Chapters (122)
- Tower Climber
- Jakob Tanner
- Contents
- Newsletter
- Dedication
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- FREE EBOOK
- Author’s Note
- A.K.O Book 1 Sample
- The Chosen Reading Group
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He stopped at the hundredth monster core and went to ask Sakura what the problem might be.
She was tucked up in bed, her hair in a bun, her face adorned with reading glasses. She had a new paperback romance novel in her hand and a mug of chamomile tea on her bedside table.
She did not look anything like one of the most deadly and powerful climbers in the city that she was.
“Yes?” she asked.
“I’ve reached nine in mana affinity,” he said.
“Congratulations,” she said. “Did you interrupt my special reading time just to tell me that?”
“No, it’s...” said Max. “I managed to get lots of copper monster cores and—”
“Your mana affinity isn’t going any higher?”
“How did you know?”
She shrugged. “It’s just the way things work. You’re so close to hitting E-rank but the final two points are usually the toughest. The problem is at E-rank, copper monster cores won’t help you at all, your mana is already too advanced to be improved by it. Since you’re practically E-rank now, the copper monster cores will only do the very minimum to improve your mana affinity.”
Max sighed. “So all these cores I got today were for nothing.”
“You can sell them at the market. Not for much, but for a little,” said Sakura.
Max sighed.
“I’m guessing that’s it,” she said. “So I’m going to return to my book. It’s just got really good.”
“Aren’t all romance novels the same?”
“To someone with unrefined tastes, perhaps, but not me!” barked Sakura. “Now, good night!”
With that, Max walked away.
He considered the sixty-eight copper monster cores he still had. He definitely wasn’t going to waste something he could sell by futilely draining them of their mana.
It looked like he was going to have to go through with his library plan after all.
* * *
For the next two weeks, Max went up to floor-2 and did his training method. First, he’d use up his limit of six traits, slaying loads of forest boars, mushroom monsters, and forest mules. He’d collect their monster cores and coins and add them to his pouch. Then, he’d spend the rest of the day doing Sakura’s training regimen.
After two weeks, he’d collected 3068 copper monster cores and earned about 7024 copper coins. His pouch didn’t feel an ounce heavier than the day he got it.
Even better was the increase to his stats. He still wasn’t able to push his mana affinity beyond 9, but he was able to raise everything else.
He smiled at his profile, taking it all in.
Name: Max Rainhart
Rank: Unranked
Trait (Unique): Mimic. Unleash the last move you were hit with at double the power.
Strength: 11
Agility: 11
Endurance: 10
Mana Affinity: 9
Passive Skills:
Kokoro (Warrior Spirit)