James Terrano landed in a hidden torch-lit chamber which was secretly held beneath the Elden Tree’s home, or as he found out today was actually a never-before-seen Fire-Birthed Elden Tree, a higher tier of an enemy than records held.

I did it. Yet, James still made it to a stage that only a handful of the Comsos’s Entire History can say they’ve done, with every early-stage dominators having a higher chance of making it to a Creator-level of power with such a strong foundation.

James walked down from the pile of sand which was only a mound now revealing a massive treasury.

The Walls were of obsidian and glowed with red veins in periodic intervals, the walls seemingly alive and breathing.

Stone columns held within the Treasury reminded James of dwarven-made structures which held up the land above a high ceiling which was of stone curves.

The entire room had a mysterious feeling to it all.

Walking off the sand pile, James walked onto an orange soft carpet which led him to a stone altar with three small chests and one large chest contained.

On the altar was a paper, a turquoise-veined obsidian orb, and a beautiful bird quill of impressive craft, in which the feather was silver in color and seemed to be of a unique bird, giving off a fierce presence which was emboldened by a black metal frame.

Is that a Raven-Desolator feather? God damn…

James was already enticed and his eyes filled with a calm steady greed, his vision looked over the chests and he ran his fingers around the entire altar looking for hidden features or traps.

*click*

James seemed to have hit a button and the wall in front of him fell down revealing two things.

A hidden waterfall was revealed, its liquid seemingly giving out some sort of molten silver.

Moon Drip? James witnessed in astonishment as he figured the staircase led to the exit, or better yet, the next floor.

Then without hesitation, James opened the chests. Each one gave off a spectacular glow which seemed to fade as his vision landed on the chests.

Taking a glance, James saw every artifact which the chests held, and his heart was in turmoil, but he simply felt that the risk of the first floor for a mortal might just be worth it.

Why did it have to be here, how could it be these, and is the Tower aware of my situation?

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James silently eyed the chest’s holdings.

In the left small chest, James saw a ring, it was seemingly made out of an obsidian-looking metal, a dark purple twisted form that seemed to avoid one’s gaze yet seem incredibly mysterious.

“Ring of Twisted Nightmares… created and smithed by an ancient race god for their race’s Royal Grand Protectors. Gifts the wearer many abilities and buffs all suited to heightening the senses of the user.” James said quietly as his voice quivered slightly.

I had this ring in my past life after delving into an incredibly dangerous ruin which even ended in the death of a potentially great friend.

Memories flashed by as James looked at the other two pieces of equipment in the small chests.

Mask of the Changing Phantom allows the wearer to not only hide his presence on an amazingly high level of anti-detection ability. Then came its ability to change his hair color and eye color, and if he wanted to change the mask’s appearance at will. Should one bond with the mask to a deeper level and achieve the Faceless Mask upgrade, they will simply avoid all detection if the wearer wanted, and even Gods will fail to notice your presence.

James started to chuckle softly.

“Ha… Hahahaha.” James started to laugh quietly hysterically.

The third box held James’s previous life’s other ring. Another ring that granted one buffs… and this was towards cultivation.

“Even my Spirit Ring is here…” James said quietly with a grin.

A marble-looking material in a simple o-ring shape with no other adornments was in a similar red cushion showcasing its glorious simplistic beauty.

With the ability to grant a cultivator a much faster gathering rate and have the benefit of giving enlightenments occasionally at random. A simple ring with an incredible benefit.

James, however, thought even these items were fair for defeating that terrible Elden Tree at such a low rank. If he didn’t have a God-Level of experience and had trained with his mortal body to its peak, then taken extremely rare and powerful pills with huge boosts, James would’ve simply died.

Then he realized.

If I hadn’t scoured the first floor for all its wealth, I wouldn't have had the ability to go beyond, I see the tower is simply trying to give us all the resources to evolve at the most perfect rate, all it takes is an indomitable person who refuses to merely take some. Reward the Greedy and Brave.

James opened the Large chest revealing a few pieces of equipment such as a belt, boots, and some braces. Each piece was made out of what James recognized as Dragon-Blood Forged Steel. One of the most famous and a rather high-tier sets of equipment to find in the Tower.

Its ability was to greatly reduce incoming damage comparative to the user’s strength level, which is rather similar to a percentage-based gear system found in Treya’s technological past where video games were frequent.

Wonderfully made.

The belt was of a black-mysterious leather and with Dragon-Blood Forged Steel as the latches and joints connecting to a series of dark leather pouches capable of holding various tools and materials.

A good belt, with pockets! James was happy as he put on his new gear.

The boots were made of Dragon-Blood Forged steel, but the inside was covered in white fur which has a weather-stabilizing effect, causing his feet to start cooling down at a gentle rate.

The boots were also enchanted with quietening factors as well as speed-enhancing effects.

Simple enchantments on an amazing piece of armor, sometimes simple is the best though!

Then James eyed the dark-metallic braces which had a large symbol of a Raven.

I like the design, and with all the Dragon-Blood Forged steel equipment being dark-colored, their appearances are rather low-key, at least compared to some gear.

James imagined bright silver or even golden heroic gear which he often saw in his past life.

Shaking his head, Ray looked down after putting on the equipment at the altar and saw the piece of paper and the notes laid on it.

To the right of him was a stone with which he was familiar, a Scrying Runestone, used to register one’s current abilities with incredible accuracy, then if one doesn’t have a class yet, will give them insight into what they currently and possibly could gain.

Incredible, to think such a thing was forged by the Ancient Dwarven Astral Forge Masters who peered into the system's strange territory with their hammers and brains eventually creating a runestone before their civilization mysteriously disappeared all at once.

“I wonder… what would the system give me this time around?” James said quietly, excitement building within.