Chapter 22: Elevator Ride
Sif waited for a few seconds, but he didn't see anything happening.
"It doesn't work"
He youth waited another couple of second, and then pouted. Of course, it didn't work. Why he would ever believe that something so preposterous existed. If it did, why it wasn't something used by all Fighters?
He was done waiting and was going to start erasing the rune, when suddenly a strong suction power started to absorb the pieces of Vitality Ash that the youth had put on the small rune.
"TSIIIIU"
It took less than a moment for the small piece of black material to disappear.
The eyes of the young man widened in shock while he looked at his arm: the black rune he had drawn with a piece of vitality ash was now red and hummed lightly.
An invisible ripple emerged from the core of his soul, moving towards the rune and examining what it was doing.
He could feel a small amount of vitality being pushed in his body, directed by the rune's power towards one of his three lower meridians.
It wasn't that much, and definitely way less than what that piece of vitality ash truly contained, but it was nonetheless being pushed automatically towards his meridian.
The rune did actually work!
'Only... it needs an insane amount of power to truly function.'
Probably with all the Vitality Ash that he bought he would only be able to open a single meridian, two at most, becoming a middle stage Rank 1 Summoner.
The Ash that he bought from the Eagle Paradise Pond was not the random Ash that could be found around the Second Level! It was purified from impurities, making it much more valuable and much more powerful.
It was enough for multiple Fighter to reach rank 2.
"Thankfully the Third Floor is even more rich of Vitality Ash than the second, I can keep using this rune and advancing in my flesh cultivation while I'm there..."
During the next day, Sif fed the rune with all the Vitality Ash he had but contrary to his expectation, he didn't get to open two meridians. He didn't even manage to open a single one!
"This..."
The rune was truly an insane devouring mouth and consumed a large amount of vitality. Plus, the moment he could feel that there was some kind of advancement in his flesh cultivation, the power needed to continue seemed to double at least!
It was completely insane!
Considering that he was soon departing for a dangerous place, Sif gritted his teeth and ordered another two kilograms of Vitality Ash.
His heart bled in giving away his bronze coins for such a common material, but he also knew that he didn't have the time to go around mining it.
Plus, even if he had, it would be much less effective than the refined one that he could buy in the Fort.
He brought the new cultivation resources to his room, sat on the floor with crossed leg and started to put a large amount of Vitality Ash on his naked torso, where he had drawn a large black "Devouring Vitality Rune", as he had started to call it.
It took another kilogram and half of Ash to finally open his first meridian. It was like if a stream full of life energy had finally managed to break a hole in a dam that kept it trapped.
The youth could feel a large amount of vitality flow around his body, passing freely through the meridian.
A black colored substance started to pour out of his body, drenching his entire being in a filthy odor. He immediately went to the bathroom and washed away the impurities that had been expelled out of his body.
"Rank 1 Fighter... good I feel way stronger... My endurance should have multiplied several times!"
Endurance. That was why he wanted to become a Fighter, to begin with. While he was safe and sound inside his Energy Shield, his body wouldn't allow him to continue fighting for long. It was just too weak.
Becoming a rank 1 Fighter had changed that.
The youth put on a new set of black robes. This was the last clothing that he owned. Probably he would need to buy something new before descending to the Third Level.
"How much time do I have until the Elevator moves?"
[9 Hours, 12 Minutes]
Sif nodded. There was still plenty of time then. He put away the rest half a kilogram of Vitality Ash, and then took out a black staff from his spatial treasure.
He had acquired the weapon long ago but he had never used it. The reasons where varied: it was too heavy and he had nothing to use on the inner blades.
Now both problems were gone.
The youth opened the secret mechanism with the activation method at the bottom of the weapon and started to drench the inner blades of the staff with his Agony Inducing Hex.
When he finished, he closed the top of the staff again and broke the weapon in its three pieces, putting it under the folds of his robe.
He then waved towards Luna and the metal scrap that was hovering around him darted in her direction, directly absorbing the bat inside of its spatial pocket.
"Let's go check on little black"
The hall's floor was now covered by a thin layer of ice. The only reason why Sif could normally walk around without feeling cold was the Energy Shield around him.
The youth could feel that his Red Eyed Crow had completely recovered, and was now cultivating in the very bottom of the freezing cold pond.
"Uh, he actually made some improvements?"
Using his bond with the creature, Sif could sense that the energy that filled the horned crow was now superior to an early stage Silver Ranked Creature.
He smirked, while collecting the beast inside his spatial treasure. Soul Beasts were less fun to deal with when they were injured or without energy, but in terms of fighting skills? They were definitely deadlier than those that still had their body.
The youth had absolutely no doubt that the Red Eyed Crow could easily contend with anything under the Gold Rank.
After making sure that he didn't leave anything behind, Sif came out of his pagoda and then of Eagle Paradise Pond altogether.
He rapidly made a trip to the lower market, selling the equipment that he took from Angry Sun for 11 bronze coins.
While he was still in the Lower Market, he bought a dozen simple leather armors and black robes of his size. He also bought a large collection of dried food, sealed water and other basic necessities, just in case.
Once he finished all his essential shopping, he started moving towards the northern side of the Fort. Soon he was in a view of a large plaza filled with many people waiting.
There were guards at the entrance of the plaza, stopping people and asking them to pay a fee. When Sif's turn came, he also was asked to pay a bronze coin to enter.
Sif did just that, and then merged with the growing mass of people waiting in the large square.
He could see that the majority of the people around him were Fighters, there were also some Great Fighters surrounded by their underlings. As for Summoners, he looked around for a while and he could only see two.
A young man sitting on a giant bull and a woman with a serpent coiled around her, they were chatting between each other in the center of the plaza.
The first wasn't someone he recognized. His Bull was a bronze ranked familiar and Sif could feel peculiar fluctuation of Thunder Element coming out of it. Probably a Raging Tauros.
The second was someone he already saw, back when he first arrived at Fort Iron Gates. Her snake looked way stronger than before. It seemed that joining the war had allowed her to have some advancement.
As Sif looked at them, the two started to sense the fluctuation of another Summoner in the surrounding. It didn't take them long to locate him.
"Oh, another fellow Summoner." exclaimed the young man with a large smile on his lips.
The woman instead gave Sif a long look, before questioning him. "I've never seen you on the battleground... don't tell me you are joining a faction?"
Sif sighed internally. He didn't think that they would randomly start talking to him. Displaying a friendly smile he approached the two Summoners.
"I was in secluded meditation and couldn't join the fray. Now I'm thinking of joining the war to look for some fortune."
"Then you must join Ivory Tower!" laughed the man from his bull. "They have so many treasures that it's quite shameful how easy it is to obtain them!"
"Don't trick our new friend,Thunder Drum! Your confidence in Ivory Tower is misplaced. Their treasures aren't worth a single one in Mysterious Light's side!" interjected the woman.
Sif wasn't at all confused on why people fighting on different sides were standing next to each other and amiably conversating.
He had heard before that here in the Harmony Faction, Summoners had codes of conducts! They were considered as nobles and even during a war, they had privileges that Fighters didn't!
When two Summoners fought, the losing end was most of the time taken as hostage until the power under which they fought paid their ransom.
Even so, Sif didn't expect to be treated like that. Not now that he knew that one of the two powers was truly interested in putting their hands on him.
"Ah ah ah, but it's easy to obtain them! Why would I risk my familiars to help in a war that doesn't concern me? Not everyone is a masochistic fool, Lady Nia. " continued the youth patting the bull on his head.
Nia ignored the youth on the bull, focusing her attention on Sif. "So, which faction are do you want to join?"
Sif didn't lie. " I'm joining Mysterious Light."
The man on the bull looked a bit depressed by the news. He pouted slowly. " Are you sure friend? We have some strong people on our side! Jin Tak is a silver ranked summoner, and Stone Hurrican is an Array Master! "
The serpent around Nia suddently opened his eyes and snapped his fangs in the air towards the giant bull. "Tsé... you have strong people? Then what about our Golden Ghost? Not even Ivory Tower's leader is able to deal with him!"
She then turned towards Sif.
"I once met him and he wasn't that older than us. He's not a summoner but his cultivation method is something that is way better than the Path of Honor! People say that he is from the Belt of Empires, they are known to have so many different cultivation paths... "
The man on the bull scoffed. "That's not the only thing that they say about him. It's renowned that he is a skirt-chaser. He even kidnapped Jin Tak for a whole week! She is still fuming about that. She will beat anyone who even mentions it."
The serpent Summoner shook her head. "Jin Tak? What are you talking about? Why would he even care about her? ... it's a pity that he has eyes only for that Morgana woman..."
A strange smile appeared on Sif's face. "I see, I really would like to meet him too" he said trying to sound the most convincing possible.
He was thinking of a way to stir the conversation to some other interesting topic, when suddenly the plaza all around them started to tremble.
A powerful voice echoed all around. "Welcome to Iron Gates' Level Elevator. We are currently starting the descent towards Level Three."
Then, the entire plaza began to rapidly sink down.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone