Tower

The rat was apparently not the rodent that was the bane of all households. Or more appropriately, it once was, but now, it had become a ravenous Beast, whose only goal is to sate its taste buds with as many liters of blood as possible.

Damian hadn't expect this level of gruesomeness, indeed. But, in actuality, what he hadn't definitely expected was the next scene.

The beady black eyes of the rodent suddenly snapped towards Damian's direction, a manic gleam flashing in them, as it's bloody fangs bared with a dangerous sheen. It felt Damian's gaze despite the distance between them. And at once, it charged.

Damian's face instantly turned pale. With the speed he was currently witnessing, it would take the rat few seconds at the very least to arrive at his room. Without hesitation, his measly 170 points of Edict flourished, bombarding the ring on his finger.

At that moment, the rat appeared by his window. No doubt, it had climbed the wall to get here. And with a paranormal lightness, leapt towards Damian, an especially bright twinkle flashing on its rather dangerous fangs for a split second, affirming their sharpness. It seems it wasn't a fan of toying with his prey.

Damian, though, reacted on instinct. His hand grabbed what his mind saw first, and without taking a moment to examine it, he struck.

A flash followed. It was just a flash, but when Damian opened his eyes, the body of the rat lay beside him.

It was dead.

Damian collapsed onto his knees, his nose inhaling heavy doses of oxygen. The exchange had only lasted two seconds, yet it felt as though he was about to die.

This was humiliating. He, a potential Heir of the House of Octavius, had nearly died against a house rodent who had barely evolved for an hour.

Damian looked down at his own body; the flesh that stuck to his sternum, the clear outline of his ribs, the almost fleshless arm, which led to his pale palm that wrapped around a… handgun?

His head whipped towards the dead body of the rat, and from the fist sized hole that had clearly mutilated its' pillow-sized body, it appeared the handgun had been the weapon that killed it. He had only struck with no idea what weapon he had taken.

Damian sighed. He examined the weapon, the red color of its body, the engraving of a golden eastern dragon that ran the sides of its muzzle, and the emblem of the House of Octavius that rested at a corner of its grip.

His mother had saved him… yet again.

*

At a far distance, in the inconspicuous reaches of the vast cosmos, the bell like giggle of a woman resounded. Although, it sounded harmless, each and every tone of her giggle trembled the very foundation of the world she was in.

It was evident that, should she deem it fit, the world could really be buried in the annals of history.

"My son, my sweet son. Is there a need to feel so bad? Besides, I didn't save you. You. Saved. Yourself."

Her voice was perfect, light, airy, infusing one with a tingling sensation that felt almost fulfilling. It was without a second thought that, anyone with such a voice, was definitely going to be a beauty beyond imaginations.

Unfortunately, a golden aura shielded that from the eyes of the old man standing at the foot of her throne. He sighed, unable to believe this woman who was so obsessed with her son.

Since he left, she had been monitoring every of his actions. From when he sleeps to when he take his baths. From what he eats to the cloths he wears.

Just recently, she had nearly destroyed the world after spitting out curse words, directed at no one in particular. But, this old man knew the truth. Those who her son deemed enemies were her enemies. Those who are son deemed friends were her friends. The circumstances mattered little.

Once again he sighed. The next two decades was going to be like this. He had little doubt.

*

Damian could have never known his mother had been watching him. But, even if he knew, he would just laugh it off, saying, so what?

His mother was one of the those he loved wholeheartedly. No, it could even be said, he placed his mother on a more higher pedestal than any other soul he was intimate with.

Hence, he had no remorse against his mother's monitoring. She… was just checking on him.

Currently, however, he was immersed in himself, taking in the changes that had occured in body.

[ You have acquired the Edictal Essence of the First Sphere, Stratum 2 Ravenous Rat ]

[ Agility +4, Strength +2 ]

This was the two messages that appeared on the panel before him, and although, nearly imperceptible, he felt his strength increase.

He couldn't believe the rat was at Stratum 2 already. Didn't the apocalypse begin nearly half an hour ago? How had it progressed so fast?

But, even that discovery paled to the fact that he had killed such a creature at merely Stratum 1, a Stratum that was equivalent to a Mortal Human. Although, the gap wasn't much, it was still enough to fling him around with ease.

However, he was aware that were it not for the ring his mother gifted him, he really would have died. Upon getting to this point, Damian's gaze grew serious.

He needed to remove his limiters. Now.

However, before Damian could even begin to take an action, the world trembled again, a cacophony of booms resounding as though the world was about to end.

Through his window, Damian got a view of the cause. In the distance, a shimmering bronze tower-like structure rose into the sky, tearing through the air currents as though it wouldn't be satisfied until the sun calls it equal.

It towered above all things, and was still gaining momentum. Just as it appear as though the tower-like structure would really pierce through Earth's atmosphere, it suddenly stopped.

BOOM!

The aftershock was palpable. It swept through the whole Northernshire University with an unmatched fierceness, shredding to bits all within a 100 meters radius.

Damian was by his window once again. This time, an unconcealed gleam shone within his eyes. He perfectly knew what the tower-like structure is. This was the perk that came with being a member of a powerful Family.

All information his mother considered important had been soaked into him, making him aware of things most wouldn't know.

This tower-like structure in the distance was infact a Tower. A structure with opportunities. Opportunities that would kickstart the swift progression of a recently metamorphosed world like Earth. But with opportunities came equal danger the likes of which Earth had never faced.

To grasp these opportunities, one needed to pass a test the Tower spawned. It could be fighting a legion of Spheric Beasts, finding solution to the political storm of a Kingdom, or something as mundane as solving the romantic issues of two partners. And although, the latter test sounded mundane, it was just as difficult as the former two.

They came in grades as well. From the bronze color of the Tower, it appeared it was just of the Bronze Grade, a grade where even the most powerful of rewards would be mere Tier 10 Bronze Grade Artifacts. Artifacts that paled in comparison to the handgun Damian held in his hand.

But this was to be expected, after all, Earth had just became a First Sphere World. And there was the fact that, the current Damian couldn't wield the Artifacts his mother gifted him. Just to pull a shot from the handgun had costed him nearly all his Edict.

For his current level of expertise, only Bronze Grade Artifacts could place no strain on him during usage.

Damian's expression became serious. He had to get there before anyone else. It was then it happened again. Several explosions that put nukes to shame sounded, the ground trembling at the shock.

Just farther away, Damian witnessed the rising of several other Towers, each with distance measuring at least a kilometer between them. The momentum of their rising was as fierce as the first, and they radiated the sheen of their shimmering bronze hue.

At the same time, the door that led to Damian's room was knocked off its hinges. Damian turned, and what he beheld made his expression grew several levels serious.

It seems his journey to the Tower wouldn't be so easy.