Chapter 59: My First Expedition into a Central Tower (1)

After a great flash, Ebony’s group was teleported inside the Central Tower.

Inside, the three of them appeared in the middle of a forest at the foot of a massive snow-covered mountain.

“Holy shit, this is incredible, is this the first level of the tower?” Ebony asked, stunned as she looked at the blue sky and the vast open space as if they were outdoors.

“Yes, this is what the inside of a Central Tower is like, each level is practically a small world where the Floor Boss rules however it wants,” Lucian replied with an annoyed expression as he crossed his arms.

“Huh? What’s with that face? Why are you giving me that pissed-off look, dumbass?” Ebony said, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe because we’re in this mess because of you, we could’ve just gone to the city and that’s it, but no… No, no, no, missy wanted more gold and now we’re stuck in this shit,” Daniel replied angrily.

“Hey, you could’ve refused, it’s not like I forced you that hard, we just have to clear this floor, besides, we still have time to finish the necklace mission thanks to bear girl,” Ebony said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Listen, I only agreed to support you on this mission because of what you promised,” Lucian said seriously.

“Yeah, yeah, I know… I said it and I’ll do it, we’ll need the treasure hidden in this tower if we want to find what you’re looking for,” the blonde said as she began walking up a path that led up the mountain.

“Still, it’s weird how sure you are there’s treasure here,” Daniel said as he and the green-haired elf followed behind her.

“I already told you… In my previous life I traveled across the entire continent, back then it wasn’t divided by magical barriers shaped like hexagons like some damn board game, but there were still a few towers, and this is one of them.”

Ebony looked around as she continued up the path, despite sounding confident with her friends, deep down she was trying to keep her nerves under control to protect them.

“Of course, back then this tower didn’t have this whole ’create massive spaces inside’ thing, it was just a normal tower, actually it was abandoned… And if I’m right, once we defeat the first floor boss, we’ll be able to access its secret chamber.”

“And how the hell do you know it’s this tower? Literally every damn hexagon on the continent has its own Central Tower,” Daniel said as he quickened his pace to move ahead of the blonde.

“Wait, what? Every Hexagon has a tower in the middle?” Ebony asked, stopping in place for a second.

“WHAT?!” both boys shouted at the same time.

“You brought us in here without confirming it was the right tower? I explained how hexagons work just a few days ago!” Lucian yelled, eyes wide with anger.

“Haha, I’m joking, of course I checked, there’s a mark at the top that only this tower has, a statue of an ant, I’m not stupid enough to drag you somewhere this dangerous without being sure, please have a little faith in me!”

Laughing, Ebony kept walking, and her companions, tension in their eyes and holding back their curses, followed along the path.

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After several hours of walking, the group had already covered half the distance, however, even though the mountain wasn’t extremely tall, the oxygen was slowly thinning.

“Hey, let’s eat something before we keep going, I bet the Floor Boss is at the top, so we’d better recharge before facing it,” Ebony said, stretching her body.

Meanwhile, her companions slowly caught up behind her, panting from the lack of oxygen.

“What the hell? You guys got tired already? You’ve got no stamina, huh?” Ebony said with a mocking smile as she set down her gigantic backpack and pulled out cooking utensils along with a Fire Stone to use as a heat source.

“It’s not our… Ahh… Our fault that you’re a physical monster,” Lucian said as he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

“Seriously… How the hell are you still so fresh when you’re the one carrying all the luggage? Is that some kind of Visitor perk or something?” Daniel complained while wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Well, actually… Kind of, the god who sent me to this world gave me a wedding gift and let me enhance my body, but it’s not free, if I don’t exercise properly, I could end up losing my strength.”

As the blonde spoke, she began cooking chopped carrots and potatoes in a pan over the heat of the Fire Stone beneath it.

“I see… In that case… From now on I won’t feel bad about you carrying everything for us, hehe,” Lucian smiled kindly as he removed his hood to stretch his neck.

“Yeah, screw chivalry, you’re officially our pack mule, hahaha,” Daniel said between laughs as he sat on the ground with his friends.

The friends joked around as the food cooked, adding chunks of meat and some water to the pan.

After half an hour of waiting, each of them received their portion of stew along with a piece of bread for the day’s meal.

“By the way, did the Colonel explain why it’s snowing outside? I kinda spaced out while you were talking,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, yeah, he told us the tower reset about a month ago, and when that happens it starts with only one level, which makes it easier to conquer, that’s why they sent a squad to guard it and make sure no one takes it,” Ebony replied with her mouth full.

“Swallow before you talk,” Lucian said calmly while eating his food. “Anyway, the Colonel also said the first squad they sent was wiped out by a Frost Ape that ended up entering the tower…”

“Most likely the creature became its ruler, and that’s why the tower adapted the hexagon’s environment to suit its owner…” the elf explained, then set down his metal spoon and let out a long sigh.

“But because of that, the winter cold is seeping into the kingdom and starting to kill crops… If they don’t eliminate the current ruler of this tower, they risk a famine across the entire kingdom,” Lucian said with a worried look.

“So that’s why they want to conquer the tower, I thought it was to expand their territory, you know, like those big nations always trying to grow by force,” Daniel said while biting into his bread.

“No, not at all, the Kingdom of Ferig isn’t like that, they’re content being a merchant nation, however they can’t allow just anyone to rule nearby hexagons or this kind of thing happens,” the green-haired elf said, finishing his meal carefully without spilling anything.

Despite being rejected by every kingdom on the continent, the elf had experienced famine firsthand, he wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone.

However, at that moment, a massive explosion shook the mountain, and from the sky, a body fell a few meters away from the group.

It was an unconscious old man with a long white beard, he wore battered armor shaped like knuckles, and on his shoulders was the crest of Sapphire Port, a silver fish.

“What the hell?” Ebony said as she tried to swallow the last bite of her food, but before she had time to react, a sound demanded her attention.

When she looked up, she saw the snow resting peacefully at the mountain’s peak begin to descend violently, an avalanche had started.

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