Chapter 551 - A Petty God

"You must be William, our Oracle has been waiting for you." One of the gatekeepers guarding Aamon's temple bowed her head in greeting.

William nodded his head. "I came to have an audience with his Excellency, Aamon."

"We have already been notified. Please, follow us, Sir William."

"Thank you."

The gatekeeper led William to one of the rooms where he must cleanse his body in preparation for his meeting with the God. 

He had already experienced this before in the Temple of Courage, so he obediently followed the etiquette that was needed to gain the Oracle's approval to enter the Inner Temple, where Aamon would communicate with his followers.

Half an hour later, William stood in front of Aamon's Statue and closed his eyes. Slowly, but surely, he felt himself getting drowsy. He didn't resist it, and allowed himself to go to that place.

The Boundary of Heaven and Earth.

"So, you've come," a voice tinged with amusement said.

William opened his eyes and came face to face with a silver-haired man sitting on a throne. The man's blue eyes looked amused, and his lips were curled up in a charming smile that would make any young lady blush in infatuation.

'I'm still more good looking than him,' William thought as he eyed the God in front of him.

The smile on Aamon's lips twitched because he was able to read William's thoughts. At first he was planning to give the Half-Elf an easy task due to his friendship with the Loli Goddess, Lily. However, William's inner comment made him change his mind.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself, I am Aamon," Aamon said. "A Grand Marquiess of Hell, and one of the members of Ars Goetia. You don't need to introduce yourself, because I don't care about puny mortals who are not as handsome as me. Now, let's get down to the business at hand."

Aamon rested his chin on the back of his left hand as he eyed William from head to foot.

"I am going to give you three quests…" Aamon wasn't able to finish his words because William's thoughts flashed across his mind.

'This God must be delusional thinking that he's more good looking than me, William thought. 'Well, I better not say anything. I don't want to hurt the feelings of others.'

"I've changed my mind. You need to finish seven quests," Aamon stated in an icy voice. "I will lift the curse once you've completed them all."

William nodded his head in agreement. He had already anticipated that the God would make things difficult for him, so he wasn't surprised about the number of quests that Aamon had given him.

"This is your First Quest." Aamon raised his hand and a scroll appeared on William. "Return to me once it's done. I have other things to do. Goodbye."

Aamon didn't even wait for William to ask him any questions before sending him back to the Temple. Clearly, he didn't have any good impression of the Half-Elf that criticized his good looks.

----

William opened his eyes and looked at the scroll in his hand. He was very displeased at how Aamon treated him. If there was a place where he could file a complaint, he would definitely give Astrid's Twin Brother a one-star review.

The Half-Elf opened the scroll and read its contents. 

-----

Ammon's First Quest

Conquer the 51st Floor of the Tower of Babylon.

-- The 51st Floor of the Tower of Babylon currently had no owners. Your Mission is to gain complete control of this floor, and solve the mystery as to why it had remained unconquered for over a thousand years.

P.S

If you like to know more details about the Tower of Babylon, feel free to ask the Headmaster of Silverwind Academy. 

-----

"... I knew it," William muttered. "Looks like Aamon intended to make my life difficult from the get go."

William had no idea where the Tower of Babylon was. However, one thing was clear. No one had been able to conquer its 51st Floor for thousands of years, which meant that its difficulty rating was very high.

'I need to return to the Academy and have a talk with the Headmaster,' William thought. 'Fortunately, Aamon was a bit considerate and gave me a hint as to who to ask for information.'

After giving an appropriate donation to Aamon's Temple, the Half-Elf hastily returned to Silverwind Academy, to find the answers to his questions.

-----

Meanwhile at the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods…

"That brat is quite annoying!" Aamon complained to his twin sister, Astrid, who was currently sipping a cup of tea in her garden. "I was planning to make things easy for him, but he got on my nerves. Hmp! Let's see if he can clear the near-impossible quest that I gave him!"

Astrid sighed as she placed the tea cup back on the table. "Near-impossible? Just what kind of quest did you give the boy?"

The Goddess of Female Knights had taken a hands-off policy when it came to the quests that Aamon would give to William. Est, Ian, and Isaac, were her devout followers. Naturally, she only wanted the best for them.

She was willing to give William her blessings to become their lovers, but that would only happen once he had completed her twin brother's quests.

Aamon chuckled as he gave his sister a devilish smile, "The mission I gave him was to clear the 51st Floor of the Tower of Babylon. Haha! Don't worry, I will show mercy on him once he returns to the temple and begs me to change the First Quest that I gave him."

Astrid frowned. She was aware of the reason why no one had conquered the 51st Floor of the Tower. 

Long ago, when the world was still young, the Gods decided to create a tower for their entertainment. 

Similar to a dungeon, each floor of the dungeon was a stage that needed to be cleared in order to advance to the next floor.

The one who was able to clear any of its floors would become the Owner of the floor. There were even some powerful families in the Central Continent that had migrated their entire clans on the floors that they had claimed as their own.

This Tower was located at the very center of the Central Continent, and was considered to be the greatest challenge for humanity. 

Similar to the Atlantis Dungeon, the Tower of Babel had a hundred floors. However, for over a thousand years, the exploration had stopped at the 51st Floor. Anyone who dared to challenge it had never been seen again. 

After losing so many prodigies, and talented individuals in the 51st Floor, the Empires, Kingdoms, and Sects prohibited their people from challenging it again. Of course, there were still people who wanted to make their names known to the world, but after entering the mysterious floor, they were never heard from again.

"You're so petty, Aamon," Astrid said as she eyed her brother. "What would you do if the boy died on that floor?"

Aamon shrugged, "If he dies then he dies. Don't worry. If that happens, I will lift the curse on your devout followers. I'm sure that they will forget about him in time and fall in love with someone else."

Lady Astrid smirked before emptying her cup of tea. 

Her brother was right. Although her followers would be hurt after William died, they will get over it in time. The Goddess didn't believe that the Half-Elf would be able to complete the quest that her brother had given William. 

Seated on a throne made from Black Obsidian, a Primordial Goddess observed Astrid from afar. She had overheard Astrid's discussion with Aamon and simply giggled at their foolishness.

'Near-impossible doesn't mean impossible,' the Primordial Goddess mused as she looked at the projection of the red-headed teenager in front of her. 'Show me, young Pendragon. Are you really the Master of your Fate? Are you really the Captain of your Soul?'

The Primordial Goddess smiled as she petted the head of the Black Phoenix that was resting beside her throne.. She was looking forward to seeing William's growth, and the day when they would meet at the crossroads of Fate.