William was still on the second floor. Cent, Lumina, and the mutt had already gone back to the lord’s floor to rest. It had been one hell of a day, and they needed it. William looked over the rewards, with only the three random draws left.

He told Rollie to use them. He just wanted to get it over with, as he was also exhausted from the fight, and that damn weakness from the red bloom was hanging on.

[Initiating random skill draw...]

[Congratulations! You have won: Mana Surge (Uncommon)]

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Skill: Mana Surge (Uncommon)

Effect: Channels mana into the body to temporarily enhance 35% of strength and speed for 1 minute. After the skills end, a 100-second cooldown applies.

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[Initiating random blueprint draw...]

[Congratulations! You have won: Garden Hut (Uncommon)]

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Blueprint: Garden Hut (Uncommon)

Description: A small wooden hut with a proper bed and bathing. Water sold separately.

Resources Required: Wood 500, Stone 300, 30 TP.

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[Initiating random item draw...]

[Congratulations! You have won: Bull Stamina Oil (Uncommon)]

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Item: Bull’s Stamina Oil (Uncommon)

Effect: Enriched oil made of the essence of Minotaur bones. Especially for first timers to save them from early embarrassment. Apply while erect, it will stay erect all night.

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These weren’t like gacha draws; they were just randomly picked by the tower system while Rollie handled the description for each reward.

The skill was decent, but what can he even do with it right now, with no mana in his body?

Next was the hut blueprint. Sleeping under the Luminara tree wasn’t bad, but he didn’t mind the soft bed under his butt.

The last item was the real surprise, an oil that keeps you hard all night. William was a self-certified gooner with a PB of 43 seconds. He knew if it came down to the real deal, he’d probably finish on his very first stroke, and it would fucking embarrassing.

Honestly, the oil was the best thing he’d gotten since getting here. Now that all rewards were done, he headed back to the lord’s floor.

William looked around for the others. Cent and the mutt were resting in the grassland, and Lumina was somewhere in the flower bed. He yawned, feeling heavy on his feet. He could build the hut now and finally crash on a bed, but wasting TP without a plan? He wasn’t going to do that.

He started walking toward the Luminara tree. At the edge of the flower bed, something caught his eye on a strange, crimson colored flower. It was a tiny figure, barely the size of his finger.

A faint red glow lit it up. Curious, he went closer and remembered this was where he’d planted the life seed on day one. Today was the day he’d get his plant-type troop.

But what he saw looked nothing like a plant. She was kind of a fairy, kind of not at the same time. Half the size of Lumina, a little chubby, skin faint red, and wearing a dark red frock covered in what looked like tiny red seeds.

She had short red hair and two tiny, partially translucent wings on her back. She looked adorable, sleeping on the petal like a little ladybug. William stared, still confused by her look, and muttered, "Rollie, open her status," to see what kind of plant troop this was.

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Name: Ember Imp (F-Rank)

Race: Fire Flora

Rank: Tier 1 (Low)

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Attributes

Strength: 4

Constitution: 3

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 4

Mana: 10

Affinity: Fire

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Skill

Cinder Burst (Low)

Launches a small explosive seed that deals fire AoE damage. Maximum 10 seeds per day.

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Rank Upgrade Conditions

Tower points: 20/20

Tier 1 core: 3/3

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Seeing her status, William blinked. F-rank? That was a bit disappointing. But at least she was a combat type with area damage. He eyed the beads on her dress, wondered

’Those must be the seeds that go Boom. Cool, but I’d better keep my distance.’

Not wanting to wake the little boom Imp, he went to the tree for a quick nap before planning for the next tower trial.

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Time slipped by. William woke, back against the tree, mind already spinning on what to do next. One thing was clear: he and his troops needed to get stronger. There was no way the next batch of climbers would be the same rank as last time.

For him to reach the next rank, he had to upgrade the tower core first. He already had all the resources; he just needed to meet the troop rank condition. No point in waiting around. He got up and called for Lumina.

Lumina shot out of the flowers toward him, followed by the tiny Imp. She had been Lumina’s play partner since she had woken up.

The Imp was just like Lumina, childish and bursting with energy. William asked them to follow and headed toward the grassland where Cent was resting.

Cent tried to stand when William arrived. The wounds were better but not healed, so William waved him off. "No need to stand up, you are still injured."

Then William called Lumina to the front. With them both standing before him, he said, "You two were great in the trial. Especially you, Cent. Let’s see how much better you get." He smirked. "Rollie, upgrade their tier."

Both were swallowed in a faint white light. When it faded, they blinked open their eyes. There were no physical changes, but their presence felt a bit stronger than last time.

Cent bowed in thanks. Lumina zipped around William in happy little circles, soon joined by the Imp. William grinned, with a bit of warmth in his eyes. "Rollie, show me their status."

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Name: Lumina (F-Rank)

Race: Light Fae

Rank: Tier 1 (Intermediate)

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Attributes

Strength: 5

Constitution: 8

Agility: 12

Intelligence: 9

Mana: 22

Affinity: Light

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Skill

Light Touch (High)

Casts a buff on a single person, increasing all their attributes by 40% for 30 seconds. While the buff is active, it cannot be cast again.

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Rank Upgrade Conditions

Tower points: 60/60

Tier 1 core: 0/9

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First, he checked Lumina’s status. Her previous best stats, mana, and agility had raised the most. Her skill also reached High because of the trial, and with the extra mana, she could cast even more buffs. Next up was Cent’s status.

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Name: Cent (B-Rank)

Race: Thunder Centaur

Rank: Tier 1 (Intermediate)

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Attributes

Strength: 22

Constitution: 24

Agility: 15

Intelligence: 10

Mana: 12

Affinity: Lightening

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Skill

Static Thrust (Intermediate)

Thrusts his spear while channeling faint lightning. There is a 15% chance to stun the enemy.

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Technique

Spear Mastery (Intermediate)

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Rank Upgrade Conditions

Tower points: 60/60

Tier 1 core: 0/9

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It was the same for Cent; his Strength and Constitution shot up the most. His proficiency jumped, too, thanks to the trial.

William saw that the resources for the next upgrade had tripled. It wasn’t of any concern right now as it was his turn to get stronger. Grinning, he headed for the tree to upgrade the tower core.

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[A/N]: Please give some powerstones or golden tickets, it really helps the story to reach more readers and keeps me motivated to write more.

Ember Imp’s character design is attached in the comment.