Even after a couple of minutes spent staring intently at the notifications in front of him, Lucas still couldn’t take his eyes off those wonderful words.
One notification told him he now had 84,500 points in total, which left Nicholas’s record of 33,456 completely in the dust—almost embarrassingly so.
For a moment, Lucas wondered how Aysha was doing, but he quickly got distracted by other aspects of his floor completion notification. Namely, the one that told him 10,000 points were deducted for his eye-necklace.
Compared to his Dark Wooden Staff, the increase in “price” was only 7,000 points, which wasn’t much at all, considering that eye was supposed to carry a legendary bloodline.
However, instead of feeling encouraged by the fact that his precious points had been spared by the tower, Lucas felt deflated. After all, the tower didn’t run a charity. They wouldn’t offer something at a low cost if it could potentially hold that legendary bloodline, would they?
After a few moments of reflection, Lucas came up with two theories to explain the low cost of the necklace.
Either the eye was completely devoid of any bloodline, or it wasn’t sterile, but it was still impossible to extract the bloodline from it, even if it was present. This would reduce the total point cost, making it more of a rare souvenir—the eye-necklace of the Prophesized Child.
Or, on a brighter note, the eye still retained the bloodline, and there was a method to claim it for himself. However, the method was likely very difficult to discover, which would lower the cost due to the challenge of gaining anything from it.
If the second theory was true, then he still had a chance. But if it was the former, the most he could hope for was to sell the necklace to a collector once he got out. Still, despite his chances not being great, Lucas wasn’t willing to give up until he knew for sure there was no hope.
Moving on to happier thoughts, Lucas glanced at the bonus points he received and was glad to find that his efforts to kill as many people as possible were greatly rewarded. He had received a thousand points for each kill, on top of 10,000 for each “genius,” which he assumed meant Axis and Halyk.
Remembering the last battle, Lucas couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander to Flavya. The fact that Lucas was transported from the desolate city and had successfully completed the fourth floor challenge indicated that Flavya had indeed died before he managed to kill Axis, probably when Axis used that absurd skill that melted his flesh away.
In a way, he was glad she had died by Axis’s hands. This way, he wouldn’t have to kill the girl himself, which would’ve been rather unpleasant considering how much she had helped him. And he had even profited from her dying early, considering he got the kill for Axis that was promised to her.
However, he still felt somewhat bitter about it. It was a pity she had to die at all. Their partnership had been practically flawless, and he had grown to greatly appreciate the girl’s company despite the short time they spent together.
Since there was nothing he could do about it, Lucas refocused on the wonderful news in front of him.
Besides the amazing bonus points he received, he noticed that the base points per floor completed had doubled from the earlier floors. That could only be a recognition of the difficulty spike from the third to the fourth floor, which made Lucas wonder if it would rise again on the next floor or if it was something that happened only every three floors.
According to Aysha, the number of points they managed to achieve in the end was very important. Many had gone from weaklings with nothing to show for themselves to valuable assets after a good result in the tower, leaving the place with their pockets full of coins, good weapons, and precious things to trade. So Lucas was very excited to see what he could get with 84,500 points.
However, by far the most exciting thing he received after finishing the fourth floor was the achievement. The highest achievement, according to the system! Those words made all the pain and sacrifice pay off, and once he read the actual description, he was over the moon.
Achievement Unlocked: Top talent
You have proven yourself to be at the very top of your generation. Be it through wits or sheer power, you have overcome insurmountable odds to surpass your peers and stand tall above them.
+25 all stats. 1+ Skill Selection. 1+ Skill Upgrade.
If he understood it correctly, that achievement was the system’s recognition of his talent as one of the best on the whole planet. That by itself was a huge deal, and when coupled with the complimentary description, it made his ego reach new heights.
Of course, the highlight of the achievement wasn’t in the compliments to his success but in the upgrades it gave him. The first, which added +25 points to all stats, was already enough to put him at the very top among all non-NPC people in Zoria.
If he had to be slightly careful with Nicholas before, now he could easily wipe the floor with the guy without any worries. Of course, whether he could take down Gregor Hastings’s bodyguards was still doubtful, not to mention the threat of his father, who had yet to make an appearance.
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It doesn’t matter. My fungus should be waiting for me once I’m through with the tower. If not, I’ll have to look at other options, Lucas thought, not the slightest bit discouraged.
He had given his all to achieve something great in order to gain his independence in this dangerous world, and he had done so with flying colors. Not only that, but his chances of going even further up in the tower had risen greatly.
From what Lucas understood, each floor’s difficulty was pre-established based on a person’s level when they entered that floor and not based on specific stats.
Of course, considering that everyone who managed to overcome the challenge of the fourth floor received an achievement, it was to be expected that the system would increase the difficulty on further floors accordingly. But it would be ludicrous to assume they would take the highest achievement as a metric for this difficulty spike.
Otherwise, instead of rewarding a good performance, they would be putting everyone on the same playing field once again, which didn’t make much sense. Instead, it was more likely that those who received the lowest achievement possible on the fourth floor would find it incredibly hard to go any further up.
Can I go all the way? Lucas couldn’t help but wonder anxiously before he managed to push that thought aside. It was too early to start raising expectations, but he couldn’t help but admire his updated status.
Status:
Lvl: 15
Name: Lucas Romano
Race: Human
Class: Glass Warrior
Health Points (HP): 730/730
Mana Points (MP): 620/620
Stamina: 320/320
Stats:
Strength: 71
Agility: 87
Toughness: 23*
Perception: 57
Vitality: 65*
Magic: 45
Distributable points: 0
Achievements: Special Unique Constitution. Survivor. Top Talent.
Abilities: Beginner Craftsman 1. Disembowelment. Beginner Skinner. Beginner Alchemist
Skills: Flying Axe. Stealth (Uncommon). Death Aura Manipulation (Inferior). Bone-blade (Unique). Beginner Pugilist (Common). Fire Blast (Common). Fire Shot (Common). Life Aura Manipulation (Common).
Those were indeed some pretty numbers. The spike in power he got from his Survivor achievement was nothing compared to his Top Talent; he was really at the top of the food chain now when it came to level fifteens, and the feeling was incredible.
After having his fill of looking at those beautiful numbers, Lucas turned his attention to the other perks that came with the achievement, both of which were nothing short of incredible.
“A skill selection and a skill upgrade,” Lucas muttered, amazed.
From books, he had learned that skill selections came every ten levels until reaching level 100, but the fact that he was being offered a skill selection at only level fifteen was huge news. It also meant a huge power increase.
The increase in stat points was a direct boost in sheer power, while the skill selection was more directly related to his battle prowess. More skills meant more resources to fight with; his fire shot alone had completely opened up new possibilities for him, and his glass blades had completely changed his fighting style.
Can I get another skill related to my class? Lucas wondered.
He had learned from books that the quality of the skills received was directly related to a person’s experiences and feats during the period between skill selections, and considering his time between the last one was half the normal amount, he grew a little concerned that this skill selection might not be as good as his last one.
However, after some more thought, he believed he had done a lot in this period, even if it had been short. Since level ten, he had learned boxing, gone through multiple tower floors, and increased his control and knowledge over magic.
If they all suck, I’ll still have another shot at level twenty anyway, Lucas concluded, reassuringly.
Moving on, he reached the final aspect of the Top Talent achievement: he could upgrade one skill. Considering how hard it was to upgrade skills, if that was the only perk of the achievement, it would still be a great one to have.
Pulling his head away from his achievement for the time being, Lucas regarded the place he was standing—with two full legs—for the first time. It was with relief that he saw his ring back on his finger, with everything inside, right where it should be.
The old waiting room had evolved into a luxurious apartment. Besides the bedroom, it had a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a training facility that somewhat resembled those of the Training Center, with a Totem available to make demands free of charge.
“I’m literally moving up in life,” Lucas said with a smile, moving toward the bathtub as he always did after arriving. This time around, he had a lot to think about, and there was no better place than a bathtub to do it.
Finally relaxed after two days of being on constant watch, Lucas ignored the sleepiness for a while to address a matter that had been bothering him ever since it happened: his miraculous recovery after Axis’s final skill that melted his skin, flesh, and organs, apparently leaving only parts of his bones behind, from which he regenerated back to his former glory (minus a leg). The question was, how did he do it?
After looking at the situation from different angles, Lucas reached the same conclusion he had before. Somehow, when he was about to die, he made a conscious effort to use his life aura at its fullest, trying to alleviate the pain from having his skin melt—that much he remembered—and then, at some point, he must’ve upgraded his skill after losing his rationality by maintaining the life aura instinctively.
That would explain the part of the upgrade that mentioned he could now use his life aura without having to consciously think about it. That part of the skill left him concerned; didn’t it mean that he would be constantly spending stamina, even for minor scratches?
Ignoring that for the time being, how could he stay alive when his brain and heart were gone, as he very much believed they were at some point? Hadn’t his health points dropped to zero? He knew soul magic existed, so could it be that his soul was still present and that’s how he managed to rise from the dead? Or were his bones and stamina all he needed to keep regenerating with this new upgrade to his life aura? Those were questions that would remain unanswered until he managed to learn more about how souls worked.
For now, all he knew was that his stubbornness against quitting had nearly killed him. Instead of dying, however, he had won plenty in the form of points, the best achievement, and a precious skill upgrade.
That really showed how danger and reward went hand in hand in this world, but it also left Lucas worried for the remaining floors of the tower. Would he be able to give up if he needed to? He wasn’t sure.
He was never really willing to quit on Earth, even when all odds were against him, and he sure as hell didn’t feel any more comfortable doing it now that he had turned his life around. Deep down, he knew he would probably go all the way in that tower or die trying.