The old man couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the ranking. The young man that he expected to be dead on the first floor itself managed to reach the 93rd floor? How was that even possible?
Gabriel was just the first year mage who rarely learned anything at the academy! It was also his first time entering the Tower of Challenges. In his first attempt he was already on that floor? The old man wondered if there was something wrong in the mechanism which was showing the wrong ranking of Gabriel?
"He's in the top hundred now? Just where will he stop?" Even Lishen was getting more and more impressed with each passing second. Supposedly it was all the doing of a First Year Mage of Light.
He had seen the First Yeah mages of light, and there were definitely some who were capable enough, but none should've been this capable.
Lishen took the old man back inside where the others were discussing the same matter. Amongst the first year, Eliana could only think of three students who were more talented than the others. Gabriel, Cain and Lelin. She still knew Gabriel as Karyk.
Amongst the three, she had seen Cain outside so it couldn't be him. That made her wonder if the person who was inside was one of the other two.
Both the Mages of Light had a talent that was beyond anything she had seen in a long time. In fact, Gabriel's talent when measured was at a level that was never seen before.
"Could it be one of those two?" she wondered, frowning.
She looked behind, watching the old man return with a pale face.
The man kept repeating only one word blankly. "Impossible... Impossible... Impossible..."
He had been incharge of the Tower of Challenges for Decades. It was his first time seeing something like this happen. Was that kid really this talented? Was he really wrong about him?
"What did this Gabriel look like?" Eliana asked. "Tell us everything you know about him!"
The old man came out of his daze, hearing the command of Eliana.
"I-it was a young boy, who looked like he wasn't even twenty years old."
The old man started describing features of Gabriel, not realizing he was describing an illusion.
"Karyk!" Hearing the description, Rem and Eliana exclaimed at the same time. If they had confusion between the two youngsters now they were sure! The person that was being described was Karyk! Karyk used a fake name to enter the tower! But why? Why would he use a fake name to enter?
That aside, how was he even capable of getting that far? When he came for admission, he was a Novice Mage who had just awakened his Element. It was claimed that he didn't even know one decent spell! Then how was he able to climb this high?
To get that high, one not only needed to know multiple offensive spells, but they needed to have immense spiritual strength! It should've been impossible for a Novice Mage, no matter how talented they were.
"He knew spells without learning them in the Academy... He knew them... That means he learned spells outside the Academy..." As soon as Eliana found out that it was Gabriel, her mind started racing. It was as if all the pieces were coming together finally. Something big was going on in the academy, and it was related to Gabriel!
Lost in her thoughts, she started walking away from others, talking to herself.
She remembered that when Hawrin died, they had noticed that a purification and a healing spell was used. It was the Minor Healing spell that they didn't teach at the academy. That also meant whoever did it learned that spell outside the academy... Just like Gabriel.
"The Dorms where Hawrin was killed, Karyk lived in the same place as well. And his conflict with Hawrin outside the Academy... How could I be so blind? The Dark Mage who infiltrated the Academy wasn't working alone! Karyk was supporting him!
"It's also possible that the Dark Mage sent Karyk to the Academy to kill Hawrin and create a path for his entrance. This would explain why Karyk lied to us when applying for admission. I was so lost in his talent, that I never doubted him!"
"But how is this possible?" Even though she had managed to find the possibilities, her mind still found it hard to believe it. Gabriel was 18 years old. Even if he was taught spells, how could he reach so high at such an early age? It took years to master such spells even for someone highly talented.
If Gabriel had mastered these spells at the age of eighteen, just when did he start learning these spells? When did he awaken his element of Light? There were too many questions, and the only one who could answer was Gabriel.
Rem was also curious. Just what was this Gabriel? Was he really someone who lied to them? Or was there really something wrong with the Tower that was showing a wrong score?
Eliana was angry when she returned. She was really angry! She had been fooled! She just wanted to enter the tower and drag Gabriel out to interrogate him but even she couldn't do anything before this ancient tower. Even she couldn't do anything but wait.
"No one is allowed to enter the tower until Karyk comes out! You understand?" She instructed the old man. She didn't want anyone to be in this place when Gabriel came out. It was for the safety of the students.
****
Unaware as to the situation was turning really bad for him outside, Gabriel was still inside the tower.
At this point, he had cancelled all his illusions and he was fighting as his real self. His Ancestral Staff of Necromancy was already outside.
At this height in the Tower, even he found it really hard to stay standing. He was on the 93rd Floor and there was only one enemy before him. Unfortunately, that enemy was the real problem.
Before entering the ninety third floor, he had cast a purifying spell on his clothes to remove all the blood from them, but he was once again drenched in blood.
Screeching of Spirits echoed in the surroundings as the Shield of Undead remained before Gabriel, protecting him from all the attacks.
On the other side of the shield, there was a headless mage standing. The distance between the headless mage and his shield was over a thousand feet.
Unlike the other enemies he faced so far, this headless mage seemed to be a long distance warrior who had never once stepped closer to him.
Moreover, the headless mage seemingly never ran out of strength. He was like a Machine who never stopped attacking or took a break.
There was not a single moment where an attack didn't come in Gabriel's direction, and all the attacks were filled with overwhelming strength.
Even though the Shield of Undead was protecting him; against the constant barrage of attacks, even Gabriel felt like he was getting weaker. He knew he needed to stop using defence and attack, but the enemy wasn't even giving him an opportunity.
The distance between the two was too much.
"At this rate, I will run out of my Spiritual Energy before this battle is over. I need to find a way to get to him. But how?"
Whenever he went ahead to attack, another attack came in his direction which sent him flying back. If he could somehow avoid those attacks, there was another problem. This entire dessert where he was fighting seemed to be a disadvantage for him.
There were traps everywhere! It was like there were thousands of explosive spells spread all around the desert, buried under sand which exploded as soon as someone stepped on them.
Not only did he need to get close to the Headless Mage while avoiding the constant attacks, he also needed to do this while avoiding all those expensive spells!
"Do I really have no choice but to use..."
He seemed somewhat hesitant, but he also didn't want to lose after coming this far. At the moment, he didn't think about anything else. He didn't think about which floor he had reached or what the reaction outside was going to be! All he cared about was winning!
He just wanted to win at any cost, no matter what he had to do.
"Fine. If that's what it takes, then so be it!"
The floor was too hard to clear. He only had disadvantages here while the enemy had only advantages. Since the enemy wasn't a real being, he never ran out of spiritual strength. Moreover, he could use spells of three Elements! The battlefield was also an advantage to him, along with the fact that he was as strong as a Teacher at the Academy of Elements!
All these made Gabriel decide to use everything he had!
"I am sorry for calling you out so soon, but I need support!"
Gabriel raised his right hand toward the sky as he roared, "Undead Summon!"
