Tower Ascension

Peter nods and moves the curtain slightly. He notices a door, however, it is strange since nothing is attached to its sides. Peter took a step inside and felt secure. He then steps in, Alice lagging behind him.

Then, all of a sudden, they are blinded by a blinding white light. They found themselves by a fountain when their vision adjusted. Peter takes a peek around and notices other people wandering around. There were a lot of people there. But then he noticed something weird.

His powers! It had been totally sealed. He couldn't use either his physical strength or his mana. At this point, he had no control over anything.

He wanders about, holding Alice's hand, after taking a deep breath.

"Don't you think it's strange, Peter?" Alice looks around and inquires.

"I, too, am confused. This black market absolutely stifled my power." While gazing around, Peter nods his head and speaks. He could see several persons. But then he massaged his eyes.

"Alice, do you see what I'm seeing?" Peter inquired, his gaze drawn to a gathering of people conversing with one another.

"If you're seeing what I'm seeing, then I'm seeing what you're seeing." Alice bobs her head as she observes the same group of people conversing with one another.

"That suggests we're both looking at the same thing. I notice a gathering of people conversing with one another. However, they do not appear to be human or the beast-man." Peter talked with his jaws clenched and his gaze fixed on the ground.

"And, why do they resemble the prince on the white horse, with whom I can even fall in love in a dream, and the goddess of the world, who resembles my nemesis? And why do they have such long ears?" Alice rubbed her eyes and spoke with a puzzled face.

"Because they're elves, and you're an eight-year-old kid with the brains of a twenty-year-old girl." Peter couldn't help but be speechless when he looked into Alice's sparkling eyes.

"What exactly are elves? Are they also the monsters who live within the tower?" Alice inquired, her face befuddled.

"Oh! You don't know anything about elves. They should have been mentioned somewhere in history." Hodder's information made sense to Peter. He was aware that many of the supernatural animals described in the book could be located within the tower.

"Duh! Do I resemble a wealthy brat who reads a book?" Alice couldn't help but inquire about Peter.

"Well, since there are elves here! I don't believe this is floor zero. It's no surprise that my power would be sealed. It appears that persons from upper floors are permitted to enter. If I had to guess, it would be folks on floors one through ten." Peter nods his head as he walks towards the store.

When he sees the board in front of the shop, he speechlessly standstill.

"Items only above 10000 Mana Coins"

"Items only above 5000 Mana Coins"

"Items only above 1000 Mana Coins"

After half an hour

"...….."

As Peter and Alice stood in front of a small thatched store, a small bird fluttered over his face. As he moves his head to the left, he notices nearly a hundred structures, each one smaller than the one before it.

"Hush! What did I even expect?" While strolling towards the store, Peter sighed. On the chair, there was only one man. He was also quite old. The shop was hardly ornamented, yet it included a variety of things. He couldn't confirm a single one.

"Hello! I'm looking for Flame Ores and two drops of Demon Blood." Peter addressed the old guy by turning his head.

The elderly man rose from his seat and entered the establishment. He emerged a few seconds later with two little finger-sized jars filled with scarlet blood and a few flaming ores. He placed them in front of Peter on the table and stated, "Five hundred gold coins for one piece of Flame Ores! There is no negotiation. Furthermore, one mana coin for one jar of demon's blood."

Peter deliberated for a while before deciding to purchase everything. He collected all three of his mana coins and handed them to him, along with two jars and two pieces of Flame Ore.

The old man gave him an unusual look as Peter responded, "You're shocked I didn't try to bargain? If you were a middle-aged man, I could have. But, given your current state, I expected you to flip into a dead rat if I tried to bargain with an elderly man like you."

Tick! Tick! Tick!

"Boy, are you trying to irritate me? Because if you are, you are successful." The veins on the old man's brow popped, and his eyes became wide and crimson. He asked, giving Peter a death gaze.

"I was dead serious. If my bargaining skills cause you to have a heart attack, I will be held responsible for your death." Peter has a solemn expression on his face and nods his head.

"Oh! Then tell me how you intend to bargain with me. I'd love to hear about your negotiation skills." The old man spoke with his teeth clenched.

"Hello! I'm Peter, and I'm a climber." With a proud grin on his face, Peter extended his hand and spoke.

"What does it matter?" However, he was met with a frigid stare from the old guy.

"Don't you get it? I am a climber, which implies I was chosen by the tower. You live inside the tower, and everything in here is owned by the tower. And, because we are like the offspring of the tower, all you have is ours."

"However, people must recognize the efforts of others. As a result, I decided to pay you three mana coins. After all, you battled a demon whose strength might be inferior to yours and obtained these materials that belonged to the tower."

"Technically, you're just functioning as a middle-man. And this is a horrible situation for economic development. Fortunately, because the tower has no mentality, it allows you to do whatever you wish. But, as it's chosen me, I can't just ignore it."

"So, either sell these to me for three mana coins or I will bring you down in the name of the tower." Peter smiled proudly as he took all of the flame ores and placed them in the inventory.

"I, too, am a climber. So, return those flame ores." While speaking, the old man ticked his finger on the table. Peter's heart skips a beat, and he smiles as he returns them.

"You're not a good negotiator. You're simply attempting to take them by force. Not to mention, bargaining doesn't work on the black market," the old man said, shaking his head and continued" Don't you realize the black market has jewels because they are rare?"

"How could I possibly know? I'd never bargained before in my life. Why would you save your money and eat bread if you have enough to eat meat? People who bargain are greedy, but I am not." While straightening his back, Peter spoke.

When the elderly man saw the flame ores, he went to Peter and asked, "If you are not greedy, where are the two remaining flame ores?"

"What do you mean by the two remaining flame ores? Do you mean that I have them in my inventory? For the record, I never planned to bargain with you. Do you believe I put those ores in my inventory and forgot to put two flame ores in there?" As he says this, he returns the flame ores to his inventory.

When he took out the flaming ores, the old man discovered that two more ores had gone missing.

"You literally just did." The old man yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"Do you mean you see inside someone's inventory?" With a solemn expression on his face, Peter inquired.

"Of course not! Do you believe in such ridiculous abilities?" The old man couldn't help but yell in Peter's direction.

"But you didn't count them in front of me. You basically made up the amount to blame on me." As he stared at the old man, Peter spoke with disgust.

"You're not bargaining, boy. Simply put, you are f**king shameless." The elderly guy yelled at Peter, intending to stomp him to death. However, his ability was fully repressed.

Peter gave him a thumbs up and said "Since you have acknowledged it, I should leave."

As he said this, he took Alice's hand in his and went away.

"Wait a minute! You still haven't returned those to me." The elderly man yelled from the store, but Mike lifted his hand and talked while shaking it. "I'm just a poor ghost, old man. I'll be back soon."

"Damn you, brat!" As he took his seat, the elderly man groaned and burst out laughing.

As she walked away, Alice turned at him and asked, "So, I was right. You are not shameless, but the collision of two opposing characters has made you so. If you were greedy, you would have gone to any length to obtain all of Flame Ore. And you wouldn't have stolen four more flame ores if you were a kind."

"However, your shamelessness is still a little awkward. It's similar to a toddler learning how to behave."

"Damn! How did you get so much information in such a short period of time?" Peter couldn't stop himself from yelling.