The Path was unlike anything Arthur had seen before because it looked like a tree of red road that sat behind the wilderness between it and Sith Town. As Whisker explained, this red light attracted monsters, so anyone who wanted to enter the Path would have to either slither through them or kill them.
The monsters outside the walls ca in layers, as the ones on the periphery were the weakest: elental slis. These creatures were astral parasites, similar to the undead, but inhabited the condensed elents in nature.
Their existence was rare because elents needed to condense in almost a liquid form before they gained consciousness. However, certain minerals or monster cores have a high affinity to elents, allowing them to turn into slis over ti.
These slis could then defend themselves by attracting elents at will and attacking whoever approached them. Due to their none biological nature, these parasites were not considered predators.
"Although these look like easy monsters, given that no one on the first floor has elental attacks, they could be a real test of skill. The trick is to destroy their core by approaching them without losing your life," explained Whisker as they eyed the slis through the marshlands.
"Simple enough," said Arthur, gazing at them from afar. "Can this sword handle it?" he asked, raising the one he snatched from the mobster.
"Spears are the weapons of choice against slis. As for this short sword, I doubt it could even handle a level 2 monster. I have a spear that can do the job."
"I know that you want to test my skill, but I have an easier way of doing things," said Arthur as he placed the sword into his bag and raised his hand. Colorless lightning crackled on his fingers before he aid them like a pistol toward one of the slis. "Let's hope this works."
Then, Arthur shot the lightning like a bullet that raced toward the unaware sli. Before it could even realize its life was in danger, the colorless lightning slamd the sli, which tore through it like a bullet. Then, the lightning flared, and the entire sli lost its structure.
[Level 1 Monster has been killed. You gained one reward point.]
A red panel appeared in front of Arthur as the lightning died down. It was similar to what he saw when he finished the Quest. He lowered his hand with satisfaction at the efficient destruction of the sli, although he had to calm down his wrathful beating heart.
"This is incredible," muttered Whisker as he stared beneath the hood. His catlike gruff face was covered in surprise as his dark grey fur stood erect. "I expected this skill of yours to work for intimidation only since it was innate."
"It works best against elents and grants physical amplification against targets I choose. However, there are certain limitations that I would prefer not disclosing."
"I understand, but what do you an by setting a target?" asked Whisker with genuine curiosity. Arthur knew it was hard to understand since he failed to do so himself. However, he gained so insights over the past few weeks.
"The mont I set a target for my wrath, I would gain strength when facing them that stems from my anger, and the opponent would be weakened. However, the wrath would not subside until I kill them or they die, so I choose only those I'm determined to eliminate."
"This is a skill I have never seen the likes of before," said Whisker with awe as he gazed at Arthur. "Is this common for people of your world?"
eαglesnᴏνel "I'm the only one who can use it," said Arthur with a smile. "This reminds . Peter ntioned that there are multiple worlds. Is that true?"
"Are there talking felines in your world?"
"That answers it," said Arthur with surprise. "Is the feline race the only one in your world, or is it multiracial?"
"For a world to contain a single intelligent species is quite rare because of the cosmic link that has existed since the dawn of tis. Even if a world has one race, it will gain another the mont a traveler enters it through the cosmic gates."
"…that makes sense, but still sounds unrealistic to ."
"You will get used to these concepts in the tower. Your world might be too weak to handle forming a cosmic link with the others, but plenty traveled through several worlds before ending up trapped here. I think Vesper is one of them."
"Earth might have beco like that if it had not split into two worlds," muttered Arthur with a sigh. Whisker suddenly snapped his neck at him, shocked.
"What did you say?"
"My world split into two long ago, so we don't have gateways to other worlds. I cannot tell if this is a blessing or a curse, seeing what I'm seeing now."
"…a world that split into two," muttered Whisker with a frown before shaking his head. "We need to keep going. A single reward point can increase attributes, although the rise is not great. It is still better than nothing."
"I have enough lightning to farm my way into the next floor," said Arthur with a smile as he raised all ten fingers, letting colorless lightning crackle on them. "You can take a step back and watch the show."
Arthur then released ten lightning bolts, each from a different finger. However, he could not aim at slis like before, so the attacks bombarded the scattered slis and killed the ones unfortunate to be struck by them.
[Level 1 Monster has been killed. You gained one reward point.]
[Level 1 Monster has been killed. You gained one reward point.]
[Level 1 Monster has been killed. You gained one reward point.]
…
These notifications never disappeared, and Arthur only stopped once he cleared all the slis he could see hopping in the marshlands. All of them have turned pools of liquified elents on the ground.
Arthur has amassed thirty-seven points. Whisker said that each could raise his stats one-tenth of an attribute point, so these thirty-seven reward points could give him three and seven-tenths attribute points.
"You don't have to look so down because of the small incrents. Different worlds have different nuration for strength, but the tower is a completely different entity. A single stat signifies more stats than the outside."
"You said that Vesper is a Level 20 warlord, so what would his stats be like, and why am I still a Level 1?" asked Arthur with confusion since all the panels told him that he had gained reward points, but not a level.
"A level is gained through Quests or reward points to raise it. To enter the second level, a person would need ten reward points. However, these points would be consud and not turned into strength."
"…why would I waste strength for a number with nothing with skill?"
"Because levels signify sothing greater than attributes or just a number to show. So items, like good weapons or magical items, can only be used by a certain level, or so quests would only be granted to soone above a certain level. Furthermore, every five levels, you get a Choice."
"Choice?"
"The Red Tower would ask what part of your power you would like to receive before you entered the tower. It can be a skill, art, or a limited portion of your abilities. Furthermore, it can be sothing entirely different, like a new skill or art. Even after you leave this tower, these new powers will remain."
"I understand," muttered Arthur with raised brows. "Attributes translate into direct strength, but levels contain the potential to beco a secret weapon against your enemies. Furthermore, they are the reward this tower offers once completed."
"The Red Tower is a world on its own, and it is best if you avoid treating it similar to the outside," said Whisker with a frown as he stared at the marshlands. "For example, sothing like this is possible here."
Arthur also turned his head to see what the feline warrior ant and found that the liquified elents were gathering and conjuring with each other. Although so of them were different or even opposite to the others, they joined together to form a giant sli.
"I heard slis need at least ten years to mature," muttered Arthur with a frown. "Furthermore, I had never heard of a giant sli with multiple elents. Have you?"
"This is the first ti I see this too," said Whisker with a frown. "It might be because we killed too many slis in one go that has triggered an event. We need to run before the tower notifies us."
[An event has started: Giant Sli. Because you have killed too many of their species, the vengeful souls of the slis have summoned a greater species, Giant Sli. Return Scrolls have been disabled, and you cannot leave this area.]
"Dammit," muttered Whisker as he prepared himself. A red barrier appeared around the area, surrounding them and the giant sli, which has taken a form now.
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