A couple of hours passed, and during this time Adam and King Slayer chatted. Adam learned a lot of things from this conversation, especially about the vampire clan.
A vampire came to greet them, and brought them away. Although they were already in front of the tower, it was the custom here to have the challengers walk a particular path, and receive the blessing of all the vampires present.
This wasn't just a ceremonial thing, as faith was an energy in itself. Only a few used this energy to strengthen themselves, because this was a taboo thing to do and would stop all progress of those who did so.
However, cultivation wasn't the only thing one could do with faith energy. Here, for example, the faith of all the vampire would allow the two to enter the Blood Tower.
This was a divine artifact after all, and since none of them owned the artifact, a huge amount of energy was needed to enter the tower. Instead of wasting resources, using the faith of all the vampires was much better.
Adam and King Slayer were led to the gates of the city, and were made to wait outside the city as the gates were closed. A few minutes later, the inside of the city grew unusually quiet, and then the gates were opened once again.
Adam and King Slayer took the cue to enter the city, and saw two long lines of vampires on both sides of the road. When Adam and King Slayer appeared, they raised a huge clamor. Every vampire began cheering, no matter their age or their strength.
They were also wearing special clothes, the women were dressed in long and elegant red dresses, alongside red make up. As for the men, they were dressed in yellow shirts and pants.
According to what King Slayer told Adam earlier, those clothes were meant to represent fertility, the greatest thing taken away from vampires. The red outfit of women represented love, while the yellow outfit of men was for happiness.
If one of the two were able to reach the top of the Blood Tower, then the entire city would be painted in orange, the mix between red and yellow, to show that they had regained their fertility. And if they failed, the colors would remain separated.
Under the sheers of an entire race, the two Sovereigns soon reached the vicinity of the Blood Tower, where the most important people were gathered. For one was the Royal Family, including the princess that had been away earlier.
Adam though was shocked when he saw her, because he clearly recognized her. She was One Sword, the assasin who had almost killed him in the Mirage Desert. He didn't expect her to be the Vampire Princess, and obviously, neither did she expect to see him here.
However, neither said anything, and Adam also saw Neith on the side, covered in the red paint. When the two reached the bottom of the tower, they saw the Vampire King wave his hands above himself, and an astonishing phenomenon took place.
A bright energy seemed to take form above the heads of the surrounding vampires and flew toward the tower. And it didn't just come from the surrounding vampires, as Adam could see the same energy also coming from farther away in the city.
The energy coalesced in front of the two Sovereigns and began forming a bunch of stairs. The two walked up the stairs, and saw that as the energy finally created the last step connected to the tower, a door magically appeared in the tower.
The two quickly climbed the stairs, and arrived in front of the door. With a look at each other, Adam took the handle and pushed the door open. As soon as he did, they both felt an absorbing force come from the tiny gap in the door, and they were sucked inside the tower, unable to resist the force.
The gape widened a little, showing a completely dark interior, but as the two were sucked in, the door quickly closed itself and disappeared, followed by the steps.
Vald looked at his people, and clapped his hand. Quickly, the two ranks of people dispersed as they quickly began bringing over wide tables over, filled with a magnificent looking feast. All the food was being kept hot and completely edible with magic.
If one of the challengers was able to reach the top, then they would regain their sense of taste and share this feast. Otherwise, they would just give everything to their cattle.
Inside the tower, Adam opened his eyes and saw himself in a completely different place than before. But before he could take a good look around himself, the system sent him a notification.
[You have entered the Divine Artifact: Blood Tower. All deaths inside the tower will result in the loss of ten levels. Moreover, killing the monsters inside the tower will not grant any experience points.]
Adam was stupefied by the harsh conditions, but a second later another notification was sent.
[Ding! New Quest detected, 'Clear the Blood Tower'!]
Quest Detail: An entire race's hopes lay on your shoulders, and you shall not disappoint them. Clear the tower.
Quest Level: Irrelevant.
Quest Difficulty: SSS, World Quest
Objective: Climb to the 60th floor and clear it.
Reward: Worshiped reputation with the Vampire Race, ??
Adam was quite excited from this quest, as that promised additional rewards for him if he managed to reach the top of the tower, something he already intended to do anyway.
Adam accepted the quest, and looked around. He was currently on top of a small mountain, and could see the surrounding area pretty easily.
There wasn't much that could hide his sight, as the land around was flat, without any big rocks or anything. He could see a few tens of monsters surrounding the mountain, and a portal farther away. This was the entrance to the second floor.
Looking back toward the monsters, most were rock based monsters, meaning this would be a great training ground for anyone who tried to learn the Earth Concept, or it's lower ranked derivations like the Rock Concept.
Remembering he only had an hour on each floor for the first nine, he began rushing toward the portal. He would only spend the maximum amount of time in the areas useful for his training. For the rest, he would blitz through them.
When Adam reached the first monsters, he finally saw their status, and as expected, they weren't anything threatening.
[Rock Monster] (Common, Level 45)
HP: 4500/4500
When Adam saw their status, he almost laughed out loud. He had forgotten how weak monsters of his level could be. Of course, it wasn't only because of its level, but also because of it's rank, but still, when he thought back of that moment when he struggled against a Level 5 Elite…
As the Rock Monsters approached him, Adam swung his sword a single time, sending a blue flying slash that bisected all the monsters.
-507000 HP!
Walking past the severed bodies of the Rock Monsters, Adam thought he maybe overdid it… But it wasn't even that strong of an attack, he had just grown that powerful…
The only skills he used were [Mighty Strike] and [Aqua Slash], and yet he dished out more than 500k damage. His strongest attacks would deal millions of damage. He could already be considered quite strong in the Gold Rank.
By the time he got his armor and ranked up, he seriously doubted anyone within the Gold Rank would be able to match him, including SS Classes… maybe even Sovereign would need to be quite advanced in the Gold Rank to even hope of matching him…
In the end, Adam shook his head, it wasn't the right time to think of those things. Stomping down on the ground, Adam let out a powered down [Ice Statue] that barely took any Aura from him, and froze the few tens of Rock monsters separating him from the exit.
Walking on the ice, Adam reached the portal to the second floor, and didn't hesitate to walk through it.