Antagonist Protection Service

Illusory Aegis was a Skill I had my eye on for a while.

It wasn't something I had thought much about until I acquired Mana Corruption since it required magic energy to use, but now that I did have that, I considered it more carefully.

As the name implied, it was a defensive ability, one that would supposedly summon a shield of magic energy to protect me, the strength of the shield scaling with my own magic energy and I suppose the Skill's level.

Best of all, it was cheap at only 1,450 World Stability to purchase.

On the other hand, I was also considering levelling up Sneak.

Lockpicking was something I, frankly, didn't much care for, but Sneak was useful.

I did have the Draconic Shadow, but as was evident with the Black Fang last time, there was still a possibility that people could find me.

In hindsight, I realised the way they found me was through magic detection. Joádin also said that was how he found me―by sensing the Imperial City for unique magic energy signals.

To be matter-of-fact about it, my Presence Concealment was top-tier, but my Magic Concealment was only about 'okay'.

It wasn't a worry before because I literally had no magic energy to be detected, but now that I did possess it, and quite a lot of it at that, I should seek to get that covered.

Otherwise, I feel like trying to be stealthy in general would be practically useless, especially if there was a mage nearby.

These were the two Skills I wanted, but now I had to think about how to go about assigning level ups. With a balance of 3,900 World Stability, I suppose the first thing would be to purchase the Skill I didn't possess yet.

Skill purchased

[Illusory Aegis] added to Status

Now, that left me with 2,450... Wait.

"I can only level them up twice... Nevermind then, just give each of them an extra level."

Like that, I was left with a pittance of 450 World Stability, and both Skills were levelled up a single time.

Skill - [Illusory Aegis] (Level 2) (Active)

By the will of the Spirit of the Illusory Library, you have been given permission to borrow a technique of the Antagonist Protection Service designed to save lives.

Using this technique, may you protect many more Antagonists to come.

The Aegis has grown to protect many at little cost. However, as you are yet inexperienced, the protection granted is still lacking.

(Summons an Illusory Aegis)

Level 1 - You can use your magic energy to summon an Illusory Aegis.

Level 2 - The magical efficiency of the Aegis is drastically increased.

Level Up Cost : 1,000

Skill - [Sneak] (Level 3) (Passive)

That which lets you embrace the still quiet, making laying low a breeze as your very form blends into its surroundings completely.

Every movement of your body, every action you take, seems to be done with such finesse that people think you of a ghost skulking around.

You have grown proficient enough to disguise even the presence of your spirit.

(Makes staying undetected easier)

Level 1 - Your noise is reduced when sneaking.

Level 2 - Your presence is harder to detect when sneaking.

Level 3 - Your magic and spiritual energy is harder to detect when sneaking.

Level Up Cost : 1,000

Both Skills could still be levelled up further, but this would have to do for now.

I wasn't sure if there was a real difference between magic energy and the 'spiritual' energy the Skill description mentioned, but maybe it was something like the spirit of the Ancient Hero in the Holy Sword rather than a force of power.

In any case, now that that was out of the way, I could focus on what was next on the list.

Summoning my smartphone, I wasted no time in searching John Pierce's name.

The first thing I would have to do is sort that guy out.

I let him climb freely for too long, and with the risk of something like that Apocalypse Illusory World's time warp happening again, I couldn't afford any similar mistakes.

Thanks to Lucretia and the others in Drakon-Rasa, I had grown plenty strong enough to take on the rest of the Tower.

Rather than taking on more unrelated Contracts, I needed to ensure that Earth was stable enough for me to leave without concern.

Especially considering the likelihood of me being gone for even longer periods of time as the Difficulty continues to ramp up into 4- and even 5-star territory.

"How far has he gotten... The thirties?"

Subconsciously, my brows furrowed.

Prior to revisiting Drakon-Rasa, he had already climbed to Floor 26 or so. Naturally, now that almost two months had passed since then, he was already above Floor 30...

I really couldn't afford to take my time.

"Hm... It says the Thirtieth Floor was discovered to be a Hub just like the First Floor..."

There seemed to be some information circulating about the various floors that he and other Challengers who climbed to similar heights had released, but I didn't exactly have the luxury to sit down and study them.

'It doesn't matter anyway. I'll just go and clear them fast, there's no need to care much about what Objectives they all have.'

I would find out when I got there either way, and besides, I felt like my current strength was more than adequate to shoot through the lower Floors without an issue.

However, there was one piece of information I glimpsed that did surprise me―something I thought actually had the chance of becoming a matter of concern.

That is, that Floors beyond the Tenth were not isolated instances.

In other words, it was very possible and even likely that you could encounter fellow Challengers aiming to clear the same Floor.

'It could be dangerous, but it's not worth fretting over.'

Ultimately, the chances of running into someone who could contest me were unimaginably low.

"Haa, alright... Librarian! We still have the Contract, right?"

Collecting my breath to clear my mind, I called out to the Librarian, jumping up onto her stool with her usual radiance.

"We certainly do! Have a looksie!"

Weaving a white scroll from thin air, a familiar screen appeared.

Contract Details

[The Path To Freedom]

Live Action

Protagonist: John Charleston Pierce | Chosen One

Tags: #Fantasy #Action #Adventure #MaleProtagonist #BraveProtagonist #ConfidentProtagonist #Tower #ModernDay #WeakToStrong

Difficulty: ★★★★☆

The Contract Details were the same as before, thankfully, including the Difficulty.

I already knew that John Pierce could only have grown stronger through clearing the Tower, so I wasn't sure if the unchanged Difficulty was a result of his growth matching my own, or if it was more to do with the widened gap in the amount of Floors separating us.

Either way, and despite it being my first 4-star Contract, I could only continue from where I left off.

"Send me over."

Casting a glance towards the Librarian, she swiftly nodded and whooshed her hands again.

"Good luck, Enki! Transporting~!"

Closing my eyes at her voice, the world distorted around me once again.