Chapter 39.

CHAPTER 39.

Amber couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Of course, she didn’t understand how Ax’thra’s confrontation with Dargon had unfolded; all she knew was that the mage and brawler had died after it was over. She didn’t know if Ax’thra had emerged victorious without a struggle or if anything happened⁠. And even if he emerged unscathed⁠— did that matter?

The beacon could be used to summon him right into a trap. It was just bad, plain and simple. The Arcane Council certainly wasn’t stupid, if their intention was to summon Ax’thra they would be prepared. And Amber had a feeling that that was indeed their intention. What other Primordial Spirit would they summon? While she, naturally, knew of no other Primordial Spirits, she did know of one that had just been attacked by the organization.

It just made sense…

Amber sucked in a deep breath, getting odd reactions from both of the present knights. The first one to react was Brent, he had blonde hair and looked to be in his thirties.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. There was some concern in his voice, which Amber didn’t expect.

“I don’t know…”

Amber’s thoughts had entered turmoil in a single moment. She didn’t know what to do⁠— a large part of her wanted to ditch the knights and run. She wanted to make her way out of the tower and do what she could do to stop the Arcane Council. Except, where the fuck would she even find the Arcane Council? She had no clue, not even a lead. How was she going to rush to stop whatever summoning was happening if she had no clue where to start.

There was also the fact that the member of the Arcane Council she had fought was weaker than the ones she first met. Meaning; the bare minimum requirement for her to fight the Arcane Council was level 150. And that was probably pushing it.

Amber gritted her teeth. She felt… powerless. She hadn’t been in this world for all that long, not even a year yet. And while she was aware that the speed of her leveling was almost unheard of, it still didn’t feel like it was… enough.

Amber worried for Ax’thra. He was her first friend in this world, and he had helped her out tremendously. He had also actively protected her when the Arcane Council came for him. She had plenty of reasons to care, however there was also another thing that added to that worry—

I wanted to get to know him a lot more…

Amber shook her head, none of that mattered right now. Instead, she had to focus on what she should do⁠— what she was going to do. And after thinking about it for a few moments, the answer was obvious:

Grow stronger.

That was what she was going to do, and what she had to do. And if there was a Primordial Spirit inside the tower, she had to meet them. She had to. It was no longer an optional thing.

“Amber?” Terrel, the captain asked.

Amber blinked, being brought to reality. She was again, being looked at with utmost confusion. And it made sense given her reaction.

“Right, sorry.”

The captain raised his brow at that. “Are you worried about them trying to control a Primordial Spirit or something?” he asked before shaking his head. “They are gods. All the beacon can do is summon them, nothing else, nothing more.”

“Right, yeah,” she agreed. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but is there a Primordial Spirit inside this tower?”

The captain blinked before chuckling.

“This tower is unique, it can run without the presence of a Primordial Spirit.”

Amber felt her heart skip and her shoulders sag. So I was right. If there had been a Primordial Spirit it surely would have come to look for the cube, she would have met them a long time ago, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“But, to answer your question; as of the present. Yes there is a Primordial Spirit inside the tower. Needless to say, they can only be found at the top of the tower.”

Amber blinked and slowly nodded.

Then I have to climb the tower as soon as possible… Hopefully I can ask them to help me meet Ax’thra…

She took a moment to collect herself before deciding to ask about the Arcane Council once more.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about the attack, or is that all the information?”

“They entered through the sewers, which have now been officially blocked from the public,” he stated simply before crossing his arms. “Aside from that, the members of the Arcane Council clearly knew what they were doing and how to strike. There is suspicion to believe there was help from the inside.”

Amber nodded at that.

“However, even with all of that they still lost a member.”

She blinked. “Wait, they did?”

“Yes, he was found bleeding and dead right outside the capital.” He nodded.

Oh… the one that I killed… Amber suppressed a sigh as the captain continued.

“He was identified to be the weakest member of the group that attacked, however given everything that I know, there is one thing I can say for certain.”

He took a breath.

“Based on what we just saw from the Arcane Council, and from the limited information that the country was able to piece, one thing is for certain.”

Terrel met her gaze and the words that came next out of his mouth, shocked Amber.

“They have enough power to destroy the entirety of Cytel.”

Amber blinked and Brent slammed his hand on the table.

“What kind of information are you sharing?!”

However, the captain ignored that, and continued.

“I can see that you want to know about their whereabouts.” Amber paused at his words, as he continued. “But unfortunately, that is all the information I have. I hope it was satisfactory.” He smiled.

She took a brief moment but ultimately smiled back. “It was.”

He nodded and gestured towards the exit. “You should leave, I have to talk with Brent.”

“Talk?! I need to give you a stern scolding!” the vice-captain said in evident anger.

After a slight nod, Amber turned around and began to walk. But just before exiting, she looked back. She saw Terrel, who looked rather happy, and then there was the vice-captain who was evidently angry that the secrets of his kingdom had been spread to a stranger.

“Thank you, Terrel.”

With those words, she left the tent. There was no resistance training done today. Instead, she just rested. The worry remained in her mind, but with a plan of action she was able to find some rest.

And after waking up, they continued to climb the tower.

* * *

Unlike before, Amber fought ferociously and without restraint, and this meant⁠—

Amber stared at a large lake in front of them. Or calling it a lake wasn’t quite accurate. It was akin to a very large puddle. They were in a large passage, and the ground went on a downwards slope right into water. They could see the end of the floor at the other side.

“This floor has had nothing but traps,” Terrel mused. “I wonder what it is this time around.”

“Only one way to find out.” The vice-captain stepped forward before throwing a pebble into the water.

And a moment later, thousands of fishes engulfed the spot. The water splashed multiple meters above, and a bubbling-like mass formed at the spot before it slowly began to turn crimson from the fishes inside attacking each other. It took a few seconds before the water calmed again, though this time there were streams of crimson present.

“That is bad…” Terrel commented. “Anyone got any ideas?”

Percy raised his hand. “We can blast it with our strongest skills, and hope all the fishes die.”

Amber raised her sword at the lake. No one was paying attention to her, it seemed.

“Except, your strongest skill requires line of sight, which you don’t have,” Brent said. “Also, there is a chance that you and⁠—”

“Flamethrower.”

And a blast of crimson engulfed the lake. Sizzling sounds echoed as the slapping of the fishes joined it. In a single moment the whole lake was covered, the walls and ceiling of the room were singed black, and vapor quickly filled the room.

But Amber kept it for a few seconds until⁠—

Nothing remained.

The knights stared at the large indent on the ground with wide eyes, all that remained was a sea of black with crimson embers that were dying out. Not even the ash of the fishes remained within the charred hallway.

There was only silence for a moment before the healer, Casper laughed.

“I know she is capable but every time I see it, I just can’t believe it.”

“Perhaps, she trained her skills on another person and that’s why she extended that opportunity to us sometime ago…” another said.

“Wait, but she is a warrior, how does she do that⁠—”

“Amber has cleared the path,” Terrel interrupted. “We can proceed, let’s advance to the next floor.”

“Well, she has been clearing all the paths,” Percy mused. “Not like I can complain.”

And just like that, they continued onto the next floor.

* * *

As more floors passed, Amber tried to do more. She needed to level her skills more than anything, given leveling up wasn’t much of an option and while for now it didn’t trouble her, she knew that soon it was going to be a problem. Her goal was to get stronger, and while she enjoyed the company that Terrel specifically provided, it wasn’t enough to off-set her need to level up in the long term.

But she felt that she hadn’t gained enough skill levels just yet, and that was why her skills had to level. She had to reach her 3rd Rank in a lot of her skills.

Though, she still wanted to reach the top as soon as possible. For now, she could justify climbing with the knights, their pace in climbing the tower was fast, but sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d be faster alone.

She needed to meet the Primordial Spirit.

Amber sprinted through a dark void, she had numerous venomous darts embedded within her. She constantly converted the rage she was building into healing from Recovery of Curses. However, this wasn’t going to be for long because she felt the thing she was fighting was close.

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She could almost smell it.

Amber heard an object slide across the ground and she⁠⁠— teleported with Quick Dash. In a blink, she stared at a gigantic lizard that stood on two legs, multiple spots of its body bleeding. There were cuts all over, marks of burns, and Amber knew it was going to end soon.

The Venomous Werelizard turned but it was too late⁠— Amber slashed, avoiding to use cleave, and using Cursed Rage Synergy instead.

In an instant, the Firecursed Sword dug deep into its arm as dozens of lacerations burst from Curse Manipulation. Blood splattered and the lizard reeled. It swiped its other arm, sending two poison lacerated spikes which Amber happily let herself be hit with. And then, she followed up with another hit.

In a single moment the sword struck the side of the monster and blood exploded with the lacerations, its skin was singed but Amber extinguished the fire immediately just like she had done before.

The Venomous Werelizard screeched and then⁠— a cloud of gas exploded, and Amber⁠— dashed.

She bolted into the darkness and thrust her hand.

“It worked once, it won’t work again⁠— Curse Battery.”

And the darkness exploded into flames and blood as a pained scream echoed. A moment later, a notification came.

[You have defeated a [Venomous Werelizard. Lvl. 115].]

After that, the room cleared and Amber saw the knights not too far away from her. Except they were unscathed and confused. Which meant, the only monster in the room targeted her and only her, which she didn’t mind.

Though the knights did look at the monster with some horror.

[Quick Dash has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 5 to 3rd Rank level 6.]

[Crimson Fervor has leveled up from level 4 to 5.]

[Crimson Fuel has leveled up from level 4 to 5.]

[Elemental Resistance has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 9 to 2nd Rank level 10.]

[Magical Resistance has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 9 to 2nd Rank level 10.]

[Physical Resistance has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 9 to 2nd Rank level 10.]

To her surprise, one of her skills had reached 3rd Rank.

[⁠Cursed Rage Synergy has reached 3rd Rank ⁠— level 1.

You store attacks you receive as your own rage. Stored rage does not disappear. You can unleash your rage in a single attack or transfer it to improve your skills: Cursed Momentum, granting it great build up or Recovery of Curses granting it increased recovery.

At higher levels the skill may be more effective at improving your skills.

2nd Rank ⁠— Rage builds up twice as fast.

3rd Rank ⁠— Twice more rage can be stored.]

“So, the skill just became twice as strong for burst attacks…” Amber blinked.

Thinking about what it would become when Curse Battery reached its 3rd Rank, she couldn’t help but smile wildly. And she had also leveled up too.

[You have reached level 111. 5 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

* * *

Just before resistance training, Amber decided that she finally wanted to see the Core Skill offered to her for reaching level 110. Deep down she had been afraid of having to make an incredibly hard choice, and that’s why she had been putting it off. But she couldn’t do it any longer. However, as she opened the notification she wondered about when she’d get skills for her Legacy Branch.

And to her surprise, it was potentially now.

[New Core Skill or Legacy Branch Skill! For reaching level 110 as a Cursed Supreme One who bears the Legacy Branch of Crimson Fervency you have been offered a new Core Skill option or a new Legacy Branch Skill.

You may see both options before choosing.]

“This is new…”

Amber sat on the steps as she frowned, before commanding the System to show her both options.

[New Core Skill! For reaching level 110 as a Cursed Supreme One you have been offered Curse Extraction ⁠— level 1.

You’ve grown used to curses, you are now able to extract them in order to disenchant objects. Allowing the general populace to use them once more. Or should someone be cursed, you can remove the curse afflicting them.]

Yeahnoooo…

If its 2nd or 3rd Rank allowed her to store said curse and transfer it to another object, it certainly would have been an amazing choice, except⁠— the System never said what the 2nd or 3rd Rank would do. Which meant she would be taking a literal gamble and potentially be shooting herself in the foot by replacing one of her good skills.

If she wanted to help someone who is afflicted by a curse, she was pretty sure she could just hold them and passively siphon it away. Plus she still had health potions.

And so, she turned to the Legacy Branch Skill.

[New Legacy Branch Skill! For reaching level 110 while bearing the Crimson Fervency you have been offered Crimson Venom ⁠— level 1.

You’ve grown used to spilling your own blood, and now you can damage your enemies with it. You have been afflicted by toxins so many times in your life that your blood has gained venomous qualities. The strength of the venom depends on skill level.

This skill takes twice the time in comparison to normal skills to level.]

“Not what I expected, but…” She smiled. “I can lace my weapons with it.”

And she accepted the skill.

[New Legacy Branch Skill! You have learned Crimson Venom ⁠— level 1.]

* * *

The days passed and Amber continued with her training, she kept three of the darts from the Venomous Werelizard embedded in her body, and when she was resting on the seventy-eighth floor, it paid off.

Amber’s eyes widened seeing the notification.

[Toxin Resistance has reached 3rd Rank ⁠— level 1.

You’ve lived an unfortunate life where poisons seek you⁠— except you’re actively looking for them. Please stop. Poisons and other toxins are considerably less effective on you now

2nd Rank ⁠— All toxins are 30% less effective on you, this is stacked with the main effect of the skill

3rd Rank ⁠— Toxins will be cleansed out of your body within one hour.]

“Hopefully that won’t be a problem for leveling up the skill…” she muttered before moving to remove the darts from the monster.

Even now they were still afflicting her with their effects. Though, their damage was trivial, and if they didn’t make her body slightly numb she probably would have kept them all the way.

Still…

Amber was happy, through her resistance training she had leveled up all of her resistances to the 3rd Rank, and now thanks to the darts, Toxin Resistance had reached that as well. It went without saying, but all the other 3rd Rank resistances had the same 3rd Rank.

And it was a good one.

3rd Rank ⁠— You grow sturdier to magical attacks the longer you are in battle]

…

3rd Rank ⁠— You grow sturdier to physical attacks the longer you are in battle]

…

3rd Rank ⁠— You grow sturdier to elemental attacks the longer you are in battle]

Amber smiled.

Tomorrow will be my final day with the knights, then I’ll finish climbing the tower alone.

* * *

Seventy-ninth floor had been nothing but nice. It had been very nice in fact. It had nothing but hordes of enemies that Amber had used to have fun. And as they ventured into the eightieth floor, she didn’t expect anything. Or rather, she expected perhaps one thing, and that was to level Curse Manipulation to 3rd Rank.

Just like any other time, Amber walked into the floor first while being followed by the knights. The place looked unassuming, it resembled a large room with large and towering pillars. The colors were mostly deep blues that veered off towards green. It all looked normal until, Amber felt a prickling sensation over her neck and then⁠—

With the sound of a wet splatter, screams echoed.

She snapped in the direction and her eyes grew wide. The arm of one of the warrior knights was flying in the air. Blood flew and in the middle of the knight’s ranks there was a two meter tall mantis. Its chitin was a dark blue, like the night⁠— white spots littered it as if it was the vast welkin of space, and its serrated limbs shimmered with purple light.

He lost his arm, just like that⁠—

[Noxsella Mantid. Lvl. 125]

And a moment later, the monster vanished into thin air, its figure turning translucent in a moment. And yet, Amber could feel its presence, though barely. She couldn’t even tell its general direction past whether it was close or not, and so far it remained at the same distance.

It was a dangerous enemy.

“Take shell formation!” Terrel screamed and the knights hurriedly moved.

Meanwhile Amber’s eyes darted around. She couldn’t see the monster anywhere, however, there was only one place where it could be. It wasn’t near her so it meant⁠—

She turned towards the knights and dashed, crossing the distance. And as soon as the dash ended she saw the figure of the monster appear, slashing with both hands at Percy and the other mage. Amber immediately used Cursed Stomp and the slashes hit⁠—

The monster screeched, reeling back as numerous cuts appeared in its chitin and embers started, meanwhile more blood was drawn. The mage fell back clasping at his clavicle screaming, Percy on the other hand had a small cut around his neck that he grabbed at with evident fear. The healer moved to aid them and the monster disappeared back into nothingness.

It seemed that she was going to need to say goodbye after this battle. The knights would begin to slow her down at this point, and als⁠o⁠:

I don’t want anyone to die.

Amber looked for the monster. It didn’t seem sturdy if at all, she just had to⁠ get a clean hit—

And she barely stepped out of the way. The monster’s scythe dug right into her clavicle, breaking into it. Amber gritted her teeth and stomped. The monster reeled back, this time splattering blood into the ground before disappearing into the air.

Amber knelt and touched the blood on the ground, burning it for her recovery. The broken bone immediately shifted into place and was already mending, the bone fragments meanwhile shifted out of her flesh as she slowly stood up.

This monster is a pure glass cannon… She could tell it had been quite hurt from two Cursed Stomps, except its speed was insane and⁠—

Amber raised her arm and blocked⁠— taking the scythe of the monster, it went halfway into her arm and she smiled as she twisted.

And it was the perfect target to test her strategies.

The monster tried to pull back but its scythe got stuck, then with her other hand she grabbed it to keep it from pulling.

The Noxsella Mantid screeched, letting out a dangerous hiss as it lifted its other arm and Amber once more⁠— stomped. The monster flinched and then she⁠— headbutted it. She felt its hard chitin crack under her strength, and that wasn’t all, using all her strength she⁠—

Broke its arm. Like a twig it snapped with a loud crack.

The mantis shrieked in pain and swung its still unbroken arm, and Amber let it hit⁠— the scythe dug well into her torso. It had quite a lot of strength, but⁠—

“What’s the point if you are so easy to kill?”

The monster tried to pull back before swinging forward with its head, trying to bite her with its mandibles.

“In the end, you got the worst enemy possible.”

The Noxsella Mantid panicked at her words, Amber didn’t know if it understood her, but it didn’t matter⁠—

“Curse Battery.”

And the monster burst into flames as its entire body was cut over.

It shrieked for half a second before it died. Its burning body collapsed into the ground, quickly turning into nothing but ash. Then, a moment later the lighting around the floor increased, indicating that it had been cleared.

[You have defeated a [Noxsella Mantid. Lvl. 125].]

It was the fastest floor clear so far, and yet the most dangerous one. Amber ignored the rest of her notifications for the time being, instead she turned to the knights who were still tending to their injuries. Three out of the six people had been injured in less than a minute. The healer seemed to be re-attaching the severed arm now.

I guess this is where I should say goodbye⁠—

Amber blinked as she saw Terrel approaching her.

“I wanted to thank you for saving us, I hope we can count on you from now on.” He bowed. “While this was a bit too dangerous, I think we will be safe for a few more floors.”

Hearing that, Amber couldn’t help but purse her lips. “About that…”

He blinked. Terrel looked at her up and down, it felt almost awkward as she stood there, but the captain ultimately nodded with his signature smile.

“You plan on continuing alone now, right?”

He has always been perceptive. Amber sighed.

“That is my plan yeah, so needless to say⁠—”

“We won’t follow you, you have my word.” The captain nodded before extending his hand. “So, this is our goodbye then?”

Amber grabbed his hand. “It is. For what it’s worth, it was nice meeting you Terrel.”

The captain of the knights smiled. “Likewise.”

Their hands parted and their gazes met.

“Are you sure you don’t want to say goodbye to the others?”

Terrel was the closest person to her, and maybe the only one that mattered. She was an acquaintance with Brent, and with the others⁠— she couldn’t be considered that. And so, she shook her head.

“No, just say goodbye to them for me.”

“Alright.”

Amber smiled and then began to walk towards the stairs, waving at Terrel.

“Good luck in meeting the Primordial Spirit since I can tell that’s your goal, I hear not everyone gets to see them,” he said.

“Thank you.” She nodded at him.

It wasn’t the best goodbye, but it was sufficient for her. She didn’t hold hope on meeting him again, but he had been nice company for the month or so they had known each other.

It didn’t take long before she reached the stairs.

In the end, she was slightly sad to depart from the knights like this, but at the same time she was never really quite accepted into the camp so it only made sense⁠—

“Amber!” Percy called.

She turned only to see the whole group of knights coming towards her. Percy was leading the charge. They all stopped a dozen meters away.

What are they doing⁠— And Percy continued.

“Good luck in your climb! May you reach the top!”

“Yeah, I am praying for your success!” Casper the healer added.

“Don’t die, Amber,” Brent said.

And she blinked. And that wasn’t all, even the two other knights that mostly ignored her were⁠—

“Thank you for saving my life so many times!”

“Make sure to use Terrel’s name when leaving the tower!”

And then she saw the captain approach her with a smile chuckling.

“It looks like they wanted to say goodbye in person.”

Amber smiled at that and spoke.

“Goodbye everyone, thank you all for the company.”

With those words, she turned and began to go up the stairs as the knights waved her off and bade their farewells to her, wishing her luck.

“I think I’ll miss this.” She smiled as she disappeared into the stairs.

Finally, Amber turned to her notifications to see what she had missed out on, this time turning serious.

First was the fact that she had gotten two level ups in a moment.

[You have reached level 112. 5 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

[You have reached level 113. 5 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

And then there were two much more important notifications.

Two of her skills had leveled, and by that she meant⁠— they had ranked up.

Cursed Manipulation and Curse Battery just reached 3rd Rank.

She grinned looking up the stairs. She couldn’t wait to test their new effects.

Once more, she wanted to see them in action rather than just reading them.

It can’t get any better can it?

Amber suppressed a laugh as she stepped on the stairs to the next floor. She was going to test her skills and finish climbing the tower.