CHAPTER 38: THE TOWER

A tower that goes up into the skies, has no resemblance to anything of the modern world, and seems to be endless in a sense. It was made of some sort of dark black stone with red engravings lighting up throughout the walls.

What could’ve brought about these towers? That’s something I can’t help but think about since we already have dungeons and monsters roaming the world.

These towers could serve a purpose higher than the dungeons but I’m not sure what the risk is yet. Dungeons are always different with the rankings and the towers were never mentioned before.

Hunters would never skip over a place like this so I’m willing to bet that the star is behind this all. That damn thing caused the collapse and is bringing more chaos into the world.

"Are you coming or not?" Veria asks while looking back at us.

"Of course." I respond while following behind her.

Everyone is following Veria towards this strange tower, not a single person has asked anything about it. The path up to it was nice and clear which was strange, but what is the purpose of the tower?

Dungeons are usually good for different kinds of loot or for people to test how strong they’ve gotten. The tower itself doesn’t seem like something basic, it definitely has to have more value than a dungeon.

"The doors are over there." Veria points to the massive doors ahead.

"Why would you want them to go in there?" Lilly asks with a serious expression on her face.

Her usual attitude isn’t there and she’s even asking questions like this, obviously a memory returned to her. That would be my guess if I had to say anything.

Lilly was a lot more...hmm I can’t really think of the right word for it, but unique will do for now. She had lots of energy, got annoyed with things easily, and wanted to fight a lot.

She’s been quiet since Veria showed up.

"I’m going in too. The Tower has a lot of benefits to it if people can scale the floors." Veria answers while crossing her arms.

"It’s also a lot more dangerous than a dungeon." Lilly says with a bit of anger in her voice.

Veria looks at the doors and then back to us. "You aren’t being forced to go inside the tower, but getting a head start before the others would be smart." Veria responds.

A head start that the other hunters couldn’t get would be quite a big deal. If there really is a lot of benefits to climbing the tower then we can get good rewards.

Items that others might not get the chance to acquire since we are entering before them.

"I’m going inside the tower. This is a rare opportunity to get ahead of the others, I want to take it." I say while joining Veria.

I could see the look in Lilly’s eyes, she didn’t trust this tower whatsoever. Ghost also is looking at the tower as if it’s the wrong place to enter.

"Rokuro it’s not worth it right now." Lilly says with concern in her voice.

"I agree with her." Ghost speaks up.

I give a small smile towards them both before speaking. "Then take care of Ghost till I get back." I say before turning around.

I’ve been shit on since the beginning of the collapse, I won’t let that be something that happens to me again. I’m going to become an SSS Class Dragon. Lilly told me that I had the potential to do that when we met so if this gets me closer to that, I’m taking it.

I’ll reach that rank and power... Then I’ll help figure out a way to get rid of the monsters in the world. Again, fighting for the rest of our lives isn’t something that everyone deserves.

Maybe then I’ll be able to confront the being that caused this.

"Rok-" Lilly stops ghost from calling out.

"He’ll have to deal with what he finds inside." She says quietly to Ghost.

I follow Veria to the tower doors, they were definitely a lot bigger than any door I’ve ever seen before. The engravings were definitely not in a language that I understand but it’s time to get stronger.

Leaving Ghost and Lilly behind for the time being is the right call to me. I need to get stronger and better at controlling my power altogether.

I don’t want to hide everything about this power when I exit the tower so hopefully I’ll be able to control it enough to make myself look normal again.

"You ready Rokuro?" Veria asks.

"Yeah." I respond without hesitation.

She pushed on the doors and they opened up after a few moments. A blinding white light was all I could see but she dragged me through the doors anyway.

After a couple of seconds I could finally see what was in front of me again. The inside of this tower was actually a lot nicer than I expected it to be.

The stone floors weren’t all messed up, the walls were in good condition, and someone seems to be in the distance. A man behind a counter with fancy attire similar to Veria’s.

"Welcome to Floor 0. This is where everyone starts." Veria says with a monotone voice.

I was baffled by the amount of paintings that I noticed on the walls, paintings of people that I knew nothing about. This tower wasn’t like the dungeons or even the world I knew now.

"What exactly happens now Veria?" I ask with a bit of curiosity.

"We go up and request to climb the tower." She answers bluntly.

I didn’t waste any time and started walking towards the counter ahead where a man stood waiting. His face was covered by some strange golden mask but I could just barely see a red eye staring at me through it.

I’m really going to be climbing an unknown tower for the sake of getting stronger, huh?