NOVEL NEXT Chapter 498: Soul Researcher
Chapter 498: Soul Researcher
The 34th floor of the Tower of Truth.
After the sea cucumber Poseidon made his escape, Mike didn't give it much thought. The guy was off to the Eighth Abyss to fight for the eighth demon god position, which would keep him busy for a while. Plenty of time to deal with him later!
Having earned nearly ten million Lord merits from Poseidon, Mike was in excellent spirits. After sending everyone back to his private space, he prepared to continue his tower-climbing journey.
This involved his fifth class change, a matter he couldn't take lightly.
With the interlude over, the 34th floor returned to normal, monsters continuously spawning and falling beneath the Thunderclap Hammer. Soon, Mike raised the exploration rate to 100%.
A class change platform appeared before him. The platform, the size of a classroom, was square and jet-black, made of a material Mike couldn't identify...
[I know, 12 tons of SS-grade Ancient Sky Gold, 5 tons of S-grade Earthshine Sand...]
"Alright, alright, shut up!" Mike rolled his eyes. The Eye of Truth was always so helpful when he *didn't* need it.
Stepping onto the class change platform would complete his fifth class change. Mike didn't rush. Instead, he carefully took out a feather.
This was from Apollo; using it during the class change would grant him an additional elemental class: Soul Element.
Mike was rather excited about this. His soul affinity was high, ranking among the top of all elemental affinities, perfectly suited for the Soul Element.
Unfortunately, luck hadn't been on his side during the previous four class changes, denying him the Soul Element.
"Don't let me down," Mike whispered, clutching the feather, taking a deep breath before stepping onto the platform.
*Whoosh!*
The square platform began to rotate, ascending as it spun. Mike, standing on the platform, felt the wind whip through his hair.
*Is this the legendary spiral sky-dance?*
The height the platform reached during the class change depended on how many monsters Mike had slain on the 34th floor. Normally, with 100% exploration, Mike should have ascended to a sky-high altitude, achieving a perfect class change.
However, he'd also killed Poseidon!
A god shouldn't have appeared on the 34th floor. With this feat added to his record, the platform soared upwards at an incredible speed!
In the blink of an eye, Mike felt like he was about to touch the very top of this world. Yet, the platform showed no signs of slowing down, continuing to accelerate, heading straight for the ceiling!
Just as Mike was about to make intimate contact with the ceiling, the feather in his palm grew warm. The next moment, his soul detached from his body, leaping out of this world.
The ethereal sensation was strange... Mike looked back, overlooking the world below, everything seemingly frozen in time.
A fleeting moment in the real world was an eternity here.
However, this feeling was short-lived. Mike quickly returned, as if waking from a dream, gasping for breath.
"So this is the Soul Element..."
The class change platform hovered beneath the ceiling, motionless. The class change was complete.
Mike didn't immediately check his status panel; something else was on his mind. During his brief astral projection, he'd realized something: his soul and body were a perfect match.
In the parlance of web novels, within the broad category of "transmigrators," Mike wasn't a soul transmigrator, but a body transmigrator.
Of course, Mike could accept being a body transmigrator. The question was... what happened to the original Mike?
Mike had seamlessly entered this world, with a legitimate identity, a place in school, arriving just before talent awakening... Everything was too convenient.
If he were reading a web novel, Mike could tolerate it, even if the setup was a bit brainless. He could grit his teeth and keep reading, or just switch to another book.
But when it happened to him, Mike had to consider whether these coincidences meant something. Perhaps there was a hidden secret behind his transmigration.
Transmigration was Mike's biggest secret, one even Shadow Nine didn't know. Now that Shadow Nine was in the Supreme Abyss, Mike couldn't tell him even if he wanted to.
Mike felt troubled. How should he handle this? Tell Apollo?
Apollo himself was prone to mental breakdowns; if Mike went to him, Apollo's reaction might be, "Oh, you're having mental problems too."
Misery loves company, as they say.
"Forget it!" Mike pushed the thought aside. He'd find Apollo and ask after leaving the 34th floor.
His status panel popped up, displaying his post-class change stats:
ID: Thor
Talent: Eye of Truth (SSS-grade)
Level: 500
Class: Heavenly Wrath Grand Archmage (Lightning, Fire, Shadow) SSS-grade
Second Class: Thor Archmage (Wind, Nature, Water) SSS-grade
Third Class: Soul Researcher (Soul Element) SSS-grade
Title: Fire Thief
HP: 85,850,000/85,850,000
MP: 99,460,000/99,460,000 Strength: 655,000 (+678,000)
Intelligence: 964,000 (+1,158,000)
Spirit: 705,000 (+802,000)
Agility: 438,000 (+458,000)
Constitution: 496,000 (+501,000)
Luck: 17
Equipment: Force of Nature (SSS-grade), etc.
Skills: Thunderclap Fate, etc.
Status: Broke, etc.
Compared to before the class change, his stats had doubled, his HP and MP nearing 100
million!
Since the Force of Nature added 100% to all stats, his bonus stats also increased along with his base stats. Reaching level 500, Mike felt a true sense of power and confidence for the first
time!
As his level increased, the stat gains became larger, and his power grew exponentially. In other words, a strong foundation in the early stages led to greater power later on! Besides the increases in stats and HP, Mike's biggest gain was the Soul Element class.
"Soul Researcher?" Mike muttered, studying the description.
"Can learn/use/develop skills that affect the soul, achieving effects such as attack, hypnosis,
healing, brainwashing, etc..."
"With in-depth research into the souls of other races, targeted soul skills can be developed!
Note 1: Cannot be used on humans.
Note 2: Developing skills does not consume soul energy. Research samples are obtained
through killing."
Seeing the last sentence, Mike sighed. "Too bad soul research requires killing. Otherwise, I have quite a few vampires at home..." he said regretfully.
Dracula, standing nearby, was taken aback. Everyone else had returned to the private space,
but Dracula, as the spirit of the shield, hadn't. The problem was... Thor seemed to have
forgotten him!
After closing his status panel, Mike glanced at Dracula without a word. He'd made a tidy profit thanks to Dracula today, which had significantly improved his opinion of him. During the previous battle, the 34th floor had undergone a dramatic transformation. The passage between the 34th floor and the Temple of Truth had been destroyed. Mike had conveniently fulfilled his promise to the Tower Spirit. Such small favors should always be leveraged for a good price!
Storing Dracula back in the shield, Mike summoned the Truth Core Crystal, ready to haggle with the Tower Spirit.
"Tower, tower, tower, tower, tower, tower..." Mike called out rhythmically.
"Shut up!" The Truth Core Crystal changed color as the Tower Spirit appeared, impatiently demanding, "Did you get it back? Hurry up and settle the accounts!"
"Look at you, so eager. We haven't discussed the price yet!" Mike said firmly. Trying to
freeload? Dream on!
"Negotiating the price floor by floor, aren't you tired of this?" From the Tower Spirit's perspective, it was best to establish a long-term friendly cooperation agreement, operating within a framework to avoid bankruptcy.
"Well..." Hearing the Tower Spirit's request, Mike felt it would be rude to be too unreasonable. They were only on the 34th floor; there was a long way to go! By the time he reached the 100th floor, this Tower of Truth might be renamed Thor Tower!
After some haggling, they reached an agreement. For the foreseeable future, Mike could take
whatever he could during his climb. After each floor's settlement, the Tower Spirit would
grant a buff to the entire human race.
While not incredibly powerful, it would be the best buff within the Tower Spirit's capabilities. 70% of this would go to Apollo, with Mike and Master Fool splitting the remaining 30%.
"That's more like it." Mike placed his hand on the Truth Core Crystal, completing the settlement. A notification, albeit delayed, echoed throughout the Tower of Truth. "Congratulations to participant Thor for successfully reclaiming the 34th floor of the Tower
of Truth!"
"Congratulations to participant Thor for conquering the 34th floor with an SSSS-grade
rating!"
"....."
...
After leaving the 34th floor, Mike returned to his private space.
"Fool!" Mike announced excitedly. "I've considered your previous proposal, and it's
feasible."
"Oh?" Master Fool was surprised by Thor's change of heart.
"Didn't you mention converting one hundred million gold coins into copper coins every day?"
Mike gestured grandly, a sea of copper coins appearing before Master Fool. "As a token of my sincerity, I've already converted one hundred million!"
Master Fool was even more astonished. She eyed Thor suspiciously, asking warily, "How do I know you're not just trying to fool me with a pile of random copper coins?"
Mike swore the most venomous oath he could think of, "These one hundred million copper
coins were converted from gold coins. If not, may I turn into a dog!"
*Gasp!* Everyone present drew a sharp breath. What a vicious oath! Thor was truly
committed!
Just then, Dracula, passing by, casually remarked, "It's true. I can testify." Vladimir stared at Dracula warily. *Oh no, he's learning bad habits too!* Vladimir felt
threatened; his position was precarious!
Mike was telling the truth, but not the whole truth. The one hundred million copper coins were an accident, transformed unintentionally when Poseidon gave them to him.
Mike tossed a copper coin to Master Fool. "You're a master smith, you can surely tell the
difference, right?"
Master Fool examined the coin closely. Thor was indeed telling the truth.
Mike smoothly retrieved the coin, explaining, "You've seen my sincerity. Let's compromise."
He presented his generous proposal. "One hundred million today, ten million tomorrow, dividing by ten each day, for a total of seven days. How about it?"
Master Fool was having none of it. *Does he think I don't understand exponential decay?*
"No way!" She wouldn't let Thor get off so easily! What she wanted was to see Thor's heartbroken expression. A measly one hundred million gold coins didn't matter to her. "How about this?" Master Fool smiled slyly, presenting a new proposal. "I'll provide the
Truth Gold Coins, all for you. You just have to convert them into copper coins in front of me."
Mike was speechless.
"Well? Spit it out!" Master Fool pressed, relishing this rare moment of having the upper hand against Thor.
Finally, through gritted teeth, Mike agreed. "Fine!"
...
Inside the private space:
"Lighting, ready!"
"Camera, ready!"
"Camera two, ready!"
The scene was bustling with activity as mountains of gold coins were piled up, glittering
enticingly. Standing before the golden mountains, Mike wore a miserable expression, on the verge of tears.
Master Fool had hired Bilbo and his team at a high price to document this precious moment. And Mike had agreed to it.
Glaring at the culprit, Mike ground out, "Fool, you're pretty loaded!"
"Just so-so," Master Fool said modestly. "Just a few shares in the Mystic Market." Then,
feigning surprise, she asked, "Surely, there's no one here who doesn't* have shares in the Mystic Market, right?"
Listening to her sarcastic remarks, Mike snorted. "Wonder where you learned that from!"
This was the first time Mike had seen so many Truth Gold Coins! Gleaming, sparkling, so
alluring, so adorable... like they were breathing, calling out to him... *Thump-thump!* His Greed Source stirred.
A cold voice interrupted Mike's reverie. "There are 2.5 billion Truth Gold Coins here, just as an
appetizer for today."
Master Fool raised her arm gracefully. "Please."