Devil Fruit Powers In The Tower Of God

Since Lumen learned that he couldn't deal with the Bone Hydras until their hearts were destroyed, he stopped trying to kill them. He was trying to save his energy as much as possible, but having to dodge the attacks of the seven immortal creatures for half a day straight, took its toll on him.

At some point, he had transformed into his Phoenix form since it was easier to fly around with it, and he didn't need to use his Shinsoo to create his flaming wings.

Lumen had destroyed the Bone Hydras multiple times with his black flames, but he couldn't harvest even a bit of life force from them.

Thankfully, Archer was helping him out and giving him a bit of a breathing room. The snake was doing his weird dance in the air while shooting his weapons at the Bone Hydras.

The immortal creatures were disregarding him, so Archer was having a good time while his master was trying his hardest to survive.

Lumen had also tried using his gravity powers to ground and freeze the Bone Hydras in place, but the creatures were smarter than they looked. Whenever he increased the gravity on one of the Bone Hydras, another one would quickly destroy it. The creature would then reform without the increased gravity on it.

While Lumen was fighting the Bone Hydras on the desolate island, an amber-colored skeleton head popped out of the sea.

The amber-colored skeleton was having his usual swim through the poisonous sea when he sensed the fighting on the desolate island. That wasn't a normal occurrence, so it had decided to check it out.

The skeleton tilted his head sideways in wonder after seeing the situation on the island.

"Someone is fighting the Bone Hydras? They usually don't leave their caves no matter what. What are they doing here?" The skeleton questioned.

The skeleton then noticed that the Bone Hydras were trying to kill a bird made of black flames while a black winged-snake was assisting the flaming bird.

"What are those two creatures?" The skeleton was surprised by their appearance. He had lived his entire life in Bonerakard's domain, so he had never seen creatures that weren't made of bones.

"Do they not know that the Bone Hydras can't be killed before you destroy their hearts?" The skeleton questioned. He swam closer to the island and observed the fight that was happening there.

Lumen sensed the amber-colored skeleton when he neared the island, but he ignored it since he didn't feel any malicious intent from it.

A few hours later, one of the Bone Hydras stopped for a moment and twitched as it was charging its poisonous breath.

Lumen then received a message from Leesoo on his Pocket.

[We destroyed one of the Hydra hearts!]

"Finally!" Lumen exclaimed and shot a Hellfire-Nova at the Bone Hydra that stopped his attack midway. His attack covered the creature with his black flames and erased it from existence.

Lumen was hoping to restore his energy by harvesting the life force of the Bone Hydra, but he was left disappointed. He received only a minuscule amount of life force, which barely restored his stamina.

[How long until you destroy the next heart?] Lumen sent a message to Leesoo.

[We need to take a break since we are exhausted from traversing the poisonous sea. Androssi is tired after using the Thorn, and Merrie can barely keep her eyes open after she used Enna Core. Without her, we won't be able to locate the rest of the Hydra hearts.] Leesoo replied.

[Try to do it as fast as you can. I don't know how long I can keep this up since I didn't receive any energy from killing the Bone Hydra with my black flames.] Lumen informed Leesoo.

Meanwhile, Boking was communicating with Bonerakard.

"It seems, they destroyed one of the Hydra hearts, and he killed the Bone Hydra before even one day passed. Too bad, they all seem exhausted already. Do you think that he will survive until the rest destroy the Hydra hearts? Will they even be able to do it within the timeframe?" Boking asked.

"Maybe, maybe not, but with a bit of luck, they just might. The little one seems to have taken an interest to them. I bet he is quite surprised seeing creatures that are not made of bones." Bonerakard replied.

"Indeed, but I still don't understand why you gave him the special Test? He is strong and has the qualification, but the girl can absorb anything!" Boking said. He had never seen powers like hers. In his eyes, Androssi was more qualified for the special Test.

"That little fledgling has parents that have already passed through the Tower. He has a small amount of divinity inside him from them. I also believe one of his parents had ascended while passing the special Tests." Bonerakard replied.

"Stil... I don't understand why you would choose him. The girl can't replicate his abilities since they have a small amount of divinity, but if she ascends, she would be able to achieve that with enough time." Boking said.

Androssi couldn't replicate his abilities right now, but if she becomes a divine being and receives divine power, she would be able to copy them. It will take her a long time to do it, but it wasn't impossible.

"You are not wrong, but her powers rely on someone else. Without there being someone to copy from, she would hit a limit. He doesn't have that limitation." Bonerakard answered him.

"What do you mean?" Boking asked. He couldn't understand his master.

"I'm not sure myself, but I sensed an even greater power within him," Bonerakard replied.

"An even greater power?" Boking asked in surprise.

"Yes, I sense a power similar to us, the Guardians of the Tower," Bonerakard responded.

The Guardians of the Tower were a very special existence. Like the Guardians of each planet, they could give boons that increase a person's power. Of course, that person would have to go through a trial to earn that boon.

However, the Guardians of the Tower could do something that those from the outside can not. They can open up a path for someone by granting them an affinity for a Shinsoo quality.

Normally, a person is born with predetermined Shinsoo qualities. Through training, one could obtain additional qualities, but it would take hundreds of years to do so for the simplest of Shinsoo qualities.

With the boon granted from a Guardian of the Tower, that time could be reduced hundredfold.

Bonerakard had sensed a similar power in Lumen.

"He reminds me of the Ancient One," Bonerakard stated.

"The Ancient One? But he was an existence born with the Tower itself. The Ancient One was able to wield all the powers he could imagine. He was the true Ruler of the Tower! I remember the days when those that climbed the Tower modeled their powers after his." Boking exclaimed.

"Indeed, the Ancient One was a being above all others. Sadly, he was also bound by the Tower like the rest of us." Bonerakard replied.

"Such a shame that he sacrificed his power to split himself. His emotions were his biggest weakness." Boking remarked.

The Ancient One had gotten close to a lot of the people that climbed the Tower. All of them either ascended or died during their trials. Despite that, he pushed through and continued his life.

However, at one point, he fell in love with a female. The woman returned his feelings, but she also wanted to return to her home planet. The Ancient One, although saddened by that, understood her. He promised the woman that one day he will find a way out of the Tower and find her in the outside world.

Unfortunately, the woman failed her last Test and was crystallized into an Essence. Had she not been turned into an Essence, he would have been able to revive her, as he had the power over life and death.

The pain from losing his loved one was too much for the Ancient One. He couldn't continue on without her and split himself into multiple beings, each having a small part of his powers.

Those beings called themselves the Ancient Ones, and each one created a tribe of their own. A big part of them followed in their ancestor's footsteps and assisted the people climbing the Tower. The rest wanted to live a peaceful life and secluded themselves. The Guardians of the Tower took them under their wings and gave them a place in their domains.

A few of the Ancient Ones assisted Zahard and the rest in climbing the Tower. However, when Zahard became the King of the Tower and decided to stop people from climbing higher, they opposed him. They knew the true purpose of the Tower and were against his ideals.

The Ancient Ones had incredible potential, so Zahard decided to eliminate them all. A few of them had managed to escape and survive the purge, but he placed a curse on them. Since then, they were known as the Cursed People.

The curse that Zahard placed on the Ancient Ones had one of the following effects on them.

First, most of their offspring will be born with a female and male side in the same body without any reproductive abilities.

Second, the chances of them having a stillbirth was increased to an extreme rate even if they got pregnant.

Those two effects guaranteed that the Ancient Ones will slowly die even if Zahard takes no further action himself.

And third, their original power, of being freely able to control an element, was sealed off. This was something that could be overcome with hard work, but most of them were unaware of their heritage. Due to that, they never get to unlock their true potential.

Boking and Bonerakard continued discussing whether they will pass or fail their Tests.

After six hours passed, the group had mostly recovered their strength and were ready to go after the second Bone Heart.

"Are you okay?" Tiana asked Androssi in concern, as the brown-haired girl looked visibly tired. She wanted to help her, but her quality had no stamina restoring effect. Tiana could only heal people with her white tulip.

"I'm fine." Androssi was still tired from constantly using the Thorn, but she knew that they had no time to waste.

They created the Shinsoo bubble, and Merrie led them towards the second Hydra heart.

They had travel for another ten hours while being attacked by the bone fish. Throughout the entire journey, Androssi had to use the Thorn to protect them.

The moment they reached the Hydra's cave, Androssi instantly passed out from overusing the Thorn.

Merrie was the first one to react and managed to catch her before she fell on the ground.

"Androssi!" Merrie exclaimed but received no response from her.

"Tiana, can you do something about this?" Merrie asked.

"I can try," Tiana responded and covered Androssi with her white tulip. Sadly, that had no effect since there was nothing to heal.

"I'm sorry." Tiana apologized.

"It's okay. We can try to rest up a bit here since no enemies are attacking us right now." Merrie told the group. The Guide hadn't sensed an immediate threat at the moment, so she decided they could rest up a bit here.

An hour passed since the group reached the cave, when Merrie suddenly stood up.

"Something is approaching us!" Merrie called out to the rest.

Hatsu, Verdi, and Vespa got into position and prepared to take on the incoming enemy.

From one of the tunnels, the head of a spider made of bones popped out. It was about to exit the tunnel when a massive beam of Shinsoo destroyed it.

"I hate spiders!" Vespa cried out in disgust.

More and more bone spiders started appearing from the tunnels, and Vespa tried destroying them the second they popped out. However, she couldn't do it on her own.

Hatsu didn't like being left out, so he stepped up and started destroying them as well.

Verdi manifested her squid and helped them out.

However, no matter how many bone spiders they killed, just as many popped out of the tunnels.

"We have to move," Merrie told the group and pointed to one of the tunnels. "That one leads to the Hydra heart!"

Merrie knew that staying there was no longer an option. If they continued resting, they would soon be swarmed by even more bone spiders.

Hatsu took the lead and acted as the Fisherman while Merrie pointed him in the right direction. Vespa and Verdi stayed in the back and protected the group from bone spiders coming from behind them.

Merrie was trying to think of the best way to deal with the situation when she turned towards Anak. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay." Anak was one of the four that were keeping the Shinsoo bubble stable, but she had the least pressure since the poison rarely got through the other two layers.

"We might need you to deal with whatever is defending the Hydra heart," Merrie told her. Besides Lumen and Androssi, Anak had the highest physical strength in the group. She would be perfect for destroying the creatures made of bones.

Two hours later, the group finally reached the chamber with the Hydra heart. The entire place there was filled with thin web-like bones that went from one side of the room to the other.

A massive bone spider was standing in front of the Hydra heart, as it was staring at the group.

"SHRIEEE!" It let out a screech and was about to make its way towards the group when a massive needle swatted it away. The bone spider flew and crashed into one of the walls. A few of its bones had cracks on them from being hit by the massive needle.

Anak was holding Anoph, her black needle, and had decompressed the weapon to a certain extent. The chamber wasn't large enough for her to decompress to its full size. With just a swing of her black needle, she had destroyed almost all the bone-like threads in the room.

After swatting away the bone spider, Anak quickly punctured the Hydra heart with Anoph. The bone orb was destroyed with just a single one of her strikes.

"Damn!" Merrie cursed out. She wanted to lead the group to a safe location where they can recover, but she couldn't sense such a place.

"Anak, do you think you can kill the spider?" Merrie asked her.

"Yes!" Anak confidently replied.

"Okay, do it! Verdi, please destroy the opening of the tunnel for us." Merrie instructed them. She had already sensed a large number of bone spiders that were coming in their direction.

Verdi used her squid and made it destroy the opening of the tunnel while Anak focused on the gigantic bone spider. With Anoph in her hand, she started pounding the bone monster over and over again.

As powerful as the bone spider was, it couldn't even attempt to counter-attack. Using the massive needle, Anak bullied it for half an hour, until she finally managed to destroy it.