It had taken almost two hours to deal with the crowd. If Evelyn had tried to get through the day on her own, she would have crumbled way before then. Kayla had predicted that and had been waiting right by the portal when she stepped through, taking charge of the situation.

She redirected questions that didn’t need to be answered, used just enough aggression to ward off overzealous people looking to touch or shake hands with the woman who cleared the 16th Floor alone and helped Evelyn make a gradual escape from the overwhelming welcome.

“So, you did it, darlin’. Well done. Not that I didn’t believe in you, but I half expected to see you stumbling through that portal covered in blood and almost dead like the last time,” said Kayla, once they had made it back to Evelyn’s townhouse.

“Ye of little faith. I’ll be taking down the 17th Floor before you know it,” replied Evelyn with a giggle, catching Kayla’s gaze.

“I’m keeping you under lock and key until you deal with everything you ran away from. And we still need to talk about… us.”

“I was thinking something a little more hands-on than talking, but if that’s all you wanted?” said Evelyn with a mischievous glint in her eye, as she pushed open the door and turned to the dumbfounded woman beside her.

“It seems like your success has brought back the bold and dangerous Evelyn. I’m a fan. Lead the way, darlin’.”

~~~

Kayla was leaning against the headboard, blonde hair tousled and messy as she sipped from a steaming mug of tea.

“Let me get this straight. Provided the storage node you received is able to hold essence, you want to set up a bank?” she asked.

Evelyn was standing by the doorway, a knee length dress and cardigan covering her arms which still had some light bruising left over from the battle with Dazurmagon. It was late in the evening, but she hadn’t seen her father all day and was growing worried.

He could handle himself, but it was rather strange for him to have disappeared. And given that she hadn’t seen him before leaving for the 16th Floor either, Evelyn hoped nothing had gone wrong.

“Yup! Why the odd look? Do you not think it’s a great idea? I could tie it to the guild, and then we would be able to establish ourselves as one of the leading powers in Haven. Controlling two industries from the get go would be a fabulous way to undercut that smug git Kyron, don’t you think?”

“No, I agree. I’m just a little shocked. It’s the kind of plan I would expect myself to come up with, but the fact you had the whole thing ironed out the moment you got the item from the chest is… terrifying. And hot. You’re an enigma, Evelyn.”

“Why thank you, I try my best. I’m going to walk around and look for my father. This has been amazing, but I need some alone time to clear my head, as well. Feel free to hang out here, or if not I’ll meet you by the plaza tomorrow morning and we can start looking for a good location to set up shop.”

“Sure,” said Kayla, taking another small sip of tea and staring at Evelyn like she’d just shot her.

~~~

Her first ‘paycheck’ of essence arrived as she made her way to the city walls. Evelyn could select her reward for clearing the 16th Floor now, but among other things she needed to work out a better strategy for choosing them than whatever felt best at the time. It had been fine when she thought they would just keep coming, and her knowledge of the tower was rudimentary at best, but now that she had experienced an ascension and knew what was coming the second time around, she wanted to plan ahead.

Buying stars was stupid, now that she was able to earn them freely with Celestial Furnace. Especially at the price they were offered by the tower.

Skill crystals were still useful, but she would need to make sure that any useful skills reached the unusual tier before her next ascension. She regretted losing out on quite a few potent rare skills, especially the ones that had unlocked right before the first ascension.

One skill Evelyn wanted to try and obtain again was Spendthrift. Earning attribute points by spending essence she was going to spend regardless was a huge boon. And if she increased it to unusual, it would be a potent tool in her arsenal.

That left her with the choice of taking an attribute point or a skill crystal. It was odd that rare skill crystals weren’t being offered yet, but maybe the tower considered them more valuable than she expected.

Evelyn opted for the attribute point. She had a little mana floating around her circuits from the battle with Dazurmagon, accumulated with Arcane Impact Converter, but wanted to start cycling her own once again.

Plus, more attribute points meant a greater multiplier to her essence income. It was a purchase with a twofold payoff.

After dumping it into mana, she opened up her status to have a look, and inadvertently solved the puzzle of her extra essence income.

~~ Status ~~

Evelyn Han

Race: Human

Class: Unyielding Warrior (Rare) Lv.15

|Attributes|

Power: 15

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Speed: 0

Stamina: 0

Vitality: 0

Mana: 1

Fortitude(I): 15

Domain: 1

|Mutations|

Celestial Furnace

Arcane Impact Converter

|Skills|

~Passive~

Bulwark (Unusual), Galactic Expansion (Unusual), Master of Combat (Rare)

~Hybrid~

Soul of the Unstoppable Conqueror (Unusual)

Right underneath her evolved fortitude, was a brand new attribute. Evelyn knew right away what had triggered the domain attribute to appear. It had to be her absorption of the Reality Node.

Partial absorption, anyway.

While she could feel it there, floating just above her stomach and connected with her soul, she knew that she was far from drawing out all the power contained within. It was a raging storm of energy which she had only just begun to harness.

For the foreseeable future, she decided it was best to take attribute points and skill crystals as her rewards, depending on which was priced better. Another visit to the bazaar in Haven was in order so she could scoop up a load to replenish what had been burnt through her ascension, but that was another mission for tomorrow.

She had passed the city gates a while back, and just now crested the peak of a familiar grassy hill. Across from her, sitting cross-legged in meditation on the top of another hill, was her father.

Seeing him like that was rather nostalgic. It brought to mind the cold and distant man she had known her whole life, back on Earth. His recent behaviour had been rather uncharacteristic, even though she was enjoying the change.

“Hey there, enjoying the view of the stars?” she asked, keeping her voice soft so as not to startle him too much.

“My little menace, back already? I had thought it would take you a little longer to clear that damned floor. I can’t seem to get beyond those infuriating puzzles myself. Maybe you can give an old man a hint.”

He stretched out his arms, and shook the stiffness from his legs as he stood up to greet her. In a surprising twist, her father pulled her into a deep hug, which after overcoming the initial shock she reciprocated.

“It was a ridiculous puzzle. Just have to grit your teeth and push through with dogged determination. I was worried when you weren’t there to greet me, but Kayla said she hadn’t seen you the entire time I was gone either.”

“I had a lot to ruminate on. It has been difficult to adjust to this new mode of life. You’re still young, and while I don’t wish to discount what must have been a series of traumatic experiences while adjusting to the tower, it is far heavier a task for an old dog like me to change his ways,” he said, pulling away from the hug and returning his gaze to the tapestry of stars that painted the night sky.

Evelyn wondered if it was all fake, a creation of the tower. Given the power it had displayed though, its creations might be considered real for all intents and purposes. It was their reality, at least.

“You’d be surprised just how much you’ve changed. It’s like you’re a whole other person compared with the last time I saw you. Though we both have some share of fault in that.”

“Ouch.”

“That wasn’t meant to be an insult. I like this new you. There was something I needed to talk to you about.”

Her father started to walk down the hill, not in the direction of Haven but rather perpendicular to it. He motioned for her to follow.

“Let’s go for a walk under the stars and the moon. I find the city too crowded. It was peaceful a few weeks ago, but more and more people arrive every day. It’s beginning to feel like I’m back in New York,” he said.

Evelyn found herself agreeing with the sentiment. Though she wasn’t at odds with it as much as her father seemed to be. She liked the bustle. It let her fade into the background.

For the first few minutes they walked in silence. Evelyn had a lot to say, but she respected her father’s wishes to enjoy the atmosphere. He would be more amenable to her offer that way, or so she suspected.

“So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about, my little menace?” he finally asked.

“Well. I’m founding a guild. Me and Kayla. We figured it was the right decision, and I have the essence to do so. I have some other plans, but before we talk about them I want to offer you a position as one of the four founding members in my guild. I suspect you had plans to perhaps found your own, but I would like it if we stuck together. As a family. I intend to be a pretty hands-off guild leader so you’d end up with quite a bit of power anyway, which should suit your interests anyway.”

“Oh? How ambitious. I think you’ve changed a lot more than I have, my little menace. I can’t imagine you running a corporation. That’s the equivalent, I guess. Maybe your time here has made you bolder. To be honest, I had considered starting my own guild. Though I was struggling to figure out how to find four people I trusted enough to found one with. It could be interesting, working alongside you and… Kayla, was it?”

“Alright, I’ll send you the invitation now, so we can get it out of the way. We still need to find a suitable headquarters, preferably with another suitable building next door, or nearby for my other venture. Here you go.”

Invitation to the guild ‘Defiance’ has been extended to the challenger ‘EmperorHan’.Challenger ‘EmperorHan’ has accepted the invitation.

“Your other venture?” her father asked, shooting her a questioning gaze.

“Well, I think you might be even more shocked when you hear about this one than the guild. Though I have a feeling you might be rather excited. In fact, I sort of know what you’re going to say when I tell you what it is, and I don’t want to give you the satisfaction,” Evelyn replied.

“Well now I have to know. What do you need a whole second building for, my little menace?”