"No! No! No! No! No! No!
That is impossible! That is absolutely not possible! There is no way that's… that can be even allowed! Nope! I am not going to believe that! You can't say something like that is possible!
You can't expect me to believe anything you said!" The admin spoke as he refused to believe what I just said.
I tried explaining things to him but looking at him reacting like that, I had to pause for a moment until he would calm down. My eyes then looked at others, and yes, they too were similarly surprised as the Admin. Just not reacting as much as he was.
"Balthazar. Please behave like an Admin," Hiradale spoke to the Admin as he looked at me with a stupefied expression. Though it didn't seem like the Admin heard him as he was completely focused on me.
"Why do you think it is not possible?" I asked as I saw him behaving a bit more 'normal' now. Though as soon as I asked that question, his reaction became frantic again.
"Not Possible? There are a dozen things that don't make sense! Kid, answer me! Firstly, how are you going to create a permanent path between the two places? It's not something that even the strongest of beings were capable of doing! Connecting the Tutorial and the Safe Zone of the first floor?
Are you trying to collapse the tower itself? Nope. That's not possible at all!"
It was true in a way. Under normal circumstances, the impact of destruction of the tutorial would harm the first floor itself. But we are bypassing it by multiple steps here.
"Crowley. Why do you think it is possible?" Annabeth, who was trying to reason with me, asked as she observed my face. Even though she didn't seem like she was believing in me, she was still trying to understand my point of view.
I smiled as I was glad that at least there were some people who were ready to listen to me. Otherwise, convincing them would be as hard as conversing with a rockwall.
"You said that there is a rift between the two places, right? Then that means that people can already come and go without creating any disturbances to the other place. I think with my [Gift!] and with the help of my contractor, I can easily make that rift permanent without much problem. It should be doable," I said as it wasn't totally impossible to do that.
Since my [Game Master System] can influence almost everything, I think it's not that hard. Just a bit costly… or maybe a lot. But if I can just make something out of the monsters here and the corrupt energy from that rift itself, then I think it should be feasible.
They listened to me, they turned silent.
The Two Gods who were listening to the entire thing were having mixed emotions about this. Perhaps they wanted to believe me but it was too absurd for them to believe it? Plus me being a 17 years old newbie wasn't exactly helping the situation either.
"Even if you do that, that doesn't mean that the world will stop from collapsing. The damage could spread to the first floor as well," Hiradale spoke as he observed my face. He wasn't looking down at me unlike others, but rather was observing me with an interested gaze.
'I think he was the Seat 3 of the corrupted ones? Does that mean he is the third strongest among the group?' I thought as I wondered if I could convince him, then convincing others would be a cake walk. But on second thought, I didn't do it. Depending upon others wasn't something that I liked. Let's just give him a proper answer for now.
"That is why I am going to connect the soul of this planet, that is the gods duo, to the soul of the first floor. In a way, I am going to use their powers and cut their connection with the planet before connecting it with Nora. I think if I upgrade my [Gift], it will allow me to do that," I spoke again, making them shocked.
They all looked at me like I was a lunatic before the Admin asked,
"Wait! Wait! Wait! What do you mean by [Upgrade]? And just what in the hell is your [Gift] about? I heard from 11 that it can bypass the system but just how absurd is it to allow you to create a pathway between the two areas?!!!"
I pondered how to answer that. I have already told Alice and Mark that I have a map related [Gift]. But that won't work here. So, I would need to say something that sounds like it allows me to mess with the system itself.
'Plus I would need to maintain the difference between Crowley and Adrian, too. Let's see if we can create two identities,' I sighed on the inside as all these unnecessary steps were exhausting really. But still… I need to do it if I need to create a life where I can live freely.
"Its name is [Modifier] and it's a [Growth] type of gift. When I got it at the beginning, it was merely a [Lower Mortal Grade-10] but now it's [Mortal Grade-4]. I can't do much now, but with time I am hoping to get [Upper Mortal Grade] or even [Heavenly Grade]. That way, I think I can do at least that much," I spoke, making all of them observe me with a beyond shocked expression.
'Huh? Did I say something wrong?'
I think this was the first time I saw them this shocked.
"A… growth type… gift?" Hiradale's smile broke and even he couldn't believe what he just heard. While Annabeth's eyes were flabbergasted, as for the Admin, he was too shocked to speak anything.
"I have never heard of… such a thing… doesn't that mean…" Annabeth spoke out slowly and the Admin finished her sentence,
"It can go to the heights of all the [Gifts], possible? Like beyond what everyone has, reaching the peak of the peak? In my entire life of being an Admin, I have never seen or heard of something so ridiculous."
Hearing their words, I was shocked as well. Not because I had such a rare type of [Gift], I already have something far beyond, that they can't even imagine. I was shocked because I realized that I made such a big mistake.
No. Let's calm down. Hopefully it's not as bad as they are making out of it right? There has to be a few people with these types of gifts, right?
"Are growth types [Gift] that rare?"
"Rare? Haha. Crowley… kid. It doesn't exist. Nobody in the entire tower has a gift that can grow. Didn't I tell you?
It's fixed. You are probably the only one… with such a ridiculous gift. No wonder such a powerful being was interested in you," Annabeth spoke in sudden realisation, making me shocked.
'Damn, I really overdid it with the [Growth Type], huh? I thought they would be rare but to not exist,' I clicked my tongue on the inside as I realized my mistake. There was no going back now.
'Haha I was joking' wasn't gonna correct this mistake.
Hearing her words, the others nodded as well. I guess it would make sense for a powerful person to take interest in a person who has a 'special' growth type gift that can mess with the system? Does it make sense? Probably… I don't know. It surely sounds like it does.
"Kid. Don't tell anyone else about your gift ever. While most won't be able to do much to you here, but on the higher floors if anyone gets to know about your gift, or even if the fact that it can grow, your life would be in too much danger," Hiradale warned me as he looked at me with a jealous gaze. Though he didn't seem to be having any ill intentions towards me.
"Ah! The Heroes. Those bastards won't like a potential threat, huh?" Annabeth spoke out as she realized Hiradale's words, while the Admin nodded at them. Though he then looked at me with a slight hope as he asked,
"I guess, one is never too old to see some miracles, huh? Anyways kid, hide your powers as much as you can. See if you can pick an alternate weapon or something. Though before that,"
He then paused for a brief moment as he looked at the hopeful duo gods standing at a distance before he continued, "coming back to the main topic, let's assume that what you said is true. How are we still going to find the Soul of the First floor? How are you going to convince her to come here? You probably don't know the rules around the soul of the first floor, do you?
They are ridiculous, I must say."
He was about to explain the rules but interrupting him, I spoke out first,
"I know. The fact that everyone forgets about her as soon as she leaves their sight. The fact that no one can harm her and such," I understood the concern that he was pointing it out.
"Did your contractor tell you that?" The Admin nodded as he seemed to be misunderstanding something. His eyes were observing me, while he, with his hand rubbing his chin, seemed to be thinking of something deep. Though I corrected him as I spoke,
"Nope. I saw her. She was in the Tutorial. And yeah, somehow those rules don't affect me."