Chapter 400: The Law of the Land


    The problem was that Zacs connection to the Peak Family wasnt all that deep. It was simply a chance encounter between himself and Greatest. Perhaps they would have lent a helping hand if it was before, but now he had a bulls-eye on his back due to the quest.


    It was one thing for them to stand up against a solitary D-Grade warrior, but another thing entirely to create enmity with all the forces in the Base Town in order to protect him.


    Well just have to y it by the ear. In case we get split upter, remember to stay until the time runs out, so that we all exit this ce at the same time, Ogras said as he walked over to Gu. Get up, theres no time to waste.


    You are from a recently integrated so you dont understand just how troublesome people you''ve offended. We need to figure out a way to make amends! Gu said as he finally dragged himself back to his feet.


    We wont apologize to those assholes. Why was it so hard for them to sell one puny healing treasure? Ogras snorted. I say good riddance. Seeing how they acted they would just have caused problems for us even if we cowered in their presence. Might as well be proactive and kill them first.


    Zac nodded in agreement. He wouldnt have acted the way he did if it wasnt for the Splinter in his mind, but he was pretty annoyed even without it. That guy wanted Alea to die out of pure spite, even though they had never met before. All because some unverified clue that he had some connections to the Thayer Consortia.


    Anyway, lets get going, Zac said after throwing the demon a nod in thanks for the support. How do we get to the next floor?


    Gu looked at Zac incredulously, obviously shocked at how uninformed he was. Ogras wasnt as surprised of course, as he was the source of everything Zac knew about the tower.


    The Tower contains various challenges, and which challenge you will encounter at a specific floor varies. The only way topletely prepare for a climb is to be good at everything, which is of course impossible, the demon said.


    Challenges? Like what? Zac asked with interest.


    Zac hadnt actually bothered to learn too much about the tower itself until now. He had been so consumed with finding all the things he needed for himself, Earth, and Alea in the Base Town. Ogras had already mentioned that you could brute-force your way through the tower, but he needed to know how things worked now.


    Besides, it wasnt like Ogras was a wellspring of information. Getting anything out of the demon when it didnt benefit him was like squeezing water out of a rock.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It can be anything. It can be passing an array, like you did at the Pill House, finding a treasure, identifying the source of a curse, saving someone, Ogras exined and listed a handful of other challenges the demon himself encountered.


    Zac frowned since his skillset was quite limited. He had a basic understanding of arrays, but that was about it. How the hell would he dispel a curse orplete a summoning ritual for a departed ancestor? He knew nothing about pill concoction, tracking, or any other of the myriad side upations in existence.


    Dont worry, The Ruthless Heavens always leaves a path of survival, Ogras smiled. There is a second option, one that suits you better.


    Oh? Zac perked up.


    Just st through everything. Might over technique, the demon grinned. There is always the option to just kill something instead ofpleting the quest. It might sometimes be a bit unclear just what needs to be killed though, so make sure you think it through before you start swinging. Killing the wrong person might have odd consequences.


    Zac sighed in relief. It was just like the System to provide a back-up solution like that, it truly preferred violence over shrewdness.


    The three finally got ready to leave the de they wound up in, and Zac put the headless corpse of Rasuliel into his Cosmos Sack after some deliberation. Perhaps it woulde in handy for some reason when they emerged from the tower.


    By the way, what was the reward? Zac suddenly asked with some morbid curiosity as they walked. What was my life worth?


    One free level.


    One free level? Thats it? Zac asked incredulously, and he even started to feel a bit insulted by the System.


    Thats a huge reward! Gu said. Ive never heard of such a big reward before at Base Town. Its usually things like clue crystals that provide hints on how toplete a single quest, but yours is simply one free level.


    Oh, so a level for the tower? Still, whats the big deal if you get to one level higher? Zac asked.


    Because it might allow you topletely skip the final challenge of a floor. Over 90% of all trail takers get stuck at the final challenge of a floorsince the difficulty is way higher there than the earlier levels. sting past that trial will get you fame, rewards, and a better title, Ogras exined. Just look at Reoluv. If he managed to kill you first he would reach the fabled 8th floor rather than being stuck on 7th. It''s the difference between once a decade genius and once a millennia genius. Id be tempted to take you on right now myself if you werent such a monster.


    Zac only rolled his eyes in response, but he suddenly realized that Ogras wasnt just messing around. The demon was subtly telling him that the quest was still active. And while Gu felt like a slightly hapless youngster he wouldnt be here unless he was an elite.


    It wasnt unthinkable that Gu would try to kill him sooner orter, as that would not only let him pass another level, but it might also allow him to survive the storm that was no doubt brewing outside the tower. If Gu presented his head to the Zethaya or Tsarun ns he might even get a huge reward.


    Well, thank you for your restraint, Zac quickly answered, adding half-jokingly. I guess I will have to sleep with one eye open.


    The three walked through the tranquil forest for the better part of an hour, and interestingly there wasnt a single predator in sight. He did spot a level 20 bird, but it was pretty small and kept a wide berth from the three.


    This was of course fine with Zac who was in no fighting condition at the moment, but it was a bit confusing for someone who had been primed to fight some peak F-Grade boss toplete a trial. Zac was just about to ask what was going on when the scenery changed.


    The forest gave way to cultivated farnd that stretched out across the horizon, and a small farming vige could be seen in the distance. The whole scene felt extremely calm and idyllic, but Zac was dragged out of his reverie by a prompt from the System.


    <strong>[The Vige of Whittlecreek of the Bravorian Kingdom hastely been subject to an increasing number of raids from Fallen Goblins. Find out the source of the new threat.]</strong>


    Did you get the prompt about Whittlecreek as well? Zac asked curiously.


    Yes, this is our first trial, Ogras said as he pointed at the pastoral vige in the distance. I guess it can be categorized under information gathering. Lets head over to the town first.


    Is there anything else I should know? Zac said. The people in the town, for example. Are they real?


    Thats a subject of some debate, Gu said, finally getting into the spirit of adventure. Some believe these people are real, but others say there are simply illusions or lifelike puppets created by the System. They do all give Cosmic Energy when killed though, which give more credence to the first theory.


    The Ruthless Heavens can simply provide energy itself though, Ogras interjected.


    Zac nodded in agreement, remembering how the System had provided Cosmic Energy for destroying robots back at the Technocrat Incursion.


    Thats true, Gu nodded, before turning back to Zac. The reason that arge group believes these are just puppets is that they simply ignore allments about the Tower or the world outside. It doesnt matter what you do or say, these vigers will truly believe they are from Whittlecreek in the Bravorian Kingdom.


    The people are also never surprised to see or hostile against other races, like they dont even know that a huge golem or a humanoid fish is standing in front of them. The vigers would still wee Mr. AzhRodum even if the quest was to rebuff enemy demons, Gu added.


    Ogras had introduced himself using the name of the demon town on his ind rather than his truest name even before they entered the tower, and Zac guessed he had done the same when prompted by the system. The demon still didnt want any clues about his situation leaking back to the demon hordes in case it would bring trouble to either his grandfather or Earth.


    There was also the issue of Karmic threads and other troublesome skills. Not using your true name wasnt a foolproof n, but it did make various types of information gathering slightly harder. Thats was another reason Zac chose to use his alias as well, apart from sending out a hidden signal to his mother in case she was listening.


    So how would we normallyplete a trial like this? Zac asked.


    This is the very first level, so it should be possible toplete quickly, Ogras said. I would guess that there is a clue in the town itself that would allow us toplete the trial, or at least give us a clear hint of where to go.


    But thats the hard way, what about defeating the guardian or whatever? Zac asked.


    The guardian would probably be the boss of the Fallen Goblins, and we would no doubt find out where he is soon after entering the town, Ogras said. Completing the normal way would be to find out why the Goblin tribe moved here. My guess is that a rival Country is trying to weaken them by tricking these vermin to raid the farnds."


    Zac looked over at the talkative demon with surprise. It sounded like he had thought everything through, and already formted a n. He even seemed to have an in-depth understanding of the mechanics of the tower itself, which allowed him to infer hidden clues.


    Dont look at me like that, Ogras said with a roll of his eyes. Remember, I was a lot weakerst time I was here. I wasnt even level 60, so I focused on gathering intelligence rather than fighting. The guy I hired was a bit of a meathead, so I had to help out where I could.


    What? Gu blurted out. Why would you head here so early?


    I was bored, Ogras shrugged, clearly not interested in divulging his precarious situation back in his old n.


    Zac kept asking questions as they walked over toward the town, and Ogras simply told him to y the part. It made things easier if you inserted you into the setting in a believable way. In this case they would say they were warriors who hade to look into the newly emerging threat. That way the vigers might be more inclined to share information with them.


    He also underlined that they shouldn''t attack random people. It could quickly make things get out of hand. For example, it might garner the ire of some nearby nobleman of the Bravorian Kingdom who would rush to the vige for revenge, and such an individual wasn''t necessarily within the expected strength of the floor they were on. Many climbs had ended early due to cultivators taking toorge liberties while inside, where they took the opportunity to act despicable while out of prying eyes.


    After all, no one would ever know what happened during a climb unless they retold the story themselves.


    But why would the System design such an borate ce like this? Zac asked. Why not just present a series of increasingly strong opponents for us to fight? This ce must cost an insane amount of energy to keep running.


    Have you heard about the origins of the System? Gu asked.


    Of course, the Limitless Empire created it to nurture warriors for their war, Zac said.


    Exactly. The System has changed a lot since that ancient era, but its main prerogative remains. It needs to create powerful warriors. You shouldnt see this ce simply as a trial to get a good title, but as a training ground to hone your skills, Gu exined. "Everyone whoes to the Tower is an elite the System has deemed worth nurturing, and this whole ce is a massive incubator."


    And I am not talking about your Skills or your Dao. This ce teaches you to think, the youth added. Thats what I believe, anyway.


    What do you mean? Zac asked with confusion.


    You can look at it this way. Most people whoe here are from established factions. They might have good insights and high attributes, but they have lived generally sheltered lives under the protection of their elders. I have no doubt that you as a progenitor have seen far more battle than almost any warrior you encountered in the Base Town, Gu said.


    Zac nodded, feeling it made sense. There was no reason for a n to throw their youths to the wolves to grow like he did. It might create one or two powerhouses, but most would end up dead. Almost no one was willing to rear their young generations like that.


    But that also meant that they turned out like Average, people having the technique but not the grit to make it through a harsh battle.


    It seems you understand. The Tower throws you into arge number of unfamiliar situations, allowing you to gain not just experience in fighting, but also how to solve various types of situations you might encounter in the future. The things you learn today might save your life in a Mystic Realm in the future, Gu finished.


    Some excitement started to well up in Zacs heart as he listened to Gus exnations, and he couldnt help but look forward to the trials now.


    Until now there had only been a fight for survival, where he was thrown into one perilous situation after another. Now he could rx and enjoy some exploration and adventure, all while honing his skills.


    It was nice to finally get a breather.