I Tricked a God

Heavy breathing echoed across the thirty-ninth floor of the Horde’s Bone Tower.

The surrounding mana was already noticeably different from what filled the lower levels. It was so dense that at times it began to hum almost inaudibly, as though the very air had become saturated with energy.

Kael stood directly before the step leading to the fortieth floor.

Slowly drawing in a breath and exhaling just as slowly, he gave his body a few moments of rest. Drops of sweat ran down his forehead, falling onto the stone beneath his feet, while his muscles trembled from the Tower’s constant pressure.

Judging by Kael’s condition, it was obvious that climbing had become considerably more difficult.

While he had climbed the first few dozen floors almost at a run, each new level now demanded more and more effort.

Coughing slightly and feeling his chest heave after another step, Kael placed a palm against his chest and said with a satisfied grin, “Libero, how are you doing?”

In response to the question, Kael almost immediately felt movement in his chest.

It seemed Libero was no less determined than he was and clearly had no intention of stopping there.

“Thought so…” Kael grunted.

Though his bones ached slightly from the constant pressure and his mana channels throbbed unpleasantly from the unceasing streams of energy pouring into them, he was nevertheless in an excellent mood.

“Despite the monstrous pressure…” Kael murmured between heavy breaths, “the rate of progress here is just as extraordinary.”

With those words, Kael directed his inner gaze toward his mana channels and thought, “I only just broke through… The inscriptions should still be nothing more than barely visible outlines…”

Reality, however, was slightly different.

Observing his mana channels, Kael could clearly see the inscriptions nearest the Mana Core gradually changing. Only recently, they had resembled a pale sketch, but now the lines were becoming bolder, sharper, and more vivid, as though the Tower were literally pushing their development forward.

“It would have taken me a week of training outside the Tower to achieve a result like this…” he thought with mild shock.

Raising his gaze once more toward the step leading to the fortieth floor, Kael drew a deep breath of the mana-filled air and slowly exhaled.

“Get ready, Libero…” Kael thought, then resolutely stepped forward.

And the moment he set foot on the fortieth floor, the pressure surged all at once.

“Khagh!” Kael exhaled hoarsely, feeling his knees buckle for an instant beneath the sudden crushing weight.

The surrounding mana seemed to grow even denser, bearing down on him from every direction, and every breath now required considerable effort.

“Damn… Now that’s something…” he hissed through clenched teeth.

But in the very next moment, he felt Libero’s familiar response.

The silver ant immediately began drawing in even more of the surrounding mana, taking part of the burden upon himself and easing the strain on his master somewhat.

That proved enough.

Forcing his back straight and wiping the sweat from his forehead, Kael simply stood still for several seconds, adjusting to the new conditions.

“Thanks, Libero,” he murmured contentedly, raising his gaze upward once more. “Thanks to you, we’ve put on quite a show…”

Even without seeing what was happening outside, Kael understood perfectly well that his result had already caused an uproar. Reaching the fortieth floor during his first visit to the Tower was far too conspicuous an achievement to go unnoticed.

Still, the thought did not particularly concern Kael.

Kael merely smirked, thinking, “Being part of the Doomgrin Squad really does give me a free hand… Doing outrageous things is much safer when everyone already thinks you’re a lunatic.”

Starting forward again and overcoming the pressure step by step, Kael recalled the events that had taken place in the Capital.

“Whoever the Shadow of the Throne is, once again I’m convinced he was right…” he thought.

Feeling the Tower accelerate his development while Libero greedily absorbed the surrounding mana, Kael found himself thinking about the future.

“With enough MMP, I’ll be able to regularly produce top-grade mana elixirs and visit the Tower regularly. And if I add my knowledge and Libero’s potential to that…”

Taking another step with a grunt, Kael narrowed his eyes and concluded mentally, “I won’t remain at the Marked Mage stage for very long.”

Forcing one foot in front of the other and literally pushing through the pressure with his own body, Kael took another step forward.

The moment he set foot on the forty-first floor, the weight increased noticeably once again.

“Kh…” he exhaled hoarsely, clenching his teeth for a moment.

His muscles immediately tensed even further, and an unpleasant shudder ran down his back.

“Damn…” Kael muttered, wiping sweat from his eye. “This is tough as hell…”

But at that very moment, a stern female voice with a slight rasp suddenly sounded behind him: “Impressive.”

Caught off guard, Kael nearly jumped in place.

Whirling around, he saw a woman with a long scarlet braid standing nearby.

The first thing that struck him was that she looked as though the pressure on the fortieth floor did not affect her at all.

The woman stood perfectly calmly, leaning on her cane and studying him with obvious interest.

“Greetings…” Kael managed, somewhat bewildered. “Excuse me, but you are…”

But she cut him off before he could finish.

Slowly looking Kael over, the woman murmured thoughtfully, “So you’ve even broken through… Sixteen years old, and already a Marked Mage.”

Then she stepped to the side, moving slightly around Kael to look behind him.

“And you’re also a member of the Imperial Guilds…” she added.

To Kael’s surprise, the woman suddenly reached out and, without the slightest ceremony, placed a hand on his shoulder.

Despite the apparent lightness of the gesture, her touch felt strangely heavy.

“Morkroft is a lunatic,” she said calmly, looking directly into Kael’s eyes. “Too focused on himself.”

Having said that, the woman lightly patted Kael on the shoulder and withdrew her hand.

“Under my wing, you could grow much faster.”

Then, as though it were a trivial matter, she turned and continued upward.

“Think about whether you’d like to switch squads…” the woman called over her shoulder. “With my connections, I could arrange it.”

Watching her go, Kael narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Her aura…” Kael thought. “She’s definitely at the level of a Captain…”

Even without enough strength to accurately determine the woman’s stage of development, he could clearly feel the pressure emanating from her.

Kael’s gaze involuntarily lingered on the woman’s scarlet hair, then on her eyes.

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“And judging by her appearance…” he added in his mind. “She’s from the Imperial Branch.”

But at that moment, the woman’s voice once again interrupted Kael’s thoughts.

“By the way,” she suddenly said as she climbed to the next floor. “I advise you not to push yourself any farther.”

Turning her head slightly, the woman added, “During my first visit, I reached the forty-third floor. And afterward, I damaged my mana channels so badly that my training came to a halt for two months.”

Hearing this, Kael involuntarily raised an eyebrow.

However, the woman was already continuing, steadily making her way upward.

“Almost all the Captains had a similar experience. Even your Captain Morkroft. The first visit to the Tower is special… But at the same time, it’s the most dangerous.”

“Though, to be fair…” she said with a slight chuckle. “When I was told those exact same words many years ago, they didn’t stop me at all.”

A barely perceptible smirk flickered across the woman’s lips, after which her figure disappeared around the bend.

Kael remained frozen in place for several seconds.

Watching the woman’s receding figure, he involuntarily turned her words over in his mind.

“What was she trying to achieve by telling me that?” he wondered. “Is she genuinely trying to help… Or is she simply trying to sabotage my result?”

Casting those thoughts aside, Kael focused on a far more reliable source of information—his own body.

Paying close attention to the state of his mana channels and comparing his current sensations with what he had felt one floor below, he gradually began drawing certain conclusions.

“Judging by the difference in pressure between the fortieth and forty-first floors…” Kael thought. “There’s some truth to what she said.”

Shifting his gaze to the platforms rising above, he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

“At this rate, I can withstand a few more floors without serious consequences…”

Assessing his own condition as objectively as possible, Kael estimated mentally, “The forty-fifth… Maybe the forty-sixth floor would already be a dangerous threshold for me.”

With that thought, Kael had already shifted his weight forward, preparing to step onto the forty-second floor, but at the last moment, he stopped.

The heel of his slightly raised foot settled back onto the floor.

For several seconds, he simply stood there, looking toward the coveted forty-fifth floor, then slowly exhaled and shook his head.

“Losing two months of training is unacceptable…” Kael thought as he began to turn around. “I got carried away and didn’t even notice it.”

As he started descending, Kael almost immediately felt the pressure weaken slightly, while the strain on his mana channels no longer felt quite so intense.

“The conditions around the thirty-fifth floor were optimal…” he thought, recalling how he had felt during the ascent. “Better to stay there until evening and fully consolidate the results of my breakthrough.”

With that thought, Kael completely abandoned the idea of tempting fate and confidently headed downward, muttering under his breath, “Growing stronger comes first… I’ve already managed to make enough of an impression…”

✦ ✦ ✦

Meanwhile, much higher up, already climbing toward the fiftieth floor and leaning steadily on her cane, Astrid suddenly stopped.

Sensing Kael’s aura beginning to recede, the woman turned her head slightly and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“He took my advice?”

As she continued climbing, she unexpectedly found herself thinking, “This boy keeps surprising me more and more… I wonder what he’ll achieve in the future?”

✦ ✦ ✦

Time seemed to speed up.

While Kael, settled on the thirty-fifth floor, consolidated his breakthrough and continued absorbing the surrounding mana, the sun slowly passed its zenith and then began its descent toward the horizon.

The sky above the military camp gradually took on shades of red and violet, while long shadows from the watchtowers and fortifications stretched across the entire camp.

The number of people on most of the training grounds had noticeably dwindled.

Some had already finished their training, some had left on assignments, while others had simply decided to rest.

Around the Horde’s Bone Tower, however, the exact opposite was happening.

If it had been crowded here during the day, by evening there were even more people. And many of those who had come were not even planning to train today.

“Is that the guy?”

“They say he’s a new recruit in the Doomgrin Squad.”

“He’s almost down. Now we’ll get a look at him.”

Conversations like these swept across the square again and again.

Over the course of the day, rumors had spread throughout the entire camp, picking up new details along the way.

As a result, even mages who were only there out of curiosity began flocking to the Tower, taking advantage of their day off.

“I see him! I see him!” someone suddenly shouted, pointing ahead.

At that very moment, dozens of heads turned toward the Tower.

Only a few seconds later, Kael appeared from around a bend in the Tower, slowly descending toward the exit.

His clothes were soaked through with sweat, his hair clung to his forehead, and he looked as though every last bit of strength had been wrung out of him. Breathing heavily but still wearing a satisfied smile, Kael calmly continued his descent.

The moment people realized it really was him, the crowd erupted in shouts.

“Yes!”

“Now I can finally collect my winnings!”

“Barbaros! Get my money ready!”

Joyful shouts poured in from every direction, mingling with the curses of those who had lost a considerable amount of MMP today.

Kael himself, finally descending the last few steps and emerging outside, drew a deep breath of the cool night air.

After so many hours inside the Tower, it felt almost icy.

For one brief moment, Kael even wanted to simply collapse onto the ground and lie there for at least a couple of minutes, allowing his body to recover from the relentless pressure.

However, noticing how many people had gathered around the Tower, he merely smirked and added in his mind, “Something tells me they’re here because of me…”

It seemed a good half of those gathered wanted to approach him right now.

Some clearly wanted to congratulate him on his result, others wanted to ask him about the Tower, while still others simply wanted a closer look at the recruit who had kept the entire camp buzzing all day.

However, the moment people’s gazes lingered on Kael’s badge, most of their resolve noticeably faded.

So instead of questions and congratulations, people merely exchanged glances, stealing looks in his direction.

But at that moment, Barbaros’s voice came from nearby: “Incredible result. Congratulations.”

Turning his head, Kael saw the old man with the long red beard, who was now looking at him with open respect.

Still breathing heavily after hours of training, Kael merely gave a short nod.

“Thank you.”

At the same time, a thought flashed through his mind, “It would be good to make a few useful connections… But right now I’m too exhausted.”

Feeling his mana channels ache and his legs grow unpleasantly heavy after hours under pressure, Kael dismissed the thought.

Straightening his back and forcing himself to look more energetic than he actually felt, he headed unhurriedly toward the exit from the training area.

“I’d be glad to chat, guys…” he muttered, waving to those gathered. “But let’s do it another time…”

The moment Kael started forward, the onlookers and spectators almost instinctively began moving aside, clearing a path for him.

No one tried to stop him or hurried to ask questions.

Only quiet whispers rippled through the crowd in Kael’s wake.

“He reached the forty-first floor…”

“Does that mean he’ll become a Captain in the future?”

“I don’t know…”

“But it’s better not to make this guy mad.”

“Agreed.”

Calmly walking through the corridor that had formed and feeling dozens of gazes on him, Kael merely smirked to himself.

However, when he was only a few steps from leaving the crowd, Barbaros suddenly called after him, “Why didn’t you keep going up and instead return to the thirty-fifth floor?”

At that question, many around them immediately fell silent.

Turning his head slightly over his shoulder, Kael looked at the old man and, after a brief pause, answered honestly, “A powerful woman advised me not to.”

A fresh murmur immediately swept through the crowd.

But Kael promptly added, “Besides, I decided to get as much as possible out of the MMP I’d spent. It’s far more worthwhile than getting thrown out of the Tower because of my own stubbornness.”

Barbaros merely stroked his long beard and grinned with satisfaction.

“Does that mean you could have climbed higher?”

Another wave of curiosity swept through the crowd at those words.

Kael, without even stopping, merely waved casually over his shoulder and answered, “Who knows…”

The answer sounded so deliberately ambiguous that the faces of some avid gamblers practically lit up.

“I told you! Next time I’m betting on the forty-second floor!”

“Why not go straight for the forty-third?”

“No, if he strengthens his foundation over the next couple of weeks, he could even make it to the forty-fifth!”

Hearing this, Barbaros merely grinned with satisfaction.

Kael himself no longer paid any attention to the conversation and continued toward the exit from the training area.

Now it wasn’t only the mages near the Tower who were glancing his way. Even the mages training on the neighboring grounds occasionally looked away from what they were doing, following him with their eyes.

Noticing the gazes directed at him out of the corner of his eye, Kael merely smiled to himself, “A reputation takes a long time to build… But today I laid a solid foundation.”

The thought unexpectedly lifted his spirits.

Especially considering that he hadn’t planned to attract any attention in the first place.

Grinning, Kael rubbed his neck and turned his thoughts to far more pleasant things.

“I need to wash up, have dinner, and get some rest.”

But almost immediately afterward, he remembered his morning conversation with Sierra.

“That oddball works even at night…” he murmured thoughtfully under his breath.

Remembering the inscription workshop and the way the girl’s eyes had lit up with passion for her work, Kael nodded to himself.

“Once I’ve rested, I’ll need to stop by and see her. I’ll see if I can earn some extra MMP by making talismans and doing inscriptions.”

With those thoughts, he calmly headed toward the Doomgrin Squad’s territory, no longer paying any attention to the gazes or conversations behind his back.