Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1512: Root Town

Eden was a massive world, built at the base of the World’s Tree, Yggdrasil. Fenrir carried Arthur across the forest, and then threw several valleys, before they reached a large city called Root Town.

The giant wolf could not enter the town in its form, so it shrank to be small enough to sit on Arthur’s shoulders, looking like an adorable puppy. Arthur had no idea how this transformation worked, but it seemed to be an ability of the wolf to store its original body in a pocket dimension while casting an avatar.

Even from a distance, Root Town was swarming with climbers of the path. It seemed that the first trial of this world was reaching the town, and subsequent trials were surviving in this world for seven days.

At the beginning, the situation seemed simple: you enter a town, gain protection, and survive. However, the moment that Arthur walked through the open gates of Root Town, he received a message.

[Welcome to Root Town (Level 99)]

[You have entered the realm of a Sovereign.]

[The Sovereign of Root Town demands a thousand spirit coins per day.]

[Time left until tax collection: 23 hours, 59 minutes.]

Fenrir explained that governing bodies within the Sovereign Path were always controlled by powerful demi-gods who had chosen to remain within Yggdrasil. In order to keep the different functions of the city running, they enforced taxes on ascenders of the path.

Citizens of Root Town were also expected to pay taxes, but it was far less than what ascenders needed to pay. It forced ascenders to either rely on crafting or hunting.

Arthur understood that the real challenge was no longer finding a safe zone, but paying enough to remain in one. Fenrir also explained that nocturnal monsters were far more dangerous than those wandering in daylight.

"Gods usually bless ascenders within their temples. In fact, you could say that gods bless anyone for enough Spirit Coins unless they were someone who directly opposed their faith."

Fenrir spoke within his mind.

"How does that affect the real world?"

"Blessings are powerful, master. They are borrowed skills from Divine Beings. The user doesn’t actually obtain them, but simply uses their soul as a conduit to channel divine energy."

"It doesn’t seem like it would be a problem if a little boost is all it gives."

"For you, it’s indeed not that different, but... a vessel is different from a blessed one. A vessel can channel most of the divine powers that their deity holds. In fact, most vessels lost their will to the divine, except for a few."

Arthur understood that this might be the reason behind the gods’ scheme to lure humans to the path, but he still felt like there was something amiss.

If Arthur reached the tenth world, then he would become the Sovereign of Earth, according to the Spirits Sovereign. He could vanquish the gods and eliminate the vessels from his world then.

The street was filled with people, who were either haggling, fighting, or selling. Arthur saw that many of them were from Earth, and they avoided him like the plague.

His name had become quite notorious among those seeking to enter the Divine Trial. He was even seen as a tyrant who wished to hog all the power. People assumed he would attack them if they saw that they had entered the trial against his wishes, but Arthur didn’t actually care.

He would kill anyone who became a vessel to the gods.

His arrival to the city was mainly to wait for Oriole and Rae, but he also wanted to see what Eden had to offer. Fenrir said that it wanted him to learn the basic skills offered by the different guilds around him, because that would be faster than understanding them himself.

"This is the place, master," Fenrir pointed with a paw at an old building in the distance. "It’s called the Tutorial Guild, a mercy shown by the Path to those who had just ascended."

Arthur walked into the brick-layered building and found it packed with people. There were multiple lines in front of strange runic doors, and Arthur randomly chose one. Those waiting in front of him quickly joined other lines, letting Arthur reach his door in seconds.

"The power of infamy," he said with a chuckle as he walked through the door.

A subtle shift in space, and Arthur found himself inside an old workshop. He looked around until spotting what he assumed was the host, which his omniscient eyes confirmed.

[Lilianzorak, Three Stars Octoporous (Level 19)]

[Race: Octoporous]

[Class: Astral Guide]

[Stats:]

[Body: 25.]

[Mind: 31.]

[Insight: 36.]

[Spirit: 25]

[Abilities: Guiding Light (Level 15), Knowledge Imprint (Level 15), Fist of Fury (Level 14), Spatial Step (Level 12) ...]

Arthur saw that the list was endless again, filled with abilities that would shock his world. The levels, however, were higher than those of the astral creature that Arthur had seen in the skies of Eden, which was a surprise.

The creature looked like a humanoid octopus who had eight arms for tentacles and a face filled with mandibles. It was crafting something on the table, and raised its head once Arthur stepped into the room.

"A new victim of ambitions?" the creature asked, in a raspy voice as its mandibles moved. "Ah, no... a returned one."

"And you are?" Arthur asked as he turned off his omniscient eyes.

"My name is Lilianzorak," the octopus-man said. "I work as a guide for Root Town. Every now and then, a greenhorn steps through that door and I have to tell him about this world."

"Is Root Town the only one in Eden?" Arthur asked with a smile as he walked forward and looked around the shop. Strange trinkets lined the walls, and vials of potions that sang stood out to him.

"Hah, hardly," the octopus said. "Wait... how did you access this room? It should only be for Level 1 beings, but you are..."

Arthur felt an ability trying to see through him. It failed, and the man coughed strange liquid onto the table. He looked at the man and realized he was injured.

"Did you try to see through me?" Arthur asked.

"I... did... but," the octopus coughed in between words. "It’s like looking at the void. You have a terrifying skill."

"Many tried to find me before you, but failed," Arthur said while picking up a potion, and Fenrir sniffed at it before shaking its head. "Are you an alchemist?"

"I’m a creator," the man said.

"Oh, is that so?" Arthur asked with a chuckle as he raised his eyebrows. "Please explain more."

The man frowned, as its two dark eyes narrowed. Then, it explained that a creator was someone who harnessed the energy of the path to create things out of thin air. Of course, the creation process was long and arduous, but it allowed for infinite customization.

Arthur asked the man to demonstrate, which he did, albeit with great caution. Golden light gathered on the man’s hand, then dripped onto the table. The entire room began glowing.

The man uttered a few words, which Arthur realized were runes, or as his current system referred to them, Logos. A small creature began forming on the table. After a few minutes of great concentration, the process was over and Lilianzorak leaned on the table for support.

Arthur studied the small creature with interest and realized it was a slime. The octopus-man moved his hands, as if controlling the slime, which began cleaning the stains caused by the man’s earlier cough.

"As you can see, it can follow basic commands," the man explained as he rose, looking a shade paler. "This is something that you should have already encountered before arriving at this place..."

"Why do you presume that I came to this place before?" Arthur asked with confusion.

"Because your Level reads as six," the guide answered, with equal confusion. "How would you raise your level outside the Sovereign Path?"

"My stats are also sixes, and I assume that’s a part of the induction process?" Arthur asked with confusion. "Forget it. Just tell me what happens to our stats when we enter the Path."

"The Law happens," Lilianzorak answered. "It resets our levels, no matter what inferior system we were using, and reassigns our stats. Our bodies remain as before, but our levels — a measure of our suitability to become Sovereigns — remain the same."

"Our levels are measures for sovereignty?"

"Precisely," he affirmed with a nod. "In essence, your level has to surpass the level of the world you are in to become its Sovereign. If you become a Level 100 and your world is Level 99, you naturally become its Sovereign."

Arthur realized that Earth must be a Level 9 world, which explained why he needed to become a Level 10 to become its Sovereign.

"Is the world level some sort of limit too?" Arthur asked.

"You ask about your own world more than you ask about the path," the octopus-guide said with a sigh. "Yes, it does. You cannot surpass your world’s level by being within it. You have to ascend to a higher world, or the Path, to raise your level."

"Are the two different?"

"The Path is like the official road between worlds, and the Game of Worlds, as most call it, is a tree of cascading worlds and their sub-worlds. You can always travel to a higher world via some means, but the Path is the only way you can reach that world’s level before descending to it."

Arthur sat down, knowing that this session would take a while. The octopus-man in front of him looked like a treasure trove of information about the Path, and what Arthur’s next steps should be.