School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 227 --The Challenge of the Magic Tower

Looking upwards from the depths where the high priest stood, the magic tower before them seemed to exude an unabashed, mocking sneer.

Among the eight preselected contenders, seven had not rushed to challenge the tower.

Skes, Moxis, and Jolna were in a mutual standoff, each waiting for the others to make the first move.

The unspoken agreement was clear: if you move, I’ll watch and see your outcome before I make my move.

Laine, who was always cautious in his actions, decided to wait and observe for the time being.

Goden, on the other hand, had his mind far from the challenge at hand.

He had no intention of entering the magic tower.

If an opportunity presented itself, he would eliminate these three important figures from the noble families.

If not, he would find a way to entangle them further, allowing himself to return to the City of Two to oversee the bigger picture.

Owen, meanwhile, was content to watch the unfolding drama.

He was curious to see what kind of despicable and ruthless acts the three nobles would resort to and what their eventual downfall would look like.

As for challenging the tower himself, he was in no rush.

He had ample confidence in his own abilities.

Then there was Elvan, who, had he still been alive, might have been the first to charge into the magic tower.

Unfortunately, he had already been reduced to ashes.

The only one interested in being the first to enter the magic tower was Hammer, the madman.

Seeing that no one else was making a move, he swaggered over to the high priest and asked, "Is it true that the first to reach the ninth floor gets to marry the witch?"

"Indeed," the high priest confirmed.

"The princess awaits on the ninth floor. Whoever reaches her first will be the victor."

"Good!"

With that, Hammer leaped into the doorway of the first floor.

The hands of the three nobles outside visibly trembled at his action.

They feared Hammer getting a head start, but then they thought better of it.

Considering the magic tower’s nine tiers, reaching the top floor would undoubtedly be a formidable challenge.

Letting Hammer scout ahead might not be such a bad idea after all.

After all, the further one progressed, the more the defenders’ physical strength and arcanergy would be depleted, turning the tables in favor of those who challenged later.

Three minutes later, the lantern hanging outside the first floor of the tower lit up, signifying Hammer’s success in passing the first challenge.

Then, every three minutes, the lantern on the next level would light up.

Even in broad daylight, the light from these lanterns was unmistakably bright, even slightly blinding.

It wasn’t long before Hammer had ascended to the fourth level, where he lingered for an extended period.

Eventually, he managed to make his way to the fifth floor, but after a short while, a muffled sound echoed, and Hammer was expelled from the magic tower.

No one caught him as he fell; Hammer crashed heavily to the ground.

Judging by the wounds on his body, Hammer had been through a fierce battle.

Given his reckless fighting style, it was likely that the guardian he defeated wasn’t faring much better.

The high priest ordered his subordinates to carry Hammer to the nearest military camp for treatment, but the blood frothing from the corners of his mouth suggested that even if he didn’t succumb to his injuries, he would need a lengthy period to recover.

Serves him right!

That was the unanimous thought of everyone present.

To someone who regards the lives of others as worthless, his own life would naturally not be valued by anyone else.

Even the three ruthless nobles felt that Hammer was a madman not worthy of pity.

After Hammer was carried away, Laine was the next to enter the magic tower.

Seeing Hammer’s defeat at the fifth level, the three nobles decided to let someone else pave the way for them, aiming to reap the benefits later on.

Laine spent about ten minutes on the first level, significantly longer than Hammer, before advancing to the second floor.

On the second level, it took him fifteen minutes to move up to the third floor, and he spent even more time there.

The three nobles watching from below began to assume that Laine’s abilities were far inferior to Hammer’s.

On the fourth level, Laine stayed for five minutes before he single-handedly grabbed the windowsill and leaped down from the tower.

His clothes were unstained by blood, and he was hardly injured, yet he still faced defeat.

"The limitation on strength greatly affects a person," he remarked as he approached Goden and Owen.

"On the fourth floor, the guardian’s strength was such that I could not be fully confident of victory."

Hearing Laine’s words, the three nobles, Goden, and Owen became even more hesitant to act rashly, preferring to wait for others to attempt the tower first.

This strategy would exhaust the guardians’ strength, reducing the difficulty they would face when confronting the stronger opponents above the fourth level.

As time slowly passed, the three nobles showed no signs of making a move.

Goden felt this standoff could not continue and stepped forward to inquire with the high priest.

"If no one breaks through the ninth level, who will be declared the winner? And how will the rewards be calculated?" he asked.

"The one who passes through the most levels will be deemed the victor," the high priest replied.

"As for the rewards, they will be distributed according to the ranks as promised before. However, whether one can marry the witch will depend on the witch’s willingness."

"And if two people clear the same number of levels?" Goden probed further.

"The one who challenged earlier will be placed higher in rank," the high priest answered, narrowing his eyes.

Goden smiled inwardly at this response.

His question had delivered a significant blow to Skes, Moxis, and Jolna.

They had hoped to reap the benefits of others’ efforts, but now they found themselves in a dilemma.

Charging into the tower earlier meant facing stronger enemies, but hanging back risked someone else achieving the same level of progress, thus slipping ahead in rank due to an earlier attempt.

Given their roughly equal strengths, Skes, Moxis, and Jolna would likely end up on the same level if nothing unexpected happened.

So now, the three began to vie for the chance to enter the magic tower first, knowing well that an earlier entry could secure a higher rank.

They nearly blocked the entrance to the tower, but Skes, slippery as an eel, managed to slip through first.

The other two could only stamp their feet in frustration outside.

Five minutes in, Skes had ascended to the second level.

Moxis immediately entered the tower, engaging in combat with the guardian of the first floor.

Soon after, he too passed the first level but had to wait in the stairwell between the first and second levels for Skes to complete his challenge on the second floor.

Meanwhile, the slower-reacting Jolna finally made it into the first level.

Goden’s plan had come to fruition.

Having all three nobles enter the magic tower simultaneously provided him with a greater opportunity to act, exactly the scenario he had hoped for.

Ten minutes later, Skes reached the third level, and Moxis finally got the chance to enter the second level.

Almost at the same time, Jolna defeated the guardian of the first level.

He tried to rush into the second level but was forcefully repelled by an invisible barrier back to the first level.

Reluctantly, he stood on the staircase closest to the second level, watching the confrontation above.

The guardian of the second level, shrouded in darkness like the one on the first, had an indiscernible face and moderate strength.

However, the challengers did not find the battle easy, as their strength was also reduced to match the corresponding level of the magic tower.

Skes and the others were aware that their strength was limited, but the extent of this limitation was not entirely clear to them.

The one who truly understood the extent of the limitations on strength was the always cautious Laine.

However, his clear understanding of these restrictions paradoxically became his own shackles.

After a struggle, he barely made it to the fourth floor.

Following a brief exchange, Laine felt the restrictions on his power lift, but he still found himself slightly weaker than the guardian of the fourth level.

Thus, he chose to leap down, abandoning the challenge.

What Laine failed to grasp was that the level of one’s strength does not necessarily dictate absolute success or failure.

Hammer’s strength might not have surpassed Laine’s, but his reckless and fearless charge and attack strategy actually led him to conquer the fourth floor.

Moxis, now on the second level, perhaps represented a middle ground between Laine’s caution and Hammer’s bravery.

He was neither overly cautious nor excessively bold, engaging the guardian in an enjoyable exchange of moves.

Eventually, Moxis, leveraging his combat experience, delivered a piercing strike.

The guardian was hit, dissipating into the air as the dark mist vanished.

As Moxis prepared to ascend to the third level, Jolna had just stepped onto the second.

When Moxis attempted to climb the stairs from the second to the third floor, an invisible barrier suddenly appeared, bouncing him back to the second level.

Standing up, he and Jolna exchanged glances.

After a minute, with no further changes on the second level and no reappearance of the guardian, Jolna let out a sly laugh.

"Ha, I’ve got it," he said.

"Those guardians aren’t real beings; they are part of the magic tower’s defense mechanism."

No sooner had he spoken than he swung his sword at Moxis.

Moxis, prepared for the attack, quickly parried Jolna’s blade with his own sword.

The two exchanged a rapid succession of thirty to fifty moves, then simultaneously leaped backward, gathering their true power while waiting for an opportune moment.

"It’s not like I have much choice here, brother," Jolna said with a smirk that was neither friendly nor entirely hostile.

"Seems like you’ve been mistaken for the guardian of this level. I have no choice but to take you down."

"The feeling’s mutual."

With spies from the various noble families and the city lord already silenced, and Elvan dead, eliminating Moxis here would significantly benefit Jolna’s family.

Given this golden opportunity, Jolna naturally cast aside his mask of pretense to reveal his sharp fangs.

Similarly, for Moxis, there could be no better chance to eliminate Jolna.

Both believed in their capability to deliver a fatal blow.

After a few minutes of standoff, with both condensing their arcanergy into their respective blades, they were ready to launch that deadly strike at any moment.

Jolna suddenly spat towards Moxis, his body darting forward with the spit flying at his opponent.

In a life-or-death moment, Moxis wasn’t concerned about the filth; he met Jolna’s charge head-on with his sword.

Blade clashed against blade, their arcanergy colliding to create a massive explosion.

The force of their powers blasted both combatants out the window, tumbling from the second floor to the ground below.