Chapter 113: 10,000,000 Death Tokens
The System’s low hum crawled across Jack’s nerves like static electricity before a storm.
[DANGER ASSESSMENT COMPLETE]
[Bound creatures cannot actively harm their host.]
[Power reading: UNSTABLE.]
[Sovereign-class entity previously detected on this floor.]
So it was him.
The "Sovereign-class entity" the System had warned about the moment they stepped onto Floor 24 hadn’t been some prowling beast in the wilderness.
Jack exhaled slowly, forcing his breath through his chest that felt tight enough to crack.
Sovereign class.
’If I were stupid enough to try a binding right now... what would it even cost?’
[Binding Cost]
[Pest | 2,500 Tokens]
[Wretch | 5,000 Tokens]
[Vile | 10,000 Tokens]
[Terror | 25,000 Tokens]
[Dread | 50,000 Tokens]
[Nightmare | 100,000 Tokens]
[Disaster | 150,000 Tokens]
[Sovereign | 250,000 Tokens]
[Emperor | 1,000,000 Tokens]
[Tyrant | 10,000,000 Tokens]
Jack’s stomach gave a slow, sickening twist as the numbers burned themselves into his vision.
Two hundred and fifty thousand tokens.
His current balance was barely a fraction of that. He could farm Floor 2 until the coliseum crumbled to dust and still come up short.
And that was assuming Ren truly was "only" Sovereign-class. If the System had underestimated him, if he was Emperor or even a Tyrant class...
The thought of ten million tokens made Jack’s head pound.
[Current Token Balance: 6,650]
[Deficit for Sovereign binding: 243,350 tokens]
[Estimated grinding: 8 days minimum]
[Assuming you kill 100 terror creatures a day.]
[Recommendation: Determine precise rank of target before any binding attempt.]
[Secondary Recommendation: Acquire significant token reserves before engagement.]
’Yeah, thanks,’ Jack thought grimly. ’Why don’t I just ask the ancient demigod who can probably smell my fear what his exact power level is.’
He felt Corvin’s claws flex against his shoulder. Jack reached up and brushed a thumb across the raven’s sleek feathers.
’Two hundred and fifty thousand death tokens. I’d have to grind for nightmare creatures. It would be better for Corvin and leveling up my classes.
Assuming I could even find enough high-level creatures. And even then... What if the binding failed?
What if he’s higher than Sovereign? Emperor? Tyrant?’
The mathematics of it were staggering. Ten million tokens would require him to kill almost 600 Nightmare-class entities. The kind of grinding that would take months, for Jack to properly kill them and not die in the process.
"You’re very quiet, Soul Warden."
Ren’s voice rolled across the frozen chamber like distant thunder, soft but carrying enough weight to make the frost along the floor shiver.
The Patriarch’s star-bright eyes caught the silver torchlight, it looked like twin suns burning behind a veil of ancient patience.
Jack straightened, fighting to keep his voice steady despite the crushing realization of how hopelessly outmatched he was. "It’s... possible," he said carefully. "Binding you. Just not right this second."
The corners of Ren’s mouth curved upward. Not quite a smile, but something far more dangerous.
"Ah. There are conditions, then."
Every instinct Jack possessed went sharp and cold. His fingers twitched. "What makes you say that?"
Ren rose from the throne with grace. The sound of frost cracking beneath his boots punctuated each step like breaking bones.
"Because I’ve lived long enough to realize when someone hesitates. If you could bind at will, without cost or consequence, you would have done so already."
"And yet you stand there, measuring every breath, calculating odds behind those careful eyes. That tells me there is a gate you must pass, a price you must pay."
The casual precision of the observation made Jack’s skin crawl. He tried to keep his face neutral, but under Ren’s dissecting gaze, he felt transparent as glass.
Ren tilted his head slightly. "If it were anyone else in this tower, any being who rivaled my strength, they would not fear you, even knowing of your legendary power."
The ancient being’s eyes glittered with cold amusement. "Your hesitation is more revealing than any confession, Soul Warden."
Jack forced a shrug, hoping the gesture looked nonchalant, though his heart hammered against his ribs. "Or maybe I just don’t like making deals without considering my options."
A low, rumbling sound escaped Ren’s chest.
Laughter that held no warmth, only dark amusement. "Deflection. How refreshingly honest in its dishonesty."
Jack watched the frost creep toward his boots and felt the weight of his impossible situation settling on his shoulders like a mountain.
’He’s reading me like a book. Every tell, every hesitation. He knows exactly how screwed I am.’
"The truth is," Jack said, letting his voice settle into rough honesty, "the whole reason I came to this floor was to hunt."
Ren’s starlit eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in amusement. "Hunt?"
"I need experience." Jack kept his tone level casual, as if discussing the weather rather than his desperate need to become strong enough to survive in a world that wanted him dead.
"I need to get stronger, and that means finding worthy opponents."
The Patriarch regarded him for a long, measuring silence. The only sounds in the chamber were the whisper of spreading frost and the distant howl of wind through the castle’s towers. The silver veins in the throne dimmed slightly, like a heartbeat easing from excitement.
"Then you seek prey," Ren said at last.
Jack nodded once, meeting those ancient eyes despite the supernatural pressure bearing down on him. "That’s the idea."
Ren’s gaze drifted toward the tall windows that looked out over the desolate landscape of Floor 24, where the blood-colored sky stretched into infinity above valleys filled with shadows and death.
"There are packs of Nightmare-class predators that roam the eastern valleys. Ancient things that have learned to coordinate their hunts over centuries of killing."
Nightmare-class.
Jack felt his pulse quicken, not just from fear, but from something dangerously close to anticipation.
The token yield from creatures of that caliber would be enormous. Maybe enough to start closing the gap between his current power and what he’d need to bind something like Ren.
"Their cunning rivals their savagery," Ren continued, his voice carrying the weight of long observation.
"Many who hunt them discover they have become the hunted. The valleys are littered with the bones of overconfident fools who thought power alone would carry them to victory."
The warning was clear, but so was the opportunity. Jack could practically hear the System calculating potential gains, death tokens flowing like rivers if he could actually survive long enough to claim them.
Ren turned back from the window, his eyes gleaming like stars half-hidden by storm clouds. The ancient being’s expression held something that might have been respect, or perhaps just the interest a master craftsman might show for a particularly challenging piece of raw material.
"If you truly wish to test your edge against worthy prey," Ren said softly, his words carrying the weight of prophecy, "I can tell you exactly where to find them. But know this, the choice to hunt such creatures is also the choice to become like them. Predators who have forgotten what it means to show mercy."
The silence stretched between them. Jack felt the weight of the decision pressing down on him like the castle itself.
This was more than just directions to a hunting ground. This was Ren testing him, measuring what kind of person he truly was beneath the desperate need for power.
Jack held his gaze, letting the chill of the chamber settle deep into his bones, accepting the cold along with everything it represented.
"Tell me why you want to grow stronger, you seem like you can’t wait."
Jack paused for a moment before meeting Ren’s gaze. "When I was six years old, someone tried to kill me. I don’t ever want to be powerless."
Ren smiled so wide, it sent chills down Jack’s spine.