The next day, Zero woke feeling more energized than ever. After he took care of the three thieves, there were no more people trying to attack him.
Lilith was still sleeping on the side he was looking at. However, he was no longer worried as he had already found out the problem with Lilith being unconscious. Due to him absorbing Dark Energy from Lilith, she was suffering from a lack of mana. And for some reason, her body was no longer absorbing Dark Energy which led to her sleeping.
Lilith’s problem could be easily solved if he transferred Dark Energy into her body, but he refrained from doing so for fear of creating additional problems. He was only willing to try this in the Tower Of Obelisk where he would be alone with her.
After eating a hearty breakfast from the inn, Zero prepared to go to the Tower Of Obelisk. He decided to check for items in the town that might be useful in the Tower and along the way he encountered more people like yesterday’s thieves. It looks like Zero was an easy target in the eyes of the people of OutCast Town, though after beating a couple of them, it looks like they had given up.
Zero had everything already ready to go to the Tower Of Obelisk. He has 5 years’ worth of food in his spatial ring and many pieces of equipment that he might need in the Tower. In spite of this, he still looked at the artifacts in Outcast Town. This was his last time to see human civilization before entering the Tower Of Obelisk where he would only encounter monsters.
After looking around, Zero decided that it was time for him to depart. The Tower Of Obelisk was not very far from OutCast Town and Zero reached there in 30 minutes.
The Tower of Obelisk was a tall, imposing structure made of dark, ancient stones. It looms over the landscape, casting a long shadow over the surrounding area. Such an enormous infrastructure can be seen by anyone within a 10-kilometer radius.
Because of that, it was easy for Zero to navigate through the forest and reach the Tower Of Obelisk without any guide.
!!!
-SWISH!
However, just before coming out of the forest, Zero heard some voices from the entrance of the Tower and he instantly hid. He concealed his mana and presence and hid behind a tree, while also enhancing his hearing to listen to them.
“Guild Master looks like this time we would be able to surpass the Elementalist Guild”
“We had finally reached Floor 20 of Tower Of Obelisk and with the artifacts obtained, surpassing Elementalist Guild is nothing. We should instead focus on advancing to the Gold Rank Guild.”
The raiding team returning from the Tower Of Obelisk sounded happy and satisfied with their raid. It looks like they were able to fulfill their objective and get a great amount of treasure. Zero became less vigilant after listening to their conversation.
According to their conversation, Zero concluded that the returning team from Tower Of Obelisk was from a Silver-ranked guild. Only the Silver rank guild would have difficulty until floor 20. The fact that they are able to dominate floor 20 means that their average strength is around Rank-B.
If the group that Zero sensed was from a Gold-graded guild or higher, he would have been warier. Even with the use of Dark Energy, it would be impossible for Zero to run away from Rank-S and multiple Rank-A if they target him.
Zero didn’t hide his mana as before and expanded his mana to sense the strength of that group. As expected, they were a raiding team made up of Rank-C + and Rank-B explorers.
After the group had left the area, Zero came out of his hiding place and moved towards the entrance of the Tower Of Obelisk.
“So this is the Tower of Obelisk.”
Zero looked at the huge structure in awe. When he was little, he would often hear from his parents and Misha’s parents about how they went together to conquer this place. Ever since then, he was curious and wanted to come here after graduation to give it a try.
Zero looked at the Tower Of Obelisk both with excitement and fear. This was a place where a large number of people is needed to survive and Zero wanted to attempt alone. To say it was difficult was an understatement.
This place was filled with not only monsters but also deadly traps. One misstep could spell your doom.
“Let’s see how challenging the Tower Of Obelisk really is.”
However, Zero was confident that as long as he was vigilant enough, he could manage to achieve his objective. Within the novel, there was some important information about each floor and he could use that information to survive in the Tower and obtain great treasures.
Zero turned around to look at where his home was. It would probably be a very long time before he could see his family again.
While he had informed his parents about his current situation, he knew that they would be very worried. As for other people, he doesn’t know how many people would miss him.
Even after one year, there was barely anyone that he would call a friend at Ace Academy. If he knew that he would end up like this, he might have tried to make more friends. Well, nothing he could do about that now.
-INHALE!
Taking a deep breath, Zero entered the Tower Of Obelisk.
*****
“What do you mean he dropped out?”
Sylvia asked Professor Mia confusedly.
As of right now, she and Lisa were questioning Professor Mia about Zero’s situation.
One week had passed since the incident and Ace Academy was back to normal. The decision to continue classes as normal might be because they want to show Ace Academy’s prestige.
Professor Mia came to their class as usual and took attendance. Quite a few students were missing. Either they had died during Devil’s invasion or had quit the school after the incident. That’s when Lisa and Syliva noticed that even Zero’s name was removed from the attendance.
Unlike Hiro who was absent that day, Zero’s name was not read just like those who had died or had dropped out.
While they had discovered that he was alive, they were surprised that Zero had dropped out of Ace Academy.
“I’m not entirely sure of the reason but he must have something that he needs to do. Don’t worry too much about it. He is strong and knows what to do. You girls just focus on your studies.”
Professor Mia left after saying that.
Sylvia and Lisa exchanged a concerned look. The students who dropped out usually weren’t feeling safe at Ace Academy and wanted to change schools. However, they didn’t believe that Zero was one of them.
“Do you think he’s okay?”
Lisa asked Sylvia worriedly. If Zero was dropping out of Ace Academy, they knew that he must have a very important reason behind that. They don’t believe that the Devils are enough to scare away Zero.
“What could happen to him? Didn’t you see how powerful he was?”
In an attempt to ease her friend’s worries, Sylvia said. Actually, she was also worried but she didn’t want to make Lisa more worried. Anyway, she knew that worrying would achieve nothing.
She will need to try harder to find Zero. Sylvia was not going to give up just because Professor Mia said so.