Re: Sword Emperor

"Evie, how long have you been working in here?" Shesmu asked.

"Yeah, you look like a newbie. Was this your first mission?"

Leo snapped at DepressedRyan"s remark.

"Ryan, that"s rude."

DepressedRyan just whistled and looked away from Leo, feigning ignorance.

"Milord is right, this is my first mission. Thomas told me to attend to his grace and milords but never specified that milords were in the main hall. I kept looking everywhere in the plaza but to no end."

Shesmu heard her story and sympathized with her. The world of Ashes of G.o.ds was harsh to peasants. Even an incident as small as spilling water can result in a whole family being ma.s.sacred. Shesmu couldn"t imagine the amount of stress and pressure that was on her shoulders as time went on without finding her targets.

"Well, don"t worry about it. All of this is a thing of the past."

Shesmu then looked Evie for a second before continuing.

"By the way, what was your full mission? From what I know you were just supposed to escort us until the tower."

"Yes, your grace. That was originally my mission, but with how things turned out… Your grace, please let me at least attend to you and milords until milords teleport to the town or enter the trial. I will answer any question milords have in the meantime."

"Great. We will count on you."

Shesmu gave a radiant smile to Evie. Looking at his glossy black hair and innocent golden eyes, Evie"s heart skipped a beat. She quickly avoided eye contact and looked down.

Seeing her reaction, Leo was confused, DepressedRyan amused and Shesmu just laughed it off. Even in his past life, Shesmu was good with girls. There were many times where he would get into trouble with Sophie just because he was talking way too openly with a member of the opposite gender. Well, it"s not as if I didn"t know their feeling. But how else am I supposed to talk to the fans?

For Shesmu, the situation right now and in his past life were mostly the same. In the past, he was a superstar with many fans. Now, he is a n.o.ble who is both good looking and a gentleman. Really, nothing has changed.

With those thoughts, Shesmu and his party reached the center of the tower. The inside was surprisingly large, with many NPCs opening their shops. There were blacksmiths, tailorsmiths and alchemists. Everything a player would need before challenging the tower was prepared.

"If milords" weapons or armors need repairing, the blacksmith and the tailorsmith are your best choice. If low on potions and pills, then the alchemist is your destination. Plus, this particular alchemist sells potions that can boost power and speed, though it does come at a rather harsh price."

"Oh, interesting."

"Maybe we should check that alchemist out, more power always helps. Plus we still have the material from the Silver Wolf King. We can now make Ryan a beast!"

Both Leo and DepressedRyan were excited. Ryan was even more exalted at the prospect of finally becoming more useful that Shesmu. The later has been doing most of the work since forever which made DepressedRyan feel like a b.u.m. Even though relying on broken equipment didn"t suit Ryan"s tastes, it was the only way he could be useful to the team as of now.

Shesmu, I know that debts between brothers are meaningless. That"s why I"m not going to say it out loud. But, like how you protected us for all the while, there will come a day where I will protect you too.

DepressedRyan"s eyes focused on Shesmu as he thought those words. The latter was still walking in front of DepressedRyan when he suddenly stopped.

"Guys, my equipment is still alright so I don"t need repairs. We are packed on potions too, so we don"t really need those. Ryan, go and get your set tailored. I hope that doesn"t take too much. Leo, go take a look around the potion shop and see if there is anything interesting. I"ll go with Evie and look for the guy who will be explaining to us the rules of the tower trial. Is that all good?"

"Yeah, let"s do that."

"Sure."

With that, the party separated into three, with each going in one direction. Leo went to the alchemist shop and looked for new potions to buy. In the end, all of the exotic potions were too pricey, had too much downside and very little effect. DepressedRyan went to the tailorsmith and gave him the material for two pieces of equipment. As if by fate, the tailorsmith had enough Silver Wolf King pelt for the last piece of equipment for Ryan to finish his set. The later bought it without hesitation.

After thirty minutes, the party reunited once again.

"So, did things go well from your side?"

"Nope, all the potions were over a gold. Plus they had a 2-minute effect where your stats were halved. That"s way too underwhelming to be of any use to us."

Leo was a bit depressed by the results of his inquiry. As his ant.i.thesis, DepressedRyan was beaming with joy.

"I got the jackpot! The tailorsmith guy—Richard I think was his name—he had some spare pelt. With that, I had enough for the complete set, how crazy is that?!"

"You lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I don"t think anyone on this batch was luckier than you. Having a full set before even finishing the tutorial, just wow."

"Haha, are you jealous. Don"t worry, papa here will carry you and you"ll definitely get some good equipment, haha."

Shesmu understood that they wouldn"t have stopped bickering until he stepped in.

"Aldrien is the instructor for this part of the tutorial. He will start his speech in a minute, so we should probably go there."

"Let me guide you, milords."

With Evie leading the way, Shesmu and his party reached the far end of the bottom floor of the tower. A huge crowd of players awaited them.

"People of the golden generation, congratulation on making it this far. I"m sure that your travel through the forest of beginning was full of danger, and that you came out stronger than when you entered."

Aldrien opened his speech with a booming voice, gathering everyone"s attention on him.

"The first and second trials were mandatory, but this third and final one is not. You are free to go to the town of a thousand leave without partaking in the tower of might. Those of you who choose to do so can go through the portal to my left."

He then pointed at a blue portal with his left hand. The distortion was similar to the one found in the dungeons when you beat the final boss.

After Aldrien"s words, a lot of contestants went through the portal one by one. For a full minute, the plaza was noisy with the sound of players marching towards the portal.

"I guess that those of you who are left want to take on the tower of might. A brave choice made by brave warriors, I"m sure that a bright future awaits you. Now, let me explain how the tower might work. The tower is split into floors, with each one of them having a floor boss. The floors hold many monsters, traps, and puzzles. You need to make proof of strength, prudence, and wisdom if you want to pa.s.s through."

Aldrien"s voice then went lower, as if he was telling a secret. "However, that"s but one facet of the tower of might. The biggest enemy that you"ll face in the trials is within you. Between all hundreds of contestant that you make, one of you is a monster in disguise."