William scrolled through the sale notifications, everything he posted was gone. The very first to sell? The Strap-On. He sighed. "Hah... This world really is full of hopeless degenerates. Well, whatever. It works for me."

Between the Blooms and the rest, he’d scored 645 TP, and with the leftover 95 after his neutral zone spending, his total stood at a solid 740. More than enough to prep for the next trial. He already knew his first move. Watching Lumina and the imp frolic in the flowers, he smirked. "Time to get them some siblings."

William stood up, facing the Lumina tree. He knows their combat stats are low, but their abilities are pretty useful, like Lumina’s buff.

’How many should I summon? The troop limit is still twenty even after the core upgrade. Maybe it’ll go up if the whole tier upgrades, so I can’t just summon till the limit. What if I pull another summon token from the gacha and end up unable to use it?’

’Hmm... Five should be enough for now, and I can also get some plant-type troops from Life Seed.’

Just as he settled on how many fairy siblings to summon, Rollie chimmed in, who had been eavesdropping on his thoughts.

[Hey, dear~ You can now summon Tier One Intermediate troops.]

[Every time your tower core upgrades, the tier of troops you can summon goes up.]

William’s eye twitched at Rollie’s notification. He wasn’t pissed because she was poking around in his head again, what pissed him off was that she hadn’t told him this sooner. "I knew something was missing. Why the hell didn’t you tell me when I upgraded the core?"

[I forget sorriee~ (’’’’ •᷄ ᴗ •᷅ )]

William clicked his tongue. "Tsk, forget it. Just tell me how much T.P. it costs to summon Intermediate troops."

[For my love, only 90 TP.]

"What do you mean, ’for me only’? It costs the same as summoning a low-tier and then upgrading them," William grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Just summon two Tier One Intermediates."

He chose to summon Intermediates instead of five low-tiers, as it would save time and fulfill the intermediate troops requirement for his next core upgrade, and he had already calculated he would have enough TP left for a couple of gacha draws and tower merchant.

The moment he spoke, a low hum came from the Luminara tree. After a few seconds, two tiny figures appeared beneath its branches.

Both were the same basic fairy model, the tiny size with weaponized cuteness. The only difference was the color of their eyes, hair, and wardrobe.

The one on the right had long, emerald hair cascading down her back and big, lively eyes. Two translucent green wings fluttered behind her. Her dress looked like it was made from Luminara Tree’s delicate leaves, curling vines, and slender branches, all wrapped around her tiny form with elegance.

The other one had snowy white hair tumbling over her shoulders and calm silver eyes. A pair of translucent white wings fanned out behind her, and she wore a feathery white frock that hit her knees.

Both fairies looked at their surroundings with innocent curiosity. The moment they spotted William, they dashed toward him. Hearing the hum from the tree, Lumina and Imp also emerged from the Blooms.

They all started playing around William while giggling, except for the green-haired one. She hovered in front of him, hands clasped together, eyes lifted shyly as if in silent prayer.

William was surprised. ’So, they aren’t all the same after all.’ He smiled, gently brushed his fingers against her cheek, making her blush, and then opened the status of the new recruits.

⟡⟡⟡

Name: Verdelyn

Race: Nature Fae

Rank: Tier 1 (Intermediate)

⟡⟡⟡

Attributes

Strength: 8

Constitution: 10

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 8

Mana: 24

Affinity: Nature

⟡⟡⟡

Skill

Binding Vines (Low)

Erupt vines from the ground to bind enemies of the same tier or lower for 10 seconds. Has no effect on enemies of a higher tier.

⟡⟡⟡

Rank Upgrade Conditions

TP: 60/60

Tier 1 core: 0/9

⟡⟡⟡

"Hmmm... Another support type. At least her skill is solid. Intermediate climbers should be easy to handle once they’re caught in her vines." He muttered, then opened the status of the second one.

⟡⟡⟡

Name: Nyxwind

Race: Wind Fae

Rank: Tier 1 (Intermediate)

⟡⟡⟡

Attributes

Strength: 10

Constitution: 8

Agility: 16

Intelligence: 8

Mana: 16

Affinity: Wind

⟡⟡⟡

Skill

Wind Arrow (Low)

Shoots a compressed arrow of wind at a 30-meter target. One wind arrow every ten seconds.

⟡⟡⟡

Rank Upgrade Conditions

TP: 60/60

Tier 1 core: 0/9

⟡⟡⟡

William’s eyebrows rose at Nyxwind’s status, a ranger type. Both summons this time surprised him, who knew fairies could actually fight? After a few minutes spent with them, he headed for the open area, his mind already on the next step.

With 560 TP left, it was time for the gacha. William knew his talent could pull some overpowered treasures, items, or skills that could make him breeze through trials, but everything depended on luck, and his luck was shit.

As he walked, he thought, ’No way in hell am I turning into one of those brainless gamblers who let luck run their lives. One thing about Rollie I like is that she wasn’t like those other Gacha Systems, always nagging their hosts to gamble themselves until they are broke.’ Rollie, hearing the praise, immediately jumped in.

[I am the one and only Absolute Gacha System! Those other wannabe gacha systems can’t even compete with my file names. My goal is to make you a real tower lord, not one of those brain-dead, negative-999IQ losers who just let their system shove trash down their throats.]

Seeing Rollie get all pumped up from the praise, William smirked, "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for not chewing my ass to roll gacha all the time. If only you could keep your antics in check, you’d almost be perfect."

[That’s my love for you. I’m loyal, unlike some people who get horny on friends crying, mother. Hmph!]

[For me, my Will is enough.]

"Hey, I didn’t get horny, okay? It was just my first time being that close to a woman."

[Perv...]

William facepalmed, dragging his hand down his face. "Whatever. Let’s just get started with gacha."

He paused, calculating how many pulls he could risk, he still needed some TP for the second floor. After a second’s thought, he said, "Rollie, roll two Rare draws."

Just like before, twenty blue cards appeared in four rows of five, hanging in the air. He locked onto the fourth card in the second row, he had the same gut feeling as when he pulled the troop card. His heartbeat sped up, and he quickly grabbed it.

He didn’t get any more vibes from other cards, so he grabbed his second pick at random. Now, standing there with both cards while the rest vanished, William glared at the one that felt ’destined.’ ’PLEASE please be good to me,’ he pleaded silently and flipped it.

The words on its back read ’Affinity Stone.’ Rollie immediately popped in.

[Congratulations! You’ve won: Fire Affinity Stone (Rare)]

William’s eyes went wide, his hands trembling as he gripped the cards. His heartbeat roared in his chest. If Lumina was anywhere nearby, she’d hear it pounding like war drums. He stared at the card for a long second, then threw both arms up and cackled like a lunatic. "AHAHA...HAHA, yes, yessss! At last, I got it!"

He lowered his arms, and a red stone appeared in his palm. It radiated heat, but didn’t burn. He locked his gaze on it, excitement flooding him. "Affinity means mana... mana means, Explosionnnn."

Rollie watched the whole scene unfold. She wanted to say something as William clearly misunderstood the reward and was celebrating it. But she knew if she corrected him now, he’d probably explode on her. Instead, she quietly opened the item’s information, letting him see the truth for himself.

⟡⟡⟡

Item: Fire Affinity Stone (Rare)

Effect: Grants Fire Affinity upon absorption. Requires a compatible physique and no conflicting affinities. Failure to meet conditions may result in severe internal backlash or loss of control.

Note: Affinity stones don’t awaken mana. Without mana, it’s just a warm stone.

⟡⟡⟡

As the information panel popped up, William’s laughter paused. He scanned the effect, needed a compatible physique, already had a cheat one. But then his eyes landed on a new section, ’Note,’ which none of the last items had his throat went dry.

He read it to himself: ’Don’t awaken mana... just a warm stone. What the hell?’ His excitement turned into confusion. "Rollie," he said, voice tight, "doesn’t an affinity stone suppose to give mana as well?"

[Affinity stone is different from Mana Awakening Potion. They just allow the mana channels to recognize affinity, letting the user wield them.]

William stared at the panel, it felt like he had been cheated. In a low voice, he muttered, "So let me get this straight. If you want to do magic, you need a Mana potion, then an affinity stone, and then, techniques and skills?"

[Yes]

He stared at the so-called affinity stone, no, just a useless warm rock now, and snapped, "This is bullshit. Aunt Julia has mana, all fairies have mana, even that fucking mutt has mana and affinity, so why is it so damn complicated for me? What am I supposed to do with this thing, sit on it to keep my ass warm?"

He stood there in silence for a long moment, one hand clenched around the affinity stone, the other still gripping the facedown card. Rollie was the one who finally broke the silence.

[Don’t be upset, Will. Everything in the universe runs on rules. Each energy has its own requirements. The majority of lords do awaken mana after their talents. But then they are bound by rules that prevent them from wielding any other energy.]

[The physique you got doesn’t follow that rule, so it starts with an empty vessel, but it has infinite potential, it can wield all the energies that exist in the universe. You just have to be a bit patient.]

[Look at it this way, you’ve got the affinity stone, now you just need that mana awakening potion. Once you have it, you can do your explosions right away. And hey, you still have another card, maybe you can get the potion from that.]

With empty eyes, William looked at the blue card clenched in his other hand. "Yeah, sure, I bet my life this one will also be some kind of torture," he said flatly. He slowly turned it over, revealing ’Technique’ written on it. Rollie appeared with a confirmation message.

[Congratulations! You’ve won: IronSkin Forging Art (Mortal)]

[A/N]: I’m using different grading terms to separate items related to Mana and Qi. If this is confusing, let me know I can switch to a single grading system for both.

Although it wasn’t the potion, but seeing the name of the technique, life returned to his lifeless eyes. The card vanished, and a manual appeared in his hand, the name and grade written in bold black ink.

Rollie knew what it was, and she felt pity for him. This was William’s first thing from the cultivation system. If he’d actually bet his life, he’d have won. She didn’t say a word; she just opened the info panel instead.

⟡⟡⟡

Item: IronSkin Forging Art (Mortal)

Effect: Repeated physical impact tempers the body, increasing durability over time. Each minor proficiency increase grants +10 Strength and +10 Constitution.

Note: No pain. No gain.

⟡⟡⟡

After the information panel appeared, William immediately scrolled to the end, checking for another note, and sure enough, there was one. He read it, but nothing seemed that bad this time. Just to be safe, he checked the Effect.

’Repeated physical impact.’ That told him everything he needed. The first item had already wrecked him emotionally, but apparently, that wasn’t enough, now he got something that would hurt him physically, too.

William was speechless. He stared up at the artificial sky and spat out two words raw and honest, "FUCK YOU." It was all he had left for the bastard who made Gacha. (Author).

⟡⟡⟡

[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.