Tower in the forest

Under the heavy rain, Frederick sat alone on the ground. The rain was so dense that he couldn't see more than a couple of meters ahead despite the thunder illuminating the sky from time to time. The wind was now so fierce that his clothes were constantly being blown and hit him.

His body was already soaked, and he was covered in mud. Staring blankly at the ground, his expression was one of indifference. Even if he looked like he was dumbly sitting there, his mind was running at full speed. He was fully focused on his Blood Sense and trying to expand his detection range.

It had been hours since he had killed Aurora. Unfortunately and surprisingly, Aurora had no baggage or anything on her. Instead, she gave him precious authority. He was not thinking about Aurora's main authority, the high-tier rarity Starving World, but rather the seemingly more common medium-rarity orb.

While it certainly did not have held as much potential as Starving World, it was nevertheless an exceptionally useful authority for the future. However, this was not the main reason why he wanted to forge this authority.

Frederick wanted to forge this authority as it was highly compatible with his main authority, Forgotten Times. There was a good chance that both of them would allow him to create an extremely powerful synergy. Even if it did not work, the authority in itself was worth it.

"As for Starving World..."

Frederick had to admit. The sheer potential of this authority was horrifying. Even more so than Blood Dominion. He knew that he was lucky to have met Aurora this early into the Chronicles. If he had met her later, she would have become a real pain to deal with.

The mere thought of her using 6 different high-tier authorities was something that even Frederick would avoid if possible.

Starving World was, in a sense, an authority that could absorb and stock other authorities. This authority allowed the user to keep up to 6 authorities while discarding the curse of all stored authorities.

Consuming an authority orb would give the user a certain chance of success in acquiring its powers. However, if Frederick truly wanted to use this authority, this would have been a problem, which wasn't one.

Even if he failed to consume an authority, he could simply retry until it worked. Yet, Starving World was not limited by those factors. This authority could also surprisingly consume authority items.

He had to admit this authority was extremely tempting because of its potential.

Yet, he could not use this because of its curse. This authority, albeit extremely powerful, had a tremendous downside. It was especially true for Frederick.

If Frederick used Starving World, he wouldn't have to bear any curse from the devoured and stored authority, but instead, all his other forged authorities' curses would be multiplied by two.

This would mean that Forgotten Times' curse would be multiplied by two if he forged Starving World.

He was already struggling enough to level up because of "One Against the World," the curse of Forgotten Times. If he had to bear two One Against the World curses and have his experience divided by twenty, he would quickly reach a point where even the best authorities would be useless, as his low attributes and level would prevent him from using them effectively.

That is, if we forget that each realm is trying to kill him.

'Now that I think about it. Will each realm try to kill me twice as hard?'

However, a sudden strange thought crossed his mind.

'Let's suppose I forge Starving World... Could I store a copy of it within itself?'

Frederick was a bit perplexed. If he forged Starving World and then ate it in his next life, would he be able to store another Starving World in one of the slots? This would basically mean that he could store an unlimited amount of authority.

This remark was extremely sharp. However, he doubted that it would be the case. For him to be able to keep an authority permanently, they needed to become a "remembrance."

Yet, Starving World would simply store them, meaning that they wouldn't become a"remembrance" and would have to be consumed again with a high chance of failure if he wanted to use them. Moreover, if they do not become "remembrance," they won't benefit from his ability to have a 100% assimilation rate.

In short, it means that even if he forged Starving World, they probably won't be saved as they are not remembrance. After some reflection, he pushed those thoughts aside.

Perfect 

As he kept walking, he couldn't help but sigh. In his opinion, Aurora's strongest point was not only her ability but her brain. If given the right environment, she would have undoubtedly become a major powerhouse.

'I have to admit. This woman was extremely cunning and cautious,' Frederick thought as he eyed the ring in his hand.

'She knew there were stronger candidates than her, so she purposely kept the ring instead of devouring it. By offering this ring to a stronger candidate, they would very likely accept the link with her, as it promised easy experience points. They would think that it would be a win-win situation. She has to live, and they could earn free experience. But of course, it wasn't so simple.'

'This ring links two hearts. If one of them dies, the other would have their heart crushed, and both of them would ultimately perish... Well, at least that's what is supposed to happen,' thought Frederick as he turned his attention to the blue orb in his hand.

'I am pretty sure this authority should be able to bypass this effect once you have enough mind attribute... This meant that she could stab in the back of her partner without any consequences and earn back her lost experience points with a huge interest.' he realized, recognizing the depth of her strategy.

In short, her real plan was nothing short of a gamble. Obviously, it was extremely risky and only served as a last resort with a high chance of failure.

'The riskier the bet, the better the prize. I have to applaud her.'

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the rain started to stop. The weather slowly became calmer, and a notification rang.

<Time 0 until the second collapse: hours minutes>

<Collapse has begun...>

<Day phase has begun>

<Time 4 59 until the third collapse: hours minutes>

'Seems like none were desperate enough to climb during the night phase, which is understandable.'

Soon, the sun emerged, and the rain stopped completely. As the first light appeared in the sky, Frederick slowly stood up and looked around. The grass was still wet, and the ground was covered in thick mud. Aurora's corpse lay nearby, almost unrecognizable as it blended into the muck.

Frederick carefully inspected each bridge and, after confirming one that led upward, made his way toward it.

Advancing during the night phase had been impossible. Each bridge was very similar, but some led downward. If he tried to cross the bridges randomly, he would have about a 50% chance of descending.

Walking on the stone-like bridge, Frederick slowly started to accelerate. His plan was simple: climb as high as possible and, instead of hunting random candidates, wait for someone already relatively strong to reach him.

In short, his idea was to let the strong fish swim toward him, and then he would just reel them in. After all, killing a higher-level candidate would result in earning all their experience points. It would be a much more efficient way to level up.

'The candidates who have successfully crossed all the bridges are certainly not weak. Obviously, the higher the altitude, the lower the number of candidates would be, and the stronger they would be.' thought Frederick as he accelerated further.

It only took him about 10 minutes to reach the other side. Reaching the end of the bridge, he noticed that, like the previous island, this one was also flat, albeit larger.

However, the thing that surprised him was the trees. On the previous island, the vegetation was scarce and not too dense. But here, the density was so great that it was almost impossible to see through.

Yet, from afar, Frederick could nevertheless see a tower in the middle of the forest. The tower was very tall and had extravagant decoration. The design screamed money, and it was also very shiny.

"Quite fancy"