This Quest Is Hard!

Chaos City, the Bounty Tower.

It was the same cool, beautiful woman.

An Kai handed her the ten Desert Crocodile heads he had taken out beforehand.

Since they were perfectly preserved, he even earned a word of praise from the cool beauty.

An Kai showed no reaction.

If that woman thought a single compliment would make him eternally grateful, she was dreaming...

While the cool beauty prepared his bounty, An Kai stole several long looks at her.

He feasted his eyes to his heart's content.

Before long, An Kai left the Bounty Tower with Hanks, carrying ten gold coins.

Before heading to the Mage Tower, An Kai first followed Hanks to a shop selling grain and meat.

He spent five gold coins and filled his Storage Ring.

Outside the desert, the things he bought might have cost only a few silver coins.

But in the desert, that was the going rate.

In fact, the prices here were downright fair...

An Kai had already made his plans. Once he left the Mage Tower, he would return to his home in Oasis and go into seclusion.

He would only emerge after he had used up his resources.

With an unlimited lifespan, he needed to hurry and raise his strength to match it.

Otherwise, spending every day on edge would hardly make for a comfortable life.

"Why not wait a little? Or rest for a day?"

Seeing An Kai's impatience, Hanks couldn't help trying to coax him...

"What rest? You're getting on in years. Who knows when you'll drop dead? You don't have that much time to wait." An Kai answered bluntly, without the slightest hesitation.

His words left Hanks speechless again.

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

He couldn't help swearing inwardly, Once you come out of the Mage Tower, I'll settle the score with you!

Hanks knew An Kai was finding fault with everything he did to get back at him for concealing the truth about Oasis.

Clearly, An Kai still had a child's temperament...

With that thought, Hanks suddenly let it go.

Why am I getting worked up over a child?

Once he had sorted out his thoughts, Hanks put on a warm smile again and led An Kai toward the Mage Tower...

The two left Chaos City and headed north.

Traveling with frequent stops, they took three days.

An enormous lake abruptly appeared before An Kai!

The lake covered roughly a dozen hectares.

"We're here."

Hanks pointed at the lake. "The Mage Tower is beneath it. This used to be desert. I suspect leaking energy from the Mage Tower created this lake."

"For the past ten years, torrential rain fell over this area every day."

"After ten years, it formed this lake, and the Mage Tower is right in the middle."

"By the way, can you swim?"

An Kai could swim.

But he knew that old fellow Hanks must have come thoroughly prepared.

He shook his head and answered with an honest expression, "No!"

Hanks glanced at An Kai. He knew the brat definitely could.

But there was nothing he could do. He was the one asking An Kai for a favor.

He fumbled around inside his clothes and pulled out a dark brown pearl...

[Water-Breathing Pearl: Lv0]

[Quality: none]

[Requirements: none]

[Note: an ordinary pearl that allows you to breathe freely underwater for one hour.]

An Kai snatched it without ceremony.

Then he headed toward the lake without looking back...

With a splash, he plunged headfirst into the lake.

An Kai's thinking was simple: finish sooner, start his seclusion sooner...

Watching An Kai disappear into the lake, Hanks let out a long breath.

He simply sat down where he was to wait.

As long as he obtained the letter, Hanks would receive a reward worth no less than the resources inside the Mage Tower.

There was also another reward, one that no amount of money could buy!

Otherwise, why would he have been so generous...

Not a single living creature inhabited the vast lake.

Despite the clear blue surface, the water below was incredibly dark.

Fortunately, with the [Water-Breathing Pearl], An Kai found the Mage Tower rooted at the bottom of the lake after a little over ten minutes!

The Mage Tower had three floors, with faint magical fluctuations across its surface. It was dark brown throughout, almost the same color as the Water-Breathing Pearl in his hand.

In the darkness at the bottom of the lake, An Kai could easily have missed it if he hadn't sensed those faint magical fluctuations...

He quickly swam to the entrance on the first floor of the Mage Tower, probed it with his senses, and tested it several times.

After confirming there was no danger, An Kai darted forward and stepped into the Mage Tower!

The instant he entered, the lake churned violently!

In mere moments, the lake spanning a dozen hectares vanished!

The Mage Tower disappeared underground along with it...

Lying in the desert to rest, Hanks felt a tremor.

He hurried to his feet and watched helplessly as the lake and the Mage Tower vanished...

"What the fuck is going on?!"

Hanks stared at the empty desert, shock written all over his face...

Passing into the Mage Tower felt like passing through a curtain of water.

Inside, the first floor was as bright as daylight!

The first floor was small, only a little over a hundred square meters.

But it was packed with books and dried-out glass bottles...

[Abandoned Mage Tower: Lv22]

[Quality: supreme]

[Requirements: Intelligence 500/Mage Tower successor]

[Note: once the Abandoned Mage Tower has been activated, the only ways to leave are to inherit it or wait ten years for it to open automatically.]

[Abandoned Mage Tower inheritance quest 1: unlocks at Intelligence 40.]

[Quest hint: completion grants one opportunity to leave the Mage Tower.]

The system notifications appearing before An Kai one after another made him pause. The system was displaying the Mage Tower's requirements in concrete terms.

After taking several deep breaths, An Kai felt that his gamble in coming here had paid off!

A supreme-quality Mage Tower-this was the highest quality An Kai had ever seen.

His [Meditation Staff] was high-grade. Above that came premium quality, and only then supreme quality!

Supreme-quality items all had one thing in common: they glowed!

This Mage Tower was dark brown, and so was the light it emitted. That explained why the lake's surface was blue while the water beneath was shrouded in darkness.

An Kai still remembered how the God of Magic's Staff had shone with dazzling light in the game he played in his previous life!

It had been so bright that the players couldn't open their eyes.

Even the God of Magic's equipment was like that. An Kai suspected that items didn't glow merely to show that they were supreme quality.

There was very likely another reason!

He would only understand it once he owned the Mage Tower.

The first trial quest required 40 Intelligence to unlock.

At that moment, An Kai was incredibly grateful that he had stocked up on supplies beforehand, keeping him from starving to death here...

Then he looked around the first floor and found a soft rug.

He settled onto the rug, sat cross-legged, and began Meditation.

One hundred days later.

An Kai ended his Meditation.

[Attribute points +1]

Without hesitation, he added it to his Intelligence.

[Intelligence +1]

[Intelligence: 40]

[Abandoned Mage Tower inheritance quest 1: within one year, raise Intelligence, Endurance, Stamina, and Strength to 50 points!

Hint: this quest is hard! But don't give up! As a mage, your frail body is your weakness!]