Chapter 15: Trial of Perilous Passage and Strength
The Tower Association building stood tall and imposing, made of blackened steel and polished glass that reflected the gleaming spire of the Tower beside it. The building was several stories high, with wide, arched windows that let in the sunlight, and a grand entrance that was flanked by two massive stone golems.
As Neo approached the building, he saw that it was bustling with activity. Elves, dwarves, humans, and other races bustled in and out, carrying scrolls and books, or engaged in animated discussions with each other. A pair of centaurs stood guard at the entrance, their equine bodies and manned heads towering over the visitors.
As Neo walked into the building, he was struck by the stark contrast from the outside. The lobby was clean and modern, with sleek metal surfaces and glowing panels on the walls. At the center of the room was a large circular desk, behind which sat numerous receptionists, each busily typing away on their holographic keyboards.
To the left of the lobby was a row of booths, each with a sign above them indicating their purpose. One read "Registration", while another read "Testing". Neo made his way to the registration booth, where he was greeted by a tall, imposing figure. The creature had the body of a lion, but the face of a human, with piercing green eyes and a regal mane of hair.
"Name and Class?" the lion-man asked in a deep, rumbling voice.
"Neo, Technomancer," Neo replied.
The lion-man typed on his keyboard for a moment, then handed Neo a small card.
"Your registration is complete. Your Evolver ID is on the card. Keep it with you. Your next step is to take the testing to determine your rank," the lion-man said, his tone indicating that the conversation was over.
Neo nodded, then made his way to the testing booth. As he passed by, he noticed that the other creatures in the lobby were a diverse mix of races, each with their own unique features and abilities. Despite the variety, there was a sense of unity among them, as if they were all part of the same community.
Neo stepped into the testing room, a small chamber with plain white walls and a single door. As he entered, the door closed behind him, leaving him in complete silence. Suddenly, a soft glow emanated from the walls, and a voice boomed out from an unseen speaker.
"Greetings, Neo. I am the Evolver Testing System. Please remain still and calm as I scan your body for any signs of evolvement."
Neo stood still as the scanning began. He felt a slight tingle as the system analyzed his body, searching for any trace of evolver powers. After a few moments, the scan was complete, and the voice spoke again.
"Thank you, Neo. Based on my analysis, I have determined that you are currently unevolved. You will need to continue to develop your abilities until you reach level 20, at which point you will become eligible for the evolver quest."
The door behind Neo slid open, and he stepped out of the testing room. His card shone and a zero got added to it at the back of the card and the front had his name and the current floor of the Tower he cleared, which was also zero.
He left the room and approached a portal that lead to the tower itself. Every city, town, and even village has one of these as it teleported them to the foot of the tower from where they'll enter it.
Neo felt a rush of excitement and anticipation. He knew that he was about to embark on a new journey, one that would take him to the legendary Tower that pierced the sky itself.
As he stepped through the portal, he felt a sudden disorientation as the world around him changed. The familiar streets and buildings of the city disappeared, replaced by a vast, open landscape that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
And there were people everywhere—people of all races and creeds, moving about their business and going about their day. Neo saw towering giants with skin like stone, nimble elves with pointed ears and graceful movements, and even small, furry creatures that scurried about on four legs.
The air was thick with the sounds and smells of this new world, and Neo felt a sense of wonder and amazement as he took it all in. He knew that this was just the beginning of his journey, and that there was still so much more to discover and explore.
The Gate of the Tower stood tall and imposing, a massive structure of dark stone that seemed to have been chiseled out of the very earth itself. It was wide enough to allow several carriages to pass through side by side, yet it was heavily guarded by tall, muscular beings with rippling muscles and skin the color of onyx.
The gate itself was decorated with intricate carvings and runes that seem to glow with a faint, pulsing light, as if alive with some unknown energy. The patterns etched into the stone were foreign and mysterious, depicting scenes of battles and creatures that few have ever seen.
As Neo approaches the gate, he can feel the power emanating from it, almost as if it was alive and watching him.
{Let's go see what this legendary Tower looks like.}
Neo took a deep breath and touched the door. The faint rune on it glowed and Neo disappeared from the area as he had entered the Tower.
….
Neo felt the surrounding area darkened before turning completely white, like he was in a white room.
『 Welcome to the Tower of Ascendance. The first trial for the successful integration into the tower will begin now.』
『 First Trial [Trial of Perilous Passage].』
『 Navigate through the Maze successfully. The shorter time you take, the more agility you'll be awarded.』
『 Current Record: 01:30:54.』
Neo looked at the notification, and Bolt jumped on his shoulder.
The white floor disappeared and Neo found himself in a damp, darkly lit area and a huge wall stood in front of it.
"Let me." Blaze cracked his knuckles and arrived in front of the wall and punched it.
Boom*
A booming sound echoes through the area, and dust rose for a while before settling down. Blaze looked at the point of contact and saw a crack in the wall, and his mouth arched up. He took out the Heroism potion and doused it down.
"This is good!!"
A powering sensation took over him as he roared and punched again.
Boom* Boom*
He punched a hole in the wall, giant enough for him to pass through. Blaze's grin got wider, his eyes flashed.
"Let's get more powerful and fast."
Blaze then activated [Rune Fury] and [Dash of the Wind]. His muscles bulged, and he looked as time passed .
『 00:00:20』
"Let's go"
Neo blasted through walls as Blaze looked around for traps and such.
"Bolt, hang on tight." Neo said as he dashed through the hole that he created and punched the wall in front of him and dashed again.
Boom*
Boom*
Boom*
{Jump}
Neo did as told and jumped high as he kicked the wall in front of him and kept ongoing forward.
Boom*
The booming sound echoed as Neo blasted through the wall and entered from one side of the wall and came out of the other side, his face covered in dust and rubble. Bolt shook its body and all of it got transferred to his body as well. There were many traps and pitfalls in there and if not for Blaze's constant reminder, he would have become a victim to it.
{Done}
『 Trial of Perilous Path completed.』
『 Time taken to complete the challenge: 00:02:20』
"Well, I wasted 20 seconds testing the potion." Blaze said as he looked at the timer and waited for the reward.
Looking at this, Neo said, "I didn't break any rules, right?"
{… You are seeing the same thing that I'm seeing, right?}
"Yes"
{Then just roll with it. If it says I cheated. Then I'll think about it.}
"…"
Neo forgot what type of person Blaze was, or was he even one?
{Hey, I'm you. If I'm not one, then you are also not one.}
He didn't know what to say and turned his attention toward the notification.
『 Calculation complete, Congratulation for completing the Tower trial. $#%#』
『 +20 Vitality points, +2 Chaos Points.』
"The gibrish should be what Bella told me about."
{Yeah, I'm too weak to learn but never mind that. These Chaos points intrigued me more. That thing is new.}
Neo also turned his attention toward that, as he also hadn't heard anything about these Chaos points from Bella.
{Just cross the bridge when I reach there. Now the Vitality stat is higher than Strength. }
"You told me to look at them." Neo muttered and found himself back in the room and saw the notification.
『 Resetting the skills cooldown.』
Neo checked his skills and found that he can use [Rune Fury] and [Dash of the Wind] again.
{This is convenient and the effect of the potion is still there. Let's check if the effect stack}
"Let's not." Neo said as didn't know when he'd find the next Traveler, so he was pretty conservative.
{Tch, stingy.}
Woof?
Bolt brought Neo's attention to it, as it felt forgotten.
"I should learn that pet dimensions spell which Bella told me about."
{He's still a cub, so let it do whatever it wants.}
"Oh…"
{What?}
"Nothing." Neo smiled, but that smile irritated Blaze. But when the next Trial Notification popped up before him, he kept a mum.
『 Second trial [The trial of strength]』
『 Lift the weight.』
『 The heavier the weight, the more the points will be rewarded.』
『 The longer the user can carry it, the more stat points will be awarded.』
『 Highest record: 30 Tonnes for 00:04:57』
{Well, let's get to it then.}
Blaze said as the surroundings changed again. Neo found himself in a hall, with different weights in front of him. He walked around and saw the numbers on them.
[50]
[100]
[200]
[500]
[1 T]
[2 T]
[5 T]
[10 T]
[20 T]
[30 T]
.
.
.
The weight went on and even Blaze was speechless, as he didn't know whether he could even take the Ton weight. Neo took a deep breath and started with 100 Kilo one, as this should give him an estimate of how high he can aim for. Grabbing the weight with both hands, Neo pushed up hard and almost fell as the weight was as light as a feather and, using too much force, almost made him trip and fall.
He removed one hand and found that it was still light and thought, why was that? He might have strong attributes, but he was not this powerful that he could lift the weight easily, and then he found the reason.
『 For performing the absolute best in the previous trial, Strength x 50 』
{Now that's a good buff.}
Neo nodded subconsciously as he moved to let the weight go and went toward the 1 Tonnes one, and this one was also as easy as the first one.
Neo again skipped the next and went directly to the 10 Tonnes and lifted it up. This time he felt a little strain but nothing that he couldn't handle and lifted the weight above his head before putting it down.
{Let's do 50 Tonnes}
Blaze said as he activated the [Rune Fury] and his muscles bulged with power as he grabbed the 50 Tonnes bar and lifted it above his head. He found it was also not heavy at all and directly turned his attention toward the 100 Tonnes one.
"The power is getting to my head."
{ Almost 10,000 strength is absolute beast, so have to try how much of a beast I can be before it runs off.}
Blaze commented and grabbed the 100 Tonnes weight with both hands and tried lifting it. The weight slowly left the ground, but it was proving to be too heavy. Blaze didn't let go as he roared and lifted it near his chest before lifting it up with one full swing above his head.
He stood there motionless, his arms trembling under the sheer weight of the thing.
"I bit more than I could chew." He said bitterly
To which Neo replied with, You think?
Now they had to hold it up for as long as they could as they didn't know how long it was ever held, but the effect of the heroism potion ran out in 3 minutes, and he let go of the weight when that happened and jumped back, but there was no thud or boom as the weight landed on the ground in smooth motion.
"I'm done." Neo said and the next moment, the notification rang.
『 Completed the Trial of strength.』
He disappeared and appeared in the white room, still panting, and he really bit more than he could chew. His stamina was in the red zone now.
『 Resetting skills and restoring Stamina.』
"Well now, that's convenient."