I looked at her with a hint of suspicion, trying to deduce what kind of reward she was pitching. Given that she admitted it wasn’t a traditional reward... I remained skeptical.
"Why did you summon me here then?"
Azalea smiled gently. "For two reasons: to meet you in person, and to grant you information that will prove vital in the near future."
I nodded slowly. I hadn’t genuinely expected her to offer me an Apostle position this early; I was still far too low-level. However, if I cultivated a solid relationship with her now, that standing could change very quickly.
"What kind of information?"
"Well, in truth," she said, tilting her head, "it’s less about information and more about a favor I need from you."
My eyes widened in confusion. I was a Floor 0 survivor; there was virtually nothing I could offer a titan of her stature.
"One of my people, a high elf, has been captured and placed inside the Tower to serve as a boss monster. I need your help to rescue her."
Placed inside the Tower as a monster? I frowned, my mind racing.
I had never heard of anything like this during my twenty years in my previous life. I had always assumed the monsters filling the floors were generated by the System out of thin air. Were they actually living beings harvested from other worlds?
"I know it sounds unbelievable," Azalea continued, reading the expression on my face. "I cannot disclose the exact details without violating the Tower’s core laws. All you need to know is that I require your intervention on Floor 2."
"How am I supposed to help her if she’s designated as a boss enemy?" I asked, leaning forward. "If I don’t kill the boss, won’t I be trapped on Floor 2 indefinitely?"
The Elf Queen raised an eyebrow, visibly surprised by how rapidly I caught onto the mechanical snag.
"Under normal circumstances, yes," she reassured me smoothly. "However, I will provide you with a medium that allows you to forge a direct contract with her."
"Her? She’s a female elf?" Questions began piling up in my mind. "Where exactly on Floor 2 is she? And what kind of contract are we talking about?"
No matter how lucrative a favor for the Elf Queen might be, I had no intention of derailing my climb. I couldn’t afford to waste time inside the Tower; otherwise, the catastrophic future of my previous timeline would repeat itself.
"Yes, she is an elven warrior. You will encounter her in the Boss Chamber of Floor 2," Azalea explained. "As for the contract, it is a soul-binding mechanism. To put it simply, she will become your personal Summon, bound to your command."
By saving her, I gain a high-tier elven summon?
The more she explained, the clearer it became that this deal carried almost zero downsides for me. Yet, my cynical nature refused to accept it at face value. It sounded too good to be true.
"Why can’t you extract her yourself?" I pressed.
"High-tier entities are strictly forbidden from directly interfering in floor trials."
"And..." I paused, voicing the main question bugging me. "Why me? Aren’t there countless stronger candidates available?"
"You are the only challenger capable of pulling this off," Azalea stated flatly. "No other early-stage [Hell] difficulty challenger possesses the stat baseline or combat intellect required to survive her encounter."
I nodded, choosing not to pry further. Her underlying message was clear: the elf wouldn’t just surrender peacefully because I asked nicely. I would have to beat her in combat first to force the submission prompt.
Azalea reached into the air, pulling a glowing golden twig out of thin air. The object radiated an intense, divine aura that made my skin tingle.
"This is a branch from the World Tree," she said, holding it out. "The moment it makes contact with her, the System will initiate a Summon-Master contract prompt. However, you cannot force the bond by raw compulsion; both parties must willingly accept the link. You will need to convince her."
[Item: Golden Branch of the World Tree]
Rank: ???
Effects: ???
I took the branch, nodding slowly.
This won’t be easy. Convincing a proud elven boss monster to bind her soul as my lifelong summon was going to take more than just a polite speech. But if I succeeded, the payoff would be astronomical: a high-tier combat ally, immense favor with the Elf Queen, potential skill gifts, and a clear path toward becoming her Apostle down the line.
"So... do you accept?" Azalea asked, her blue eyes searching mine.
"I accept," I replied, giving a respectful nod. "I’ll ensure she is treated with proper respect."
Azalea smiled warmly and snapped her fingers. "See you soon, Caliste."
My vision blurred, and a second later, I was back in the cold, stone transit room of Floor 1.
The moment my form materialized, my system log exploded with an aggressive wave of notifications.
[You have received a private message.]
[You have received a private message.]
[You have received a private message.]
A massive portion of the spectator list was furious that I had snubbed their offers in favor of a private meeting with the Elf_Queen. Others were simply green with envy that a human challenger had earned a face-to-face audience with a sovereign beauty.
Didn’t realize taking a meeting would piss off the chat this much...
Shaking off the distraction, I turned toward the Floor 1 entrance, eager to clear it rapidly, reach Floor 2, and claim Azalea’s summon.
However, before I could even take my first step into the floor, a blood-red system banner slashed across my vision. It was a notification I had dreaded ever since stepping into the Tower.
[A Challenger from the Easy Difficulty has purchased the first Return Ticket!]
[They have earned the privilege to temporarily return to Earth!]
I stopped dead in my tracks, my forehead creasing into a deep frown.
Isn’t this way too fast?
In my past life, return tickets weren’t purchased until one week into the climb. Who the hell reached Floor 3 and accumulated that many points faster than me?
Maybe my talk with the Elf Queen took much longer than I thought...