Looking up at the tower from the base, she placed her hands on her h.i.p.s and took a deep breath before sighing.

  "Now then…… how the hell am I supposed to skip levels." Shiro muttered while looking around her.

  For the last tower, she had information on how to skip the tests so it was a breeze but the same couldn’t be said about the Tower of Gaia.

  Currently, the tower was surrounded by tall trees which obscured the top from sight while vines dangled from the branches. There were no gates per say on the tower and she doubted that climbing up would let her skip levels.

  Standing there for a moment, she watched as a few people walked up and summoned the gate and entered the tower.

  Scratching her hair, Shiro sighed before looking for someone she could talk to.

  Looking around she managed to spot a woman carrying a basket of flowers and decided to try her luck.

  "Excuse me?" Shiro called out.

  "Good Afternoon. How may I help you?" The lady smiled softly.

  "I just want to ask but would you happen to know anything about the tower?" Shiro asked, pointing towards the base of the tower.

  "Hmm…… I do but it’s all basic information that everyone knows. Since you look like you’re wanting to give this tower a try, may I suggest you go to the Tower Research Hall since they have quite a few notes on the tower." The woman suggested as Shiro nodded her head.

  "Thank you very much." Shiro bowed slightly before walking towards the map.

  Checking where the Tower Research Hall was, she managed to find its location quite easily.

  Upon entering, she was immediately confronted by an angry young girl that barely reached her chest.

  "What took you so long??? Quella and Tricia said that you’d look for me straight away but if that woman didn’t tell you about this place, you wouldn’t have even come here!" She pouted.

  The young lady had long blonde hair and a pair of emerald eyes. She wore a beautiful dress much like the one that Quella had only in a smaller size.

  "Pardon?" Shiro paused for a moment before remembering that the two did tell her that their older sister was going to look after her when she arrived. She was also the one who makes the healing medicine.

  However, looking at the kid in front of her, Shiro couldn’t help but doubt that she was the big sister. But when she remembered that she was also in the body of a child when she first woke up on Earth despite being quite old, she found it easier to accept.

  "Ah I apologise. I was too eager with the trial and forgot that I should look for you." Shiro scratched her hair in embarrassment.

  She had thought that the girl would come look for her so she put it aside while focusing on the main task.

  "Hmph, I forgive you. Quellla and Tricia told me that you’ve already completed the Tower of Ouranos and got a pretty good divinity out of it so I shouldn’t be too worried about you not being able to complete the Tower of Gaia. However, in terms of stamina I doubt you can reach the top. The Primordial Divinity of Gaia is one that focuses around defence and sustain. You draw power from the land to heal your injuries. For an offensive fighter like you, I highly doubt endurance is your best trait so we’ll need to figure out how to actually skip the levels of this tower. I’ve gotten all the information about the tower in this book. Check it through yourself and see if you can figure it out. There’s also records of the past attempts if you’re curious. If you can’t figure it out, we’ll have to stick with doing things the normal way." She explained while placing a book on the table.

  "Ah right. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?"

  "Beril, the 8th sister. I’m the one responsible for the main apothecary things such as healing ointments. I make the recipes and distribute them to the others for them to be produced. I’m kind of a big shot." Beril smiled smugly as Shiro only raised her eyebrow.

  "Right…… Nice to meet you Beril. Name’s Shiro." Shiro waved her hand lightly as Beril nodded.

  "Mn, I know. Sit down here and read that book. While you do that I want to check your body for a moment." Beril signalled for her to wait on one of the chairs as Shiro only tilted her head with curiosity.

  "Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I’m just seeing if I can give you some medicine to act against the pool of corruption since you spirits are rather delicate. There aren’t many spirits that visit me so I can’t exactly test out my medicine on them to see if the corruption works or not. After all, humans aren’t very affected by such things but people like you are highly sensitive." Beril reassured while pulling open some trays and grabbing some packages.

  "If you don’t mind me asking, how do you sisters know that I’m a spirit? I doubt I’ve told you about it before." Shiro asked.

  "Checking your physique. Spirits are different from humans physique wise. Right now, I can make this place highly toxic to humans and plants but not for spirits. At the same time, I can make this place highly toxic to spirits but not to anyone else. Much like the corruption I suppose." Beril glanced back at her.

  "Rather ominous." Shiro chuckled.

  "Well medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin. Just as some poisons can heal, medicine can also kill. Once you become the master of medicine, it’s easy to become a master of poison." Beril shrugged.

  "Now sit still and read the book while I check your body to see if there’s a solution."

  Finding it rather funny that a young looking girl was ordering her around, Shiro nodded her head and complied.

  Thinking back to her previous body, she wondered if this was how other people saw her when she was giving them orders.

  ’They were quite lenient with me. I suppose the saying cute is justice isn’t wrong.’ Shiro thought with a chuckle.

  Opening the book, she started to memorise all of the information in regards to the tower along with its rewards. Most of the people that completed it gained the physique and stamina to continuously fight against their enemies amongst other benefits that were unique to them. A common theme between them all is the fact that they’re able to meditate and be satiated of their hunger. However, this wasn’t a solid fix as they still had to eat eventually since they were humans not plants.

  As for the attempts of finding a way to skip the tests, they had tried almost everything within the few hundred years that the sisters had been around.

  "Say, I just realised something. Why don’t you sisters try the towers? You are very knowledgeable and it seems like you each have decent amounts of combat prowess. Even Quella, one of the younger ones, has familiar magic that helps her fight." Shiro asked.

  "Oh that? We’re not allowed to." Beril replied casually as Shiro furrowed her brows in confusion.

  "What do you mean?"

  "We’re not proper ’humans’ I suppose for a lack of a better word. We’re the chains of this world. We look after this place and guide the humans along. Those that have the qualities of being a hero are raised up personally by us so that they can fight against the Ancient Terror when he wakes up from his slumber. In other words, we are objects and we cannot obtain the power of the gods." Beril replied while merging some liquids together.

  "Have you ever tried to get the divinities?"

  "We have but we were barred from even entering the towers. Thankfully, we were born with innate powers so it didn’t matter too much. Which begs the question, why can you permanently effect Quella’s power with this mystery element of yours?" Beril suddenly appeared in front of Shiro and grabbed her wrist.

  Looking into Beril’s cold eyes, Shiro could see both anger and worry.

  "Since this is something you were born with it means that my Error is consuming it at its source. Obviously it’ll be gone. Should it be something like wind magic, it wouldn’t affect you at all." Shiro smiled and replied calmly.

  Narrowing her eyes, Beril let go of Shiro’s wrist.

  "You better keep that element in check since it’s more dangerous than the Ancient Terror. If I find out it harmed any more of my sisters, I’ll become your enemy." Beril warned before returning to her medicine.

  Looking at her back, Shiro only smiled since she could see that they resembled each other quite a bit.

  Shaking her head, she focused back on the book.