Tower

After Samael accepted Ignacio's offer, he was given a badge with a hammer and anvil logo on it. This badge was proof of his apprenticeship. Not every blacksmith could receive one, as they are only limited to apprentices of grandmaster blacksmiths. 

For the next 6 months, he would be trained by Ignacio in the art of blacksmithing. It would be in preparation for the grand blacksmith entrance exam. The exam is held every year by the forging association. 

When noon came Samael left the smithy and went to explore the forest. He made sure to bring enough food and water in his space ring for emergency purposes. He wanted to prevent starving like he almost did back at the Cursed king battle. 

Samael has explored most of the outer part of the forest now. He also didn't gain much from the monsters in that area, so he traveled deeper than before. 

He would occasionally collect some herbs that he would read back at the library. Since the forest was untouched by the people of the kingdom, there were plenty of rare herbs to harvest. He would also sometimes encounter rank C or B monsters that he would kill for the soul fragments. 

Samael wiped the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead after exterminating 7 mountain trolls. Mountain trolls were extremely strong and had incredible regeneration speeds. However, what they gained in strength, they lacked in speed. And with Samael's agility, it was a piece of cake to finish them. 

After collecting their fangs as proof of killing them, Samael was ready to head back. All in all, he managed to gather around 340 fragments from this hunt. 

Samael was about to return when he suddenly noticed that something was off. He barely noticed it, but a part of his senses was cut off. He followed the direction where the cut happened, and he saw an old, worn-down stone gate. 

Samael was confused, as this was just an ordinary gate. He tried to reach his senses at the gate, but it would immediately cut off contact. 

'How curious..' Samael thought. 

"System, what is this gate?" Samael asked. 

<Scanning.. Scanning..> 

<The gate is a doorway to an ancient tower.>

'Ancient tower? could it be..?' Samael had a hunch. 

He slowly approached the gate and tried to cross it. Instead of appearing on the other side, Samael appeared in a different place. 

<The host has entered the Tower of Eden.>

Samael's eyes widened, and a smile started creeping its way onto his face. It seems that his luck led him to another grand discovery. He found a tower! 

Towers were rare, and most kingdoms only had 1 or 2 of them. Towers hold many floors, and each floor has a boss. In order to ascend to the next one, you have to kill the boss that resides in the previous one.

Of course, every boss room in the tower held otherworldly treasures. ranging from gold to heirlooms! This is the reason why empires govern them personally. 

They would occasionally send adventurers or chosen heroes to challenge the towers, but most of them would die. They could only send a minimum of six people per round, so it was impossible to send an army. 

Samael found a hidden tower, and it was all for himself! The treasures here are probably vast, as they have been untouched for god knows how long. The quality of towers depends on the age of the core. As the core gets older, the better the treasures, but the stronger the monsters. 

Samael observed his surroundings carefully. He was on the first floor of the tower. It appeared that he was inside an arena that was floating in the sky. Samael looked around, and a voice appeared out of nowhere. 

<Welcome to the Tower of Eden. Say "Start" to begin the trials of the first floor.>

Samael was startled, but he quickly regained his cool. The voice was similar to his system, so Samael couldn't help but wonder if they were of similar origin. 

"Start," Samael said. 

Soon, multiple gates started opening and releasing rank-F monsters. Samael handled them without breaking a sweat and defeated the boss of the first floor without taking any breaks. The rewards were mediocre, but a reward was still a reward. 

Samael cleared floor after floor without much problem until he reached floor 20. The terrain changed, and he was sent to a mountainous area with a strong blizzard. Samael could barely see with all the snow. Fortunately, he had the Leviathan garb to combat the cold. 

Samael relied on his newly acquired level 2 [abyssal perception]. He also used [Abyssal Eye], which improved his vision a bit. 

It didn't take long before trouble came for him. Samael's radar warned him of multiple hostiles charging at his position. Samael immediately used [void movement] to dodge the incoming attacks. 

Soon, multiple Ice Yetis littered his previous location. Samael didn't waste any time and took care of the rank-C monsters. 

<soul fragments + 300> 

<Congratulations! Your heritage has leveled up!>

<You have received 1 skill point>

<You have received a skill!>

After collecting the carcasses of the dead yetis, Samael immediately checked the newly obtained skill. 

[Conquerors touch] 

Rank: ???

Level: 0

Mastery: 0/100

Effects

-Allows the user to push and pull opponents within a 20-meter radius. 

Samael was happy with the skill he got, but he maintained his calm demeanor as he didn't know when an enemy might attack him. 

Samael went further, killing anything that blocked his path. The deeper he went, the more violent the blizzard became. After a while, he managed to reach the end of the trials. 

Samael stood before a giant door and entered without hesitation. He has gone too far to go back now. 

The room looked like an ice castle, and on the far side was a giant ice troll. When the troll saw him, it immediately charged at Samael with great speed. 

Samael didn't sit idly by and immediately used [void manipulation] to make three floating void swords. He immediately launched them towards the speeding troll. 

The troll saw this but failed to dodge due to the momentum it built. The troll was diced into pieces. However, its regeneration was already taking effect. 

Samael didn't waste any time and immediately used the conqueror's touch to pull the troll towards him. The troll was suddenly dragged at great speed towards Samael before he split the troll in two. 

<Soul fragments (+50)>

Samael was pleased with how useful [the conquerors' touch] was. Not only did it possess defensive capabilities but also offensive ones. 

Samael collected the loot before leaving for the next floor. The treasures were not too shabby anymore. Some of the treasures had rare ores and rare jewels. 

Samael was soon transported to the next floor. The terrain changed back into an arena. This confused Samael a little, as he thought it would be another bizarre terrain. 

"Start," Samael spoke. 

Upon hearing his signal, three gates consecutively opened and let out dozens of rank C and B monsters. Samael's expression was getting gloomy, as he was only in the 21st floor and the enemies were already this strong. 

Soon, multiple explosions can be heard all over the arena as blood and organs litter the marble floor. Samael hacked and slashed all the monsters that approached him. However, he also noticed a change. The monsters were not giving him any soul fragments anymore. 

'Are they perhaps soulless?' Samael realized. 

To confirm his suspicion Samael killed a few more monsters and just like earlier, he didn't receive any soul fragments. 

Samael couldn't help but frown. His number one source of soul fragments was cut! This was a big loss for him and would alter his plans. Samael cleaned the last of the monsters before checking if he received anything. 

Samael sighed as he saw no notification of having received any soul fragments. He decided to rest and regain some of his energy before fighting the boss. 

...

After a while, Samael stood up, brandished his divine weapon, and started the boss fight. After receiving the confirmation, the arena started shaking, and the marble floor started to crack and form molten lava lakes. 

Samael then felt a threat approaching him at high speed, so he immediately used [void movement] and dodged out of the way. Afterwards, multiple boulders covered in molten magma passed by Samael's head. Unfortunately, Samael didn't come out of it unharmed. 

The molten magma on the boulders splattered everywhere, causing AoE damage. Some of that magma landed on Samael's shoulder, burning it. 

Samael removed the magma from his shoulder before using [Nullification] to ease the burn. After making sure that the burn was healing, Samael focused his attention up front. 

By now the whole arena had changed into a volcanic-like place with molten magma everywhere. In front of him was the floor boss. The boss looked like a stone giant, but redder and covered in magma. 

'Ahh sh*t, this is going to be a pain,' Samael thought while looking at the damage the magma caused. 

Even with the leviathan resistance to heat, it still burned his arm to almost a crisp! That only means that the magma wasn't normal. 

Samael used [Abyssal Eye] and [Void Movement] to get behind the rock giant. He then sent multiple void spears at it. The attack chipped off a huge amount of rock from its body as it released an ear-piercing roar. 

The giant was angered and immediately threw magma boulders at Samuel. However, Samael was way faster, so he avoided the attack effortlessly. 

After the attack, the stone giant had a small cooldown because it had to retract its arms. Samael would take advantage of this and deliver counterattacks. 

After three minutes of fighting, Samael had already done enough damage that the stone giant looked like chewed bread. Samael didn't stop his barrage there and immediately propelled himself upwards before using [the conqueror's touch] to push the giant to the floor. 

A huge shockwave came out of his hand and hit the giant, causing a huge explosion. Samael used [void movement] to safely get down. 

<21st floor boss cleared>

<Soul fragments +50>

Samael was surprised to see soul fragments, as he already accepted that the monsters from here on out were made by the tower. 

'It seems that floor bosses give soul fragments while normal monsters don't. How intriguing' Samael thought. 

He was curious as to how the tower worked and what its origins were. But right now he needed to go back, as he had already spent enough time in the tower. 

"Leave!" Samael spoke. 

Soon he was engulfed in light, and the next thing he knew, he was outside again. Samael looked around, and the portal was still there. He breathed a sigh of relief as he thought that it may vanish after he got out. 

Samael also noticed that it was currently sundown. This was unexpected, as he thought it would be morning as he spent days inside the tower.

"System, what is going on?" Samael asked. 

<The time inside the tower is slower compared to outside. The host may have spent 4 days there, but here it has only been 4 hours.>

Samael was amazed by this discovery. It was beneficial for him as he could spend a month inside the tower for it to be only 2 days outside. This would make farming faster!

Since he was finished here, Samael left the place with two storage rings full of treasures and soul fragments. Little did Samael know that the treasures at the lower floors were nothing compared to the true treasure that lies sleeping at the final floor of the tower.