“Is this going to be a recurring theme? Am I going to almost die every fucking time I enter a tower? I hope the rest of the towers are better. Maybe I need to level more? Actually, I better get a bunch of damn levels!”

Auranta and Nepenthes watch a little bird chirp loudly and angrily. They have no idea what it is saying, but it looks frustrated. Eventually, said bird shifts into a cat.

“Fuck this test.” Quasi curses.

“I do not believe fornication with tests is possible.” Nepenthes adds.

Quasi gives the Phytonid a deadpanned look.

“You exploded. How are you even alive?” Auranta shifts the subject and Quasi’s frustration.

“Oh, that? I layered as much of the destruction rune on my skin as possible. Right before I activated them, I flexed my muscles and directed the explosion outward. Still hurt a lot, and I probably lost a good quarter of my flesh, but I survived and got away.”

“You’re insane!” Auranta exclaims.

“It’s fine. I regenerate. How else do you expect me to learn destruction without materialization?”

“You blew up your flesh to learn to cast spells!” She screams, showing more emotion than Quasi had ever seen Auranta show.

“Geese. Why are you getting so angry? It’s my body and I can blow it up as much as I want to.” the cat counters.

“Because I’m responsible! I showed you the rune and you- you.” She breathes out and forces herself to calm. It has been a very long while since she’d lost control of her emotions.

“You’re right. It is your choice, but I’m not going to allow you to train without my supervision.”

Quasi grins. “Fair. There's probably better spells to train with… Ones that don’t explode.”

Auranta nods. “Good. Now, how are we getting out of here? I doubt we can exit with all those monsters present.”

Quasi yawns and stretches. “Last time I passed the test, I was teleported back to the beginning. Hopefully it will do the same. Lets go.”

Finding the stairs, the group silently descends down under magical cat firelight. When they reach the bottom, they find a central pedestal with a glowing crystal ball.

“It’s glowing.” Auranta observes.

“Yes, yes it is. Both of you stay put, I’ll handle this.”

Quasi shifts back into a Fenrimorph. When he does, the smell of burnt flesh wafts to all those who could smell it. This also allows both women to assess the extent of the damage. He has no skin and his muscles on his upper body are extraordinarily reduced. The only muscles that look generally undamaged are the ones on his legs. He probably avoided damaging them precisely so he could jump away.

Walking to the orb, Quasi lays a gauntleted hand on the orb, at which point it immediately shatters to reveal a card. Looking closer, the card pictures a tower reaching up and through clouds.

When he places his hand on the card, it disintegrates.

_____________________________________________________________

Through Vitality, you have resisted the environment.

Through Intelligence, you have avoided the swarm.

Through Perception, you have safely traversed chaos.

Test of the Tower completed. Notifying the World System…

Chariot completion identified…

Activating blessing interface…

Restricting Blood Flow to brain…

Wait? The swarm could be avoided!

As I fall to the floor, I hear two more thuds accompanying mine.

Then all is replaced with a room of endless white. The same endless light with the exception of a second card floating next to the first.

Glancing away from the car, I find no object of Chaos to meet me. Instead, I’m met with Green and Blue. Green for my level and Blue for my blessing.

“Before we begin. Green, am I level thirty yet?”

“Negative.”

I turn to Blue. “Then let's begin with your buddy here since I’m not getting any new skills. Blue, what have you got for me?”

Blue blinks at me. “Entity Quasi Eludo, you have obtained the Tower card. Please choose one of the following blessings:”

Blessing of the Chariot.

Towers Vitality.+5% Vitality[Minor Healing Regeneration]Increase Healing Rate by 100%.Towers Intelligence.+5% Intelligence[Perfect Pitch]Perfectly remember any and all sounds.Towers Perception.+5% Perception[Flash Immune]Light flashes do not blind you.

Reading the options, I can’t help but find that they are lacking in comparison to those available in the previous tower.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I don't suppose I can reroll my options?” I ask blue.

“Negative.”

“Yea, thought not. Give me a moment to think about this.”

I scratch my chin and stare at the floating box.

Towers Vitality is a simply good blessing all around. Increased vitality improves my lifespan and base regeneration by five percent. The [Minor Healing Regeneration] skill is honestly really good and really useless. In a fight, doubled regeneration on my impressive regeneration as a Fenrimorph is still not fast enough to make a major difference in a fight. Healing a wound in five minutes instead of ten just isn't worth it. Now, what it is useful for is training!

“Of course I’m offered a skill that lets me blow myself up more often.” I shake my head and look to the next offer.

Towers Intelligence is honestly useless for me. Over the centuries, I’ve already learned how to manipulate my thoughts to remember anything, sounds included. This would makes it easier, but wasted. As for the stat boosts, not worth it.

I look to the final blessing.

Towers Perception is another that could potentially be useful, but I’ve yet to deal with anyone trying to mess with my photoreceptors. On top of that, I don’t think it would affect me as badly. Minor damage to eyes would be near instantly healed by my natural regeneration.

I shake my head. “Damn, funny how the blessing that helps me with self flagellation is the best option.”

“Have you chosen your blessing?” blue asks.

“Yea, yea. Just give me Towers Vitality.”

“Choice: Towers Vitality, accepted.”

Adding Title: Towers Vitality…

Title Added successfully.

Title Name

Towers Vitality

Title Rank

Tower

Title Effect

+5% Vitality trait

[Minor Healing Regeneration]

“Blessing application completed.” Blue blinks rapidly. “Activating Reset Protocol.”

“Wait! I still have to talk to green about my stats!”

Reset Protocol Activated…

Teleporting Entity Quasi Eludo and servants to entrance…

Teleport Successful…

Test of Tower will reset once all entities leave the premises.

__________________________________________________________________

I wake up to the smell of fried Fenrimorph, the sound of pouring rain, and the flashes of red lightning.

As I stand up, I watch as both Auranta and Nepenthes do the same.

“W-what happened?” Auranta asks while Nepenthes quickly takes a defensive stance.

I take this opportunity to transform into my feline form. “Teleportation. We’re at the start of the tower. Once we leave, this whole test resets.

“I-I see.” Auranta tries to stand but finds herself exhausted.

“Are you alright?” I ask, concerned.

“I believe so. My body feels weak.”

“All cellular damage has been reverted since leaving the initial tower.” Nepenthes explains. “I too feel weakened, but the effect is temporary.”

“Sounds like good news to me. Let's get out of here. I’m done fighting mushrooms from now on.”

The three of us head to the stair and begin making our way down.

“By the way, did you guys get any levels?”

“I have gained five.” Nepenthes explains. “My goddess blesses me with a new skill.”

“Five!” Auranta yells, seemingly forgetting her weakness. “What level are you?”

“I am twenty-one now.”

“You’re not even an advanced class! How are you so experienced with Mutation?”

I chuckle. “Nepenthes is from a different world like me. We’re a lot more capable than you’d expect.”

“That… that explains a lot.” The woman goes solemn and thoughtful. Kinda sad too.

“So, did you get any levels?” I shift the conversation.

“Two levels. It seems the danger we faced was significant.”

“Yea, I agree. Kinda almost died, but all's well that ends well. Speaking of which, it looks like we’re back before night.”

Reaching the descent, light beams from the tower's opening. As we exit, I can't help but be somewhat disappointed at seeing only my ship and nothing else. Oddly enough, I was somewhat expecting to see a giant ship parked next to the tower.

But no, just calm winds and still plenty of light.

“If I’m not getting fucked over, I bet someone else is going to be.”

___________________________________________________________

Over a hundred thousand Trist from a single sale. One of the largest hauls [Merchant Captain] Morris has seen to date. He’d gained two whole levels. A rarity as an Advanced class. It truly was a smart play to sell the ship to the Gambinos. The added danger of dealing with pirates and greater profits really is a boon to leveling.

Grabbing his quil and a clear sheets of paper, he taps the point in ink and starts planning on his next trade. With the influx of trist at his disposal, he can fill his ships storage with far more valuable goods. Something that would sell well to the major island like exotic fruits or rare metals. The Gemma tend to pay premium for quality, and Memphis does trade in quality metal.

“[Captain]!”

He hears a shout.

“[Captain]!” The shout outside his office is closer.

Morris stands up at the same time as one of his men bounds into his office.

“[Captain]! Come to the deck. There's a problem!”

Seeing the man's panicked expression, Morris rushes up to the deck of his ship without question. Chubby as he is, boosted traits give him more mobility that would be expected as he outpaces the sailor. When he finally does arrive on the deck, what greets him is shock.

The city of Memphis is burning- more specifically, the port is destroyed alongside every ship that was docked. Even the city’s defensive towers and defenses are nothing more but slag.

“What's your order, captain?”

Morris swallows. “Turn the ship around. I’m not going to deal with this.”

“Aye [Captain].” The sailor moves and the ship begins to turn.

Morris shakes his head and starts heading back into the ship. Just before he enters inside, he takes one last look at Memphis…

… and the Aurora above the city.