Preparing for a city-wide feast and festival was practically the local specialty of Long Fang Valley. They threw massive parties and festivals for a dozen holidays a year, plus every time the Duke had a function going on, so the announcement was no shock to anyone in the area, only a pleasant surprise.
The response to the news of the training tower had been overwhelmingly positive, and even the Royal Family of the Serrah Woods, as requested by Prince Sven, had agreed to send a small delegation directly to the Manor to partake in the festivities.
They didn't care about the fancy meats, being vegetarian. Still, the prospect of a Mythic fruit juice that Cain promised could hold up even to the refined taste of the Elven Forest Teas was enough to drag the homebodies of the Royal Family halfway across the continent for an evening of entertainment.
The Serrah Woods was one of the few places where the Darklight Host didn't have a presence on the Central Continent. They weren't big on visitors and didn't need outside help, as there weren't many dungeons in the area, and they had them sealed inside magical protective barriers at all times. For two hundred years, people called them paranoid, but on that one fateful day, they were finally proven to be prophetic geniuses. The monsters were ejected but trapped in the barriers and eliminated by a force that the Elves could guarantee did not allow for any of the insane former dungeon residents to escape.
They also had magical beasts appearing regularly, but being as in tune with nature as they were, the elves and the Fae that lived alongside them mostly either ignored them or tamed them as pets, only eliminating the ones that were needlessly violent.
The first guest to arrive was King James, who had a spa day with his harem scheduled at Long Fang Manor anyhow, using the half-day process as an excuse to hide from everyone for the morning. He still took care of business, but only allowed a select few to contact him, reducing his personal stress levels.
"Greetings Your Highness, and the Royal Princess Consorts." Cain welcomed them warmly, greeting them at the transport gate, where they all stopped to stare at the imposing sight of the Tower of Trials.
"Impressive. That's just, wow. How high of a level can use it as a training location?" King James stammered, noticing the long line of transfers still waiting for a turn even this early in the morning.
"It can create targets up to level 400 and Mythic Awakened. Beyond that is out of its current power level, but as I get stronger I could likely make a better one somewhere." Cain responded happily, admiring his newest creation just as intensely as the King was.
"Will that even be necessary here? I mean, will the wild monsters here get that strong?" King James whispered nervously.
"It will cover Legendary monsters, which you might see a very few of, but I don't think that Mythic Beasts will be appearing here, the mana density is still much lower here than on the Southern Continent where they are already appearing every morning. But don't worry about that for now. Enjoy your morning and I will arrange you a special lunch before the rest of the dignitaries arrive."
Cain planned to give them all a glass of straight Mango Juice, which would give James and his entire harem absolutely perfect skin and hair. Just a little bonus for an old friend. The rest of the lunchtime meal was more in the nature of using him as a culinary experiment guinea pig. The special treats had been taste tested by the Puppets and some Guild Members, but Cain couldn't guarantee that they would all be suited to the tastes of the various dignitaries around the continent.
So, since James had nobles of no fewer than four species with him, he was the perfect sample group to try new things that would be mass-produced at a later date.
He wasn't the only one to arrive early. Morgan of the Yellow Tusk Clan came only a few minutes after him, announcing that she was here alone today since her husband was sulking and everyone else was busy dealing with the new hunting grounds.
Her hair had been braided into rows and had purple streaks dyed in it, emulating the style of Maggie, the Orcish Lieutenant at Blood Sands Castle. The change in style made her look even more imposing than usual, though still much different than the Lieutenant since Morgan's skin tone was much darker. An Orc's green skin tone naturally darkened with exposure to the sun, where the Lieutenant's healed back to the same shade it was the day they were summoned.
"It's good to see you again. If you want to take a go at the tower before the rest arrive, I'm sure nobody will get too mad about letting you cut into the line." Cain barely had time to suggest the idea before the big orcish woman clapped him on the back and dragged him towards the tower.
This was what she came here for. The Clan had found a large group of Epic wild Boars that had just recently appeared, but Morgan was nearly level 250 now, and the beasts had appeared at level 180. They were slowly climbing in power as the days passed, but she was still more than their match, so she came to see what the mighty Guild Master of the Darklight Host had come up with for entertainment.
He had been a force of nature in combat the last time she met him, and from what she had heard he was only getting better, so she had high hopes that this tower would be worth the effort.
"How do we set the difficulty?" She asked eagerly as they got close to the tower entrance.
"It does it automatically. It will start at your level and then go up after every victory. If you can hold out, you will be able to face targets up to three hundred and fifty. It shouldn't give you awakened targets unless you are awakened yourself though. At least, I don't think it will." Cain answered since he couldn't really guarantee what would appear now that the System was in charge of creating the levels. He only set the base spell and left it to randomize within the parameters, which is under the purview of the Laughing God.
Morgan only smiled and waved to the bear kin that was next in line, handing him a piece of Boar Jerky for his patience as she entered.
Everyone knew to expect dignitaries all day long, so an Orc suddenly appearing wasn't a shock to them, even if they found her level of bloodlust impressive.
Morgan took almost two hours to appear again, battered and bruised, with her armor in tatters.
"That was almost better than sex. You should make more of these so I don't have to go so far to find a proper fight." She laughed, changing from her armor into a casual outfit suitable for the evening's festivities.
"Maybe some other time, but you are welcome to visit whenever you like. How did you do?" Cyrene answered on Cain's behalf, looking up at the tower since she didn't see Morgan's lights. They must have appeared on the other side of the building.
"Not too badly. I made it to the fourteenth floor and got into an amazing battle with a group of dragons. Unfortunately, my last sword broke and I didn't win, but it was incredible."
After having said that much, there was no way that the bears were going to let her go without telling her story. If the two species had one thing in common, it was definitely their love for tales of epic battles.
