Chapter 9

"Guildmaster, sir, we're coming up on a meeting with the head Guilds Seer. She should be here any moment now.

"I see, that is all, Si-ho; you may leave now."

"At once, Guildmaster."

Si-ho leaves the room, instantly greeted by a strong-looking woman with scars as if she'd been through hell and back. Her short to medium-length black hair swayed as she walked in heels into the Guildmasters office.

Si-ho got a gentle look before the doors closed completely.

"It seems you've been busy as always, Bu Park."

"You could say that."

Bu Park stood up from his chair and walked towards his neat setup furniture, where he and the Head Guilds Seer sat.

"Tell me, Nari-Seo, how has it been watching over every guild in Seoul?"

"Well, since there's only seven of you lot. It hasn't been a complete mess. But I have received recent news of your father's guild attempting to clear a tower."

"Does that mean he's seen the recent news from Japan?"

"It would seem so; I tried to prevent it from spreading. But my efforts mostly failed. Due to this, the news has widened from coast to coast, and now even the American Bearer Association is also aware of this."

"In such a short time?"

"I wouldn't say short; you may have just received the news. But Japan has cleared the tower not once but twice. It caught wind overseas this time, and now we find ourselves here."

"Then have you come to talk solutions? Or perhaps you want to attempt to clear the tower?"

"Something like that, as you see. Your father is a dangerous man with nothing but power and wealth on his mind."

"Mm, tell me something I don't know."

"Though he may be ranked the third of the seven guilds in Seoul, he's also a potential candidate for the Sixth Severity Ten."

"Severity Ten, He's gotten that strong... Disgusting."

"I know you and your father aren't on good terms. But I believe that since you're his son, you should at least be aware of what kind of power he has."

"As if you could call me that, he sees me as nothing but a waste of space. Someone too weak to get what he wants."

"Your father is a very repugnant example of a human being, which is why I want to aid you in working to overtake him in rank."

Bu Park smirked and stood up.

"Sorry, Nari-Seo, it may seem like a good idea. But I'm just a Severity Four Rank A. My father himself is a Severity Five Rank SS. He's basically untouchable."

"While your ranks may differ heavily, it should be apparent that your father doesn't have the backing of the Head Guilds Seer."

Bu Park sighed as he went back to his desk.

"I appreciate the offer, but I want to take over my father with my own ability. Everything I have now was achieved because I wanted revenge, and that's exactly how it will be for the rest of my life."

"I'm sorry to hear that Bu Park; it is most unfortunate that you will not allow me to aid you. But I will respect your request, and with this, I bid you a good day and good luck."

"Thank you, Nari-Seo, but I believe luck has never been on my side."

"A shame that is..."

Nari-Seo exits Bu Park's office with her bodyguards on her trail.

"It would be most unfortunate if Nari-Seo found out about my plans...Duri-Sung, keep an eye on miss Nari-Seo and make sure she doesn't interfere with our goals."

Slowly emerging from a shadow within the corner, a masked man appeared, his brown hair slicked back as he nodded and vanished into the shadows.

"You're clever, Nari-Seo, a little too clever. So let's hope I don't have to eliminate you sooner than I intend to."

Bu Park begins laughing as he continues thinking of his steps towards his end goal.

***

Mori's been inside the tower for two months now. His body aching from the amount of fighting he's been doing. However, he's also been gaining experience; his torn clothes flow from a strong breeze generated from the nearest boss room. As he smirks he falls against the nearest wall to rest.

"I've gone back now and again to check on the door's status. I can't believe it's only been two months... I'm tired, I want to shower, and I haven't had a proper meal In a while! Since I got this stupid system, I've only been able to survive off of monster meat and melted ice skeleton..."

Mori continues looking through his profile, seeing as his attributes have raised quite a bit.

"They've all jumped to double digits at least... But it's starting to feel harder to improve as I repeatedly keep fighting the same monsters. This title isn't helping either, as it nullifies a percent of my gains... I've recently learned that this isn't a normal tower floor; if anything, it's a replication that the system has put me in, so I could train to become stronger. As for the system itself, I haven't learned anything else about it. It doesn't talk or give me helpful tips. It's completely useless! Well, besides the stat window and the inventory... Yeah, I have an inventory. It comes in handy when I gather a lot of materials... Speaking of materials, I've got many monster parts just sitting there. About three hundred wolf fingers, four hundred and twenty-four ice bones, a couple hundred snake wings, and a one hundred crystal tails."

Mori wasn't sure what to do with them, so he kept them.

"Things that appear useless may not be useful in the future, plus... I haven't seen the outside in quite some time. I'm not sure if anything has changed or if Mina's doing alright. But If I keep worrying, I'll die in here, for sure... That's not counting the number of near-deaths I had. Every time I got cocky, I'd nearly die at the end of the fight, or some creature I'd never seen would appear and put up one hell of a fight. I'm not sure how I've managed to stay alive this long. But it's all thanks to my skill, I've been able to use my weapon differently. Especially with the Astral stat, it's increased significantly since I last looked. It's at eighty-seven now; originally, it was fifty. That means what I've been doing lately has been affecting it. That's how I train my Astral stat; that's how I keep improving entirely... I must progress."

Mori stands as he checks his Hp and Mp.

"Good, both are full; that means this fight will be interesting."

Mori inhaled before sprinting towards the boss's room.

"I've also learned that when the floor boss dies, you get lifted to the next floor. While this may be a replica of the actual towers, It definitely works the same. That I can be certain of!"

As Mori found himself sliding into the room. He smirked as the doors closed behind him.

*Excitement Subdued

"That's gotten old real fast."

Before him stood a shadowy figure that waved in the wind that breezed in the boss room; as it observed him, it began changing shape and suddenly became a mirror fight. The only difference was the eyes of the monster were glowing white.

"Yeah, this is the weirdest thing I've fought so far. That's for damn sure."

Mori's system appeared with a message.

"C Rank Dusk, fight with the intent to kill."

"A Dusk, huh... C Rank at that. While I may have gotten stronger, a C Rank monster is still too high of a challenge for me; this was not at all what I was hoping for."

Suddenly the Dusk's body became nothing but a shadow as its only visible feature was its eyes. As it dashed towards Mori through the shadows, it quickly reached him and swung a fierce slash with its hands. Knocking him against the door immediately. The Dusk continues as it grabs hold of Mori and threw him through the air near the center of the room. As Mori bounces along the ground, he quickly glides against the floor and looks up.

"It's fast, a lot faster than me. If I'm not careful, it'll overwhelm me in seconds."

Mori reached for his elbow scar but was immediately interrupted as the Dusk stood before him, glaring down on him with his white soulless eyes. Before backhanding him to the left side of the room. Mori finds himself back onto the floor, spitting up blood from the collision with the wall.

"Shit, that never gets old."

As the Dusk approached, its hands formed into shadow-like claws. Causing Mori to smirk before wiping the blood from his lips.

"You're one scary bastard; I'll give you that even though you're wearing my skin. I'm starting to feel a bit fearful."

*Fear Subdued

*Astral Grip Used! (LV 4)

The Dusk rushed forward, ready to finish Mori off. Until he lifted his right hand, causing a sudden dagger to pierce through the back of the Dusk; as the Dusk's body was being dragged towards Mori, he quickly advanced and dodged out of the way. Allowing the dagger to pin the Dusk to the wall he was just against.

"Don't feel too bad, you aren't the first monster to fall for that move."