_______
Floor cleared
Rewards.
Lotus flower petal ×1
Mana ×1/4
______
Alaric once again found himself in the lotus-blanketed lake, breath steady as he stared at the notifications.
" It really is like a game," he rubbed his chin in thought.
" I guess my status interface has also changed."
______
Name: Alaric Vulcan
Race: Human
Rank: N/A
Vitality: 60/60
Mana capacity: 500.25/500.25
Completion rate: 0/30
Rewards
Lotus flower petal ×1
---
" Lotus petal?... maybe an ingredient, I'll ask about it later."
He looked around, in search of the exit, none in sight.
Alaric had no need to continue; he just wanted to test it out, and he had.
Going any further will just delay their journey back home.
" Em I want..."
" You want to leave..." The voice interrupted him, he nodding in confirmation.
" Sure, but before that, you are a peculiar one, your existence isn't something that should be..." The voice started to rattle about how strange Alaric was, the latter gritting his teeth in frustration.
He wanted to get out of there, he was sure he had been here for a few hours now, this might worry his mother, not to mention delay their journey.
" May I go..." Alaric, unable to handle it anymore, interrupted the voice.
" Ah, yes, but be careful, your peculiar nature will attract trouble," he added.
Alaric only nodded at his words, though the voice was annoying, he knew his words were true.
" Wait, before you leave, take this."
Alaric's notifications flashed before his eyes.
______
Rewards.
Lotus flower.
_____
" Thank you." Alaric bowed in gratitude though he knew not what it was used for, he wasn't going to ask this talkative voice.
He might use hours explaining it, time he didn't have.
" Be careful out there..."
A glowing gate appeared behind Alaric, the exit out of the tower.
" I will."
.
.
.
Moments before Alaric disappeared.
" Is it ok for him to touch it..." The captain asked worriedly.
" He is the son of the thunder Princess and hellflame, nothing will happen..." Raika smiled proudly but...
As Alaric's hand touched the glitching tower, he disappeared.
" Young master!" the captain and Philip exclaimed simultaneously.
Both rushing to the tower, their bodies moving faster than they ever had.
But it was too late, Alaric had disappeared as if he was never there, no traces left, not even his mana signature could be felt.
Their bodies, on the other hand, passed through the glitching tower, facing no obstructions; they found themselves on the other side of the tower, unable to enter.
" NO!" The captain jumped into it once again, then again and again.
A fruitless endeavor as each time he found himself at the other side.
His dark crimson armor now covered in dirt.
One might think he was doing this because of his loyalty to the young master, but the cold sweat on his back said otherwise.
He was afraid, afraid of what the thunder princess will do to him as he was the one who brought Alaric here.
He looked to his side, trying to find solace in the other guy who had accompanied him, Philip.
Yet Philip was nowhere to be found, it seemed he had given up after the first try and as for his subordinates, well he hadn't brought any with him afraid they might anger the thunder princess.
" I am screwed." His eyes darted around, cold sweat dripping down his brows.
He didn't even want to stand up out of the dirt.
He didn't fear being killed, but looking at what happened to his subordinate, a fate worse than death, he shivered involuntary.
" What are you doing?" Raika's voice sounded though indifferent, to him it sounded like seething rage.
Slowly, hesitantly, he met her gaze, expecting bloodshot eyes filled with killing intent, yet he was met with furrowed brows of confusion.
" Huh..."
" She isn't angry."
" Hey, get up, you are a captain," Raika snapped.
He rose to his feet faster than he had fallen.
" Your majesty..."
" You know I don't like that title..."
" Ah sorry, princess, the young master..." the captain's voice was low.
" Don't worry, he is a Vulcan, I don't know how he entered the tower but he will come out, let's just wait for him," the thunder princess said with a smile.
She was truly confident that Alaric, a zero resonance mage who hadn't manifested his element, will survive a tier two tower.
One of the reasons being one didn't die in the tower though there were possibilities of losing your mind.
Experiencing death countless times has its weight in madness.
Only the strong-willed could shake it off, and even they had their limits; for a six-year-old, he could break at the first death, which could make him a retard all his life.
Yet Raika feared no such outcome.
To her, Alaric was a Vulcan, this much was child's play.
" Oh ok..." The captain turned his gaze to Philip, who gave him a nod with a wry smile.
" I am glad she isn't angry but isn't her trust in her son too much..." The captain could only say internally, glancing between Philip and Raika.
...
The three sat there quietly, in front of Raika the two men couldn't speak, not even engage in small talk.
Raika, on the other hand, sat cross-legged, her back straight, breath rhythmic as she pulled in and refined the mana in the air.
A form of meditation to replenish and increase her mana.
The mana in the air is usually a mixture of elements and thus meditating, which only absorbs the specific element of one's affinity, was barely used.
One could meditate a whole day to only accumulate 3 hrs of mana.
Meditation was only effective in places saturated with specific elements; volcanoes for fire, icelands or water lands for water, mountain tops for air and deep caves or underground for earth and even for those places, they needed to have an elemental crystal or better an elemental spirit dwelling there.
Yet Raika meditated, though she barely got anything, she did so to pass the time.
Sensing something, she opened her eyes, a smile quickly blossoming on her face as she saw Alaric, the latter looking at his hands, which held lotus flower.
" A lotus flower..." The captain's mouth fell agape.
___________
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A/N
1/1