The bandits believed they were going to have an easy time handling these fellows, but once Draco made his move, they found that the world had tilted over.
'Oh no, just like in that children's story, the sky must be falling down!' They all thought at the same time.
Unfortunately for them, the reality was that it was rather their heads that had been separated from their shoulders. Only the leader of the bandit group, Ross, had been left alive. However, he was now a limbless man, laying spread-eagled on the ground with shock.
Since Draco had coated the end of his swords with Destruction Energy, the wounds were cauterized, preventing blood loss. The bandit leader felt no pain initially, only after he took notice of his injuries, did his brain simulate the pain he should have felt.
"ARRRRGHHHH!! MY ARMS! MY LEGS!! F.U.C.K!"
Ross 0 – Brain 1.
Draco walked over to squat beside the screaming bandit whose eyes had gone red from the pain and fear. He then smiled widely as he patted Ross by the side of his face and spoke lowly.
"Who's your backer?"
Ross eventually calmed down after screaming himself hoarse, and his gaze towards Draco was filled with hostility and fear.
"F.u.c.k off! Why should I tell anything to the bastard who did this to me? The worst you can do now is kill me! So do it, I dare you, I double dare you, motherf.u.c.ker! Kill MEEE!! Since you can't even f.u.c.k.i.n.g do that, then drink my shite!"
Eva raised an eyebrow at Ross' vulgar words while Zaine chuckled. Hikari wrinkled her brows with discomfort and Roma's smiling expression began to darken.
Draco who was beside Ross had a strange expression on his face. "Drink your shite? Goddamn bro, do you shit water or something?"
Ross seemed to have been sent into a craze by his agony and circ.u.mstances, so he laughed crazily. "That's right! I piss rocks and shit water! What are you gonna do motherf.u.c.ker, kill me for it?!"
Draco passed a hand through his hair. "I was gonna but seeing as you seem to want it so bad, I suddenly don't wanna do it anymore."
Ross' expression froze as he realized that his attempts to goad Draco into killing him were not working. At this point, both Zaine and Roma stood forward at the same time.
"Let me try and charm the info out of him." Zaine offered with a winsome smile.
"No, let me extract his soul and carve out the necessary information before using his Soul Energy to power my toilet for 1000 years." Roma insisted with an angered expression.
Immediately, everyone's face changed. Draco grabbed Ross by the shoulders and shook him desperately.
"You fool, quickly give me the information! If she gets her hands on you, no one can save you then!"
Draco legitimately had a worried expression on his face as he began to sweat while even Eva had a look of concern. Ross had heard her words and could tell hers was Mystic-related class, so he quickly spilled the beans.
"The Carva Noble House! They are the ones who have supplied us with weapons and have given us a pass through the law! In exchange, we give up 80% of our profits to them!"
Everyone but Roma sighed with relief, while Roma herself simply harrumphed, pouted, and turned her head away. She had already made plans to have fun with his soul and bathe in his wails of the damned, but it seemed today was his 'lucky' day.
Draco then pressed finger to Ross' head and ended his life immediately. He only wanted to know this information as Umbra's Guildmaster had a strange hunch about the Tower. Once he finished him off, the entire world seemed to retract itself like a computer procedurally generating a map, only in reverse.
Eventually, the five monsters of the Morningstar Clan stood in a pseudo-void. They then saw a screen pop up before each of them.
｢System to Player Announcement
Assessing world status… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
｢System to Player Announcement
Analyzing actions and choices… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Calculating score… ｣
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon First Floor
Time elapsed: 4:2:56
Objectives complete: All
Assessment: EX+
Reward:
1 Treasure Selection Reward – High Bronze Grade｣
Draco smiled playfully. If he remembered correctly the previous high score had been a mere 400 points, yet he had not only bested it, but had achieved more than the previous top 10 combined. Well, it wasn't surprising.
Not only did he gain a Divine Class or its equivalent here, but so did his babes. Even two got Origin-related classes. Since Draco summoned them from his Inner Universe on the floor, they were treated the same as his Combat Pets or Mounts in the eyes of the system, so their achievements were the same as his.
One person getting almost 5 classes, all above Legendary Rank… it's a miracle that the Tower's System didn't suffer a stroke. Even worse, the trio had cleared their Starter Quests so quickly thanks to Hikari who could ferry them, and they had also killed the bandits without suffering any damage.
They even cleared the floor in just a little over 4 hours, which were leagues above that Gavin Guy who had taken almost 10 days.
Everyone who had come to challenge the Tower was bound to use the powers system of the worlds it created. Very few had potent bloodlines that could help them here, as like Draco and co, their bloodlines manifested into the classes and skills, which had been disabled.
Zaine and Roma had been exempt because the Mystic Arts were more of a technique, which weren't limited and Zaine's psychic abilities were not a bloodline skill but a racial trait. It was a vastly different matter.
A bloodline skill would grant an individual the ability to manifest wings and fly, whereas a racial trait was being born to have wings anyway, like a member of a birdman species. One was internal and required steps to be used while the other was external and was used without the need for any extra steps.
Hikari was an example of having bloodline skills sealed away as all her Light magic abilities were bloodline skills, but her ability to shift forms was a racial trait of the Dragons, which was polymorph.
Eva and the others were also satisfied with this score. They had heard about the outside of the tower from Draco, but couldn't come out there as they lacked the necessary trial tokens. Since they were individuals, they would either be forced to participate, expelled from the tower or Draco would have his token revoked.
They didn't know the exact outcome, so it was best to play it safe for now.
Soon, Draco collected his wives back into his Inner Universe and returned to the tower through a portal that manifested by the side. Once he walked out, he was privy to hundreds of eyes that were staring dumbfounded at the results on the scoreboard.
1st – Draco Morningstar: 4,500 Points.
2nd – Gavin Guy: 400 Points.
3rd – Dorothy Keel: 390 Points.
4th – James L.u.s.ter: 385 Points.
5th – Mandingo: 350 Points.
6th – God's Son: 320 Points.
7th – Dark Lord: 300 Points.
8th – King's Return: 289 Points.
9th – Helia Nuer: 277 Points.
10th – Makinsser: 230 Points.
The contrast between first place and second place was so intense that nobody could process it. In fact, Draco could almost see a loading bar over their heads that was stuck at 99%, as if they had lagged greatly.
Clearly, the ping of their brains was at 4,500ms currently.
In just one floor, Draco had climbed up from 1000th place to 1st for the floor, and from 1000th to 870th overall. If he was allowed to climb more floors, then what would his score look like then…?
Oh shit!
Once they realized this, the frozen people here quickly reacted and an uproar began. They quickly used whatever means they had to report this information to their masters, who were utterly shocked by this.
They stood up from their seats in a hurry and rushed out of their residences to deal with this newcomer, from 30th place all the way up to 1st. There were only 3 years left until the tower closed, yet it was clear that a huge anomaly had appeared at the last minute that might upset the delicate balance here!
…
At this time, Draco was looking through the list of things he could select with his High Bronze Grade reward selection. His eyes scrolled through the list, but began to shake severely when he saw that the lowest things here were already at the Epic Rank, while up in the Gold and Platinum tiers, there were even Divine Materials and Items.
Above Platinum was Diamond tier, and that housed Origin materials, but no items unfortunately. Still, just the fact that the option existed made Draco's heart shake severely.
He then saw that with his High Bronze, he could either get some extremely high-grade Epic Materials and Items or low-grade Legendary Materials and Items. Draco scrolled through and was surprised to find the Heart of a King Colossus here.
This was coincidentally one of the items he needed to perform the Universe Growth option of his Inner Universe which would affect the entire space, not just the island in the void.
Suddenly, Draco's benevolent smile froze as his mind was struck by a thunderclap.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shittttt.
Could it be?! Was it possible that he could acquire the items that were almost impossible to get outside here in this Tower?
He quickly scrolled through and saw that yes, the other items needed for both his Area Expansion and Universe Growth were here, but in different tiers. However, that did not matter as much as the fact that they were actually here.
This changed everything. Now, this Unique Quest was no longer something he jumped into because he was curious about what lay at the top, but a treasure vault that could save him a great amount of effort in acquiring important resources for his Inner Universe.
Heck, while he was at it, he could even farm for materials that would help Eva upgrade her Inner Sun. His Soulmate hadn't even managed to get it above Tier 0 which was the equivalent of a small fireball within her, but this would no longer be a problem.
Draco calmed himself down and was about to redeem the Heart of the King Colossus first so he could analyze it and create more with Refinement, as 5 were needed but he could only redeem one with his free reward token, when he noticed that there was a group of people entering the square in a rush.
These people were all dressed fancily with various liveries, but it was clear that they were quite the powerhouses, with some even being above Rank 3. Draco was going to ignore them and leave, but all eyes suddenly landed on him when he left the shadow of the portal.
Initially, his dark armor had made him hard to notice with the backdrop of the black portal behind him, not to mention that everyone was still shocked about his feat and focused on getting their bosses here asap.
However, he had been spotted. The various persons in the square looked above his head. Where the bright and cheerful name DRACO stood there boldly, as if daring them to stare at it for 3 hours nonstop if they called themselves true warriors.
Draco, surprised by the sudden heated gazes on his person, rubbed the back of his head and delivered the most eloquent greeting.
"Bababoeey."
This snapped the various fellows here out of their trances as they rushed at him at once. Most of them reached their arms out to grab him and pull him to their side before others could, but once they reached where he stood, they scuffled for more than 5 minutes before realizing their target had already vanished.
Draco was seated on a nearby railing while watching them pull and push each other with an amused smile. When he saw they finally noticed him, he waved his hand.
"Go on, I was about to see some t.i.t.s. Why stop now?"
This left the group speechless and ashamed, calming down their passion as they broke apart. At this time, the various top leaders who had been standing at the side while also watching their subordinates scuffle shamelessly with cold expressions stood forth.
The first of them was a handsome man with golden hair that was styled into a short pompadour, two bright yellow eyes that shone with confidence, and a jawline so perfect that even Draco felt his ovaries quiver.
He was wearing a set of medium, armor similar to Draco's in style, but instead of scales, it was similar to a tortoise's shell. He had a huge board sword strapped to his back while he folded his arms casually.
｢Name: Gavin Guy – Rank 5 Swordsman Demi-God
Level: 233
HP: 8,782,000/8,782,000｣
To his right was a relatively pretty woman who looked like the Princess of a Western Kingdom from the medieval era. Her skin was a pale white and her features were soft and exquisite.
She had piercing blue eyes and grey hair that was tied into frilly locks that reached her chin on either side of her face, and a bun at the back. She wore a long noblewoman's robe that was more or less meant for balls rather than battle, giving her a certain aesthetic.
｢Name: Dorothy Keel – Rank 5 Mage Demi-God
Level: 228
HP: 5,123,000/5,123,000｣
To the right of Gavin was a fellow with spiky black hair and dark brown eyes that wore a cunning smile on his face, he wore round-rimmed glasses of no notable design and wore a gentleman's twin-tailed coat, a pair of pants, and two loafers, all of which were dark blue in color.
He also wore a pair of dark brown gloves on either hand, but had no noticeable weapon on his form.
｢Name: James L.u.s.ter – Rank 5 Assassin Demi-God
Level: 220
HP: 4,090,000/4,090,000｣
The rest were also quite unique, but not enough for Draco to take careful note of their forms. At this time, Gavin Guy spoke in a powerful baritone voice that was even more potent than Happy Saint's.
"Well, greetings to you, Mr. Draco. My name is Gavin Guy, champion, premier, and just the general number 1 of the current trial."
As he said this, he flipped his hair to the side flamboyantly, and many girls swooned. Gavin's face crumpled though, when he saw Draco swooning too. He coughed awkwardly and continued.
"Anyway, I would like to offer you a chance to join my faction. Not only would you receive crucial information on the details of the various floors, where the best items within are located, and how best to complete them for the most points, you will also gain my protection."
"I offer the same thing as Gavin." Dorothy stated as she curtsied gently.
"Yes, quite." James added with a smile.
Draco wore a strange expression, but asked. "And what do I have to give up?"
The trio shared a look and smiled inwardly. It seemed as if Draco was considering their offer, so they decided to push harder.
"You only have to obey our orders, and use your score points to purchase some special items for us. As for the free reward tokens, you can use them for your own purposes."
Many people in the square nodded as this sounded fair. Forget score points, even the free rewards had good stuff for everyone. Not everyone could score high points in the trials on their own, so having Gavin and co. teach them how to earn the most – and most importantly, how to survive – was fair in exchange for getting to use their points.
Draco then rubbed his chin and looked around to see that people were generally agreeing with these three and smiled weirdly. He then gazed at the leading trio with a cryptic smile and asked them gently.
"Are you guys, perhaps, retarded?"
Draco's softly asked question rendered everyone silent from confusion. Did they just hear him ask if they were retarded? Could it be that he had bitten his tongue and meant to say 'retired'? Or something similar sounding?
"Let me ask again, are you fellows deficient of brainpower?" Draco querying once more seeing that they were disbelieving of what had left his mouth.
Once he clarified, there was no longer a chance to act like they had heard wrongly, as such, the faces of the main three fell while everyone else glared at Draco darkly as the question was thrown to everyone before him.
"Mr. Draco, you better watch your words carefully. We made an offer to you and this is how you reply? Uncouth and barbaric!" Dorothy commented with a harrumph.
Draco rubbed his forehead. "Alright, allow me to use simple words, so that even you guys can follow my logic. I just came here a few hours ago, haven't even settled down, and entered my first trial. After spending a little over 4 hours in there, I came out with over ten times the points of Mr. Pretty Boy over there, who claims to be the number 1."
"That being said, what makes you think I need any of you, at all? Your knowledge? Please, if it was so great then I wouldn't have schooled you as badly as I did. Your protection? Protection from what exactly? This is a SAFE ZONE! You cannot attack me, I cannot attack you. Once I enter my residence and lock the door, the most you can do is irritate me by existing too loudly in my presence."
"Since I could earn over ten times the points of the first place on the 1st floor, I can probably do the same or better in the subsequent floors as everyone's point gain should increase as they become more familiar with the trial system. Why the f.u.c.k would I give you free points in that case?"
Draco's questions left the others speechless, but the top 30 only smirked with derision. James laughed gently as she shook his head, gazing at Draco like an idiot.
"Silly chap, the points you've raised are certainly logical… but only if you've just entered the tower and have no clue of the inner workings on the higher floors."
James then adjusted his glasses. "However, you'd be quick to find out that things aren't as they seem!"
————————-
Author's Note: I'm sure you've all noticed the fluctuating release schedule of Guild Wars in recent days. It became worse after I got sick a while back too.
Well, the reason is because writing 5k words a day isn't easy for me in particular. It not even just the quality, but the fact that it's spread across two different stories.
It seriously throws me on a loop, especially when one of them became intense while the other is still building up, or when one requires technical details like levels, stats, and skills and the other is focused on dialogue and the like.
Because I have to do this every day, it's like writing two different exams on the same day, separate by mere hours of each other… every single day.
I'll try my best to maintain a schedule, but somedays, I just end up behind my computer, just unsure of what to do next and which to write first.
