Amanda, Ruby, and the staff members were currently sitting on chairs in front of the portal, waiting for their return. They had already evacuated the entire Technique and Spell Association except for themselves and the two women.
Amanda was calm, except for a faint frown on her face, while the staff were sweating profusely. Everyone sucked into the portal—from the lowest floor to the top—had powerful backgrounds, and if anything happened to them it would cause a disaster for the Technique and Spell Association. The top management might survive, but ordinary staff like them would be slaughtered by the family members and friends of those who were lost, while top management would turn a blind eye. The same fate would happen on every floor where branches were located.
Zzzzz
Suddenly, violent pitch-black lightning began to emerge from the portal. Everyone jumped up from their chairs and backed away to dodge the lightning, which struck and destroyed the seats.
"What's happening?!" one of the staff members shouted in a panicked voice.
Before anyone could react, a white screen appeared in front of them, and new rows of text emerged on it.
[Ding Dong]
[The Staircase of Wealth has been conquered]
[ ' I am even more low profile ' has cleared the Staircase of Wealth]
Everyone blinked a few times, even rubbed their eyes to check if they were hallucinating. Then their eyes bulged and their jaws dropped to the ground in shock.
Even Amanda's eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth parted, but her lips then twitched when she read the name.
"What kind of name is this? Low profile my ass… your name should be 'I am very high profile.'"
Not only on the lowest floor, but even on the higher floors—where multiple rankers capable of destroying worlds resided—people were startled to see the notification.
"Heavens, someone actually conquered the Staircase to Wealth! How is this possible? I only managed to reach the 637th stair," said someone in disbelief as his aura leaked out in agitation, causing many of the weaker ones near him to collapse.
"What's with that name? Is the person trying to provoke the previous record holder?" one of them said in a strange voice as he read the name on the notification.
"Whatever, I really want to know what kind of treasure he'll get from the top of the stairs," another said excitedly.
"Tsk, I hope he didn't use a disguise, or else it'll be difficult for people to find him," someone muttered in a low voice. Many of them thought the same thing—some wanted to recruit him into their faction, others wanted to buy treasures from him, and some even had more malicious intentions: to kill him if he was weak and had no background, and take everything from him.
While everyone was talking about him, the person in question, Victor, had arrived at the top floor and was speechless by what he saw.
"No wonder they call this the Staircase of Wealth," Victor cried out, sucking in a deep breath and swallowing hard as he saw the mountains of gold piled up and hundreds of thousands of weapons and scrolls.
'Ah, I want to take everything from here, then I would be set for life,' Victor said as imaginary dollar signs appeared in his eyes and drool leaked from his lips. He quickly wiped the drool away and forced his expression to become neutral. If someone saw him like this, he would die of embarrassment.
"Holy, so many mythic and legendary rank weapons…" Victor's eyes widened in disbelief as he used his Akasha Eye technique. He could not see the details of the items for some reason but could see their ranks.
[SSS Rank]
[SSS Rank]
[SSS Rank]
[Mythic Rank]
[Legendary Rank]
[SSS Rank]
[SSS Rank]
[SSS Rank]
[Legendary Rank]
[Mythic Rank]
[Legendary Rank]
[SSS Rank]
[SSS Rank]
The sheer number of SSS-rank items was the highest, followed by Legendary items and techniques, while the rarest were Mythic ranks.
"I'm going to be rich," Victor said as he gazed at everything with an intense light in his eyes, but then a new notification popped up.
['I am even more low profile' please pick only one item or technique. You will be ejected out after selecting a new technique and the Staircase of Wealth will vansih. Restrictions have been lifted, and you can now see the details of treasures using techniques.]
"Are you kidding me?" Victor frowned when he saw the message and clicked his tongue, realizing he could only pick one.
"Makes sense, but I'm definitely picking a Mythic-rank item," Victor sighed as he walked forward, browsing through the items using his Akasha Eyes, which now showed the items in detail. To his surprise, he saw many Mythical defensive items and even some utility items, which tempted him. He chose items over techniques and spells because they were rarer than techniques.
The floor was massive—large as a football field—and piled high with treasures that formed countless mountains.
"Huh, what's that?" Victor's body froze as he noticed something that caught his interest. A sword covered in rust, embedded directly onto a stone platform at the top of a pile of treasures. Normally, he would not have paid attention to such a thing, but…
[Name: ????]
[Rank: ?????]
The name and rank were marked with question marks, and for some reason, something in his blood seemed to be pulling him toward it.
He walked over, climbed the pile of treasures, and hopped onto the stone platform as he stared at the sword. For some reason, his heart was beating violently, and he felt dizzy. In a daze, he grabbed the hilt of the sword.
The moment he touched it, thick black chains burst out of the sword and wrapped tightly around his wrist.
The rust covering the blade rapidly flaked away, revealing a pitch-black sword with glowing red lines. Then, phantom chains shot out from it, piercing into his head and invading his mindspace.
[Ding Dong]
[???? is establishing bond with Irregular]