Noah mentally cursed, as he realized that he’d completely forgotten to keep tabs on his surroundings- showing just how rattled he was. Pivoting around his right foot, Noah realized that a solitary goblin was charging at him with a spiked club in its hand. One goblin wasn’t much of a threat, but after being ambushed once he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Evading the goblin’s club with relative ease, Noah gave his surroundings a quick glance and made sure there were no places suitable for an aerial ambush- once he’d made sure, Noah waited for the club-wielding goblin to get in close quarters and waited for it to commit to an attack. He sidestepped the club smash to the right, and it only hit empty earth. Noah had been waiting for this moment and took the opening to deal a fatal blow by slicing its neck with a clean laceration.

“Bravo! A right proper job done there, lad. A solid 2/10,” Liam said in between slurping the plastic bowl of instant noodles with his damn chopsticks, seemingly having a fantastic time as Noah drenched himself knee-deep in goblin blood.

“You need to stop judging me from the standard of a Godly Being,” Noah replied mirthfully- because he thought he’d done a decent job.

“Ah, the arrogance of youth. It will be a pleasure to see your pride being ground to dust, young Noah. But not to worry, we have a long road ahead- just try not to die.” Liam gave a light chuckle and tossed the empty cup noodle bowl on the ground- where it vanished into nothingness.

“What’s the plan, anyway?” Noah asked as he looted the dead goblin.

“First,” Liam cheerfully replied, “We have some brunch.” Liam clapped his hands together, and a full course meal materialized in front of him, complete with a white handkerchief wrapped around his neck. "Chicken Tikka Masala, Kadhai Paneer along with some Garlic Naan. I swear mate, this stuff is fit for the Gods." Liam exclaimed in delight, as he tore some of the flatbread and dipped it into the curry.

“…” Noah stared at the Eternal Lion, his face twitching from the exasperation.

"You know, instead of glaring at me like that," said Liam as he stuffed another mouthful of naan, "You can order what you want. The tower can replicate any cuisine as long as you think about it, though it'll only be enough for one meal.”

“Oh,” Noah realized he’d forgotten to check how many Essence points he’d gotten for his labors.

Slain Goblin Skirmisher (Level 1) x 3 – 150 EP awarded!

Slain Goblin Assassin (Level 2, adept) x 1- 300 EP awarded!

Triple Drop Rate is in effect-

Loot Tab-

Assassin’s Dagger, Common

Boots of Silencing, Common

Weapon Evolution Crystal, Common

Goblin Mace, Inferior

Title Unlocked- Trailblazer.

Unlocked by slaying a higher-level adept ranked foe within Floor 1 of the Tower of Glory, Gridlocked.

+1 to Luck

Boots of Silencing, Common

Muffles the sound of footsteps while traversing on land.

+5% increase in sprinting speed

Weapon Evolution Crystal, Common

Increases the rank of any inferior weapon by one.

Congratulations, you have reached level 2!

You have five unassigned stat points.

“Liam… what the fuck?” Noah muttered, dazed as he saw the treasure trove lying for him in store.

“Ehhh,” The mighty Eternal Lion scratched his head as if he were nervous to explain this part. “You know kid, how you have zero luck and nearly got assassinated the moment you got spawned into the tower? Well, I think that has something to do with a God binding his soul to a mortal.”

“And you have the gall to tell me this no-,“

“Tut-tut kids these days have no patience. Anyway, without me you’d be dead, with me you got a bunch of free loot. I don’t see the problem, those Assassins can be absolutely lethal when you first encounter them, and you even got a luck-boosting title for killing that blue rat. You got any idea how rare those are?

“You’re still an asshole in my book,” Noah shot back, miffed.

“Sheesh, you’re harder to please than a woman. You know you don’t have to do it for me kid. You don’t even have to do it for the world. You got family, friends, people you care about? Even if you don’t, how does living a hundred more years sound? That’s about as long as the world’s got anyway, I’m sure you wouldn’t wanna miss the extinction event that humanity’s been hyping up since the last hundred years.

“That’s…. all things considered, that’s fair. I’m sure you want me to do something for you, for your friends, in exchange,” Noah asked, trying to pry into Liam’s history.

“Yeah. Try not to fuck up the timeline too badly, for a start. Now grab something to eat and listen while I tell you the plan.”

Noah messed around with the system, and moments later pulled out a brown packed from the void. MRE Ready to Eat piping hot Mac and Cheese would do the trick.

“Good lord. I knew the Americans had it bad, but lad those are some shite tastebuds,” Liam’s expression was one of absolute horror, aghast at Noah’s choice.

“Shut up. I can’t exactly have fucking Kadhai Paneer and that fancy flatbread when there are murderous little critters out for my blood, in the middle of the fucking forest,” Noah whispered back to Liam animatedly, and hurriedly shoveled down his rations. Liam was right about one thing- the Mac and Cheese utterly bland and grainy, but Noah valued his life far more than a momentary lapse in culinary choice.

“Ah fair, lad, fair. I suppose it was the cynical, judgmental brit in me coming out. Can’t help it, lad, we come from a nation where it's either raining most of the time or snowing to freezing temperatures.... and when the sun decides to rear its ugly head, it’s too fucking humid,” Liam said with a chuckle.

“Now listen up…”