That night, something unexpected happened to Ethan. Besides Jane waiting for him at the post, there was a bald man with a thin, pale body and a sullen face.
He stared at him with far from excited expression as he arrived. The man wore a suit, but on his suit was affixed some kind of white emblem.
'He looks different. I guess he is not one of the Agents,' Ethan thought.
"Are you the new Invited?" the man asked, his voice annoyed. "I haven't seen another one in a long time. I came here to offer you a job."
The man cut straight to the point of what he wanted to convey. He didn't want to waste time, not even to say his name.
"Who are you?" Ethan asked.
"Oh, right. My name is Mark. I come from House Marion."
Ethan frowned, clearly showing that he was confused.
"You don't know House Marion?" the man asked, looking surprised and slightly offended.
Ethan had a feeling that House Marion was one of the families of legendary Conquerors who had obtained a lot of things from the Tower, judging by his attitude. But there were too many of them, and Ethan didn't bother to know every one of them.
"No. Explain yourself, Mark," Ethan replied, his tone cold and unbothered. He didn't care if he really came from a house of the Conquerors. His attitude had already annoyed him.
Mark groaned, rubbing his bald head, and said, "I guess you're not too educated, huh. I think I made a mistake deciding to recruit a person like you. But... Whatever.
"Listen, if you work with us, we will provide you with some essential things like weapons, rations, etc. All you have to do is bring our name when you're climbing the Tower. Pretty easy, right?"
"That sounds like something good," Ethan said.
"Right? Alright, so-"
"I'm not interested," Ethan cut him off. Then he looked at Jane, who was snickering on the side. "Can I start now?"
"Yes," Jane nodded.
"Hey!" Mark snapped, his tired eyes suddenly blazing with wrath. He came closer to Ethan, his teeth gritting. "Dare you interrupt me?!" He spoke through clenched teeth.
"I dare. You wasted my time," Ethan said in a flat tone.
If he hadn't received that amazing Talent, he might have accepted the offer on the spot. But right now, he was confident he could handle everything by himself.
He had heard stories from his coworkers about how the Conquerer Houses only exploited the Invited to carry their name in the Tower. If they climbed high enough, most of their achievements would fall into the hands of the Houses.
But if they failed and died, the Houses wouldn't be responsible for anything. Those who were trapped in this agreement had signed contracts, so no one could demand anything from the Houses.
And most of them couldn't refuse because the Houses would provide them with items. Those items, no matter how small, were still precious to the Invited with economic conditions similar to Ethan's.
They had no choice but to accept it because very few of them had high-grade Talents like him. After rejecting Mark's offer impolitely, Ethan walked past him and entered with Jane. Ethan could almost hear the grinding of Mark's teeth as he walked away. Ethan saw Jane giggling beside him.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Did you see the bald guy's face?"
Ethan didn't answer.
"He's never received rejection like that, so he's very shocked!" Jane continued. "You might have just gotten yourself into trouble."
"Why is that?" Ethan asked.
"That guy is from a pretty influential family. He has a lot of resources to bother you in the Tower."
"Can he enter the Tower?"
"Yes, if he gets permission from his employer. The Conquerors place their own teleporters inside their base in the Tower so they can aid their own family members, or for other matters."
Ethan sighed. It could indeed become a problem. But for now, it couldn't be helped. He just hated the way the Conquerors treated people.
---
Ethan was given a room for him to stay for another two days before he had to enter the Tower with another 50 Invited.
During his stay in his room, the Agents provided them with their essential needs. They also gave him data about the floors. The total number of floors in the Tower was 100.
But so far, only up to the 20th floor had been conquered by humans in this world. In this Lorned Country, the family that could achieve that was House Evernights.
'Better get close to them, then.'
To secure his safety and benefits, he thought that cooperating with the best House was the most sensible decision. He had a good Talent, after all. He was sure that they would at least consider him favorably.
---
After two days had passed, it was finally time for them to enter the Tower. Ethan's heart beat faster with anticipation despite his calm face. He looked around, trying to assess the situation.
He activated his [Soul Sense] but immediately regretted it. Few of them looked at him with disdain, probably because they were from Conqueror Houses or associated with them. The others, most of them, he only sensed fear from. Just like what he had thought.
But suddenly, he sensed something different amidst all of that. It was a feeling of calmness, like the surface of water in a deep lake. Very rare in this kind of moment.
He glanced sideways to where that feeling originated and saw a young girl with jet-black hair flowing to her back. Her face was smooth and white like it was made of porcelain. Her eyes – also black – suddenly moved and stared at him.
Ethan flinched, realizing her sharp gaze. He quickly looked forward again.
'Is she that confident?'
Even him, who had awakened a Mythical-grade Talent, still felt a bit nervous. But that girl was confident. Which meant that the girl probably had a high-grade Talent as well and enough resources to back her up.
'I have to check her out.'
A middle-aged man stood in front of them.
"Are you all ready?" he asked, his eyes scanning the Invited standing before him.
---