"Muri, show them the deadly might of a bronze rank king," Ray commanded as he dealt with the Brone Rank Demonic Beasts in his surroundings.

"Got it, master!" the Metal King Slime said.

Its gelatinous body flattened against the ground.

Whump!

In the next instant, it launched itself into the sky, using the [Solidification] skill to metallify every part of its body.

In midair, its form condensed into a massive iron ball the size of three to four boulders.

Then it came crashing down toward the spot where a bunch of Dire Wolves were gathered.

The Dire Wolves looked up, eyes widening as they saw the enormous mass falling. They hurried to scatter out of its way, but they were too late.

BOOOOOOM!

A cluster of Dire Wolves was crushed beneath Muri as it slammed into the ground.

Crack! Crack!

Spikes sprouted violently from Muri's metallified body, skewering the trapped Dire Wolves beneath it and cutting their howls short.

The remaining Dire Wolves scattered in different directions. Gone were the thoughts of avenging their leader and brethren—now they only wanted to preserve their lives.

Muri started spinning as it chased after them.

They were fast, but as it spun faster and faster, tearing through the earth like a natural disaster, it began catching up one by one.

BOOM! CRACK! THRUMP!

Every wolf it rolled over died, their bones crushed and organs pierced by sharp spikes.

"AWOOOOO!" one last Dire Wolf howled desperately, only to be silenced as the slime passed over it, leaving behind a mangled corpse riddled with holes.

Behind him, Ray was also done with his battle. All the Dire Wolves that had dared to surround him now lay dead.

♦️ You have killed a group of Dire Wolves. You have gained +250,000 EXP.

♦️ Your battle companion Muri has killed a massive group of Dire Wolves. You have gained several hundred thousand EXP!

♦️ You have cleared the D-rank dungeon, [The Dire Wolf's Den]. You have gained several hundred thousand EXP for your efforts.

With that, Ray's experience points surged to around 2 million.

He invested them all into leveling up.

♦️ -2,000,000 EXP

♦️ You have leveled up seven times. Your level has increased from 23 ➝ 30.

♦️ You have gained 8 stat points.

He had received 1 extra point upon reaching level 30. The same thing had happened when he reached level 10.

He invested all his points into agility. He had a feeling that once it reached 50 points, he would unlock a new skill.

♦️ -8 SP

♦️ Your Agility has increased from 34 ➝ 42.

♦️ Remaining Stat Points: 0

He checked his status screen to see how much EXP he needed to level up.

♦️ Required EXP to level up: 3,500,000

It had become harder to level. He sighed.

Muri rolled back to him before returning to normal.

"...You've grown quite efficient at hunting," Ray praised Muri.

"It's all thanks to you, master," Muri expressed gratefully.

"How so?" Ray asked.

"Devouring the Alpha Demonized Wolf has expanded my knowledge," Muri replied. "With its cunning combined with my own skills, I know how to make the most of every situation."

Ray smiled in satisfaction.

The stronger Muri became, the easier it would be for him to level up in the future.

He could simply command Muri to kill for him and still gain EXP for doing basically nothing.

"What's next, master?" Muri asked.

"I am planning on going to the Tower." Ray replied. "If I face a danger I can't overcome, I will call for you."

Ray lacked the confidence to kill Nisha and Varun. Ashclaw, who was weaker and poorer than them, had multiple life saving treasures. Who knows how many trump cards Nisha and Varun were hiding?

He wanted to increase his strength and up his number of advantages before going for their lives.

"Muri, we are leaving this place. Return to my niwan palace," Ray said.

Muri turned into a ray of light, sinking into his head.

After recalling Muri into his Niwan Palace, Ray left the dungeon.

He wasn't like Nameless. He didn't know how to use Stitches. Without Stitches, one couldn't close a rift. Eventually, from the other side of the rift, more demonic creatures would pour out and repopulate the Dire Wolf's Den. By that time, its name might even change. The name of a dungeon was determined by the demonic creatures that inhabited it, after all.

"This place will never become inhabitable unless the rift is closed." Ray glanced back at the D-rank dungeon one last time before exiting it.

――――――

In an area not far from the sea, a crack opened in space, growing large enough for a person to pass through. The crack closed, but not before spewing out a figure.

Ray flipped midair, landing gracefully on the ground. He looked around, and the scenery struck him as familiar.

"The exit of the Dire Wolf's Den leads to the cliff near the underwater cave." He was pleased to have teleported close to it, as it was his next destination.

He headed there rapidly.

A vortex still spun at the end of the underwater cave.

Without hesitation, he stepped through it, entering the birthplace of the Tamers for the first time!

He appeared in a place where tall green grasses stretched as far as the eye could see.

A bright yellow sun hung overhead.

"Grassland?" Ray uttered.

It did seem like a grassland, but the grasses here were strangely huge, about his height in length. He wondered what trials and dangers he would face in this place.

A voice echoed.

[You have arrived in the Tower of Enlightenment. Welcome, seeker.]

The voice seemed to be coming from all sides, impossible to trace.

Unable to determine its source, Ray could only ask helplessly, "Who are you?"

"I am Arthis, the Tower's First Floor Manager. My duty is to provide some guidance to newcomers, explain the workings of the tower to them, and ensure they understand the rules before they begin your climb. Are you following me?" Arthis suddenly asked.

"Yeah," Ray replied.

"The Tower of Enlightenment was created to aid worlds under invasion by demonic beings." Arthis continued, "Here, guidance is provided to the worthy so that they can go back and drive the demonic creatures out of their worlds."

"I expected as much," Ray said.

"With the introduction out of the way, let's move on to what matters," Arthis said before explaining, "

"Everyone who enters the tower in search of guidance is called a seeker. Seekers are ranked by how high they have climbed. You are rankless as you have yet to climb a floor. A strict hierarchy governs this place. The higher your rank, the more privileges you enjoy. Do not provoke those above you, otherwise you will be in for a trouble. Also, the tower doesn't prohibits infighting amongst seekers. But if you go on a killing spree unnecessarily, you will be swiftly punished."

Ray remained silent, digesting the information provided like a sponge in water.

Arthis continued with his explanation, "The tower is divided into many floors. Each floor is broken down into several to dozens of sectors. Right now, you stand in the first sector of the first floor. To advance to the next floor where better rewards awaits, you must clear Sector 10."

"Sectors can only be crossed by completing trials. That's the only way of advancing in the Tower of Enlightenment," He added.

Ray folded his arms. "Then what is the trial here?"

"The trial of this sector is to slay five Lizardmen. Complete this task, and you will earn one hundred Enlightenment Points. These points are the tower's currency. With them, you may purchase items, skills, weapons, even fragments of ancient knowledge from the [Market]. When your trial is complete, the Market will become available to you. The rest will be explained to you later. Good luck. You will need it."

"Would I really?" Ray muttered.

Namless had said he was strong enough to clear a few floors. Ray didn't think he would face much of a challenge in the first the very first sector of the least challenging floor of the tower.

He began moving through the grassland, searching for his first prey.

It didn't take long before he caught sight of a shadow darting between the stalks.

He prepared to fight.

Whoosh!

A Lizardman leapt at him, a crude spear clutched in its claws, its eyes glowing with savage hunger.

Ray's gaze turned cold. To him, the lizardmen appeared no different than a fool hurling itself into death's embrace.

He opened his mouth.

Fwuuush!

A fiery tornado surged forth, roaring as it engulfed the Lizardman mid-lunge. The creature shrieked, thrashing as flames consumed its scaled body. In seconds, it was reduced to a pile of ash

♦️ Warning! Warning! Warning! Something has interfered with the system's ability to create experience points from your kills.

♦️ You have gained 0 EXP for killing the Lizardman.

Ray's eyes widened slightly. Then, a thought crossed his mind and his expression grew sharp.

"So… that's how it is."

He had discovered something crucial.

There was something inside every living thing that the system could refine into experience points upon their death!

"Experience points… What are they exactly made of?" Ray wondered. "Could it be..."

There was one thing everyone had in common.

The soul.

It was only a guess but Ray concluded that the source of EXP could be the soul of the beings he kills.

As for the reason why the system's ability to create EXP was rendered obsolete in the tower, Ray couldn't put a finger on it.

Provided how little he knew about the tower despite absorbing Torvin's memory, it was hard for him to guess the correct reason.

'Did the tower's administrator notice and suppress it? Or is the tower itself a special existence that rejects such refinement?' Ray thought. 'Perhaps it's something else entirely…'

'Whatever.' he decided to stop thinking about it as it was doing him no good, just wasting his time. 'Let's continue with the trial.'

He came here mainly for points, to buy things not easily available on Earth. Not getting EXP wasn't that big of a turn off.

He clenched his fist.

'One down. Four more to go.'

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