Chapter 51: Tournament of Worth - Leaving the Primordial Tower!
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Chapter Begins:
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Kai shrugged.
Before coming to Arlen, he had separated the contents of his almost 50 ml Light Neurotoxin into 5 small vials. "So," he said, leaning over the vials, "would you like to hear the deal now?"
"Are you pissing out this substance?" Arlen asked.
Kai took that question as a yes. He knew the Baron must have guessed something by now, but he didn't care.
"Now here's the deal," Kai said. "I want to visit the Temple. 10000 Mission Credits or equivalent Items of my choice. All data that is available to the Thunder Faction on the various Random Worlds. A wand, false or real, I don't care. And… you will tell me why you haven't ascended to the 4th floor yet."
Kai had thought this through many times.
3 drops of Light Neurotoxin had made Arlen a Baron on the 3rd floor.
The things a person like him could do on the 2nd Set with 20 ml of it at his disposal were beyond imagination. Sure, the poison would lose efficacy given the Contestants' enhanced Stats, but he could also be more extravagant with it.
For Kai, what he had offered was more than fair. Well, not exactly fair, he thought. What's the point of making a deal where I am not at the better end of it?
Arlen's eyes had become red.
Not because of anger but because of the internal struggle he was going through.
His pupils kept going in and out of focus, looking at the vials at one time, conversing with himself at others. Then he shook his head.
"No." One word and that seemed to seal the bottle of Kai's prospects. "Let's not even talk about why you think you will be allowed in… in the Temple. There isn't a Temple below the 10th floor, to begin with."
Kai knew what was going on. Not that Arlen couldn't do it, but the stakes weren't high enough compared to the risk. Alright, he thought. Suit yourself, then.
Kai reached into his Inventory, taking out another vial. Arlen's eyes shook, his breathing becoming heavier. But Kai didn't give him a chance to take control of himself. He took out the fourth vial, putting it beside the three others.
Arlen beamed. "Done," he proclaimed, losing his sulky appearance. "I will arrange a visit to the Temple for you… if you ever reach the 10th floor. It can take years, though. Haha!"
Arlen's hand reached out for the four vials, but Kai was quicker. He put all the vials back into his Inventory.
"What's the meaning of this?" Arlen asked.
"Don't push me," Kai said, narrowing his eyes. "You will get the vials when I am in and out of the Temple in one piece. Let's talk about the rest of my conditions."
"Humph!" Arlen snorted but leaned back on the sofa. "You can't get a better Item than the one made from the Hippogriff's talons below the 4th floor. You will have your 10000 Mission Credits. The data of Thunder Faction is not my property, but I will see about it too. The false wand? I can manage. And your last question is… foolish at best, Red.
"What do you mean, why haven't I ascended yet? It's simple. I still have a point remaining in my 20 points quota of 1st Set."
Kai was confused. So what if Arlen's quota wasn't finished?
"Haha!" Arlen guffawed. "Don't tell me you think you can make up the remaining points on the upper floors. Fool! There isn't an endless number of points. If you leave even 1 point behind from your quota, then that point is gone. You will never get it back. I still have 1 left, so I reset my Kill Count to attempt one more mission before ascending."
It was Kai's turn to become shocked.
He knew there was a limited supply of Attributed Points, but never had he thought that not having them all would leave him incapacitated.
Kai gulped. "But why is it so important to have all the points?" he asked. "I have heard of many Contestants ascending the floors as quickly as they can ."
Arlen tsked. "That's why I told you, Red…" the Baron said, shaking his head. "That's why I told you to join an organization. Let me tell you as a free charity. New Contestants like you make two grave mistakes.
"First, they think Grade E stands for Easy in the missions of 1st Set. Ask yourself, when has the System ever mentioned so? Never. There is no Easy mission in the Primordial Tower. The missions are only divided according to the Mission Credits and Attribute Points they offer, and nothing else. I have heard of an E- mission taking years to be completed and a D+ graded mission getting completed in an hour. So… Don't Assume."
Kai's mind roared with understanding. It opened up a path to him which he would have missed altogether, otherwise.
"Second," Arlen continued, "the Contestants you mentioned aren't clearing the 1st Set because they are formidable, but because they are in a rush to clear them, at the cost of losing Attribute Points from their quota. Life above the 3rd floor is much more comfortable than below it. No powerful Contestant in his right mind would ever let go of even a single point."
Kai could sense it. Something more was there to it, hidden behind the last statement. "Why?" he asked, holding his breath.
Arlen grinned at Kai. "Tournament of Worth," he said. "The two Systems hold this tournament in which Contestants from both sides take part. The only qualifying condition is that a Contestant must have got all the Attribute Points from their Set. That automatically eliminates all Contestants below the 4th floor."
Kai paled, seeing the mockery written on Arlen's face. "When is the next one?" he asked, gritting his teeth. "What is the reward?"
Arlen scratched his cheek, contemplating his next words, or enjoying Kai's obvious ecstatic expression. "In 4 months," he said, controlling back a laugh. "And the Reward…"
Arlen leaned forward, his face coming fatally close to Kai's. When he opened his mouth, his breath smelled of peppermint.
"Tell me, Red. Have you ever heard of…
"… Glitches?"
Silence.
…
What the… Kai's breath quickened. Nobody mentioned Glitches to me so far…
"Glitches?!" he feigned ignorance, his heart pounding with anticipation.
It was too hard to control his emotions when one of the most important things in Kai's life was being discussed. That too, by none other than Arlen.
Kai had thought it was an exclusive privilege given to some Worthy Contestants. Now it seemed there were other ways to get it, too. Ways that were more common than having the Worth Stat with an abnormally high value.
"What are Glitches?" Kai asked, showing a fake curiosity.
"Just think of them as a direct ticket to the 5th Set," Arlen said. "Top organizations below the 12th floor select Contestants through the Tournament. You can call it a mass selection tournament too. Only the winner will be eligible to have the Glitch, and that Contestant has and will always go to the Empire. Imagine, Red… imagine the endless source of Items, data, and…"
Arlen took a deep breath as if holding himself back to say more.
"And," Kai said, squinting his eyes. "Tell me, Arlen."
"Blessings!" Arlen said, a greedy gleam appearing in his eyes. "Blessings from… from the Temples. Don't take them as an ordinary slap at the back, or an old street priest's hoax. No. These are the real deal."
Kai pressed his mouth into a thin line. "Why are you telling me all this, then?" he asked. "What is it for you in it?"
Arlen chuckled. "Nothing," he said, but his eyes said something else. "You won't even get to take part in it, so why would I trouble myself in plotting against you? Now take out the saber you had used last night."
"Why?"
"Well, I need to show those three fools waiting for you I have killed you," Arlen said, standing up. "There's one more thing I am adding to our little deal. You will go to the next battle under the Thunder Faction's banner. I will arrange a room for you. Now, get up! I won't leave you alone with Shae here."
Kai stood up. He took out the saber and handed it over to Arlen. The Baron examined it, raising his eyebrows at its sharpness.
"You will get your Mission Credits, the wand, and the data shortly," Arlen said, almost walking away. "Just pay the man a vial of the venom in advance during the transaction."
Damn! Kai cursed. He is too shrewd to have an upper hand over him.
*
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Room No. 301,
Thunder Faction
Three days had passed since Kai and Arlen's last meeting.
Kai had already participated in the Thunder Faction's Battlefield, completing his 2nd Floor's Kill Count of 50 Order's Contestants.
Now, he was seated in the room, working on his Elementary Abilities.
There was a smile on his face, refusing to vanish no matter how much he tried.
The reason? Wealth and the wooden stick lying on his bed. Kai had spent the last three days going through the data on Random Worlds, learning as much as he could about them.
It wouldn't have mattered much before, but now he had a particular goal. The Title, Novice Collector. After going through all the data, Kai felt he could get the Title in a single mission if he tried hard enough.
The wand was a disappointment, though.
It had only one requirement, Elementary Magical Aptitude. It also had an MP output limit. But even this disappointment couldn't hold him back from smiling while looking at it. It was as if a child had gotten his favorite toy, but he was too small to play with it.
The child would eventually grow, Kai thought. Magic isn't that far away from me.
Kai's concerns lay not about getting this Elementary Ability, but about the upcoming tournament and its rewards. It had pained him much, thinking of how he wouldn't be able to take part in the tournament.
Unlike what Arlen had thought, Kai wasn't worried about not emptying his 20 Points quota.
He had already secured 10 Attribute Points, courtesy of the two hidden missions. Only 10 remained, which Kai believed he could get on the next two missions. To ascend to the 2nd Set, he would need to reach the 3rd floor, and then he must also attempt a floor-ascending mission.
So, he wasn't worried about not qualifying, but qualifying within time.
From what Arlen had said, the Mission Time Limit didn't depend on the Mission's Grade every time. But often, it did. Kai had gone through the statistics available, which revealed that over 90% of the time, the time limit would keep on increasing.
An enormous probability, given the vast number of Contestants.
If I take my last mission as a measure, Kai thought, then my next mission time limit will be around a month.
Even if he would get 5-6 Attribute Points in that mission, the floor-ascending mission could vary anywhere between 3 to 4 months. Not enough time to gather all the points. Not at all.
Kai was in a conundrum.
No matter how much he thought about it, no solution came to him. Moreover, he really-really needed to join the tournament.
Not to get another Glitch. That was impossible, Kai could tell from the answer he had got about Glitch. It was the manifestation of one's Individuality and everyone had only one Individuality.
No. The thing that made Kai's heart palpitate was the idea that had come through an instinct.
If a Contestant already possessing a Glitch were to win the tournament, can the Glitch be upgraded then?
I must take part in the tournament, Kai reflected. I must.
The question persisted, though. How?
Suddenly, as if the memory just oozed out from his brain, Kai remembered the occasional times when he had found himself stuck with a calculation or concept in his previous life. At those times, he would always go to his mother.
Talking it out with a second person, even if the other person might not be able to solve the problem, always open up more doors, Kai had learned. He didn't want to rely on others, but pride, honesty, and morals weren't something that could restrict a demon like him.
At the end of the day, only results mattered.
"Come out…" Kai called to the being within him. "Petyr."
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Volume 4 - The Butcher of the 2nd Floor (Interlude) - Ends!!!
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