CHAPTER 28.

Amber at first had been a bit bothered due to how everyone treated her. Some adventurers had even quit and returned to Laria as soon as she joined the caravan. Thankfully, after she fought off some monsters the feeling of alienation slowly faded. And finally, towards the last day, Amber felt comfortable enough to talk to someone. Namely, the merchant she had first interacted with. Though, the man still seemed a bit uncomfortable around her.

“What do you need, Amber?” he asked, his tone slightly cold.

She understood that the caravan was wary of her due to how she had killed the Grand Drake, but in her defense the likelihood of a caravan passing through as she was doing that was low. Plus she was having fun, and she hadn’t hurt anyone. It felt unfair to some extent, but she supposed she was approaching levels of strength that put people on edge around her.

Finally, a sigh left her as she got on the cart, much to the merchant’s dismay.

“I wanted to ask if you knew anything about the Primordial Spirit tower near the capital?”

“I’ve heard rumors,” the merchant replied, closing his eyes. “Nothing concrete.”

“Do you want to share those rumors?” Amber raised her brow.

The merchant sighed. “I’ve heard that the royal family knows of its location, and I’ve also heard that it's a dangerous location, that all of the monsters are incredibly strong even for someone of your power,” he said somewhat dispirited. “I’d advise you to stay away.”

“Huh, but that sounds fun,” Amber argued back. “I mean, almost dying and everything.”

The merchant shrugged. “If that’s what you want to do in life, who am I to argue against that?”

“I guess?” Amber was kind of confused.

She hadn’t talked to almost anyone in the caravan, and had even kept to herself during the meals and sleeping time. No one bothered her for anything, and aside from asking this particular merchant about the journey in general as the days passed, she didn’t know him all too well. However, he was the most inclined to talking with her.

Kind of weird how different this caravan feels in comparison to the other ones. In the other ones she was welcomed, whereas here she felt like an unwanted guest, and to some extent⁠— she kind of was that. But she still found it stupid. And her frustration had been building up for the entire journey now.

“You know, we probably won’t be seeing each other again after this, so being friendly won’t kill you,” she commented.

The merchant blinked and glanced at her fractionally, then back at the road, and a second later he sighed.

“I still can’t get your strength out of my head.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to be friendly when I think about that, but sure I’ll try.”

“Aha.”

He took a moment to think before he made a question. “Are you going to Cytel to approach that tower you asked about?”

“Pretty much.” She nodded. “As for finding it? Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to.”

“Awfully confident, that’s nice.” He lightly smiled. “Make sure to not misplace that confidence, lest you’ll meet your demise.”

“I have a cube that whispers into my ears, I’ll be fine.” She dismissively waved. “Tell me more about the towers…” And Amber hesitated. “What is your name…?”

At that the merchant actually laughed. “Vald, my name is Vald.” He smiled at her, this time with a lot more sincerity. “You’re quite down to earth, aren’t you?”

“Well I am from Earth, so yes.” Amber smiled, knowing the man wouldn’t even get what she meant.

The man raised his brow with a smile. “Never heard of that place, but sure. As for your question.” He turned back to the road. “As you probably know, the towers were originally built to worship the gods. But after Vir received the gift of the System, they began to symbolize something else.”

Amber raised her brow at that. It was the first time she had heard of something like that, so her curiosity was piqued.

“What did they symbolize?”

He turned to her.

“A trial of strength,” Vald said simply. “Those that proved to be worthy inside the tower would be rewarded accordingly.”

Amber raised her brow. “Does that mean that⁠—”

He nodded. “Yes, theoretically if you could find the tower, you’d be able to partake in this trial by merely climbing up its floors.”

Amber blinked at that.

That sounds fucking amazing.

She didn’t know why the idea excited her that much, but it did. It was almost like a challenge. And of course, she liked challenges. It was something to overcome, something to push her to do better, and something that could bring out the best of her.

A smile slipped onto her face, much to the merchant’s surprise.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” she said after a brief silence.

“You are strange.” He turned back to the road. “First time I meet an adventurer like you, and I’ve met a lot of you people.”

“First time I meet a merchant like you.” Amber shrugged in response. “Not like I’ve met a whole lot of you.”

Vald shook his head. “I’m just like any other, work for profit, and… that’s about it I guess?” He thought for a moment. “I have two children who I wish to support, though they live with my wife. Our marriage is annulled so I guess it’s wrong to say wife, but at the same time there is⁠—” And he stopped himself. “It’s complicated.”

“It does sound complicated,” Amber agreed.

“What about you? You don’t seem particularly old,” he asked.

“Uh…” How the fuck do I even explain anything? “I don’t think I can explain it either.”

That earned her a chuckle from the merchant.

After that, they continued talking. Sometimes about life, but for the most part about Amber ⁠— Vald seemed awfully curious about her excitement towards the tower ⁠— she spoke about enjoying challenges, and other life experiences. She didn’t mind opening up with someone she wouldn’t meet again, and it was also a nice way to pass the time.

The hours ticked, and eventually the capital became visible in the distance. And that’s when Amber knew, it was time for her departure.

She hopped off the cart, and waved at Vald. Their conversation had mostly ended anyway, and so she spoke.

“Well, I’m going to go look for the tower now.” Amber waved at him.

And the merchant blinked. “Wait, now, but we aren’t even at the capital yet?”

Amber shrugged. “I really want to get to the tower as soon as possible, so, farewell.”

With a smile she turned and immediately rushed into the forest. She threw a coin back at Vald, who scrambled to catch it. By the time Amber was into the thicket of trees, she heard him call.

“Good luck!”

The caravan at first kind of sucked, but the end of the last day was actually quite nice all things considered. Her smile deepened. I kind of hope to meet Vald again now.

Of course, she was prepared to not be disappointed if it didn’t happen, but it was a nice thought to have. Finally, she reached inside her bag and pulled out the divine artifact, the whispering cube in all of its glory. Amber could already see the blue lines pulsing, and so, she got to work in finding the tower.

* * *

Amber ran through the forest, killing the occasional monster and avoiding those that didn’t look interesting enough. She actually didn’t even pay attention to their levels, whether one was stronger or weaker than her; it didn’t matter at the moment. The only reason she even bothered to fight things to begin with was because she wasn’t all that sure where the tower was exactly.

And because it also allowed her to progress her skills, which some had seen some level ups from all her kills in the past week.

[You have defeated a [Grand Drake. Lvl. 61].]

…

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

[You have defeated a [Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 27].]

…

[You have defeated a [Swift Versali. Lvl. 66.]

…

[Cursed Cleave has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 7 to 2nd Rank level 9.]

[Quick Dash has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 6 to 2nd Rank level 7.]

[General Weapon Mastery has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 5 to 2nd Rank level 7.]

[Cursed Momentum has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 7 to 2nd Rank level 8.]

[Berserker’s Body has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 7 to 2nd Rank level 8.]

[Cursed Stomp has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 1 to 2nd Rank level 3.]

[Curse Manipulation has leveled up from level 9 to 10.]

[Curse Battery has leveled up from level 7 to 8.]

[Cursed Rage Synergy has leveled up from level 9 to 10.]

She had even seen a level up too, whose points she invested into Wisdom.

[You have reached level 76. 5 stat points awarded.]

Amber smiled at the sight, however, there was a problem with her status. And it was the fact that a lot of her skills were stuck on level 10. Even Recovery of Curses which had quickly reached level 10 was stuck there. Curse Battery was the only skill she had remaining that could still level within her Core Skills.

She found it a bit troublesome. The gap between level 10 and 2nd Rank seemed to always take a while, but she felt that it was unusually hard. She turned to her status.

[Name: Amber | Level: 76

Class: Cursed Chosen Berserker | Unspent Stat Points: 0

Stats:

Vitality: 170

Strength: 160

Dexterity: 143

Endurance: 51

Intelligence: 32

Wisdom: 45

Free Core Skill Slots: 0 | Core Skills:

[Cursed Cleave - 2nd Rank Lvl. 9], [Quick Dash - 2nd Lvl. 7], [General Weapon Mastery - 2nd Rank Lvl. 7], [Cursed Momentum - 2nd Rank Lvl. 8], [Berserker’s Body - Lvl. 2nd Rank Lvl. 8], [Cursed Stomp. - 2nd Rank. Lvl. 3], [Curse Battery - Lvl. 8], [Recovery of Curses - Lvl. 10], [Cursed Rage Synergy - Lvl. 10], [Curse Manipulation - Lvl. 10]

General Skills:

[Supernatural Nullification], [Identify. Lvl. 2], [Toxin Resistance ⁠- 2nd Rank Lvl. 1], [Elemental Resistance - Lvl. 4], [Physical Resistance - Lvl. 6], [Magical Resistance - Lvl. 5], [Sharp Instincts - 2nd Rank Lvl. 3], [Quick Recovery - Lvl. 9].]

At least 3rd Rank is within the horizon. Truthfully, she didn’t want to imagine how hard it was to cross that gap if 2nd Rank was already so hard at times. Hopefully the tower will aid me with this and also supply me answers in regards to Ax’thra. Amber nodded to herself and turned to the cube.

It was shining considerably more now, and she had only been running for about three hours. While now, she was even past the location of the capital, having gone in a straight diagonal line, Amber could sense that she was going in the right direction. It was only a matter of time before she found the tower. That she was sure of.

Though, she hoped to not run into anyone from the Arcane Council given how easily she had found out about the tower herself.

Amber took a deep breath and continued forward.

* * *

It had taken about three hours, and even climbing. But eventually she saw the tower in the distance, and somehow it looked bigger. Much bigger than the one in the Arthra forest. That sight made her rush in the direction of the tower. However, as she got closer she spotted people. They all wore leather armor and standardized equipment, and they all chatted with each other as they headed towards the tower.

Amber was too far away for her to listen in, unfortunately. However, it was something she was wary of. Did it have to do with the royal family? It probably did. The people were walking with purpose, something that she most definitely didn’t expect.

After seeing that, she became much more careful in her approach, and as another hour passed and the sun began to set. She finally came to see a clearing within the large forest. The tower was far from the city, much farther than she had expected, however what she saw upon arriving surprised her far more than anything so far.

There was a camp. A camp of people at the entrance of the tower. They were all happily chatting, there was even a smith and a food tent of sorts. And more than anything, they all wore the same leather armor and had similar weapons at their disposal. Amber’s eyes narrowed and she circled around it from within the forest.

She wasn’t a rogue or assassin or anything, but she had noticed that no monsters came near the tower long ago; so Amber hoped that the people of the camp didn’t have active rangers looking for people. And to her surprise, they didn’t. She had hidden her cube long ago, so there was no light around thankfully.

As she snuck in the woods, circling the camp, she was able to hear some level of conversation. One that she found interesting.

“To believe the royal vault was robbed! And here I was doing my training, if only I could’ve helped…”

A man laughed at that. “And die? How long have you got left on your training, boy?”

“Three more months…” the first person replied shyly, then a laugh came soon after.

Of course, that wasn’t the only conversation she had managed to overhear. She even managed to hear speculation about who had attacked the royal vault⁠ ⁠— though no one seemed to have any idea it was the Arcane Council. Some guessed it had to do with a place called Republic of Mercenaries, but other than that, there were no concrete names.

However, from what she managed to gather is that the people gathered were part of the kingdom, directly serving under the Queen and King of Cytel. Amber wondered if they were some special force or something, but she wasn’t stupid enough to ask. Instead, she walked around the forest and inched closer towards the tower.

Given the different design, she hoped there was another entrance; otherwise she had no clue how she was going to sneak past all the people. And when she finally got to see the entrance of the tower, she also saw another entrance more to the side, however it seemed sealed.

Amber examined the tower, it had pillars lining each of its floors, and in the space between them, there were just walls. However, in one of the spaces the main entrance lay, and now in a different space the closed entrance did too. And that gave her hope in finding an open entrance.

She continued circling through the tower and eventually she saw two people walking the perimeter of the tower.

“Why are we doing this again? No one comes here,” one of the guards said.

“Because it is our duty. Seriously, how did you make it here? You are supposed to be loyal to the kingdomship,” the other scoffed.

“I am loyal.” The first guard was offended. “I am just not blindly loyal. I don’t see why guard this area!”

Amber used the chance to continue past them and soon enough, she saw an open entrance right behind the tower. Her eyes looked left and saw no one, and to the right⁠— she also saw no one. Finally, she took a deep breath and used Quick Dash, immediately entering through the dark entrance.

For a moment, there was only darkness⁠— even the light from the outside seemed to be missing. But after blinking, she saw something else. She stood in a circular room with sandstone walls and floor.

What⁠—?

And a growl called Amber’s attention, and she paused seeing a gigantic scorpion in the middle of the room. It had black chitin, though its pincers and stinger seemed to be dripping with some kind of acidic venom. The creature hissed, and Amber used Identify.

[Venomous Vencer. Lvl. 82]

High level.

Amber unsheathed her sword, and waited for a moment before the monster rushed. The chittering of its legs resounded across the room and Amber grinned. She wasn’t afraid of it, in fact she was dying to test out the capabilities of Curse Manipulation. She charged forward and modified the Curse of Laceration, then with a Quick Dash, she moved to its side and Amber slashed. Curse Cleave activating at the same time.

The sword hit the scorpion’s side, and black chunks of chitin burst, numerous cuts appeared and Amber’s eyes flashed with surprise. The attack didn’t go through? The monster screeched and swiped, she used Quick Dash to get out of the way. Amber flinched, feeling part of her arm be scraped off as a tingling pain began to spread.

It was the venom.

Cursed Momentum immediately reached a third of its strength, and Amber knew that this was a battle she had to be careful in. A small numbness spread across her arm, but midway through, it was stopped by Recovery of Curses.

Amber took a deep breath as the scorpion charged forward and she sheathed her sword. She knew exactly what she had to do. Dashing with her mana, she moved out of the way and grabbed her dagger instead. And then, she used⁠—

Cursed Stomp.

The ground fractured and lacerations spread on the scorpion’s leg, pieces of chitin flew and the monster stumbled. Amber dashed with mana, reaching the scorpion in a moment and she cleaved⁠— stabbed the scorpion with the exploitation of her skill and the dagger dug deep. Penetrating past its chitin and lacerating its inside with Curse Manipulation.

Amber immediately dashed out of the way as the monster screeched, its body being cut from the inside as the dagger was left behind.

Just like that, she had used half of her mana.

Amber grabbed the Sword of all Mortals, unsheathing it again. The scorpion was shaking, thrashing in its spot before it let out a violent shriek. And at that moment, venom sprayed.

The ground began burning where it touched, and then⁠— it did it again, and again. Amber’s eyes went wide as she dodged the sprays of venom, the monster was doing it at random, almost haphazardly and while it was easy to dodge, the smell caught her attention.

You can’t be serious.

The fumes immediately made her body start to feel numb. It was happening almost too fast, and the scorpion kept on crying as it attacked its surroundings in a panic. For a moment, she thought she could outlast it, but then Amber realized that the scorpion’s mannerisms didn’t seem to change, whereas her body was getting number by the second.

So stupid, she thought, gritting her teeth. Her heart began to skip and she dashed forward, narrowly avoiding the acidic venom coming from the scorpion’s stinger. Then, jumping on its back, Amber swung her sword⁠ ⁠— holding it by the blade ⁠— the guard piercing its chitin as the beast screeched.

She repeated it again, and Sharp Senses blared. Amber ducked and the scorpion’s stinger stabbed. Hitting its hard back and shattering it in an instant. The scorpion recoiled and did it again, Amber got her shoulder scraped as the numbness began to overtake her body. She nearly slipped, and the scorpion used its stinger again⁠— it pierced into its body. And at that moment, she decided that it was enough.

Fucking⁠— Cursed Rage Synergy and Curse Battery!

She hit it with her palm and a moment later lacerations exploded across the monster. She didn’t even bother to use Curse Manipulation as she heard the monster shriek. Then, with a spasm it stabbed with its stinger and nearly pierced Amber’s back. But she let go, falling to the ground as numbness filled her body.

And a moment later, the scorpion died.

[You have defeated a [Venomous Vencer. Lvl. 82].]

A deep breath left her seeing her notifications.

[General Weapon Mastery has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 7 to 2nd Rank level 8.]

[Cursed Stomp has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 3 to 2nd Rank level 4.]

[Toxin Resistance has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 1 to 2nd Rank level 2.]

[Curse Battery has leveled up from level 8 to 9.]

[Recovery of Curses has ranked up. Recovery of Curses is now 2nd Rank level 1.]

[Recovery of Curses has reached 2nd Rank — level 1

The curses fuel you. You regenerate stamina and health when affected by a curse. The higher the skill level the more effective the skill is.

2nd Rank ⁠— Once a day, the skill can enter overdrive, doubling its effect for 15 minutes.]

[You have reached level 77. 5 stat points awarded.]

[You have reached level 78. 5 stat points awarded.]

That’s nice… She wanted to speak but she found that she couldn’t, so in the end, Amber laid there waiting for the numbness to pass.

She didn’t expect for the first floor of the tower to open up like that, but even though she could hardly move she was excited.

Just what kind of monsters are in the floors above?

She couldn’t wait.