Tower of Negativity

The duo joined the bustling crowd filing into the market. Observing the variety of stores filling both sides of the road, Pro's eyes couldn't help but glint with a hint of excitement.

There were simply too many extraordinary items on display. Pro couldn't recognize most of them but some really seemed way too familiar! Tu Fu also helpfully introduced some of them when he noticed Pro's interest.

"That right there is the NEM store. Those half purple and half white balls are NEM balls, crafted by a special class originating from the tamer sequences. These balls allow anyone, even non-tamer sequences, to tame NEMs for their own use without the need of learning any taming skills. Of course, the success rate is questionable ..."

"Those rings are what you think. You might have seen them in the your world above. They are space rings, but they aren't soul-bound, so if you die, you will lose them and others can access the items after removing your trace of soul ..."

"Those staff and wands are mostly for magus sequences. Since most magus sequences can cast through spell models, they are not too useful for most except to amplify the strength of their spells and reduce energy consumption, but why would anyone want to reduce negative energy consumption ..."

"That's one of the flight equipment shops. This one seems to be of an immortal sequence craftsman. These gear usually require negative energy input to run during use. There is also magus sequence stores that have equipment that run through spell models. There is even an unique magus sequence flight store that sells brooms that actually require no negative energy input to run ..."

Talking and talking, it didn't take long for the duo to arrive at arrive at a Greek styled building. White pillars lined up to decorate the front while at the same time acting as support. White steps led up to a wide doorway where inhabitants occasionally walked through.

A low-key gold-trimmed bronze sign hung above the door, revealing that this building was the Redemption Center.

"Yo, we're here. Let's head inside. Just find a cubicle and it will guide you through the process. Meet out here after, Neo. I'll take you to the real market for us newcomers!" Tu Fu said with a wave before bumbling off towards a cubicle ... and struggled to squeeze himself inside.

Err ... did he get fatter after this trial dungeon? Pro couldn't really tell, but if he did, then Pro worries for his future. It'll be sad if he couldn't even claim dungeon rewards.

Although the merits were directly rewarded to their soul imprint and shown on their cards, the other rewards require a more troublesome process.

Items, such as artifacts, consumables, skill scrolls, and other physical products, needed to be collected at a Tower of Negativity's redemption center.

Although special talents, abilities, and spell models may be directly injected into the spiritual realm, these rewards are super rare to receive. They usually pertain to highly exclusive skills or secret inheritances that shouldn't be leaked.

On the other hand, most other rewards of these type will be rewarded as a scroll or manual that one could learn from or a limited-use consumable item.

It was a tedious process, but it was also in a sense protecting the dungeon clearer. This tedious process prevents others from camping outside the dungeon and hunting the weakened dungeon clearer for their dungeon rewards.

Note that killing others won't earn you merits or negative energy, but killing others can let you loot their items if the target doesn't have a special soul-bound storage space.

Hence, most adventurers would only bring their gear and what their soul-bound storage can hold.

Even if they lose their gear after being hunted, they can still use or sell the reward from the dungeon in order to get more gear or useful items for their next dungeon.

As for what they don't bring, they can store it by opening a storage space in the Redemption Center. This storage and transferring service is secured by the Negative Zone and can be accessed in the Tower of Negativity in every city, even in different layers.

Of course, there is an initial fee of merit to open the storage space. Expansion of the space also requires merit. Well, this service was mainly aimed at descendants and transcendants.

Many traversers have soul-bound space located in their spiritual sea, like Pro, and others have their own ways to create safe storage spaces hidden out in the wild.

All in all, all of this is just the Negative Zone's way of protecting the adventurers' belongings. This allows them to focus more on clearing the dungeons with less worries.

Back to business, Pro strolled towards an open cubicle and stepped inside. The door slid shut behind Pro, sealing off the noise outside. A terminal similar to the one in the Tower of Wisdom appeared.

Summoning his card, Pro inserted it in the card slot. A soothing female voice greeted Pro, as if enticing him to make a purchase.

[Welcome to the Redemption Center. Right now, we are having a limited-time sale of ...]

A holographic interface showed up, displaying many commodities that could be purchased.

These include soul-bound compasses, NEM detectors, soul-bound outfit storage space, and many other sundries. Even a portable version of the Tower of Negativity catalog itself could be purchased!

However, none of these interested Pro. Even the enticing female voice customized based on his soul data couldn't affect Pro's firm refusal to make purchases. The reason was because he couldn't afford anything.

So, Pro forced his eyes to look away from the commodities and reluctantly commanded, "Check my reward quota."

[Retrieving reward quota ... you have 1x Random Item Draw (F Grade) Quota. Would you like to use it now?]

"Yes."

[Confirmation received. Drawing item ... congratulations, you have received a low-grade Soul Stone.]

With the announcement, Pro watched with interest as red mist converged above the terminal.

Moments later, a fist-sized stone with a faint white glow appeared on the terminal. It was unknown if it was created through negative energy or if it was transferred here through some unknown means.

Reaching out his hand, Pro picked up the stone.

"This is a soul stone? Not quite sure what it does. There's no identification or details?"

[Identification service requested. Low-grade items, grade F- to D+, can be appraised for a fee of 1 merit. Would you like to appraise your item?]

Damn capitalist, can't even give a free appraisal for dungeon rewards. Of course, Pro's answer was, "No."

[You have no reward quotas available. Is there any other service you would like to request?]

"No."

[You are welcome to return anytime. Please step out to clear the cubicle for the next customer.]

The door slowly slid open behind Pro as he put the Soul Stone into his pocket space.

Strolling out, Pro thought of the ways he could appraise the item without revealing too much. Although it was a F-grade item, it can still reveal a lot of info like his dungeon clearance detail or it may attract unnecessary greed from fellow newcomers.

"Highly doubt it, but better safe than sorry. Worse case, I can just come back and pay the one merit."

Standing in the Redemption center hall, Pro waited for a bit before he saw the fatty squeezing out of his cubicle.

"Yoo, Neo! Ready to head up?" Tu Fu came over with a smile as he bumbled over.

"Up?"

"Yes, newcomers like us can't really afford much from the official stores. So, we can only try looking for a cheaper bargain ... well, you'll see. Let's go."

Tu Fu led Pro out of the Redemption Center and it didn't take long for them to arrive before two large, glass elevators. In sync with each other, there was one going up and one going down.

Pro could see the large crowds standing in the elevator and couldn't help but sweat for them. How is the elevator not overweight?

Well, it's probably some magical means in play. After all, this wasn't a normal world.

Although Pro felt it was more safe to take the long, spiral staircase on the side, in the end, he was dragged by the fatty into an elevator.

After chatting and waiting for the elevator to fill up, the elevator doors slowly closed before the elevator silently rose up.

Oom.

It didn't take long before they arrive at the second floor of the tower. As the elevator doors opened, Pro opened his eyes wide in amazement.

According to the fatty, each floor of the Tower of Negativity was actually expanded by spatial magic. So, it is clear that the space within each floor was immense!

Here, with one look, Pro saw a wide ocean of stalls laid out in an orderly format!

"Low-grade soul stones, mid-grade soul stones, spirit stones, and spirit detector for sale! Check the sign for prices! Merits only!"

"Space debris for sale! Barter and merits both accepted!"

"Low-grade herbs for alchemy, pharmacy, apothecary, and all your other potion or pill brewing needs! Come check if there is the herb for you!"

"Unimaginable powerful artifacts for cheap! Very cheap! No refunds!"

"Unidentified skill inheritances! Guaranteed that the price will only include every word sold, and nothing more!"

"Need a boost in your fighting skills? This pill will refine your third sword into a treasure hard enough to fight more than ten rounds! Limited time only!"

Boisterous cries and loud calls mixed together to form a bazaar symphony of prosperity.

"Welcome to the adventurer's bazaar! Here are where those without official stores sell their wares. Traversers, transcendants, and even descendants all may appear here as vendors. What you buy will have to depend on your eyes and appraisal skills. The cost will depend on your bargaining skills and the payment can range from merits to skills to items," Tu Fu introduced in an enthusiastic tone as they followed the crowd that was filing out of the elevator.

Hey! This is the place! In novels, this is where the protagonist easily picks up leeks! Pro was a bit excited until he realized some things.

One, he wasn't the protagonist. Two, he had no appraisal skills. Three, there was too many stalls, spanning as far as the eyes can see.

"Yo, don't expect to go through everything in a day. It'll take a while to find the right contacts. Don't worry, usually stall owners like to set up their stalls in the same area to ease the process with making deals with loyal customers; however, this is not guaranteed."

Pro silently nodded as he observed the nearby stalls with interest.

"Yo, let's go for a walk. Perhaps you'll find something you want Neo. If not, you can come back another day.

The duo then strolled through the wide variety of market stalls ranging from big to small. Sometimes they stopped to check on the items, sometimes they simply walked on while chatting.

After hours of walking, Pro felt the exhaustion settle in and finally convinced the fatty to leave. Of course, Pro didn't pick up any leeks. He didn't dare to bet the small amount of merits he had on his non-treasure hunting senses.

"Yo, Neo, after we use up the other two trials, let me bring you to study art, listen to music, and battle with swords on the third floor. You'll definitely want to enjoy it once before setting out into the dangerous wild!"

"Haha ... assuming I have enough merits. You know I don't have rich pockets like the rest of you ..."

"Yo, don't worry Neo. I'm sure you'll have enough after two more dungeons. You just got to work harder and smarter, get a higher grade on one of them, and you'll have some extra to spend!"

"Al-"

Just before Pro could agree, a loud siren suddenly blared in many areas and an announcement was heard throughout the shelter.

"Warning! Warning! A suspected danger rated Code: Black has been discovered. Please return to your abodes for your own safety. Anyone staying outside will be at your own risk. Warning! Warning! ..."

Huh? What's going on? Seeing the group of law enforcers rushing towards one direction while many other inhabitants speeding in the same direction through air and land, Pro had a bad feeling.

He couldn't really be the type of unlucky protagonist that ends up in unlucky events back to back right? The safe zone won't suddenly be destroyed in the next chapter right?