Gacha Harem System

"Yes, City Lord," Lukas said.

The man glanced at Lukas before sighing.

"You all should be grateful that I’m personally giving you this speech. Rollo would’ve done this on my behalf if not for..." He trailed off, his eyes flicking to Akira’s sword.

Lukas noted the look but said nothing.

Of course, he knew who Rollo was, even if he’d never met the man personally. The number of people who didn’t know the City Lord’s assistant, and one of the few S-rank Awakeners in the city could be counted on one hand.

The City Lord seemed to make peace with something within himself before he began to speak.

"The First Floor of the Tower," he said, his voice dry as if he was reciting a speech he’d told a hundred times before, "is known by another name among those who have climbed high enough to understand it."

"It is called the Floor of Death."

None of them spoke. Even though his voice was dry, there was no way they were interrupting a story that began like that.

"Every floor above the first has natural restrictions on which beasts can inhabit it. The second floor accepts only Adept rank creatures. The third accepts only Elite. And the pattern continues upward."

He paused.

"As I’m sure you all already know, the first floor has no such restriction. Every beast from every floor can descend to it freely, as long as they find the required spatial gate."

"This is why it is the most dangerous floor in the Tower, not because of the beasts native to it, but because of everything else that can reach it."

He saw the way they were paying attention to his words, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"In the early days, as the Climbers ascended, they discovered something. Every living thing produces an aura. Not necessarily a combat aura, but the passive signature of a living body with power moving through it."

"But most importantly, they learned that when many beings of similar rank congregate in one place, their combined aura creates a broadcast. A frequency if you will."

His eyes moved across all three of them.

"And beasts of the corresponding rank can detect that frequency. It draws them, even when the individuals themselves take steps to hide their auras deliberately. The congregation itself is the signal."

Lukas understood immediately where this was going.

"This applies at every rank," the City Lord continued. "A city full of Awakeners draws Awakener-level beasts. A city with Adepts draws Adept-level beasts. The higher the rank present, the more dangerous the creatures that follow."

He folded his hands behind his back. "Ordinary people live in these cities. They have no means of defending themselves against what higher-rank presences attract. And there were not enough higher-ranked beings to be everywhere at once."

"So the Leveling Protocol was created."

Understanding flickered through the eyes of the three of them. So that was why the City Lord was the only Adept in Havenhart.

Eager to complete his story, the City Lord kept talking. "So, cities across the First Floor were divided into tiers, each one designated for a specific rank of Climber."

"Havenhart was a Tier 5 city, designed to hold Awakeners, and to hold them safely. As long as the Adept presence within the city and its surrounding territories remained at a single individual, which is me, Adept ranked beasts would not be drawn to it."

"This means when you’re all ready to advance," he said, and his eyes moved to each of them in turn, "you will observe the Protocol."

"There are one or two Tier 4 cities within reasonable travel distance. You will journey there before you advance."

"Tier 4 cities are populated with Adepts and are built so that they can absorb the attention of Adept ranked beasts without the civilian population paying the price for it."

He continued briefly through the remaining tiers.

"Never forget, Tier 3 cities are for Elites, Tier 2 are for Experts, and the two known Tier 1 cities are currently being prepared as the home ground for the newly created Saint rank, now that Adam Lancaster has opened the Fifth Floor."

Then his voice dropped slightly.

"If any of you attempt to advance to Adept inside Havenhart, or within its surrounding territories," he held the pause for exactly long enough, "I will descend and personally eradicate you. That is not a warning I give twice."

Silence filled the air at his words.

None of them doubted him. Not for a moment.

He began to rise, his legs lifting off the floor as the air began moving beneath him in a slow, controlled column.

Then his eyes dropped to Akira’s sword, which was still in her hand. He stared at it for a few seconds, then he looked at her.

"I won’t ask where you got that from," he said. "That is your business. But I will tell you this. You may keep it with you within the city. For only three months."

His voice was even. "Before that time is up, you will either send it elsewhere or leave with it. Those are your options."

Akira met his gaze without flinching. "Understood."

He nodded once, and then he was gone. He streaked through the sky, faster than their eyes could follow, disappearing over the city walls in an instant.

The three of them stood there and said nothing for a moment.

Then Lukas exhaled slowly. "That was too close."

He turned to Melody. "Thank you. If we’d done the summoning in the hotel, this meeting would have definitely ended wrongly."

"Don’t mention it." She held up a hand, but the satisfied smile on her face said she was absolutely going to mention it. "I’m just glad I said something when I did."

"Me too," he said. "Genuinely."

Akira looked between them with an amused expression. "So that’s the strongest person around here?" She tilted her head. "He’s a bit weak, isn’t he?"

Melody nodded without hesitation. "A bit, yes."

Lukas turned to them both, his jaw hanging open at the cavalier attitude. "That man just held us flat on the ground with his aura alone."

"My father’s an Adept," Melody said, "and his aura was considerably stronger than that."

"I’ve met a few Adepts in my time," Akira agreed. "That one was on the lower end."

Lukas opened his mouth. Then closed it a few seconds later. What was he to say to that?

He stood there for a moment, processing the reminder that Havenhart, for all it had shown him, was a small corner of something much, much larger.

The City Lord who had just pressed three capable fighters to their knees was apparently unremarkable by the standards of the wider world.

He filed that away and moved on.

His eyes dropped to the sword Akira was holding. "Speaking of which, what was that about? The City Lord specifically mentioned your sword. What’s so important about it?"

Akira glanced down at it, then back up at him with a grin. "Because it’s an [Item]. A fairly powerful one."

"How powerful?"

"Powerful enough to kill him, if used correctly."

Lukas looked at the sword properly for the first time since she’d drawn it. The bluish metal of the blade caught the light of the moon, and as was expected when one stared too long at [Items], its information automatically appeared in his vision.

[Temptation]

[Rank: Adept]

His eyes went wide.