Sam crossed his legs and sat down, meditating briefly on his gains from those fights. Glakassa and Jacob sat beside him. Notably, they sat on either side, avoiding one another. Sam gave them a smile.

“Leveling is ridiculously difficult in E Rank,” he complained a moment later. “That monster only gave me two levels, despite it being almost seventy levels higher than me.”

“That’s just the way it goes,” Glakassa said. “Leveling in E Rank is a completely different beast to F Rank and below. It only gets harder from there. My father stalls for decades between levels.”

“That sounds like weakness to me,” Jacob sneered.

“Says the man not even past the first few levels of E Rank,” Glakassa retorted.

“And who can handily defeat the vast majority of people at my level, and above.”

“Just stop the fighting, please?” Sam said, almost begging. “I don’t know why you two can’t get along.”

“Because he is a jingoistic brute-” Glakassa began.

“She’s just trying to use you-” Jacob interrupted.

“Use him? I only met him a month ago!”

Jacob snarled. “You aliens are all the same. First you pillage my world, then you try to steal the mind and heart of my son!”

Sam’s head whipped around, shock on his face. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me. They are all the same-”

Sam shook his head. “No, after that. You actually called me your son, and you meant it.”

“Are you not?”

“You have changed. A lot. Was it reaching E Rank? Are the tendrils that foul A Ranker dug into you starting to recede?”

As Sam said this, the tell tale vacant expression that usually stole over Jacob’s face whenever he spoke about Isabella Dantorian appeared. He sighed.

“Anyway, I wish you would just tone it down. I’m not sure what exactly there is between us, Glakassa, but there is something there. And as for you, Jacob, the connection is obvious. We need to stand together, not fall apart.”

Before either of the others could answer, the sky above lit up with a series of lights. Some were far larger than the others, but each was marked with the name of a faction. By far the largest were two near Sam, one from the Adventurers’ Guild, and another from the Isolationists. Sam had no doubt as to whom those were addressed. They glowed like suns in the sky, before descending, resolving into more concrete objects.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

All of the sponsorship gifts were in chests, all of different hues. It seemed that the System enjoyed its pageantry when the Tower was concerned. From the exiting spectacles of challengers to the halo-like crowns that the winners of the events wore, it was all designed around the inflation of challengers’ actions.

The two chests Sam had noticed first were both a deep red in color. Most of the others were either gray, green or blue. It seemed to follow the established rarity systems from Earth’s games. Perhaps it was something within the Dao Annals that had spread across the Multiverse. In any case, that meant that the two red chests were Mythical rarity. Either that, or the colors corresponded to the power of the faction sending them. Sam had no idea what those colors corresponded to in terms of actual power, but it seemed good, at least by comparison.

The chests touched down before their recipients, and as expected, both of the red chests landed before Sam and the Overlord. His one was from the Adventurers’ Guild. A few more landed before him, but they were of lesser rarities. There were a few purple ones, and one golden.

Glakassa also received a golden chest, and the name of some faction that Sam did not recognize floated above it, so he simply put it out of mind. Instead, he reached forth and opened the chest.

Within it were four objects, a yellow crystal, a small pill that glowed with a faint rainbow light,a tiny plant in a pot and a letter. The first three radiated energy, despite their humble appearances. The plant looked like a bonsai tree, and it had four leaves. More unusually, it was planted in thin air. He withdrew the objects from the chest, and it faded away into nothingness.

He opened the letter first, already having a good idea of its contents.

To Sam Atlas.

We of the Adventurers’ Guild wish to extend an olive branch of sorts to you after your treatment by some of our lower ranked members, not sponsored by us, of course. We hope that the gifts provided help to make up some of that debt. As perhaps one of the premier talents of this era, you must have many ideas about where you want to go with your future. The Multiverse awaits, and despite your situation, no sect or faction worth their salt would refuse to pay for your freedom. Despite this, our guild is one of the most powerful factions in the Multiverse. It can protect you from almost all harm, if you fully join its ranks. You have already made the first step, but there is still further to go. If you accept, you will instantly become my personal apprentice, with all of the benefits that provides.

Yours,

High Elder Zakoss(C Rank)

Sam closed the note, and deliberated for a bit. While it would be useful to be a member of a powerful faction, and one that did not seem to be all that bad on the Multiversal stage, he suspected that any offers made would not include provisions for the rest of his people. Had that been included, he most likely would have said yes.

In response to his thoughts, the letter spooled open all on its own, revealing a new message.

In response to the possibility that you might still refuse, the higher Guild authorities have authorized me to purchase the safety of all of the other inhabitants of your planet, provided they are still alive when Initialization has ended. Though, this promise is only open if you manage to surpass the seventy-fifth floor of the tower. It will not be offered again.

Sam let out a breath. It seemed that he had a new goal.