3rd Floor
The City of Barons
Marine Roland, the Captain of the Silver Hunter Guild, stared at the Wanted Poster in his hands and let out a reminiscent sigh.
Years had passed, but he still remembered the day when the kid had come to the 1st Floor.
Roland was just a small member of the Guild back then, looking after its branch in the City of Assignments.
Later, the Butcher of the 2nd Floor had all but ended the Guild's future, killing most of its members.
Roland had strengthened the Guild's footing singlehandedly, successfully rising to the rank of a Guild Captain.
Even the R'lyeh Empire recognized his strength, bestowing the seat of Baron upon him.
However, Roland had taken no joy in the royal status. There was a reason that the 3rd Floor was called the City of Barons. With so many Contestants reaching the 3rd Floor, displaying outstanding strength, the Empire almost threw Baron titles at them every 3rd or 4th year.
It wouldn't be long before a new Baron showed up on the 3rd Floor.
This… was the game now, Roland realized.
Who would be the next Baron?
How would one gather enough strength and ascend the Set?
The politics. The schemes. The constant struggle to get more Items.
Roland sighed, feeling himself succumbing to depression. No… He shook his head. He couldn't afford to get depressed.
Roland's gaze fell upon the Wanted Poster again.
He crushed it.
"… Where are you going, Captain?" the Vice-Captain asked.
In reply, Roland took off the Silver Hunter Captain's badge and threw it toward him. "You are the Captain now," he said, smiling. "I am… going to the 4th Floor."
Or die reaching there... That, Roland left unsaid.
…
7th Floor
The City of Contestants
With the 2nd Set offering leisure, choice, and an opportunity to decide one's future path, it still held a considerable number of non-Contestants.
Most of the Contestants chose to stay on the 4th Floor, the City of Leisure, becoming fewer and fewer as they ascended the floors.
When the fraction of these daring Contestants of the 6th Floor attempted their Set Ascension Mission, only a handful of them trickled up, reaching the 3rd Set.
This caused a temporary yet recurring surplus of Contestants on the 7th Floor.
Hence, the city itself was named the City of Contestants.
Presently, a significant area of the city was adorned with decorations.
One of the hegemons of the 7th Floor, the Thunder Faction, was celebrating the ascension of their future Leader to the 3rd Set.
But that wasn't the only reason.
He was also getting married today!
In a grand hall, the few who were lucky to be invited to the ceremony eyed the bride as she giggled among the ladies.
One of the old powerhouses shook his head, sighing. "Thunder Faction will get even stronger now."
The others raised their brows. "… How so?"
The old man nudged his chin toward the bride. "That's the Golden Mage…"
A gasp echoed between the men.
Golden Mage — the greatest Wandless Magician — was one of the most famous rookies below the 3rd Set.
"… Didn't she get an offer to join the Flowers of Doom?" another man pointed out.
The old man scoffed. "And why would she join that?" he commented. "To start a war?"
Seeing the puzzled expressions on their faces, the old powerhouse sighed again. "Instead of spending your days whoring," he rebuked, "you should spend some time in politics, too."
"… Please enlighten us, Your Highness," one of the men said shamelessly.
The old man didn't mind. "Do you know why Thunder Faction is called so?" He didn't wait for a response that wasn't going to come and continued, "because it's a faction, you dumb fucks! Listen. One of the strongest organizations of the 5th Set, Millennial Magical Alliance, is an alliance of various factions.
"Thunder Faction is one of the original factions. So what if it has limited itself to the 7th Floor? If any of you is lucky enough to reach the 10th Floor, ask who Silvas Family is… It's no coincidence that the new leader climbed the Tower so fast, reaching the 7th Floor in mere years."
The younger men exchanged shocked glances among themselves.
"… I…" one of them stuttered. "I have also heard a rumor."
The old man's eyes narrowed. "What?"
The man gulped. "That… That the new leader is the resurrected son of someone from the 15th Floor."
The old man looked at the younger one, sipped the wine, and said, "… You should retire."
Listening to all this in secret, Shae sighed within.
Making an excuse, she got up and left the grand hall, heading deep into the mansion.
After a light walk, she opened the massive doors of the bedroom and found him seated at the same place where she had left him — on the floor — holding a Wanted Poster in his hands.
Shae's heart pained as she looked at him like that.
"… Arlen," she said, approaching him. "You are needlessly worrying about… him. Who's to say that it is indeed him, huh? And… even if it's him, then… doesn't the 3rd Stage of the Tournament of Worth last for hundreds of years? I bet he won't even remember us…"
Arlen's mouth quivered, the locks of blue hair on his face twitching.
"… Haha…" he began laughing. "… Haha…"
Shae's face lost all color upon hearing that laugh.
"Forget?" he said, scoffing. "People like him… don't forget, Shae. I know this because… I am like him, too… somewhat. I manipulated him to attend the Tournament of Worth because of his nature, too. He hadn't known it, then, but he must have realized it later. Sigh…"
Arlen looked at the demon in the Wanted Poster and… crushed it.
Suddenly, his eyes hardened, and he stood up, taking a deep breath.
"… What are you doing?" Shae asked, barely able to bring together a row of words without crying. "It's our marriage…"
Arlen's gaze softened at that, but…
"I will be back shortly," he said, marching away. "Don't worry."
"Where are you going?!" Shae cried behind him.
"To…" he said without looking back. "… contact my bastard father…"
Because Arlen Silvas knew a storm was coming, and the only way not to get swept by it was to climb the Tower… as fast as he could.
*****************
AN: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my Webnovel profile to access all options.]
You can even subscribe to the Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day