Grand Lust Sovereign-Chapter 86: Reward Distribution

Julien and Jackie held buckets of sand and got to the surface, then threw it at the sides.

After four rounds, when they uncovered another bucket, they could see the bedrocks.

Both were happy and got to the surface to go for another round.

However, before they could dive back in, Celeste stopped them.

"Wait. See the water first." Celeste pointed out.

When the two checked the water, they could see its color slowly changing.

It turned from a clear blue to greenish purple.

As it happened, they heard a child’s loud wail.

Turning to the source’s direction, they saw the same child under the palm tree. It was crying even louder, and as if it couldn’t bear to watch the scene, it ran away.

"Hm… this isn’t good." Celeste said. She crouched and touched the water with her pale finger.

Her finger was immediately burnt.

"The water is poisoned." She said, not minding the stinging pain emerging from her finger.

"It’s poisoned?" Jackie was alarmed.

"The nomads were trying to suppress the poison by covering the bottom with sand?" Julien asked.

"Looks like it, yes." Celeste answered.

Julien was baffled. He thought this was a simple quest, but no, it turned out to have a twist to it as well.

"Master, Miss Celeste here stated that from Floor 10 onwards…" Amelia then told Julien and Jackie what Celeste had said.

She did not get the opportunity to say it before as the two didn’t stay at the shore for more than a few seconds.

"Should’ve said so earlier." Julien sighed.

If Celeste wasn’t with them, they definitely would’ve been poisoned.

This time, he couldn’t even blame it on his bad luck, but his own negligence.

He had overestimated himself and underestimated the Tower’s ability to make a quest.

Right from Floor 0, the Tower had been ruthless. His journey so far was smooth because the floors were cleared, and this gave him a false sense of ease and security.

Julien was reminded yet again to not take the Tower for granted. It will definitely bite back, and at the times when he would least expect it.

"What now, Master?" Jackie looked at Julien and asked.

"Can we clear the poison?" Julien asked.

Jackie shook her head.

Amelia shook her head too.

"Then, we failed the quest." Julien sighed and accepted the loss.

Jackie sighed too while Amelia felt dejected.

"Miss Celeste, can you clear the poison?" Julien asked the Vice Guildmaster.

Celeste nodded. "I can. But that will result in me clearing the quest and getting the rewards."

"That’s fine. I don’t want to leave a mess before leaving." Julien said. He felt guilty of destroying the only source of water these nomads had.

Although they were NPCs, they were living beings nonetheless.

"If the young master says so." Celeste said. She went ahead and placed her staff above the water, then swirled it while chanting some strange things.

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The greenish-purple water’s temperature rose sharply and hot bubbles formed over the surface.

The liquid turned sticky thick and Celeste stopped her chant and her staff’s swirling motion.

She did a sweeping motion instead and the water followed the staff’s direction. Threw itself away, landing on the hot sand.

Celeste then swirled her staff above the empty oasis again, and soon, clear blue water rose from the ground.

[Ding!]

[Floor 15’s Hidden Quest #7 — cleared!]

[+1000 XP]

Julien got a notification.

Jackie did too, and so did Amelia.

The three were surprised by it.

Celeste could see their faces and said, "Everyone involved will get a part of the reward as long as the quest is cleared within the time frame of it getting triggered."

This was yet another good news for them.

"But I only got 1000 XP?" Julien said.

"Rewards are distributed based on the impact one’s actions have towards the quest’s completion." Celeste briefed.

"I see."

"So that’s why I only got 100 XP." Amelia smiled and shook her head.

She didn’t do anything but still got a reward.

"How much did you get, Jackie?" Julien turned to his drenched butler.

"900 XP." Jackie answered.

"Miss Celeste, you? If you don’t mind me asking." Julien turned to the emotionless lady.

"8000 XP, and the following of the Nomadic Tribes of this floor." Celeste answered.

"Oh wow…" Julien was amused.

"Shall we head to the Stairway of Ascendence?" Celeste asked the party.

Julien nodded. "If there’s any other hidden quest here, we can wait."

"There isn’t. The next quest is on Floor 17."

"Alright. Let’s quickly head to Floor 17 then."

The four went through the stairs to the next floor and reached Floor 16.

Floor 16 was a mountainous region covered in snow. The main quest was to find a constant source of food for the inhabitants.

It was cleared after people taught the inhabitants how to make tools to dig out a hole in the icy lake to fish.

Floor 17 was a lush green mountainous region. The main quest here was to stop the ongoing tribal war.

The war erupted due to territorial disputes and the quest was cleared by an evil Player.

This Player sneaked into one of the factions and killed everyone one by one.

Since the other faction did not have any opposition anymore, they took over the whole territory and the quest was finished.

This was by far the quickest floor clearance above Floor 10.

Some people believed that the best way to have cleared the floor was by making the two factions learn empathy and compassion. It was to teach them how to co-exist together and not by simply killing one another.

People could believe whatever they wanted. The main quest was already cleared and there wasn’t anything anyone could do.

The hidden quest here was to defeat the Floor Boss.

This Floor Boss was the reason the two factions had territorial disputes.

The Floor Boss lurked at the edges of the mountains and this prevented the two from expanding outwardly. The factions could only expand inwards and once there wasn’t any more space, they began fighting.

"This surely isn’t as simple as killing the Floor Boss, is it?" Julien asked Celeste as he sat on a boulder and overlooked the tribal people’s territory.

Celeste shook her head. "I do not know, young master. But I believe such is the case."

Julien scratched his head and thought, ’Danger really is at all steps. What is more frightening is the fact that I don’t know the extent of this danger.’

Shaking his head, he got up from the boulder and said, "Jackie, Amelia, let’s go check on the Floor Boss. We’ll observe first and then take action."

"Understood." Jackie and Amelia nodded.

The party thus made their way towards the periphery of the mountains, trying to find this Floor Boss.