7 Arrival

『Chronicles of the Blood Tower』

[Well…. Hahaha…], Mathis sheepishly muttered as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

'I've witnessed the birth of a monster among monsters' , Mathis was thinking to himself.

Mathis naturally as one of the Guardians of the Tower had met and seen many strong Regulars and Rankers that had climbed to unseen heights in the Tower. Many of them, and the Guardians themselves were incredibly powerful and perceptive to the flow of mana. The boy named Rasmus who was in front of him, had a much lower mana capacity than himself, as his mana capacity was in the hundreds of thousands, was emitting a very ominous and sinister flow of mana.

Mathis grabbed the back of his neck as he felt a trickle of cold sweat roll down his neck. This boy, despite being an irregular, had an immense amount of mana for anybody about to undergo the Trial Floor's Test. But within Mathis' senses, he felt the feeling that if this boy ever turned his fangs at him he would be able to crush him easily right now, but his instincts as a being that had lived for several millenniums and had seen numerous monsters, was screaming at his to get away from the boy in fear of being killed on the spot.

Rasmus' eyes were fiery with rage and confusion, but he was smart. He knew he needed to cool down and collect his thoughts.

Rasmus retracted his outburst of mana and blood aura that surrounded himself. He then turned to the panels that only he could see through his Tol.

Skills -

1) Basic Mana Strengthening - Grade F+ (growth in accordance to proficiency)

2) Tower Language - Passive

3) High speed Body Regeneration - Grade A-

4) (???)

5) (???)

He pretty much made a hypothesis from his deductive reasoning, that the ??? skills and ??? 'Unidentifiable power source' in his status were related to his blood core abilities. What excited him was that, when he was stuck in the planet killing for survival and eating the remains of the monsters he hunted, he was able to use some innate abilities and traits of the monsters he hunted. Like the Minotaur's strength, Hydra's body regeneration, or the Lizardman's stealth. With the surge of mana, he had an instinctive feeling he would be able to use these abilities further, but even use some of the abilities he couldn't replicate. Some of those being Dragonfire, or Polymorphing that mimics used.

Rasmus turned his head to meet with gaze with Mathis'

"Well, what now.", he asked in a blunt manner.

Rasmus' body language and attitude had done a complete 180 since the flood of memories came back to him. His posture was straightened, his gaze less relaxed and rather a bit cold. His entire presence that he was exuding, made Mathis think this boy had some sort of bipolar disorder.

[Well, there's just a few things left. They're gifts for you that you'll end up needing since I'll be teleporting you to the Trial Floor Area soon.] Mathis narrowed his eyes as he continued to speak, noticing the complete lack of respect Rasmus was giving him now.

[If you rouse your mana a little bit, and think of inspecting some sort of storage, you'll be able to see what I left you in your gloves. I gave you a bit of money and your spear that you came in with. The gloves' magic circles contain a spatial magic that work similar to an inventory. The set of clothes are known better as equipment that you'll only be able to find in much higher floors, so I hope you understand this is quite the investment I'm making in you.], Mathis spoke to Rasmus hinting that he was interested in the boy.

Rasmus didn't reply and rather rose his hand up to his waist and turned the palm over to face him. He then tried to rouse up his mana, the same way he would circulate his blood aura and thought of trying to inspect the contents of the spatial storage.

The magic circle on the white glove in his right hand started to glow faintly and a small tear in space formed. Inside the tear, Rasmus peeked inside and saw his spear and several bags of what seemed to be full of some contents that Mathis spoke of. Whatever the currency in the Tower was, Rasmus would be able to access it within the information he could access through his Tol.

Rasmus stuck his hand in the tear and pulled out the white spear that was tinted red from all the blood it had been stained with. It wasn't anything special, as it was just a bone that he had carved meticulously through the years in the shape of a spear. However, the material it was made out of was incredibly high quality, even in the Tower's standards as it was made from a dragon's bone.

[That's quite the spear material you have there, you'll have around 2 weeks till the test starts on the Trial Floor. I suggest you take that to a weaponsmith to get it processed officially and made into something a bit more usable. If you use some of the money I gave you, you could even get it inscribed with some magic runes as well.], Mathis spoke with an expressionless tone.

"You said the test will start in 2 weeks, correct? What will I do until then?" Rasmus questioned Mathis, as he was still on guard from the mysterious man.

[I'll be sending you to a city of your choice, though I recommend going to the capital of the floor, Eden and staying there. They have the most resources and you'll be able to prepare for the tests and gather information you still need.]

"How big are the floors exactly? If there's even a capital it should be a rather large space I'm assuming.", Rasmus asked.

[Hmmm… Though I have not been outside the Tower to other planets, In old records of the first challengers to the Tower, they stated each was the size of a small country in their home planets.], Mathis spoke as he rubbed his unkempt beard.

Rasmus nodded in reply as he didn't want to speak much longer to Mathis. He was incredibly suspicious and on guard to him, and he wanted to get some time alone as soon as possible, to sort out everything he needed to do as well as his thoughts and goals regarding the Tower.

[Well then, I'm assuming you're ready to get going?], Mathis asked Rasmus, raising his brow.

Once more, Rasmus nodded in response.

[Then, Is the capital Eden the place you'd like to go to?]

"Yes", Rasmus replied.

Mathis nodded to his reply and turned around. He then started to murmur some unknown words, and soon raised his hands as if he were to push something. The space cracked apart in front of him and started to round itself around the edges to form a portal.

Through the portal, Rasmus could see an alleyway leading out to a busy street. There were people walking along the street busily, ignoring the portal in the alley. Rasmus saw all sorts of beings walking around. If he had to compare it to something from Earth, he would say it reminded him of Diagon Alley in the book 'Harry Potter' he read early on in his life. However, there were some distinct differences. Though there were several humans walking among the crowd, There were beings that looked like lycanthropes, elves, dwarves, hobbits, and half humans of several different species. Inwardly, he was completely shocked as if his crazy life couldn't get more unbelievable than it already was.

[I can't go through with you as I am the Guardian responsible for the entrance to the Tower, you will have to remember a few things. It's not normal that people will ever meet a Guardian let alone talk with one, especially in the lower floors. So you will have to keep our meeting a secret. Also, you should prepare a story if anyone asks you about yourself. There are several libraries in Eden, where you can find history on the Tower and come up with a backstory. I wish you luck… Irregular.], Mathis spoke with a serious expression as he narrowed his eyes at Rasmus.

Rasmus nodded to the words and confusedly looked to the portal, then back to Mathis.

[For crying out loud, just walk through it!] Mathis exclaimed, as he understood what Rasmus was asking with his body language.

Rasmus hardened his face, at the rude remark from Mathis as he thought it was an unnecessary tone of voice. Nonetheless, he stepped forwards and walked through the portal as he closed his eyes.

Ohhhhhmmmmnnn…. Naaaaahrraaa...suuuuuu

Hass...ahhn......Roooo….merr….toombbbbbee....SARUU!!!

Rasmus's head was dizzy and he heard a very disturbing set of voices ringing in his head as he walked through the portal. It sounded like a chorus of snakes and old men chanting in an unknown set of languages.

Rasmus shook his head lightly as he felt a warm breeze hit his skin. He opened his eyes to the vibrant sun from the floor of the Tower. Several voices could be heard shouting various things, vendors, family members, children laughing.

Rasmus' corner of lips slowly turned upwards with a grin but, he quickly noticed it and berated himself for thinking this was a playground.

He had finally arrived at his first destination inside the Tower.

Chapter 7 - Fin