「 Tower 」

"I am Headon, the guardian of the ground floor of this tower." Said the creature introducing himself as Headon.

"Tower? What do you mean? Hurry and get me out of this place, I have to go to see my master." Kira said.

" Are you sure you want to leave with a body like that, young master?"

Kira then glanced towards his own body, and realized that this time was not in a position where he could move as he pleased. Suddenly, Headon pointed his cane at Kira and said.

"I can heal your body, but what payment will you give me?" Headon said with a grin.

"Paid? I don't have the right as now, and I don't care whether you can cure me or not ... I'm not the type to make promises that easily." Said Kira, rejecting Headon's offer.

'Hihihi ~, that's interesting. ' Headon thought, he then spoke again.

"I just kidding, young master. Take it easy, I don't want any payment, but I want you to be quiet and listen to my explanation because it seems like you don't understand anything about this tower." Said Headon.

Kira nodded, then Headon began his explanation.

"This place is called the Tower, a place where you can fulfill all your desires," said Headon.

"Fulfill all my desires?"

Headon grinned and nodded.

"That's right, if you want wealth, immortality, absolute power, magic skills, mysteries, and all the questions in your mind ... all the answers are up there." Said Headon while pointing his cane up.

Kira looked up and what he saw was a glowing crack, he then murmured.

"Whatever I want ..."

The atmosphere became quiet before Kira looked back at Headon with a sharp look.

"Do you think I would believe your words, from anywhere, this place is very suspicious ... especially you, you are not a human, and I have never seen your type in my life." Said Kira.

"Of course, in this Tower, there are not only human races, many other races that have human-like intellect and characteristics exist." Headon said.

Hearing the answer from Headon, Kira thought.

'Doesn't that mean the place called tower exists in another world? No, it might be in a hidden place in my world. 'After thinking, Kira asked.

"In that case, what is the guarantee that you are not lying? And can I get out of this Tower?"

Hearing that Headon grinned.

"I cannot answer your question further, master ...?"

"Kira, you can call me Kira." Kira answered.

"... young master Kira, didn't I tell you before, all the answers you want are on the top of the tower." Said Headon.

Hearing that, Kira thought while looking at his palm.

'Power, huh? ... judging from wherever it is too vague and suspicious, what kind of fool would just believe at a time like this, other than that ... if his words are true, then I can get answers from my questions, and the truth about Apocrypha. ' Kira thought while looking at the object in his hand.

Kira then scratched his head and said while glancing at Headon with a sharp look.

"You sly ... but I don't hate people like you."

"I'm not sly, Mr. Kira, I'm just carrying out the procedures that apply in this tower, that's all. This old Headon is just a lowly guardian in this tower." Said Headon.

While Nash seemed unconcerned and said.

"Well whatever ... so what should I do so that I can enter this tower, you say this place is just the ground of the tower right?" Asked Kira.

"That's right, to go up to the next floor, Mr. Kira must pass the test that I gave." Headon replied, he then pointed his wand and suddenly one of the balls on his wand glowed.

And when the walls of the room made a roar, then an iron jail appeared and revealed a giant winged steel eel swimming in the water?

Seeing that, Kira widened his eyes in surprise. That's because the water in the prison is not water as it appears, but an energy that is dense enough to make it look like water.

As a magician dubbed as The Genius Magician, Kira's sense of magic is very sensitive, his affinity for mana (magic energy) is undoubtedly at the highest level.

But in theory, Mana in the Kira's Old World cannot be compacted or changed in shape unless there is a catalyst. But the sight before his eyes now opened a new perspective for Kira.

'How can Mana be compacted in such a way that it becomes like an inanimate object. Mana is an energy, it is clearly very different from inanimate or living things ... 'Think Kira.

" Mana ..." Kira muttered and the murmur was heard by Headon.

"Mana? I don't know what do you mean Mr Kira, but it seems like you know that what is inside the cage is not a water," said Headon who caught Kira's attention.

"Um, what energy exactly the ' Water ' is?" Asked Kira. Headon grinned and answered.

"Energy huh? But it's not wrong, the 'water' in the cage is called Shinsu or Divine Water." Headon said.

"Shinsu?" Kira raised his eyebrows, because he had never heard that name.

"Shinsu ... because it seems like you have understood the basic concepts of energy, explaining Shinsu will be simpler ... well you could say that Shinsu is similar to the 'Mana' you mentioned before. Shinsu is a substance that flows through and is produced by the Tower. In the Tower, everyone breathes and fights using Shinsu. "Headon explained.

Hearing the explanation from Headon, Kira absorbed the information like a sponge that absorbs water. He then said.

"So you could say, this tower is Shinsu itself, right?"

Headon was quite surprised, but he grinned again and nodded.

"That's right, Mr. Kira. You are an intelligent person," Headon said.

'Of course, no fool can be a magician, that is an unwritten rule. '

Kira thought. He then realized that his body currently did not allow him to move let alone fight.

"So Headon, can you cure me first? I can't carry out the test you give if my body in this condition." Said Kira

"You're right." The Headon wand glowed again and then a green light surrounded Kira's body.

Kira felt all of his vitality back at once, the burns and cuts on his whole body slowly disappeared, and even his Meridian was again filled with Mana, no ...

'Wait a minute, this is strange ... there is something strange about my body! 'Feeling extreme pain in his stomach, Kira roared in pain.

"Arghh!"

Seeing that, Headon was also confused. He did not know what had happened to make Kira curl up in pain.

"Mr. Kira, what happened? Do you feel a rejection of Shinsu?" Headon asked.

Meanwhile, Kira is still in pain thinking.

'This ... it's possible this happened because Mana produced by my body was forcibly mixed with Shinsu who entered my body.. 'Kira thought.

His conclusion was based on Headon's previous statement. In the Kira's Old World, the body of a human generally would automatically produce Mana, therefore Mana is arguably an internal energy possessed by every human.

Meanwhile, in this place, Shinsu is external energy that comes from the tower itself, it is an unlimited energy. And the two energies are currently being mixed into one in Kira's body, and that is an unexpected event.

"Arghhh !!!" The pain that Kira felt had reached its peak, before the pain slowly subsided.

"* pant * * pant * * cough *" Kira panted and then vomited blood on the ground.

Headon realizing that Kira's body had just undergone a significant change, thought seriously.

'This is very strange, Shinsu who is inside his body suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a very strange foreign energy. I don't know what kind of energy it is, but I have a bad feeling towards it. 'Headon thought.

Headon then approached and asked.

"Are you ok, Mr. Kira?"

Hearing that, Kira, whose whole body had been healed, tried to stand up.

"It's okay, thank you for healing me, I will definitely repay you someday." Said Kira.

Kira then turned his gaze towards the steel eel in the cage. Gripping the handle of Apocrypha tightly, Kira asked.

"So what do I have to do to pass the test?" Asked Kira.

Headon then answers.

"The test rules are simple, you only need to kill the giant eel, and you'll pass my test and go up to the next floor." Headon replied, pointing towards the steel eel in the cage.

" Oh, I see... "

Kira suddenly looked around with a curious face asking Headon.

"Oi Headon, by the way why is this place so quiet, isn't this place to enter the tower?"

"Of course, because only a few people take the test to enter the tower," Headon answered.

"Hm ...? What do you mean?" Asked Kira.

Headon then explained the existence of Regular, Ranker, and Irregular. He explained that Kira was an Irregular, because he opened the gate to the tower by himself, not because he was chosen by Headon himself. Headon also said that his job in the tower was to select the Regular to be teleported directly to the first floor.

"So you mean, only the Irregulars were tested in this place?" Asked Kira, and the Headon nodded.

"That's true. But Irregular is not a common existence that appears in the tower, their existence is very rare and is considered a threat by the king of this tower." Said Headon.

"The Irregular are people who are not bound by the rules of the tower, and usually the Irregular has a very strong power because of their uniqueness," Headon added.

Hearing Headon's explanation.

'So as long as my strength is still weak, revealing my identity as an Irregular is very dangerous, I must be careful. ' Kira thought.

Kira then walked towards the eel in the cage to kill him. Seeing that, Headon just grinned. After arriving right in front of the cage, Kira stopped and instead touched his palm to the cage containing the Shinsu.

'As expected, the feeling of touching Shinsu's flow is the same as when I use Mana-based magic, I want to try whether it works the same as Mana, and whether I can use my magic. '

Kira then opened his palm to use magic, and said.

"Fireball."

But, instead of fire coming out, but a ball of energy with dark purple and a mixture of other colors that appear in Kira's palm.

Seeing that, both Kira and Headon were shocked. Kira was surprised because the magic catalyst he used to turn mana into fire didn't work, while Headon was surprised because the fluxation that caused by the ball of energy.

He then thought.

'Wait a minute ... is that baang? No, the energy in the ball is too thick and strange, how can this kid manipulate Shinsu even though he only found out what Shinsu was just a moment ago !? Is that his Shinshu natural form? No, apart from that, is the energy ball was created from Shinsu?it gave a different vibration than the usual Shinsu. 'Various questions arose in the mind of Headon.

Meanwhile, Kira thinks..

'Is it because before, Mana in my body was mixed with Shinsu? Making my magic catalyst useless? ... well let's just try using this thing first. '

Kira then turned towards the steel eel.

"Alright, then I'll throw this energy ball in."

The energy ball the size of a palm was then thrown into the cage by Kira, as if he was throwing an ordinary Fireball. And when the ball came in, Shinsu's stream around him moved away as if to avoid it and when the ball hit the body of the steel eel.

The terrible energy fluctuations made the steel eel and Shinsu's flow around it chaotic and made a circular vortex, as if Kira's energy ball was sucking it up.

"Hah !!!" Kira was very surprised, Headon behind him was no exception.

* Roar *

A roar of pain could be heard from the mouth of the steel eel, as his body shattered slowly into minced meat, and green blood spurred in all directions.

* Spurt *

When the energy ball disappeared, the flow of Shinsu around it returned to normal, and the body of the steel eel had fallen apart. The atmosphere became quiet before Headon said.

" What the hell! "

But, suddenly Kira returned to vomitting the blood and fell to the ground.

"* Cough *."

The Meridian in his body stiffened, but this was not the first time Kira felt those feelings.

'This feeling, it's like when I first used Mana, my body which was not trained at that time could not withstand the fluctuations caused by the flow of Mana in my Meridian. By any chance, the previous dark purple energy was the result of mixing Mana and Shinsu? If so, then I must make my body strong enough before I can use that energy fully. ' Kira thought.

Although his body was in pain, but Kira grinned happily. An energy stronger than Mana, maybe with this energy, he can become stronger to avenge himself against the government.

Kira's body then slowly glowed and distorted. Seeing that, he was a little confused before Headon said.

"Mr. Kira, right now you will be sent directly to the next floor, before you leave, let me say something to you, Mr. Kira ..." Headon said.

Kira just silent and listen.

"... The energy you used before, don't use it before you are strong enough to protect your life from the higher-ups of the tower. Remember my previous words, you Irregulars are existences that can kill the king of the tower... if he knows that you have strange powers like that, you will definitely be killed. "Said Headon.

Hearing that, Kira nodded, he was very grateful to Headon, for healing him and giving him valuable advice. Kira not hesitate to bow to Headon and say.

"I will definitely see you again, Headon. Thank you." Said Kira.

"Oh, I almost forgot something ..." Headon said.

Headon suddenly took something out of thin air, it was a black marble ball, he then gave it to Kira and said.

"This thing is called Pocket, it will automatically translate your words into maschetian language used in towers and various other functions."

Kira take the pocket given by Headon and check it carefully. Headon then spoke again.

"You can say 'Invisible' to make it invisible." Kira then followed the instructions given by Headon, and the pocket disappeared instantly making Kira surprised. He then said.

" Thanks again, Headon. " Kira said.

Headon just grinned before bending down and saying.

" Welcome to the tower, Mr. Kira," Headon said.

* Fwuosh *

And in an instant, Kira had completely disappeared from his place, and was immediately transferred to the next floor.

Looking at Kira who was gone, Headon grinned and laughed.

"Hihihi ~, this is getting more and more interesting. Two people with unlimited potential have started to climb the tower, about what major event will happen in the future, huh? I can't wait."