Security First

''It must be Leyzhen fighting the ghost. Maybe we should go back...''

Mayton muttered after he heard consecutive sounds made by the ghost and the scarlet comb Leyzhen used. He knew that there was only one person who could trade that many blows with the legendary ghost present in the surrounding regions.

''That's our chance! Other ghosts must be too scared to care about us after hearing the screams. We should charge forward and get through the halls.''

Celyse said as she started to run towards the stair that led to the upper floor, throwing all caution to the wind.

''We don't know if she won the fight or not. What if she unsealed her cultivation again and thus got expelled from the tower? If she lost and we go back, wouldn't that spell the doom of us?''

Seeing that Mayton wasn't following him, Celyse argued.

Mayton perceived something odd in Celyse's recent behavior but what she said made sense nonetheless. If Leyzhen won the fight without unsealing her cultivation, she would catch up to them in no time even if they went to opposite directions.

''Alright then, we will go upwards.''

Mayton assented after a second of contemplation. Since he made his mind, he knew that they should stop wasting time and take advantage of the time the ghosts were scared so he immediately rushed after Celyse. But despite being faster than her, Mayton never moved in front of her. He was too suspicious of her to trust her with his back.

Not bothering with trying to hide themselves, they ran at full speed through the stairs and the hall at the end of it. In a minute, they were already in front of the iron door that led to the left room with the stairs on the upper floor.

As soon as they closed the iron door that separated the room that had the stairs and the rest of the hall, meaning that they entered the legendary ghosts territory again, Mayton hit at Celyse's nape with enough power to knock her off without harming her too much. They could move faster if he carried her anyway. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.

Celyse didn't have enough power to defend herself against Mayton in a frontal confrontation let alone a sneak attack. She collapsed to the ground after letting out a yelp.

Mayton turned Celyse's body to face himself then stood in a daze for a moment, looking at her white smiling mask.

''Should I take it off or not...''

He really was curious about what kind of face was hidden behind the mask, but ultimately, he decided that he was better than that.

After checking her pockets for any hidden weapons and surprisingly failing to even find the orb he saw her using before, he simply took her up from the ground and continued on his way as fast as he can. He trusted that with his cultivation he could overwhelm her if wanted to and wasn't willing to strip her naked if possible.

Mayton was nervously running through the floors for an hour with his ears focused on his back at all times, nervously trying not to miss even the slightest sound. He was both expectant and scared.

But the first sound he heard came from not behind but from Celyse who was in his arms.

''Ughh..''

After a grunt, she checked her mask and robe in panic. When she ascertained that Mayton didn't touch either of them only then she relaxed a bit. But unlike her, Mayton wasn't relaxed at all as he immediately let go of her.

''Ouch, why did you do that?''

Celyse asked while getting up and dusting her robe off.

''Tell me what you want from me right now, or you will stay unconscious until we meet up with Leyzhen.''

Mayton uttered coldly as he glared at Celyse. He was even considering killing her here and now to put an end to any potential troubles.

''What do you mean? You attack me from my behind and still accuse me of things?''

Celyse said angrily, but Mayton didn't buy it.

''Don't force me to kill you. We can be counted as teammates and you indeed did save my life before. Regardless of your reasons I still owe you my life. I don't want to act on suspicion alone then regret it. Even if you plan to harm me, I promise that I would let you go after we get out of the Tower of Screams as long as you tell me the reason.''

Mayton laid his cards on the table. They were in a perilous situation, and Celyse's recent behavior wasn't reassuring at all. He could no longer continue to ignore such a blatant risk to his life.

''Sigh. I just want to reach to the top of the tower. I couldn't do it alone so I wanted to get Leyzhen and you to help me. As far as I know, there isn't any other danger between us and the top. If you are not willing to trust me, I can go rest of the way alone.''

Celyse answered.

''What is up there? Why would you take the risk of not only traversing this precarious place but also offending Leyzhen and me in the process just for reaching the top of the tower?''

Mayton continued questioning her after thinking for a moment. Her explanation indeed made sense. Everything Celyse did was aimed at moving them to the upper floors.

''According to legends the living quarters of the tower's owner is at the top of the tower. The owner of the tower was an ancient cultivator, much stronger than anything you and I can imagine. Even your little girlfriend is nothing special compared to him. Can you imagine the items such a cultivator used? An item he considered thrash and threw away can transform the lives of simple cultivators like us.''

After checking Mayton's reaction and seeing that talk of treasures piqued his interest, Celyse continued on.

''I only want a single item among all of them. The item I want is only useful for devil cultivators anyway. I was only afraid that you would kill me and try to get all of the treasures to yourself so I didn't tell this to you before. But now I have no other chance then trusting you.''

Celyse completed his words as she looked at Mayton expectantly. But unlike what she hoped for, Mayton didn't agree to go to the top of the tower as soon as he heard about treasures. It wasn't that Mayton wasn't interested in the treasures, quite the contrary, he was itching to go get them. He simply didn't trust Celyse.

''If you still don't trust me you can knock me out again. But promise to bring me to the top. You have to run up from the ghost anyway.''

Celyse gritted her teeth as she said resentfully and turned her back to Mayton for him to hit her in the nape again. She was expecting Mayton to say that it's okay if she stayed conscious but Mayton wasn't in the business of taking his life lightly.

With a chop of his hand, Celyse was once again rendered unconscious. Mayton held her body before it collapsed to the ground and started to continue running towards upper floors with Celyse in her arms.

Mayton wasn't some vulgar barbarian by any means, but he was neither a noble bound by meaningless rules at all times. As far as he was concerned, etiquette could go to hell if it meant risking his life unnecessarily.