Chapter 161: Outside The Tower

William looked at the Artifact Spirit, who was still present in the room. He was thankful for the Spirit’s assistance since without it he would probably have failed at the 101st floor against the Medusa, but its presence also meant that William couldn’t safely upgrade any of his Talents.

He would have liked to upgrade some Talents before leaving, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Senior, I’m going to exit the tower now, is that alright?”

“No need to ask me for permission. Just do whatever you please. By the way, there’s no need to hide your Space or Time Magic, we already know…” the Artifact Spirit disappeared as he said the last few words, leaving William, Atticus, and Uri alone on the 200th floor.

They knew this whole time? Damnit, I hid myself for nothing! William complained inwardly, even though he had already suspected this.

He didn’t think on it too much.

William gave a deep bow in the direction of where the Artifact Spirit was previously located, unsure of if the being was actually still there or not. He made a few final preparations, then briefly brought out the Tower Token to send both him and his new dragon companion back to the second floor of the tower.

The two emerged from the ceiling, suspended in the air by some unknown force until William began to glide downward and Uri unfurled his wings to take flight.

There weren’t any Cultivators present on the second floor, which William was thankful for. He’d rather not give those idiots outside any more warning than they already had.

The moment William’s feet touched the ground, he flashed to the exit staircase using the Space Element. The process was incredibly smooth while he had the Mana Gathering Staff in his hand, making the sensation of teleporting actually comfortable for once.

Even so, William had a slight sense of motion sickness upon landing, which couldn’t be resolved in a short amount of time. What he needed was more experience with the Space Element, which had been poorly misrepresented in some movies William had watched.

How could Space Magic be so simple and straightforward? Not only was it complicated, but the negative effects on the body were immense. An inexperienced Space Mage would probably end up similar to how William did during his testing phase, headless. Without incredible life-saving measures, a Space Mage would have to be very careful of how they used their Magic.

Even if the Space Element wasn’t insanely rare, William doubted many Space Mages would live long enough to fully understand their Element.

He looked up to the Flame Dragon, who was perched on the ceiling of the second floor, “I’ll come back and get you. For now, just stay up there.”

“Understood, second Master.”

“Second Master?”

“I thought it would be more appropriate, since you are the second human I have decided to call Master.”

William nodded. He waved his hand farewell before stepping down the staircase into the first floor.

According to what he saw on the Tower Token’s surveillance feed, there were traps both inside the first floor and in the courtyard.

The purpose of most of the traps inside the tower were meant to keep William from running back inside the tower, but since he knew what to expect, William had prepared countermeasures.

There should be a layer of ice a few steps further down, they probably want me to lose my balance and fall to the bottom of the staircase so they can restrict me easier.

William called some Mana of the Ice and Water Elements to his feet, covering his soft shoes with a layer of ice first, then covering them with some water at the exact moment he stepped on the icy staircase.

The effects weren’t obvious immediately, but William didn’t slip and fall like the Cultivators might have expected. Instead, the water acted as a bonding agent for the ice on William’s shoes and the ice on the staircase, making his feet stick to the staircase like glue.

William controlled the use of the Ice and Water Elements until the stickiness was only just enough for him to walk normally on the staircase. Two Cultivators were nearby, who were supposed to be watching the staircase, but they were currently in the middle of a card game.

The duo probably thought they had plenty of time since William had only just entered the 200th floor a few hours ago.

William silently released two Ice Spikes, impaling the two Cultivators in the shoulders while simultaneously calling forth the Plant Element to wrap a thick plant root around each of their mouths. Neither managed to get a scream off before William had completely disabled them, their eyes white with shock as they didn’t expect the man to come back down the tower so soon.

He used the Life Element to stabilize both Cultivators’ conditions, ensuring they remained alive so he wouldn’t lose any Humanity points.

Once he was confident that they wouldn’t die, William reached out with the Mana Gathering Staff and absorbed all of their Mana but a minute amount, updating the progression bar to 4/50 unique Mana absorbed.

William looked over to see a group of about twenty Cultivators standing at the entrance of the trial tower, blocking him inside. He knew the group was just trying to force William to give up, but he didn’t find any of them threatening. A slight smirk crept up on his face.

What a surprise, more free Mana for my trusty Magic Staff! William became excited. He rushed toward the group of twenty, catching them off guard. They expected the man to run back up the stairs and avoid them for a long time, but it seemed it wouldn’t be that easy.

The leader of the group was a short man with spiked purple hair and a thick purple mustache. The clothes he wore seemed very expensive, so William guessed that the purple hair and mustache were not natural and were probably dyed at some point.

The short man unfurled a thick scroll that he had kept hidden in his Space Ring for a long time. He chanted a few words, an Advanced Confinement Array holding William in place while he prepared to fire off a few spells of his own.

William could easily escape this predicament, but first he wanted to see where the confidence of these Cultivators came from. He waited patiently while the purple-haired leader walked up the stairs by himself.

“So you’re the one that cleared this entire tower, huh? Aren’t you a bit too weak to be taking on such a trial?”

William snorted. He snapped the Advanced Array in an instant, the purple-haired man’s face turning pale with fright. He tried to hide, but there was nowhere to go on the first floor. It was at this moment that the man knew he fucked up. Why did he have to go ahead and provoke one of the strongest Cultivators in the Gravitas Ruins?

The other Cultivators weren’t as idle as the leader, nor were they in disarray just because of one slight mishap. They looked at William, who had just absorbed the Mana of their leader, opting to ready a few arrows and aim them in William’s direction.

“Attack him you idiots!” the purple-haired man yelled out from nearby as his Mana reserves quickly depleted, the Mana being fed to his Mana Gathering Staff to help unlock its restrictions.

William dodged an arrow that was launched from his right side. He looked in the direction where the arrow came from, spotting a smaller group of four Cultivators hiding in trees near the edge of the first floor, wearing serious looks while each of them held a bow.

William flicked his finger, sending a medium-sized fireball barreling its way towards the group, which set some trees on fire that had been raised by a third Cultivator wearing a green Disciple’s uniform from an unknown Sect.

The fireball slammed against the group, none of them able to react in time to the sudden turn of events. With just a single Magic Spell, William had disrupted the formation of the archers. He didn’t let this opportunity slide, tossing a few quick Lightning Bolts at the archers to paralyze them without causing serious harm.

While they were on the ground writhing in pain, William casually teleported next to each of them, tapping their heads with the Mana Gathering Staff. In just a few seconds, all of the Cultivators’ Mana had been absorbed except a tiny amount that would prevent them from dying of Mana Sickness.

He teleported back to the purple-haired man, rapping him on the head with the Mana Gathering Staff and knocking him out instantly. William absorbed his Mana while watching the entrance of the trial tower, where he could see hundreds of Cultivators milling about as if there was an emergency drill.

It seems they know I’m here now. Let’s give them a warm welcome, shall we?