Xingxi blinked.

I guess he couldn’t speak well for now. Though I’m sure he could understand me, if he can understand me, then he should be able to speak eventually. 

Now that he stood up, I could tell he was slightly shorter than I was. 

“Can you fight well?” I asked, Xingxi nodded. 

It’s like I had another Shuwei in my hands.

I rubbed his head, “That’s good then.” At least I could have someone fight for me in the Tower. That problem is solved. Now I just need to challenge the Tower for the horns of the horned rabbits. “But, first, I think we should get you some proper clothing.” Xingxi was only wearing a simple white cloak to cover him.

Exiting the Hearth of Hestia, I found myself back in the alleyway. The twins haven’t jumped out at me yet, so I think I lost them. Xingxi followed me out, holding my hand like a lost child, his other hand was holding his cloak to cover him. “Stay here,” I pat him on the head again, “I’ll get you something proper to wear.” He let go of my hand easily. 

I left the alleyway and popped into a nearby clothing store. I purchased a simple t-shirt, black pants and a jacket, and I couldn’t have Xingxi going commando too, so I purchased underwear as well. Buying clothing was still so damn expensive. “Have you seen the large tower that appeared out of nowhere?” The girl working at the register asked, “Yeah,” I replied, “I don’t think anyone couldn’t have known about it.” “Mhm, that is true. If I weren’t working at this register I’d be looking at it too.” She placed the clothes I bought in a bag. I paid her accordingly and left the store. 

Something about her seemed familiar.

I shrugged it off and returned to the alleyway, Xingxi was standing right where I told him to stay. 

How cute and obedient.

“Xingxi.” I called out, catching his attention. He was about to walk towards me when he hesitated and stepped back in place. 

A little too obedient.

“It’s okay, let’s get you dressed.”

It felt like I was taking care of a smaller Shuwei.

A little bit of struggling later, Xingxi was properly covered in the clothes I bought for him. “Mhm, that’s much better.” Xingxi grabbed my hand again as we walked to the Tower. If my memory serves me correctly, a Player will open the doors to the Tower and send every single Player to the first floor.

The place where I lost my confidence in challenging the Tower overall.

[A Player has unlocked the first floor of the Tower.]

[Sending all players into the first floor of the Tower…]

A transport circle shot out from underneath me, almost blinding me. Xingxi held tighter onto my hand.

I blinked, and instead of the city square with crowds of people surrounding the Tower, I was now in a lush valley of green grass. A few players had ‘spawned’ beside me. 

[Players, welcome to the First Floor - Valley of Horned Rabbits.]

[This valley is filled with many horned rabbits, cute, fluffy, and very deadly. They’re hunted for their excellent horns and soft fluffy fur. But this valley doesn’t consist of only horned rabbits. Challenge and complete the quests to enter the next floor!]

[New Quest Assigned - Kill 100 horned rabbits OR Obtain 100 Horn Fragments!]

[Rewards - Access to the Second Floor, Treasure Box x1]

[Note: Those who complete the quest quickly will receive extra rewards!]

[PvP is enabled in this zone.]

That’s right.

Player vs. Player.

This floor was a cruel one, Players were no longer bound by law in the Tower. There was no tutorial, there was no guide. We were simply thrown straight into the first floor. Because of that, I was heavily mistreated here on the first floor. But now I have Xingxi, and my Alchemist class. Even if I still had my original C-rank Blessing, I could fight back now. 

While I was thinking, a horned rabbit took the opportunity to impale me with it’s horn. Those things were fast, but Xingxi was much faster. He took it out in one kick. Turning back to me, his lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something. “It’s alright Xingxi.” I rubbed his head, “You don’t have to force yourself to talk to me. That said, you’re very impressive.” The corpse of the horned rabbit was actually still intact. I could remove its horn with ease.

[Horned Rabbit’s Horn - Material]

[A fully intact horn from a horned rabbit. It’s fragments are perfect catalysts for basic potions. Can also be used or made into a weapon.]

I gave the horn to Xingxi to use as a weapon.

It seems like being an Alchemist made the rabbits hold a personal grudge for me, seeing as Xingxi killed 5 more rabbits in the span of 3 minutes. Or maybe I was just an easy target. 

O’ great Tower, can I take a look at the leaderboard?

[Tower Leaderboard]

[1st - ‘Seraphim’]

[2nd - ‘Shogun Infernal’]

[3rd - ‘Erstwhile King of Ice’]

[4th - ‘Rosy-Tinted Bard’]

[5th - ‘Stardust Champion’]

…

As expected, ‘Seraphim’, better known to me as Evgeni Sokolov, was in first place. A Slavic man who awakened an S-Rank Blessing, who ruled 1st place on the leaderboard until the twins apparently came along. When I lost my confidence in challenging the Tower, Evgeni ended up being one of my idols.

To say that I was one of his hardcore fans was…quite an understatement. That was a dark history I never want to bring up.

Taking my eyes off Evgeni’s Player Title, I looked at where my own Player Title sat on the rankings. 

I had secured 3rd place on the Leaderboard.

Not a bad placement, I wouldn’t draw complete attention, but I’d still get the special rewards for placing high on the leaderboard. But the other Players had stopped to stare at me while Xingxi fought off the rabbits. 

So much for not drawing attention, I wonder if the disguises employed by the Tower can still be employed.

Xingxi returned with multiple horned rabbit carcasses in tow, interrupting what may have been a sudden pop-up from the Tower. I think I’ve managed to notice the pattern whenever the Tower decides to suddenly jump into my head with a message. 

Xingxi gestured to the horns of the rabbits, and I understood his unspoken message as I got to work taking apart the rabbits.

The Horned Rabbit’s Meat sold for quite a lot in the beginning, and the fur of the horned rabbit quickly became popular clothing material. The horns and horn fragments were actually the least valuable in terms of modern society. If I could monopolise it, I’d definitely be able to support my family. Then the twins would no longer need to enter the Hellscape of the Tower to provide for the family. 

When I finished, I’d skinned and de-horned about 8 rabbits, the materials had gone into a subspace that acted as an inventory for all Players. Xingxi did not come back with any more horned rabbits, which meant that we’d either cleared out this area, or that the rabbits had fled after seeing how easily Xingxi took them down.

I'm willing to think that it was the latter.

Instead of killing 100 rabbits, Players could alternatively obtain 100 Horn Fragments. I took this route last time, virtually enslaving myself to people who could actually take on the rabbits. Mr. Second Placer, Shogun Infernal, awakened an A-rank Blessing and took on multiple underlings in the first floor. He mistreated and exploited many people like me with C-rank blessings and below.

If my memory serves me correctly, Shogun Infernal should be located near the forest by the West over there. Xingxi returned to me as I called out his name, looking dejected. “Xingxi? What’s wrong?” 

Ah, I forgot, Xingxi still hasn’t learned how to speak yet. 

“Is it because there’s no more rabbits left?” 

Xingxi looked at me with wide eyes, as if he were asking how I knew what he was thinking. I had experience in this matter, once you’ve learned how to read Shuwei’s expressionless face, you can pretty much read anybody. I laughed a little at how childlike he seemed. “Don’t be sad, you did well.” I pat him on the head. “We’ll move to a different place with...hopefully more rabbits, I want to be able to finish this quest.” Xingxi took my hand on his own accord once he heard we were going to move to a different location.

While we walked, I started to think about Xingxi.

A common goal for an Alchemist is the creation of life. But, of course, there is the rule of Equivalent Exchange, the rule that limits Alchemy’s infinite potential, something cannot come from nothing, and in order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost. Like an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth. For the Tower, even if it does follow the rule of Equivalent Exchange, creating a homunculus would be an easy feat.

I wanted to avoid heading West, so my first choice was going East.

But then I remembered Evgeni would be over there. True to his Player Title, Evgeni’s Blessing was basically Omniclairvoyance. He saw everything within a certain range, and his attention to detail is almost prodigious. Although being noticed by my former idol would probably be nice, I’d rather not attract his attention, it’s too much of a risk, especially with Xingxi around.

The North held a few rankers, and no way in Hell was I going to go there with Xingxi. 

So I decided to head South, thank goodness I was lucky enough to be teleported to what was somewhat the middle of the floor. 

The southern side held a massive lake and not many rabbit burrows, those were in the North, but that’s when you have zero experience within the Tower. Luckily, I’ve watched all types of ‘Tower Gameplay’ after my ‘sudden retirement’, so I knew where to look.

…Maybe I really did want to go back to challenge the Tower back then…

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I looked at my mission progress as Xingxi ran off to kill a few more rabbits.. 

[Quest Progress: 12/100 Horned Rabbits Killed.]

Xingxi killed 4 more on the way, so we did have to make a brief stop every now and then. Sigh, what a hassle. I sat down to take a break when Xingxi returned, looking dejected. He handed me a rabbit corpse, and then revealed the horn fragments in his other hand. “Did you break the weapon while killing this rabbit?”

Xingxi’s nod answered my question.

Ah, so innocent, like Shuixian.

Well, it wasn’t that bad, I was going to shatter the horns to create the fragments needed for a catalyst in my Alchemical experiments anyways, so Xingxi was doing me a favour.

“That’s okay, keep it safe for me. I’ll need it later.” Xingxi brightened up and was about to pocket the fragments in his clothes when something zipped right past us, kicking up dust. I shut my eyes to avoid getting dust in them and before I knew it, I heard Xingxi’s footsteps running off.

“Xingxi?” 

I called out Xingxi’s name when I could finally see again, and a few metres in front of me was Xingxi pinning down a silver-haired youth, who was kicking around and screaming. 

“Hey! Hey! Let me go! I’ll return the damn fragments!”

Huh, I recognise this voice.

“Ow, ouch! Please! You’re going to break my spine!”

Could it be…

“Hey! Hey, you’re this kid’s big brother, right!? Could you tell him to let me go? What the hell are you feeding him anyways!?”  

The ‘Fleet-Footed Envoy’, Mercury Mancini?