26 Book 3 Chapter 22

Everyone laughed - they thought Jason was making a lighthearted joke to fool their newest member. Even Andy chuckled, throwing the whole kidnapping ordeal behind him, as he quibbed, "I didn't expect you all to be that type of crew."

Jason only smiled, growing even more confident in his idea. Training Andy until he became the reaper Jason remembered would take years - time they didn't have - so instead he decided to increase Andy's strength another way. Glancing over, Jason asked enthusiastically. "Say, Olivia, are there any tower exclusive drugs that stimulate the senses?"

"Uh, all of them?" She looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"Er, right," Jason rubbed his cheek in embarrassment, "what I meant was, are there any that make you experience things that a human brain would never think of? Like beyond our imagination?"

"Hmm." Olivia furrowed her brow. "There's one that I'm aware of: dream root. It's highly addictive, so I wouldn't touch it. Besides, why are you asking all of a sudden? You've never shown an interest in these things before."

A few others gave Jason a curious glance as well. It was common knowledge that drugs from the tower were much more potent and dangerous. Their effects would permanently damage a normal human's mind; only ascenders could consume them, and not without risk. Most were addictive.

After Olivia explained dream root's effects, Andy's expression contorted. It was not unlike the one made when smelling something strange, or having an epiphany while in disbelief.

Slowly, he turned to face the owner of the arm still wrapped around his shoulder, only to find Jason looking back with a knowing glint in his eye. Andy's expression turned to confusion as he muttered. "No way, is this a coincidence?"

Jason's next sentence shocked Andy to his core. "Well? Don't you think you'll get a load of imagination stat points?"

Andy was unable to believe what was happening. Nobody knew about the stat he alone possessed. The skill given by Alister seemed like it broke the rules; it was able to do anything. Items, monsters, humans, mountains. As long as the user was able to imagine it, it could be created.

Unfortunately, there was a small problem. If Andy never experienced what it felt like to be on fire, how could he possibly imagine it? Presently, the fire he could create wouldn't even damage Hector, a farcry from Amara's recent performance. She was able to shear a tenth of Hector's health in a single go.

Jason wasn't sure exactly what happened, but there was an incident Andy was involved in that resulted in a lot of death. Something in him snapped, and for the next decade up until the end, he trained like crazy. He jumped into a volcano to experience what the word 'hot' really meant, then entered the depths of a monstrous blizzard. From one torture to the next, his combat strength skyrocketed until he reached the level of Roy and Shenlong within a mere ten years. Perhaps if he were to live a few more years, his mind would have broken.

Still, that wasn't what Jason remembered most about Andy - it was his constant pranks. With Jason being the dating type, he lost count of how many women turned out to be Andy's creations. Right when a kiss was about to be had, they'd transform into a monster or a man. Jason grit his teeth recalling how many times he fell prey to that bastard. But now, it was time for revenge.

Seeing Andy's appearance as if he'd seen a ghost, Jason looked serious as he took a long, deep breath. "I can read minds."

"Pfft, yeah right." Andy didn't believe a word, "then what am I thinking about?"

Jason gave a strange look in response. "Dude, you really want me to say what most of your thoughts consist of? Right here? In front of everyone?"

Andy froze. He glanced over his surroundings, pausing briefly on every woman, before turning back to Jason. "Okay… I believe you. Please don't say anything."

Just as Jason smiled victoriously, he was sent flying face first into the ground. Olivia landed in his previous spot, looking down with scorn as she explained. "Don't believe him, he's a time traveler, not a mind reader."

Andy blinked, unsure what to believe. A lot had happened in such a short time that he was at a loss.

Jason stood up a second later, rubbing the dirt off his clothes as he voiced his grievances. "What was that for? Can't I mess with him a bit?"

"Sorry," Olivia replied evenly, "after seeing you two talk nonsense, I couldn't help but get annoyed being left in the dark."

"Sheesh." Jason shrugged, knowing Olivia was soon to fall victim to Andy's pranks as well. He could have avoided the kick, but chose to take it because that would only upset Olivia more.

"Okay, enough playing." Shenlong glanced at Andy and spoke in a calm, but powerful voice. "I can tell by the way you move that you aren't very strong." He turned to Jason. "You spoke greatly of him, but I don't see it."

Andy frustrated Jason to no end, but together they journeyed to hell and back, so he wouldn't let anyone look down on him. Jason glanced at Andy and let loose a smile. "We've all shared our secrets with each other, so you'll get a file on us later. Why don't you show off your stuff?"

"Heh," Andy's cheeks reddened for some reason, "I'm a bit shy…"

Groans came from the crowd, while Amara raised her hand, a fire ball appearing above, as she hissed. "Can I burn him?"

Olivia unsheathed her dagger, clearly feeling the same. "Let me go first."

Jason gripped his stomach, nearly keeling over in laughter. Wiping a tear from his eye, he waved his other hand. "Don't worry, this guy doesn't have the guts to show off his goods."

Andy's heart leapt to his throat, the killing intent in the air was too much for an inexperienced ascender like him to bear. Seeing that he indeed had no intention to follow through, the two ladies reeled themselves in.

Coughing awkwardly, Andy muttered. "Tough crowd."

The thought of absurd skill recovered his composure. Waving his hand, a pair of gloves flashed into existence. They were jet black in appearance with gold embroidery creating an intricate pattern. Andy tossed them to Shenlong, his chest swelling with pride. "While I can't fight, I can create stuff like this."

Shenlong was initially skeptical, but after viewing the glove's stats, his jaw dropped. Disbelief spread across his face, and just as he was about to ask something, Andy answered first. "Try them on."

Already wearing casual attire, Shenlong swiftly did just that. He clenched his hands, the power from the gloves coursing through him. "Good, very very good!"

When Andy waved his hand again, the gloves dispersed into nothing. Shenlong's excitement was at an all-time high. "How many of those can you make? Twenty? Thirty?"

Andy's chin was facing the sky, but after hearing Shenlong's question, he nearly collapsed. "Thirty?! Do you think I'm Alister himself? That's divine grade gear, dude! With my current imagination stat, I can only conjure one for an hour at most."

"What?!" Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets hearing the legendary word. All eyes in the courtyard honed in on Andy like they were looking at a treasure. With questions bombarding him one after the other, he was immediately the center of attention.

A short while later, Cheslov rubbed his chin as he thought aloud. "So that's why Jason mentioned drugs, huh?"

Hearing Cheslov, everyone connected the dots as they simultaneously turned to Olivia. She understood what they wanted. "Understood. I'll procure some immediately."

After Olivia teleported away, one person after another patted Andy's shoulder and spoke similar lines. "Thank you."

"We're counting on you, bro!"

"Fight on!"

Andy shed tears as he listened to the words of encouragement. Sadly, he wouldn't flee. Not because he gave his word, but because damn it all, he wanted the drug too. Still, it was best everyone thought he was sacrificing himself. That way Amara, Olivia, Ebba, and countless other beautiful women would think highly of him.

Who said getting kidnapped was a big deal? Andy welcomed the next attempt with open arms.