Inside the Tower

| Congratulations to Izaak Silva. You have entered the Tower. |

| Reading mana status... Recorded... Class identified: Shadow Walker. |

| Identified as self-learned… Rewards awarded. |

| Awarded: Touch of the Shadows. |

| Regressing to Level 1… Status reset. |

| Congratulations, Izaak Silva, you are now a player. |

| 00:01:00 |

| Name: Izaak Silva

| Race: Human (Earth)

| Class: Shadow Walker (Rare)

| Benefactor: None

| Level: 1 (Exp 0 -> 10)

| Health: 3

| Mana: 7

| Stats:

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Vitality: 3

Magic: 7

Free Points: 0

| Skills:

One With the Shadows

| Other:

Touch of the Shadows

The moment Izaak opened his eyes, countless messages flooded his vision. He brushed them aside and inspected his body; as expected, his wounds were gone, along with the mana he had accumulated over ten long years. He turned his attention to his Status Screen.

'Looks like my level has been reset. What a pity—after all that leveling, it feels like starting from scratch... but it's not like I can't do it again.'

'The same skill as when I awakened; nothing's changed. My stats are slightly different from before, probably because I'm not a sedentary teenager anymore.' He thought, continuing to read through his status.

| One With the Shadows

You have become one with the shadows.

| Touch of the Shadows

You have been touched by the Shadows. Every shadow-related ability will cost less mana.

"What a lovely explanation. Perfect. Now I understand everything," Izaak chuckled, reminiscing about his reaction when he first awakened on Earth. 'This description is really vague, but at least my skill and flaw are the same. I'll need to test this Touch of the Shadows to see what makes it special.'

After checking his status, Izaak looked around to gauge his surroundings. He found himself in a vast white field, with no discernible end in sight. He recognized this place from the stories told by the Regressors from Earth.

Regressors were Earthlings who had completed the Tower and decided to return home. Currently, there were three known Regressors on Earth. Whenever a new Regressor emerged, they attracted significant media attention. One of them had shared details about the lower floors of the Tower, and the revelations had shocked many. While some chose to forget about the Tower, even more decided to enter after learning about the potential rewards.

Izaak knew he had to wait until the end of the one-hour countdown before he could begin on the first floor. With 46 minutes remaining, he used the time to meditate and restart his mana journey.

Meditation involved channeling mana from the environment into his mana organ, increasing its purity. Higher mana purity meant higher magic points, which translated into greater mana capacity.

| 00:00:36 |

…

The first ten floors of the Tower were known as the Tutorial Stage, designed as instant dungeons specifically crafted to challenge participants. Each floor was created for the purpose of testing the players and was subsequently excluded and replaced with a new model drawn from other locations within the Tower.

The tutorial floors were never larger than a major city, while the floors on higher levels could span the size of entire planets—some even the scale of a solar system or galaxy.

…

| 00:00:06 |

| Magic 7 -> 8 |

| Mana 7 -> 8 |

'I spent thirty minutes increasing my mana points. If I had more time, I could reach my limit, but unfortunately, that's not an option. Still, it's remarkable that I can concentrate for this long now, especially compared to the time when I first awakened. Back then, I couldn't focus for more than five minutes. What a weakling I was,' Izaak chuckled at the memory as he rose to stretch.

Every level had a stats limit: Level 1 capped at 10 for each stat, Level 2 at 20, and so on. On Earth, Izaak had been stuck at level 2 for eight years. By the time he reached level 3, he was forced to enter the Tower.

The only way to increase one's level outside the Tower was by defeating enemies of the same or higher level. However, on Earth, there were so few level 2 Awakeners that this goal felt impossible for most; finding a higher-level Awakeners was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Even then, defeating one would be an even greater challenge.

…

| Adapting Period Ended |

| "Floor 1 – The Introduction" will start. |

| Good Luck! |

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed the read! If you did, please leave a comment and add it to your collection. This is my first novel, and I'm still learning, so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading!