Chapter 189: [189] Help…

[Jenna has leveled up! Lvl 20 >> Lvl 25]

[Mountain has leveled up! Lvl 17 >> Lvl 22]

[Inquisitor has leveled up! Lvl 19 >> Lvl 24]

[Sumo has leveled up! Lvl 18 >> Lvl 23]

[Cleopatra has leveled up! Lvl 10 >> Lvl 15]

Ark smiled as he read through the notifications. "They moved up by five whole levels!"

It was the highest level-up they had ever experienced, meaning they benefited from the huge EXP the tower had given.

Even he had gotten a whopping three thousand EXP! Sure, this was a hell-level domain, but even still, Ark had not expected this much.

He had read on the forums that the best way to level up was by raiding towers and dungeons, but this was the first time he was experiencing it for himself.

Sadly, although he had gathered more than enough EXP, Ark could not level up. He had hit level twenty, meaning if he wished to go higher, he would have to complete an ascension tower or dungeon.

Ascension dungeons were deadly, and depending on the dungeon you walked into, there was a chance you would not come back alive.

When it came to ascension dungeons, it was either you ascended or you died. No in-betweens.

This was the reason it was possible to find very old players still at Silver, Iron, or even Bronze rank.

Ark could not blame them... A lot of players had families, some were fathers and mothers...

Why would they risk their lives trying to ascend when they already made enough to live comfortably?

They already risked their lives whenever there was a dungeon or tower break, and they also risked their lives during tower raids.

To them, taking on an ascension tower was foolish and irresponsible. But as for Ark, he planned on taking the Ascension Tower as quickly as he could. He would keep climbing up until he reached Mythril Rank, and whatever lay beyond.

He stared at the wasteland that had become the forest and sighed deeply. He really wanted to use the Dark Harvest on the goblin rider and the wyvern...

If not for his luck with the gacha and Astral Strike, which was difficult to use in many situations, he would not dream of beating a wyvern on that level.

Whatever skill they had was bound to be valuable. But Astral Strike had corrupted the land, and his health points were extremely low.

How would it feel to win only to end up dying to your own spell?

He let out an annoyed grunt as the exit gate appeared by his side, and then, sparing the place one more glance, he stepped right through it.

<•••>

Olivia was lying in Ark’s bedroom. While her body was on the bed, her head and part of her upper back hung at the side, upside down, staring at the floor.

"How long is he going to take?"

This was already the fourth day since Ark returned to the tutorial. She and Thalia had visited the guild house since then, trained at the Astral arena, and even gone shopping with guild money.

Yet, there was no sign of him...

’Did something happen?’ Olivia’s eyes glinted with worry as she bit the insides of her cheek.

She shook her head, her orange hair swaying underneath her.

No. Ark was strong. There was no way he would die in that kind of place... right?

"Ughh!" Olivia groaned and massaged her forehead. Thinking about it was torture. "When the hell are you coming back?!" She hissed.

Then a thought came to her, and she immediately sprang up to a sitting position. "What if... what if he is stuck in there for a month?!"

It was not wrong to assume the possibility. After all, they had stayed in the tower for three whole weeks!

Did that mean she would have to worry for that long?

Just before she could be overwhelmed by her thoughts, the air by the side of the room shimmered, and to her relief, Ark appeared, well, at least part of him did.

"Skelly?!" Olivia felt her heart rate pick up the moment she saw the state he was in.

His ribs were riddled with cracks, most of his right arm was gone, and he could not even stand upright. Just as he appeared, he crumpled down to the floor like a defective puppet.

"Argh, really?" Ark hissed. "I feel like I am going to die. Actually, am I not already dead?" He tussled and turned around on the floor. "I can’t even stand up..."

Olivia had already dashed towards him and fallen to her knees by his side. Her hands hovered over his body, unsure of what to do or where to start. Every damn thing looked broken!

"Are you alright? Your body... it is broken! Why didn’t you wear your armour? Are you dying? What happened?!" She blurted out all at once. Ark only managed to catch the last question.

"..."

He was silent for a few seconds, just before...

"Hehehehe..." Ark rumbled with laughter as he lay there looking like a corpse.

"I won," Ark replied simply before staring at her. "Heh? Olivia, are you crying?"

Her eyes had turned misty from worry, the teardrop was just at the edge, inches away from dropping.

Olivia’s feathers stood still. "C-crying?!"

She shot to her feet and wiped her eyes. "Why would I cry for a fool like you? You couldn’t even come back from a tower without looking like bonemeal!"

’Bone meal?’ Now that was beyond offensive, it was borderline racist.

Ark gave her a deadpan stare. "Sorry for asking... get out of my room."

Olivia’s eyes widened with shock. "What?! You’re asking me to leave?"

"Yes. Go."

She huffed, her cheeks swelling like balloons as she stormed out, shutting the door behind her.

"Tch." Ark made a clicking sound with his teeth as he tried to stand up. Nothing happened. "Heh?"

It turned out his body was far too damaged from the fight to even move.

"Thalia!" Ark called out. "Thaliaaaaaa!"

"Thalia is at the new guild house. She is not coming back anytime soon. Actually, she will not be coming back!" Olivia replied from the other side of the door.

"..."

"I see."

"..."

"Olivia..."

"... yes?"

"..."

"Can you help me up?"

"Oh, but how can I help you up when I was kicked out of your room?" she asked in a cocky tone.

Ark gritted his teeth. "I’m sorry."

"What? I didn’t think I heard you quite well."

"I said I’m sorry." Ark felt like dying.

"Huh? There is so much noise around that I can’t hear you."

"I said I’m sorry, damn it!"

Click!

The door swung open, and Olivia skipped in with a wide smile on her face as she squatted beside him and tapped his bald head.

"Good boy~"

Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But one day, Ark swore he would have his revenge...