Chapter 283: The VIP Card.

Meanwhile, after disappearing from the Tower floor, Kael returned directly to his Start Room.

The moment his feet touched the familiar floor, he didn’t bother looking around or even taking a moment to catch his breath. His attention was already fixed on the item he had been waiting to examine. With barely concealed excitement, Kael reached into his Inventory and pulled out the card Miko had given him.

The moment the card appeared in his hand, a huge smile spread across his face. He turned it over slightly, examining the strange card with an expression that made it obvious just how pleased he was with himself.

Then Kael’s smile suddenly froze.

"Come to think of it, I didn’t ask her how to use this."

His expression slowly darkened as he stared at the card resting between his fingers. The excitement that had filled his face moments earlier disappeared almost completely as the reality of his mistake sank in. Everything had happened too quickly. He had been focused on the conversation, the deal, and everything surrounding Miko that he hadn’t even thought to ask the most basic question.

How exactly was he supposed to use the damn thing?

Kael stared at the card for several seconds before letting out a quiet sigh. He had already left the Tower floor, and there was no way he could simply return to Miko and ask her now. What a pain. He had finally obtained something useful, only to realize that he had neglected to ask the person who gave it to him how it actually worked.

Just as Kael was about to inspect the card more carefully, a familiar voice suddenly came from somewhere beside him.

"This..."

Kael immediately turned toward the source of the voice.

Not far from him, Aiona floated in mid-air, her tiny fairy wings flapping steadily as they kept her suspended above the ground. Her usually composed little face was frozen in a rare expression of shock, her eyes completely fixed on the card in Kael’s hand.

Kael raised an eyebrow.

He lifted the card slightly higher, almost as though he wanted to make absolutely certain that Aiona wasn’t staring at something else.

"Do you recognize this card?"

"Of course I recognize it."

Aiona’s answer came almost immediately, but there was something strange about her voice. Kael noticed it at once. There was surprise there, but there was also something else. Her expression had changed the moment she saw the card, and the tiny fairy’s eyes narrowed slightly as she continued staring at it.

"When did you get that bastard’s..." Aiona suddenly paused, her expression becoming awkward for the briefest moment. "Sorry. I mean, that merchant’s VIP card?"

Kael’s eyebrows rose slightly.

He hadn’t missed the hatred that had slipped into her voice when she said bastard.

So he really was that much of a prick.

Kael couldn’t help but think back to his own encounter with that merchant in his previous life. At the time, he had assumed his terrible experience with the man had simply been a matter of bad luck. Yet judging from Aiona’s reaction, it seemed his experience was far from unique.

Apparently, that merchant had managed to piss off more people than just him.

Kael shook the thought away. It didn’t particularly matter at the moment.

"Anyways, I received it from a Tower Admin. I made a deal with them."

Aiona’s entire body went still.

Her wings continued flapping, but for several seconds, the rest of her seemed to have forgotten how to move. Her tiny mouth slowly fell open as she stared at Kael.

"You just said a Tower Admin, right?"

Kael nodded.

"I did."

The shock on Aiona’s face only intensified.

"A Tower Admin?"

"Yes."

"You actually met a Tower Admin?"

"Yes."

"And you made a deal with one?"

Kael looked at her strangely.

"That’s what I just said."

Aiona stared at him as though he’d just announced he’d gone out for a walk with a god.

The Tower had its own strict hierarchy, one determined largely by the amount of authority an individual held within it.

At the very bottom sat the Tower’s ordinary workers, responsible for countless mundane tasks throughout the enormous structure. Personal Tower Assistants like Aiona technically belonged to this category too, though they held a somewhat different position, assigned directly to challengers. Even so, their authority remained extremely limited compared to those higher up within the Tower.

There were several other groups above them, each possessing greater authority and influence.

But standing at the very peak of that hierarchy were the Tower Admins.

They were powerful, mysterious figures who held authority far beyond anything an ordinary person could hope to understand.

Rumors about them had existed for as long as Aiona could remember. Some claimed their strength rivaled that of gods. Others believed they were beings who’d long since surpassed the limitations placed on ordinary lifeforms.

Aiona herself had existed within the Tower for centuries, yet she had only encountered a handful of Tower Admins during all that time.

And even those brief encounters had been enough to leave a lasting impression on her.

The terrifying pressure radiating from their bodies alone had been enough to make her understand the enormous difference between herself and them. She had never once imagined being able to properly interact with one, much less speak with one under normal circumstances.

Yet Kael had not only met one.

He had made a deal with one.

Aiona stared at the young man in front of her, her mind struggling to process the absurdity of what she had just heard.

Even though she had already understood that Kael was someone special, wasn’t this a little too ridiculous?

He had awakened only a few months ago.

He had only properly begun climbing the Tower a short while ago.

And yet, while most challengers would spend years just struggling through the Tower’s basic trials, this man had somehow already crossed paths with an Admin, one of the highest authorities within the Tower, and walked away carrying a VIP card.

Aiona’s tiny wings continued beating as she stared at him in disbelief.

Just what kind of monster had she ended up becoming the assistant to?

Kael, completely unaware of the thoughts running through Aiona’s mind, glanced at her before remembering something else.

"Anyways, how did you not know?"

Aiona blinked.

"What?"

"I mean the trial. I thought you could watch what was happening inside."

Kael lowered the card slightly as he continued speaking.

"Every time I return to the Start Room after completing a Tower Trial, you’re already here waiting for me. And you always seem to know exactly what happened during the trial. You know whether I won, whether I performed well, and even seem to understand how things went. I assumed you had some way of watching it."

Aiona stared at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"Of course not. As long as you don’t summon me into the trial, I can’t actually watch what’s happening inside."

Kael’s eyebrows lifted.

"Then how do you know what happens?"

Aiona crossed her tiny arms over her chest, her expression settling back into its usual confidence.

"Just because I can’t view it doesn’t mean I have no way of knowing how you’re doing. I’m your Tower Assistant. The Tower automatically transmits information about your trial to me, how it’s progressing, whether you’re winning or losing, how well you’re performing, things like that."