Chapter 89: Intruding the Tower

Before long, the four of us broke through to the innermost area, where the elite young demon mage was now completely exposed before us. Druv drew its attention, while Marton circled around it, occasionally using his martial arts skills—accumulating energy and releasing it—to deliver fierce attacks. As for Yihana and me, it seemed we were destined to be the support, leading the wolf pack to block the small demons. I timed my bear transformation well, canceling it just in time, so it looked like I could maintain the transformation for about the duration of a level 3 bear transformation plus a level 3 transformation spell. Hoho~~

The high-defense paladin Druv's attacks were not weak, and with the high-damage Marton, the elite young demon mage didn't last long. After that, things became easier. The four of us, like a meat grinder, left a trail of fallen small demons wherever we went. After taking out the other few young demon mages, the small demons realized the situation was dire—no more mages to resurrect them! Their fear of death became apparent, and the remaining dozens of small demons let out a scream and scattered. We chased them to the entrance and stopped, as continuing might attract other monsters. Better to be cautious.

Nearly a hundred small demons, plus the elite young demon mage, dropped a fair amount of items. Yihana, being a woman and naturally more meticulous, took charge of counting the items. As she sorted through them, she soon let out a surprised exclamation.

"Hmm? The gold and potions this time seem a bit more than usual."

The other three, who knew me well, naturally turned their gazes to me. I had already considered this and had an excuse ready. I smiled slightly. "It seems they have a special connection with me. I don't know why, but the gold and potions just never run out."

Gold wasn't much of an issue; most job changers weren't short of money. A high drop rate for potions, however, made them quite envious. But looking at my equipment, I only had a super-strong white leather armor, with a blue belt and gloves, and the rest was all white. I always kept my rings and necklaces hidden to avoid showing off. My current equipment, while slightly better than a typical level 14 job changer, wasn't much better, so they didn't think much of it, just envying my good luck. Druv patted my shoulder. "Looks like you'll be handling the elite monsters from now on."

I shrugged and pointed to the few bottles of potions and over ten gold coins dropped by the elite young demon mage. "If you really want to take the risk, you might get a few more bottles of potions and gold coins." I inwardly marveled. This bug amulet is really powerful. If I were to kill this young demon mage, it would at least drop a piece of white equipment, and a blue one wouldn't be surprising, but a gold one is out of the question...

"However, I heard from Lord Cain that Lord Tarasha's drop rate for gold and potions is also particularly high, Wu. You might become a powerful job changer like him one day," Yihana said with a smile.

What? Tarasha is also like me? I was startled. Does he have some kind of bug amulet too? I'll have to investigate this when I get the chance. Cain's book doesn't seem to provide a comprehensive description of Tarasha.

The issue of drop rates was thus brushed aside. I didn't want them to really ask me to kill elites. Not only are elites rare, but even if we encountered one, no one would take the risk of adjusting the team during a battle just to get a few more potions and gold coins. Even a one percent chance of an accident is something a team leader would never allow.

After clearing the battlefield, we continued to move cautiously through the first floor. Druv and the others were clearly familiar with the entire tower's layout, knowing which paths were dead ends and which areas had denser monster populations. At every fork in the road, they chose their direction without hesitation, showing they had a clear plan.

We encountered many monsters along the way, all familiar types like the Blood Clan, small demons, and undead warriors, as well as dark archers. These little guys had trapped themselves by hiding in rooms, losing the advantage of guerrilla warfare and facing certain annihilation. Watching them fall one by one, the frustration from being ambushed outside the castle finally dissipated.

However, our progress was halted as we approached the entrance to the second floor. A group of semi-transparent, bird-like creatures floated in the air. They looked ethereal and beautiful, but their strength was far from fragile. These ghostly creatures, which I remembered vividly from my gaming days, were also prominently mentioned in Cain's book—avoid them if possible! They were immune to both physical and magical attacks and had a special ability to drain mana, which was particularly annoying for job changers, as their mana could be drained without them realizing it, leaving them unable to use skills when needed.

But that wasn't their most terrifying aspect. In a semi-ghostly state, they could ignore spatial rules and overlap, forming a terrifying mass. It was said that up to a hundred ghosts could overlap, and a hundred ghosts attacking together could easily kill most job changers in the Rogue Encampment.

The best way to deal with them was to separate them during battle. Fortunately, they weren't very intelligent and wouldn't consciously overlap, only doing so when their numbers were too high.

We had over ten ghosts blocking our path. There was no way to bypass them, so we had to fight. To be honest, even if I used all my strength and summoned Xiao Xue, I wouldn't want to provoke these ghosts. It wasn't out of fear, but because it was a thankless task. These ghosts had an extremely low drop rate, at best dropping some mana potions, and gave very little experience. Dealing with them was a waste of time, and they were generally avoided by everyone.

After assigning tasks, the four of us immediately acted. Druv led the charge into the center of the ghosts, while the three of us separated the ten or so ghosts. I directed Xiao Er to surround six of them. My white long dagger cut through them like slicing soft cotton, giving no sense of satisfaction. Xiao Er and the others probably felt the same, their claws swiping through the air as if chasing butterflies, which was incredibly frustrating.

Turning around, I saw Druv using Holy Light Orbs against them. The orbs hitting the ghosts made them emit eerie, bone-chilling screams, as if in great pain. I had an idea—these ghosts were undead, and Holy Light Orbs were the only skill that could effectively counter them. I wished I could take out the staff and bash these annoying ghosts, but with three pairs of eyes watching, I could only think about it.

Under my deliberate control, it took us a while to clear the ghosts. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The battle wasn't easy, and the only effective counter was Druv, but his Holy Light Orbs couldn't be used continuously due to their low skill level and cooldown time, making them more of a surprise weapon than a mainstay.

We looked at the ghost corpses on the ground, and sure enough, not a single item dropped. Even I, who they jokingly called the "Potion King," came back empty-handed. Damn, if we encounter them again, we'll avoid them if possible.

When we entered the second floor, Marton suddenly stopped and led us to a spacious room. It was clean and tidy, and there were no signs of frequent monster activity. Most importantly, there was a window from which we could see the outside.

Looking out, we realized it was already dusk, meaning we had spent the entire day on the first floor. Although killing monsters took a lot of time, it also showed the enormity of the tower.

"Let's rest here tonight. This room is relatively safe, and monsters generally don't spawn here."

Seeing his confident expression, I couldn't help but ask, "Marton, how do you know that?"

Marton rolled his eyes. "Dumb, can't you look around properly?"

I looked around carefully and noticed many scratches on the stone walls, with crooked writing indicating that this room was safe and no monsters would spawn. Seeing these words, I immediately thought of the "xxx was here" carvings on ancient walls in tourist sites from my old world.

Regardless, we had a place to stay. The four of us lit a campfire in the center of the room and discussed the day's battles. Although we had different opinions, everyone acknowledged my abilities, even the competitive Marton had to admit that I was the strongest among the four.

Next, Druv explained the layout of the entire tower. In summary, the tower had five floors, and the monsters were the same types we encountered today. Even as we progressed, no new monsters would appear, which was a huge relief. However, the closer we got to the fifth floor, the denser the monster population would become. Although we were confident in reaching the Countess, we couldn't be complacent. This was the survival rule of the world—never underestimate any monster or any place.

Before resting, Druv gave us a warning about the Countess—don't have too high hopes. Although they hadn't heard any information about her before coming, it was possible that someone else might have killed her just as we were approaching the fifth floor. The probability wasn't low, and if that happened, we should consider it a training exercise and be mentally prepared.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, we quickly got up, ate something, and set out. Druv's words the previous night gave us a sense of urgency—perhaps if we were just a step faster, we could kill the Countess before anyone else.

The monsters on the second floor were the same, just more numerous. For our team of four high-level job changers, as long as we didn't deliberately rush into a horde of monsters, there wouldn't be any major issues.

As the obstacles increased, our progress became more difficult. Even with Marton's guidance, it took us ten days to reach the fifth floor. It's worth noting that we encountered several groups of adventurers along the way, including mercenary teams. Interestingly, two of these teams, upon seeing us, suddenly quickened their pace. Ha, they must be competitors for the Countess. Let's see who gets there first.

After resting, we finally entered the fifth floor. By then, Marton and I had each leveled up, with Marton reaching level 16 and me level 15. The dense monster population in the tower had given us a massive amount of experience. If not for the presence of the other three, I might have reached level 16 by now. But experiencing a team was worth it, and leveling up wasn't a big issue for me.

I wonder if anyone has beaten us to it? With this complex feeling, we quickly began a thorough search of the fifth floor, focusing on the areas where the Countess appeared most frequently.