"Alright, come at me with everything you've got! I promise to go easy."
The beast, as if understanding what he said, exploded forward. Easily covering the distance, the beast swiped down, its deadly claws glittering under the canopy of lights filtering through the towering trees.
Raising his dagger, he blocked easily. Not a sign of strain was seen on his face. After all, he had defeated a Sky rank beast before even getting to his peak Mortal realm.
Why won't he be able to do it now?
The beast swung forward, its remaining arms trying to find their mark. Blake easily blocked with his daggers, his movements light and quick.
Kicking forward, his legs struck the side of the beast head, swinging it the side. Swinging his daggers down, one of the beast arms fell to the ground with a thud.
Letting out a loud roar, the beast attacked madly, its eyes red with anger.
"It seems I have company." Blake became serious as he quickly made work of the beast. Under his onslaught, the beast was unable to raise a finger, and soon, it landed on the ground, its life fading away.
At the same time, another beast leapt from one of the trees. The same creature as the first.
Turning around in a smooth motion, his dagger streaked forward, piercing through the head of the beast. The beast head exploded into a mass of flesh and blood, raining down in the leaves and snow filled ground.
Explode.
"Sorry you had to see that." Scratching his head, he quickly searched the beast for the stones. "Orange stones. Just as I thought. Sky rank beast. That's three Orange stones now."
"Take this, handing five yellow stones to Cassie." He dropped her down and then began to bring out stuff that he had stored in his inventory.
He set up the stuff just at the same time Cassie finished absorbing the yellow stones. "Alright, let's eat."
One seeing them would think they were crazy. One around the age of seventeen and the other which appeared to be his kid sister of around twelve, sitting on a wrap with different sort of plates of food placed on it.
"Ahhh. Nice."
With the meal over, they began their journey once again. Blake advanced faster, easily taking down any beast that came his way. He discovered the beasts were no match for him.
Making it out of the centre, the tower could be clearly seen glowing faintly under the snowy sky. Finally breaking out of the forest, they were shocked by the sight before them.
A large number of tents had been set up at the entrance and around the tower. Some of the tents had various insignia at the top.
"Hey. What are you doing here? This isn't a playground. Piss off!"
Glancing towards the direction of the voice, Blake saw a young guy with long silver hair donning a black armour, with the helmet placed between his side.
"I didn't think of this. I forgot the towers are normally crowded with various guilds eager to climb it."
But seeing the area rowdy, it appeared they hadn't started clearing the tower. Maybe a new one that emerged here. That was the only explanation he could come up with.
"Hey!" The heavy footsteps came closer, and then the figure stood before him, his height few inches taller than Blake.
With the way Blake was dressed, one would think he was just a regular civilian. His turtle neck sleeve shirt with tight fitting trousers couldn't compare to the shining armour.
"Hey!" Lifting his hands and about placing it on Blake's shoulders. The world suddenly appeared slanted as he found himself crashing to the ground.
"Shit! What have I done," Bkake muttered, staring forward. At first, the people paid no attention to him, with only a few watching with underlying smiles.
But the change of situation had caused the others to sprang up drawing their weapons. Blake could even feel mana gathering from behind.
"You! Dammit!" The guy slowly rose from the ground in anger. He had let his guard down, leading to his disgrace before all.
'Come to think about it, how was he able to make it to the tower.' Given the current situation of the world—Blake is oblivious to— only those strong enough would be able to wander about.
"Is he an Ascendant?"
Ascendant. The name given to those who climbed the towers. Looking at the young boy before him, his appearance didn't match one.
"Well... sort of?" Blake muttered with a weird smile.
The guy was quite cautious. He had felt his strength from the clash moment ago.
From the group of people gathered, a guy broke through heading towards them. This guy had spiky green hair with a huge build. Strapped on his back was a large shield with a greatsword attached to it.
As the guy got closer, Blake could instantly notice the change of atmosphere. The atmosphere became heavy and quiet as the guy stopped before him.
Blake could feel the raw strength and mana oozing from the guy before him. 'This guy is stronger than me,' he thought, yet he didn't back down staring back at the green–haired guy.
The silver–haired guy gulped softly as he stared at the two. It appeared two giants stood before him, each sizing each other up.
"Why don't you join our guild in the expedition?" The guy his voice deep and hoarse, said.
"Join your guild?" The tensed atmosphere eased a little.
"Yeah. The Icicle guild."
"Uhh, no thanks. I would love to explore the tower on my own."
"Hold on! Did he just reject the Icicle guild?!"
"This guy..."
The group gathered quietly murmured amongst themselves quite shocked from the reply of the dark brown–haired boy.
"Who does he think he is? Does he think he would be able to survive inside the tower by himself. The girl on his back is another dead weight."
"Heck! He won't even make it past the fifth floor."
Surprisingly, Blake could hear the murmurs of the crowd clearly. Paying them no heed, his gaze was still on the giant guy before him, watching him slowly.
They remained in silence, staring at each other for a few seconds before the guy finally made a move. Turning his back, the guy made his way back through the tents clustered over the area.
"The offer is still open if you change your mind." The guy said as he faded away into the distance.
Blake sighed softly. Judging by their expressions, the guy was a special one, and his offering had done quite a load of work for him. Now, he didn't have to answer to the crowd before him.
Making his way, they gave way as he walked towards the tower. "Alright, my first tower outing was shit. This better be good."