The snake lowered its head slowly until it touched the floor.
"Strike the wall."
The python’s head shot forward and hit the reinforced steel with enough force to dent the tal before pulling back.
Jas tested a few more commands while confirming the snake responded to everything he ordered.
It obeyed completely, but its size made it difficult to use casually. Too large for narrow hallways or indoor spaces. Too dangerous to summon in public without causing panic. Too noticeable unless the situation was serious enough that he did not care about subtlety.
It was a powerful weapon he could deploy when needed, not a simple pet he could bring everywhere.
Jas dismissed the python before leaving the training room.
Jas received Finn’s ssage after he returned ho from the training facility.
Finn: We need to talk. Not about entering Floor 11 imdiately. About what cos next. Can you et tomorrow?
Jas read the ssage twice while sitting on his bed.
The wording was careful and controlled, which ant Finn had probably rewritten it several tis before sending it. The old Finn would have just said "et tomorrow" without explanation.
Floor 10 had changed both of them.
Jas typed his response.
Jas: Where?
Finn: Hale Estate. 2 PM.
Jas: I’ll be there.
He set his phone down before staring at the ceiling.
Tomorrow he would et Finn and talk about what ca next. Not imdiately entering Floor 11, but planning for when they did. The world had moved past them while they recovered, and staying inactive much longer would make their Floor 10 achievent feel like ancient history instead of recent legend.
Jas closed his eyes and thought about the Abyssal Venom Python waiting in his reanimated slots and the Disaster Core Fragnt sitting unused in his inventory.
He had tools now that he did not have before Floor 10.
Whether that would be enough for whatever ca next was a different question.
In London, a royal-backed agent sat in an office overlooking the city and read Jas Ganner’s file for the third ti that day.
Necromancer.Floor 10 Main Story clearer.mber of Team Zero.Linked to Finn Hale.Inactive after teammate death.Politically valuable to Ireland.
The agent set the file down before reviewing the recruitnt strategy.
The last point mattered most. Jas had stopped climbing after Elliot’s death, which made him emotionally vulnerable and easier to approach than if he had been actively climbing with full team support.
The offer would not look like national poaching or pressure. It would look like genuine help from a country that understood his value.
Training facilities designed for high-level Challengers. Full equipnt sponsorship including rare consumables. Security personnel for his mother in case Ganner Corp beca hostile. Legal support against Ganner Corp if he wanted to pursue action against his uncles for inheritance fraud.
England would offer him everything Ireland had not given him yet while making it look generous instead of predatory.
The agent began drafting the first contact ssage before a second notification arrived through an encrypted channel.
It ca through one of Ganner Corp’s UK-linked industrial contractors.
The agent opened the ssage and read it once before understanding the situation.
England wanted Jas for national influence and political prestige. Ganner Corp wanted him close enough to control before he beca too dangerous to their stolen wealth.
Both sides could benefit if Jas accepted the offer and relocated to England.
That made the first ssage critical. It had to sound generous without appearing desperate, helpful without revealing the coordination behind it.
The agent continued drafting while understanding this was only the opening move.
At Ganner Corp headquarters in Dublin, the senior board held a closed eting about Jas.
He was no longer treated as the poor nephew they had ignored after his parents died.
He was the Necromancer who helped clear Floor 10. He had public attention across multiple countries, Tower-related value that increased daily, and enough fa to make old questions dangerous if anyone started investigating them.
One of the senior executives pulled up Jas’s public profile on the boardroom screen.
"Floor 10 Main Story clearer. Team Zero mber. Linked to Marcus Hale through Finn. Currently inactive after losing a teammate."
Another executive leaned forward. "How long until he decides to look into what happened to his father’s shares?"
"Unknown. But if he hires lawyers and pushes hard enough, the inheritance fraud becos public."
The room stayed quiet for a mont while everyone processed what that ant.
Derek’s disappearance after publicly attacking Jas. Adrian’s failed assault caught on security footage. The transfer of shares from Jas’s dead father to his uncles through forged docunts.
Any serious investigation would expose all of it.
But Jas’s Necromancer class and Team Zero reputation also made him valuable enough that controlling him was worth the risk instead of trying to eliminate him.
The board reached their decision.
"Approach him as family first. Express concern about his wellbeing after Floor 10. Offer reconciliation. Offer money disguised as partial inheritance restoration. Give him just enough to make him listen."
"And if he refuses?"
"Then we coordinate with our UK partners to isolate him politically and economically until he has no choice but to accept our terms or face us as enemies."
The executives sent instructions to begin the family contact strategy within the week.
The next day, Jas prepared to leave while checking his reanimated slots one last ti:
[REANIMATED SLOTS: 2/5 OCCUPIED] [REANIMATED DIRE WOLF — LEVEL 9] [ABYSSAL VENOM PYTHON — LEVEL 20]
He also glanced at the Disaster Core Fragnt in his inventory:
[DISASTER CORE FRAGNT — S-RANK] [USES REMAINING: 3/3]
He left it untouched.
Nyra appeared in the hallway before he reached the door. She grabbed his sleeve with both hands while looking up at him.
"Daddy going to tower?"
"Not yet. Just eting soone."
"When co back?"
"Before dinner."
She frowned. "You promise?"
"I promise."
Nyra let go of his sleeve slowly before stepping back.
Jas’s mother stood near the doorway with her arms crossed. "Be safe."
"I will."
"I an it, Jas. Whatever Finn wants to talk about, don’t let him push you into sothing you’re not ready for."
Jas nodded before opening the door.
He closed it behind him and understood that his break was over, whether he was ready or not.
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