Nox was taken aback by the sudden growth in the dagger's ranking, which had been 'C' just a few days ago.

It was only after a few minutes that he calmed down and read the dagger's description further.

'A parasite? Decay?' he internally doubted, unable to put a finger on just what was going on with his dagger.

**********

Decay (S)

When the skill is active, anything the skill holder touches will corrode for one second.

During this instant, the target will experience unbearable pain and will be paralysed.

The skill will only work if the target is higher level than the user.

**********

"Are you in any pain?" Nox inquired, turning towards the teenager before him.

"Not at all, Master!" came the reply.

Still in a state of confusion, the man breathed out a sigh of relief, satisfied that the white-haired child was in no pain, even though a parasite had infected it.

Due to the time he had spent inside the library, he had verified information on most of the basics of the Tower, including a 'Parasite'.

A parasite could be described as a stray entity made entirely of arcane, making it invisible to the naked eye. Only people who had the habit of perceiving their surroundings using arcane had a chance of detecting it.

There had been cases where a parasite was a great help to the player, as there were some (a negligible number) that provided a skill to its victim in exchange for a part of the victim's arcane. But more often than not, they rendered their victim completely useless.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Moreover, although it was possible to remove a parasite that had seen an object (or being) as its victim, for low-level players and blacksmiths like Justin and Nox, it would be impossible no matter how much they tried.

But Nox decided to put the issue aside for the moment since, at the present moment, Moon experienced no discomfort due to the parasite.

"How have you been?" he asked, softly ruffling the boy's hair with his hair.

"I'm great, Master! The maker has taken care of me," the teenager replied, laughing lovingly while fully enjoying his master patting his head.

"You should rest for now," Nox advised, offering the child a wide, natural smile.

Nodding vigorously, the teenager disappeared into the dagger, which the man gripped tightly in his hand.

"I don't know how I can thank you for what you have done," said Nox, turning towards Justin before sliding the dagger into the leather sheath hanging on his waist.

"It's fine," replied the tanned man. "It makes me happy that you care so much for him."

The young blacksmith had seen barely a handful of men who cared for their weapons as much as the man before him. Such actions made him realise his worth and value as a person who gave birth to immaculate objects who, like humans, required care and love to grow well.

Unfortunately, most of the warriors and weapon wielders he encountered never seemed to understand this simple fact.

"Anyway," said Justin, breaking the silence that had somehow formed, "I'll start climbing the Tower soon, so just message me if you ever require any assistance with your weapons or armour."

"Sure!" exclaimed Nox, offering the blacksmith a slight bow. "If you ever need assistance with anything, don't hesitate to message me either."

The two conversed about the tower for a few more minutes before parting ways. Through the conversation, Nox had come to know that Justin was about to climb the same floor as him.

One of the floors where the players gained much more knowledge than they ever thought they could.

The floor which set a base for each player for the rest of their climb, making their power grow by leaps and bounds.

It was one of the hardest initial floors on the Tower. Not because it contained high-level monsters or demons. But simply because it pushed the players much harder than any other floor, forcing them to better themselves in order to climb any further.

The Eleventh Floor.

Widely known as… Murim.

{Author's Note: I'll be taking some time off due to IRL stuff, and hope to restart uploading again in a few weeks. Thank you for sticking with me so far... And of course, do not forget to comment your questions below, since all of them will be answered in CHAPTER 100}