163
Fortitude: 179
Willpower: 173
Taunt - Level 3 - Apprentice
Troll Regeneration - Level 8 - Apprentice
Block - Level 9 - Apprentice
Meditation - Level 1 - Hero
Shield Block - Level 7 - Novice
Warcry - Level 9 - Novice
Rush - Level 9 - Novice
Defense Aura - Level 5 - Novice
Lifesaving Oath - Level 3 - Novice
Earth Armor - Level 2 - Expert
Reflection - Level 2 - Veteran
Energy Conversion - Max Level
Battle Physique Stage 2
Towers of Heaven 2 Page 21