Next to Qin there was Yale Lumen, who was ranked four on the tower. During his studies, Yale was the Crown Prince of the Lumen Empire.
He was also the first person from the Royal family who was able to reach the ninety-ninth floor. Just like Axion, Lumen also shared the element of Light.
After leaving the Academy, he went on to become the King of the Lumen Empire.
Next to Yale, there was another person, known as Jax Lumen, who was ranked sixth in the tower ranking. Similar to Yale, Jax was also from the Lumen Family. However, there were almost three decades of difference between the time of Yale being at the academy if compared with his time.
Jax was a descendant of Yale. However, contrary to Yale, Jax had the element of Lightning. While Yale had a slender body, Jax had a bulky body, despite being around the same age.
Seeing the six here, Gabriel had realized that these weren't real people. There was no way that Yale and Jax were going to be of the same age. Moreover, it was impossible for the others to still be alive.
It made Gabriel sure that these people were also created by the tower, most probably in projection of the real people who fought here.
"You aren't real Cylix and Novius, are you?" he asked the two on the throne. "The reason our attacks can't hit you is because you don't exist at all..."
"Well, your statement is partially true, but also partially wrong. Firstly, we are real. But not quite real at the same time," Cylix retorted.
He further explained. "When we passed onto the next floor, we were asked to leave a fragment of our consciousness behind."
"In other words, we share the same consciousness as our real selves and know everything that they knew... At least up to the point before they separated the consciousness which created us."
"The consciousness of the real... when they were on this floor... So that's what it was. That's why everyone here looks the same age as they were when they entered the tower. That's why you can speak and interact with me like you're real people!"
This piece of information changed the entire equation for Gabriel, giving him some relief. It meant that they were a Mirage of their young self!
If that was the case, that meant their knowledge and skills were still incomplete! He was going to be facing younger Novius and Cylix, who didn't have any memories of what happened after they left the tower and the great skills that they learned and created.
That also meant Axion didn't know any skills of the Holy Grimoire of Light since he was going to get the Grimoire after he left the tower and received it, along with the incredible skills!
That did reduce the difficulty of this trial to some extent, but not by much. Even though everyone here wasn't even close to possessing the same impossible strength that they possessed later in their lives, it still didn't make them weak.
Even though it was their weaker self, it was still the ones that managed to climb this high!
Amongst the six, if Gabriel wanted to challenge himself and not waste this opportunity, he knew he needed to select Axion and Qin so he could compare himself and learn from them, but it wasn't an easy decision for him at all.
Even though selecting a more formidable opponent was better for him to challenge himself since he could face the best mage of light amongst the six and the best mage of darkness, but it also came with many disadvantages.
The worst cost that he could see for choosing a stronger opponent was the consumption of strength! If he fought Axion and Qin, he was going to exhaust himself, which wasn't good for his next battle, especially if his main opponents were Cylix and Novius.
Unlike the six who were young students who entered the tower, Cylix and Novius were already established mages, despite being so young, when they entered the tower.
Moreover, as none of the six reached the next floor, it was even more of an evidence of the difficulty of facing them. Gabriel wanted to have as much strength as he could when he went into his main battle.
If he selected the two weakest here, he could go to the final battle with the two founders without running out of all his strength. However, that was something akin to wasting an opportunity for him.
At the present time, both Axion and Qin were dead. If he missed this opportunity now, he was never going to get it again. But was it really worth it?
Even though Gabriel had already guessed the other three's identities, Cylix still introduced them.
"Now that you know your options, we would need your answer. You can select any two of them, or you can leave this tower. We won't blame you."
Cylix's finger kept tapping his throne as he waited for Gabriel's response, who looked like he was lost in deep thought.
"You know, there's nothing embarrassing about leaving. If you're having second thoughts, you can return the way you came. It'll just mean you were never worthy of reaching here. Then again, you can always return when you're ready. Not like we'll be going anywhere," Cylix chimed in again after waiting for an answer for five minutes.
Novius was also somewhat disappointed. If Gabriel was hesitating this much in selecting two youngsters to fight him, could he really place any challenge before them?
He closed his eyes, feeling a bit lazy, as if this was boring. "The younger generation is getting worse... They even have to think so much between fighting and running."
In his mind, what Gabriel was thinking about was if he should select Lia and Jax or if he should leave. Novius didn't even consider the possibility of anything else. He didn't know that it wasn't the choice that Gabriel was thinking about.
The thought of leaving didn't even cross his mind. He was thinking if he should select Axion and Qin or not.
After taking some more time, Gabriel finally made up his mind. He wasn't going to lose this opportunity! He was here, and he wasn't going to be scared! He was going to fight the strongest available option and see just what they were truly capable of! If anything, he could learn their fighting styles to improve his own!
"I've made up my mind!" Gabriel declared. "I select Axion and Qin."
"Hmm?" Novius opened his eyes.
