The One Who Wants it All

For some unknown reason, Axel could see Nyx’s thoughts. The reason for his brother’s alienation was that he didn’t want Axel to have anything to do with being a Challenger and the Tower of Erase. His goal all along was to conquer the Tower of Erase, erase it from the face of the Earth, so that normal human Axel could live a normal, happy life.

Axel’s tears could not stop streaming down his face as he watched the images his brother imagined. They were filled with Axel: what he would look like when he graduated from college, when he landed a corporate job, how happy Axel would be when he introduced his girlfriend to Nyx, and what Axel would look like in a black suit as a groom when he decided to marry his girlfriend. Nyx would take care of his cute nieces and nephews.

Axel finally understood that it wasn’t Nyx’s intention to isolate him. He just wanted to protect him from the bad and ugly things that make one unable to sleep for countless nights. Axel’s tears never stopped. He continued to watch until Nyx was slowly engulfed in fire, a small smile on his lips.

“Brother!!!”

“Brother, don’t leave me.”

“Brother……”

Axel lost track of time. Seeing his brother take his last breath tore him apart. He wailed, thrashed, and injured his fingers trying to scratch himself, just because he wanted to hold his brother once again. It took a long time before he calmed down. He was not in the right state of mind. He barely paid attention to the words that floated in front of his head.

[Nyx Hart has left an S grade skill for you.]

[The Tower was impressed by your brother’s love and compassion for each other.]

[The Legendary Swordsman Skill has been handed to you according to your brother’s will, along with his experience, knowledge, and memories.]

An enormous amount of information suddenly attacked Axel’s vulnerable brain. At once, Nyx’s nine years of memories flooded his brain like a tidal wave. He was dizzy from the overload, his head buzzing with extreme pain. Axel could not help but collapse to the ground and clutch his head.

[The Tower is searching for skills compatible with your attributes.]

Axel was groveling on the ground, unable to open his eyes due to the excruciating pain in his head. He used both his fingers to massage his temples, trying to alleviate the pain. Suddenly, loud beeping sounds blared in his ears. He frowned in annoyance and squinted his eyes a little, trying to see what was causing the disturbances. Warning messages flooded his vision. Many holographic screens appeared one after another, all displaying the same messages.

[Error! Could not find any skills compatible with your body composition.]

It was like watching a virus spreading malware to a computer. Error pop-up screens appeared simultaneously, then disappeared, and more appeared. In his dizziness, Axel heard voices. Deep, inhuman voices he could not fathom. It seemed they were arguing about something.

“…….He’s a human. How come no human skills can match with him?!”

“…….This is annoying. Please find a solution to this.”

“……..These warning alert sounds must stop at once! My rest was disturbed!”

“………Find a match with the beasts, then.”

[Error! Could not find any skills compatible with your body composition.]

“……..Tsk.”

“……..Hahahaha! Are you stupid? Why try matching him with the beastkin!”

“……..Fine. Let’s try demons.”

“……..Are you serious?!”

[Ding!]

[A lost ancient skill was found to be a match for your body composition.]

“…..!!!!”

“…..What?!”

“……No way?!”

“……Hey, hey, hey, this already crosses the line. Are we allowing this? The skill that matched with this human is a lost ancient one, you know! From an Ancient demon to boot.”

[Skill name: The One Who Wants It All]

[Skill level: ???]

[Description: The demon of greed, who was the original owner of this skill, was ruthless and extremely powerful. The demon of greed was never satisfied with the things he possessed. He wanted more. He wanted to devour more. Magic, wealth, strength, power! He wanted to possess it all!]

[You are greedy. You were never satisfied with being left without abilities. Your classmates have abilities, and clearly, you wanted one. No. You deserve to have one. You will never be satisfied with just one. You wanted to possess all skills!]

[Note: Steal an object that belongs to your target, and you will steal one of their skills. Take note that the skill limit will be twice as heavy when the stolen skill falls into your hands.]

[Let me tell you a secret. If you don’t want to be bound by limits, you can always kill your target. Not only will this skill upgrade, but it will also allow you to steal all the skills your target has! Don’t worry. There is no limit to how many you can kill! After all, being greedy has no limits.]

“…….Crap, we’re too late. The skill has already matched with the human. No taking it back.”

Axel, whose hands were busy massaging his temples, finally looked up. The voices that had been talking while his head was pounding all stopped. Multiple pairs of eyes were staring right at him. Axel was stunned. The owners of the voices were little puppy-like creatures with fox tails and furry hands. But they had sharp razor teeth and menacing red glowing eyes. Axel had just received his brother’s memories. Although he wasn’t familiar with them, he knew these creatures were called dungeon sweepers. They supervised the dungeon floors, cleaned up after the Challengers were done clearing them or failed to do so. They also managed the Tower System and ensured peace within the Tower jurisdiction. These creatures were not to be messed with as they were extremely ferocious if they attacked. But they never minded the humans; their main purpose was to ensure the dungeon bosses and monsters adhered to the rules and did not run rampant.