[Fiona's POV]
The land was greyish-black.
The sparse vegetation around us was in a withered and decayed state.
The air was pungent — a mixture of rotten fish and eggs kept for a month, then opened. I covered my nose from the smell.
Boss Max stood ahead of me with the same relaxed posture and said,
"Well, this is disgusting; we should hurry up."
Then he turned toward me, moved his hand, and different-colored crystals appeared before me.
"Can you absorb this while walking? I want to clear this floor quickly."
I stood stupefied in front of him once again.
These were Attribute Crystals of all kinds.
I was dazed for about two seconds, then hurriedly nodded and accepted the crystals.
He looked at me and asked,
"You didn't ask me about STANDBY mentioned in the contract. Do you trust me that much?"
The moment I heard the question, I blurted out,
"Yes... No... I mean, yes..."
Before I could embarrass myself further, he interrupted,
"Take a deep breath and then speak. Here I thought I had difficulty speaking with people."
He chuckled.
I bowed my head in shame and embarrassment and said softly,
"Thank you. I meant that I thought you would tell me yourself, and it's just been around two hours, and we are not even in a suitable environment, so I thought I should wait."
He nodded and said,
"You should absorb this attribute crystal for now. I'm thinking of something and will tell you soon."
I nodded.
We both strode forward amidst all the corruption — and then suddenly, a system panel appeared.
---
[You are being Corrupted. Corruption will increase more as you interact with this environment.]
---
We both stopped.
He looked at me and said,
"Whatever happens, don't panic. It's happening for a reason."
"Okay."
I was intrigued. Till now, nothing about him had been conventional.
After walking for a few minutes, a small pond appeared, full of mud and bubbling on the surface.
He turned toward it.
I stayed at the edge.
He removed his cloak, then turned around and said,
"I'm kind of going half-naked, so please turn around for a minute."
My cheeks turned slightly red as I turned my back on him.
"Okay."
After a minute, I turned around and almost stumbled to the ground.
He was submerged in the pond up to his chest.
His skin had started to turn black, and some parts were coming off — yet his face remained calm, not even a shred of panic or fear.
I stopped myself after seeing his serene expression, even amidst corruption.
Was he testing himself?
Or something else entirely?
I was officially out of ideas to guess the reason or logic behind this being.
Still, I readied my healing spell again — just in case.
A small smile formed on his face, and I couldn't think of a reason behind it. Not in this corrupted pond that would've killed me in a minute or two.
After three to four minutes, his skin started returning to normal.
All the tissues and skin that had fallen off regenerated before my eyes in a blink.
His body became completely normal — as if the pond was made for him, and all that corruption was nothing but illusion.
He stood up from the pond and started walking toward the edge.
My eyes fell upon his body.
It was… perfection.
Nothing in this existence could come close.
Those chiseled abs.
Those biceps that looked like they were made of high-tier Mythril.
And that beautifully handsome face — crowned with mesmerizing golden eyes.
I turned away hurriedly, barely stopping myself from gawking at this god-tier physique.
---
[Max's POV]
I still felt a little awkward coming half-naked in front of a girl of my age.
But she had already turned around before I could say anything.
I took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked at my body.
No sign remained that I had just come out of a corrupted pond.
I had to love my Bloodline and Physique.
Just as I thought — they provided me traits based on what affected me.
I glanced at the system panel. The description this time was a bit long.
---
[Trait – Infinite Aegis]
[Description – Absolute Defence]
[Trait Functions:]
• Absolute Immunity:
Nullifies all forms of corruption, curses, decay, blight, insanity, soul erosion, and negative status effects.
• Elemental Nullification:
Completely negates damage and debuffs from Fire, Water, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Wind, Shadow, Light, Void, Chaos, Blood, and Time, etc.
• Magic Resistance (True):
Renders the bearer immune to all magical attacks, spells, and arts, regardless of their rank or origin. Even Reality-Altering magic fails to breach the Aegis.
• Aegis Field:
Generates an omnidirectional barrier that scales infinitely with the user's willpower. Can expand outward as a dome or compress into skin-level defense.
• Reflective Sanctity:
Reflects up to 50% of absorbed energy or curse effects as Purified Backlash.
• Perfect Equilibrium (Synergy Effect):
When combined with other "Infinite" traits (Infinite Mana, Mind, Stamina, Aegis), manifests the Absolute Domain — Equilibrion, a field that stabilizes reality and nullifies all entropy, decay, and elemental imbalance within its radius.
---
'Wow. I mean, at this point, I don't know if it's even possible to kill me.
Whatever.
System — what will be the cost of creating a title that lets me share my Infinite traits with others?'
---
[10 million Myth Points]
---
'Holy shit. That much?
Even my Innate Ability can't make that much.
Well… I'll think it over.'
I concluded my thoughts, dressed up again, and walked toward Fiona.
"Thank you for keeping your spell ready," I said with a smile.
She nodded positively.
We walked toward the dungeon.
I wanted to use my space element but didn't have enough control yet to travel with another person.
She used the time to absorb the Attribute Crystals I had multiplied.
Most of my stats didn't need crystals. I had pushed my Agility to E+, but Strength and Agility couldn't move to the next rank since my four main stats were already Infinite.
We cleared dungeon after dungeon.
Due to my Infinite Aegis, Fiona also became immune to corruption.
I didn't hurry — the Domain reset time was nine hours unless someone killed the Boss Monster.
After using Fire, I switched to Water.
Keeping the orb theme, I created Water Blades, Aqua Shot, Water Wall, and Water Sphere to slay corrupted monsters.
They were easy prey.
After clearing all the dungeons, about three hours remained before reset.
I asked if she needed rest, but she said she wasn't tired since she wasn't fighting much.
So we sprinted toward the Labyrinth to clear it before entering the Domain.
The Labyrinth's theme was also corruption, and the Boss Monster — a Zombie King.
This time, I let Fiona handle some of the monsters.
It didn't affect our speed.
I even stopped midway to give her tips to improve her sword style.
We cleared the Labyrinth in about three hours.
Fiona looked surprised at the time.
I smiled and walked toward the Domain.
Still didn't know how to talk to her.
Didn't even know what to make of her.
I never had friends growing up — only Revanya. That bond came naturally.
But being around someone my age… that was harder.
It had been five minutes since the Domain reset when we exited the Labyrinth.
After walking a bit, I prepared to use my Space Affinity.
"I'm going to use something to reach there quickly. Don't freak out."
She looked at me — curiosity mixed with confusion — then nodded.
I followed the same procedure as before, opening a wormhole.
This time, I added another layer to strengthen it — to support more than one person.
When the tunnel opened, Fiona flinched and jumped back.
I explained and told her to enter.
She nervously stepped in. I followed.
During the transport, an idea struck — how to create safe wormholes for group travel.
We arrived.
The barrier was already gone. Players were entering.
I noticed fatigue in Fiona's steps.
She didn't say it, but I knew she was tired.
I increased my speed.
Corrupted goblins, lizards, panthers, slimes, and pixies blocked our path, but Aqua Beams and Water Blades sliced through them effortlessly.
We hurried to the Boss Lair.
The boss — a Zombie Queen.
Didn't plan to waste time.
I summoned Lamina. She was thrilled to return.
Fire and Water intertwined around her blade.
One downward slash — and the Queen's reign ended, along with her army.
Fiona was too tired to react, but her eyes were glued to me — sharp, like a hawk's.
I walked toward her and said,
"I saw you were getting tired, and these bosses don't provide any quality experience in fights, so I hurried up."
She just nodded blankly.
I chuckled.
I was about to transfer us to the 1st Floor — the only residential floor until the 10th — but before I could, a system panel appeared.
---
[Tower Administrator has decided to implement your idea of Codex to the whole Tower System and make it available for all players.
As it's a creation of yours, the Administrator gives you a chance to ask for compensation.]
---
I froze.
Codex, available to everyone?
That was huge.
It would revolutionize advancement — spells, arts, everything.
I started thinking about what I needed most — something I couldn't easily get but the Tower could give.
Only one thing came to mind.
MYTH POINTS.
A plan formed.
'A contract for royalty based on a percentage of Myth Points for every person using Codex,' I said.
The system replied instantly.
---
[The Administrator accepts your proposal. You will get 20% of Myth Points used by every player to get Codex. Higher rank, higher charge.]
---
'50%.'
---
[Not possible... 25%.]
---
Bargaining with the Tower, huh?
I couldn't help but laugh aloud.
Fiona gave me a questioning look, one eyebrow raised.
"You'll know later," I told her.
'30%, not a point less.'
---
[Done. The system will send your contract in a few minutes. Codex update will be announced tomorrow morning.]
[Congratulations on being the richest in the Tower.]
---
I smirked.
Transported Fiona and myself to the First Floor.
Then we walked toward Silver Spire — dinner, and a long-awaited bath.
Today…
was very productive.