Kael closed his eyes and took a long breath.
He really couldn’t understand these people.
After several seconds, he finally released a tired sigh.
"You know what?"
He looked at the caravan.
"It’s not worth the effort. Let’s just get this over with."
Kael reorganized the scattered NPCs and returned them to the carriages, making sure everyone was accounted for before continuing the journey.
The caravan began moving once again.
This time, thankfully, nothing else happened.
The caravan simply followed the route Kael had been given, traveling deeper through the forest until the destination finally came into view.
Kael glanced at the location displayed within his mind.
They had arrived.
The moment the caravan came to a complete stop at its destination, a notification screen appeared before Kael.
[FLOOR 11 COMPLETE — HELL DIFFICULTY]
[Rating: SS]
[Enemies Defeated: 137]
[EXP Gained: 77,550]
[Tower Coins Gained: 11,000]
[+10 Drifting Cloud Incense (E-Rank)]
[Infinite Reward Multiplier — Activated!]
[Multiplier: x1,270]
[Reward Adjusted:]
[EXP Gained: 98,488,500]
[Tower Coins Gained: 13,970,000]
[+12,700 Drifting Cloud Incense (E-Rank)]
[You’ve Leveled Up ×3]
Kael read through the notifications from top to bottom.
"Not bad."
A multiplier of one thousand two hundred and seventy times wasn’t anything to complain about, but it wasn’t particularly insane either. Kael had already seen much higher multipliers from his talent, so he didn’t feel particularly excited by the number.
The EXP and Tower Coins were excellent, of course.
Ninety-eight million EXP was nothing to scoff at, and nearly fourteen million Tower Coins would always be useful.
Yet there was something else on the screen that caught his attention.
The Drifting Cloud Incense.
Kael stared at the reward.
Then he stared at it again.
"What’s this?"
His brows furrowed.
Normally, when his Infinite Reward Multiplier affected items, it didn’t simply increase their quantity. Instead, the talent usually attempted to improve their quality, pushing an item toward a higher rank or a superior version whenever possible.
That was what made the talent so ridiculous.
If he obtained an item, the multiplier didn’t necessarily mean he would receive thousands of copies of the same thing. Instead, the item itself could become vastly better.
Yet this time, that hadn’t happened.
Ten pieces of E-Rank Drifting Cloud Incense had become twelve thousand seven hundred pieces.
The rank hadn’t changed.
The quality hadn’t changed.
Only the quantity had.
Why?
Kael’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the notification.
There had to be a reason.
But before he could investigate the matter further, a strange sensation suddenly tugged at his consciousness.
The world around him blurred.
The forest.
The caravan.
The featureless humanoid figures.
Everything vanished.
Kael’s consciousness briefly sank into darkness.
When his awareness returned, he was once again standing inside the Tower’s start room.
He didn’t even bother looking around.
His attention remained fixed on the Drifting Cloud Incense.
Kael immediately opened his inventory and pulled out a single piece.
It looked ordinary enough.
A small incense stick.
Nothing about its appearance suggested that it was particularly special.
Still, Kael wasn’t interested in appearances.
His eyes activated.
The power of Eye of Judgment swept across the incense.
Information immediately appeared within his vision.
---
[Drifting Cloud Incense]
[Rank: E (Max)]
[Abilities:]
•— Tranquil Bloom —•
When the Incense is lit, it releases a calming agent into the surrounding air. When inhaled, the scent calms the mind and induces a brief state of tranquility, improving mental clarity and cognitive speed.
•— Dreamless Night —•
When the Incense is lit before sleep, it eases the mind into a state of tranquility, allowing for peaceful sleep and renewed vigor upon awakening.
---
Kael stared at the information.
His expression wasn’t particularly interested in either ability.
Instead, his attention was fixed on a single word.
Max.
"E-Rank, Max?"
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
He finally understood.
The Drifting Cloud Incense couldn’t be upgraded any further.
Its E Rank wasn’t merely its current rank.
It was its limit.
That explained everything.
The Infinite Reward Multiplier hadn’t failed to improve the incense. There was simply nothing left for it to improve.
The item had already reached the absolute limit of what its quality could become.
Therefore, the multiplier had affected its quantity instead.
Kael slowly nodded.
"So the Multiplier talent isn’t completely all-powerful."
The realization was surprisingly reasonable.
His talent was already absurd enough.
If it could take an item that had reached its absolute limit and forcefully push it beyond that limit, then the ability would become even more ridiculous than it already was.
Everything had a limit.
Even humans.
Some Hunters could become trapped at a particular level for years despite consuming countless resources and killing thousands of monsters. It didn’t matter how much experience they accumulated or how many resources they poured into cultivation.
Their level simply refused to rise.
They had reached the limit imposed by their talent.
If living beings had limits, then it made sense that items could have them too.
The only difference was that Kael had never encountered one clearly enough to understand the rule until now.
He looked at the incense in his hand.
"So that’s how it works."
He slipped it back into his inventory.
The discovery was useful, but the item itself didn’t interest him much.
Drifting Cloud Incense was essentially an extremely high-quality calming and anti-insomnia item. It could help clear the mind, improve mental clarity, and provide a peaceful night’s sleep.
Useful?
Certainly.
Something Kael personally needed?
Not particularly.
With the matter settled, he turned his attention toward the next trial.
He had no intention of wasting time.
Kael willed himself toward the next floor.
A notification immediately appeared before him.
[Do you wish to proceed to the next Trial?]
[YES / NO]
Kael selected YES.
The start room disappeared.
His surroundings began shifting once again, space twisting around him as his consciousness was dragged toward the next trial.
When his senses returned, Kael found himself standing in the middle of what appeared to be a tiny village.
Small houses surrounded him on all sides, most of them constructed from simple materials with thatched roofs. The entire place looked primitive, almost like something ripped straight out of an ancient rural settlement.
Kael barely had time to examine his surroundings before something hit his nose.
His expression changed instantly.
"Fuck, what the hell is that smell?"
Kael immediately covered his nose.
The stench was horrific.
It was the kind of smell that seemed capable of physically attacking the inside of his skull.
Kael’s brows furrowed as he looked around the village, wondering what could possibly be responsible for such an unbearable stench.
Then the Tower’s notification appeared.
[FLOOR 12 — THE PLAGUE VILLAGE]
[Mission: The Cure’s Countdown]
[Objective: Salvation.]
[Trial Rule: Gather 3 ingredients from monster-infested zones to create the cure. Save at least 20 of the 50 infected villagers.]
[Warning: Villagers die at a rate of one per 10 minutes. The monsters guard the ingredients with territorial aggression.]
Kael stared at the notification.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then a smile slowly appeared on his face.
Finally.
A normal trial.
No escort mission where thirty idiots would scatter in every direction the moment they saw a monster.
Just gather three ingredients and save twenty villagers.
Compared to the previous floor, this was practically a vacation.
"Now this is doable."
The moment he finished speaking, a map appeared within his mind.
Three locations were highlighted.
Each contained one of the ingredients required to create the cure.
Kael studied the routes for only a few seconds before committing them to memory.
He turned toward the direction of the first ingredient.
"This shouldn’t take much time."
With that, Kael immediately began moving.
# #
Hey guys, good news! I might be getting free time soon, so we might return to 3 Chapters daily release soon, hopefully. Anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts on the book so far. Also, don’t forget to join the Discord channel.
Oh, by the way, Kael’s new combat technique. You guys can submit a better name for it, as you can see this author sucks when it comes to naming stuff 😭😭