Chapter 66: Chapter 65: Alpha Soaring in the Sky
Translator: 549690339
Bai Qi stepped through the teleportation circle transporting him to the eighth floor of the Tower of Gratitude.
The eighth floor was a vast square. Bai Qi looked around but didn’t see any room present.
“Looks like they’re not gunning for a crowd fighting tactic this floor,” he muttered to himself before noticing another teleportation circle lighting up on the other side of the square.
Was this a straight pass?
Did his actions somehow glitched the game?
Just as Bai Qi begin to worry about a potential ban from the administrators of Secret Realm Tower, the ground in front of him suddenly collapsed, creating a deep chasm between him and the teleportation circle.
As expected, there weren’t any easy ways out.
Bai Qi peered over the edge of the floor at the flowing magma below, feeling slightly overwhelmed.
One would surely die if they fell into that scorching temperature.
He should have formed a pact with a flying pet beast sooner, then he could have just flown across.
Unlike Husky, who was currently of no use at all.
Woof?
(Human, I didn’t force you to form a pact with me. Plus, are you sure you could fly across?)
With a look of disdain, Husky threw a handful of steel balls into the sky. Massive rune symbols appeared on the crystalline barrier above, emitting waves of energy that turned the steel balls into fine powder.
Alright, it wasn’t going to be that easy after all.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Bai Qi mulled over a strategy, stone pillars rose from the magma, forming a bridge leading straight to the other side.
Considering the destructive power of those rune symbols just now, Bai Qi didn’t rashly step onto this road. He examined the rune symbols thoughtfully.
“Alpha, go and step on that stone pillar.”
Following Bai Qi’s command, Alpha approached. As soon as his paw touched the rune, a Rune Puppet appeared from the crystalline barrier overhead and landed in front of them.
“I knew it.”
Bai Qi nodded as Husky swiftly manipulated its cannon turret, reducing the Rune Puppet to fragments in no time.
“Looks like this Secret Realm Tower is indeed meant to test rune skills.”
After smoothly progressing through the fifth, sixth, and seventh levels, and now encountering this trial, Bai Qi would have to be quite dim-witted not to notice the purpose of the tower.
“If my guess is right, to clear this floor we’ll need to understand these runes,” he mused.
But it seems, there are other ways to evade the dangerous runes as well.
As this idea struck, Bai Qi’s lips curled up slightly. He patted Husky and said, “It’s your time to shine.”
Woof!
(Human, finally you’ve come begging to me.)
Husky strutted confidently onto the stone pillar.
The first one, no problem.
The second one, also fine.
The third…
The fourth…
Using its excellent perceptual abilities, Husky successfully avoided the threatening runes. It reached the middle of the stone pathway without incident.
Woof woof woof!
(Bonehead, I win this time!)
Husky paused, glancing defiantly at Alpha. But before it could gloat for long, the rune beneath its feet suddenly changed, the resulting shockwave sending the overly confident Husky flying.
Arwooo! Arwooo!
Seeing the forming runes overhead, Husky howled miserably, unable to stop itself from rising.
Just then, Alpha leaped high and landed heavily on Husky, pushing it back to the ground. Alpha nimbly twisted its body and narrowly dodged the energy beam.
However, with this maneuver, Alpha was left falling towards the magma below.
“Husky, fire the rope!”
Seeing the descending Alpha, Bai Qi swiftly instructed Husky. But before it could respond, the ribcage of Alpha sprung open. A layer of frost slowly spread from the ribs, amazingly transforming into a pair of ice wings.
Alpha’s fall slowed as it extended the icy wings. It barely managed to glide back using the unfamiliar mechanism.
Wow, who knew you could do that!
Seeing Alpha’s ingenious solution, Bai Qi was thrilled.
He realized that these ice wings were more of a gliding method, not empowering Alpha to fly as freely as other flying pet beasts. However, it was a new way for Alpha to maneuver.
Just like my pet, intelligent and amazing, follow me!
Woof!
(Damn it! I knew that ice-head would pull a stunt like this.)
Husky cast an envious glance at Alpha. It felt the bump on its head and turned away disgruntled.
Bai Qi inspected his two pets, making sure they were fine, then once again turned his attention to the path before him.
The number of stone pillars never changed, but the runes on them did every 30 seconds. Their distribution was completely random without apparent patterns.
With restricting runes above and burning magma below, the only way to pass was to cross the stone path within half a minute.
Leaving them with one choice.
“Later, Alpha, you’ll do this and Husky, you’ll do that…understood?”
Bai Qi called over his two pets, whispering instructions. While Alpha didn’t seem to completely grasp the plan, Husky vehemently shook its head.
Woof woof woof!
(I refuse to be on top!)
“Ahem, then how about the bottom?”
Bai Qi looked at Husky with a wicked glint in his eye, causing Husky to shiver all over.
Despite its initial defiance, Husky eventually succumbed to Bai Qi’s intimidation. It allowed Bai Qi to hoist it onto his shoulders and Alpha hefted them both up.
Then came the skeletal dog armor!
“Alpha, let’s go!”
The moment the pillar’s runes started to shift, Alpha was off like an arrow from a bow. Husky on Bai Qi’s shoulder was providing rapid guidance to navigate the safest path.
Bang!
Finally, right at the moment when the rune on the stone pillar was about to change, the group managed to step onto solid ground. Alpha abruptly halted, the unsuspecting Husky went flying, crashing face-first onto the ground.
Woof!
(Bonehead, you’ll pay for this!)
After delicately setting Bai Qi down on the ground, Alpha disappeared, leaving behind a monocle that fell into Bai Qi’s hand.
The monocle’s design was very simple, similar to the ones that Bai Qi knew from his past life. The nobles of ‘O’ country wore similar designs. Aside from that, it didn’t seem to possess any special attributes.
However, if combined with the items he received from previous floors, it made sense.
When Bai Qi put on the monocle, his vision immediately changed. The previously uniformly colored rune now had various different hues to them.
The earthy yellow runes were the ones that launched Husky into the sky earlier.
Red ones were absolutely explosion runes.
And there were colorless ones too. Wait, weren’t those the safe routes?!
Giving such a divine tool as a floor reward, this didn’t seem like they really wanted to hand it over..