Four Days in the Tower

Alex arrived at the guild hall and went to the counter where the monster cores were dealt with. He truly wanted to visit the tower and finally have his breakthrough to rank 2. He had already experienced the strength of a peak stage rank 2 monster from the dungeon and he already knew that it was going to be tough dealing with the monstres from the tower.

The attendant today was the same that had attended to Alex previously when he came to sell rank 1 peak stage monster cores. Seeing Alex again, the attendant's interest was immediately ignited and he was longing to see what Alex brought today. Alex didn't keep him waiting for long as he took out the three cores and placed them on the counter.

Seeing the glimmering cores before him, the attendant's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as this was far beyond his expectations. The last time Alex came, he brought in peak rank 1 cores. Today, he was also expecting the same or less as it hadn't been a long time since Alex came in to sell his cores. With trembling hands, he took the three cores and examined them carefully.

"Th-this.... Initial stage....mid stage....and peak stage monster cores!?" The attendant exclaimed as he looked at Alex. It wasn't that he hadn't dealt with rank 2 cores as he had already touched even rank five monster cores. The problem here was that the one that brought them was a kid whom he assumed to be a rank 1 awakener.

Seeing the perplexing look of the attendant, Alex couldn't help but ask, "Is there a problem with the cores?" This was just bizarre. What was wrong with him bringing in rank 2 monster cores? Wasn't there others that brought in more than what he had brought in here and even a rank or more higher?

The attendant came back to his senses and with a professional smile, he looked at Alex and then spoke, "Sorry for that. By the way, what party are you in?" This was all he could think of as he believed that Alex wasn't strong to deal with a rank 2 monster let alone one at the peak stage.

Alex was startled hearing the man's question. 'Well, this is to be expected as who would have thought that a kid can deal with a peak stage rank 2 martial monster? Well, not that it matters as there isn't a rule that states that I must tell him the name of my party as this is my own decision to do so or not,' Alex thought to himself.

"I am sorry but I can't tell you that," Alex said with an apologetic smile. Seeing that Alex wasn't willing to say anything, he just shrugged his shoulders and then decided to finish his duty as an attendant.

Recording the details of the cores, he finally spoke, " Initial stage cores would be sold at five gold coins, mid stage would be ten gold coins, late stage would be fifteen and finally peak stage would be thirty gold coins. So here, you'll get forty five gold coins for these cores."

Alex received the coins and thanked the attendant before he left the guild. He had already taken his meal and all that he needed was inside his system inventory. Now, since the time was still there, he headed to the dungeon. Now, he needed to breakthrough the peak of rank 1 and finally enter into rank 2. He planned to stay in the tower for as long as possible and leave when his payment are over.

Currently, he had a total of sixty five gold coins. Twenty that was left after he visited the tower and forty five that he had just earned. Now, he understood why hunters were rich. Just three cores at the second rank gave him more than what he had earned from killing over a dozen peak stage rank 1 cores. As for his accommodation and food, the cash that he was currently having was enough to pay for several months.

Just like that, Alex arrived at the tower and found that the place was empty just like before with only the guard present. Seeing Alex, the guard couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Alex as this guy was the only one recently showing so much enthusiasm in visiting the tower. But as a professional, he didn't let his thoughts known and just waited silently as Alex approached him.

Alex didn't want to waste much time and immediately gave the guard forty gold coins. This showed that he was going to pay for four days in advance. The guard didn't speak and just took out a stamp and place a mark on Alex's left hand near the inner wrist. The mark that was imprinted on Alex's skin was a round frame which inside, two swords crossed each other. This was the kingdom's emblem of authority.

"The mark will fade when you enter the tower four times or if you stay inside for four days," the guard's heavy voice resounded just before Alex asked about the emblem. Hearing the explanation, Alex nodded his head as he gazed at the mark on his left hand. He wondered just who was the expert that made this tool that was used to imprint the mark in that it would fade away on specified conditions.

Leaving these thoughts behind, Alex walked towards the tower's gigantic doors and placed his hand on it. Just like always, Alex was teleported inside the tower. He really enjoyed the feeling of being teleported as the feeling he got during teleportation was just like being on a swing and swaying with a low momentum. He couldn't wait for the day that he could gain space magic affinity. This would truly be awesome.

"Welcome again brat! It seems that you like this place so much, good for you! This place really has great value, its just that you people from backwater places don't understand at all. Well, let's leave that aside, you know the procedure, just do as always!" A voice resounded in the tower waking up Alex from his thoughts.

Alex gazed around and finally, he took a deep breath as he wanted to finally begin a serious training session for the next four days. Yes, that was his plan. He wanted to spend all the four days inside the tower and leave only when his time has expired. He was well prepared as he had already carried enough food to last him these four days. He paid four four days and not just a few hours a day of course.

Taking another deep breath, he finally selected a peak stage rank 1 monster. Although he could handle a peak stage monster from the dungeon, those found in the tower were a different story. He hadn't fought a peak stage rank 1 monster in the tower and he wanted to see the comparison. He selected a plain battleground and selected an defensive type monster.

The monster that appeared was an iron monkey. The für covering the monkey was metallic. The metallic skin gave this monkey great defense capabilities. Alex knew that this was going to be a fight to be taken seriously as this was a tower where even the system regarded the cores from the monsters here pure enough for him to use for cultivation.

The monkey immediately charged towards Alex with its two forelimbs raised in the air. It didn't make any noise like the monkeys that could be found outside. This was just silent and its eyes were locked onto Alex. Being who he was, Alex didn't panic seeing the charging monster as to him, it was slow. The metallic skin gave it defensive capabilities but denied it agility.

Taking out the swords from his inventory, Alex covered the blades with his qi and charged towards the monster after activating the light steps movement technique. He didn't need to go to the extreme from the start since he believed that his strength was enough to deal with this monkey.

Sure enough, Alex's speed being superior to that of the monkey, he dodged its attack and immediately slashed at the neck of the monster. With a clang sound, the sword connected and immediately cut through half of the monkey's neck. Truly a monster that was specialized in defense. If this monkey had been a rank 2 monster, he was sure that his attack would have at most only left a scratch.

Being a monster specialized in defense, its vitality was also high thus it didn't die from the attack. It just gave a shriek before retreating backwards. Alex didn't give it any chances as he slashed his qi covered sword while using the first step of the swirling wind dual sword technique. This time, the sword easily cut through the remainder of the neck of the monkey making the head roll on the ground. Using the technique, the power behind each casual slash was amplified.

[You have acquired rank 1 peak stage monster core....] The system's voice that he hadn't heard for a long while resounded in his head declaring the beginning of his hunt.