Now that Lucas had potentially found his key, he knew there was plenty of research to be done.
He had bought the Gloomfruit from the Trading Center in the Tower, but it wasn’t a place he could access easily. Even if he could, it wasn’t as if such fruits were common. As far as he could recall, the Gloomfruit he had purchased was one of a kind, which was part of what had drawn his attention to it in the first place.
No, if he wanted more death-related items, he would have to seek them out himself—and at the moment, he didn’t have the slightest clue where to start looking. Of course, there was always Faruk’s diary to provide some hints, as well as the city’s library, which might hold some answers.
Those, however, were tasks for later. For now, his thoughts turned to the staff Faruk had gifted him, designed to better channel dark mana. Wasting no time, Lucas retrieved the staff from his ring. Holding the orb in one hand, he gripped the staff with the other and began channeling dark mana, and at the same time allowing his death aura to emanate outward.
As he expected, his connection to the orb seemed to intensify. He could feel it reacting to the waves of dark mana and aura he was emitting, and its engravings began to glow faintly.
He continued for a few minutes, waiting for something more significant to happen, but when nothing did, Lucas sighed and put the staff away, storing it back in his ring.
As he looked back at the orb, though, he was surprised to find that the bond with the orb remained stronger even after he stopped. The glow in its engravings persisted, and the faint warmth he felt from it hadn’t faded. Whatever he had done seemed to have a lasting effect.
Encouraged, Lucas retrieved the staff once more, attempting to amplify the changes, but this time, nothing happened. After several long minutes of trying, he was about to give up when a sudden knock on the door caught his attention. He immediately tensed.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by a broad, elfish smile. It was Aysha.
“I’m glad you made it back,” Lucas said after a brief, awkward silence where he just stared at her.
Elf — Lvl 17
Aysha looked just as he remembered, though now she wore a new green-and-brown outfit that suited her perfectly, along with a sleek new bow and arrows—no doubt acquired straight from the Trading Center.
Relieved to see her safe and sound, Lucas gave her a quick hug, much to the elf princess’s embarrassment. Her face reddened slightly as she stiffened in his arms. He’d been genuinely worried about her after learning she’d tackled the fourth floor, knowing firsthand how grueling it was.
“Sorry to meet you here,” Aysha began, recovering her composure. “I went to Hilda’s first, but she said you left in a hurry, so I figured you’d be here.”
“I had some things I needed to check after getting back,” Lucas explained. “So, did you complete the floor, or did you quit?”
“Completed it,” Aysha replied, exhaling a long sigh of relief. “There were moments I wasn’t sure I’d make it out alive, but here I am. Imagine my surprise, though, after going through all that hell, only to see your name above mine on the scoreboards.” She gave him a wry smile.
Lucas perked up at that. He’d been wondering about the rankings himself.
“How many points did you get?” he asked.
“Sixty thousand,” she said, frowning slightly. “I thought I did well—until I saw your score. How on earth did you manage 84,500?”
Lucas exhaled, part relief, part amusement. His performance on that final floor had truly been exceptional, but it was still satisfying to hear confirmation of it.
“Pure luck,” he said with a shrug. And he believed it, though luck wasn’t the full story.
Then another thought hit him. “What about Andrea? Where does she rank?”
Aysha’s expression darkened slightly. “It seems that despite being trained in archery since I was a child, I’ve still been beaten by two peasants,” she said dryly.
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The comment was delivered so casually that Lucas didn’t even feel offended at being labeled a peasant.
“That woman isn’t simple, though,” Aysha continued. “I was there when she exited. If I hadn’t seen her name in second place with my own eyes, I’d never have guessed she’d survive the fourth floor. I’m not sure if she completed it or quit, but whatever she did, it was enough to put her ahead of me.”
Second place, huh? Lucas thought, feeling a bit relieved that he hadn’t been surpassed, but still somewhat uneasy about the mysterious figure who had appeared among them without any warning.
“I agree, she’s definitely an odd one. I saw her before we entered the challenge, and she didn’t look like the warrior type at all. But if she made it that far and survived, she must have some hidden power.”
Aysha nodded slowly. “It’s not just her looks that were impressive. Her score was higher than I thought possible. She got 68,500 points.”
Lucas took a moment to think about that. He remembered how points were distributed on the last floor: twenty thousand for completing the floor, a thousand for each kill, and ten thousand for each of the two geniuses.
If he recalled correctly, Andrea had 38,500 points the last time he’d checked, so she either completed the floor and killed ten more enemies or managed to take down one of the geniuses. Either way, it was no small feat.
One thing was clear: Andrea must have completed the floor. There was no other way to earn that many points.
“What about the plan?” Aysha asked, changing the subject and giving him a knowing look.
“The quest I posted still hasn’t been completed,” Lucas replied with a shake of his head. “Actually, I was just about to head to the library—there are a few things I want to look into. Want to come along?”
Since Aysha also had some research to do, they decided to go together. As they walked, they discussed the Tower’s floors and their respective experiences.
When they got to talking about the third floor, Lucas was surprised to learn how much better Aysha had fared than him. She even shed light on a few secrets he hadn’t uncovered.
According to her, after the first person was killed and she realized the ominous nature of the floor, she decided the best course of action was to drug everyone. She used an herb she happened to recognize, which grew near the cabin.
Lucas was stunned by her casual tone as she explained this. When he commented on it, she simply said such tactics weren’t uncommon among royals.
She went on to explain that after drugging everyone, she interrogated them one by one until she pieced together what was happening. Whatever interrogation methods she used, she kept to herself.
Apparently, there was a mad scientist operating from a hidden lab nearby, experimenting with resurrecting corpses. The monster they encountered was one of his creations.
Lucas was astonished. In a world where the system wasn’t yet a thing, someone had actually managed to raise an undead.
Aysha revealed that the couple, John and Cindy, were complicit. Cindy, a distant cousin of the scientist, had been tasked with luring friends to the cabin near his lab.
While she knew something bad would happen, she wasn’t completely aware of what her cousin needed the subjects for, and had no idea things would escalate so quickly, with both of them still there. Her boyfriend had reluctantly gone along with the plan for the money the scientist paid them.
“Well, once I had the full story, I left them tied up in the basement and went after the lab,” Aysha said with a shrug. “The scientist wasn’t hard to deal with and he had just locked up the undead in a cell. He seemed terrified of his own creation.”
She killed the scientist with a kitchen knife, burned the lab to the ground, and ensured the undead was destroyed in the fire. The sturdy construction of the lab kept the creature contained until it was completely incinerated. Once the lab was destroyed, she was immediately transported to the waiting room, having finished the third floor.
When Aysha asked how Lucas had fared on the third floor, he was too embarrassed to share the full truth about Maria and the chaos that followed. Instead, he stick to admitting he hadn’t uncovered much of the plot and only managed to scrape through when the sun rose, being the last one standing.
Curious, Lucas asked if her being an elf caused any issues. Aysha looked puzzled before explaining that everyone on the floor had been elves. This revelation gave Lucas some insight into how the Tower worked.
Their paths diverged on more than just the third floor. Aysha explained that, upon realizing how difficult it would be to take down Sultan’s lair alone on the second floor, she returned to the city and hired a team of mercenaries. She promised to split the spoils evenly among them.
Even with help, she hadn’t been able to kill Sultan. In the end, she was forced to flee with the prince, losing two of her companions in the process.
Hearing that made Lucas feel a bit better. While he had botched the third floor, his performance on the second had been much better. He’d completed both quests and managed it all on his own.
“By the way, on the second floor,” Lucas began, a curious look crossing his face, “did you happen to meet a strange man sitting on top of a turtle?”
Aysha frowned for a moment before answering slowly. “Now that you mention it, I think I saw an old man dressed in black riding something when I crossed the desert. Why, did the floor give any bonuses related to him?” she asked curiously.
“No, I just thought he looked funny. He gave me a ride—turns out that turtle is faster than it seems,” Lucas replied, brushing it off.
So Faruk appearing to him wasn’t because he’d found the diaries. He probably showed up to anyone who crossed the second floor, but only Lucas would have anything to gain from meeting him.
Before they could dive into the events of the last floor, they arrived at the city’s library and split up. Aysha had her own insights from the tower she wanted to look into, while Lucas headed straight to Alva with a few questions about a certain mayor, amongst other things.