The news of the royal consort conquering the first trial in the Tower of Hell while surviving all 7 summonings shook the entire kingdom.
The fact that the royal consort was shockingly no longer a cripple but possessed the strongest bloodline class just like the ancient demon king Devourer coupled with the astonishing feat of surviving all the seven summonings was enough to be the news of the century or centuries.
Even a dog sleeping on the streets knew the kingdom would go through drastic changes gradually.
No one had ever been born in this realm with an Immortal bloodline except for the first demon king, who was said to have somehow gained an Immortal bloodline right after surviving the seventh floor. Nobody had any proof, but since it was history passed down through countless generations, they were inclined to believe it.
So it was only natural to think that the royal consort could reach a level of strength close to the Devourer, who was the strongest demon to ever exist in this realm.
It was believed that if the Devourer had been alive today, the Severed Realm would have easily been conquered.
So some people couldn’t help but be excited and dream about the fact that maybe the royal consort would be able to achieve what they thought was impossible. Maybe if he grows to his full potential, then taking over the Severed Realm may not be a distant dream.
Still, this was just a hopeless wish since they had enough experiences in the past to realize that conquering the Severed Realm was a futile dream. The majority had long since accepted this fact and only focused on surviving day to day by invading the Severed Realm for small gains.
However, some were greatly regretting not making acquaintances with the royal consort, at least during the celebration that happened a month ago. Now they have to think of ways to get close to him and make sure he would remember them in the future.
“I knew it! I told you the late demon king fixed him before he died and hid the fact using some artifact.”
“Yeah, thinking about it, our late king wouldn’t take in some cripple for no reason. Our all-seeing king was able to see through his potential!”
“I always felt that the royal consort was special. He doesn’t look like any of us but has such handsome and noble features. Everyone talked me down whenever I said the royal consort had noble blood in his veins. I hope the royal consort would reward me for my faith in him.”
“Fuck off. You were the one who told me that the royal consort should die for the sin of being a pathetic consort to someone as revered as our queen.”
“Shush! Don’t you dare make up stuff about me and besmirch my name.”
“Other than his Immortal bloodline, I am more jealous about the fact that the queen personally trained the royal consort. No wonder he was able to breeze through six summonings without getting a single scratch. Only someone of her caliber coupled with his talent could make him so strong within just a month.”
“Sigh I don’t think a man could be luckier than that. I would sacrifice my soul just to experience a single second in the shoes of the royal consort.”𝑂𝚟xt.𝗇t
“Hmph, no way our queen has so much time in her hands. She must have appointed someone else to train him.”
“Why don’t you just say you are jealous of the royal consort rather than acting like a sour pussy?”
–
It was evening when the trials were closed off for today, and all the demons who came to participate dispersed.
Only those who were here to train were secluded in their own training rooms.
However, Asher was still here, and right now, he was standing in front of all the Floor Wardens and even the Head Warden, Duncan, was present here, standing in the middle, between him and the others.
“Asher, since you survived all the summonings, I am giving you the chance to choose any of the wardens in this tower as your Master. I feel that you are qualified to be given this chance. The one you choose will guide you to achieve your full potential and also teach you how to approach the trials on the higher floors,” Duncan Doru explained as he gestured at the five Floor Wardens.
If any other demon saw this sight where a challenger of the tower was given the golden chance of letting him choose any of the Floor Wardens as his Master, they would die with envy. Normally, it was the other way around with the Floor Wardens taking their pick based on who they thought was the best.
If they get picked, they would have to swear allegiance to them, but who wouldn’t want to swear their allegiance to one of the three Great Houses. It was a golden opportunity to rise up the ranks and gain more benefits than they could ever imagine. It was seen as a win-win scenario.
However, it was the opposite for Asher, who could pick anyone he wanted, including even the Head Warden! Nobody had ever seen the Head Warden pick someone except the queen, which they could understand since she was the crown princess at that time and she deserved it as well based on her capabilities.
Still, the queen can never hold any other position, while if someone else gets the Head Warden as their Master, they might very well get a chance to become the Head Warden of this tower in the future! But most importantly, they would get to learn under the most experienced and powerful figure in this tower.
Who wouldn’t become one of the strongest reapers or raiders in this realm after learning under him?
Asher learned by now that Duncan was also the Floor Warden for the 6th floor. So except for him, all the other five wardens were women.
1st floor – Rebecca Drake
2nd floor – Silvia Valentine
3rd floor – Sabina Thorne
4th floor – Naida Valentine
5th floor – Esther Thorne
He knew that the senior and powerful men from the three Great Houses were busy taking care of the important matters of the kingdom. So only the senior and powerful women from this family could fulfill the roles required in this tower. Two were from the younger generation, while three were their seniors. Yet all five of them were quite pretty and elegant, with Sabina and Rebecca having an edge in this area.
And each of these women was giving him different kinds of looks.
Rebecca had a constipated expression, looking like she couldn’t wait to strangle him to death as expected.
Silvia was caressing her twin tails with a sweet smile as if tempting him to ‘play’ with her. But he only felt weirded out by her uncanny smile and was already thinking of ways to put her in her place before she annoys him again.
Sabina simply gave him a seductive wink as if telling him that the choice was obvious on whom to choose. He didn’t know if he was imagining it, but he felt like she was more interested in him, but not surprising.
Naida had a pleasant smile and seemed to give off an aura that could make anyone feel reassured by choosing her. He couldn’t really get a grasp on what that woman was thinking of him.
Esther had a cold and aloof look, yet her eyes had a piercing gaze as she looked at him, making it slightly obvious that he was in her head. Asher could feel she didn’t seem that happy about the surprising turn of events, and this only made him wonder the reason why she was like this.
He wondered if it was because she was feeling sore about the fact that her wimpy son got his ass tricked by him? Does she really care about that limp dick of a son? Her being bitter for such a trivial matter didn’t seem to make sense though.
“There is no Warden for the 7th floor?” Asher asked.
Duncan softly shook his head and said, “Since no one has conquered the 7th floor, we feel none of us is qualified to be its Warden. To be a warden of a floor, it is mandatory that they at least should have conquered that floor, though for the 7th floor, no warden is required.”
Asher nodded, but he never had any plans to become anyone’s disciple, “No offense but…I think I will pass on this. I am not really a fan of swearing allegiance to someone else or being told what to do. I will just take my own chances,” Asher knew this might make it harder for him to learn things and even conquer the higher floors, but he felt it was worth it rather than becoming someone else’s puppet.
Rebecca inwardly harrumphed, seeing his arrogance and insulting them all indirectly. Does he seriously think just because of his Immortal bloodline, he can look down on everyone? She couldn’t wait to see him eat his own words upon facing death on the higher floors. Considering his attitude, he will surely try to attempt the 7th floor’s trial, which he will surely fail. But of course, who knows if he would live that long to take part in that trial?
Silvia’s smile suddenly turned into a grumpy one, as if she didn’t expect him to say that.
Sabina raised her brows in surprise to see that he wasn’t even considering any one of them. Yet instead of making her feel insulted, she felt more intrigued.
Naida placed her hand on her slightly parted lips as if she was worried he was making a wrong decision, while Esther barely had any change in her expression. It seemed like she didn’t really care if he chose or not.
Duncan barely raised his brows before calmly saying, “I understand. But if that is your concern, then I want you to reconsider becoming my disciple. I don’t want you to swear your allegiance to me, nor will I force you to do anything. All I would do is guide you while the rest would be in your hands. I feel that someone as talented as you should receive all the help you can get to not only achieve your fullest potential,” As he said this, Duncan’s eyes shone with a faint fervent light.
Asher didn’t expect him to offer such a proposition. But based on what he knew about Duncan so far, he seemed like a wise old man who only cared about nurturing the best of the best and witnessing them achieving their full potential.
He knew teachers like these who didn’t really care about receiving any benefits but only wanted to see their students use their teachings to achieve great things. It was a way of passing down their legacy for people like Duncan, and so Asher had no doubt he wouldn’t go back on his words.
The five women were surprised the Head Warden was making such a proposition with no real benefit to him. But then they realized he must be doing this as a way of building confidence with someone as talented as Asher. It was a gamble which they couldn’t afford to take.
Asher didn’t hesitate much longer as he said, “Alright. I will be your disciple then…Master Duncan,” Asher felt that it would only be good to learn from such an experienced demon. He still didn’t know much about Reaping and felt his new Master could make him an expert Reaper.
Duncan nodded with an inner glow in his eyes as he said, “Then we will start tomorrow. You will also get to complete quests in between as well.”
“Okay, but before we disperse, there is one important matter to settle,” Asher said as he glanced at Rebecca, who furrowed her brows, feeling that this wretch was up to no good. And then suddenly, she was reminded of something that made her clench her jaw.