Three days later... The news about a person reaching the hundredth floor spread in the academy like fire. There was only one name on everyone's mind... Gabriel.
He was the first person, according to them, who had reached the top floor just when they all assumed that he was dead.
Surprisingly, even now, most people didn't know who this Gabriel was. The Teachers had kept that news a secret from everyone. Despite that, there were a few students who had managed to guess Gabriel's identity, like Garrick.
Garrick stood on his balcony, looking in the direction of the Tower.
"The Hundredth floor... A goal that I've been working towards for the last two years. The closer I got to my goal, the farther it seemed. Despite being a fourth-year student now, I couldn't even reach the 99th floor, and that guy in his first year... Just what is his identity?"
He also couldn't help but look back to the time when he jumped into the battle to protect Gabriel.
"Now that I think about it, I should've realized it right there. Even when he was facing Aira from fourth year, there was no shred of fear on his face. Now I understand why. That guy... He knew he couldn't be defeated. Even then, he was hiding his strength."
"If he had the strength to clear the Higher Floors, he could easily wipe the floor clean with Aira. Why though? How is he that strong at this young age? Just what is his past?"
****
The Hundredth Floor... It was the biggest mystery for everyone in the world that no one had an answer to.
It wasn't wrong to say that every person in the Academy wanted to know just what was there.
Now that Gabriel had reached the hundredth floor, it just proved that he was still alive, which put all the teachers on alert.
The Academy was once again sealed, and all the students were told to be back in their Dorms until the next instructions. All the Head Council Members were once again before the Tower, covering it.
"I wonder what he sees there..." Lishen wondered. Even he couldn't avoid the curiosity related to the top floor and what it was like.
"We can get all the answers I need once we can capture him," Xinci responded. "Just focus on the main prize. At the moment, it's certainly Gabriel."
"I know... We will definitely be catching him." Lishen affirmed. "No matter how long it takes, as soon as he comes out, he won't be allowed to leave the Academy."
"Since he just reached the top floor, he should at least be there for a day, if not more. I believe we should seal the space tomorrow," Rem suggested to Eliana, only to have Yoan from the House of Flame counter.
"You forgot how long he stayed on the 99th floor? It was as if he was having a picnic there. It's clear that he has no intention of coming out anytime soon. If I'm not wrong, he's intentionally wasting time inside."
"And why would he do that?" Xinci asked, slightly curious. Just why would someone waste time like that? What would it get them?
"Because he knows about the Academy. Think back to the time he stole all the items from our Museum. He knew exactly where we kept what. He also knew about the Academy a lot more than I would like to accept. In that case, it won't be far-fetched to assume that he knows about our space sealing formation as well," Yoan gave a hint. "Now, do you see why he's wasting time?"
"He wants us to waste our resources to keep the Space Sealing Formation up for as long as we can until we run out of our Spirit Crystals," Qin nodded, understanding what Yoan was implying.
"Of course. If I were in his place and knew all that, I would've done the same thing. He's intentionally wasting our time, waiting for us to exhaust our resources."
"In that case, that guy... He has lots of patience. He stayed on the 99th floor, despite probably being curious about the 100th floor," Xinci grimaced, understanding that the enemy wasn't as simple as they thought. The assumption of Yoan also made sense.
For them, Yoan's assumption made more sense than the reality, which was that the Guardians of the 99th floor were training Gabriel.
Xinci further continued. "With that kind of patience... He might be able to spend two or three months on that floor, just for the sake of it."
"That's right. If we place the Space Sealing Formation now, we would only be wasting our resources and have none when the time comes."
"So what are you implying we should do?" Lishen asked. "You have stated the problem but no solution. What if we don't use the Formation, and he comes out tomorrow and immediately escapes before we can seal the space?"
"The answer is simple. We just need to engage him in conversation. Keep him distracted until the Formation gets activated when he comes out. Instead of blindly activating it, we should wait until the guy is out of the tower."
"But-"
"It's true. That does make sense," Before Lishen could replace, Rem chimed in, agreeing with Yoan, which didn't happen often.
"We should only activate the sealing formation after he is out. It's better than blindly activating it like last time since that might be what he actually wants. If we don't use it blindly, we might be able to use it even if he comes out six months later."
"As for keeping him engaged, I'm sure I'll be able to find a way until then."
Since the beginning of the discussion, Eliana had been silent, listening to others' opinions, but she actually agreed with it, and the plan was finalized.
****
Seven days passed since Gabriel's name climbed to the top spot, and there was still no sign of him coming out.
At that moment, everyone could see the smug face of Yoan, who proved that he was right. Gabriel didn't look like he was coming out anytime soon.
"If I'm not wrong, we might be waiting for him for months."
It was Yoan and Rem who were guarding the Tower at the moment. Since their plan was to keep Gabriel engaged until the slave sealing formation was activated, they decided against having too many people here.
They didn't want to intimidate Gabriel right away by making him think that there were too many opponents for him to win. If that was the case, he could only run after all.
Both of them also had a crystal in their hands to signal Eliana in case Gabriel stepped out of the Tower since it was her job to activate the Space Sealing Formation after that point.
"You were right. It doesn't look like he's coming out anytime so-" Rem quite casually answered, but just as he was about to end his sentence, he stopped abruptly.
He could sense a strange aura coming from inside the tower. The door of the Tower of Challenges opened, making that aura even more prevalent.
"He..." Yoan was shocked to his core to see a person standing at the entrance of the Tower.
It was a young man who seemed barely twenty years old. Since Gabriel didn't have the Ring of Apophis, he couldn't keep up his illusion anymore, but he was sure he didn't need to either.
As soon as he appeared on Flood Zero, he realized something was wrong. There was no person here. The place was completely empty. It didn't take him long to realize why that was either. Still, even if he had the ring of Apophis, he wouldn't have cared at this point.
He didn't even try to hide his Aura as he stepped out of the Tower. It was unclear what it was that happened on the hundredth floor, but something about him was very different. It was as if he was more... dangerous.
As soon as Gabriel stepped out of the Tower, he noticed two Head Council Members. This just confirmed his suspicions. They knew.
Realizing that, a smile spread across his lips…
