Back inside the tower, Gabriel continued climbing up. His clothes were drenched in blood, and he was heavily sweating. He didn't have much rest ever since he entered the tower. Moreover, as he came Higher, the battles and the challenges became even fiercer.
He had been hurt so many times. If it wasn't for his Minor Healing, he was sure he would've been in quite some trouble. The Healing Spells were the biggest advantage that a Mage of Light possessed, after all.
There was one thing which he found quite good. After every ten floors, he received something to eat. It was like the tower was making sure that the participants didn't have to leave the tower because of hunger! The tower wanted them to only leave once they were defeated or gave up.
Thanks to the door, and the momentary rest he received, Gabriel was still able to go on.
He was so immersed in these challenges that he had already forgotten about the outside world and what commotion his reaching so far could be causing outside!
*****
Ten more hours passed. It was another morning when people started coming back to the tower, wondering if Gabriel was out now.
Their surprise only increased to see that Gabriel was still inside the tower! Not only did he not lose, his speed of climbing only increased; they didn't understand how it was even possible!
[318 Gabriel Light 86]
For some reason, the person they thought couldn't even cross the 70th floor was already on the 86th floor.
[249 Gabriel Light 87]
"No way! He is still going?"
"Just what kind of monster is he? It's his first time entering the rankings of the tower, and he's already in the top 250?"
The news about Gabriel was spreading through the entire tower. By now, the news had become big enough to even attract the attention of the Teachers.
The students of the third and fourth years might be initially confused as to which year Gabriel was from, but with time, the two sides started talking about it.
It was finally revealed that none of the two sides knew any Gabriel! This Gabriel was neither a student of the third year nor was he a student of the fourth year!
They also managed to confirm that there was no student with this name in the first and the second year, which raised the question as to who this guy was.
The strange news about an unknown student appearing in the tower was enough to make even Eliana, and the other Head Council Teachers come out, who were quite busy trying to get to Izen.
By now, it was like the entire academy was standing before the Tower of Challenges, looking at the rankings.
Some were even cheering for Gabriel, wondering if he could actually manage to break the record and reach the top floor.
****
Eliana didn't know who this Gabriel was, but she was sure it was one of the students. There was no way a stranger could enter the tower like that.
"This Gabriel is quite interesting. Until yesterday, I hadn't even heard that name and how this name is on the tongue of everyone in the academy." Lishen commented. "Even umm curious to see who that guy is."
"It's definitely a Mage of Light," Rem chimed in. "Whoever this person is, he chose to lie about his name. Unfortunately, even he can't lie about his Element since they all need to show their marks to enter. That means he is definitely a Mage of Light. But who?"
"Could it be that Garrick entered with a fake name just to have some fun?" Lishen asked. "I can only think of one person who can reach that high in the rankings in such a short time."
"I don't know," Eliana responded. She was completely ignorant about it. "However, I know one person who can answer."
Eliana stopped looking at the ranking and entered the tower. The other Head Council Members also entered behind her.
Seeing all the Head Council members arrive at once, the old man stood up, surprised. He wondered why they were all here together.
Eliana stopped before the old man who greeted all the Head Council Members.
"Did someone named Gabriel enter the Tower?" Eliana asked the old man, not wasting a single second of her precious time.
"Oh, you mean that first year Mage of Light? Yeah, he entered a few days ago." The old man still remembered Gabriel as it didn't happen a long time ago. "I told him not to take the risk, but he didn't listen. If I'm not wrong, the poor kid is already dead."
"First Year Mage?" Eliana wasn't the only one who was taken aback. The Gabriel who managed to climb so high was a first year mage.
"What nonsense. A first-year mage can't climb this high!" Yann scoffed even at the thought of this notion.
"Climb that high? What do you mean? Are you talking about Gabriel? Is this a joke? How high can that kid even climb? If he weren't dead, he would've been out by now." The old man still didn't understand.
Lishen placed his hand on the shoulders of the old man. "It seems you haven't left the tower in quite some time. Go out and check the rankings."
Lishen took the old man out with him.
The old man stepped out of the tower and looked up, wondering what he was supposed to see. He started looking from the lowest ranking. Since these people talked about Gabriel climbing high, he wondered if the kid had managed to enter the top 12000 ranking by some miracle which should've been impossible.
"Not there. Look from there..." Lishen pointed up.
"From there? Are you joking with me? There is no way tha-"
The old man looked up, not expecting anything much. However, as soon as he looked up, his jaws dropped open. His eyes had managed to locate a name that shouldn't be here. And the ranking...
[98 Gabriel Light 93]
"T-t-top hundred? This can't be!" The old man was shocked… He was even horrified. How was this even possible? Was he dreaming? No! This should've been impossible!
He wasn't the only one who was shocked. The other students were also in a commotion.
Gabriel had managed to reach floor 93! It was the same floor which was the highest floor of Garrick!
In fact, Garrick's last score was just one tank above him!
[97 Garrick Raini Light 93]
"He... He tied Senior Garrick! Just who is this monster? Where was he hiding all this time?!"
Even the fourth-year mages of light found it hard to believe their own eyes. It was the same for the Teachers.
The commotion wasn't in the House of Light but the entire academy! There was another student as capable as Garrick, and they had no idea about it! Didn't this mean the House of Light was only getting stronger?
"Look! Senior Garrick's name moved up!" There was a sudden exclamation that alerted everyone.
The person was right! Garrick's score moved up. Gabriel wasn't the only one who was inside the tower. Garrick was also there to break his last score as he believed he was stronger now than when he attended it last time!
[90 Garrick Raini Light 94]
The ones who were suspicious that Garrick might be using a different name to climb the tower realized how wrong they were. Both Gabriel and Garrick were inside the tower, and both were climbing separately!
Moreover, it seemed as if there was a race between two star disciples of the House of Light to see who was going to get higher! It was a race between the current strongest Fourth Year Student of the Academy Garrick, and the mysterious Gabriel, who came out of nowhere, making his name known throughout the Academy!
