MTLNOVEL Chapter 252: Returnees
"I guess this is my only option. But do you really think they can help? My enemy is a rank S Awakened who's gone insane… That bastard is probably willing to do anything for revenge."
August didn't answer immediately — he hesitated. Daniel was right. Kaelos was in a state where he'd do absolutely anything to avenge his son.
In other words, a complete maniac, no different from a soulless killing machine. And there were very few people in the entire world who'd be willing to mess with someone like that.
Still, was there any other way? No. It didn't matter how powerful Daniel was right now — against a rank S, he was no different from a dead bug.
"There's no other path. The best move is to join a guild. And one more thing — don't try to hide your talents. The more gifted and valuable you appear, the more willing they'll be to help you."
"I understand." Daniel nodded. He really had no other choice but to ask for help right now.
Even with his abnormal growth speed, he doubted he could reach rank S in less than a year — and he didn't have that kind of time.
"Then I guess this is goodbye. I need to head to the capital as soon as possible."
"How do you even plan on getting to the capital right now? All flights are canceled until next week, and the land route is completely destroyed." August gave a crooked smile.
"If I have to, I'll fly the whole way myself." Daniel had no intention — or time — to waste.
"Reinforcements from the capital should be arriving soon. You could go with them."
"Oh? In that case, it might work." Daniel fell into thought — that would be both faster and safer.
Flying all the way himself would take a while, but with the Federation's advanced jets, it shouldn't take more than thirty minutes.
"When are they arriving?"
"Hmm... Now that things are safe, we'll have to call them and explain the situation. Still, they'll need to investigate the area, so maybe in about an hour?" August paused, then replied.
He contacted the Federation and explained the current situation. Just as he said, after learning that the threat had been neutralized, the officials said they would send a team for inspection in about an hour.
Until the Federation officially declared the situation safe, people weren't allowed to leave the shelters. That's why the city had to be thoroughly checked for safety.
After that, August and Daniel also left the underground shelter. The first thing August did was lead him to a place — more specifically, to a hidden room inside the Awakened Association building.
The room was technically on the third floor, but oddly enough, it felt completely separated… almost like it was in another dimension.
"Why are there so many hidden rooms here?"
"For security, of course." The head of the Association laughed, then placed his hand on a scanner to confirm his identity.
With a loud hiss, the massive metal doors opened — and the scene in front of Daniel changed entirely.
He saw a room filled with weapons and gear — all of them magical items from the Celestial Domain or the Tower.
"What is this place?" Daniel swallowed hard. He never imagined a place like this existed in the Awakened Association.
"A collection room. Since you're leaving the city and planning to go after a rank S, you should have some defensive equipment." August laughed heartily and pulled him inside.
Daniel looked around with awe — the place was huge and packed full of items and even various talismans.
"This is the equipment vault of the Awakened Association of Sentkis City. If a Black Alert is declared, this vault is opened, and the weapons are distributed to Awakened so they can defend the city."
"Black Alert? It doesn't look like it was opened because of the recent dimensional break… So what kind of situation are we talking about here?" Daniel asked with curiosity.
"Attacks from monsters ranked S and above — monsters that could realistically wipe out an entire city or even a whole country," August replied.
"Anyway… while I find what we need, tell me — why did you kill Kaelos's son?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story…"
Daniel then gave a brief explanation of what happened inside the first floor of the Tower.
He explained how Aron knocked him out and tried to kill him, and how he had to fight a rank B monster.
"My god… You were able to kill a rank B monster? Even if it was due to the item used by that boy, it's still a huge achievement." August looked at Daniel with even more awe.
"On top of that, you managed to clear a floor with Hell Difficulty… Actually, I think you were placed into Hell Difficulty because of your strength — that level is usually only assigned to Returnees."
"Returnees? I've heard the term a few times, but… who exactly are they?" Daniel asked.
"Well… they're basically climbers who've reached the higher floors of the Tower — at least the ninth floor. Once you reach the ninth floor, you get a chance to challenge the entire Tower all over again, but you lose all your power."
"Why would anyone do that?" Daniel frowned. He couldn't see any logical reason for something like that.
Besides, someone who reached the ninth floor would probably have a lot of enemies. Wouldn't they be afraid of being attacked after losing all their strength?
"It's to build a stronger foundation — to become much stronger within the same rank.
The ninth and tenth floors are far more terrifying than anything you can imagine.
If you haven't reached a certain level of pure combat power, you'll be killed the moment you enter those two floors. Their danger level is completely different from the rest of the Tower. That's why many decide to re-challenge the whole Tower — to gain more experience and grow stronger."
"In fact, the main reason they even want to redo the Tower is Hell Difficulty itself.
The content and rewards of each floor on Hell Difficulty are incredibly unique and valuable — that's what Returnees are after," August explained.
Daniel thought for a moment… The old man was right. The Hell Difficulty contents were indeed unique and valuable.
Even within just the second floor, he'd become much stronger and even managed to comprehend a new Supreme Law and acquire a free Supreme Source.
From that angle, it really made sense why someone would want to go through it again.
'So Hell Difficulty is actually a blessing.'
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"I found it… the item that might help you."