Zale stood outside the Tower of Sins, not knowing what to feel. He had helped Gabriel. Let alone thanking him, Gabriel was quite nonchalant as if his help wasn't needed. Despite that, Zale didn't feel bad.
"He must be stressed. He did go through a lot. I can't blame him. If I were accused of murder and theft right after, I would feel bad too."
Zale didn't take Gabriel's words to his heart. He simply turned around and started leaving after wishing great luck inside the Tower to Gabriel.
Not many first-year mages attended the Tower of Challenges, let alone a first-year mage who was only here for three days.
****
Gabriel entered the Tower of Challenges, quite curious about what was going to be inside. If he was here for a short time, he really wanted to see just what kind of challenges there were going to be.
If possible, he also wanted to test himself to see where he stood compared to other Mages that went through the tower.
He also believed that there was another advantage to entering the tower. If he could get even a decent score, he could get some credits which he could later use to get more powerful skills from the Library of Skills. He only had a few days left at the Academy, and he wanted to accumulate as much knowledge as he could while he was here.
If it were anyone else, they most probably would've left the academy now that they had managed to steal all the items, but Gabriel was different. He did come here to get the Ancestral Staff of Darkness, but that wasn't his main goal. It was only his secondary goal. His main goal was Hawrin.
With Hawrin's death, he could finally take some time for himself before deciding what he wanted to do here. He wasn't sure when he was going to get a similar opportunity in the future, so he wanted to use it to the fullest while he had a chance.
Inside the Tower of Challenges, quite a lot of youngsters were leaving as they had finished their run. Most of them seemed disappointed, as if they had failed to reach the floor that they were targeting. Meanwhile, there were also a few who were quite pleased as they had managed to reach higher than they did last time.
A few of them were even eager to see how much their names climbed up in the tower.
Before entering, Gabriel had expected that the challenges would start from the ground floor itself, but it looked like the ground floor was just a common floor, and the challenges began from the first floor.
"Heh, a first-year mage?"
Every mage that walked past Gabriel glanced at him with amusement. They all knew that the batch of first-year students had just arrived and that their battle classes hadn't even begun. To see a first year mage in this place was quite surprising but also funny since they imagined how badly he was going to be thrashed if he started climbing the Tower.
A young man stopped before Gabriel. "I don't think you should climb the tower. It's not safe. Even the first floor will be dangerous for you if you are new here. So better focus on your training.'
It was a second year mage of light who was giving some genuine advice to Gabriel as he believed that Gabriel was underestimating this place.
Gabriel glanced at the young man. "I'm just looking around."
The young mage of light nodded before leaving. If Gabriel was just looking around, then it was fine. And even if he was going to enter, it didn't matter. He had already informed Gabriel what he needed to.
In the entire hall, there was only one door that led upstairs. There was a barrier before that door that was semi transparent.
In the center of the massive hall, there was a formation circle. Young mages kept appearing on the formation circle, leaving the tower. It was like they were teleporting here from the higher floors, which was somewhat surprising and convenient.
The mages needed to climb up, but when they were done, they could just return here?
Even though most of the mages were leaving the Tower, there were also some who were arriving from outside to attempt the Tower.
All those mages went to the end of the hall where an old man was sitting behind a wooden table. They talked to the old man, who seemingly gave all of them a stone.
The mages took the stone and went to the stairs, passing through the barrier. It looked like that stone was some kind of key, and the old man was in-charge here.
If he needed to climb, he also needed to approach the old man. That's what he did.
He walked to the old man, avoiding all the mocking gazes from others. Even the old man was slightly surprised as he saw a first year mage coming to him.
"I want to climb the tower," Gabriel told the old man.
Hearing his request, the old man couldn't help but laugh.
Even as the old man laughed, he noticed that Gabriel was still looking at him thoughtfully. "Wait. You are serious?"
"Yes."
"Young man, you really underestimate this tower. It's not a place for kids to play around. I'm saying this for your own well-being. Please don't take it the wrong way. If I'm not wrong, your batch has been here for three or four days."
"Spend a few months learning and growing up. Then attempt this place. If not, you might get seriously hurt. You can't even reach the second floor like this."
"I understand the risks. I still want to climb." Gabriel was still firm on his stand. He didn't have months to wait.
"Kids these days... It seems you won't understand what I'm trying to say until you see it with your own eyes. Fine. Then so be it. I'll allow you to enter."
Generally, the old man only wanted Gabriel to not make this mistake, but if Gabriel still wanted to try, he agreed. It wasn't his first time seeing stubborn first year students, and he was sure it wasn't going to be his last.
Most of them rarely listened, and then when they were hurt, they understood the value of these words.
"What is your element?" The old man asked Gabriel.
"The Element of Light." Gabriel lowered his left glove a little to reveal his Mark of Light.
"A Mage of Light. I should've guessed." The old man shook his head lightly. "Your name?"
"Gabriel," Gabriel answered, but it was only after he told his name that he realized his mistake. His mind was filled with thoughts about what was going to be on the higher floors. In his distraction, he gave out his real name. He couldn't even correct that without creating more problems.
The old man didn't notice anything strange in the name. He picked a piece of stone that had a special formation carved on it that made these stone orbs work.
The old man held the stone in his hand and closed his fists. He muttered something inaudible, closing his eyes as well.
After a few seconds, he opened his hand and gave the stone piece to Gabriel. "There. This is your key to getting to the higher floors. This piece of stone has a formation which connects it to the tower."
"The higher this stone reaches, the higher your score will be registered. In other words, the stone will be the thing that will be recording the information about the floor you managed to reach."
"In case you manage to reach high enough, your name will appear on the Tower outside, though I doubt that will happen. The stone won't reach the second floor it seems. Still, I wish you luck, young man. Hope you come out safe."
"Oh, and one more thing. The stones also have another formation carved on them. If you feel like you're in danger, just tap this stone on the floor twice, and you'll be brought back here. That will be all."
Gabriel glanced at the stone, understanding how these things worked. This was slightly surprising. He had been wondering how the tower recorded the scores for quite some time. "Can others interfere in my challenges when I'm on higher Floors?"
"No one can even see you," the old man smiled. "The tower gives a separate realm for challenges for each person. In other words, we can't see what challenges you go through or how you face them, let alone someone interfering in your challenges. It will be like each participant will be in a different tower. That keeps the tower Challenges neutral and free from interference."
"That's also why we made this teleportation formation on the stone. Since we don't know what their situation will be like, it's to bring them back in case they are in danger. Despite that, there are still times when people die in the Tower. That's why stay safe if possible and don't force yourself."
"I see, so no one knows what a mage does in the Tower or how they fight. The only thing that they can know is which floor a person reached." Gabriel gazed at the piece of stone in his hand, slightly intrigued by this information.
Didn't this mean he could use his Element of Necromancy as well? If they were in a different realm from each other, no one could sense his aura.
Still, just to be safe, he could cast Undead Imitation to keep his aura restricted. He could fight freely using both his elements, and no one could see what he was doing. This was pretty perfect for him... This way, he could also get to higher floors.
The workings of this tower were quite beneficial for him as it gave him absolute freedom to do whatever he pleased.
Keeping the stone in his pocket, he also walked to the stairs to see just what he was capable of.
The old man shook his head, watching Gabriel leave. He expected Gabriel to be back in five minutes at most. Even he didn't know just how wrong he was… How wrong everyone was...
Gabriel passed through the barrier, beginning his journey in the Tower... A journey that was going to change everything…
