How It All Began.

In a dimly lit corridor with high walls that stretched to an unknown height. On the walls of the corridor were several murals of beings, places and things. The corridor was quiet and devoid of of sound or life.

Some time later, a large beam of dark colored light descended out from above and landed on a part of the floor of the corridor.

The light later then dispersed to reveal a black haired young boy. He seemed to be unconscious. The only sign he was alive was that he was breathing.

A few moments later, the boy opened his eyes and slowly got up. He looked around in confusion.

'Did I make it? Am I in the tower? I guess so since I am alive.' The boy thought as he looked around.

He then saw a dim light coming from the end of tr corridor and decided to walk towards the light.

The boy walked for some time until he reached the end of the corridor and entered what seemed to be large hall whose height he could not determine.

On the walls of the hall were even more murals than the ones in the corridor. On his way to the hall, he had looked at all the murals he came across but he couldn't make any sense of it. So he had stopped trying to decipher them though he had committed them to memory.

Before he could look at the murals in the hall, he saw a creature walk out of the darkness and stop about two meters away from him. He was quite nervous inwardly since he was dealing with the unknown. But he showed none of these emotions as he looked at the creature with an expressionless face. Though he felt no danger from the creature, he was in high alert mode and ready to escape if the situation went dire.

He kept his guard up and looked at the creature vigilantly. If the creature attacked, he would defend himself and try to defeat it and get some information from it if possible, but if that proved difficult he would escape.

The creature was rabbit-like and had long erect ears. Its skin was completely white in color with no fur or hair. It had a black slit across its face that would occasionally reveal eyes or narrow teeth. It stood on its two hind limbs just like a human. It was almost meter tall. It wore a blue attire with white colored footwear and In its right hand was long yellow stick with two crystal blue balls at each end.

"It's been quite a while since I had a visitor. I am Headon, the tower's caretaker and guardian of the first floor. Welcome to the Tower Of God, my child." The creature said in a friendly tone as it approached the boy.

'If what he says is true, being the caretaker of a tower full of powerful beings who could live for tens of thousands of years, he must be unimaginable powerful. Vunerable level maybe. I shouldn't mess with him.' The boy then loosened his guard a little bit and relaxed to show his goodwill.

"I am sorry if I have offended you, great guardian. I was just being cautious. My name is Fang Yuan." The boy said in an apologetic tone.

In his past life, he had been the most powerful person. He had lived for countless years and interacted with all kinds of people and creatures and had a good grasp of retalions.

"What a polite child. You are not like the rest who thinks they own the world. The tower is a place where you can have wealth, fame, power, revenge, absolutely anything is possible. You can even become a god. Or you can transcend all such things. Such a place is the tower. All you need to do is to climb to the top and your wish shall be granted." Headon said and paused.

Time went by but he showed no sign of continuing as he walked around Fang Yuan in circles observing Fang Yuan as if he was looking at a rare and unique specimen.

Though Fang Yuan was a person of great patience and endurance, he decided to ask the next obvious question to end this charade.

"How do I climb, great guardian?"

"Couldn't help it anymore I see. Learn to be mor patient, my child. I was coming to that. On each floor of the tower, tests are carried to determine those who are worthy to advance to the next floor. Since you are from the outside, you will have to pass the test on this floor to determine whether you are worthy to climb or not. Failure means death. Of course, you can also refuse to take the test, in that case you will be sent outside the tower and all memory of its existence wiped from your mind."

What a joke. To be sent outside. fang Yaun had basically gone through heaven and hell to be able to reach the tower. He had almost sacrificed the entire Gu world in his pursuit of Eternal Life. No obstacle could stop him. Even death could not stop him. He would not back from a test no matter how difficult it was. He would pass the test or die trying. That was his conviction. After all, the worse that could happen was death.

"Please, what is the test?"

Headon grinned widely showing his narrow teeth. Immediately, Fang Yuan had a bad feeling.

Headon turned around to face the darkness and waved his staff. The curtain of darkness out of which Headon had walked from previously disappeared revealing a huge cage filled with a thick liquid like substance containing a humanoid creature with red skin and eyes. The creature was sitting cross legged on the floor holding a large broad sword in its right hand. It looked like it would be about 3 meters tall if it was to stand upright. Occasionally, it would growl.

"That cage is filled with highly concentrated shinsu. The shinheuh inside is the Red Mad Human: a humanoid shinheuh living on the 5th floor. It feeds on flesh of humans but it hasn't eaten in a long time. You can therefore imagine how hungry it is. You test is simply, kill it and you can advance. No time limit. But since you have been so polite towards me, if you can kill it 30 minutes, I will give you a good gift and answer any one question of yours."

"Please what is shinheuh and shinsu? Great guardian." Fang Yuan asked politely as possible with a hint of nervousness and a smile.

"Aren't you sharp? Normally, the rules prevent me from telling you anything and I would say everything is at the top."

"But I will explain since you asked so politely. Shinsu is the divine energy that fills the tower and gives life to it. People who climb the tower use shinsu to become strong. In less concentrated form, shinsu is a gas and more concentrated form, it takes the form of a liquid or solid. In fact, in the tower, shinsu is life. Shinu is the world itself."

"As for Shinheuh, it is term which simply refers to monsters and beasts that reside in the tower."

Headon explained as he stood before Fang Yuan with his backing facing him.

"Once you are ready to take the test, just walk towards the cage.Are you ready to take the test?" Headon asked with a grin as he turned to look at Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and answered in a firm and confident tone :"Yes please, great guardian."