The 1st Floor (I)

As soon as the huge magic circle that encompassed the whole round hall lit up, Shad's eyes and the others became blurred as though they were blinded by the white light.

Before entering the huge round hall, they've already seen the huge magic circle on the floor and also knew about its function. It was some sort of a teleportation portal or a gate that will lead to the first floor of the Great Tower. As such, when the magic circle on the floor suddenly lit up, they didn't panic and stayed calm in their position.

When the vision of their eyes resumed, they discovered that they were already an unfamiliar environment, to be more precise, they discovered that they were currently in the middle of a huge forest.

There were only tall and big trees all around them, and these trees seemed to be far more sturdy and tall compared to the trees of the Dark Forest. The sky above was full of stars which means it was already night time inside the Tower.

Aside from that, the elemental energy within that forest was two times more concentrated and purer than that of even the deepest part of the Dark Forest.

" So, this is the first floor of the Great Tower." Shad murmured to himself as he was surveying his surrounding.

After stepping into the first floor the Tower, one could feel just how vast the inside was. From the outside, it looked like a tall building, but it was completely different once inside. People would find that they have entered a new world.

Standing beneath this starry sky, Shad had a feeling of deja-vu. It was as if he has been there before, but deep down, Shad knew that it was his first time entering the Great Tower. Yet, he felt a huge sense of familiarity with it.

" Is everyone here," Shad asked as he looked around with a solemn expression on his face.

According to his old man, there was some instance where the teleportation portal of the Great Tower would send people into a different part of the first floor even if they came together. So, after entering the first floor of the Tower, the first thing Shad did was to check whether they had all been transported into the same place.

" Yes, we are all here." Answered mark as he was looking around.

" Indeed, It seemed like we all have been teleported in the same place." Replied Gomez as well as he checked among his subordinates.

Shad did the same thing and made sure that everyone was present as well. Luckily, whether it was Nina, Mina, Monalisa, Vivi, the Lightning Corps, Gomez and his group, they all seemed to appear in the middle of the forest in the same order that they've entered the round hall.

" Good," Shad said with a sigh of relief after making sure they were all here. If they were to be separated within the first floor of the Tower, it would have been a huge pain in the ass for him. Not only he would have to look for them before searching for the exit that leads to the second floor which would have obviously slowed him down, but some of them would have already gotten themselves killed or attracted the attention of many magical beasts which he was trying so hard to avoid.

" Ohh yeah, Mark, what's your cultivation level now." Suddenly asked Shad after remembering something. Even though he had heard that once entered the first floor of the Tower, one's cultivation will be suppressed to the 1st rank and will be released bit by bit as they moved on to the higher floors, Shad wanted to make sure of that because he felt nothing and his cultivation was the same as before entering the Tower, if not a little stronger.

" Indeed, the hearsay is really true. Even though I still could feel the power of a peak 6th rank warrior dwelling within me, but I can only exert the strength of a 1st rank warrior. It is as though my battle qi is being suppressed by some unknown force. Aside from that, everything is the same." Mark answered respectfully as he was trying to circulate his battle qi within his body with a confused look on his face.

" What about you Grand Duke Gomez?."

" It's the same 2nd protector. Even though the mana within my mana pool remained the same but most of it is being suppressed as well. The remaining mana available to me could only be used to cast some 1st tier magic spells at most. If I try to cast a higher tier magic spell, I am afraid that I will suffer from mana deficiency and could even die in the process."

Gomez had an ugly look on his face as he was saying that. As a peak 7th class mage and an ancient noble that looked down upon countless people, it was the first time that he had felt so vulnerable. In his current state, even a lowly 1st rank warrior could deal with him. He clearly didn't like this kind of feeling of being that weak.

" What about you your highness." Asked Gomez with a puzzled expresion on his face. He had the feeling that his highness cultivation was not suppresed because his aura was the same as before entering the Tower.

As soon as he said, everyone looked toward Shad as well, whether it was Mark or Vivi, Mina, and the others.

Looking at the expressions on their faces, Shad slowly answered with a slight smile on his face." Yep, I am the same as well."

Shad really wanted to tell them that his cultivation base was not suppressed and remained the same, but because of the presence of Gomez, he didn't want to admit it.

Even though Gomez said that he came to help him from the order of the Vice-dean of the Kalin magic academy, Gomez's father, Shad didn't really believe him a hundred percent. He still hadn't forgotten that Gomez had sent people to assassinate him a few months ago, even though he didn't have any solid proof, but he knew that he was the one behind it all.

As one of the Pillars of the Djage Empire, Shad didn't want to make a move on Gomez at that time, not to mention he wasn't strong enough to confront him when it happened. However, as time passed, he became stronger, strong enough where the likes of Gomez couldn't threaten him any more. At the same time, he found these kinda small grudges meaningless.

However, now he had given Gomez a small chance to atone for his sin. By saying that his power was suppressed as well, he wanted to see if Gomez was sincere and didn't have any ulterior motive. If he's sincere and really had the intention of supporting him, then he will forget about everything and give him a second chance, but he has something else in mind then, then he could even forget about returning back to the Djage Empire alive along with his troops.

After listening that the 4th imperial prince was in the same boat as him, Gomez had a look of relief in his eyes. Even though he was here to support the 4th imperial prince in his quest, he clearly didn't want him to have all his power remained intact while he had the strength of a lowly 1st class mage. Moreover, he had the feeling that 4th imperial prince knew that he was the one that had sent assassins after him a few months ago. Even though he's trying to use this mission to patch things up with him, he still didn't know how the 4th imperial really feel deep down. As such, he didn't want him to have his full power while his power was suppressed to the 1st rank just in case he decided to take his revenge for what happened a few months ago.

" By the way, Monalisa, can you try to see if you can use your power to open a dimensional portal outside the Tower," Shad asked with an expectant look on his face.

Before he had even entered the Tower, Shad had been thinking about that. If Monalisa could use her power within Tower to open a portal outside the Tower, it would have been a great help to him. That way, if any of his men got injured, or they found themselves into a difficult situation that they couldn't get out off, he could just make Monalisa used her power to open a gate out of the Tower or to the lower floor. It was the main reason that Shad had brought her along despite knowing that she didn't have any attacking power.

" Let me try." She quickly answered. After saying that, she tried to open a dimensional portal that leads to the Dark Forest, but no matter how hard she tried, she felt as though something was blocking her power, making it impossible to open the dimensional portal outside the Tower.

" I am sorry young master." She answered with a hint of apology in her voice, She really wanted to please her young master and be of help to him but couldn't. Even though her young master didn't say anything, she clearly knew why he had brought her along inside the Great Tower, it was for her ability. However, now her ability was useless within the Tower.

" I see." Shad already had the feeling that her power wouldn't fully work inside the Tower, however, he still had a slight hope.

" Try to open a portal in front of you," He asked again. Even though she might not be able to open a dimensional portal outside of the Tower, if she could open one within the Tower, it would still be of great help.

Without wasting any time, Monalisa quickly tried and successfully opened a small portal, big enough for one person as her power was suppressed to the 1st class mage as well.

Seeing that she was able to open a portal inside the Tower, she had a slight smile on her face. It turned out that her power was not completely useless inside the Tower after all.

" I understand now, you can only use your power to open a portal inside the Tower, but couldn't outside. It makes sense." Shad answered with an understanding expression on his face.

" Well, that's all for now. let's find a safe place to spend the night. Tomorrow morning we'll look for a way to the 2nd floor."