Chapter 23 - Fifth Floor

Lumen and his team caused a commotion on the 5th Floor with their arrival. Out of 45 Regulars that were chosen to test out the newly advanced Regulars, every single one of them died. That is something that hasn't happened in years.

An unspoken rule of the Floor is that even if you kill one or two Regulars during the pre-Test, you will work it out with the rest. You will make some kind of deal with the others by giving out some of your Points or even joining their team. After all, not everyone can fight five Regulars in a row. Trixie had also hinted at that.

Unfortunately, Lumen's team isn't a conventional one. Every single member is the best amongst their position. They had also trained with him and grew even more.

Without even improving their current strength, they could easily reach the 20th Floor without even trying. They are by far the best of the best, for being Regulars of the Lower Floors of the Tower.

A lot of teams from the 5th Floor were unhappy with the newly arrived group. They had lost members from their teams, and they sought out revenge from Lumen's team.

They wanted some form of compensation for their lost teammates. Be in the form of Points or new members for their group.

But every single Regular that approached them with that in mind had lost their life. This caused another commotion on the 5th Floor since they realized how strong that team is.

To top it off, a Princess of Zahard was in that group. That made them even more dangerous. A Princess gets chose every hundred years, so one climbing the Tower is a big deal.

Princesses of Zahard are considered the national treasure of the Tower since they carry the King's blood. Every single Princess that has climbed the Tower has managed to reach the top and become a Ranker. The only exceptions to that are when a Princess kills another Princess during her climb.

News about Androssi Zahard slowly started to spread not only on the 5th Floor but throughout the whole Tower as well. Regulars and Rankers started gossiping about her and her team. Each one impressed with the group she had gathered.

Everyone was talking about how strong the Princess is and how much potential she has. How her team is full of top-level Regulars for being on such a low Floor. Androssi was being praised left and right for being able to gather such a group. They all had great expectations from her.

But all of that was quickly forgotten, when a day later, the news that Androssi, is in fact, not the leader nor the strongest of that group reached them. And the Regular that is supposed to be stronger than her is not even from the 10 Great Families or someone famous. This caused another stir amongst the residents of the Tower.

A Princess of Zahard is not the strongest in her team? She has the King's blood, but someone unknown is stronger than her? They started talking about how Androssi might end up being an embarrassment for a Princess. How she might not be worthy of the King's blood.

Regulars from the 5th Floor tried challenging Lumen's team yet again, but that ended terribly. They thought that since the Princess might, in fact, be weak, they could potentially gang up on her and her team.

Over 200 Regulars had marched up to his team. Each seeking revenge, fame, or the chance to get a Princess of Zahard as their teammate.

Every single Regular that approached them had died, and they were all killed by just a single Regular. The one that was supposed to be the leader and the strongest of that group.

Without even moving a muscle, he had created a sun-like object with his Shinsoo. Every Regular that neared him or his team was shot down by a light beam from the sun-like object. The fight hadn't even lasted for more than a minute, and more than 200 Regulars died.

The residents of the Tower were astonished by his actions. Talks about him being the best Wave Controller amongst the Regulars from the Lower Floors were common between them.

Some even believed his Shinsoo control might be at the level of those from the Upper Floors.

Others even talked about how his Shinsoo control might be as good as a Ranker's.

They also gave him various monickers, as well. Very few Regulars are granted this privilege, but due to his actions and strength, he received a few nicknames. There's also the fact they didn't know his real name.

The Light Terror for his terrifying control of Light.

The Light Demon, for his demonic way of killing over 200 Regulars.

But the most famous one being White Star, named after the technique he used to slaughter over 200 Regulars since it resembled a miniature sun.

News about Lumen filled the whole Tower, and he was the hottest topic at the moment. There was not a single resident in the Tower that hasn't heard of the bloodbath on the 5th Floor, and the one that caused it.

The Ruler of the 5th Floor was unhappy with Lumen's actions, but he didn't do anything about it. Killing is allowed on his Floor and Lumen hadn't broken any rules. Gregory couldn't even kill him in secret since all eyes were currently on White Star.

Two days later came another shocking news. The Lo Po Bia Family came out, claiming White Star as one of their own. They stated that although he is not someone from their Family, he is bound to marry into theirs. That has already been decided and is set in stone.

Before the residents of the Tower could process that information, another surprising news was released from the Hendo Lok Family. The Family with the least amount of influence from the 10 Great Families.

The Hendo Lok Family has the least amount of Rankers amongst the 10 Great Families, and that is due to a contract that Hendo Lok Bloodmadder, the family head, had made with a Guardian. In exchange for eternal life, everyone that carries his blood will be cursed with a short life span. Due to that, the Rankers that uphold the Hendo Family are all Bloodmadder's adopted sons and daughters.

The news from the Hendo Lok Family came from the family head himself. Bloodmadder stated that once White Star becomes a Ranker, he will adopt him in his family. And should he become a Ranker within the next 200 years, only Bloodmadder himself will have a higher position than him.

The Tower was in an uproar that two of the 10 Great Families were trying to recruit a Regular that has just started his climb. But that showed how talented and how much potential White Star has.

Gregory was more than happy that he didn't do anything to Lumen after hearing those news. Although a Ranker, he didn't have the backing of any of the 10 Great Families.

Only a hundred Regulars may participate each time, and you have to sing-up at least a few months ahead, in order to get a spot. Thankfully since Lumen killed off so many Regulars, there were enough spots open for him and his team.

If that incident hadn't happened, they would have had to wait for a few months before they can take the Test.

They had all signed up for the upcoming Battle Royale. The participants of the next Test were all scared out of their minds when they learned that White Star and his team will be participating. Had they had the option of not competing, they would have surely taken it.

They were at least grateful that they had the choice of surrendering as soon as the Test starts. That's something that they all planned on doing the first chance they got.

Each participant is given a green badge before the start of the Test. Everyone that owns one will be teleported to a random location on a field on the 5th Floor. And you could pass the Test in two ways.

In two hours, the Regulars would have to reach the middle of the stage and stay there for 15 minutes without dying. The first 10 Regulars that stay in the middle for 15 minutes get to pass the Test. This is the first way.

The second way to pass the Test is by being the 10 last Regulars participating in the Battle Royale. Each Regular has the option of crushing the badge that they are given and forfeit the Test. They would then be teleported out of the stage for the Battle Royale.

As soon as the Test started, every single Regular that was participating instantly crushed their badge. Not a single one dared to try going against White Star, the one that killed over 200 Regulars in less than a minute.

Everyone except the lucky Regular that couldn't crush his badge in time. Since only 10 Regulars were left in the Test, he got to pass the Test alongside Lumen and his team.

They were all teleported to a spacious room with four people already waiting for them. One standing in the front, with the other three respectively staying behind him. Trixie was one of those three.

Obviously, the one standing in the front was the Ruler of the 5th Floor. Gregory had a very obese appearance. He was as width as he was tall, and he was chomping on a drumstick while watching the Regulars that passed the Test with a hateful look.

Gregory's gaze was mostly focused on the one that caused all the commotion on his Floor. No matter how unhappy he was with Lumen's actions, he didn't dare do anything against him. Not only would his prestige as a Ranker drop, but two of the 10 Great Families were very interested in Lumen.

His gaze also jumped to Androssi from time to time. Whenever he looked at her, he visibly started to drool but again, he didn't dare do anything. She was a Princess of Zahard after all and her backing was even scarier than Lumen.

Gregory took a bite of his drumstick and with a hateful tone spoke to them.

"You passed the Test, yada-yada, you get 3 000 Points as a reward. Yada-yada, don't come back to my Floor." Gregory didn't want to waste any time with those detestable Regulars.

His gaze lingered a bit on Androssi before he teleported the group away.

The news of Lumen and his team advancing to the 6th Floor spread throughout the Tower. They had managed to pass the 5th Floor in record time. And the way they did it, added even more prestige to their name. Especially to Lumens.

The residents of the Tower were telling stories about how Regulars on the same Floor's as White Star didn't even dare go up against him.

Lumen's fame reached sky-high levels and you couldn't find a resident of the Tower that hadn't heard about White Star, be it Regular or Ranker.

After all, it's not every day that you see an unknown Regular that's even stronger than a Princess of Zahard.

Had he been a member of one of the 10 Great Families, this wouldn't have caused such a stir, but he wasn't. To top it off, two of the 10 Great Families had already expressed their dėsɨrė for this unknown Regular.

All eyes were on him and his group, wondering what other commotion will they cause next.