Chapter 234: Strong…

Once they were back in the bright hall, surrounded by golden lights and people who were training in their respective corners, Jacob sat on the floor, his back resting against the wall, and he heaved a sigh. His body was still as pristine as it had been when he stepped onto the first floor.

The only thing that was a little ruffled was his hair, as a result of all the dodging and weaving he had done earlier. A question plagued his mind. He did not like being out of the loop when it came to certain things, so he decided he would rest a bit and talk to Uga before going back to fight anyone.

"Uga." Jacob’s gaze was fixed on the ground as he called out to the Meereen, a concerned expression laced within his voice.

"Yes, Jacob."

"Is this how this tower is? Everyone is so..." Jacob could not complete his sentence for lack of a better word to use. He did not want to use weak, as it would go against everything he stood for. In fact, he had only used the word previously because he was annoyed that the man had tried to ambush him in such a cowardly way.

"Do not think that way," Uga responded calmly, as though it already knew what Jacob wanted to say. "Everybody within this building has earned their spot here, so no one is weak. It is not a sin to be weaker than anyone, which most of these people are compared to you. The sin comes when you stay weak and don’t seek out conquest or improvement. In that regard, nobody within this tower is weak."

Uga finished the pep talk and stood straighter. The Meereen stood effortlessly at nine feet, seven inches—taller than any human being on either Earth or the Daven Heaven Continent.

"So when do I start facing stronger opponents?" Jacob asked. His impatience wasn’t unfounded, as he had been told previously that the tower was the place where the strongest warriors came to battle it out to achieve a single goal.

But on second thought, he remembered that the tower’s algorithm for drawing battles was unpredictable, and as such, anyone could face anyone. Not everyone in the tower was going to be as strong as he was.

"You have just finished the second floor, Jacob Ironfell. Are you in that much of a hurry to lose?"

Uga’s words stunned Jacob slightly as he realized that the alien was certainly mocking his impatience, but he said nothing about it. Conflict with Uga would serve neither of them.

"I don’t want to lose. I want to enjoy the fights."

"The man who sees all battles as an avenue for entertainment will much sooner meet his match, and on that day, he will not be entertained in the least. Be patient, Jacob."

Who knew Uga was so wise? Then again, the Meereen had probably done this for thousands of years, and as such would have seen and met countless competitors with different personalities.

Jacob was somewhat convinced now that he would meet stronger opponents along the way. Maybe it was the Luck Manipulation that had brought him easy opponents. He was almost certain of it.

And if it was, he would embrace it, but he did not know if he would feel fulfilled in the end if he cleared the tower without fighting a single person who could match him, even a little.

He took a deep breath and stood to his feet, looking around. Every other person within this endless hall seemed to be in their own world. He wanted to try talking to someone and see if it worked, but there were a plethora of people. He decided to use the level of their spiritual energy to gauge who was the strongest.

He looked intently. Most were average or slightly above average, but there was one—one who stood far above the rest. The amount of power resonating from this single person was extraordinarily immense. It almost enveloped the others.

Jacob smiled. He left Uga’s side and walked over to this person calmly. It was a young boy, not a day older than himself.

The boy had long black hair neatly tied in a bun and dark brown eyes surrounded by gray eyelashes. Just like him, and every other male within this building, he was shirtless, with a defined body that suggested more than a few years of intense training.

The boy stood in place, practicing a plethora of stances as Jacob walked toward him.

...

Once Jacob had managed to close the gap between them considerably, a voice rang out before he could even say anything.

"You’ve come far enough. State your business!" the boy said. Jacob could already tell that this boy was royalty in his own world by the way he moved and spoke with conviction.

He raised his hands in mild surrender. "Hey, I’m not here to cause any trouble. I just wanted to speak to another person, Drammond." Jacob’s lips curved into a mischievous smile almost immediately.

In less than a nanosecond, the boy appeared directly in front of Jacob with a very dissatisfied frown plastered across his face. "How do you know that name? Who are you?" Drammond hissed through his teeth.

"Like I said, I’m not here to cause any trouble. I am a competitor just like you, and I was just wondering if there was any other person in this room like me. I’m Jacob, Jacob Ironfell." Jacob stretched forth a hand, waiting for Drammond to take it in a handshake, but Drammond swiftly returned to his training without saying anything.

"I said I’m Ja—"

"I heard you. You already know my name, so there’s no need to say it. But I have one question. What did you mean when you said I was like you?" Drammond cut him off without even looking. It was very clear that this young man was not the type to pay much attention to things that he deemed beneath him. Jacob did not like that he seemed to deem him beneath him.

"Strong..."