Chapter 166: Deal

"The royal family, huh." Kaelen mused to himself.

They had to be the most interesting and amusing family in the universal patriarchy.

From the looks of it, they were the most powerful but had been neutral forever, letting the big families settle disputes and handle universal affairs, until suddenly they were up and active again with a rule that disregarded other big families.

For some reason, Kaelen felt everything that was happening revolved around one person. Emir.

A last-minute change to the rules of the Grand Tournament that had spanned for 20 millennia, except this time Emir was involved after pulling a universal stunt and disappearing for ages.

The Herald rules specifically felt like it was targeted because there was no reason to involve the Heralds in games unless there was an unwanted guest.

It almost felt like the royal family were panicking after hearing Emir was back. But why was that?

It didn’t make any sense that the so-called Creator, who had crippled her the last time, was scared of a comeback when she could simply do it again if Emir caused any more trouble.

It was almost like they wanted to collapse the Tower and bury it with everyone inside, and the thought of it inexplicably brought a smile to Kaelen’s face.

Seeing the big families turn against each other, and the royal family or the so-called Creator act rashly in a traditional tournament made him see Emir in a new light.

What really happened ten thousand years ago?

If Emir was powerful enough to cause so much stir and unease amongst the big families, then Kaelen definitely made the right choice convincing her to keep her life.

Though that wasn’t entirely certain and too early to say, but he’d have to make sure of that now.

Then again, if the so-called Creator was doing all this to see an end to Emir, why then would she offer the reward of a wish come true for whichever party makes it to the top?

That contradicted the purpose of all of it.

He was certainly going to get to the bottom of this, but first he had to ensure not just his survival but the survival of his now trump card—Emir.

He didn’t just need her kingdom if he wanted to put an end to all this madness. He needed her, because from the looks of it, there might be something more about the story that made only Emir matter.

But one thing was for certain now. With the current state of the big families, Akkad should be the last thing on their plates, and he could focus on his survival here knowing his mother would be safe.

"Mr. Kaelen, you look more than satisfied with my answers. Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts with us?" Kelsey asked as she leaned into the screen.

"No, thank you." Kaelen replied calmly. "But I have another question."

Kelsey was silent for a moment as she stared at him. "I’m all ears."

"Are there any restrictions to the range of abilities or ’things’ we can use inside the Tower?" He asked sharply.

He had trusted Felix blindly and suppressed the majority of his abilities, but so far nothing had been mentioned on that. He needed that to be clarified in case she forgot once more.

Kelsey’s lips slowly curled up into a smirk. "I see... I’m starting to like you, Kaelen. You’re smart and evil, just like me. You already handled your ability by taking a Suppression pill beforehand, but because nothing has been mentioned about that, you decided to remind me so I can nerf everyone as well to avoid leaving only you handicapped. I like that. So let’s do just that," she said with a grin, and at the same time, a notification flashed before everyone’s vision.

[Tap the wheel of fortune to decide to choose your first ability for the next ten floors.]

In Kaelen’s vision, there was only a single ability that made up the entire wheel, so that no matter how it was spun, it would only end up on the SSS-rank Infinite Mana Talent.

"Attention, everyone. For this millennia-long tournament, every candidate must use only one ability randomly selected by the Tower for the next ten floors. After ten floors, another random selection will be made with the rest of your locked abilities to unlock a second ability you can use with the first for the next ten floors as well. The same will go on all the way to the last ten floors, where a tenth ability would be randomly selected in preparation for clearing the Tower, assuming you make it that far. Thanks to Kaelen Cross for reminding me. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve probably forgotten and you’d be free to use all your abilities. Let’s give him a round of applause for being a good candidate," Kelsey said with a sneer and began clapping her hands.

No one dared to disobey and began clapping with her as their hardened gazes filled with hate fell on him.

Kaelen wanted to cuss her out but remained silent. The host had just used his question to turn everyone against him, but she wasn’t exactly far from the truth.

"And for the ’thing’ you mentioned, which I believe is the Transcendant Dragon you brought along, the Tower shall recognize her as a candidate as well, and she’ll be randomly assigned to one of the Heralds because she is not a companion beast and is an independent individual who simply chose to be with you."

Lysandra, who had been silent ever since, frowned and exchanged glances with him.

"Master Kaelen,"

"It’s okay. I’ll see you on the 9th floor and recruit you into my party. All you have to do is survive, okay?"

She didn’t like one bit of the plan but nodded anyway. There was no better way to go about it than that.

Kelsey looked impressed watching his interaction with Lysandra.

"I hope I’ve satisfied all your concerns, Mr. Kaelen. Now—"

"I have another question."

"Oh, c’mon! We don’t have all day, human. One more word from you and I’ll mute you for the rest of the tournament."

"I think you’re forgetting something else."

Kelsey glared coldly at him. "You think I forgot something, huh? How about we do this then? If you tell me what’s on your mind, and it isn’t something I actually forgot to mention, I’ll kill you on the spot."

Kaelen paused to glance upwards at the Heralds, all looking down on him now with varying expressions from the recent turn of events.

He focused on one dressed with purple highlights. There was no way to tell which one was her, but from the start, he could feel that Herald’s gaze on him, which gave him reason to believe that she was the one.

It wasn’t against the rules to recognize a Herald, so when Kelsey followed his gaze, she could only frown deeply.

"I don’t think I want to play that game with you unless the rules don’t involve me dying under such circumstances," he said as he shifted his gaze back to Kelsey.

Kelsey stared at him for a long moment as the candidates held their breaths on his behalf, before she snorted and tilted her head in cold disbelief.

"Fine," she declared with an icy tone. "If you’re wrong, I’ll strip you of your weapon and all your clothing. You’ll enter the first floor but naked with nothing to protect yourself with."

That was a dangerous gamble, but it helped Kaelen confirm one thing.

Without Kelsey realizing it, he had just used her to confirm the purple Herald was Emir, and used Emir to indirectly threaten Kelsey to go back on her words.

From the looks of it, Emir was still feared by all, even within the Tower where they had absolute dominion.

If only Kelsey knew he and Emir weren’t that close to trigger her to crash out if she tried to kill Kaelen under such circumstances.

"What’s in it for me?" He asked.

"What?" Kelsey blurted.

"If I’m wrong, I’ll go naked and die on the first floor. What if I’m right? Don’t you think it’ll be fair to at least give me something?" He asked sharply.

Kelsey chuckled softly. "I can’t even bring myself to hate you right now. You’re interesting. You remind me of my past." She said as her lips curled up in an amused smile. "Deal."

"If you’re right, I’ll give you one of my eyes," she said with a cynical grin.

"What? What am I supposed to do with your eye?" He asked with a frown.

"Don’t get me wrong. I won’t be plucking out my real eye to give to you, but I’ll be giving you one of my prosthetic eyes, which comes with a unique ability that can greatly assist you in the Tower."

Kaelen deliberated for a moment. "Deal."

"So tell me, what rule do you think I forgot to mention to the candidates?" She asked with a sly smile.

Kaelen didn’t hesitate to reply. "Our System Panels."

"Huh?"

"You mentioned we can recruit star players from other parties on the ninth floor, but if we’re all isolated in our lobbies and clear floors with our parties alone, how then do we recognize star players from other parties to recruit into ours if we can’t watch their livestreams through our System? Unless there’s some sort of Tower rankings which list the best lobbies and individual candidates’ strength based on achievements. You also mentioned we can make purchases on the 9th floor with Evolution Points, then again, with our system locked, how then do we make transactions with Evolution Points, and how do we earn them and track our growth if we have no System Panels?

"I don’t think you forgot to unlock our old system, but I believe we’re to be given updated ones which should also have an Inbox where we can scout potential recruits beforehand. In simple terms, I think you’re forgetting to give us our updated system before we’re thrown into the first floor."

Everyone froze, and Kelsey stared at him for a long moment, before she exhaled softly as her lips curled up in a smirk.

"You fucker."