****
Gabriel started his training on the 99th floor inside the Tower of Challenges, unaware as to how many people were actually waiting for him outside.
As he went into the training that had the potential to last months, the entire Academy had come to a halt. No classes were conducted in the Academy, as it wasn't considered safe until Gabriel was out of the tower and caught.
Unfortunately, the wait for him was also making them consume a lot of resources that were getting too much even for them.
The academy had a defensive formation that sealed the entire space in the academy, effectively placing it on lockdown. It wasn't easy to keep it running as that formation consumed a lot of Spirit Energy.
Each second that the Formation was active, it was consuming thousands of Spirit Crystals. Initially, it was still fine as Gabriel was on the 99th floor, and everyone expected Gabriel to be out soon, but even the teachers started getting restless as hours turned to days and days turned to weeks.
Gabriel had been on the 99th floor for close to two weeks now. His name hadn't moved up, but he wasn't out either.
The Spirit Crystals were already very rare and expensive in the world, and the Academy had been using them for two weeks, waiting for Gabriel to come out.
They had thought about stopping the formation many times, not each time they delayed it by a few hours, thinking that Gabriel was going to be out soon, but that wasn't happening.
Moreover, in close to two weeks, they hadn't felt any dark aura like before.
"How long? At this point, I've lost hope. It doesn't look like he'll be coming out," Yoan commented. Two weeks had been more than enough for him to believe that it was over.
"At the spell with which he was climbing the tower, even he shouldn't have taken two weeks on the 99th Floor. Either he should've been defeated and out of the tower, or he should've moved to the next Floor. The only other result that can justify something like that is his death," he further expressed.
For him, it made more sense that Gabriel was dead inside the tower. Even if a person died inside the tower, their name was going to show the highest floor they had managed to climb before their death. In Gabriel's case, it was the 99th floor.
"I agree. It makes sense that he would be dead. Two weeks are more than enough time to either be defeated or clear the floor." Xinci agreed with Yoan, which wasn't often. "I think we are wasting our resources in the lockdown for no reason now. He isn't coming out."
Their words made sense for the most part, and even Eliana understood that. The Ninety-ninth floor wasn't supposed to be a picnic destination where someone could stay for two weeks. The name was stuck there and didn't look like it was going to move.
"I think it's quite possible as well," Lishen stated. "Remember the dark aura that we felt, which hurt so many of our students? What do you think would have forced Gabriel to use this? It could only be that he was fighting someone in the 99th Floor trial to clear the floor."
"If I'm not wrong, he lost that fight and died there. If not, why haven't we sensed that aura again? If he had won that battle, he would've been on the hundredth Floor over a week ago. But that's not the case. That can only mean that he didn't win."
After one person presented the assumption, it managed to convince everyone with time. The more they thought about it, the more it made sense to them.
Gabriel seemed to be dead... At least, that's what all things and this strange silence for weeks pointed at.
Eliana still stared at the name. The assumptions made sense to her, but she didn't know why; she couldn't get herself to believe that Gabriel was dead. Still, he had to place her own beliefs aside and think about the Academy.
They couldn't burn the Spirit Stones for an eternity if Gabriel was actually dead. She needed to think about the future of the Academy as well.
"Alright," she eventually agreed. She glanced at one of the teachers in the distance. "Shut the formation down for now."
Not only did she agree to close the sealing formation, but she also agreed to unseal the academy. All the students were allowed to come out of their Dorms once again. However, she still didn't take back all the precautions.
She placed a one month ban on the Tower of Challenges. For the next one month, no one was going to come even close to the Tower of Challenges. Even if they believed that Gabriel was dead, she wanted to be absolutely sure of that.
They needed to observe the Tower for one more month and if Gabriel still didn't come out, or his name didn't make any movement, only then was she going to be convinced that Gabriel was dead.
For the next two months, she assigned the duty of all the Head Council Members near the Tower. At every moment in time, there were going to be two Head Council Members before the Tower, keeping an eye on it and waiting for Gabriel. That was supposed to last for a month as well.
It was done so that if Gabriel actually came out, they could delay him until the sealing formation could be activated again at a moment's notice.
*****
While the Academy considered Gabriel to be dead, Gabriel was actually still immersed in his training.
Since he was a Novice in the Element of Darkness, having no idea about it at all, his training began with the basics of Darkness.
On the other hand, he already had the Element of Light some time and knew some spells, so Cylix had a much easier time in trying to teach him.
Every day, Gabriel had two classes. During the first half of the day, he was taught by Cylix, who taught him the versatile spells of Lights, including the high-tier flight spell.
In the second half of the day, Novius taught him the powerful spells of Darkness.
Not only was Gabriel taught to use the spells of Darkness, but he was also taught how to properly utilize the Ancestral Staff of Darkness in battles.
He was taught that the Ancestral Staff of Darkness wasn't just a staff that amplified the strength of a spell. It was much more than that.
In the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed, and Gabriel had improved by leaps and bounds, but not enough.
At the moment, he was resting in the hall. He had just finished an intense training session with Novius and needed proper rest.
Even though it was called a Training Session, his condition was saying otherwise. Gabriel had multiple wounds on his body, and his clothes also seemed to be covered in dirt.
He placed his hand on his chest and used the Element of Light. "Holy Heal."
Thanks to Cylix, he had managed to learn an even higher tier healing spell of Light than his Minor Heal.
The Healing Spell not only healed Gabriel's body but also relieved some of his fatigue. Still, it couldn't stop his hunger.
Fortunately, Novius heard the growling of Gabriel's stomach. He brought some food for Gabriel. "Tired?"
"Not enough," Gabriel answered as he took the plate from Novius' hands. However, just as he was about to walk back, he thought of something.
His feet stopped in place. He had been wondering about a question for a long time, having no answers. He wondered if Cylix and Novius knew anything about it.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Do you even need permission for that?" Cylix laughed. They had been training the little guy for two weeks, and he still needed permission to ask them questions?
"Do you know anything about the Orbs of Time?" Gabriel placed his question before the two Founders.
"Orbs of Time?" Hearing the name, the two Founders seemed quite taken aback. Their expressions turned grim. "How do you know about that?"
