It was ten days after the Northeast Tower’s LV up.
When Kousuke checked the logs in the control rooms of the Southeast and Southwest Towers, he found that both had leveled up their Tower LV.
He couldn’t help but wonder why both would level up at the same time, when there had been no sign of it before, but he resigned himself to the fact that this is probably how it happens when they do level up.
After all, it was the Northwest Tower’s Tower LV up that allowed him to narrow down the conditions for leveling up.
Considering that, it might be a natural result.
He had known this before, but he believed that the conditions for leveling up the Four Elements Towers were the same or similar.
In the future, he thought, if he could level up any one of the four towers, he would likely be able to infer the conditions.
However, it was not yet certain that the conditions would remain the same from now on.
He could not reach a conclusion on whether this was truly the case until the LV actually went up.
Kousuke, hoping that the previous rules would not be broken, was looking forward to it.
The Southeast and Southwest Towers were originally managed by Silvia and Floria, but at the moment, both were involved in the operation of Razek Amamiya and were unable to manage them properly.
Therefore, other members were starting new things when they had some free time.
Even “new things” meant installing something on one of the floors to execute something they had thought of.
Kousuke himself was also trying things in other towers that he couldn’t do in Amamiya Tower.
The other six towers besides Amamiya Tower each had their own characteristics, which allowed him to do things that were not possible in Amamiya Tower.
Simply put, there were installations that did not exist in Amamiya Tower, so they were installing such things and observing their effects.
Sometimes, monsters that evolved unexpectedly appeared, leading to quite interesting results.
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Thinking about such things, Kousuke decided to go and check the two towers that had leveled up.
This time, Shurein was accompanying him.
The North Tower had not leveled up at all, so he thought it might be helpful as a reference.
“Hoh. Is this a Water Viper?”
“It seems so.”
Kousuke and his party were currently in the Southeast Tower.
In the body of water before them, a snake was coiled up.
Naturally, since it was Kousuke’s familiar, it did not act hostile.
The overall bluish tint was different from the viper which was the basis for its evolution.
The original viper had an earthy color.
Its length was about fifty centimeters, so it could not be considered very large.
In terms of size alone, the original viper was larger.
However, as there was only one Water Viper present at the moment, it was unclear if this was its standard size.
“Hmm…”
Shurein muttered softly and reached out, and the Water Viper, without any hesitation, wound itself around Shurein’s arm and climbed up.
To Kousuke, it felt strange to see a snake clinging to a beautiful woman like Shurein.
However, Shurein accepted it without changing her expression.
“Shurein, are you okay with snakes?”
Shurein tilted her head at Kousuke’s words, but then quickly understood what he meant and nodded.
“I’m fine, but generally speaking, unlike Humans, it’s not that women are necessarily afraid of reptiles?”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah. Besides, isn’t Colette the same? If Elves were afraid of snakes, they couldn’t possibly live in the forest, could they?”
“Ah, I see.”
Kousuke thought of the Elves living in the forest and nodded in complete agreement.
Indeed, if the Elves who built their villages in the heart of the forest were constantly surprised by snakes, they would not even be able to live there.
There might be some Elves who disliked snakes, but it wouldn’t be as bad as Humans who built towns and lived their lives by eradicating wild animals.
“So, does that mean Vampires are the same as Elves?”
“Who knows? However, reptiles like snakes are often used in rituals, so I think fewer of them are afraid of them than Human women.”
“Ah, is that why?”
Indeed, if they felt disgusted every time of a ritual, they wouldn’t even be able to proceed with it.
“Still… it seems quite tame, doesn’t it?”
While the two were talking, the Water Viper remained coiled around Shurein.
“Does it? I don’t really know myself.”
Kousuke almost burst out laughing at Shurein, who tilted her head.
From Kousuke’s perspective, a beautiful woman wrapped in a snake was extremely strange, but she didn’t seem to notice it at all.
Even though he knew from their conversation that she didn’t dislike them, it seemed that a sense cultivated since childhood was hard to shake.
Even now, as an Avatar, Kousuke was still afraid of those shiny black insects.
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Leaving the Water Viper, which made a lingering hissing sound, the two headed to the Southwest Tower.
The condition for the Southwest Tower’s LV up was met by a salamander that had evolved from a lizard.
However, even though it was called a salamander, it was not a particularly large individual, unlike Kousuke’s image.
Its body length was about sixty centimeters.
Its body was dyed a bright red.
With such a conspicuous color and a not-so-large body, it would seem likely to be attacked by predators immediately, but it seemed that was not the case, as it was a higher species than a lizard.
He had seen it fight once, and it had easily defeated a monster that attacked it using its flame skill.
Its combat ability was higher than its appearance suggested.
Shurein watched the battle with admiration.
“As expected, it’s strong?”
“Huh? You knew about the salamander?”
“Hmm. Salamanders are valuable materials for rituals and magic tools, you know.”
Whether she understood his words or not, the salamander seemed to sense something and hid in the shadows so as not to be seen by Shurein.
“It makes me feel a little lonely when you avoid me so obviously. I wouldn’t hurt Kousuke’s familiars, would I?”
When Shurein said that with a wry smile, the salamander that had been hiding in the shadows peeked out slightly.
Seeing its behavior, it reminded him of a cat hiding in a corner and observing its surroundings.
“Now that you mention it, the materials were indeed traded at a high price.”
Kousuke, who had already become a top-tier, no, a super-tier craftsman when it came to magic tools, nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. It’s partly because they are rare and few in number, but also because it’s difficult to defeat them due to their strength.”
Certainly, with fireballs being spat out constantly, it might be difficult to defeat them.
However, since it was just ordinary fireballs flying, it seemed possible to dodge them if one tried.
Also, if one touched them carelessly, they would emit heat, but since they did not attack Kousuke in such a way, it was a side note that Kousuke did not notice this for a while.
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Thus, having seen the familiars newly added to the two towers, they had magnificently exhibited their attributes.
Now, all four elemental towers had reached the same LV, but the problem was what came next.
If they were to increase their LV further from here, the conditions would likely become even stricter.
If that were the case, it would be difficult to guess what conditions they would be.
If it took a long time like this time, it would become even more difficult to find the conditions.
However, since the answers were not written anywhere, they would have to search leisurely again.
Kousuke couldn’t help but think unnecessarily, “I wish something like this wouldn’t happen again this time.”
